Fiction
The Smell of the Night By Andrea Camellieri is “a light and fun mystery written by an Italian and translated into English. Great read – light, but smart."
Snobs by Julian Fellowes. WONDERFUL British novel of manners by the creator of Downton Abbey (who also wrote Gosford Park). It is superbly written, very entertaining.
Snobs or Past Imperfect by Julian Fellowes. We’ve reviewed these before, but they deserve a repeat because Fellowes wrote the screenplay for Downton Abbey. One contributor said: Fellowes “writes wonderful breezy beach reads about the dying English class system. Very plot driven and fun, with terrific observations about snobby nobility and their motivations.” (Ed: If you want to pick one or the other, pick Snobs).
The Snow Child by Eowyn Lemay Ivey. “Set in Alaska, 1920. Childless couple discovers "a child of the woods." The book has a fairytale element to it, which does not usually appeal to me, but there is enough realism and just good storytelling to make it very appealing."
Snow Flower & The Secret Fanby Lisa See. “China. 19thc. Friendship. Historical novel with a bit of suspense. Engrossing read.”
Snowdrops by AD Miller. “A gripping, relatively short and ever so edible mystery set in Moscow.‘Snowdrops’ is Moscow slang for a corpse that lies buried through the winter and emerges in the thaw.The main character is Nick Platt, a rather straight normal almost boring English lawyer working for an English law firm in Moscow at the height of the wild Russian oil boom - the wild east. He falls for a young Russian woman and events begin to unfold at a fast pace. I was absolutely gripped.”
by Jo Nesbo. “creepy Scandinavian murder mystery a la Dragon Girl.”The Snows of Kilimanjaro by Ernest Hemingway. A collection of ten of Hemingway's most acclaimed stories. From a contributor who had just climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro:"naturally, I particularly enjoyed this as I felt like Hemingway and I were kindred spirits- HA!" She added, "Good for beach reading."
So Brave, Young and Handsome: A Novel
The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement
by David Brooks. “It's fiction with a lot of non fiction factoids about our generation. Sort of a social study of the educated class which he is always good at pegging well. It's an interesting read and helps you step back and observe what's going on around us and how much intuition influences how we behave.”
Social Creature by Tara Isabella Burton. Think ‘Bright Lights, Big City’ meets ‘Heathers.’ It’s one of the most anticipated books of the summer and doesn’t disappoint. Creepy in all of the right ways.
Social Crimes by Jane Stanton Hitchcock. From Amazon: "When Jo Slater, one of New York’s premier socialites and a patron of the arts, befriends a French countess, she ignores warnings from friends about the mysterious newcomer. Soon, the young woman knocks Jo off her Park Avenue throne. But using her knowledge of the greatest historical swindle of all time—a true story involving Marie Antoinette—Jo sets out to reclaim her fortune and her place in society. For the plan to work, however, she must resort to the most desperate of measures: murder. Social Crimes is a savvy social satire bursting with money, betrayal, and passion that will thrill readers of sophisticated mysteries."
Someone by Alice McDermott. “If you like McDermott (and I do), you will love this story of an Irish-American family and how it transforms - just like their Brooklyn neighborhood - over time. McDermott's prose reads in places like the most poignant poetry.”
Someone Knows My Name: A Novel
Something Blue
Something Borrowed
Somewhere Towards the End by Diana Athill. "I know it is about death but it is not sad and depressing, just makes us award in captivating language about the adventure of life and death. It is actually a little bit of a fun read..." Athill reflects candidly, and sometimes with great humor, on the condition of being old—the losses and occasionally the gains that age brings, the wisdom and fortitude required to face death.
Song Yet Sung by James McBride. "A beautiful writer – also the author of Miracle at St. Anna’s. This book is about the Underground Railroad on the Eastern Shore of Maryland (Harriet Tubman’s route, btw) and tells the story of whites and blacks living there during the 1850’s against the backdrop of the gorgeous forests and waterways that make the area unique. It provides some of the contentious history of slavery in Maryland within an interesting fictional story.
Songs without Words by Ann Packer. Follow-up novel by the author of Dive from Clausen's Pier (which I loved). "Liz and Sarabeth were childhood neighbors in the suburbs of northern California, brought as close as sisters by the suicide of Sarabeth’s mother when the girls were just sixteen. In the decades that followed–through Liz’s marriage and the birth of her children, through Sarabeth’s attempts to make a happy life for herself despite the shadow cast by her mother’s act–their relationship remained a source of continuity and strength. But when Liz’s adolescent daughter enters dangerous waters that threaten to engulf the family, the fault lines in the women’s friendship are revealed, and both Liz and Sarabeth are forced to reexamine their most deeply held beliefs about their connection."
Sophie's Choiceby William Styron. “I read this for the first time a few months ago. I loved it. William Styron was such beautiful writer. I went out and bought all his other books which I hope to read soon.” From Wiki: Sophie's Choice is a 1979 novel by American author William Styron. It concerns the relation between three people sharing a boarding house in Brooklyn: Stingo, a young aspiring writer from the Southern States who befriends the Jewish Nathan Landau and his beautiful lover Sophie, a Polish survivor of the German Nazi concentration camps. The plot ultimately centers around a tragic decision which Sophie was forced to make upon entering the concentration camp.