Out East; the book that sparks dreams of summer.

     Every so often, I read a book that sparks a desire and motivation for me to write a blog entry just because of it. This little unexpected gem is the most recent one. I've become very lucky with Goodread's First Reads, which is a section of their website where publisher's can give away advanced reading copies (ARCs) of books that are not yet published. I pretty much enter to win all of them because 1. they're free and 2. you never know what's going to be great until you give it a try. I skim the synopses of the ones that look even slightly appealing, or that aren't the middle of a series that I haven't read, and then enter. To be honest, I almost didn't enter to win this one, but I'm REALLY glad I did. 

Out East: Memoir of a Montauk Summer by John Glynn
     TO BE RELEASED:  May 14, 2019
     Read from: Mar 14, 2019 - Mar 23, 2019
     Format: print (ARC)
     Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

     "We were sun children chasing an eternal summer." I felt like summer while reading this book, so that made me happy. It made me think about the beauty of the forks of Long Island, and how I really am in need of another visit to the south fork; it's been probably 5 or 6 years now since I first experienced it. And it made me really start dreaming about where I might hopefully live one day. So many places I've visited and loved came to mind. Most of them New England or mid-Atlantic because of the setting of this book. 

     I can't really pinpoint what drew me into this book. It was relatable, but new territory all at the same time. The characters were all similar to myself and the people I spend my time around, both in age and place in life, but also how we like to spend our time- to a degree. I wasn't staying in The Hive like John and his friends were, but I could imagine it, and it was fun. 

     John winds up buying into a share house in Montauk in the summer of 2013 with his college from Mike, his co-worker Perrie and a bunch of people he hasn't met yet. Some were there the summer before, others are new. He goes into his summer hoping to have fun, meet new people and maybe finally experience love. Well John, Montauk was a special kind of magic for you, because you got it.

I enjoyed watching this all happen for him. He is a really likable character in a book, as well as real human being. The fact that these people exist in real life, and that these events really happened made it even more enjoyable to me. You got to know all the main ones and care about them. This book was written in such a simple way, but somewhere really draws you in, making it go by fast. It helps that it's also not a very long book.

     The hurdle here is that John starts to realize that he might be gay, and he isn't sure how to handle it. He's never been attracted to a man before and now, at 27, he's fallen in love with one. You know starting the book that the author is gay, but the story starts out before he ever realizes that about himself. So we watch John, a straight man, walk into a house filled with a mixture of both gay and straight girls and guys. And to be honest, I feel overwhelmed for him. 20+ people he hasn't met could be in this house with him at any given time, and a lot of them are not shy. But John is a likable and funny individual and his housemates learn to love him fast. One summer turns a group of strangers into family.

    Once John really comes to terms with the fact that he is in love with one of his house mates, the story really gets going and we wait for him to start telling people. I don't want to give away what happens, and how people react to his news, so you'll have to read and find out, but I can guarantee that most people will enjoy reading this book. It's light, it's fun, summery and fast, you feel like you get to know the people, and you root for the main character. I felt happy while reading this book. What else can you really ask for? When May 14 hits, I suggest you grab this one up!

What I'm Reading Now

1) Winter in Paradise (print: BOTM) by Elin Hilderbrand
     Released: 10/9/18
     Started reading: March 16, 2019

     I got this one in one of my BOTM packages in the fall and wanted to save it for winter. Well, it's spring now, but it fits in with my summer/tropical mood in my anticipation for Hawaii and the sun on my skin. This is a new mini series by a very popular author. I listened to one audiobook from her and it wasn't bad. But she writes summery books in places I love (her home, Nantucket), and this one was very anticipated so I am giving it a try. I'm not too far in right now, but I'm not loving the format right now to be honest. We'll see where this takes us. 

     So far, this book is about a helicopter crash in St. John that killed a man and a woman. The man being a married man with two grown children, and the woman being a single woman with a 12yr old daughter. The family of the man come down to St. John to find out what the heck is going on in his hidden, second life.

2) Sharp Objects (Scribd audiobook) by Gillian Flynn

     Released: 9/26/06

     Started reading: March 23, 2019

     I have no idea what this book is about to be honest. I added it to my TBR because it's a popular author. I watched the movie version of her book "Gone Girl" and liked it. It was a sick and twisted story. As is this one I hear. I hear it's even worse actually. 

     I just started this, so I'm not far in. Right now, it's about a woman named Camille who is a journalist in Chicago. She heads to her hometown to talk to people and learn more about the cases of a murdered girl and a missing girl. The girl who was killed had all her teeth removed. The funeral was closed casket. Whoever is killing and kidnapping young girls is messed up.