Fiction

The Brightest Star in the Sky: A Novel by Marian Keyes. "This book follows the relationships of all the people who live in one small apartment building for 61 days. The fun part about this book is that you have no idea who the narrator is or how he/she fits into the story until the very end, and there are a few little plot twists to keep you interested."

The Broad Highway by Jeffrey Farnol.  So old it’s FREE (on Kindle, at least - it's pre-copyright).  This book was a runaway bestseller in its day.  It was written in the early 20th century but takes place in regency England (early 1800s).  A young gentleman finds he has not, as he'd expected, been left money by a wealthy relative.  He embarks on a walking tour through England, seeking to make his way in the world.  This despite his being a gentleman and a scholar (a breed not really meant for work back then). He has entertaining, implausible adventure after entertaining implausible adventure.  Love and kissing and duels and fights galore.  Themes of honor and great old fashioned stuff.  And did I mention it’s free?

The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka.  From Amazon:  “a tour de force of economy and precision, a novel that tells the story of a group of young women brought over from Japan to San Francisco as ‘picture brides’ nearly a century ago.”

The Bullet by Mary Louise Kelley. Mary Louise is a former NPR reporter and a friend of this book list and many of its contributors. And she definitely knows how to write a suspenseful thriller! Protagonist Caroline is 37 years old and having pain in her wrist. An MRI reveals a bullet lodged against her spine. WTF? She’s never been shot. Or so she thinks. Her parents reveal she was adopted and that her birth parents had been murdered. Caroline sets out to find out what happened. Needless to say, “events ensue.” “Light read but a page-turner, set in DC. Protagonist is a Georgetown Prof who grew up in Cleveland Park.”

The Burgess Boysby Elizabeth Strout. By the author of Olive Kittredge, a top pick a couple of years ago. “Haunted by the freak accident that killed their father when they were children, Jim and Bob Burgess escaped from their Maine hometown of Shirley Falls for New York City as soon as they possibly could. Jim, a sleek, successful corporate lawyer, has belittled his bighearted brother their whole lives, and Bob, a Legal Aid attorney who idolizes Jim, has always taken it in stride. But their long-standing dynamic is upended when their sister, Susan—the Burgess sibling who stayed behind—urgently calls them home. Her lonely teenage son, Zach, has gotten himself into trouble, and Susan desperately needs their help. And so the Burgess brothers return to the landscape of their childhood, where the long-buried tensions that have shaped and shadowed their relationship begin to surface in unexpected ways that will change them forever. I have read and loved every novel by Elizabeth Strout and this newest one does not disappoint. As always, the author delivers rich character development and nuanced insight into complicated family dynamics. Also, a must-read for anyone from Maine.”

Burnt Mountain by Anne Rivers Siddons [Ed note: This, and several other reviews sprinkled throughout this year's list are a friend in the publishing industry. She (best job ever) gets to read everything before the rest of us and selected the best summer releases. This one will be out 7/19/2011) "From one of our most acclaimed writers comes this dramatic tale of a well-born Southern woman whose life is forever changed by the betrayal of her mother and by the man she loves Growing up, the only place tomboy Thayer Wentworth felt at home was at her summer camp - Camp Sherwood Forest in the North Carolina Mountains. It was there that she came alive and where she met Nick Abrams, her first love...and first heartbreak." (Ed again: Love Siddons on the beach - especially if I'm on a southern beach.)

By Nightfallby Michael Cunningham.  "Peter and Rebecca Harris: mid-forties denizens of Manhattan’s SoHo, nearing the apogee of committed careers in the arts—he a dealer, she an editor. With a spacious loft, a college-age daughter in Boston, and lively friends, they are admirable, enviable contemporary urbanites with every reason, it seems, to be happy. Then Rebecca’s much younger look-alike brother, Ethan (known in the family as Mizzy, “the mistake”), shows up for a visit. A beautiful, beguiling twenty-three-year-old with a history of drug problems, Mizzy is wayward, at loose ends, looking for direction. And in his presence, Peter finds himself questioning his artists, their work, his career—the entire world he has so carefully constructed. Like his legendary, Pulitzer Prize–winning novel, The Hours, Michael Cunningham’s masterly new novel is a heartbreaking look at the way we live now. Full of shocks and aftershocks, it makes us think and feel deeply about the uses and meaning of beauty and the place of love in our lives."  (Barnard Book Club)

Cage of Stars: By Jacquelyn Mitchard. Mitchard also wroteThe Deep End of the Ocean. Like “Deep End,” it’s a great read (I finished it in two days). It’s flawed and the dialogue is not credible, but it’s compelling and eminently readable. (Beach book defined, right?) It’s about a Mormon girl whose sisters are murdered, and her journey following the crime.

Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks.  This was nearly a top pick last year and is still getting mentioned.  “Another great story by Ms. Brooks. She always gives good historical fiction -- this time American Indians, Martha's Vineyard and Harvard.”

Campusland by Scott Johnston will be released August 13th, but I'm giving it top billing, because it's gotten great advance praise, and because my friend-in-law wrote it. Sorry - not checking my (editorial) privilege. From Kirkus:  "Been to college lately? Here it is in all its glory, from the trigger warnings and the bias response teams to the hookups and the hashtags, served with plenty of kombucha and seasonally correct vegan stew."