Best Beach Reads for Summer 2019

Authored by Elizabeth Gilbert

Length: 480 pages

The bestselling author of “Eat, Pray, Love” and “The Signature of All Things” returns to fiction with a spellbinding novel about glamour, sex and adventure as told in retrospect by the now-89-year old protagonist. Vivian looks back on a pivotal and defining period in her life. Set in the 1940s New York City theatre scene, 19-year old Vivian is kicked out of college and sent away by her well-to-do family to an eccentric aunt’s flamboyant-but-crumbling theatre. There, she meets a cast of colourful characters;. There, Vivian makes a personal mistake that turns her life upside down in a way that will take years to understand. “City of Girls” is about female sexuality, promiscuity and ultimately about the human desire for connection -- in all its forms.

Authored by Elin Hilderbrand

Length: 432 pages

This historic novel delves into the most tumultuous summer of the twentieth century by way of four siblings who take in all the drama, intrigue and upheaval it brings. Each year, the Levin siblings look forward to spending the summer at their grandmother’s historic home in Nantucket. But things inside the home are as tumultuous as they are beyond it. Blair, the oldest sister, is marooned in Boston, pregnant with twins and unable to travel. Middle sister Kirby, caught up in the thrilling vortex of civil rights protests and determined to be independent, takes a summer job on Martha's Vineyard. Only-son Tiger is an infantry soldier, recently deployed to Vietnam. Thirteen-year-old Jessie suddenly feels like an only child, marooned in the house with her out-of-touch grandmother and her worried mother, each of them hiding a troubling secret.

Authored by Shari Lapena

Length: 304 pages

Just how well can you know your neighbours? Quite well, as it turns out, if you’re a local teen with a habit of sneaking into people’s houses and ruffling through their personal belongings — including the owners’ digital history. In this quiet suburb of upstate New York, all is not as tranquil as it seems, and everyone has something to hide — especially when a woman down the street is found murdered. Who killed her? And who knows more than they’re leading on? These very nice people will go the distance to protect their secrets.

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Authored by Stassi Schroeder

Length: 240 pages

Breakout star of Slice’s hit reality show ’Vanderpump Rules’, Stassi Schroeder champions her inner Basic Bitch in this laugh out loud funny tell-all guidebook. Reality star, podcast queen, and ranch dressing expert teaches us how to embrace what we may most fear: our best basic self. Nothing is more boring than pretence and people who take themselves too seriously, she shares. From her very public breakups to the most intimate details about her cosmetic procedures, Stassi shares her own personal experiences in a style that is uniquely Stassi. Lattes, pugs, bubbly cocktails, millennial pink, #OOTD (outfit of the day, obvs), astrology, hot dogs, the perfect pair of Louboutins, and romantic comedies are all her favourites, and hers are a manifesto for why you should accept and embrace yours too.

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Authored by Jennifer Weiner

Length: 480 pages

Jo and her sister Bethie grow up in the perfect “Dick and Jane” house in 1950s Detroit. Jo is a tomboy and bookish rebel with a desire to make the world a more fair place, while Bethie is the quintessential ‘feminine good girl’ who enjoys the power of her beauty, and desires the traditional. The sisters' idyllic childhood gives way to a rapidly shifting world and the two grow searching for their own place amidst this change, while trying to stay true to themselves and each other. This smart and thoughtful novel explores the sisters’ lives from past to present, by way of a richly textured journey. Do we change or does the world change us? As happens with the most interesting stories, their lives end up looking different from what the girls imagined.

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by Stephen King

Length: 208 pages

If you’re in the mood for graphic novels, this one’s for you. The inspiration behind the TV series ‘Haven’, Stephen King’s best-selling unsolved mystery is back in an all-new illustrated edition. The story brings us to an island off the coast of Maine where an unidentified man is found dead. The mystery of who he is and what lead him to his tragic end compel a pair of local newspaper journalists and a forensics grad student to unravel what’s at the heart of the unexplained. King weaves a masterful tale that is at its core about our compulsion to peruse the unknown.

