July 2, 2015

Get Your Beach Reads Here

By Tayla Burney

The beach is a no-brainer getaway for the summer. But bring a book, and you may be doubly transported! Whether you’re taken to modern-day Oxford University for a royally inspired romance or small-town Ohio in the 1970s for a riveting family drama, Kojo Show producer Tayla Burney has recommendations to make your weekend getaway count.

If you’re looking to do some binge reading this summer, Tana French’s five novels, which are tied together under the heading of the ‘Dublin Murder Squad’ series, are it. This latest title will be out in paperback in August, which gives you time to get through the first four: ‘In the Woods’; ‘The Likeness’; ‘Broken Harbour’; and ‘Faithful Place.’ What I like about them is that while they feature recurring characters a different one takes center stage in each – Jonathan Wilson actually interviewed her about this approach to a series as part of our Morning Edition Book Club project. You can read them completely out of order, like I did, and not be lost. My favorite in the series might be ‘Faithful Place’ in which French writes about Dublin the way Pelecanos writes about D.C. – it’s a love story, warts and all. And the family of Detective Frank Mackey takes center stage in that one and they’re just a really interesting bunch with a sort of dysfunctional dynamic. Mackey returns in ‘The Secret Place’ when a dead body shows up on the campus of his daughter’s school.
French can’t finish her next soon enough for me…

In which the real-life love story of Will and Kate – the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge – is reimagined with an American – Rebecca Porter, known as Bex – cast as our heroine. What I love about this novel is that the premise could have easily resulted in a schlocky, derivative bit of fluff, but Heather and Jessica are so talented and clever that it becomes an original and quite sweet love story. It’s also terribly funny and perfect for the Anglophiles.

I should note that when Kramerbooks in Dupont Circle hosted them they drew a crowd of about 200 people, so if you think #thistown doesn’t read this stuff, think again. This is the most pure, unadulterated fun I’ve had reading a book in a while. And the Fug Girls’ website just turned 11 so check them out there, too.

This novel got a fair amount of attention when it came out…but I will admit I’m a cover judger. The hardback copy cover was nice, but didn’t grab me. However, as soon as the paperback crossed my desk I wanted to start it immediately. It features a great image of someone swimming through choppy waters that just makes you want to know where she’s going and what her story is.

Inside awaits a pretty dark tale of a family that is broken – the Lees, parents Marilyn and James whose daughter, really their favorite child, Lydia goes missing and is eventually found drowned in the lake near their home. You find out that, even before this happened, for reasons ranging from the mundane to profound, this family of five are functionally strangers living under one roof. They love and are even dependent on one another, but they have little idea – or are loathe to acknowledge – what motivates them. After Lydia’s death they’re no longer able to ignore the rifts that have driven them apart or the threads that keep them together. A chilling tale, beautifully told.

Clueless’ is a movie near and dear to my heart – the plot draws on Jane Austen’s ‘Emma’ and really speaks to what I think is a universal plight for young women – their desire to be taken seriously. It’s also a movie that had an outsized effect on our culture and the movie industry. Local pop culture writer and critic Jen Chaney, has taken a dive into the backstory of how it was made two decades after the fact. It’s a lightening in a bottle story that will make you laugh out loud at some of the casting possibilities considered, leave you a bit frustrated by the challenges women face in Hollywood and ultimately have you wanting to re-watch the movie on loop now that you know where the idea to play ‘suck and blow’ at the Val party came from.