By Anderson McKean of Page & Pallette
Summer reading is something I look forward to all year long. When the hustle and bustle of the end of the school gets overwhelming, I look toward my stack of summer reads to get me across the finish line. Each of the following books offer beautifully written, immersive stories filled with unforgettable characters — the kind of people you want to spend time with on a lazy summer day!
FELLOWSHIP POINT
by Alice Elliott Dark
Oh how I loved Fellowship Point! Alice Elliott Dark has penned a lyrically written, epic family saga that I devoured. This lovely novel follows the decades-long friendship of Polly and Agnes, two special women whose lives are inextricably linked, but whose families and careers take them along different paths. When a myriad of buried memories and secrets emerge, their loyalties to one another, to their beloved Fellowship Point, and to themselves are tested beyond measure.
THESE SILENT WOODS
by Kimi Cunningham Grant
An absolutely fabulous literary mystery that I could not put down. Vivid, atmospheric and engrossing, These Silent Woods is the riveting story of a fiercely devoted father raising his daughter in a remote cabin in the woods, protecting her from mistakes he made in his past. I dare readers not to fall in love with Cooper and Finch, Marie and Scotland. Kimi Cunningham Grant’s extraordinary novel is both heartbreaking and hopeful, and a must read!
THE MEASURE
by Nikki Erlick
Such a fascinating, thought-provoking read! In Nikki Erlick’s The Measure, we follow a remarkable group of individuals as they navigate the mysterious arrival of a box with their short or long string — an inexplicable prediction of their life expectancy. Each of their decisions on how to embrace or defy their strings and make a lasting impact on the world was both touching and inspiring!
ANY OTHER FAMILY
by Eleanor Brown
I adored Eleanor Brown’s Weird Sisters, the dynamics between the sisters in particular. In her latest novel, Any Other Family, Brown turns her attention to three mothers who have created a unique, messy and unbreakable family through an open adoption of siblings. An adoptive mother herself, Brown tackled the complexities of fertility and adoption — from the perspectives of the mothers, fathers and the children — with sincerity and grace.