Hamptons Beach Reading: Mysteries, Miracles and a Wall Street Mess

Choosing a beach book to enjoy here in the Hamptons is not an undertaking to be considered lightly. Are you looking for heartfelt humor or some hardcore history? Maybe a bit of both? You’re in luck. From a visit back to 1930s Greenwich Village to the Wall Street of the last presidential race, our friends at Books & Books in Westhampton Beach make this week’s summer reading list something of a blast to a past full of laughs, romance and a portrait of a presidency.

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

Now in paperback, the Rules of Civility is the entertaining tale of a young woman whose life is about to change. The scene is Greenwich Village on New Year’s Eve in 1937 when 25-year-old Katey Kontent meets Tinker Grey in a jazz bar. The consequences of this chance meeting propel her on a year-long journey into upper-class New York society. With intricate imagery and appealing characters, this book will dazzle and envelop you.

The Line Between Here and Gone by Andrea Kane

Amanda Gleason’s newborn son is battling a rare immune deficiency and his father is his only hope for survival—a father who was brutally murdered before Amanda even knew she was pregnant…or was he? An e-mailed recent photo of a man who looks identical to Paul changes everything. Now the Forensic Instincts team is chasing a ghost, battling the child’s ticking time clock, but did the man Amanda fell in love with ever really exist? Now that they’re on the case, nothing will stop the FI team from uncovering the shocking truth. Author Andrea Kane will be joining Books & Books at Westhampton Free Library on August 12^th—don’t miss it!

The World Without You by Joshua Henkin

It’s July 4, 2005, the one-year anniversary of the death of Leo Frankel, a journalist who perished while on assignment in Iraq. His parents are heavily grieving and fighting for their 40-year marriage, while his sisters’ eccentric personalities create some fireworks, and Leo’s widow from California holds a secret of her own. As his loving family joins together at their beloved summer home in the Berkshires to memorialize him, sibling rivalries and marital feuds, volatile women and silent men, and the true meaning of family surface.

The Receptionist by Janet Groth

A beautiful 19-year-old hazel-eyed girl from the Midwest, Groth landed a job as the receptionist at The New Yorker after a successful interview with E.B. White, and there she stayed for two decades. Although she dreamed of becoming a writer herself, she never advanced at the magazine. This is her story—encompassing this particular time and place through the eyes of the girl who watered the plants, walked their dogs, boarded their cats, and sat their children and houses. Groth built relationships with the writers and tried on many identities as a single girl in the city—but eventually she would have to leave The New Yorker to find herself.

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thomas Walker

On an ordinary Saturday in a California suburb, Julia and her family awaken to find the rotation of the earth has suddenly begun to slow. As the days and nights grow longer and gravity is affected, the environmental disarray runs parallel to the normal disarray of everyday life—her parent’s crumbling marriage, the loss of old friends, the anguish of first love and her nutty grandfather who is cataloging his possessions, convinced of a government conspiracy. Fans of Margaret Atwood will appreciate Walker’s distinctive debut novel about coming of age in an altered world.

Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington and the Education of a President by Ron Suskind

Confidence has been the common factor found amongst the history of Wall Street and the White House, the centers of power that learned to manufacture the brazen innovations of the past three decades. In August of 2007, that confidence began to crumble. Suskind tells the story of what happened next—Wall Street struggled to save itself and Obama rose as the country fell. This story follows the journey of Obama and offers the first full portrait of his presidency.

Check out these books and more great summer reading picks at Books & Books, 130 Main Street in Westhampton Beach. Call 631-998-3260 or visit online at booksandbookswhb.com.