Summer Blowout by Claire Cook

I received Summer Blowout through the Library Thing Early Reviewers Program. It took me a little while to get into the story, in part because the main character, Bella Shaughnessy, is a makeup artist and spends quite a bit of the first few chapters talking about makeovers and salons and lipstick. I don't wear makeup and know nothing about it, so I was at a bit of a disadvantage.

I'm glad I didn't give up on the book, because it did get better. I loved the relationship Bella had with her brother Mario, and thought that she was a believable and relatively likable character. Her love interest, Sean Ryan, is nice and funny and doesn't do anything sleazy or suspect, which is nice in a chick lit novel. Overall, Summer Blowout was a light, fast read, which is sometimes just what a summer day calls for.


I'd like to pass on my copy of the book, in the interest of sharing the summer fun. If you're interested, leave me a comment and tell me about your favorite summer book. You can name an individual book, a genre, or even share a treasured summer reading memory. Don't forget to include your email address. US residents only, since this is the first giveaway I've tried and would like to start simple. Contest closes on August 14th at midnight.

To be fair, here's one of my favorite summer reading memories:  the summer before the Two Towers movie came out, I re-read the book. I went to a writer's workshop that summer in a town with an open-air chapel that overlooked some fields and a small strip of woods. It was the perfect setting for a lazy afternoon reading about the battle at Helm's Deep, and I know that every time I re-read that book, I'll be transported back to that day.

Your turn, and good luck!


Winner!

Congratulations, bibliophile 81! I plugged all the entries into random.org, randomized them, and then emailed MB at work to ask him to pick a number.

Thanks to everyone who entered. I'll probably be giving away a few more advanced copy books in the next few months, so check back!


Just kidding!
The bibliophile admitted she just entered the contest to be supportive, and had already looked at the book at the library. I re-listed everyone, re-randomized it, and had her pick a number. So, congratulations to geek girl!

To Be Read List

Do Chocolate Lovers Have Sweeter Babies? by Jena Pincott

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers

How Shakespeare Changed Everything by Stephen Marche

Why We Get Fat Gary Taubes

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Mademoiselle Boleyn by Robin Maxwell

Spiced by Dalia Jurgenson

If I Tell by Janet Gurtler

Jane by April Lindner

Run, don't walk

If you are at all fond of "magical realism" (think Practical Magic style stuff), then get thee to a bookstore or a library and find a copy of Sarah Addison Allen's Garden Spells. It is WONDERFUL.