Summer Book Reccomendations!

Hello Hello! In honor of SUMMER and my absolute life-long love of reading (thanks to my mom and dad), I want to share some of my top recommendations for summer reads. I am a big fan of mysteries and find that they are great page turners for poolside reading or rainy days on the sofa, so *disclaimer* these will be mostly mystery/suspense novels.

I'm not going to go into too much detail describing them (I really dislike when people give away something to do with the plot), but hopefully give you enough info to be inspired to read one (or all!!).

1. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. This has been out for awhile now, but if you haven't read it, you should! It is super suspenseful without being gory or really terrifying. It kept me guessing the entire time about the recently married couple, and I absolutely love the way Flynn writes.
*If you like this, pick up Dark Places, one of her other novels that is excellent.

2. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. If you are turned off by the fact that this book is "young adult" you shouldn't be because it is absolutely a story that applies to every age and every phase of life (BTW- If you have something against young adult books, you should re-think that philosophy because some of the very best books somehow get marketed in that genre).  I read this in about 3 hours and could not put it down. Not a mystery, but an incredible, emotional, tear-jerking love story.

3. The Light in the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian.  I picked up this book because it takes place in Italy (which obsessed with) during World War Two-- one of my favorite historical time periods to read about. This is an amazing story that takes the reader in so many different directions- love story, war story, loss, regret, new beginigs.  It is definitely a mystery, and I could NOT put it down. PS-- It's on Oprah's "Must Read Book" list. 

4. The Innocence Game by Michael Harvey. This novel about three graduate students studying journalism and capital punishment, started off as a familiar mystery book, but-- I bet if someone took photos of me reading this, my mouth would be open in a silent gasp for 70 percent of this novel. It is SO GOOD!!!! And pretty scary, so if you get easily freaked out, maybe leave this one for daytime reading only.

5. Inferno by Dan Brown.  I know not everyone likes Dan Brown, and to be honest I'm not a huge fan of his in general, but this is a good, good book.  I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it, and the references to Dante, Italian Art, etc. really hooked me in. It would be an excellent summer read and I think you would also be surprised by how much you like it!

6. The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling).  Detective Cormoran Strike is a distinctive, funny, relatable, and tough protagonist, and this novel presents a "classic' detective story with classic J.K. Rowling flair.  It has just enough humor and suspense to keep the pages turning!

What are your favorite summer reads? Have a great weekend!

xo, 

Grace