I have your summer beach reads for you. As long as your definition of a summer beach read is something you can easily follow while morning drunk.
I was the kind of child who would not eat the chocolate bar. If every kid on the school bus was gifted a chocolate bar, I was the kid who would squirrel it away and hide it until the right time.
Horse by Geraldine Brooks has been on my "next to read" list for months. I'll get to it. I'm doing that thing where you don't read a book because you're convinced you're going to love it so much that you don't want the experience to end and the best way to achieve that is to not let the experience begin. These are your issues and you're fine with them. So yeah, I'm saving it.
I've held off on reading Benediction, the 3rd in a trilogy from Kent Haruf since 2018.
For anyone new, you can reference this list that outlines what my tastes in books, television and movies are so you can gauge if our tastes align at all.
When last we met I was reading ...
I have very high expectations when it comes to deformed protagonists for all the reasons I list in the middle of this post. The Museum of Extraordinary Things just wasn't enough for me.
In what may be the most basic review of a book ever; I just didn't feel invested. I didn't feel anything extraordinary.
For an extra extraordinary circus book, read Geek Love.
★★★☆☆
However, don't be deterred if this book on your list of books to read. I am in the MINORITY with my opinion. Goodreads readers give it 3.8/5 stars and 86% of Google readers liked it.
BUY or read more about The Museum of Extraordinary Things
Table of Contents
Summer Thrillers
READING IT
I'VE READ IT
Six minutes after takeoff, Flight 1421 crashes into the Pacific Ocean. During the evacuation, an engine explodes and the plane is flooded. Those still alive are forced to close the doors—but it’s too late. The plane sinks to the bottom with twelve passengers trapped inside.
☆☆☆☆☆ (I will rate once finished)
When she stumbles across an ad for a live-in nannying post with a staggeringly generous salary Rowan Caine applies. She arrives at the secluded Heatherbrae House & is smitten by the Scottish Highland home and its perfect family.
What she doesn’t know is that she’s stepping into a nightmare—one that will end with a child dead and herself in prison awaiting trial for murder.
.
★★★★☆
I'm only at the beginning of this second novel by flight attendant turned novelist T.J. Newman but it's the EPITOME of a summer read.
A genuinely thrilling thriller that'll keep you up at night.
BEST ENJOYED WITH BEER & A BURGER.
More suspense than thriller, the entire story is told through a letter the main characters writes to her lawyer from prison.
If you don't like epistolary narratives (books that are a series of back and forth letters) don't fret. It reads just like a novel, not a series of letters.
THE FOREST OF VANISHING STARS
(reader recommended)
MARY JANE
(reader recommended)
US AGAINST YOU
WANT TO READ
WANT TO READ
WANT TO READ
After being stolen from her wealthy German parents and raised in the unforgiving wilderness of eastern Europe, a young woman finds herself alone in 1941 after her kidnapper dies. Her solitary existence is interrupted, however, when she happens upon a group of Jews fleeing the Nazi terror.
In 1970s Baltimore, fourteen-year-old Mary Jane loves cooking with her mother, singing in her church choir, and enjoying her family’s subscription to the Broadway Showtunes of the Month record club. Shy, quiet, and bookish, she’s glad when she lands a summer job as a nanny for the daughter of a local doctor. A respectable job, Mary Jane’s mother says. In a respectable house.
After everything that the citizens of Beartown have gone through, they are struck yet another blow when they hear that their beloved local junior hockey team will soon be disbanded. What makes it worse is the obvious satisfaction that all the former Beartown players, who now play for a rival team in Hed, take in that fact. As the tension between the two towns simmers, a surprising newcomer is handpicked to try to save the Beartown club.
BUT FIRST read Beartown
Movies
Are You There God, It's Me Margaret
I met Judy Blume while I was in the makeup chair of a television studio. I was getting ready to tape my show and she was in the station for an interview with someone else.
She popped her head into the makeup room to see if it was free, I locked eyes on her from the makeup chair and proceeded to speak in tongue.
This reaction wasn't new to her so I only managed to expel a few nonsensical noises before she smiled calmly and said thank you.
She knew what I was trying to say.
Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret is an excellent adaptation of the book.
Bird Box (I'm late to the blindfold party)
I started Bird Box the week it came out in 2018. I made it 15 seconds into the film, stood up, declared it unfit for viewing and stormed out of the room in a very quiet way because I was wearing slippers.
Almost 4 years later, I tried it again. HOW could I have stopped watching this at any point?
It was so thrilling I took my heart rate in the middle of watching it. It should have been my typical resting heart rate between 59 and 63 BPM because I was laying on the sofa not moving. Instead it was 75 BPM.
