Book recommendations for Nashville house-hunters, beach readers and more
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It might not be June 21, but summer is here, and so is peak reading season.
The big picture: Whether you're slathered in sunscreen at the beach or sitting near an oscillating fan indoors, there's a book out there that perfectly fits your situation.
- Here are some stories we can vouch for:
📚 If it's a staycation for you this year: "Whistler" by Ann Patchett.
- Released this week, our hometown bookstore owner's latest has a beautiful cover by local painter Noah Saterstrom, whose painting "Maeve" is the cover of her 2019 book "The Dutch House."
- Autographed prints are available next week.
🏡 If you're house-hunting in Nashville: "Best Offer Wins" by Marisa Kashino.
- This one will have you eyeing your fellow open house attendees because it turns out the market — and desperation, trespassing, stalking — can escalate quickly.
🚗 If you're the road trip type: "The Road to Tender Hearts" by Annie Hartnett.
- A lottery winner drives across the country with his estranged brother's grandkids to win over an old flame. But the main draw is the nursing home's prescient therapy cat, Pancakes.
🏝️ If you're heading down 30A for a beach house summer: "Rental House" by Weike Wang + "Sandwich" by Catherine Newman.
- Not everyone vacations the same, yet the rental cottage's plumbing is sure to have issues. (But salt air and the rust on your door: Have you ever needed anything more?)
🥺 If you're feeling lonely: "The Satisfaction Cafe" by Kathy Wang.
- It's hard to make friends as an adult. The protagonist's small-business idea helps ease the initial conversation to foster a connection.
🏊 If the pool feels too good: "The Most" by Jessica Anthony.
- A tennis champ turned stay-at-home mom gets into the pool one morning — and refuses to get out. Icon?
🚢 If you're about to get on a boat: "A Marriage at Sea" by Sophie Elmhirst and "American Fantasy" by Emma Straub.
- The former is the true story of a couple that resorts to eating turtles raw after their boat sinks in the Pacific and they're lost for 118 days in 1972.
- The latter is inspired by a New Kids on the Block fan cruise. Fun!
🦋 If this new season sees you in a new home: "Enormous Wings" by Laurie Frankel.
- A new retirement community resident in Texas gets pregnant. But it's so much more than motherhood and body autonomy, and contains all the best of Frankel's revered dialogue.
💔 If you're missing your college crush: "Heart the Lover" by Lily King.
- I feel personally victimized by this book and was caught off guard by how I sobbed upon finishing it. Had to watch an episode or two of "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" (with my crush-turned-spouse) as a balm.
💕 If "When Harry Met Sally" is your go-to rom-com: "Exit Lane" by Erika Veurink.
- It's got a postgraduation road trip, years of chance encounters, plus some smooches.
🎲 If you have a weekly D&D night: "Mazes and Monsters" by Rona Jaffe.
- This fantasy role-playing game, which some might call a grown-up's "Jumanji," gets way out of hand.
🍼 If your impending season is parenthood: "The Push" by Ashley Audrain.
- A psychological drama I read years ago and still think about weekly. What's real versus imagined? And who's really in charge: child or parent?
🤬 If you live for family drama: "Buckeye" by Patrick Ryan.
- One of those epic, historical, generation-spanning novels you hope will never end. It starts on V-E Day in a small, fictional Ohio town and is at turns intimate, pining and complacent. I wish I could read it again for the first time.
What's next: What did we miss? Email [email protected] to tell us what you're reading this summer!