August Reading

The long and short of it. Some quick reads and some that will take a little more time


Swan Song by Elin Hilderbrand

Looking for a beach read? The last of Elin Hilderbrand’s Nantucket-inspired novels, Swan Song, is a quick, fun read.

Here’s the description from Elin’s website: 

New York Times bestselling author brings her Nantucket novels to a brilliant finish: when rich strangers move to the island, social mayhem and a possible murder follow. Can Nantucket’s best locals save the day, and their way of life?

Chief of Police Ed Kapenash is about to retire. Blond Sharon is going through a divorce. But when a 22-million-dollar summer home is purchased by the mysterious Richardsons—how did they make their money, exactly?—Ed, Sharon, and everyone in the community are swept up in high drama. The Richardsons throw lavish parties, flirt with multiple locals, flaunt their wealth with not one but two yachts, and raise impossible hopes of everyone they meet. When their house burns to the ground and their most essential employee goes missing, the entire island is up in arms.


The last of Elin Hilderbrand's bestselling Nantucket novels, Swan Song is a propulsive medley of glittering gatherings, sun-soaked drama, wisdom and heart, featuring the return of some of her most beloved characters, including, most importantly, the beautiful and timeless island of Nantucket itself.


How to Know Someone by David Brooks

The Book of Charlie: Wisdom from the Remarkable Life of a 109-Year-Old Man by David Von Drehle

Funny Story by Emily Henry

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb

Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know by Adam Grant

Ikigai: the Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life by Hector Garcia amd Francesc Miralles

The Greatest Game Ever Played: The Harry Vardon, Francis Ouimet, and the Birth of Modern Golf  by Mark Frost 

Myth America: Historians Take On the Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past (essays) by Kevin M. Kruse and Julian E. Zelizer

Chip War: The Quest to Dominate the World’s Most Critical Technology by Chris Miller

The Jazzmen: How Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Count Basie Transformed America

by Larry Tye

G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century by Beverly Gage

The Women by Kristin Hannah

The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert Caro

The Hundred-Year Marathon: China’s Secret Strategy to Replace America as the Global Superpower by Michael Pillsbury

Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese 

cindy estes