Beach Reads
My favorite thing about winter is snuggling up by the fireplace with a glass of wine in one hand and a good book in the other. Fortunately, this winter I had the chance to read so many great books! The downside of that is that it was really hard to pick just six of them to recommend to you. The upside is that now it’s getting warmer outside and you will be able to read these on the beach! The following are the top six books that if you missed this winter, you must read them this spring. I should warn you, though, that a couple of these I read in a day because I couldn’t put them down!
“The Silent Patient” by Alex Michaelides
Alicia Berenson is a famous painter, married to Gabriel, a fashion photographer. Their life and their marriage seem perfect to anyone on the outside. One night, Gabriel comes home late from work and Alicia shoots him five times in the face. From that point on, she hasn’t spoken a single word. Now she lives at the Grove, a secure mental hospital. A few violent outbreaks have led her to be medicated, heavily, and it seems she will never speak or function in society again. Then Theo Faber, a criminal psychotherapist begins working at the Grove. From the start he is very interested in Alicia, almost too interested. He thinks that he will be the one able to reach her. Caught between his concerns for her and his own agenda, Theo learns that maybe he should have left well enough alone.
“The Immortalists” by Chloe Benjamin
What would you do if you knew when you were going to die? Would you live your life differently? In 1969, a mystical woman travels to New York City. She claims she can tell anyone the day they are going to die. Four young siblings sneak out to meet her and hear their destiny. What they hear changes the course of the next 50 years. Simon heads to the West Coast looking for love, Klara head to Las Vegas to become a magician, Daniel struggles as an army doctor, and Varya spends her life researching the limits of science and immortality. Four siblings grow up thinking they know what lies ahead. But where does choice end and destiny begin?
“Winter in Paradise” by Elin Hilderbrand
Irene Steele has it all – a beautiful home, incredible sons and a husband who adores her. All of that changes with one phone call. Her husband, assumed to be away on business, is killed in a plane crash in the Carribean – and he wasn’t alone. Irene and her sons travel to St. John to try to make sense of what really happened. Here she finds her husband had another life. Each secret she uncovers unearths another until she almost can’t bear to hear anymore. Is it possible everything she has known for decades is a lie?
“True Places” by Sonja Yoerg
Suzanne Blackmore’s life has become an overscheduled sea of phone calls, emails, PTA meetings and volunteer work. In addition, she’s raising two difficult teenagers and has a husband who is always working and oblivious to everything else. Things seem to be spiraling out of control and one day Suzanne gets in the car and just drives away. She pulls off on the side of the road in time to see a 16-year-old girl coming out of the woods. She’s dirty, starving and very, very sick. Suzanne rushes her to the hospital and soon learns the girl, named Iris, has lived in the woods her entire life. Her parents are dead and she has no one. She can’t get Iris off her mind and starts to visit her, which eventually leads to her bringing the poor girl to their home. The differences in their values are striking, and leave Suzanne wondering if she is saving Iris or if Iris is saving her.
“I’m Fine and Neither Are You” by Camille Pagán
Penelope Ruiz-Kar is juggling way too many hats these days. Trying to be the perfect wife, mother and employee is leaving her stressed out and on the brink of depression. Meanwhile, her best friend, Jenny, has the perfect marriage, the perfect child and a successful blogging site that she does from home. How is it possible that Jenny can run everything so smoothly? But then tragedy strikes and Penelope realizes that Jenny’s life wasn’t so perfect after all; actually, you couldn’t get much further from it. Penelope vows to makes changes in her life and her marriage. She brings this up to her husband and they make a pact that honesty is the best policy and commit to each making personal changes. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but total honesty sometimes isn’t the best policy. As secrets come to the surface, Penelope finds herself questioning her career and her marriage.
“A Curve in the Road” by Julianne MacLean
Abbie MacIntyre is a successful surgeon, married to another successful doctor, with a wonderful son getting ready to leave for college. Things seem perfect in her world until a drunk driver hits Abbie’s car one night. She is severely hurt and rushed to the hospital. In just a blink, everything she has ever known changes. Although she survives, unbearable secrets about her husband and life are revealed and Abbie’s world begins to fall apart. As she begins her search for answers, she finds her willpower and strength tested beyond all measure. How will she ever get past the heartbreak and anger and learn to trust again?
