Thursday Give Away
For our first Thursday give away of the new year, I am thrilled to announce that we have an advance copy of Beatriz Williams’s upcoming A Hundred Summers
Here’s the official blurb:
Memorial Day, 1938: New York socialite Lily Dane has just returned with her family to the idyllic oceanfront community of Seaview, Rhode Island, expecting another placid summer season among the familiar traditions and friendships that sustained her after heartbreak.
That is, until Greenwalds decide to take up residence in Seaview.
Nick and Budgie Greenwald are an unwelcome specter from Lily’s past: her former best friend and her former fiancé, now recently married—an event that set off a wildfire of gossip among the elite of Seaview, who have summered together for generations. Budgie’s arrival to restore her family’s old house puts her once more in the center of the community’s social scene, and she insinuates herself back into Lily’s friendship with an overpowering talent for seduction…and an alluring acquaintance from their college days, Yankees pitcher Graham Pendleton. But the ties that bind Lily to Nick are too strong and intricate to ignore, and the two are drawn back into long-buried dreams, despite their uneasy secrets and many emotional obligations.
Under the scorching summer sun, the unexpected truth of Budgie and Nick’s marriage bubbles to the surface, and as a cataclysmic hurricane barrels unseen up the Atlantic and into New England, Lily and Nick must confront an emotional cyclone of their own, which will change their worlds forever.
To say that I loved this book would be an understatement. There are very few books out there compelling enough to make you feel entirely zen about being stranded at O’Hare airport for twelve hours. The heroine manages to be genuinely nice without being a doormat and the 1930s New York tone is absolutely perfect.
So, for a copy of A Hundred Summers
Where would be your ideal place to spend the summer?
The winner will be announced on Sunday.
As long as the company is lovely and the food is a plenty, any park, backyard or beach is my ideal spot to spend the summer. On a more wishful note, I sure wouldn’t mind spending a summer in Italy 🙂
My ideal place would be anywhere where there are very few people, the sea or a lake, the forest or the countryside. Anywhere where there is silence (that is only the sound of nature), books and my husband.
Happy new year to you, Lauren, and to all my fellow willig-maniacs!
Ideal place would be a cabin/cottage by a lake/river near a city with good food shops, yarn shops, arts, and theater. Internet access would be nice. Peace and quiet, good food, reading, knitting and relaxing. Good company (husband, daughter, friends and cat)included. Somewhere in the US, Britain or France preferable.
I think I’d choose to tour Europe with my husband for the summer. We have so much traveling we’d love to do, and it would be wonderful to have a few months to spend traipsing around together.
Hawaii! Or maybe somewhere in Europe along a shore.
Truthfully… Paris. I just watched Midnight in Paris again and it made me want to go there so badly in the summer… when it rains. I also wouldn’t mind if an old car came and took me back to the ’20s in Paris (if only for one night).
I would love to spend the summer by the sea–Cape Cod, the beaches of Pacific Northwest, or even Bermuda.
I would spend the summer at my grandmother’s lake house on Kerr Lake in Virginia. It’s thirty minutes away from any sort of civilization, so it’s perfect for relaxing and all manner of water activities!
Newport RI would be great! Went to collage in Newport! Would love to sit on the beach or walk the cliff walk again.
Ooh, I’m excited for this book! It sounds so good, and the cover is so pretty.
I would choose to spend the summer traveling rather than staying in one place. I’m a person who likes to go and see and do things when I’m on vacation rather than stay in one place and relax. Today, I think that wandering around Scotland for a summer sounds pretty nice. Maybe that’s thanks to the Scottish hero in the book I’m reading.
Happy New Year, all!
Either the Pemaquid peninsula in Maine or by a secluded lake in New Hampshire- I’ve been to the first in the summer and have plans for the second.
I spent a few days at Lake Rabun, GA last summer and it was idyllic. Hopefully I can return soon!
I would love to spend an entire summer in a log cabin in the mountains near a river so I could tube and hike if I wanted, but also stay in and read and watch movies. That would be perfect.
Anywhere I can be in a house on the sea shore. With Wifi, of course…
This book sounds fantastic :D. My ideal place would probably be somewhere in France. I love the countryside there: The food, the scenery, the weather, the people. Also so much history to see and experience.
Definitely a tour of Europe – so many places I’ve wanted to go and I totally regret not doing it before I had a baby. One day…
It would be so wonderful to spend a whole entire summer on Block Island. Failing that, much of the Maine Coast would work well too.
Outer Banks, NC — I’ve spent a lot of great summers there!
I LOVED Beatriz Williams’s Overseas so I am eager to read more of her work!!
I would love to spend the summer at our old cottage on the lake with my family.
Although being in a tranquil spot near the water is always nice (even if it is only a shallow creek!), I long to have a repeat of the month my husband and I spent in Paris for our ten year anniversary. Staying in an apartment centrally located from the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, and the Luxembourg Gardens was a dream come true…and reminiscent of what Michelle said, I just finished watching Midnight in Paris for the fifth time and it made me weep–happy tears, of course!
I would love to spend a summer exploring Europe, there is so much I want to see there and vacations are just never long enough.
I think somewhere by the sea. Perhaps Italy or Greece? A nice deserted island would not be torture either!
Happy New Year Lauren!
Ideally, I’d love to spend my summer in the company of good friends anywhere in the world (I’d love to backpack through Europe!). as long as I had them, lots of books, and access to the internet, I’d be extremely happy.
A villa in Greece would be ideal, but I’d also take a summer at my family’s beach house in the Outer Banks of NC…my ultimate place of relaxation, fun and good family time.
A summer exploring the English countryside would be hard to beat. The closest I’ve gotten so far is a week in London way back when. Just not being somewhere hot and humid like Houston is would be a blessing.
In a truly ideal world, in which money was no object, the southeastern coast of France with frequent train tickets to Italy. I would also take Ireland, the Pacific Northwest, or northwestern France.
I read once about a cottage on the water with polished wooden floors, a library, and a bath-house. I’d love to stay there with friends but enjoy the ability to sneak off alone if I wanted 🙂
I would love to spend a summer at an English estate – exploring the grounds and the surrounding towns. Maybe take a hike across the entire area. I’d love to spend hours reading under a tree in a well-tended garden.
I’d love to explore the English, Scottish, Irish and Welsh countrysides and visit all of the lovely palaces, castles, manor houses and other grand buildings there.
Exploring the Gulf Islands. Of course, my ideal summer paradise would not be complete without a few good books (per day), some family to share the experience and amazing food.
Happy New Year everyone!
The book sounds excellent!
A friend and I are currently planning a 6-week trip to Ireland (with the sort of nonchalance that college students plan things with, so who knows if it will actually happen). As much as I fear it will never get put together, I cannot quite put aside my excitement for green hills and cliffs and accents and pubs… So Ireland it is.
in Paris
I’d like to spend it in Australia.
The Maine Coast, I think. Camden has great shops, great scenery, lots of neat places within an easy drive.
Right now I’m really wanting to spend more time in London, so I’m going to say a summer there would be pretty ideal.
Block Island – a gorgeous island off the coast of Rhode Island.
I’d love to go to Greece.
I would spend my summer on Mackinaw Island, MI. No cars allowed. Mild weather. Lots of historic sites to explore and beautiful scenery. You feel as if you’ve gone back in time which is appropriate since it’s where the movie Somewhere in Time was filmed.
I’d love to spend the summer in France, either along the Loire River amongst a beautiful garden with lots of time to read, or in Eze next to the Mediterranean…somewhere nice and relaxing
Summer, Fall, Winter, or Spring..I’d love to spend it on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Good times with family and friends, curled up with a book on the beach, the sound of the ocean to lull me to sleep at night…sigh.. how much vacation time do I have???
A villa in Tuscany. Ever since reading Under the Tuscan Sun, that has been my dream way to spend summer. With plenty of trips taken to explore the surrounding towns, for course!
My ideal place to spend the summer is the beautiful island of Bermuda.
In a cabin in the woods with a lake outside the screened in porch.
With plenty of books to read and yarn to crochet.
Lots of good food and of course my family I’d be content to idle the days away.
Although Paris is my most favorite city ever, I think I would like to explore Austen country in the UK for a whole summer while reading her novels in the evenings in assorted inns or pubs.
Despite going there every year it would have to be France. We discover something new every year. Even the the smallest village tucked away in the remotest place have a wonderful wealth of history.
I think I would opt for an extended summer vacation in Romania with family. Nice and relaxing!
Greece, Rome and Egypt.
Ever since I was in sixth grade (English classes had mandatory mythology units) I have been enchanted by the ancient world. This love for ancient civilizations led to me reading many books (fiction or otherwise) and eventually caused me to minor in Classics while at school. I want to go to these places more than anything so I can see the places I’ve learned so much, and I guess you can say I want to feel a part of those worlds in some way.
Greece, Rome and Egypt.
Ever since I was in sixth grade (English classes had mandatory mythology units) I have been enchanted by the ancient world. This love for ancient civilizations led to me reading many books (fiction or otherwise) and eventually caused me to minor in Classics while at school. I want to go to these places more than anything so I can see the places I’ve learned so much, and I guess you can say I want to feel a part of those worlds in some way.
(I put the wrong email on my first entry. I’m sorry!)
My family’s cabin (really a four sided shack with eletricity) on a pond in the middle of no where New Hampshire. Its so relaxing up there. I love it.
My ideal summer locale would be Puget Sound- whale watching every day, observing pods of Orcas. Happiness!
California coast
on a warm beach.. any warm beach… 🙂
I know I’m pretty boring but I think just about any place could be perfect, so long as I don’t have to work.
I recently read an article in a travel magazine about the hidden wonders and delights of Eastern Europe, especially Montenegro. I saw pictures of the ruined castles, pearl shores, and azure waters, and decided I must go and experience it myself!
Hope you had a Happy New Year!!
Long time reader…first time commenter. I love your Weekly Reading Posts, and I have been wanting to read a book by Beatriz Williams.
I would love to spend the summer by a beach somewhere!
Grenada. I can just see myself, gently swaying, in a hammock on the white beach, with a large stack of books next to me. I might take a break for a quick swim, or grab a mango for a snack… Ah. Almost perfect
At St. Simon’s Island, off the coast of Georgia,
with my family and lots of time for reading, swimming, walking on the beach, Fourth of July fireworks – world enough, and time!
My ideal summer is cruising the Mediterranean and stopping at as many ports as possible!