Having just flown to Atlanta, GA and back, I can appreciate these Nancy Pearl recommendations for easy, breezy reading. All descriptions and comments about each book are from the copious notes I took when I attended Nancy Pearl’s Summer Reading List event.
Note: Plan ahead. Four out of the six titles are books you most likely will NOT find at the airport bookstore.
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley - First time novel for this 70 year old writer and getting rave reviews about a precocious 11 year old girl that discovers someone murdered in a cucumber patch outside her bedroom window.
Beginner’s Greek by James Collins – another first time novel by an author in his late 50’s (lovin’ this trend). An unexpected delight. A romantic comedy where everything ends in the best possible way.
The Family Man by Elinor Lipman – a novel by an author that loves her characters. Much in the vein of a Noel Coward comedy. Two other Elinor Lipman books that Pearl l-o-v-e-s are The Way Men Act and The Inn at Lake Devine.
In The Last Analysis by Amanda Cross – a mystery. The first (and the best) of the Kate Fansler mystery series. Smart and you will never guess the ending.
Stern Men by Elizabeth Gilbert – novel. Especially for readers (including Pearl) that were ‘under whelmed’ by Gilbert’s memoir Eat, Pray, Love - read this one. Funny and well written about a spunky, eighteen year old girl that returns home to Maine and decides to work the lobster boats.
Silver Linings Play Book by Matthew Quick – novel. Don’t be put off by the title and think this is a football book about the Philadelphia Eagles and their fans. In short it is a funny and uplifting book about a high school history teacher that has just been released (after four years) from a mental hospital and is looking to become the man his estranged wife has always wanted.
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More Nancy Pearl summer reading suggestions:
