Summer Beach Reads 2016


I'm really excited I'm going to the beach this weekend! If you haven't see the movie Me Before You it's still showing in a few theaters, definitely the best movie (from a book) I saw this year! 

The Golem and the Jinni  - Helene Wecker, 486 pages, 2013

This is the best book I've read this year!  It’s a beautiful, wonderful, heartwarming story that I hated to put down and couldn’t wait to resume whenever I did. The book is a fascinating combination of Jewish and Arabian folklore mixed with the bustling reality of immigrant neighborhoods in 19th-Century New York. Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life by a disgraced rabbi who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic. Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire, born in the ancient Syrian desert. Trapped in an old copper flask by a Bedouin wizard centuries ago, he is released accidentally by a tinsmith in a Lower Manhattan shop. Though from very different backgrounds and cultures, these two foreigners' paths are crossed. United by their shared statuses as outsiders, a strange friendship develops, and they struggle to find their place in the New World. The book will completely transport you to another world!





Every Little Step: My Story - Bobby Brown, 336 pages, 2016

Yes, Bobby Brown wrote a book! lol And it's juicy! hahaha
I grew up listening to New Edition so I was a big fan and this book was a quick read full of crazy stories! He talks about his friendships with Mike Tyson, Michael Jackson, and Eddie Murphy. His affairs with Madonna and Janet Jackson and how he knocked someone up while engaged to Whitney Houston. Then he reminds us of how big a star he was (by his record sales) because his legacy really is only of being a bad boy. Bobby Brown was a great entertainer, he worked the stage, he had a huge persona that to this day is hard to touch by any other artist the way he commanded the stage.

When I read LA Reid's book he talked about Bobby's strong work ethic which Bobby also touches on in this book to explain how he was so good onstage. Not something you'd expect by his reputation. He practiced his dance moves until he didn't need to think about it and mentioned that you don't see many other artists with a lot of choreography.  He made $30 million on his Don't Be Cruel tour and spent that money like water.  He got his own record label, one of the first artists back then to do so, but it failed due to his mismanagement.

He talks about his run-ins with the law, a DUI that kept sending him back to jail over the course of 10 years every time he violated his probation. Phaedra Banks was his lawyer back in 2004 and she had cameras always meet them at the courthouse (which annoyed him) but she never won a case for him. He shares his recipe for his jail soup from products from the commissary. He's also been arrested in the middle of a show for dancing suggestively on stage which was illegal in that state. He was dragged to jail, posted bail, then went back to the arena and resumed his concert an hour later. After another imprisonment, Chris Rock launched a "Free Bobby Brown" campaign including having a plane flying over the jail with a banner. lol

He describes his time with Whitney Houston as an incredible love story, how they were truly made for each other, and  how much  fun they had together. When he asked Whitney's father for her hand in marriage he asked how much money he had in the bank, and at the time he had more than Whitney. He was only 23years old when he married and she 5 years older. He walked in on Whitney snorting coke right before their wedding of 800 people where they gave away bottles of Cristal. Donald Trump was a guest. He talks about how he was addicted to drugs for a decade and how his attempts to get clean were hard when Whitney wouldn't quit. And how he felt he failed his daughter who grew up watching all this. He also admits that he's bi-polar. He has his children all write a couple pages so it's interesting to see other sides to his story. This book is quick read filled with stars and drama.


How to Be Single - Liz Tuccillo, 404 pages, 2008
This book inspired the movie of the same title that came out on Valentine's Day this year. The book is about single 38-year-old women living in NYC. I loved the movie starring  Rebel Wilson and Dakota Johnson so I had to read the book afterwards. The book will make you laugh over how nutty some people get at a certain age if they haven't married.

Speaking of which, this reminds me of Jennifer Aniston's statement she released yesterday. I really respect her comments because she never vents, so for her to say this means the press has really gotten to her. If you didn't know, pictures of her in a bikini were taken on vacation after eating a burger so the press speculated she was pregnant. Her response:

 "The sheer amount of resources being spent right now by press trying to simply uncover whether or not I am pregnant (for the bajillionth time... but who's counting) points to the perpetuation of this notion that women are somehow incomplete, unsuccessful, or unhappy if they're not married with children. We are complete with or without a mate, with or without a child. But I'm not in pursuit of motherhood because I feel incomplete in some way, as our celebrity news culture would lead us all to believe."


The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo - Amy Schumer
The book doesn't come out until August but I am anxiously awaiting it! She will also be on tour in DC at the end of September if you want to see her live. I first heard of Amy from the movie Trainwreck which was hilarious! The book will be about funny stories from her life. Check out these funny books from other female comedians: Chelsea Handler, Mindy Kaling, and Amy Poehler.














Related posts:
2015 Summer Beach Reads
2014 Summer Reading List
Books I Read on Vacation
Celebrity Book Club


7 comments

  1. How to Be Single sounds like a great book that I will have to read!!! LOVE Amy Schumer and will have to read that one when it comes out. I listened to Amy Poehler's book as an audiobook and loved that too. Thanks for the suggestions.

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  2. I think I would really enjoy The Golem and the Jinni. I haven't heard of it before, but will look fir it at the library now. Thanks! - Trish

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  3. love your reviews!!! I keep saying this but I need to find some time in my life to read at some point, I miss it since having the kids lol

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  4. i LOVE Whitney Houston's songs and i never knew much about her personal life, wow...

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  5. These all sound great - I love a good beach read!! Also, that's so good to hear about the Me Before You movie being good, I read the book a few months ago and absolutely fell in love with the story. I was looking forward to the movie coming out but still haven't had a chance to see it. :)

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  6. I would love to read Chelsea Handler's books. She's one of my favorite female comedians!

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  7. I am currently reading Me Before You and I love it! I really want to go see the movie! I think How to be Single would be a good book to read. The movie was cute, so I'm sure I'd enjoy the book as well.

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