…My Summer Reads

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Rachel Pastanâ€™s first novel is pure pleasure-a crisp and witty page-turner for smart women everywhere. The Rubin daughters are three eligible sisters from an affluent suburban Philadelphia family whose well-meaning but domineering mother is single-mindedly determined to see them all happily married.
The book opens at a Sunday brunch where Dr. Rubin, mother and obstetrician, is scheming to introduce her eldest daughter, Alice, to a doctor who is almost too good to be true. But why hasnâ€™t Alice been able to find a husband on her own? Is her sister Isabel, the real heroine of the story, genuinely happy in her marriage? And is Tina, the youngest of the sisters, as shallow as she seems, or is she something worse than shallow?
Reminiscent of the work of Laurie Colwin, This Side of Married is a brilliant, ironic domestic comedy of manners. Full of surprises, yet filled with feeling, This Side of Married is witty, intelligent, and utterly delicious.

At the first of every month, when the office has reached its pinnacle of hysteria, Maggie, Roxanne, and Candice meet at London’s swankiest bar for an evening of cocktails and gossip. Here, they chat about what’s new in their lives and what’s new at The Londoner, the glossy fashion magazine where they all work. But beneath the girl talk and the laughter, each of the three has something to hide: High-achiever Maggie is pregnant, and terrified at the prospect of becoming a mother; glamorous Roxanne is losing hope that her secret lover will leave his wife; and kindhearted Candice cannot escape the guilty secret that as pursued her since childhood.When a chance encounter at the cocktail bar sets in motion an extraordinary chain of events, their lives quickly spin out of control and their friendship is stretched to the limit. Suddenly Maggie, Roxanne, and Candice must face their fears and troubles alone, and it is only a matter of time before one of them snaps.

Three women arrive at the local airport, observed by Josh, a Nantucket native home from college for the summer. Burdened with small children, unwieldy straw hats, and some obvious emotional issues, the women– two sisters and one friend–make their way to the sisters’ tiny cottage, inherited from an aunt. They’re all trying to escape from something: Melanie, after seven failed in-vitro attempts, learned her husband was having an affair, and then discovered she’s pregnant; Brenda embarked on a passionate affair with an older student that got her fired from her prestigious job as a professor in New York; and her sister Vicki, mother to two small boys, has been diagnosed with lung cancer. Soon Josh is part of the chaotic household, acting as babysitter, confidant, and, eventually, lover.

A fresh and hilarious debut novel about commitment, competition, and the occasional joys of unencumbered sex, for readers of Pride and Prejudice to The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing. Sometimes being left in the lurch is the best thing that can happen to you. Alison Hopkins’s live-in boyfriend, Tom, goes out in the middle of a dinner party to buy a jar of mustard, then calls her from a pay phone to tell her he won’t be coming home. He’s left her for his beautiful ex-girlfriend Kate Pearce, the kind of woman about whom men say rhapsodically, “She’s like a drug.” Alison had always feared that Tom’s looks would land her in trouble–having a handsome boyfriend is like having a white couch, an invitation to disaster. But if Tom isn’t her Big Love, who is? Alison embraces her freedom, buys “hiking boots and lacy underwear,” and sets out on a stroll down the midway of love. From an eye-opening fling with her new boss to an unexpected proposal from an old friend, Alison samples love’s many varieties–all the while talking obsessively with her girlfriends, comparing stories, and working through a lifetime of conflicting beliefs about trust, faith, and commitment. In spite of (or perhaps because of) her neuroses, Alison finds a surprising kind of triumph–and an irrational faith that the Big Love may be nearer than it appears. Sarah Dunn wrote on the staff of Murphy Brown, Veronica’s Closet, and Spin City before leaving TV to write this novel. She lives in New York City.

Images and Descriptions courtesy of PaperbackSwap.com.

Use to be that this number of books would be my weekly reading list back in the days before work and other committments. This year I’ll be lucky to finish them by the end of summer. That’s part of the beauty of the swapping site….read at my leisure, re-post, and re-order new books.