Beach Reading Summer 2010

It's that time of year to head to the bookstore or library and pick up the beach reads for the summer. Here's our pick for Beach Reading Summer 2010:

We recently had the chance to chat with Chelsea Handler at the Belvedere Pink Grapefruit launch party who says, "Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang is my favorite book, it has the funniest stories." When we asked how it was possible that she had any stories left--c'mon, how do you top having a romance with a cruise ship acrobat and vacationing with your dad?--Chelsea said, "I've been pacing myself, but I won't be writing another book for a few more years." Pour yourself a tall Belvedere and soda and savor Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang.

Handbag designer Lauren Merkin gets credit for the next select. She turned us on to The Help, a moving novel about hired help in 1960 Jackson, Mississippi. While that may sound too serious for your lounge chair, it's a beautiful, easy read. Read it before Steven Spielberg makes the movie.

Speaking of books being made into movies, if you haven't read Eat, Pray, Love, pick up a copy before Elizabeth Gilbert morphs into Julia Roberts this August.

Can't wait til June 13 when the third season of True Blood premiers? Neither can we! Get your Sookie, Bill and Eric fix with Dead in the Family (Sookie Stackhouse, Book 10), the just-released next chapter in the Sookie series.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest is the last in the trilogy that began with The Girl with a Dragon Tatoo.  Since the second (The Girl Who Played with Fire) was better than the first (and didn't take nearly as long to get juicy), we're hoping the trend continues as we follow Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist on another crazy ride.

Finally, for some good, old-fashioned chick lit, try Emily Giffin's Heart of the Matter. If it's anything like her previous books, you'll be laughing through tears!

See our Summer Beach Reading picks 2009 and Summer Beach Reading Picks 2008.

Big Book of Barbecue

Add this to your list of summer must reads, The Big Book of BBQ: Recipes and Revelations from the Barbecue Belt. The book from the editors of Southern Living features the best barbecue places in the South, info on the most famous barbecue festivals, recipes, and photos that you can gain five pound from just looking at.

For those who prefer their meat from a cow and sans sauce, Steak: One Man's Search for the World's Tastiest Piece of Beef, is exactly that. Food writer and Condé Nast Traveler contributor Mark Schatzker details his 18-month search for the perfect steak across Argentina, Scotland, Japan, Europe and the states.

Guide to Summer 2010

The countdown is on to the unofficial start of summer. Read on for the hottest destinations, fashions, cosmetics and more.

What's summer without a long weekend away? For those who aren't fans of the sand and sea, we have  Travel Ideas for city slickers, too.

Check out the must-have shoe for summer: The wedge.

After a year-long hunt, we've finally found the perfect Straw Bags.

and the most glamorous Sun Hat

The only waterproof makeup you'll need

and the Hottest nail polish, courtesy of Mme. Chanel.

Plus the best Beach Reading

and the Playlist of summer.

Last but not least, get yourself beach ready with our tips for Brazilian bikini waxing.

Sex and the City Book: The Carrie Diaries

Last fall we told you about the Sex and the City Book: The Carrie Diaries, which are all about Carrie in high school. A big thanks to the New York Post for giving us an exclusive sneak peek in between the pages. The pages they shared are all about her early boyfriends with a mention of a cruise to Alaska with her dad and her sisters and reveal an introspective, young Carrie. Can't wait to read more!

The Carrie Diaries is available on Amazon.

Update: Read our review of The Carrie Diaries.

Epic Hotel Hosts Leila Cobo's Book Reading

The Epic hotel in downtown Miami is continuing its Epic Wine Hour Presents author series this upcoming Thursday, October 15 with Miami-based Leila Cobo, author of the just-released novel, Tell Me Something True. Leila is a Colombian-native and current executive director of Latin content & programming for Billboard. The book promises to be a juicy read about a woman who finds her late mother's journal and it turns out her mom's happy life may have not been all that it seemed.

The Tell Me Something True weekend rates starting at $169/night plus tax for a Cityview room for Thursday, October 15 through Sunday, October 18 only. For every Tell Me Something True stay booked, EPIC will make a $10 donation to the Early Learning Coalition of Miami-Dade/Monroe, which distributes books to thousands of children throughout Miami and the Florida Keys.

The hotel is located at the edge of the Miami River and Biscayne Bay and features a large pool deck. It's close enough to all the action in South Beach, but with the restaurant Area 31 and the River Lounge, you may not feel the need to ever leave the hotel. Reservations can be made at Epichotel.com. To book the Tell Me Something True rate online, enter TRUE in the rate code box, or call 305-424-5226 and request the TRUE package. So basically, do something good and get a great deal for your deed!

The Lost Symbol

Summer may be over, but that's no reason to stop reading fun beach reads. We've already put our name on the wait list for The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown's sequel to the DaVinci code. It features Robert Langdon in what is sure to be another page turner. We don't know more than that as review copies have been kept under lock and key a la a Harry Potter novel. We do know The Lost Symbol releases on September 15. Reserve your copy now!

For a more in depth look at what may be in The Lost Symbol, check out New York Magazine's piece: How Dan Brown Feeds the Brain.

Summer Beach Reads '09

It's that time of year again, when we're looking for a book that will absorb our attention without making our brain stretch too hard. We have a round up from our friends on Twitter and a few selects of our own.

I Was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloan Crosley comes to us from The Daily Lather. It's a collection of essays from a New Yorker in her mid-20s that cover the range from being a bridesmaid to vegetarianism to what her apartment looks to others like should she die unexpectedly. (To our surprise, we found out this weekend that a few of our friends do actually worry about this!)



