Hi friends,

I loved this New York Times story about a family that shared the list of nearly 3,600 books their dad, Dan Pelzer, read during his life. As a tribute to Dan, they set up what-dan-read.com, so we can all scroll his handwritten reading logs, dating back to 1962.

When I die, please feel free to share my annual Google sheets of the books I read in a year.

In other news, I recently met a few of you at my cousin’s wedding. It was so nice to chat (and congrats to the bride and groom!)!

And, now, what to read if…

You Want a Book that Screams “Summer”

Beach House Rules by Kristy Woodson Harvey

A friend who’s a huge Elin Hilderbrand fan (or Hilderbabe, if you will) recently asked me what she should read after finishing the Nantucket writer’s backlist. I had the perfect answer: Kristy Woodson Harvey’s Beach House Rules, a feel-good novel about rebuilding a life after it gets turned upside down.

When Charlotte Sitterly’s husband is arrested for a white-collar crime, she’s locked out of her house by the FBI and becomes the “star” of @JuniperShoresSocialite, her small town’s snarky gossip Instagram account. With no other options, Charlotte tepidly agrees to move into a “mommune,” a former beachfront bed-and-breakfast that’s home to a community of single mothers.

Charlotte and her daughter are surprised by how much they enjoy life in the mommune — and even more shocked to learn all the women who live there share a secret that threatens to break apart the community they’ve built.

Beach House Rules is the perfect mix of light mystery — as Charlotte tries to clear her husband’s name — small-town drama and women helping each other grow. I was lucky enough to meet Woodson Harvey and tour her hometown when I joined the North Carolina Tourism Bureau for a literary tour of the state. She clearly loves small-town, coastal North Carolina, and that enthusiasm jumps off the page.

You Want a Break from the Heat

There Should Have Been Eight by Nalini Singh

If you want a book with an icy, winter feel — rather than Woodson Harvey’s warm beachiness — check out There Should Have Been Eight, a thriller from Nalini Singh.

As the book opens, Luna, a photographer slowly — and secretly — losing her sight, is apprehensive about her planned weekend