Summer Reading List
Advantage magazine once again spoke with Linda McLoughlin Figel of {pages} a bookstore about her top summer reading book recommendations. Located in Manhattan Beach, {pages} is an independent bookstore serving the South Bay. Figel and her book-savvy staff are masterful in matching readers with just the right books. Their well-curated inventory makes finding your next read a delightful adventure. Here are some of Linda’s top summer reading suggestions.
Wild Dark Shore
Charlotte mCconaghy (Ficton)
The Salt family members are the sole inhabitants of a desolate island midway between Tasmania and Antarctica, tasked with servicing the world’s largest seed vault. While the Salts struggle to protect their beloved island and their own secrets, everything is thrown into even greater peril when a woman washes ashore. Fast-paced, compelling and thought-provoking.
Run for the Hills
Kevin Wilson (Fiction)
Imagine your father leaving you and your mother, and you have not heard from him for the past 20 years. Enter the older brother you didn’t know you had, who shows up on your organic farm in rural Tennessee to introduce himself and invite you on a cross-country road trip to find your other abandoned siblings and your father. I thoroughly enjoyed this romp of a family drama full of Wilson’s signature heart and humor.
Memorial Days
Geraldine Brooks (Memoir)
From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of March, Horse: A Novel and People of the Book. A very personal memoir offering an intimate account of Brooks’ grief and journey past the unexpected and untimely death at age 60 of her husband, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and journalist Anthony Horwitz. In this candid account, she pulls no punches. For readers of Joan Didion’s Year of Magical Thinking, this is another grief memoir worth seeking out. A gift and a gem to be treasured and shared.
The Names
Florence Knapp (Fiction)
This is a brilliant, literary and poignant “sliding doors” novel. The concept of one’s chosen name triggering the sliding doors of life’s outcome is original, and debut author Knapp’s execution is exquisite! This book has it all: deeply sympathetic, multidimensional characters, difficult personal and domestic issues, and a trajectory that keeps the reader turning pages at a rapid pace. This one will stay with you for a very long time and have you considering so many what-ifs.
My Friends
Fredrik Backman (Fiction)
From the author of A Man Called Ove comes this heartfelt novel about an unlikely group of teens whose seaside friendship echoes decades later through a mysterious painting that profoundly impacts a young woman’s life as she encounters it. A moving story of love, loyalty and the lasting power of connection. This gem will stay with you long beyond the last page.
Mark Twain
Ron Chernow (Biography)
Ron Chernow takes a 1,200-page deep dive into research on the life of Samuel Langhorne Clemens from start to finish and no waiting between seasons. Chernow is a recipient of the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize and author of some of the most celebrated biographies of our time, including Washington: A Life, Grant and Alexander Hamilton, the inspiration for the hit Broadway musical.
The Original Daughter
Jemimah Wei (Fiction)
Set in Bedok, Singapore, this poignant debut novel by Wei explores a woman’s relentless pursuit of success with little to show for it, contrasted with a sister whose hard work seems to pay off in ways the narrator wishes her own did. This story of two sisters separated in their youth is rich with complex family dynamics—a complicated mother-daughter relationship, an estranged father and a one-sided sibling rivalry.
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