Fun, frothy page-turners are often the go-to when selecting a book for summer reading, and this year promises no shortage of entertaining titles. Here are six new Southern books filled with romance and humor to help keep the mood light and cheery this season.
Credit: St. Martin's Press
Credit: St. Martin's Press
Readers get to take a virtual journey across Ireland with Atlanta author Mary Kay Andrews’ latest summer beach read. When their mother dies, estranged sisters Maeve and Therese, who are seemingly opposites in every way, are bequeathed a mysterious painting possibly worth a fortune. Compelled by their mother’s dying wish to reunite and travel to the Emerald Isle, they depart their homes in Savannah and retrace their family roots in hopes of unearthing the true provenance of the artwork. Along the way, long-held family secrets that span generations are revealed. There’s a little romance and mystery thrown in for good measure, too. Bookmiser presents Andrews in conversation with author Colleen Oakley at Sharon Forks Library in Cumming on June 28. For details go to forsythpl.org. She’ll also be in conversation with John Searles at FoxTale Book Shoppe in Woodstock on July 12. For details to go foxtalebookshoppe.com. (St. Martin’s Press, out now)
Credit: Random House
Credit: Random House
Kayla Rae Whitaker’s sophomore romp is a tragicomic family saga set in 1980s-era Lexington, Kentucky. It revolves around Baker-Taylor’s, a discount department store chain owned and operated by Fred and Fran Taylor and their four children, who are being pulled apart by conflicting motivations. Fred wants to expand the business by buying out another chain. Fran is not on board and beginning to question her marriage as she crushes on an employee named Wendy. Oldest son Josiah wants to defect from the family business, and his sad, sensitive brother, Sam, may be losing touch with reality. Meanwhile, young Birdie and Ben spend their days playing in store stockrooms with little parental supervision. The family is headed for implosion as an economic recession looms. (Random House, out now)
Credit: Gallery Books
Credit: Gallery Books
Despite the title and the coastal setting, Kristy Woodson Harvey’s latest summer romance is filled with more family drama and heavy subject matter than the typical beach read. Daisy is an overwhelmed neonatal nurse in the intensive care unit of a big-city hospital with unresolved childhood issues. In need of a change, she takes a job at a smaller hospital in the seaside town of Cape Carolina. On her first day on the job, high school baseball coach Mason rushes in with a newborn baby he discovered abandoned in a dumpster. Sparks fly and romance blossoms between the coach and the nurse as Daisy’s attachment to the child deepens. Meanwhile, Mason’s eccentric aunt, Tilley, is harboring a deep secret that threatens to upend everyone’s lives. (Gallery Books, out now)
Credit: Simon & Schuster
Credit: Simon & Schuster
Formerly a longtime columnist for the Miami Herald and the author of dozens of books, including essay collections, novels and children’s books, humor writer Dave Barry, 77, delivers an autobiographical account of his eventful life. From being elected class clown in high school to the birth of his journalism career at a small-town paper in Pennsylvania to winning a Pulitzer Prize and playing in a rock band with authors Stephen King and Amy Tan, “Class Clown” is a hilarious look back at a life filled with laughter and occasional sorrows. (Simon & Schuster, out now)
Credit: Ballantine Books
Credit: Ballantine Books
Atlanta author Emily Giffin’s latest romance finds Billie on the precipice of happily ever after. She’s achieved her goals and become a doctor specializing in fertility treatments in New York City, and her boyfriend, Dean, a trauma surgeon, has just popped the question. Her answer is a resounding yes. Then Billie’s past intervenes. Mick O’Leary, her first love from high school with whom she broke things off to pursue her medical degree, calls to drop a bombshell, and Billie is compelled to return home to Milwaukee, where she’s forced to confront unfinished business. Giffin will be in conversation with author Colleen Oakley at Atlanta History Center on July 10. For details go to atlantahistorycenter.com. (Ballantine Books, July 7)
Credit: Mercer University Press
Credit: Mercer University Press
“A Priest Walks into a Waffle House”
Much has transpired since Georgia author and NPR commentator Lauretta Hannon made a splash with her 2010 literary debut, “The Cracker Queen,” a hilarious and harrowing Grit Lit memoir about her Southern childhood. Perhaps most notably, she converted to Catholicism after growing up in an agnostic home. Her spiritual journey has given birth to this new collection of short essays and vignettes that mine the mundane and the bizarre for glimmers of grace and humor with nary a whiff of preachiness. Hannon appears at Bookmiser in Marietta on Aug. 22. For details go to bookmiser.net. (Mercer University Press, Aug. 4)
Suzanne Van Atten is a columnist for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She may be reached at suzanne.vanatten@ajc.com.
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
