By the pool books
Dive into summer with the best poolside books, featuring must-read beach reads like *The Secret Life of Bees*, *Hairstyles of the Damned*, and sizzling picks from MaryJanice Davidson. From gripping fiction to young adult novels and vampire romances, this curated list of books tagged for the pool is your ultimate guide to lazy-day escapes.
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The Secret Life of Bees
by Sue Monk Kidd
The multi-million bestselling novel about a young girl's journey towards healing and the transforming power of love, from the award-winning author of The Invention of Wings and The Book of Longings Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily's fierce-hearted Black "stand-in mother," Rosaleen, insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily decides to spring them both free. They escape to Tiburon, South Carolina—a town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by an eccentric trio of Black beekeeping sisters, Lily is introduced to their mesmerizing world of bees and honey, and the Black Madonna. This is a remarkable novel about divine female power, a story that women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come.
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Hairstyles of the Damned
by Joe Meno
'Hairstyles' is an honest depiction of growing up punk on Chicago's south side: a study in the demons of racial intolerance, Catholic school conformism and class repression. It is the story of the riotous exploits of Brian, a high school burnout, and his best friend Gretchen, a punk rock girl fond of brawling. Joe Meno won the 2003 Nelson Algren Literary Award and is the author of 'Tender as Hellfire' (St. Martin's, 1999) and 'How the Hula Girl Sings' (HarperCollins, 2001). His online fictional serial, 'The Secret Hand', is published through 'Playboy Magazine'. His short fiction has been published in 'TriQuarterly', 'Bridge', 'Other Voices Washington Square', and has been broadcast on National Public Radio. He lives in Chicago, and he is a columnist for 'Punk Planet' magazine.
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Candy
by Mian Mian
An international literary phenomenon-now available for the first time in English translation-Candy is a hip, harrowing tale of risk and desire, the story of a young Chinese woman forging a life for herself in a world seemingly devoid of guidelines. Hong, who narrates the novel, and whose life in many ways parallels the author's own, drops out of high school and runs away at age 17 to the frontier city of Shenzen. As Hong navigates the temptations of the city, she quickly falls in love with a young musician and together they dive into a cruel netherworld of alcohol, drugs, and excess, a life that fails to satisfy Hong's craving for an authentic self, and for a love that will define her. This startling and subversive novel is a blast of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll that opens up to us a modern China we've never seen before. - Banned in China-with Mian Mian labeled the 'poster child for spiritual pollution'-CANDY still managed to sell 60,000 copies, as well as countless additional copies in pirated editions. - CANDY has been published in eight countries to date and has become a bestseller in France.
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The Queen of Everything
by Deb Caletti
People ask me all the time what having Vince MacKenzie for a father was like. What they mean is, was he always crazy? High school junior Jordan MacKenzie's life was pretty typical: fractured family, new boyfriend, dead-end job. She'd been living with her father (the predictable optometrist) since her mother (the hippie holdover) had been too embarrassing to be around. Jordan felt like she finally had as normal a life as she could. But then came Gayle D'Angelo. Jordan knew her father was dating Gayle, and that Gayle was married. Jordan knew it was wrong, and that her father was becoming someone she didn't recognize anymore, but what could she do about it? And how could she -- how could anyone -- have possibly guessed that this illicit love affair would implode in such a violent and disturbing way?
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Dead Girls Don't Wear Diamonds
by Nancy Martin
When a high society jewel thief winds up drowned at the bottom of a pool with a tacky garden gnome tied to her ankles, Nora must swing into action to save her old flame from a hasty murder charge.
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Undead and Unemployed
by MaryJanice Davidson
Undead, and unable to shake her penchant for shoes, Betsy Taylor, the new Queen of the Vampires, gets a job selling designer footwear at Macy's while trying to catch a vicious vampire slayer with the help of a gorgeous ally. Original.
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Undead and Unwed
by MaryJanice Davidson
After being killed in a car accident, fashion savvy Betsy Taylor becomes one of the undead and, with the help of her newfound friends, the lure of designer shoes, and a sexy vampire, must destroy a dark enemy and fulfill her destiny as the prophesied vampire queen. Original.
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'Til Death Do Us Part
by Kate White
When her fellow bridesmaids die in a series of suspicious "accidents," writer-turned-sleuth Bailey Weggins endeavors to avoid becoming another victim while finding the killer before it is too late. 150,000 first printing.
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Ellen Foster
by Kaye Gibbons
One of the most talked-about and endearing first novels in years bears the story of a female Huck Finn and her search for a true home. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.
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See Jane Score
by Rachel Gibson
Award–winner and USA Today bestselling author Rachel Gibson's smart, sassy contemporary romances are making her one of the genre's fastest rising stars.
