Lite 96 Share It

Hot Summer Reads For The Beach

If you're looking for a great book to take to the beach, Leighanne Law from McLean and Eakin Booksellers in Petoskey has some great recommendations. These four books run the gambit of Beach Reads:  from pure escapism to delightful distraction, there is something for every taste and inclination.

The Opposite of Love, by Julie Buxbaum $15.00
From Publisher’s Weekly: “Buxbaum makes an appealing debut with this tale of Yale law graduate Emily Haxby, eager to break through the emotional and professional ties that bind her.’ It's like you get pleasure out of breaking your own heart’, best friend Jess tells Emily after her bustup with her doctor boyfriend. But Emily isn't through self-destructing; she also implodes over her fast-failing Grandpa Jack, from whom Emily learned everything... about life; chilly relations with her lieutenant governor father, Kirk; and a precarious career as a litigator defending big, evil corporations for a Manhattan law firm. This single-gal-in-the-city finds her white-knuckle hold on life and love slowly slipping as it dawns on her that the opposite of love isn't hate, it's emptiness.”

Real Life and Liars, by Kristina Riggle $13.99
This book is set in Charlevoix! “Mirabelle and Max Zielinski’s children have returned home for their parents’ thirtieth anniversary. Mirabelle must tell them that she was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer, but they’re preoccupied with their own crises. Katya, the eldest, hides behind a perfectly controlled front, but her marriage and affluent lifestyle are in jeopardy. Ivan, the moody middle child, keeps pursuing the wrong women and can’t get his songwriting career off the ground. The youngest, Irina, shows up with a surprise husband and pregnancy. Faced with her mortality, Mirabelle is stricken by how her children have diverged from her hippie upbringing and wonders if they still need her. Riggle crafts a moving and accomplished first novel about a family coming to terms with change."

The Black Dagger Brotherhood series, by J.R. Ward $7.99
Adult Twilight junkies will find this adventure/fantasy/romance series to be positively addictive. Ward’s characters are fully realized, yet flawed, heart throbs. Her dialogue is punchy, the tempo is snappy and the plot is just plain fun.  The first in the series, Dark Lover takes us to Caldwell, New York where there's a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Yet none of them relishes killing more than Wrath, the leader of The Black Dagger Brotherhood.

The only purebred vampire left on earth, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But, when one of his most trusted fighters is killed-leaving his half-breed daughter unaware of his existence or her fate-Wrath must usher her into the world of the undead-a world of sensuality beyond her wildest dreams.

Finger-Lickin’ Fifteen, by Janet Evanovich $27.95
From Publisher’s Weekly: When Stephanie Plum’s wheelman Lula inadvertently witnesses the beheading of culinary TV star Stanley Chipotle in a Trenton, N.J., alley, Stephanie's on-again off-again boyfriend, cop Joe Morelli, reluctantly takes the case. Lula, with the help of Grandma Mazur, enters the same barbequing competition Chipotle was in town to promote, hoping to lure the murderers out of hiding. Meanwhile, Ranger has recruited Stephanie to help solve a series of break-ins at properties under the protection of Rangeman Security. The inevitable sparks fly between Stephanie and Ranger, with Morelli grumbling on the sidelines. Evanovich dishes up…a mixture of shoot-'em-up action (numerous cars explode) and quirky characters (notably a neighborhood flasher with a devoted following) in her newest book.

Great New Non-Fiction To Curl Up With

Lite 96.3's Book Blogger Leighanne Law from McLean and Eakin Booksellers in Petoskey has some great recommendations of some new non-fiction. So if you're looking for a new read, pick up one of these!

The Path Between the Seas, by David McCullough $18.00

The story of the Panama Canal is complex, full of heroes, villains, and victims. McCullough's long, richly detailed, and eminently literate book pays homage to an immense undertaking. 

Shadow Divers, Robert Kurson $16.00
This superlative journalistic narrative tells of John Chatterton and Rich Kohler, two deep-sea wreck divers who in 1991 dove to a mysterious wreck lying at the perilous depth of 230 feet, off the coast of New Jersey. Both had a philosophy of excelling and pushing themselves to the limit; both needed all their philosophy and fitness to proceed once they had identified the wreck as a WWII U-boat. As Kurson, a writer for Esquire, narrates in this debut, the two divers next undertook a seven-year search for the U-boat's identity inside the wreck, in a multitude of archives and in a host of human memories.

Zookeeper’s Wife, by Diane Ackerman $14.95
 Ackerman (A Natural History of the Senses) tells the remarkable WWII story of Jan Zabinski, the director of the Warsaw Zoo, and his wife, Antonina, who, with courage and coolheaded ingenuity, sheltered 300 Jews as well as Polish resisters in their villa and in animal cages and sheds.

20 Chickens for a Saddle, by Robyn Scott $15.00
 When Robyn Scott 's parents decide to uproot their young family from New Zealand and move to a converted cowshed in rural Botswana, life for six-year-old Robyn changed forever. In this wild and new landscape excitement can be found around every corner, and with each misadventure she and her family learn more about the quirks, charms, and challenges of living in one of Africa's most remarkable and beautiful countries as it stands on the brink of an epidemic.

The Beach or A Quiet Corner... Here's The Perfect Book Just For You

No matter how you spend Spring Break... on the beach or just curled up at home in a quiet corner, Leighanne Law of McLean and Eakin Booksellers in Petoskey has the lastest on some hot fiction you won't be able to put down.

