Friday, April 13, 2012

Blog Swap: Summer State of Mind

Greetings and Happy Friday readers!  I don't know about you, but it seems like SO many people have been taking spring break trips this year. 'Tis the season for vacations, I guess, but if you are like Nora and I, you might not be able to get away this spring.  Our solution?  Escaping through reading!  I'm over on her blog sharing some books that help me escape every day life, and she's got a great set of books picked out (I read 2 and agree they are definitely worthy spring break/summer reads).

Without further ado, here's Nora!


The last few weeks there have been lots of kids running around the neighborhood as the various school districts observe spring break. I’ve always hated the fact that as an adult there is no spring break that you are forced to take and after chatting with Lisa, we decided that we’d do another Blog Book Swap. The theme this time around gets us in the mood for spring/summer and helps heal the fact that we are no longer granted an easy-peasy Spring Vacation. You can see what books Lisa recommends on my blog; I’ve read one of them and it really is an amazing book! 

The shortlist of books that I have enjoyed reading and either include summer/spring or are books that I tend to gravitate towards during the spring and summer for fun reading:  

  • Summer Sisters, by Judy Blume. My college BFF gave me this book before we graduated; I devoured it quickly. This is classic Blume but for adults: she focuses on friendship, love, past and present, and how we move on with our lives after big, life-changing events. It’s definitely a good book to read at a café, pool or by the beach.

  • Jemima J, by Jane Green. I know that Green is women’s fiction (or chick lit) but for some reason I have enjoyed most of her books. Green takes you on a voyage with a woman who considers herself to be an Ugly Duckling and does all that she can to lose weight and become the woman she wants to be. Once she’s there she makes some startling realizations about the skinny world, the men who fawn over her and her true friends.

  • Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman. Not sure if it’s the fact that this book takes place in sunny, Georgia or that there are lots of parties and social get togethers, but this makes me want to take a road trip, stop at every random dive restaurant just so that I could stick my feet in the sand at the end of the trip. And I would love to have some really awesome outdoor parties with a bunch of friends, too.

  • The Sookie Stackhouse books. I know, I know, vampires and werewolves and crazy stuff going on in the books but they scream summer reading to me. They are light, entertaining, a guilty pleasure and even if it gets hot in the upper MidWest, it’s not nearly as awful as the heat Sookie experiences in Louisiana. It probably helps that for the most part the books come out in the summer so I spend a whole weekend (or two) devouring the books by the pool or on my patio.
What’s one of your favorite books that takes place during the spring/summer or that you enjoy reading near a pool?

16 comments:

RunToTheFinish said...

yeahh i love book recommendations. i haven't spent nearly enough time reading books by the pool, but i plan to enjoy our last bit of florida before we have to move doing just that!!

Becky said...

I agree with you on the Judy Blume - and I still need to read Saving CeCee Honeycutt!

I don't know if I have a favorite summer read - maybe some of my series romances by Nora Roberts? They're so easy to fly through and it's like re-visiting old friends! Now I'm headed to your blog to see what Lisa recommends!

Nora said...

So glad we did this, Lisa!

Becky- Confession, I've never read a Nora Roberts book but I might have to. I heard her wedding series was pretty good.

Also, instead of working I'd rather be reading... just saying!

Alli said...

Nora and Lisa- do you guys remember when I had my other blog and Jane Green wrote to me and sent me one of her books after I said that I didn't enjoy them? I still have the book that she sent me, complete with a hand written note from her on the inside cover.

Marlys said...

I love book reviews! I hesitate buying or downloading a book unless I've heard good reviews about it! So, thanks!

Nilsa @ SoMi Speaks said...

Well, I don't know if it counts for a "spring/summer read," but Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil must count, since it's always mild weather in Savannah! =)

Amber @ A little pink in the cornfields said...

I've read all of these and absolutely love them - great list!!

Summer Sister's is a fantastic summer read, I really need to reread that one!

Leigh said...

I've read Saving CeeCee Honeycutt and loved it! Such a great book :)

Hope you have a great weekend Lisa!

Nora said...

Alli: Yes! I do remember that. I wonder how I could get her attention... ;)

Marlys- you are most welcome! Hope you find something you like on this list.

Nilsa- I've never read that book but hear great things. Will check it out, so thank you!

Amber- glad I'm not the only one who enjoys the Sookie books :)

Leigh- seriously, CeeCee made me happy even though it starts off so sad. really enjoyed that book.

Kyria @ Travel Spot said...

Hi Nora! The only one I have read on that list is the Judy Blume, which I did read in the summer and it was a quick and easy read, just like you say! In the summer, I usually stick to whatever is fast and easy and not too involved, so I tend to read a lot of....Marian Keyes, Jennifer Weiner, Elizabeth George, Patterson, or whatever else I can pick up and put down without having to really remember what it was about!

I'll have to check out Saving Cece Honeycut! Sounds like fun!

Amber said...

I read Saving CeeCee Honeycutt about a month ago and really enjoyed it. Such a fun and lighthearted book!

The Harry Potter books always remind me of summer because the new book would always come out in the summer time and I would read it while lounging on the beach or dock at the house my family would rent on the lake every summer for 2 weeks!

Abby said...

Cool! I just finished "Man in the Gray Flannel Suit"...which was an okay book, but basically took until the last 3 chapters to get truely interesting!

I'm going to have to check some of these out.

Jolene - EverydayFoodie said...

I read Summer Sisters years ago and loved it :-)

Shoshanah said...

I loved Jemmima J back when I read it, but it's been a few years so I don't remember it that while. Although I'd love to go back and reread it.

Lisa-Marie said...

Summer Sisters is an amazing book!

Anita Shreve has written a few summer based books, I love them all. Also, The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood, and any of Polly Williams' books.

Anonymous said...

Whenever summer comes around I have this immediate urge to pull out some of my favorite chick lit books or more "light" reads. I love re-reading books in the summer too! Last summer I re-read the entire Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series which brought me right back to high school. I'll always love those books!