Light summer reads ...

THE MISSING TREASURES OF AMY ASHTON by debut author Eleanor Ray was a bit of a surprise – part romance, part mystery and plenty of details about Amy’s hoarding tendencies. Traumatized by the disappearance years before by her boyfriend, Tim, and her best friend, Chantel, Amy collects all sorts of items (lighters, mugs, clocks, newspapers, flower pots and more). Years later, she is still struggling to come to grips with the abandonment (did they run off together?) when a new family with young children moves in next door, forcing her to begin to reevaluate her lifestyle. Elements of the plot are a bit obvious, but readers will develop affection and respect for Amy. THE MISSING TREASURES OF AMY ASHTON received a starred review from Booklist. 

THE ROAD TRIP by Beth O'Leary (The Switch) is a light summer read, chosen for the June 2021 Hall of Fame LibraryReads list. Dylan and Addie spent a dreamy summer together in Provence a few years ago, moved in together and then broke up, and now meet by chance on the way to a friend’s wedding. Forced to cram together into a Mini with Dylan’s manipulative best friend (Marcus), and Addie’s supportive sister (Deb) and a socially awkward wedding guest (Rodney), the adventures begin. Told from multiple perspectives, partly as a road adventure and partly through flashbacks, this romance-y novel looks at (often negative, if well-intentioned) influences and the resulting (often poor) decisions. As Addie notes, “that’s the thing about almost: you can be ninety-nine percent there, you can be an inch away from doing it, but if you stop yourself from stepping over that line, nobody will ever know how close you were.” If you are a fan of O'Leary's writing, the characters did not seem as appealing as those in her earlier work and THE ROAD TRIP, while entertaining, was not as much of a “feel good” story.