Summer Beach Reads '09

It's that time of year again, when we're looking for a book that will absorb our attention without making our brain stretch too hard. We have a round up from our friends on Twitter and a few selects of our own.

I Was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloan Crosley comes to us from The Daily Lather. It's a collection of essays from a New Yorker in her mid-20s that cover the range from being a bridesmaid to vegetarianism to what her apartment looks to others like should she die unexpectedly. (To our surprise, we found out this weekend that a few of our friends do actually worry about this!)



The Ex-Mrs. Hedgefund Jill Kargman from Elite Travel Gal. There's no better tome for these recessionista days!


The School of Essential Ingredients Erika Bauermeister is Ildiko J's reco. Ildiko's one of our favorite makeup artists whom we know has impeciable taste. We do/buy/try everything she tells us to. We're doubly excited about it as Amazon likens it to Chocolat and Like Water for Chocolate.




Our friend Julia suggests Queen Takes King by Gigi Levangie Grazer, author of The Starter Wife. Julia's on a level with Kate Moss in terms of cool, so we know this is what all the hip girls will be reading on the beach this summer.



This is one of our picks: Pretty in Plaid: A Life, a Witch, and a Wardrobe, or, the Wonder Years Before the Condescending,Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smart Ass Phase by Jen Lancaster. If Jen's Bitter is the New Black got us through the early days of being laid off, we have no doubt her latest can get us through a few days at the beach. You can follow Jen Lancaster on Twitter, too. Maybe after this plug she'll start following us!



And another one: Love Will Tear Us Apart: A Novel Sarah Raimone. Becuase how can you not like a novel named after a Joy Division song that reviewers call "sexy, funny and brilliant"?


Our new assistant editor, Ava Hoffman, calls Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami, one of the best books she's ever read. "It's a longer read but everyone I recommended it to loved it."
Our friend Paula recommends Whacked by Jules Asner (model, E! t.v. personality and wife of director Steven Soderbergh) authored her first book which is part intrigue part chick lit.
And if you prefer something on the heavier side even though it's summer, try The Third Angel: A Novel by Alice Hoffman.