Winning titles to wrap up summer
August has arrived, and along with it, the end of many a summer reading list. Summer, to some, means lots of leisure reading, ideally in a hammock or on a deck overlooking the water. This summer brought us many great books — books that have garnered attention and come highly recommended. There’s something for everyone on this list — a taste of what this summer has had to offer.
The timely and emotionally rewarding “Gold,” by Chris Cleave, is about two cyclists, both rivals and friends, who are competing against each other to get to the 2012 Olympics while dealing with their own lives.
Megan Abbott’s “Dare Me” takes a smart look at the dark world of a high school cheerleading squad, offering up a complex psychological fiction about loyalty, power and girlhood.
The much buzzed about “The Age of Miracles” by Karen Walker Thompson sees the Earth’s rotation slowing — an event told from the perspective of a pre-teen girl as her family and friends try to keep up appearances of a normal life in the face of the looming apocalypse.
“The Queen’s Lover” is a fictional memoir of a Swedish aristocrat’s affair with Marie Antoinette. Written by Francine de Plessix Gray, this historical fiction beautifully brings to life the French Revolution.
Set in Tudor England, “Bring up the Bodies” by award-winning author Hilary Mantel tracks the downfall and beheading of Ann Boleyn.
“The Cove” is a novel by Ron Rash set in the Appalachian Mountains in the First World War. Outcast Laurel lives with her war-maimed brother in a cove locally believed to be haunted. Her meeting with a stranger causes everything to change in this hauntingly beautiful read.
One of the biggest books of this summer has been the thriller “Gone Girl” by Gillian Flynn. In it, Nick and Amy are about to celebrate their wedding anniversary when Amy goes missing and Nick becomes the main suspect. A simple set-up, but “Gone Girl” is shockingly hard to put down, and so full of twists that the outcome is impossible to tell until the end.
A round-up of the best books of the summer is never easy, but this one has a bit of everything and hopefully it will inspire you to add something new to your own reading list.
Anthony