In the Woods, by Tana French $14.00
In this gripping, psychological thriller, we meet the charming, quick-witted Detective Rob Ryan and his partner and best friend Cassie Maddox. As a child, Rob was the sole survivor of a murder that stole both his best friends and any memory of the event. But, when the body of a young girl is discovered on the exact site of his childhood trauma, Rob thinks he sees a chance to put things right and solve both cases simultaneously. Absolutely smart and riveting writing!

Leisure Seeker, by Michael Zadoorian $24.99
John and Ella Robina have shared a wonderful life for more than fifty years. Yearning for one last adventure, the self-proclaimed "down-on-their-luck geezers" kidnap themselves from the adult children and doctors who seem to run their lives to steal away from their home in suburban Detroit on a forbidden vacation of rediscovery. Darkly observant, told with humor, affection, and a touch of irony, The Leisure Seeker is an odyssey through the ghost towns, deserted trailer parks, forgotten tourist attractions, giant roadside icons, and crumbling back roads of America. Join McLean & Eakin in welcoming Mr. Zadoorian as a guest speaker for our Booked for Lunch, Tuesday, August 4th from noon-2 pm. 

Painter of Battles, Auturo Perez-Reverte $14.00
The author of Club Dumas delivers another taut literary thriller with his newest novel, The Painter of Battles. Andres Faulques—a war photographer and painter—is holed up in a tower purging his traumatic memories on a canvas when a stranger visits his refuge. The stranger was the subject of one of Falques most famous photographs, and plans to kill the photographer for ruining his life. But first, he wants to tell him how he altered the course of his fate.

A Reliable Wife, by  Robert Goolrick $24.95
“When Catherine Land, who's survived a traumatic early life by using her wits and sexuality as weapons, happens on a newspaper ad from a well-to-do businessman in need of a "reliable wife," she invents a plan to benefit from his riches and his need. Her new husband, Ralph Truitt, discovers she's deceived him the moment she arrives in his remote hometown. Driven by a complex mix of emotions and simple animal attraction, he marries her anyway. After the wedding, Catherine helps Ralph search for his estranged son and, despite growing misgivings, begins to poison him with small doses of arsenic. Ralph sickens but doesn't die, and their story unfolds in ways neither they nor the reader expect. This darkly nuanced psychological tale builds to a strong and satisfying close. (Mar.)”Publishers Weekly.

Starvation Lake, by Brian Gruley $14.00
McLean & Eakin is abuzz with talk of Brian Gruley’s debut book, Starvation Lake. The eponymously titled novel takes place in Northern Michigan and staff and customers alike have compared it to Steve Hamilton and Dennis Lehane’s books. After some shady dealings working for the Detroit Times, reporter Gus Carpenter heads home to Starvation Lake, MI for some peace and quiet. However, soon the whole town is shaken up by the re-opening of a ten-year old cold case.
Be sure to stop in McLean & Eakin Friday, July 17 from 6-8 pm to meet and greet the author!

Stop into M&E today for other great book suggestions!

McLean & Eakin, Booksellers
307 East Lake Street Petoskey, MI 49770
231-347-1180
www.mcleanandeakin.com

 

Curl Up With The Latest In Great Reads

Leighanne Law from McLean and Eakin Booksellers in Petoskey has this week's recommendations for some great reads. So curl up on the sofa with a cup of tea, or if you're so lucky, pack them in your back for a spring break getaway and enjoy!

Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer
It is 1946 and author Juliet Ashton is searching for her next book subject when she receives a letter from the Guernsey isles, the only British Island to be occupied by the Nazis in World War II. Through a remarkable correspondence with the people of the island, Juliet's life is changed forever.

Sing them Home, by Stephanie Kallos                                                                                         
From the best-selling author of Broken for You, comes a sweeping family saga set in the
heartland of Nebraska in the late 1970s. Sing them Home opens with a bang as Hope Jones, Nebraska mother of three, is whisked away by a tornado, her body never found. The story picks up twenty-five years later, when Llewelyn Jones is killed by a fatal stroke of lightning. His three children—all grown, but not grown up—gather for his funeral. "This novel will find a welcome audience in anyone who has experienced grief, struggled with family ties or, most importantly, appreciates blossoming talent," says PW magazine.

 

Addition, by Toni Jordan
A young woman struggles with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in this funny, poignant book, which author Emily Giffin calls "a delight." Grace Vandenburg's world is made up of numbers and rituals. The number of poppy seeds on a muffin dictates the number of bites she must take. She sits in the same seat of the same café with the same grouchy waitress every day. But, when she finds a young man sitting in her seat one day, she finds she must change her rituals, which end up changing her life.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
The Help by Karen Stockett
Set in the 1960s in Birmingham, Alabama The Help is the story of Skeeter, a young woman who's just returned home with a journalism degree and no job. While she is looking for a position, she re-connects with all her childhood friends, many of whom are now married and in houses of their own. Skeeter is struck by the condescending manner with which her friends treat their African-American maids and sets out to interview these women in secret.

                                                                                                        
The Women by T.C. Boyle
Is it easy to live with a genius like Frank Lloyd Wright? The Women blazes with insights into the life of the quirky, tempestuous architect and shows the man through the eyes of the women is his life. Defying conventions whether they be moral, romantic or ascetic, Wright never let anything get in his way; each triumph and defeat were inextricably tied to a woman he loved.

Stop in to McLean & Eakin to get your book fix!
307 East Lake Street, Petoskey, MI 49770
231-347-1180 or visit us online at mcleanandeakin.com