Summer reading suggestions…
It’s perfect reading weather now that the sun’s out and the breeze is cooling. Whether you’re heading away and need a book to read while sunbathing, or if you’re camping or enjoying a staycation, here are some suggestions to help. Choose a book, sit down and enjoy the sunshine with a cocktail…
1. The Lido by Libby Page
Billed as the ‘feel good’ debut of the year, The Lido follows Rosemary who has lived in Brixton, London all her life. Only the lido, where she swims every day, remains a reminder of the past and her husband George. Meet Kate who’s moved and feels lost in the city. She’s at a low point in her career as a journalist, and when she hears that the lido is threatened with closure, she knows this story could be a great opportunity. Along with Rosemary, they are determined to show that the lido is the true heart of the community.
2. When Kate Met Cassidy by Camille Perri
Katie Daniels is a twenty-eight-year-old who has just been dumped by her fiancé. When she finds herself seated opposite New Yorker Cassidy Price, a self-assured woman wearing a man’s suit, neither knows what to make of the other. This is a fast paced romantic comedy about gender and the importance of figuring out who we are.
3. The Death of Mrs Westaway by Ruth Ware
Harriet Westaway receives a surprise letter informing her she’s inherited a substantial bequest from her Cornish grandmother. It’s an answer to prayer because she owes money to a loan shark and the threats are becoming more and more intense. However, Hal’s real grandparents died over two decades ago. The letter has been forwarded to the wrong person. But Hal knows that her skill she honed as a seaside fortune teller could help her con her way into getting her hands on the money.
4. Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
This hilarious book is about the importance of friendship. Eleanor, is an eccentric loner whose life beautifully unfolds after an encounter with a stranger. She struggles with social skills and tends to say exactly what she’s thinking. But her life shifts when Eleanor meets Raymond, the unhygienic IT guy from her office. When she and Raymond together save Sammy, an elderly gentleman who has fallen, the three become friends who rescue one another from their own isolation. This is soon to be a major film produced by Reese Witherspoon.
5. Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy
This is her follow-up to The God of Small Things. Anjum runs a guesthouse in an Old Delhi graveyard and gathers around her the lost and the cast out. Tilo is an architect, who, although she is loved by three men, lives in a ‘country of her own skin’. When Tilo claims an abandoned baby as her own, her destiny and that of Anjum become entangled as a tale that spans the years.
6. Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce
It’s London, 1941 and Emmeline Lake and her friend Bunty are trying to remain contented, despite the Luftwaffe interferring. Emmy dreams of becoming a Lady War Correspondent and when she see a job advert in the newspaper she decides to apply. However, she finds herself typing letters for the formidable Henrietta Bird, the agony aunt of Woman’s Friend magazine. Mrs Bird makes her stance very clear – letters containing any form of doubt must go into the bin. But as Emmy reads the poignant letters, she decides to secretly respond.
