Looking for something mindless where every plot line is tied up satisfactorily in a neat little bow? Looking for a ridiculously quick and silly beach read?  Island Girls by Nancy Thayer is it. As much as I hated that I liked this book, I did. It was amusing and a good, if predictable and syrupy, read.

This was a super quick read and PERFECT for the beach. Yes, you could see the action coming a mile away. Yes, the ending tied up in a neat little bow. Yes, the hurricane at the end (how topical for this particular summer vacation) was melodramatic. But, it was a fun read and right up the summer-beach-read alley, if you are looking for something good. I am glad I found this one at the library.

I very much enjoyed The Engagements by J Courtney Sullivan. In a nutshell, this book spans the 20th century and beginning of the 21st. It starts with the story of the advertising copywriter behind the De Beers slogan “Diamonds Are Forever.” It then weaves the stories of several couples and their histories, failures, and triumphs and connects them with diamonds. The storytelling was creative and the storylines compelling. The stories intertwined a little at the end, but I would have loved a little more. Nevertheless, by the time I got to the end, I really didn’t mind because the book was so enjoyable. I highly recommend this one as another good summer read.

Who doesn’t love a good Laura Lippman?! After I’m Gone was a good one. Gripping and fast, I was through it in two days. While it wasn’t my favorite of her books, I did enjoy it and it was great for the beach. My reviews are getting shorter and shorter as I read more and more at the beach. With this trip nearing an end, I suspect I won’t be getting through as much material. It’s been nice while it lasted!

Well. I don’t know where this recommendation came from, but I am glad I found this book at the library last week. I don’t think that it otherwise would have risen to the top of my list, but, boy am I glad I grabbed it. A fast-paced thriller was just what I needed to speed me through. I read this in about a 10 hour period. I loved it. A great, hair-raising tale, I couldn’t stop reading until I had found out what happened. And, I couldn’t have figured out all the (ridiculous) plot twists if I had tried. A super beach read, I highly recommend for a fun and quick summer choice.

I plowed through At the Bottom of Everything by Ben Dolnick. It was a compelling story, but I felt like I had read a similar story before. Thomas wasn’t a character I liked and I never really did feel like I understood why Thomas and Adam were friends, but it was a quick and satisfying read. Good for the beach.

I read a number of positive reviews of Alena by Rachel Pastan. It was on the shelf at the library, so I eagerly grabbed it. Unfortunately, the best part of this book was the cover. Those lovely paint swatches feel like real paint. Otherwise, I found the book lacking. It was tedious to get through until the last 50 pages where all the action happened. I liked finding out what had happened to Alena (who mysteriously disappears before the book begins), but I could have left this one on the shelf. Here’s hoping that the next selection is better.

Well, I gave this one a few days and about 1/3 of the way into it, I said, forget it. Big Brother by Lionel Shriver has an interesting premise – sister sees her brother for the first time after a few years and he has gained 100s of pounds. She and her husband are becoming increasingly estranged and the large brother wedges them apart even further. I just couldn’t get into this book and it took too long for the explanation for the enormous weight gain to happen. While I wanted to find out, summer’s too short and I didn’t care enough to continue. It’s not that surprising, at the end of the day, since I also gave up on Shriver’s We Need to Talk About Kevin. So, onto the next one, Alena…

I was so excited to find a bunch of books on my “to read” list at the little library in Kill Devil Hills, NC. Small town libraries are so much fun and so nice when out of towners don’t know about them. I thoroughly enjoyed Loving Frank and was excited to read Under the Wide and Starry Sky, the newest book by Nancy Horan. I fell immediately into this story. I suspect that, if I had read it during the school year, at home, I might have abandoned this one. Not that the story wasn’t fascinating, and not that it wasn’t well-written, but because it was a bit long and dragged in parts. However, being at the beach and having more devoted time to read both at night and during the day, I thoroughly enjoyed this book about Robert Louis Stevenson. Like Loving Frank, it provided a fascinating glimpse into the life of a man I knew very little about. I recommend this one if you have time on your hands. It’s a good one.

My book group recently chose The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown. I was excited that it was immediately available at the library. And, halfway through, I was glad I hadn’t paid anything for it. I slogged through most of the story. The characters weren’t very likable and I couldn’t really figure out why they didn’t like each other either. In the last 25%, however, it picked up and I found myself wanting to find out what was going to happen to the girls and their mother. It got better, but not better enough for me to recommend it. Perhaps it’s because I’m an only child and I can’t quite get the sibling thing. But, even with that, the story was just lacking. I didn’t care enough and it was painful to get to the end.