Summer Reading: 5 Page Turners I Think You'll Love

Whenever summer arrives in my neck of the woods, I do what any sunburn averse woman does when the weather hits the 80 degree mark.  I stay indoors while my husband takes my son to the pool and I disappear into the pages of a really great read.  

If you don't have the time to curl up with a good book or you're afraid that if you start one and it's really bad, you'll never make the time to finish it, I'm here to give you the inside scoop on five great page turners that'll have you clamoring for more.  

1.  Summer Rental - This best selling novel from Mary Kay Andrews about a group of long time friends who rent a summer house in the Outer Banks is filled with everything you'd want from a summer read and more.  There's romance, suspense, humor and lots of surprises throughout. The moment I picked up Summer Rental, I polished it off within three days.

2.  Alice Bliss - recently praised by People Magazine, this novel by Laura Harrington is climbing up the best sellers list and it's great as a mother/daughter read.  The book centers on Alice, the daughter of a soldier who is about to leave the family behind so that he could return to Iraq.  

3.  22 Brittania Road - I don’t know about you, but whenever I’m in a pinch and need a rock solid book recommendation, I always turn to the authority on great reads, my mom Lenore.  This month, mom even shared her personal review of the new best seller 22 Brittania Road on Role Mommy .   According to my mom, “22 Brittania Road, by Amanda Hodgkinson is the story of a Polish couple during and after World War II. The novel offers a wonderful perspective on the aftermath of war and its effects on its survivors.”

4.  A Stolen Life:  A Memoir - I read an excerpt in People Magazine from this riveting new book by Jacee Dugard, the woman who was kidnapped when she was eleven years old, was raped repeatedly and eventually became pregnant at 14 and is now the mother of two girls.  The story of how Jacee was kidnapped and how she never attempted to escape is mind boggling. Sometimes life is truly stranger than fiction.

5.  The Help - if you haven't read this book yet by first time author Kathryn Stockett, then all I can say is, what on earth are you waiting for?  The movie will be released in August and has already been getting advanced praise from celebrities who got the chance to see a sneak preview.  For avid readers searching for a book to devour within a matter of days, then “The Help” should be on your “must read now list.”   The Help is a novel about southern black maids in the 1950's and the secrets they share with an aspiring white female author.  Trust me when I tell you, the minute you finish “The Help” you’ll be wishing there was a sequel.