The Ex-Mrs. Hedgefund Jill Kargman from Elite Travel Gal. There's no better tome for these recessionista days!


The School of Essential Ingredients Erika Bauermeister is Ildiko J's reco. Ildiko's one of our favorite makeup artists whom we know has impeciable taste. We do/buy/try everything she tells us to. We're doubly excited about it as Amazon likens it to Chocolat and Like Water for Chocolate.




Our friend Julia suggests Queen Takes King by Gigi Levangie Grazer, author of The Starter Wife. Julia's on a level with Kate Moss in terms of cool, so we know this is what all the hip girls will be reading on the beach this summer.



This is one of our picks: Pretty in Plaid: A Life, a Witch, and a Wardrobe, or, the Wonder Years Before the Condescending,Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smart Ass Phase by Jen Lancaster. If Jen's Bitter is the New Black got us through the early days of being laid off, we have no doubt her latest can get us through a few days at the beach. You can follow Jen Lancaster on Twitter, too. Maybe after this plug she'll start following us!



And another one: Love Will Tear Us Apart: A Novel Sarah Raimone. Becuase how can you not like a novel named after a Joy Division song that reviewers call "sexy, funny and brilliant"?


Our new assistant editor, Ava Hoffman, calls Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami, one of the best books she's ever read. "It's a longer read but everyone I recommended it to loved it."
Our friend Paula recommends Whacked by Jules Asner (model, E! t.v. personality and wife of director Steven Soderbergh) authored her first book which is part intrigue part chick lit.
And if you prefer something on the heavier side even though it's summer, try The Third Angel: A Novel by Alice Hoffman.

The Best Summer Beach Read

Two days on the beach in Montauk flew by thanks to Tan Lines by J.J. Salem. Seriously, our SO even commented on how non-fidgety and low maintenance we were with our nose buried between the pages. This is definitely the dirty must-read of the summer. We picked it up because our first love, summer must-read author, Jackie Collins, wrote the book jacket review and Cindy Adams called it "smut from the gut".

We stayed with it because it has one of the most attention getting first lines ever. (We know we have some readers under 16, so we won’t reprint it here.) The story line about 3 late 20-something women is not without its flaws, but it’s a confirmed page turner! Just do yourselves a favor and buy the book.

To find out our other summer beach reads, click here.

Private Jets and Beach Reads

We're on a reading kick these days--something about the ability to finish a book in one or two sittings is totally irresistible. Another book we've knocked out recently is Plum Sykes' Bergdorf Blondes (2004). (It was published a few years back so we were able to score it off the bargain table.) We totally recommend it as a witty, fashionable way to lose an afternoon. Her lead character, AKA Moi, has a complete obsession with PJs (private jets). And in Candace Bushnell's 4 Blondes (A book we read when it came out in 2002 and didn't love), lead character Janey Wilcox trades sexual favors for a helicopter ride to the Hamptons.

Surely Plum and Candace deserved shout outs in today's NYTime's story, "Hey, Big Spender, Flying My Way?"

Summer Reading List

We've been making our way through our summer reading list. Both members of JSG have laughed our way through Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea

by Chelsea Handler. She has some pretty crazy scenarios involving a gay dog, a promiscuous little person and a girls' trip to London that we can't do justice. Here's a quick snippet about travel that cracked us up and is now our motto if a friend ever asks us to drop them off at the airport:

"People in their thirties need to know that if they can't afford a taxi, then they don't deserve to go on a trip."

Chelsea, couldn't agree more! Go and buy the book today. There's a reason it has been on the NYTimes bestseller list for 11 weeks!

Our Picks for Best Summer Beach Reads

Last week we got in a heated debate on Twitter with our friends at All About The Pretty, The Beauty of Life and Mischo Beauty over Lauren Weisberger’s literary skills or lack thereof. Suffice it to say, neither we or Beauty of Life will be reading Chasing Harry Winston. (And heated is a bit of an exaggeration. It wasn't quite as passionate as a debate between, say, a Barack and a Hillary supporter.)

What will make our list of summer beach reads?


Married Lovers by Jackie Collins. Lucky is the reason we dated around in our 20s. We’ve read all her books and count a signed copy of last year's Drop Dead Beautiful as one of our most cherished possessions. As Al Roker says every year, "If it's Jackie Collin's, it must be summer!"


Are You There Vodka? It’s Me Chelsea by Chelsea Handler. Love the spoof on everyone’s favorite tween read. Her first book My Horizontal Life practically made us pee in our pants (see the chapter on a romance with a cruiseship performer). Speaking of wetting our pants…


When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris. We break out into hysterical laughter when we picture David picking apples or working as an elf at Macy’s. Our friend Michelle (an author herself!) picked this up when we were with her last weekend. Here’s hoping she’ll loan us her copy when she’s done!


Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner. Jennifer has such a sweet way of writing—we always end up laughing through our tears with her novels (she also wrote In Her Shoes, among others). Word of warning-she does write a lot about food. Her books always make us hungry!



Celebutante by Amanda Goldberg. We picked it up because we loved the cover (Bubble-holics unite!) and bought it because Michael Kors wrote one of the reviews on the back: “Stylish intrigue, glamorous machinations and such juicy fun. No one but Hollywood insiders like Amanda Goldberg and Ruthanna Hopper could tell the tale so perfectly.” Love Michael’s shoes so much—he must have good literary taste!


If you’re looking for a more serious read:

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is one of the most beautiful moving books we’ve read in years. It tells the heatbreaking story of two twins and the men that love them throughout the civil wars in Nigeria in the late 1960s.