July 14, 2008

Summer Reading


To enlarge, click on photo.


Last month I shared a list (and photographs) of the books on my Coming-of-Age display. Here's my latest endcap at work. These are some of my favorite light, fluffy reads, as well as a couple of heavier novels. Perfect for lounging by the pool or lazy days at the beach.

Click on the title for my review (and in the case of one favorite new author, an interview):


Summer Blowout by Claire Cook

Lottery by Patricia Wood

Stone Creek by Victoria Lustbader

The Love Season by Elin Hilderbrand

Colony by Anne Rivers Siddons

Table for Five by Susan Wiggs

Beach Music by Pat Conroy

The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher

Summer in Tuscany by Elizabeth Adler

Julie and Romeo by Jeanne Ray

An Ocean Apart by Robin Pilcher

Distant Shores by Kristen Hannah

The Rest Falls Away by Colleen Gleason

Rises the Night by Colleen Gleason

17 comments:

  1. I loved Colony (need to pick that up again!), Beach Music, and I have Bleeding Dusk awaiting me here. Good choices, Les! Do you have the poster of you by the endcap as well? I'd be so impressed you can show yourself in a swimming suit at a Barnes and Noble!

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  2. Love the poster! :)
    I'm enjoying my current NF read but I think the heat is making me crave something light and fun.

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  3. Anonymous8:12 AM

    I miss your end caps and your hand selling! I only wish the booksellers in my store had such good customer service!

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  4. This looks perfectly lovely! What a great way to help readers find a good book.
    Hey...one of those looks famliar...

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  5. I love your endcap! I have long loved The Shell Seekers and must have misplaced my copy. I recently picked up an unread copy with the old pinkish floral cover that mine had. I am saving it for when I need a comfort read.

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  6. Looks wonderful! I'm just reading Stone Creek and it's quite good. Great post!

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  7. Great list (and that poster is fabulous!). I'm so envious that you get to make endcaps. Sigh!

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  8. Making endcaps??? That would be a dream of mine!!!!

    Thanks for pointing me in this direction, I live for other people's recommendations!

    All the books sound fabulous, and Julie and Romeo is one of my all time faves!!!

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  9. Anonymous6:54 AM

    Uh-oh. I was about to list my unread copy of _The Shell Seekers_ on BookMooch, but tara's comment makes me think I had better give it a once-over before I do anything rash.

    md

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  10. Great choices - most of the ones I've read I've enjoyed. I really need to re-read Beach Music one of these days.

    Gotta start soon on my list of books to take for our vacation in Yachats at the end of the month ;-P

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  11. Anonymous12:34 PM

    Great display! One of my favorite things about working at the library is getting to showcase books that people might not otherwise pick up, but just having it displayed is often enough reason for people to give a book they might have overlooked a chance. Sometimes the hardest part is just deciding which books to display!

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  12. I've only read one of these books (The Rest Falls Away)... does it count if I have some of these on my tbr list? :)

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  13. Bellezza - I loved Colony, too! It's really the only one of hers that I fell in love with. All the rest were just ho-hum (except The House Next Door, but that was such a different book, I don't really include it when I think of her books). And, oh, Beach Music is such a fabulous book. I must read it again!

    Yep, I have the sign/poster right above all the books on my endcap. I wasn't too sure about it since it shows me in a bathing suit! Eeek! So far, our sales haven't dropped and nobody's run screaming out of the store. ;)

    Nat - Thanks. I was a little worried about it.

    It's hot here, too, but the rain keeps coming! I can't get over how much we've had. We got 2" the night before last. Unheard of in mid-July!

    Janet - Aw, thanks. I haven't been doing as well with the hand selling this time around, probably because I haven't been near the fiction/customer service area for a while. Busy zoning elsewhere.

    You'll just have to whip those booksellers into shape! Miss ya guys.

    Pat - Well, wouldn't you know it! I just happen to know the author of that book, too. And it's a fabulous book! :)

    Tara - Thank you! I remember exactly where I was living, where I was working, how old my daughter was, etc., etc. when I read The Shell Seekers. It's one of those books that is imprinted in my psyche. I even remember driving home from work one day thinking about Rosamunde's writing and what a beautiful mental picture she painted with her words. It was one of the first times I consciously recognized lyrical writing. Definitely a comfort read.

    Dar - Thanks for stopping by. Hope you continue to enjoy Stone Creek. Off to visit your blog.

    Andi - Thanks! I have to admit, I do have a lot of fun putting these endcaps together. I have a list of ideas (kind of like some of my early Thursday Thirteen lists) to use in the coming months. The challenge is writing up a 2-3 sentence blurb! This particular endcap's been up for a few weeks and I still haven't done the blurbs. Maybe this weekend. It'll be interesting to see if the sales jump up once I attach a blurb card.

    Laura - I feel pretty lucky that my boss lets me have an entire endcap for my favorites. It's valuable real estate in any store, so I'm quite fortunate.

    Isn't Julie and Romeo a fun book? I didn't care for the sequel, though. Her other books are just as good, too. Step-Ball-Change is another favorite.

    Mary - I would highly recommend giving The Shell Seekers a try. Penelope is a wonderful main character!

    SuziQ - I need to re-read Beach Music, too. So far, it's the only one by Conroy that I've loved.

    Have a great trip!! I'm quite envious.

    The Other Lesley - It's one of my favorite things about working in a bookstore, too. I try not to hover when a customer is looking at the endcap, but sometimes I just approach them and they're almost always willing to listen to me prattle on and on about the books. :)

    Iliana - Yep, those TBR stacks definitely count. And now you have a reason to move them up in the stacks.

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  14. Oh, wow, what fun to create your own little rack of favorites! Good choices, too.

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  15. Nancy - It is fun! I love doing it. Getting ready to switch it out in August. I'm going with a Women's Friendship collection this time around.

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  16. What fun you must have working in a bookstore and arranging endcaps. Love this one. And was tickled to see Colleen's books in there. Perfect summer reading - perfect anytime reading, really. I'm just starting Twilight Burns.

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  17. Booklogged - Yep! I love my job! Colleen's books are doing quite well. They're a great handsell to the shoppers waiting for Stephanie Myer's new book to come out. Vampire are very popular right now.

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