GET SOME SUMMER READING WHILE IT'S STILL HOT

Have you done all your summer reading? Or are you looking for more? Here are a couple of recommendations:

I really enjoyed Between, Georgia, by Joshilyn Jackson who wrote Gods in Alabama. It reminded me of Fannie Flagg's Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe with its colorful Southern characters with closets full of secrets.

Unlike many writers, even though Jackson uses some stock characters that we expect in Southern stories - uneducated, white trash men with long criminal records for one - she finds some out of the ordinary ones as well, such as a deaf-blind artist and a mentally ill but terribly well meaning aunt.

Between, Georgia is hardly your normal story of a woman torn between two families dealing with a cheating spouse. I think the book description explains it best:

Nonny Frett understands the meaning of the phrase in between a rock and a hard place better than any woman alive. Shes got two mothers, one deaf-blind and the other four baby steps from flat crazy. Shes got two men: a husband who's easing out the back door; and a best friend, who's laying siege to her heart in her front yard. And she has two families: the Fretts, who stole her and raised her right; and the Crabtrees, who lost her and wont forget how they were done wrong. Now, in Between, Georgia, population 90, a feud that began the night Nonny was born is escalating, and a random act of violence is about to ignite a stash of family secrets. Ironically, it might be just what the town needs...if only Nonny weren't stuck in between.

If that doesn't sound out of the ordinary, you're waaaaay too jaded for me.

Another tasty bit of chick lit is Parvenue Throws a Party by Wendy Boucher. Wendy blogs at Fire on the Poop Deck. I met her at BlogHer'06 and bought her book out of desperation as I had nothing to read on the flight home. (You think bringing three books with me would have been enough. Not.)

I have mixed feelings about Parvenue Throws a Party, but don't let that stop you from buying it. The writing's great, the characters are wonderful, and the sarcasm and jokes are funny. My problem was with the heroine Janice Darcy. I don't like women like Janice who poop all over their friends and family to advance socially. Plus Janice could be such an idiot at times that I would get frustrated for her. (Geez, girlfriend, why did you do that?) I wish Wendy gave her more redeeming qualities, because I wanted to root for her and cheer her on. (You go, girl!) But that's o.k., it's still a great poolside or beach read. I'm looking forward to reading Wendy's next book, Teacup Travels, too.