By Leslie Lindsay
Instead of throwing out another excerpt of what I am writing today, thought I’d share a few of my must-read summer selections. Whether you’re going away to a tropical location or just sitting comfortably in an air conditioned library, I am sure you, too have a love for reading.
Here goes!
The Engagements by J. Courtney Sullivan. Who doesn’t love J. Courtney Sullivan and her epic stories of girlfriends in college (Commencement), East Coast Irish-Catholic families (Maine) and now her lastest, THE ENGAGEMENTS? This one is a slice of American–and 
French–marriage. Cascading through time, going back as far as 1947 and ending with “present-day” 2012, we meet a host of characters, from Frances a single woman in the 1940s-50’s who coined the phrase, “A diamond is forever” to 1972 and the scandal of divorce, moving right along to 1987 and the world of paramedics and a family struggling financially…to 2003 where we delve into a world of music and all things French and finally wrapping things up with a gay wedding of 2012.
Caroline Leavitt’s IS THIS TOMORROW also hits my Summer reading list. Loved this portrayal of a single Jewish mother raising a son in the 1950’s suburbs of Boston. When one of the son’s friends goes missing, the entire community is baffled. Part history, part suspence, part women’s fiction, we are thrust into a world of secrets, lies and 
disillusionment. The books transcends time and culture with the advent of a male nursing assistant in 1963, as well as single–and dating–Jewish mothers of the 1950’s. According to Ms. Leavitt, “I was an only Jewish kid growing up in the Christian suburbs and I wanted to write about that.”
HE’S GONE by Deb Caletti truly resonated with me. Wow. This book was packed with wonderful description and imagery, gritty and compelling language, and with a 
twist I didn’t really see coming. Well, parts of it I did. What would happen if you woke up one morning and your spouse was just gone? This is what Dani Keller experiences one Sunday…a day turns into two and then a week. Where is her husband?! This one reminded me a lot of last summer’s GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn (which, is another must-read).
THE LONGINGS OF WAYWARD GIRLS by debut novelist Angela Brown. 
While this author has published short stories (and poetry, I believe), she now has her first novel coming onto the scene July 2nd. This one is also set in New England summer suburbia where the days are long and the longings are…well, it’s all about the split between adolesence and childhood. Looks captivating.
SISTERLAND. A new book from author Curtis Sittenfeld. A to-be-released any day book, this one is definitely on my to-read list. Twin sisters just happen to be psychic. One o
f them is named Kate (my daughter’s name) and it takes place in the St. Louis area (my hometown)
To See what the Editors of Writer’s Digest of Reading this Summer, Click here:
Leslie A. Lindsay| Writer & Creative 