Feet in the sand and a good book in hand! Summertime and the reading’s easy, thanks to NY Times bestselling author Emily Giffin. The mom of three took time out of her All We Ever Wanted book tour to stop by Us Weekly’s studio and share her must-have beach reads in the first video in our new series “The Us Weekly Lit Club.” Watch the video above to hear which novels she won’t leave home without this summer!
High Season by Judy Blundell
“It’s a classic beach read, but very smart, very intelligently written. Judy, I had the pleasure of meeting, and after knowing her, meeting her, and then reading this character, both really come to life and jump off the pages. It’s sort of the anti-Hamptons read about the North Fork of Long Island, and it’s just so compelling. A huge page-turner.”
From the Corner of the Oval by Beck Dorey-Stein
“Think Sex in the City meets The West Wing. It’s a memoir based on Beck’s experience working with Obama in the Obama White House as a stenographer. It includes a love affair. Not with anyone in the Oval Office. But it’s just the exact right combination of substance and just fun. I’m a political junkie at heart. I have no expertise so I really have to go to D.C. and spend some time there, but I just enjoy it. I enjoy the human interest side of it all. Beck’s book really taps into that more juicy side of politics.”
The Soul of America by Jon Meacham
“I threw a nonfiction book into the mix, as I mentioned I love politics, but this one is so filled with hope. I think it’s such a timely read and so important right now in this divisive time that we’re in. He looks back at earlier points in history and examines presidents and activists and the people of this country and how they handled divisive times and got through them with hope and uplifting messages. It leaves you with such a positive, hopeful feeling. I think we all can use some of that right now.”
How to Love a Jamaican by Alexia Arthurs
“This title grabbed me. I love the cover too, it’s a beautiful cover. I opened it, read the first page, and was hooked. It’s a collection of short stories. It’s written about the immigrants from Jamaica and the people who are still on the island. It explores so many heartbreaking themes of homesickness and loss. It’s just a very, very powerful book. One of my favorites of the summer.”
All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin
“This is my ninth novel, I’m so excited about this one. The story’s about a woman named Nina Browning who is forced to choose between her own family and her most deeply held values in the aftermath of a social media scandal that her son’s involved in. There are issues of racism and sexism, classism, that come into play, that feel timely, and feel like such a huge part of our national conversation that we’re having.”
Pick up Giffin’s latest novel All We Ever Wanted wherever books are sold.
