Emily Griffin - light, fun, summer reads

Someone asked me today for a book recommendation because she was headed to the beach and wanted a light, easy read.  I thought about all the books I've written about and realized none of them are very "beachy" or your typical "summer" reads.  I promise I don't always read Debbie Downer novels.  Sometimes even I get too deep into this fictional sadness and I have to crawl my way out with a good, lighthearted read.  

I am doing that now, actually.  After posting about it, I reread Nineteen Minutes, and afterwards decided that I just can't do it anymore.  Between that and We Need to Talk About Kevin, I caught myself feeling sad and stressed - so I'm switching it up and reading one of my favorite "light" authors, Emily Griffin.

Emily Griffin is probably best known for her series of books entitled Something Borrowed and Something Blue.  I read them awhile ago, and honestly barely remember the plot, but I remember really enjoying them - so much so that I recommended them to my sister and she liked them as well.  I remember one is about a girl about to turn 30 and she isn't married (I remember this because I, too, was in that exact situation and was therefore drawn to the book).  I think she falls in love with her best friend's boyfriend or something.  I'm guessing that was the Something Borrowed. :)

I read Baby Proof awhile back and enjoyed it also.  All of Emily Griffin's books focus on telling the stories of different characters, all of whom end up intertwining at some point.  Her chapters change points of view.  Baby Proof focused on four different women - one who recently lost a child, and three who were having babies.  Of course, the other three were nothing alike - one was married to a rich, professional athlete, one was slightly overweight and middle class, and one wanted to be the perfect mother.  The four of them form an unlikely bond and the book focuses on their struggles and stresses of motherhood and marriage (mostly).

I'm currently reading Heart of the Matter.  I'm only 25% into it (thanks to Kindle, I no longer speak in pages), but it's already gotten addictive.  This one, so far, is about a girl who has decided to be a stay at home mom and her husband is a pediatric plastic surgeon.  The other leading character is a single mom whose little boy gets burned at another boy's house while roasting marshmallows.  Her son ends up as a patient for the plastic surgeon.  I know these two mothers' paths will cross soon, but I'm not there yet.

So if you want a light-hearted read, you know, as opposed to school shootings and the mistreatment of Arabic women, try Emily Griffin!  And see my next post for other ideas.