Television
THE BEAR (Season 2)
PS Did you notice the red "play" button makes Jeremy Allen White look like he has a clown nose on?
If you haven't watched Season 1 of The Bear (Hulu/Apple TV/Disney+) watch it. It's really good. But the main reason you should watch it is so you can then watch Season 2.
Season 2 of The Bear is, in my opinion, one of the best seasons of any television show ever.
That's all I have to say about that. The end.
H/JACK (miniseries)
In keeping with the plane crash theme this month ...
Hijack is a movie about a plane that gets hijacked after takeoff and stars my former boyfriend Idris Elba. There is nothing more that you need to know.
Andddddddd commence your recommendations for July ...
"Did you notice the red "play" button makes Jeremy Allen White look like he has a clown nose on?" You bet I did, even though I have no clue who Jeremy Allen White is. I'm a lazy re-run watcher of British murder mysteries. Maybe that is why I'm always noticing the backgrounds of shows. Love seeing Ikea furniture that I have used in sets. Hate it when I see something I would love to have but can't possibly find.
Half of the tv shows I watch, I watch for the sets. Queen Charlotte had AMAZING gardens. ~ karen!
Police comedy on Amazon Prime - Deadloch. :-)
Oooops! I misspoke, the cookware is at Walmart not Amazon 😵💫
https://goto.walmart.com/c/13418/1167790/9383?subId1=6230461_9751ff81-8391-4263-88fa-649d6b15974a&sourceid=imp_000011112222333344&ps=60&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.walmart.com%2Fip%2FCarote-Nonstick-Pots-and-Pans-Set-8-Pcs-Non-Stick-Cookware-Set-Induction-Stone-Cookware-Kitchen-Cooking-Set-Green-Granite%2F2269061584&veh=aff&cat_id=0
Not to derail the Book and TV train, but just noticed that the wonderful ceramic kitchenware you recommended awhile back is now $49.99 in white and $59.99 in black on Amazon. Run! Then come back and finish your book. That is all.
Thank you for the comprehensive recommendations.
Re your comments about the circus book, I have just finished 'The Night Circus' by Erin Morganstern. I found it so enchanting, it drew me into a whimsical world. I wallowed in the anticipation of returning to that magical world each evening, and really dreaded coming to the end of it.
Such a good book! Very different than a "regular" circus book but enchanting is the perfect word to describe it. ~ karen!
Turn Of The Key!!!! I started reading this during lull in the estate sale I was working. I tend to just pluck a book when I get bored. I immediately envisioned the actress to play Rowan (Bel Powley) which made this book read FAST! No spoilers from me but WOW! I loved this book!
My hubby and I started watching Jack Ryan on Prime - surprisingly decent. We're on season 3. I really loved Firefly Lane on Netflix! I haven't watched the second...or is it third...season yet. So - this is an oldie but goodie - have you read the Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin? It's Sci-fi, which is not usually my choice, but this is beautifully written and a classic, and I was surprised by how good it was if for no other reason than the writing is superb. The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes was good - I'm a big fan of her books. They're good stories -quick and easy to read with good characters - not overly complicated - one might say a good beach read. I'm also a HUGE fan of all Willa Cather novels, my favorite being The Song of the Lark, though you being from Canada might enjoy Shadows On The Rock. I've added a few suggestions from your post to my reading list - I'm up to choose the next read in our little book club!
I agree on 'Bear'. I discovered it before it became hot and enjoyed both seasons. I recently enjoyed "Will Trent" on Hulu. And "Happy Valley," now over after 3 seasons, is the best procedural on British TV.
Books: Liked "Horse" a lot. Don't read most of those other authors (like a bit more challenge). Loved "Foster and "Small Things Like These" by Claire Keegan (they are basically novellas) and Lauren Groff's "Matrix." Looking forward to new Ann Patchett, James McBride books. Finally reading "Killers of the Flower Moon," nonfiction.
I'm curious about "Killers of the Flower Moon" - It's on my reading list. Has it been good so far?
I am finding it very interesting. Only about half-way through, and the FBI is finally taking interest in the Osage murders. It's a pretty easy read, in my opinion. Wanted to read it before the big movie version comes out this fall!
Oooooh! So many fabulous choices. I will start with drowning! Sounds very heart palpitating and who couldn’t use that??
It's good! ~ karen!
My main read the rest of ther Summer will be "The Great Controversy" By E G White. This is History , religion, and present times rolled into one, and the last of a series of 5. The author is the most published woman ever, and her books are in many languages. I promise if you read this one you will come away with a very different perspective on this old world. Happy reading!
As for movies, I'd like to see "Sound of Freedom", And at some point[DVD] The Indiana Jones one, too, just because I've loved all the others..
