Lee Child. Bad Luck and Trouble. 2007.

An ex-military investigator, Jack Reacher drifts from place to place with nothing but his bankcard, a folding toothbrush, and the clothes on his back. When one of his former colleagues contacts him with urgent news, he finds out that another of his ex-colleagues was found dead, apparently having been thrown from a helicopter. Now Reacher and the other surviving members of the military investigative team must try to find the perpetrators of this crime and unravel the dangerous plot that was worth killing to cover up. Reacher is an interesting character with a strong moral code of his own but an aversion to forming attachments to anything. Plenty of action makes this a fast read. This is the 11th book featuring Jack Reacher.

Jennifer Cruise. Anyone But You. 1996.

After getting divorced at age 40, Nina Askew moves into an apartment and plans to get a puppy to keep her company. Instead she ends up with Fred, a smelly and depressed beagle and bassett hound cross. Fred is instrumental in her meeting her downstairs neighbor, the ER doctor Alex. They are obviously meant to be together, but Alex and Nina both think the other party won’t be interested because of the age difference. Alex is ten years younger than Nina. This is a light and funny read, but a bit predictable.

Jude Devereaux. Secrets. 2008.

Cassie Madden has been in love with Jefferson Ames since she was 12, when she met him on a business trip with her mother. Years later, Jeff is widowed and Cassie moves to his hometown of Williamsburg, Virginia. She manages to snag a job as nanny to his daughter, but while he treats her like family, Jeff appears oblivious to her feelings. Shots fired from a nearby estate lead to clues that not everyone is who he/she seems. Readers will feel like they’ve stepped into a classic Hollywood movie in this story combining comedy, romance and mystery.

Jane Green. The Beach House. 2008.

Sixty-five year old Nan lives in Nantucket and the locals think she is crazy because she rides her old bike everywhere and skinny dips in people's pools. Her husband died 20 years earlier leaving her to raise their young son alone in the old family mansion overlooking the water. She discovers her money is dwindling and she decides to rent out some of the rooms. Slowly, people start moving into the house, each with their own story to tell.Nan finds her family expanding.Her son comes home for the summer, and then an unexpected visitor turns all their lives upside-down.

Cathy Holton. The Secret Lives of the Kudzu Debutantes. 2007.

Following The Revenge of the Kudzu Debutants, this second installment in the lives of an independent group of women from Ithaca, Georgia, is the ideal fun beach read. Nita, Lavone, and Eadie are fast friends from the time each was married to one of the three partners in the most prestigious law firm in town. Now the partnership and two of their marriages are dissolved, and the three friends are getting on with their lives, each having newly discovered her independence. As the book opens, each friend is facing anxieties and sadness. Nita is anxious about her impending marriage to a man thirteen years her junior, who makes some very risky financial decisions to prove himself to his new bride. Lavonne is lonely and longs for love despite her new slim figure and her business success. Eadie remains married to Trevor but feels neglected and indulges in an excess of alcohol and wild behavior, ignoring her own artistic gifts. At this most vulnerable time, Virginia Broadwell, grand dame of Ithaca and Nita’s ex-mother-in-law, sees her opportunity to exact her revenge on the three friends for their part in her own social and economic downfall in the wake of the scandal that ruined the law firm.

Donald McCaig. Rhett Butler's People. 2007.

Based on the Great American Novel Gone With The Wind this novel is twelve years in the making adding new dimension to the story. Meet Rhett Butler as a boy, a free spirit who loved the marshes and tidewaters of the low country and learn of the ruthlessness of his father, whose desire for control resulted in unspeakable tragedy. Through Rhett’s eyes, you will meet people who shaped him: the overseer’s daughter, Belle Watling; Rhett’s brave and determined sister, Rosemary; Tunis Bonneau, the son of freed slaves – Rhett’s childhood friend who understood him like no other; Jack Ravanel, whose name became inextricably linked to heartbreak. And there’s Scarlett, the headstrong passionate woman whose life is entwined with Rhett’s: more like him than she cares to admit; more in love with him than she’ll ever know.

Terry Pratchett. The Light Fantastic. 2001.

Discworld is drifting through space (held up by four elephants on the back of a giant turtle) and heading straight for a dangerous-looking red star. The result is not exactly global warming, since Discworld is a disc, not a globe, but things are heating up and the magicians at Unseen University are striving to solve the crisis. While an ambitious usurper confounds their efforts, they try to find Rincewind, a failed wizard (Harry Potter he ain’t) whose head is inhabited by one of the Great Spells that just might save the day. Recommended for fans of humorous fantasy. It is not necessary to read the series in order, but readers who care about that can start with "The Color of Magic."

Theresa Rebeck. Three Girls and Their Brother. 2008.

After a photo of three gorgeous redheads appears in the New Yorker, turning them into fashion stars, they and their brother ride a wave of fame that may break up their family and sense of who they really are. Philip, a remarkably sane 15-year-old, shows so much disrespect for the media that he is sent away from home, leaving 14-year-old Amelia, sincere but confused, to buckle under the appeal of her new life, including the lead in an off-Broadway play. To protect her younger siblings, sexy, tough Polly, 17, decamps from her usual alliance with Daria, 18, the ruthlessly career-minded "Ice Queen.” Though it has a Manhattan-paced plot, most of this novel’s fun comes from the richness of its four main characters, each of whom narrates a quarter of the story in teen-speak, ripe with slang, curses, and laugh-out-loud humor. Its use of teen naïveté to lambast society's foolishness strongly evokes The Catcher in the Rye.

Hilma Wolitzer. Summer Reading. 2007.

Book Club members will love this book because it's about THEM! Written from the perspective of the group leader, a society member and her maid, this slim novel discusses literary works read by the "Page Turners" and how their personal lives are affected by heroines in novels they read during one summer in the Hamptons.