Such an apt title. Plus, the cover of Summer Reading was perfectly suited to the title. There's a pair of cherry red sunglasses resting on a paperback book, all of which is lying on sand. After just one look at the cover, I was left feeling nostalgic for the beach and the early days of summer break.
...SPOILERS...
Picture this: a cheerful summer day with a quaint ladies' book
club meeting on the porch of a posh home in the Hamptons. Two of the ladies
(alternating main characters) have dirty secrets. One is a frumpy English
teacher who had an affair with her best friend's husband, and the other is an
empty-headed blonde who envies her stepchildren. As overly dramatic and
Desperate Housewives-esque it seems, this is the basic premise of Summer
Reading. The plot is just as silly as it sounds, with the English teacher
eventually becoming friends with the daughter of the man she had an affair
with. On the other side, the ditzy woman leaves her car keys in the ignition
(despite being told not to do so), which leads to her step kids running over a
dog and crashing the car. Such absurd events make up the story, and it seems
like a parody at times, satirizing stereotypical characters. It is a
cringeworthy novel, but in a train-wreck manner, where I was still captivated.
For somewhat entertaining me, or at least eliciting a hint of amusement, I would give this novel 3 stars out of 5.
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