Friday Five -- Huntley Fitzpatrick

Today's Friday Five features the lovely Huntley Fitzpatrick, author of MY LIFE NEXT DOOR (which I just read, and which is fabulous!)  She is funny and engaging on Twitter, a sister Apocalypsies and Penguin author, and a Shakespeare fan.  What's not to love?

THE FIVE:

 1.  What single thing would improve the quality of your life?

Nanny/Housekeeper in a bottle. I’d so love to be able to call these up genii-style and then dismiss at will.

2.  What is the worst job you’ve done?

Post college I worked for an investment firm in a job that got me a great stay at a NYC townhouse, but I had to walk cranky, flatulent dogs…..Math…annoyed beasts….not my best choices.

3.  What is your most treasured possession?

In a good way, I don’t care much for stuff anymore. My parents were married for a long long time, then split up and we had to choose what we wanted fast. I realized how little of what mattered was contained in any object. It was a good lesson.

4.  What one word do you think describes you best?

Persistent. The fact that I don’t give up—on things, on dreams, on people, is the best virtue I can claim.

5.  If you knew you would be stranded on a desert island, which book, piece of music, and snack food would you take with you?

Ooh. That’s a really good one. And of course, a hard one. I’d love to say The Complete Works of Shakespeare, and honestly, that could work. I majored in English Lit and wrote my Senior Essay on Hamlet and still feel as though I have a lot to learn.

I send out a list of questions to all interviewees, and allow them to choose the five they want to answer most - Huntley has accidentally answered six, and because I love the answer to the next question, I'm letting this slide...

6.  What intrigues you?

People. Oh I love to people-watch. I am not someone who can write at Starbucks or Panera as, very inconveniently, I require absolute quiet when I write. But I get my fix on drama by watching what goes on when I get coffee!

ABOUT MY LIFE NEXT DOOR:


“One thing my mother never knew, and would disapprove of most of all, was that I watched the Garretts. All the time.”

The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, numerous, messy, affectionate. And every day from her balcony perch, seventeen-year-old Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them . . . until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs her terrace and changes everything. As the two fall fiercely in love, Jase's family makes Samantha one of their own. Then in an instant, the bottom drops out of her world and she is suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself?

A dreamy summer read, full of characters who stay with you long after the story is over.

You can order MY LIFE NEXT DOOR here.

ABOUT HUNTLEY:

You can find Huntley on her website.
On Twitter.

Summer Reading

I love it when people say GILT is a great beach read.  Good for summer.  When I was young, I spent many many hours at the public library during the summer.  It was just down the street (actually, down a very steep hill!) from my house, and I'd return with my arms full of books.  We didn't have summer reading lists at my school, so I got to choose anything and everything I wanted.  I choose fun covers, series books, books by authors I loved and reread favorites.  Summer was a chance to enjoy any and every book I came across.

And for good or for ill, this has always stuck with me.  I'd pore over high school reading lists and pick up one "good for me" book as well as a stack of my favorites each time I went to the library or bookstore.  I've tried to go on reading binges of the classics.  I made my way through David Copperfield and The Mill on the Floss while traveling in Africa and enjoyed them, but they took me forever (which was a good thing, because in some places, books were hard to come by).  I think some of it is the difference between classics and modern books that Nathan Bransford addressed in his blog today.  But to be honest, some of it is just that sunshine and free time seem to call for something else.

I find myself craving books that will make me laugh.  That will remind me of what love feels like.  That will transport me wholly and fully to another world, another time, another country.

I recently finished MY LIFE NEXT DOOR by Huntley Fitzpatrick and submerged myself in a summer world I've never experienced - a beachfront community in Connecticut - and in a love story that feels deep and true.

I'm now reading CROAK by Gina Damico - another summer, another east coast setting, but a completely different world (one in which the protagonist is a grim reaper).  This book is hilarious and I'm reading it slowly to prolong the enjoyment.

Now, summer reads don't have to be about summer.  And they don't have to be "fluff."  I know how they make me feel, but they kind of defy definition.  They just feel good.

How about you?  What would you call a "summer read"?