Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides
"My friend Seth recommended this book to me eons ago...and I just never got to it. But I was recently staying at a friend's house (with no TV!) and she had this on her book shelf so I stole it from her. And honestly, from the first page, I was hooked. It's soulful and funny and heart-breaking...Eugenides' writing is transcendent, truly."
—Christene Barberich, editor-in-chief
"Middlesex," Jeffrey Eugenides, $10.20, available at Amazon.
"I finally got on the Ann Patchett train this summer when I picked up Bel Canto — it's so beautifully written and the characters are so well-developed that you can't rush through it — it's a book that is meant to be savored, and read a little at a time on hot summer afternoons."
—Holly Thomas, D.C. editor
"Bel Canto," by Ann Patchett, $11.55, available at Amazon.
The Leftovers, by Tom Perrotta
"I just finished Tom Perrotta's latest, The Leftovers. The vibe is similar to his earlier hits, Little Children and Election, in that it follows ordinary American suburbanites, switching perspective throughout. Only in this case, the characters are dealing with suburban life after a rapture-like event has taken place. With millions of random people suddenly vanished from the earth, the rules and factions of society have shifted, though not in the ways you might think. It's not a dystopia, it's not futuristic, but it is a new and haunted world."
—Kelsey Miller, SEO editor
"The Leftovers," by Tom Perrotta, $13.97, available at Amazon.
The Ground Beneath Her Feet, by Salman Rushdie
"This is a summertime book. It is teeming with history, sexuality, and a love of music, and I just really, really love the way Rushdie writes women. I get uncomfortable sometimes with a male author portraying a female character, but Rushdie's Vina is so compelling and fully imagined I completely believe her rock-and-roll love story."
—Leila Brillson, global news editor
"The Ground Beneath Her Feet," by Salman Rushdie, $10.98, available at Amazon.
Lady Susan, by Jane Austen — Melville Publishing House's "The Art of the Novella" Series
"I am quickly working my way through all the books in this amazing (and beautifully designed) series of novellas from Melville Publishing House. These classic short works of fiction are the perfect paperbacks to accompany you anywhere — from the train to the beach — and include mostly lesser-known titles from some of the very best, classic authors like Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf, Marcel Proust, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. It was Austen's Lady Susan that first got me hooked on these, as I really enjoyed reading her first piece of fiction (that she never published herself), and now I am deep into Marcel Proust's genius mimicry in The Lemoine Affair. Trust me, as soon as you finish one, you'll be dying to collect them all!"
—Willow Lindley, fashion and beauty assistant
"Lady Susan," by Jane Austen, a part of The Art of The Novella Series, $10, available at Amazon.