I don’t know about you, but my reading tastes change during the summer months. I prefer something light and amusing; nothing that taxes my brain too much but a paperback (who wants to carry a heavy book outside?) that I can sink my brain into while sinking my body onto a sun lounger.
You will find lists of beach books or airport books being published about now as we are encouraged to use the longer summer days to relax with one.
The whole idea of literary escapism is synonymous with sunshine and outdoor reading. I have compiled my own list from some of the recent publications. Some are hardbacks but you can usually down load them onto an e-reader which is the optimum method for this time of year.
These are my personal choices:
The Murder Bag by Tony Parsons
The gripping first novel in an explosive new crime series by Tony Parsons, bestselling author of Man and Boy. If you like crime-novels by Ian Rankin and Peter James, you will love this.
The Confectioner’s Tale by Laura Madeleine
At the famous Patisserie Clermont in Paris, 1909, a chance encounter with the owner’s daughter has given one young man a glimpse into a life he never knew existed: of sweet cream and melted chocolate, golden caramel and powdered sugar, of pastry light as air.
Redemption Road by Lisa Ballantyne
Flitting effortlessly between past and present, this is a suspenseful, gritty and emotionally charged journey of an estranged father and daughter, exploring the strength of family ties and our huge capacity for forgiveness.
The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett
This novel explores the idea that there are moments when our lives might have turned out differently, the tiny factors or decisions that could determine our fate, and the precarious nature of the foundations upon which we build our lives. It is also a story about the nature of love and how it grows, changes and evolves as we go through the vagaries of life.
All Together Now by Gill Hornby
This is a funny, sharply observed and moving novel about the joys of singing, about living in harmony, about falling in love… and about the importance of finding your own, true voice.
When we were Friends by Tina Seskis
It had always been the six of us. But that was before the night of the reunion. The night of exposed secrets and jagged accusations: the night when everything changed.
The Good Girl by Fiona Neill
If you want to know how social media and the internet can affect a family: read this.
These are just a few of my favourites from this season’s publication. I have tried to include a good variety but of course I don’t expect everyone to agree with my choices. Please let me have your favourites, especially any new authors you have discovered or classics that have delighted you again.