Kinda loved Finlay Donovan is Killing It for a light summer mystery.
If True Crime is your jam, I recommend this (P.S. Tell Betty I said hey):
American Kingpin
The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road
The unbelievable true story of the man who built a billion-dollar online drug empire from his bedroom - and almost got away with it
In 2011, a 26-year-old libertarian programmer named Ross Ulbricht launched the ultimate free market: the Silk Road, a clandestine website hosted on the Dark Web where anyone could trade anything - drugs, hacking software, forged passports, counterfeit cash, poisons - free of the government's watchful eye.
It wasn't long before the media got wind of the new website where anyone - not just teenagers and weed dealers but terrorists and black hat hackers - could buy and sell contraband detection-free. Spurred by a public outcry, the federal government launched an epic two-year manhunt for the site's elusive proprietor, with no leads, no witnesses, and no clear jurisdiction. All the investigators knew was that whoever was running the site called himself the Dread Pirate Roberts.
The comments have been as much fun as the post! I just love you and your oddities but kind heart! Tell Betty Hi!
She reads the comments so you have told her yourself! ~ karen
One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow by Olivia Hawker - It's more interesting than the blurb makes it sound. The title is taken from a gardening quote: one for the blackbird, one for the crow, one for the cutworm, and one to grow.
"Wyoming, 1876. For as long as they have lived on the frontier, the Bemis and Webber families have relied on each other. With no other settlers for miles, it is a matter of survival. But when Ernest Bemis finds his wife, Cora, in a compromising situation with their neighbor, he doesn’t think of survival. In one impulsive moment, a man is dead, Ernest is off to prison, and the women left behind are divided by rage and remorse.
Losing her husband to Cora’s indiscretion is another hardship for stoic Nettie Mae. But as a brutal Wyoming winter bears down, Cora and Nettie Mae have no choice but to come together as one family—to share the duties of working the land and raising their children. There’s Nettie Mae’s son, Clyde—no longer a boy, but not yet a man—who must navigate the road to adulthood without a father to guide him, and Cora’s daughter, Beulah, who is as wild and untamable as her prairie home.
Bound by the uncommon threads in their lives and the challenges that lie ahead, Cora and Nettie Mae begin to forge an unexpected sisterhood. But when a love blossoms between Clyde and Beulah, bonds are once again tested, and these two resilient women must finally decide whether they can learn to trust each other—or else risk losing everything they hold dear."
I'll add it to my list based solely on the title, lol. ~ karen!
Just finishing Her Deadly Game by Robert Dugoni. If you like a terrific legal/court case read, this is quite thrilling. (Bonus: piques chess interest again, as The Queen’s Gambit Netflix series did.)
On streaming, I’m looking forward to trying Season 2 of The Lincoln Lawyer, quite liked Season 1 (good that he didn’t try to reproduce Matthew McConaughy’s version of the character because who could!) Agree Hijack is very thrilling after a somewhat slow first episode. That’s 2 of my boyfriends, Idris and Matthew, hands off!
YOUR EX-BOYFRIEND?! IDRIS AND I WILL ALWAYS BE SOUL MATES. Keep this on the down low.
K. Shhhhh. ~ karen!
Please read Horse. Then read March, also by GB. Life is too short to postpone pleasure like this...
FWIW, I listened to Horse (via Libby, via my local library) and enjoyed it as an audiobook. I recall it being well-read, but it at least was read in such a way that it did not distract from the writing.
Have you watched Reservation Dogs? I laughed. I cried. It’s so very good. I will watch Idris in exchange.
I have not, I'll give it a try! ~ karen
If you like Reservation Dogs you’ll like Dark Winds. Just started season 2.
I tried to watch. Too young for me I think. Bored with teen angst.
Wow, so many great picks and many new to me that I will have to try. Loved the Plainsong trilogy -- go ahead and read Benediction. Then you will want to read the whole trilogy again. Loved The Bear -- haven't watched Season 2 yet but I'm glad to hear it is excellent. Read Beartown...haven't gotten to the sequel yet. And Hijak, OMG, so intense. Are you caught up? WHO IS THAT LADY??? My recommendations (novels) are Trust by Herman Diaz and one I'm reading now that seems weird and excellent: Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk. Thank you for these recommendations!
I am caught up and I did see that. I have my opinion of what/who she is and why she did what she did but I don't want to write a spoiler here! 1 more episode! ~ karen
This is a HARD NO. Why would you want to read this? Don't fly much?
"Six minutes after takeoff, Flight 1421 crashes into the Pacific Ocean. During the evacuation, an engine explodes and the plane is flooded. Those still alive are forced to close the doors—but it’s too late. The plane sinks to the bottom with twelve passengers trapped inside."