[CC Posts: 487 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

 :sailor Looking for an adult summer read to dig into. Literary is a plus, but it doesn't have to be.

Anybody read anything super great so far this summer? 

[hairaplenty Posts: 1,531 Status: Offline Don't ever quit!]

I just started, What Alice Forgot, by Liane Moriarty. It's good so far. I'm also reading, The Boys in the Boat. I live in Seattle so it's fun to read about the area I'm familiar with.
Good Luck on your hunt. I don't read much adult, so I'm not much of an authority.    :soccer

[annemleone Posts: 287 Status: Offline]

I just read and loved Eliza Kennedy's I TAKE YOU. It's snort-out-loud funny, especially if you've ever planned a wedding. It was also surprisingly empowering. Probably not for everyone, though. It's about a woman who loves sex, has a ton of it, and is a week away from being married and debating whether or not to call off the wedding. It asks some big questions about what marriage means, how people think women should behave, and finding your own way in life.

[Debby G Posts: 596 Status: Offline WWW]

I loved the thriller The Girl on the Train, the J.K. Rowling mystery Cuckoo's Calling, and the literary-ish novel Still Alice.

[rab Posts: 644 Status: Offline WWW]

Priya Parmar's VANESSA AND HER SISTER, the sister being Virginia Woolf, kept me turning the pages.

[LindaJoy Posts: 418 Status: Offline Linda Joy Singleton author of SNOW DOG, SAND DOG WWW]

I love the last 3 books by Kate Morton. Start off with THE FORGOTTEN GARDEN which has a literary theme about a childrens book author.  Fascinating multi-generalization mystery. I loved it so much I also listened on audio.

For a more light-hearted (well mostly except for war stuff) book try the GUERNSY POTATO PEEL SOCIETY -- gold in letters, very literary in more than one way, about secrets the island of Guernsy in WWII.

[CC Posts: 487 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

These are great; I'm getting good ideas. Some of these I haven't heard of.

Keep 'em coming.

I'm writing them down...   

[Vijaya Posts: 6,987 Status: Offline BEAUTY WWW]

I just finished Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton. Memoir, faith journey. Reads like a beautiful novel.
Happy reading.
Vijaya

[rab Posts: 644 Status: Offline WWW]

If literary letters are your cupa, the best book I've read so far this summer is Juliet Barker's THE BRONTES: A LIFE IN LETTTERS.

[dinalapomy101 Posts: 1,914 Status: Offline Happy writing to all! WWW]

Non-Fiction: THE BOYS IN THE BOAT and DEAD WAKE
Fiction: ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE (literary), THE MARTIAN (sci-fi), THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN (thriller), THE SOUTHERN REACH TRILOGY (sci-fi)

[J-Bert Posts: 283 Status: Offline WWW]

I'm reading The Long and Faraway Gone by Lou Berney. It's a literary PI mystery with a lot of humor--I'm enjoying it a lot so far.

[mghiggins Posts: 294 Status: Offline WWW]

Another vote for THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN. It's one of the few adult novels I've read recently, and I really enjoyed it.

[CC Posts: 487 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

Of the ones mentioned I have read:

Girl on the Train
Cuckoo's Calling
and the Potato Peel one... 

... making a list, still...

[Write4kids Posts: 53 Status: Offline Write for your life! WWW]

Enjoying The Girl on The Train now! 
I tried Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale, which a lot of people like - Holocost, wasn't for me though, BUT, I loved her other ones:  Winter Garden, Night Road and Firefly Lane!

[AnnH Posts: 1,509 Status: Offline I love to read and write! WWW]

...For a more light-hearted (well mostly except for war stuff) book try the GUERNSY POTATO PEEL SOCIETY -- gold in letters, very literary in more than one way, about secrets the island of Guernsy in WWII.

Loved that one! Also: Major Pettigrew's last stand by Helen Simonson, a sweet romance between a British widower and the Pakistani shopkeeper from the village.

[Vijaya Posts: 6,987 Status: Offline BEAUTY WWW]

Ooooh, Brontes Letters sounds soooo good!
V.

