CityView Magazine

50 August 2022 GOOD READS Summer reading, summer fun BY DIANE PARFITT S ummer will be over before we know it, but we don't want to miss out on any summer reading. School will be starting soon, vacations will be over, and we all will be getting ready for fall. Why not take these last few weeks to read some of the best books of the year, some that are not only great reads but fun, too? 1. "Verity'' by Colleen Hoover When Verity Crawford, a best-selling author, is injured, her husband, Jeremy, hires Lowen Ashleigh to work on his wife's unfinished books. Ashleigh, a struggling writer, sees this as her dream job, but little does she know she will also be uncovering some long-held secrets. She finds Verity's unfinished autobiography, which the famous author never intended to publish. Family secrets are revealed, and Ashleigh must decide whether to tell Jeremy what his wife has been hiding from him all these years. 2. "The Summer I Turned Pretty'' by Jenny Han With a title like that, who could pass up this book? Who hasn't dreamed of a transformation of some sort over the summer? For Isabel, aka Belly, summer is the time for all good things to happen. Belly and her family spend the summer at the beach house of her mother's best friend. All the kids hang out together, and a summer romance is bound to happen. As Belly navigates through all this, she begins to mature and finds out that even with wonderful and terrible things happening, in the end, they may end up like they should have all along. is is the first of the author's YA Trilogy, which are more than just coming-of-age stories. ey deal with friendships, love triangles, trust, family relationships, and grief. 3. "Sparring Partners'' by John Grisham Here we have three John Grisham stories, each too short to be a novel and too long to be a short story. Together, they make a terrific book that is funny and suspenseful while telling powerful stories that will move you and remind you why you have always loved Grisham's work. In "Homecoming," we revisit Jake Brigance, a favorite Grisham lawyer who is called on to help a former friend who le town under suspicious circumstances. In "Strawberry Moon," the most poignant story in this book, we are kept on the edge of our seats as a young death-row inmate, only hours from his execution, has exhausted all his attempts at clemency but has one final request. e title story, "Sparring Partners," is just that. Two successful young lawyers inherit the thriving law practice of their father, who has been sent to prison. e problem is, the brothers hate each other. 4. "Malibu Rising'' by Taylor Jenkins Reid Picture this: One night, one family of four famous siblings, and one extravagant end-of-summer party at a Malibu mansion in August 1983. Everyone wants to mingle with the famous Riva siblings. ey include Nina, a supermodel and talented surfer; Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer, the other a famous photographer; and their beloved little sister, Kit. Each has a story and possibly a few secrets that will break them apart. e alcohol will flow, the music will be loud, and secrets will unravel. And then, the Malibu Beach mansion will go up in flames. Can they rise above the chaos and secrets and leave behind the past? 5. "Run Rose Run'' by Dolly Parton and James Patterson James Patterson has written more than 200 books, and at least half of them have 1 2 3 5 Is your home "Back to School" Ready? Have peace of mind that your kids arrived home safely. Keyless door locks • Video Doorbells • Security Cameras Alarm Systems • Monitored Smoke & CO detectors 24/7/365 LOCAL Monitoring 910.483.1196 • HolmesSecurity.net 4 6

• Cover