Beach Reading with Stacey Loscalzo

Today's guest post is from my blogging buddy Stacey! I'm so excited that she is here to share some of her favorite summer reads, because she is always one of my go-to's for book recommendations. For more great posts from Stacey check out her blog, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest! Thanks so much for helping me out this week Stacey!

I am so thrilled to join you in at Moira’s great space as her family starts out on their new adventure. And I’m also super happy that her big move brings her closer to my part of the world. I really hope we get to meet in person.

I know if we do get a chance to meet, reading and books will be one of the very first things we discuss. Maybe right after her watermelon gin and tonic recipe which I am dying to try but anyway, I digress…

Moira and I are both huge readers so when I was thinking about ideas for blog posts, I thought it would be fun if I shared some of our family’s favorite summer reads thus far.

So here goes…

Favorite Beach Read: Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead. This spring I read and loved Shipstead’s Astonish Me so I was shocked that I hadn’t read her previous book. The two books felt really different to me but equally well written. Seating Arrangements takes place over the course of one wedding weekend and getting to know the family of the bride was tons of fun. This would be a perfect beach read.

Favorite Book I Can’t Believe I Didn’t Read Sooner: StillAlice by Lisa Genova. Still Alice is told from the perspective of Alice, a Harvard professor who is diagnosed with early on-set Alzheimer’s. Somehow the book is both funny and sad and it certainly made me nervous each time I forgot where I put my car keys.

Favorite Young Adult Book: The Disreputable History ofFrankie Landau-Banks. By E. Lockhart. When I finished and really, really liked We Were Liars, also by E. Lockhart, my favorite bookseller told me I really had to read her earlier work, about a strong female protagonist who questions all that is happening at her boarding school. Much like Seating Arrangements and Astonish Me, Lockhart’s two books felt quite different but were both well worth the read.

Favorite Re-Read: The Giver by Lois Lowry. I have been trying to get my eleven-year to read The Giver for a long time now. She kept refusing because she was ‘creeped out’ by the old man on the cover. When I saw a book with a ‘movie tie in’ cover, despite my general dis-like for these covers, I bought it. And I am so, so glad I did. My daughter read the book in a day and we have had amazing conversations about the dystopian tale ever since.

Favorite Read Aloud: The Doll Family by Ann Martin. My youngest is devouring all sorts of early chapter books including current favorite series such as The Critter Club, Stella Batts and Heidi Hecklebeck. During our read aloud time though (my favorite time of the day!), we are reading The Doll Family, a story about what our dolls are really doing when we are asleep. It is a fun summer read that has led us to wonder exactly what might be happening in our own house during the wee hours of the night.

Despite the fact that there are teetering piles of books all over our house, I am always looking for new titles to add to my to be read list. Please come visit my blog at www.staceyloscalzo.com or leave a comment here to let me know what I should read next.

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