Summer 2016 Reading// Looks Little Covets

Can you believe it's already June, like where in the world did these past few months go?? It feels like it was just fall and I was obsessed with Starbuck's caramel apple spice (yassss) and agonizing over whether to tell some a guy a joke. Now I'm getting ready to pack up for Jersey and can't stop day dreaming about Victoria Secret bathing suits (the struggle is real ya'll). Each summer I stock up on a few books to read because usually beach days can get quite boring if you don't have something entertaining by your side.

 Here are six of my favorites that you can add to your list...

1. Girls In White Dresses. 

Ever feel like everyone but you has their life under control? Isabella, Mary and Lauren feel like everyone they know has a plan, a good job, and a nice boyfriend. Isabella, on the other hand, thinks she might hate her own boyfriend, Mary is working so hard she's hoping to get hit by a car just so she can have some time off work and Lauren is dating a man who can't spell her first name. All three of them have been friends since college, and now - more than ever - they need each other, as they struggle through those thrilling, bewildering, what-on-earth-am-I-doing years when everyone else is getting married and they're just getting drunk.

Last summer my good friend Lauren actually texted me this book saying we needed to read it. Being at the age where everyone seems to be getting married or having babies (or getting boyfriends even) I sometimes feel a bit behind. Heck, I didn't know what I wanted to do or have a real plan for executing it til a couple weeks ago, I'm not ready to spend my days with someone else at this point. This is perfect for every girl feeling lost in today's #ringbyspring culture, Close reminds us that we are right where we belong and take our time enjoying the ride and awkward stories. 

2. Big Little Lies. 

Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She’s funny and biting, passionate, she remembers everything and forgives no one. Her ex-husband and his yogi new wife have moved into her beloved beachside community, and their daughter is in the same kindergarten class as Madeline’s youngest (how is this possible?). And to top it all off, Madeline’s teenage daughter seems to be choosing Madeline’s ex-husband over her. (How. Is. This. Possible?). Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare. While she may seem a bit flustered at times, who wouldn’t be, with those rambunctious twin boys? Now that the boys are starting school, Celeste and her husband look set to become the king and queen of the school parent body. But royalty often comes at a price, and Celeste is grappling with how much more she is willing to pay. New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for the nanny. Jane is sad beyond her years and harbors secret doubts about her son. But why? While Madeline and Celeste soon take Jane under their wing, none of them realizes how the arrival of Jane and her inscrutable little boy will affect them all. Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, schoolyard scandal, and the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves just to survive.

This was actually a book that got lent to me in exchange for one of my own, not having any clue what I was getting myself into... I was surprised by how quickly I became invested in the story line. If you know me personally then you know when summer starts baby fever becomes an all too real thing for me, working on the beach means being surrounded and you mentally start shopping for your imaginary children. Since the book deals with a kindergarten class. I was instantly intrigued... it helps that while reading you feel as though Madeline is your best friend. 

3. #GIRLBOSS.

Sophia Amoruso spent her teens hitchhiking, committing petty theft, and scrounging in dumpsters for leftover bagels. By age twenty-two she had dropped out of school, and was broke, directionless, and checking IDs in the lobby of an art school—a job she’d taken for the health insurance. It was in that lobby that Sophia decided to start selling vintage clothes on eBay. Flash forward ten years to today, and she’s the founder and executive chairman of Nasty Gal, a $250-million-plus fashion retailer with more than four hundred employees. Sophia was never a typical CEO, or a typical anything, and she’s written #GIRLBOSS for other girls like her: outsiders (and insiders) seeking a unique path to success, even when that path is windy as all hell and lined with naysayers. #GIRLBOSS proves that being successful isn’t about where you went to college or how popular you were in high school. It’s about trusting your instincts and following your gut; knowing which rules to follow and which to break; when to button up and when to let your freak flag fly.

I know, I know everyone and their momma has already told you to go out and buy this book. I was intrigued for a long time but never actually went out and grabbed a copy until this winter, To be honest I felt like the #girlboss inside me was slacking big time, and I wasn't doing anything with my life to help put this information into action. This book isn't just for the girl taking pictures of her outfits and typing away daily on her blog, the one that just got promoted in their job and are really making a name of themselves... it's for each girl in each time of their life. Rather you're CEO or completely confused at where your next direction needs to be... her tales of perseverance, learning lessons the hard way, and passion will leave you wanting to take the next step- regardless of what that needs to be. 

