Still I look in the mirror and all I see is you. I need to get you out of my system. Lola initially moved to Dublin to start over, but soon finds herself tangled in a heartbreak so bad she can hardly grasp it. The plan for the summer had been simple: Stay as far away from her home and as much in his as possible- but after having her whole life turned upside down all roads lead back to her tiny hometown in Germany. She had imagined three quiet months hibernating in her childhood bedroom, but returning home, shes surprised that life has not stood still in the time shes been away. Everyone seems to be moving on without her. Everything is different, and yet somehow, everything feels achingly familiar.
From the New York Times-bestselling author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Ann Brashares comes her first adult novel In the town of Waterby on Fire Island, the rhythms and rituals of summer are sacrosanct: the ceremonial arrivals and departures by ferry; yacht club dinners with terrible food and breathtaking views; the virtual decree against shoes; and the generational parade of sandy, sun-bleached kids, running, swimming, squealing, and coming of age on the beach. Set against this vivid backdrop, The Last Summer (of You and Me) is the enchanting, heartrending story of a beach-community friendship triangle and summertime romance among three young adults for whom summer and this place have meant everything. Sisters Riley and Alice, now in their twenties, have been returning to their parents’ modest beach house every summer for their entire lives. Petite, tenacious Riley is a tomboy and a lifeguard, always ready for a midnight swim, a gale-force sail, or a barefoot sprint down the beach. Beautiful Alice is lithe, gentle, a reader and a thinker, and worshipful of her older sister. And every summer growing up, in the big house that overshadowed their humble one, there was Paul, a friend as important to both girls as the place itself, who has now finally returned to the island after three years away. But his return marks a season of tremendous change, and when a simmering attraction, a serious illness, and a deep secret all collide, the three friends are launched into an unfamiliar adult world, a world from which their summer haven can no longer protect them. Ann Brashares has won millions of fans with her blockbuster series, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, in which she so powerfully captured the emotional complexities of female friendship and young love. With The Last Summer (of You and Me), she moves on to introduce a new set of characters and adult relationships just as true, endearing, and unforgettable. With warmth, humor, and wisdom, Brashares makes us feel the excruciating joys and pangs of love—both platonic and romantic. She reminds us of the strength and sting of friendship, the great ache of loss, and the complicated weight of family loyalty. Thoughtful, lyrical, and tremendously moving, The Last Summer (of You and Me is a deeply felt celebration of summer and nostalgia for youth.
This book is about everything I am too scared to tell him. It is about love, pain and the desperation when nothing works out the way you want it to work out. These are short stories that explain my feelings better than I could ever explain them by talking. So, if you are ready for a whole lot of heartbreak, pain and the sad reality of my first love: start reading. This is my way of telling him "I love you" without actually saying it out loud and my way to get over everything.
"A smart, sparkling novel that is one part social satire, one part travelogue . . . Comical and cool.” —Oprah Daily In Katie Crouch's thrilling novel Embassy Wife, two women abroad search for the truth about their husbands—and their country. Meet Persephone Wilder, a displaced genius posing as the wife of an American diplomat in Namibia. Persephone takes her job as a representative of her country seriously, coming up with an intricate set of rules to survive the problems she encounters: how to dress in hundred-degree weather without showing too much skin, how not to look drunk at embassy functions, and how to eat roasted oryx with grace. She also suspects her husband is not actually the ambassador’s legal counsel but a secret agent in the CIA. The consummate embassy wife, she takes the newest trailing spouse, Amanda Evans, under her wing. Amanda arrives in Namibia mere weeks after giving up her Silicon Valley job so her husband, Mark, can have his family close by as he works on his Fulbright project. But once they’re settled in the sub-Saharan desert, Amanda sees clearly that Mark, who lived in Namibia two decades earlier, has other reasons for returning. Back in the safety of home, the marriage had seemed solid; in the glaring heat of the Kalahari, it feels tenuous. And the situation grows even more fraught when their daughter becomes involved in an international conflict and their own government won’t stand up for her. How far will Amanda go to keep her family intact? How much corruption can Persephone ignore? And what, exactly, does it mean to be an American abroad when you’re not sure you understand your country anymore? Propulsive and provocative, Embassy Wife asks what it means to be a human in this world, even as it helps us laugh in the face of our own absurd, seemingly impossible states of affairs.
"Summer's End" is a poetry collection covering the essence of being human while maintaining a critical eye to expectations that you are subjected to as well as experience yourself. This book allows you to peek through the curtains of fleeting revelations of someone just trying to find their place in the world.
What happens when a dreamer, swept into love's tide, meets a lover seeking stability on life's undertow? Simon Balzano and June McKenna's journey begins in 2007, when they first meet at the verge of death. They grow up as next-door neighbors and classmates with grand ambitions, but after a sudden loss, Simon struggles with the weight of responsibilities that drown out his dreams. Meanwhile, June, fueled by a burning desire to become a successful screenwriter, grapples with balancing her career aspirations against a future with Simon. Their story, a heart-wrenching experience of fragile love tested by fate and their relentless attempts to rewrite it - a gripping and devastating page-turner. Well-intended secrets and unspoken sacrifices, nurtured over a decade, threaten to flood everything they've built. Can their love endure the opposing currents that threaten to pull them apart, or will it suffocate along with their dreams?
My soul is water. In which the mirror world is reflected. And in the waves my dimly shaped human self reaches closer to the surface, and our fingers touch, and withdraw. We are a changeling and a human. We will never meet.
In the charming coastal town of Woodvale, Betty and James high school romance blossoms amidst the backdrop of their small-town lives. From the moment they meet, their connection is undeniable, yet as they navigate their final year of high school, the future begins to cast its shadow on their relationship. Betty dreams of escaping to New York University, while James faces the weight of his family's expectations to join the family business, Standard Oil. As their paths diverge, their bond is tested by misunderstandings and emotional distance. When Jamess new relationship complicates things further, Betty is left grappling with heartache and uncertainty. As they each confront their desires and dilemmas, their story unfolds across seasons of change, culminating in a poignant farewell. Through moments of joy and sorrow, love and loss, woodvale is a poignant exploration of youthful dreams, the choices that define us, and the echoes of a love that lingers through time.
In the summer of 1978, there was one thing they were certain of: Wendy loves Jacob and Jacob loves Wendy. But this is the thing with being seventeen, being in love feels strong and infinite - as if it could never end. Wendy departs and something tender and sweet develops between Jacob and a boy named August. None of the three has any idea yet that the summer marks the end of their youth.
Delilah thinks that the whole world is her opponent. History repeats itself and she faces painful experience after painful experience. But is the pain what her story is about?
