Summer Reading

Summer Reading by Jenn McKinlay (2023) 435 pages

Sam, 28, is a chef who quit her job because she was passed over for a promotion to head chef after seven years of experience, including several great write-ups in the media. She hasn't yet told anyone about quitting her job, but she's going to Martha's Vineyard where her father's family has had a small home for several generations. She's going to keep an eye on her 14 year-old half brother, Tyler, while her father and his wife travel for 4 weeks.

She meets Ben, a man she's attracted to, on the ferry to the island. Later, when she discovers he's a librarian, she tries to keep quiet that she's dyslexic and that reading is quite difficult for her. It turns out that Ben is just on the island for a limited time anyway, filling in for the director of the library, a place that Sam's best friend works at, and also the place where she ends up spending time because her half brother goes to a summer program there.

Sam and Tyler spar while they get to know each other. Sam's relationship with Ben goes through transitions as Ben learns about her dyslexia and they begin to share other information about themselves. Sam tries to figure out if she can bring in some income while she's out of work for the summer. And of course there's always a crisis to weather. 

Basically, this book is a fun summer read, but the added dyslexia content, including Sam's numerous coping strategies, gives it extra interest.

Summer on the Bluffs

Summer on the Bluffs by Sunny Hostin, 432 pages

Back in the 1970s, Ada Vaux Tanner became one of the first Black women on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, fighting hard to earn the fortune she would one day use to build a beautiful "cottage" in Martha's Vineyard and to make sure her three goddaughters had everything they could ever possibly wish for. Now, as she turns 66 and five years after her beloved husband Omar died, Ama is ready to give the keys to the cottage to one of her goddaughters, and has invited the three of them out to the Vineyard for the summer. While Perry, Olivia, and Billie all would love to own the house that was more home to them than any other place they lived growing up, they each have their own challenges that they're bringing to the table — and Ama has some secrets that she needs to share with them before any bequests can be made.

Told in alternating points of view from the four women at the center of the story, as well as a few flashbacks to Ada's early days in New York City, this relationship-centric read focuses on a well-to-do Black family in the upscale African American community of Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts. So many relationship fiction titles are centered on rich families dealing with secrets and problems, but so few of those families feature people of color. This story is a welcome addition to the genre, and I look forward to additional stories about Ada and her goddaughters.