The Books I'm Reading Now
I'm reading The People We Keep, Allison Larkin's upcoming novel about a young protagonist shaping her life through songwriting and finding human connection; Malibu Rising, Taylor Jenkins Reid's newest book about siblings surfing and forging their own paths on the coast of California; and Dark Roads, Chevy Stevens's suspenseful novel, out next week, about young women going missing in British Columbia.
Which books are you reading and enjoying these days, bookworms?
01 The People We Keep by Allison Larkin
In Allison Larkin's upcoming novel The People We Keep, April is struggling. She's failing out of school, working some shifts at a diner, and living in a nonfunctioning motorhome that her father won in a poker game--in a town where she's never felt like she belongs.
A borrowed car and an open mic night open up new possibilities while a fight with her dad sharpens her focus on leaving. So April heads out on the road with few expectations aside from changing the course of her life.
She meets new people along the way and must decide whether to open her heart to them or to keep up her guard; she considers what she truly wants from her life; and she writes songs to cope with and interpret the world around her.
I received a prepublication digital copy of this title courtesy of Gallery Books and NetGalley.
02 Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Although her tennis pro husband's recent infidelity with a famous tennis player is putting a damper on things, in Malibu, California, famous model and skilled surfer Nina Riva--the daughter of legendary crooner Mick Riva--is about to throw her end-of-summer party.
Malibu Rising tracks each hour leading up to and into the wee hours of the legendary party (and this year's unforgettable end), while interspersing scenes from the past, including Nina's parents' tangled love story, Nina's youth, her famous surfer/photographer siblings' stories, and others.
As the party spins out of control, secrets of all kinds are revealed and key characters must each determine their paths as they find themselves at crucial forks in the roads of their lives.
Taylor Jenkins Reid is the author of Daisy Jones & the Six, a book I included in the Greedy Reading List Six Rockin' Stories about Bands and Music.
03 Dark Roads by Chevy Stevens
Chevy Stevens's Dark Roads is set in the wilderness and rugged terrain of British Columbia, along a highway where unsuspecting women traveling alone go missing from time to time--yet a predator never seems to be brought to justice.
Teen Hailey McBride's father always taught her to be self-sufficient, to hunt, to stay tough, and to never drive Cold Creek Highway by herself. Now that he's gone, she's at the mercy of her aunt's controlling police officer husband, and Hailey decides to disappear into the wild in the desperate hope that the community assumes she's been taken by the highway killer and gives her up for dead.
When Beth Chevalier arrives in Cold Creek to try to track down her sister, who disappeared from the area, she unwittingly becomes a potential target herself--while inadvertently drawing attention to the truth about Hailey's disappearance.
I received a prepublication digital copy of this title courtesy of St. Martin's Press and NetGalley.