4. Never Have I Ever: My Life (So Far) Without A Date.

"I've been single for my entire life. Not one boyfriend. Not one short-term dating situation. Not one person with whom I regularly hung out and kissed on the face." So begins Katie Heaney's memoir of her years spent looking for love, but never quite finding it. By age 25, equipped with a college degree, a load of friends, and a happy family life, she still has never had a boyfriend...and she's barely even been on a second date. Throughout this laugh-out-loud funny book, you will meet Katie's loyal group of girlfriends, including flirtatious and outgoing Rylee, the wild child to Katie's shrinking violet, as well as a whole roster of Katie's ill-fated crushes. And you will get to know Katie herself -- a smart, modern heroine relaying truths about everything from the subtleties of a Facebook message exchange to the fact that "Everybody who works in a coffee shop is at least a little bit hot." Funny, relatable, and inspiring, this is a memoir for anyone who has ever struggled to find love, but has also had a lot of fun in the process.

I know I've mentioned this book before because I have yet to find a book I've loved more. As a girl who has never had a boyfriend and has only ever been on what I affectionately refer to as "date not dates" (I mean in this day and age you just don't know a show, dinner, and a kiss goodnight and I'm just gonna call it a date not date.) I felt like this story was written just for me. With non-stop anecdotes that will have you whispering yassss with each new paragraph...you can't help but fall in love with Heaney's writing and the awkward situations everyone goes through. This book is read best with a glass of wine and a willingness to remember all the embarrassing things you too did in front of a crush.

5. The Girl on the Train. 

EVERY DAY THE SAMERachel takes the same commuter train every morning and night. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. Jess and Jason, she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.UNTIL TODAYAnd then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel goes to the police. But is she really as unreliable as they say? Soon she is deeply entangled not only in the investigation but in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?

I am currently reading this book and loving every second. At first, it felt a little confusing and mundane, like you were reading a list more than a story. I have finally reached the plot, and I couldn't be more invested, Not lying when I saw I get excited for the time during tanning I can crack open the book, or while lying in bed before sleeping. I know that it's coming out as a movie soon, and I can't wait to see the movie transferred from my mind to screen soon. I imagine this is a perfect beach read if you need to stay entertained but don't typically do well with staying still (which is my personal problem.)

6.  Dirty Rush.

In this shockingly true-to-life novel written by an all-star team of Internet phenoms from the Total Frat Move generation, you’ll get the first true glimpse of “real” sorority life in all its f**ked up glory. Dirty Rush by Taylor Bell is what happens when you take the creative minds behind Babe Walker (author of the New York Times bestselling White Girl Problems series) and add Rebecca Martinson to the mix. Rebecca Martinson—yes, that bitch—the former Delta Gamma sister responsible for the scathing, expletive-filled email that verbally assaulted her entire chapter for being “so f**king boring” at social functions, and threatened to “c*nt punt” every last one of them if their behavior didn’t shape up. Dirty Rush is a no-holds-barred look at what really happens when you “go Greek.” Taylor Bell comes from a long line of Beta Zeta sorority sisters, who all expect her to pledge upon starting at the university. But Taylor has other plans: she’s determined to give her family the proverbial middle finger and destroy the rich tradition they hold so dear by eschewing sorority life altogether. However, Taylor’s resolve soon melts when she falls in with a group of hilarious, ultra-saucy girls, who introduce her to all things Greek and soften her to the idea of joining. Resigned to the fate the Greek gods have dealt her, Taylor pledges Beta Zeta and embarks on a collegiate career filled with the kind of carousing sure to make any sorority sister proud. Soon, Taylor’s experience as a BZ starts to feel like a jacked-up, drug-infused, and X-rated fairy tale—especially when reality comes crashing down and a rather lewd sex tape is leaked. The girl in the video looks a lot like Taylor. Has Taylor gone off the deep end? Or is someone trying to frame her? Unless she can prove her innocence and re-ingratiate herself with the sisters who’ve accused her of leaking the video in a Kim Kardashian–style bid for attention, Taylor is at risk of losing everything she’s fought (partied) so hard for.

This book was a last minute target pick up (you know when you go in just to browse and end up with four shampoo bottles, kettle corn, a bathing suit top, and a book... true story.) as I went through check out the lady commented on how she had no clue what the book was. (I was slightly embarrassed I picked up a book centered around sororities and frats and may have turned into a tomato as I explained the plot.) With sentences like "...he was shitfaced. Cute but shitfaced." I think we can all say a silent amen as we think of the idiots we may have "once" had feelings for. I've never been in a sorority and I didn't grab it because I'm dying to know what it's like "on the inside" but I did grab it for a much needed laugh and an interesting story line- perfect pool side book material. Not to mention I finished the book in a week (in between packing, nannying, birthday dinners, and getting locked up in a room for an hour shout out to Locked Up Lynchburg!!)


What are some of your favorite books, I'm obviously looking for suggestions seeing as summer hasn't even officially started and I'm almost done with the books I already had picked out...
xoxo