Authored by Mhairi McFarlane

Length: 432 pages

This funny, warm, and life-affirming novel introduces you to Georgina - the girl next door who hasn’t always had the best of luck. Fired from ‘The Worst Restaurant in Sheffield (© Tripadvisor)’. Check. Found ‘The Worst Boyfriend in the World (© Georgina's best friends)’ in bed with someone else. Check. Her life finally seems to take a turn for the better when she lands a new job, with a new boss who - turns out - wrote her as the love of his life some 12 years ago. The only problem? He doesn’t seem to remember Georgina. Like, at all.

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Authored by Kimberly Belle

Length: 336 pages

What happens when the person you love most is the person you most need to escape? How far will one women go in a fight for survival? Beth Murphy is on the run and Sabine Hardison is missing. For nearly a year, Beth has been setting the wheels in motion for her “new beginning”. New look. New name. New city. But you can never have a new past. And her violent husband is on the hunt to find her. Jeffrey has returned home to find his wife, Sabine, gone. Wherever she is, she hasn’t taken much with her. Her abandoned vehicle is the only evidence the police have, and all signs point to foul play (isn’t it always the husband who did it?) But, as always, things are never so straight-forward. The more clues the police discover, the more convoluted the case becomes. What they find are signs that point to a troubled home, and a husband who would stand to gain from this seeming loss. The detective charged with solving the case will stop at nothing to find out what happened, no matter where the evidence leads. Where is Sabine? And who is Beth? The truth has a way of rearing its unseemly head in the unlikeliest of places.

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Authored by Daniel Silva

Length: 496 pages

A new novel from a #1 New York Times bestselling author brings together a much-maligned crown prince of a questionable kingdom ready to make amends, a chief of Israli intelligence whose reputation precedes him, and a kidnapped royal daughter. The life of a child and the throne of Saudi Arabia hangs in the delicate balance of decisions that cannot be undone. Both men have plenty of enemies and everything to lose. Silva weaves masterfully dark humour, breathtaking twists of plot, and memorable characters. If you’re looking for a page-turner that is both entertaining and sophisticated this novel is packed full of intrigue, betrayal and revenge that will keep you flipping well into the dog days of summer.

by Colson Whitehead

Length: 224 pages

In this moving follow-up to his Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning New York Times bestseller “The Underground Railroad’, Whitehead brilliantly dramatizes another strand of history through the story of two boys sentenced to a hellish reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida. As the Civil Rights movement reaches the deep south, Elwood Curtis takes Dr. Martin Luther king to heart. Abandoned by his parents, but raised by his grandmother, Elwood is about to enroll in the local black college. But one innocent mistake is all it takes to derail the best laid plans for a young black man in 1960s Florida. Elwood is sentenced to a juvenile reformatory called The Nickel Academy - a shell institution parading itself as the training rounds for physical, intellectual and moral training. In reality, its walls hold unspeakable horrors, where sadistic staff beat and sexually abuse students, and where corrupt officials steal food and supplies. Elwood’s idealism butts up against his friend Turner’s. Their opposing decisions and ideals will echo down the decades as much as their fates are predetermined by what they had to endure at The Nickel Academy. This fictional story sheds light on a very true story of a reform school in Florida that operated for one hundred and eleven years, and warped the lives of thousands of children.

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by Tan France

Length: 288 pages

Named ‘Best Nonfiction Book’ for 2019 Women’s Day, ‘Naturally Tan’ is Tan France’s heartwarming and wickedly funny story of coming into your own. The memoir looks back on the life of one of the stars of Netflix’s Emmy Award-winning smash-hit ‘Queer Eye’. It follows Tan France journey from a traditional, religious English upbringing; As a member of one of the very few South Asian, Muslim families living in a predominantly white neighbourhood, Tan had to endure routine bullying for his culture and his skin colour. Knowing he was gay from an early age, Tan habroured the secret until he was finally ready to come out at 34. Now happily married to Rob, a Mormon cowboy from Salt Lake City, he shares the lessons he’s learned along the way to becoming a successful businessman, a devoted spouse and a confident, positive role model for others who may be facing similar challenges. Tan gives his unique perspective on the happiness you can find in being your true self.

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