[laurie-daley Posts: 7 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

I just finished The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton, historical fiction with several plot twists.

[Helen Posts: 236 Status: Offline WWW]

I enjoyed The String Diaries--an adult mystery that spans several centuries and a psychopathic shapeshifter. I loved The War that Saved My Life (historical MG). Currently reading The Book of Speculation (Ericka Swyler)...very good so far.

[Marissa Doyle Posts: 3,324 Status: Offline Charles Bewitched: out now! WWW]

Non-Fiction: THE BOYS IN THE BOAT and DEAD WAKE
Fiction: ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE (literary), THE MARTIAN (sci-fi), THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN (thriller), THE SOUTHERN REACH TRILOGY (sci-fi)

THE SOUTHERN REACH TRILOGY was just...weird.  It didn't quite work for me...I think he tried to be too mysterious, and it just fell flat.

I'm reading something that I'm quite enjoying--somewhere between magical realism and fantasy, with a literary bent--THE RABBIT BACK LITERATURE SOCIETY...with the added bonus that it's about writers and centers around a mysterious children's book author.

[Sue G. Posts: 129 Status: Offline WWW]

I'm reading The Writer's Garden: How Gardens Inspired Our Best-Loved Authors. It's a gorgeous book with beautiful photos of the writers' gardens, homes and wonderful writing spaces. The text is just as lovely and so inspiring in so many ways!  I love reading about each author's writing journey and how their writing and lives were connected to their gardens. The book includes writers such as Jane Austen, Dickens, Wordsworth, Beatrix Potter, Roald Dahl, Thomas Hardy and other wonderful writers. A lovely book to enjoy sitting in a garden this summer!   

THE BRONTES: A LIFE IN LETTTERS sounds wonderful!  I've read Jane Austen's Letters and loved it so much! 
Happy reading!
Sue   

[dinalapomy101 Posts: 1,914 Status: Offline Happy writing to all! WWW]

But Marissa, did you read the whole S.R. TRILOGY? Like, all three books? It was super weird, but I couldn't put it down, and kept analyzing it and the meanings with my hub, lol! Something about the writing and story just had me addicted to all three books, which rarely happens for me.

But for anyone wanting accessible adult scifi, go with THE MARTIAN.

[Marissa Doyle Posts: 3,324 Status: Offline Charles Bewitched: out now! WWW]

Yep, read the whole thing. I liked the first one the best. Found books two and three very annoying. I guess New Weird just isn't my cuppa. But do take a look at the Rabbit Back book --I'm enjoying it a lot.

[dinalapomy101 Posts: 1,914 Status: Offline Happy writing to all! WWW]

Marissa -- I'm on it!

[onestepp Posts: 205 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

  As something nice and easy to read  I enjoyed  Peach Keeper, and First Frost by Sara Allen Addison

[dewsanddamps Posts: 2,040 Status: Offline]

I second dinalapomy101 on ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE (Anthony Doerr).

[Marissa Doyle Posts: 3,324 Status: Offline Charles Bewitched: out now! WWW]

So here's something fun: a British woman named Clara Benson wrote a number of mysteries back in the 1920s, in the style of the day a la Agatha Christie and others, purely for her own amusement...and now, 50 years after her death, her family is publishing them. There are nine released--not sure how many more there will be--but I read the first, The Murder at Sissingham Hall, and it held its own with other Golden Age of Mystery stories. Fascinating!

[nina-mansfield Posts: 29 Status: Offline WWW]

I've heard ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE if fantastic, although I have yet to read it.

I recently read WILD, and loved it. (I haven't see the movie yet.)

[onestepp Posts: 205 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

Read the book WILD and saw the movie. The Movie paralleled the book.   If you read the book the movie will seem like it is missing in parts, but the movie was good.   

[Barbara Etlin Posts: 2,329 Status: Offline WWW]

I liked the movie, Wild, but I couldn't get through the book. Found it depressing.

[Mercedes Ortiz Posts: 173 Status: Offline Abracadabra! WWW]

I'm reading "Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit by Corey Olsen", and I'm really enjoying it.