The Last Summer (of you and me) by Ann Brashers
WHAT IT'S ABOUT(from author's website)...
In the town of Waterby on Fire Island, the rhythms and rituals of summer are sacrosanct: the ceremonial arrivals and departures by ferry; yacht club dinners with terrible food and breathtaking views; the virtual decree against shoes; and the generational parade of sandy, suntanned kids, running, swimming, squealing, and coming of age on the beach.
Seat against this vivid backdrop, The Last Summer (of You and Me) is the enchanting, heartrending story of a beach-community friendship triangle among three young adults for whom summer and this place have meant everything. Sister Riley and Alice, now in their twenties, have been returning to their parents’ modest beach house every summer for their entire lives. Petite, tenacious Riley is a tomboy and a lifeguard, always ready for a midnight swim, a gale-force sail, or a barefoot sprint down the beach. Beautiful Alice is lithe, gentle, a reader and a thinker, and worshipful of her older sister. And every summer growing up, in the big house that overshadowed their humble one, there was Paul, a friend as important to both girls as the place itself, who has now finally returned to the island after three years away. But his return marks a season of tremendous change, and when a simmering attraction, a serious illness, and a deep secret collide, the three friends are launched into an unfamiliar adult world, a world from which their summer haven can no longer protect them.
Ann Brashares has won millions of fans with her blockbuster series The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, in which she so powerfully captured the emotional complexities of female friendship and young love. With The Last Summer (of You and Me), she moved on to introduce a new set of characters and adult relationships just as true, endearing, and unforgettable. With warmth, humor, and wisdom, Brashares makes us feel the excruciating joys and pangs of love.
WHAT I THOUGHT...
Once I got thru the beginning (which started slow) I truly enjoyed this book. This book took me thru a mix of emotions from laughter to sadness. I don't want to give anything away but it definitely took a turn that I wasn't expecting. I'd say this was the best book I've read since reading The Beach House...not sure it's as good but definitely comparable. I would definitely recommend this to others.
Sam's Letter's to Jennifer
by James Patterson
WHAT IT'S ABOUT... (taken from Double Day Book Club)
Despite Jennifer’s growing fame as a Chicago newspaper columnist, the untimely death of her husband followed by a devastating miscarriage has made pain her constant companion. The only family she has left is her beloved grandmother Sam, who, Jennifer has learned, is in a coma. The news is almost more than she can bear….
Jennifer rushes to her idyllic hometown of Lake Geneva, frantic to be by Sam’s side. Alone in her grandmother’s house, she comes across a packet of letters—addressed to her—in which Sam reveals the shocking news that her dashing, debonair husband, Jennifer’s grandfather, was abusive. Like most women those days, Sam accepted her fate…until she fell desperately in love.
When not reading the letters or keeping vigil at her grandmother’s bedside, Jennifer becomes reacquainted with Brendan Keller, an old childhood friend. Brendan is the well-muscled stranger Jennifer has seen swimming in the lake late at night, and who, she’s guilt-ridden to admit, fills her with longing. But while the story of Sam’s grand passion inspires Jennifer to open her heart, will the letters give her the strength to survive when more unthinkable anguish comes her way…?
WHAT I THOUGHT...
I loved this book!!! I read it in just a few hours. This was one that I just could not put down...I just kept wanting to know what would happen next. This book has actually made me go back and reread Suzanne's Diary to Nicholas...another Patterson favorite of mine. Definitely recommended if you're looking for a quick easy read that will pull you thru a string of emotions.
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