Get Ready… Summer's Gonna Sizzle

Welcome to the The Sunday Salon and Summer! Yes, finally the weather matches the calendar and we can declare longer days with lazy nights, margarita's by the water, and SUMMER READING!

Summer is going to sizzle too! There is plenty summer reading to be had by our favorite authors! (And not to wish summer away, but there are some great books coming out this fall too!) What's your pleasure? Romance, thrillers, murder?  Let's take a peek at what you should be adding to your summer TBR list!

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart… from the publisher:

A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.

We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart. 

Read it.

And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

I'm intrigued! I love the smart description from the publisher too! Last time I found a cryptic book description like that was on Little Bee by Chris Cleave and that book was fantastic.  This book has gotten amazing reviews so far! It is suppose to be a YA novel , but from what I gather it's not exactly being sold as YA, because I guess that would "pigeon hole" it in a particular genre, and the story should be enjoyed by adults as well. It is on my TBR list! Sounds great and the small bit of a sample I read I enjoyed. Published by Delacorte Press (Random House) is was published in May of this year!

The Good Girl by Mary Kubica… "I've been following her for the past few days. I know where she buys her groceries, where she has her dry cleaning done, where she works. I don't know the color of her eyes or what they look like when she's scared. But I will." 

Born to a prominent Chicago judge and his stifled socialite wife, Mia Dennett moves against the grain as a young inner-city art teacher. One night, Mia enters a bar to meet her on-again, off-again boyfriend. But when he doesn't show, she unwisely leaves with an enigmatic stranger. With his smooth moves and modest wit, at first Colin Thatcher seems like a safe one-night stand. But following Colin home will turn out to be the worst mistake of Mia's life.  Colin's job was to abduct Mia as part of a wild extortion plot and deliver her to his employers. But the plan takes an unexpected turn when Colin suddenly decides to hide Mia in a secluded cabin in rural Minnesota, evading the police and his deadly superiors. Mia's mother, Eve, and detective Gabe Hoffman will stop at nothing to find them, but no one could have predicted the emotional entanglements that eventually cause this family's world to shatter. 

Can you say thriller?! Yes, this a suspense thriller from first time writer, Mary Kubica. The Good Girl has gotten a lot of great pre-release press, and sounds like it will make a perfect summer read! But this one we'll have to wait for until July 29, 2014, when Harlequin MIRA will publish it!

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King… In a mega-stakes, high-suspense race against time, three of the most unlikely and winning heroes Stephen King has ever created try to stop a lone killer from blowing up thousands. In the frigid pre-dawn hours, in a distressed Midwestern city, hundreds of desperate unemployed folks are lined up for a spot at a job fair. Without warning, a lone driver plows through the crowd in a stolen Mercedes, running over the innocent, backing up, and charging again. Eight people are killed; fifteen are wounded. The killer escapes. In another part of town, months later, a retired cop named Bill Hodges is still haunted by the unsolved crime. When he gets a crazed letter from someone who self-identifies as the “perk” and threatens an even more diabolical attack, Hodges wakes up from his depressed and vacant retirement, hell-bent on preventing another tragedy. Brady Hartsfield lives with his alcoholic mother in the house where he was born. He loved the feel of death under the wheels of the Mercedes, and he wants that rush again. Only Bill Hodges, with a couple of highly unlikely allies, can apprehend the killer before he strikes again. And they have no time to lose, because Brady’s next mission, if it succeeds, will kill or maim thousands. Mr. Mercedes is a war between good and evil, from the master of suspense whose insight into the mind of this obsessed, insane killer is chilling and unforgettable.

Is Stephen King back?! I had kind of given up on him, until The Dome. I just didn't get that spark when I read any of his newer books. He had retired, then he came back with a new book, what is going on? Well, Mr. Mercedes sounds like old Stephen King to me. The sample I read I liked, but this is summer and let's have fun reading Stephen King without being wary. Does it have to be his best? Does it have to make me want to leave the lights on when I'm reading (Like The Shining did)? No, so I'm willing to give this a try for the fun of it. Lot's of people have given it great reviews. Published by Scribner (Simon & Schuster) it is available now!

Written in My Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon… 1778: France declares war on Great Britain, the British army leaves Philadelphia, and George Washington’s troops leave Valley Forge in pursuit. At this moment, Jamie Fraser returns from a presumed watery grave to discover that his best friend has married his wife, his illegitimate son has discovered (to his horror) who his father really is, and his beloved nephew, Ian, wants to marry a Quaker. Meanwhile, Jamie’s wife, Claire, and his sister, Jenny, are busy picking up the pieces. The Frasers can only be thankful that their daughter Brianna and her family are safe in twentieth-century Scotland. Or not. In fact, Brianna is  searching for her own son, who was kidnapped by a man determined to learn her family’s secrets. Her husband, Roger, has ventured into the past in search of the missing boy . . . never suspecting that the object of his quest has not left the present. Now, with Roger out of the way, the kidnapper can focus on his true target: Brianna herself.

How can I talk about Summer Sizzler's without mentioning the newest book in the time traveling romance Outlander Series!?! After 7 books, Outlander fans still want more, and Diana Gabaldon has been gracious enough to give us more! If you are not familiar with the Outlander Series, it is the amazing time traveling romance between 20th century Claire and 18th century Scottish Highlander Jamie. It is HOT and at the writing is superb. The series starts with Outlander, and if you haven't read it, pick it up NOW. It's a big one, though, at almost 900 pages. Published by Delacorte Press (Random House) it is available now from your favorite book seller!

Do you have any plans for reading this summer? What's on your TBR list? I've had quite a few books on my plate so far, including a graphic novel This One Summer by  Mariko and Jillian Tamaki, that I loved and will be reviewing by the end of the week, and Garth Stein's newest offering called A Sudden Light, which was fabulous! You'll see the review for that this week too! Stop by the next few "Memoir Mondays" to find some great new memoirs you are going to want to read! And in the meantime…

Happy Reading… Suzanne