A reading slump is perfectly normal, especially in the summer. Hot weather, lots of socializing, and anxiety about what’s to come in the fall can culminate in a general malaise. Fortunately, these five authors have published books that will surely make you want to read again. This month has it all: a set of Paris memoirs, a possible wedding murder mystery, a grandmother-granddaughter duo, and more. We hope these reads are the extra boost you need to break out of the August slump.
Meet Mika Suzuki. She’s 35, kind, funny, and has great friends, but her life is far, far from perfect. After moving from Japan to New York City with her family as a child, Mika found joy in painting and is actually very talented, but her family never respected this as a viable career option. So he’s been aimless, bouncing from one bad job to another. With a painful past and a strained relationship with his mother, Mika has had a hard time. But when he gets a call from Penny, the daughter Mika gave up for adoption when she was pregnant, Mika’s whole life changes. Funny, not exactly predictable, tough and authentic, the novel follows Penny and Mika as they bring their worlds together. The book addresses the complexity and challenges of motherhood and what it means to be a family. Mika in real life is the kind of book you will surely read again.
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All signs point to Paris: a memory of love, loss and destiny
Author Natasha Sizlo had a life-changing astrology reading. Working as a real estate agent in Los Angeles, struggling to make ends meet as a single mother and dealing with the death of her father, Sizlo was never one to bother with anything to do with horoscopes or ” the stars”. But he found himself surprised by the astrologer’s accuracy in understanding his past and his pain. As he picks up the pieces of his life, Sizlo remembers that his father told him to always look for love, so he sets off to Paris to find his soulmate. All Signs Point to Paris may be as close to Europe as some of us are this summer, but we’ll finish this book as lucky as those who go there.
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Walking Gentry Home: A Memoir of My Ancestors in Verse
