Summer Reading List

Hi Vintage-istas!  It's The Vintage Chanteuse, and I am back after a long week of auditions, operas, and concerts. Thanks for your patience :-) And now that Summer vacation is in sight, I have road trips, beaches, fresh sweet corn, and BOOKS on my mind! My favorite Summer pastime is lying in the sun with a good book and a cold cocktail. So here is my Summer Reading List all of which include my favorite things: vintage clothing, antiques, romance, and a little mystery!

The Secret Lives of Dresses by Erin McKean

"Dora has always taken the path of least resistance. She went to the college that offered her a scholarship, is majoring in "vagueness studies," and wears whatever shows the least dirt. She falls into a job at the college coffee shop, and a crush on her flirty boss, Gary.

Just when she's about to test Gary's feelings, Mimi, the grandmother who raised her, suffers a stroke. Dora rushes back home to Forsyth, NC, and finds herself running her grandmother's vintage clothing store. The store has always been a fixture in Dora's life; though she grew up more of a jeans-and-sweatshirt kind of girl, before she even knew how to write, Mimi taught her that a vintage 1920s dress could lift a woman's spirit.

While working there, Dora befriends Mimi's adorable contractor, Conrad. Is he after Dora, or is working from a different blueprint? And why did Mimi start writing down--and giving away--stories of the dresses in her shop?

When Mimi dies, Dora can't get out of town fast enough and cedes control of the store to her money-hungry aunt who wants to turn it into a t-shirt shop for tourists. But ultimately, she returns to Forsyth, willing to battle whatever may stand in the way of her staying there. Dora can trade her boring clothes for vintage glamour, but can she trade her boring life for one she actually wants?"

A Vintage Affair by Isabel Wolff

"Phoebe Swift’s friends are stunned when she abruptly leaves a plum job to open her own vintage clothing shop in London—but to Phoebe, it’s the fulfillment of a dream, and her passion. Digging for finds in attics and wardrobes, Phoebe knows that when you buy a piece of vintage clothing, you’re not just buying fabric and thread—you’re buying a piece of someone’s past. But one particular article of clothing will soon unexpectedly change her life.

Thérèse Bell, an elderly Frenchwoman, has an impressive clothing collection. But among the array of elegant suits and couture gowns, Phoebe finds a child’s sky-blue coat—an item with which Mrs. Bell is stubbornly reluctant to part. As the two women become friends, Phoebe will learn the poignant tale of that little blue coat. And she will discover an astonishing connection between herself and Thérèse Bell—one that will help her heal the pain of her own past and allow her to love again."

Savannah Blues by Mary Kay Andrews

 "Meet Weezie (aka Eloise) Foley, a feisty antiques “picker,” banished by her spiteful ex-husband from the house she herself restored in Savannah’s historic district, who must come to terms with a life that has suddenly changed…and  not, it, seems for the better. In Mary Kay Andrews’s delectable New York Times bestseller, Savannah Blues, readers will feel the sultry Georgia breezes and taste sea salt in the air, as they lose themselves in a wonderful, witty tale brimming with sass and peopled by a richly endearing cast of delightfully eccentric characters. Revenge is sweeter than sweet in Mary Kay’s capable hands."




One of Those Malibu Nights by Elizabeth Adler

"It was just one of those Malibu nights, dark as a velvet shroud, creamy waves crashing onto the shore, breeze soft as a kitten’s breath . . . But when private investigator to the stars Mac Riley hears the sound of a woman’s scream over the crashing waves, his low-key beach-bum lifestyle is changed forever. A beautiful, distraught woman wearing only a black lace negligee stands in the doorway of a fabulous beach house. In her hand, a gun, and it’s pointed directly at him. . . . Mac escapes her bullet, but barely. Who was that woman? Days later, she’s disappeared and the Smith & Wesson she almost killed him with finds its way into his car.

Mac suddenly finds himself tangled up in a web of deception. He’s going to need some help if he’s going to get to the bottom of it all. This is where Sunny Alvarez comes in. Sunny and Mac have an on-again, off-again relationship. Lately it’s been more “off” than “on.” But now he needs her more than ever.  
Together they go on a quest that takes them from Southern California, to the beaches of Mexico, to the streets of Rome and the countryside of France. All the while, they are one step behind an elusive murderer, and one step ahead of an actress who wants nothing more than to get lost. . . ."

 The Lady in the Palazzo by Marlena di Blasi

"Marlena di Blasi seduced readers to fall in love with Venice, then Tuscany, with her popular and critically acclaimed books A Thousand Days in Venice and A Thousand Days in Tuscany. Now she takes readers on a journey into the heart of Orvieto, an ancient city in the less-trodden region of Umbria. Rich with history and a vivid sense of place, her tale is by turns romantic and sensual, joyous and celebratory, as she and her husband search for a home in this city on a hill—finding one that turns out to be the former ballroom of a dilapidated sixteenth-century palazzo. Along the way, de Blasi befriends an array of colorful characters, including cooks and counts and shepherds and a lone violinist, cooking her way into the hearts of her Umbrian neighbors.

Brimming with life and kissed by romance, The Lady in the Palazzo perfectly captures the essence of a singular place and offers up a feast—and the recipes to prepare it!—for readers of all stripes."

 I don't know about you but I cannot wait to devour my reading list this Summer!  What are you favorites Summer reads?  Please share in the comments below!

Salut!

The Vintage Chanteuse