Summer Reads part 1

Books and summer and a hammock under the shade of a maple or palm tree, with a cool breeze. The summer is in full flight, and it's time to take a vacation and tuck one of these books into your beach or travel bag.

Whether you're looking for a mystery, chick-lit or historical fiction, we have a book for your sun-baked reading:

All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner

“Allison is a smartypants mom blogger who pops painkillers to cope with overload. When she lands in rehab with "real" addicts, she's stunned — though no one else seems to be (including her own mother). Weiner's sly portrayal of family, entitlement and recovery culture is a romp — with an edge.”

I love you more by Jennifer Murphy

Oliver Lane has been murdered at his beach house, and his 12-year-old daughter, Picasso, knows something that the police are just learning: he had not one but three wives. There's serious in-house excitement for this debut from Murphy. – Library Journal

The Hundred-Year House by Rebecca Makkai

Husband to the heir of an estate that once sponsored an arts colony, Doug is eager to jump-start his academic career by plumbing the colony's files. But the secrets he discovers about the colony, the house, and the family make his hair stand on end. – Library Journal

The Care and Management of Lies by Jacqueline Winspear

“In this poignant novel of love and friendship tested by separation and war, Kezia struggles to keep her ordered life from unraveling after her husband enlists to fight for his country, while Thea, her best friend, sister-in-law and suffragette, is drawn reluctantly to the battlefield”.

A Wedding in Provence by Ellen Sussman

A couple plans for a low-key wedding in the French countryside and gets anything but: The bride's children from her previous marriage are ready to let loose, and so is the best man. Sussman fills her comédie with plenty of insight about love, loss and intimacy. – From Good Housekeeping

How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky by Lydia Netzer

“George is an astronomer who wants to prove the existence of God; Irene is a cool mathematician who's chasing black holes. When dreamer and pragmatist meet, little do they guess that their moms engineered their fate at birth”.

Invisible Ellen by Shari Shattuck

A sweet comedy about a lonely young woman who discovers she has a talent for righting wrongs. At 300-plus pounds, Ellen is used to being overlooked. Then one day she saves a blind woman from a mugging and finds someone who finally "sees" her. Shattuck delivers strong, well-balanced characters and clever dialogue, making this both a fun read and a satisfying story of personal transformation.”—Booklist