The kids may be avoiding books altogether this summer (try this to make reading fun for them), but you look forward to the long, hot days as a time to catch up on all those reads you don't have time to get to during the year. Or maybe you want something frivolous and fun. Whatever your mood, we've got a good vacation book for you.
If you're:
Feeling the Girl Power: The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Banks tells the story of a girl named Jane and her comical search for a career and a significant other who will make her happy. Throughout her journey, Jane hits on many issues that immediately connect to other women. Related: Meet 125 women who changed our world
Craving intrigue: Try Twilight (no, not that one) by Katherine Mosby, in which a socialite in the 1930s prefers passion to a proper marriage. Her parents ship Gibbs to Paris, and against a darkening backdrop as war approaches, she falls in love with a married man. Mosby should get a prize for nuance with the way she beautifully evokes both the twilight atmosphere of an illicit romance and a world fast disappearing. Related: Spice up your own life in the bedroom
Being a Mom: Kate Long's The Bad Mother's Handbook: A Novel allows you to laugh at the ups and downs of motherhood. By examining the lives of three generations of struggling, fictional mothers, Long - a former high school English teacher - explores the difficulties of being a mom and leaves us with the sense that there are as many kinds of mothers as there are children. Related: Find more books about tough mamas
Feeling Sentimental: Everyone loves a little Judy Blume. Summer Sisters follows two girls and their summers together on Martha's Vineyard, where they learn about love, lust, and the meaning of friendship. It's a perfect beach read, but a heartfelt one with substance and depth. Related: Every woman needs these five girlfriends
In Need of a Laugh: Earthly Pleasures, by Karen Neches, is a funny, fantastical novel begins in a warped Heaven where angels fall in love, gossip, and drink. An angel named Skye falls in love with a man visiting the gates of Heaven, and returns with him to Earth. Related: Get more laughs from these funny books
Looking for a Love Story: Go classic, with Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera, a captivating tale of unrequited love set in South America, Marquez chronicles a unique passion between among people that spans more than fifty years. Related: Up the romance with these novels
Traveling Without Really Traveling: Even if you aren't taking a vacation this, year, Eric Weiner's The Geography of Bliss will allow you to feel like you are. The travel memoir spans the world searching for the happiest places on Earth, and makes you contemplate your own life and the amount of happiness you let into it. Related: Take the family on vacation for less
More Great Reads: See the favorite books of our staff!
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