{"id":4326,"date":"2026-07-05T14:07:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T14:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=4326"},"modified":"2026-07-05T14:07:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T14:07:13","slug":"getting-a-parenting-break-unwind-with-one-of-these-great-beach-reads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=4326","title":{"rendered":"Getting a parenting break? Unwind with one of these great beach reads."},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<div>\n<p><span>I\u2019m preparing for an upcoming vacation and assembling escapist reads between packing my children off to camp and hunting for a bathing suit. Maybe you are, too? Here\u2019s what\u2019s on my list, from frothy to suspenseful, with a few set close to home.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=4324\">Pilot was bitten by bat after swarm invaded hotel room, lawsuit says<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span><b>\u201cGetting Away with Murder\u201d<\/b><b> by Shari LaPena<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Suspense novelist LaPena is renowned for summertime thrillers, usually involving privileged people in confining circumstances; bad marriages in airless upstate New York towns. This one is set in New York City, where Ted and Jill live in a stunning brownstone and enjoy every trapping of wealth \u2014 until Ted\u2019s inheritance fizzles. One bad investment later, he and Jill are contemplating murdering Ted\u2019s loaded brother, Greg, to keep their finances afloat. But it\u2019s not that easy: blackmail and backbiting ensue.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><b>\u201cLake Effect\u201d<\/b><b> by Cynthia D\u2019Aprix Sweeney<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>A restless 1970s suburban drama set in Rochester, N.Y., where Kodak and Xerox fueled the economy. Nina Larkin\u2019s newly divorced friend slips her a copy of \u201cThe Joy of Sex\u201d; feeling her age, she watches her eldest child, Clara, on the brink of first love. Ah, midlife ennui: Nina begins to wonder what she\u2019s missing and soon finds out. Scandal inevitably follows \u2014 and, years later, Clara\u2019s life turns inside-out as she ventures back home, the drama still reverberating.<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><span>Get Starting Point<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span>A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.<\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><label>Enter Email<\/label><\/p>\n<div><button>Sign Up<\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span><b>\u201cLondon Falling\u201d<\/b><i><\/i><b>by Patrick Radden Keefe<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Keefe, who grew up in Dorchester, first explored this story in a titillating New Yorkerfeature called \u201cThe Oligarch\u2019s Son,\u201d about prosperous London teenager Zac Brettler\u2019s leap from the fifth-floor balcony of a luxury London building into the Thames. The circumstances were peculiar: Brettler was leading a double life, pretending to be the child of a Russian billionaire while actually the child of doting parents. Who did he encounter in this seamy underworld? What didn\u2019t his parents know? The story is part mystery, part British gangster noir, part coming-of-age cautionary tale. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><b>\u201cMake Nice\u201d<\/b><b> by Ryan Effgen<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>A bingeable addition to the dysfunctional-family-goes-on-vacation genre, with a motley crew of characters: a child actor turned cocaine salesman, a deceived divorc\u00e9e, a scientist, a disgruntled teen, and an emotionally stunted widower mourning the family matriarch while harboring his own secrets. Perfect if you\u2019re hiding out by the pool, wishing your own family were a bit more normal. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><b>\u201cMonster of a Land: On the Road in Search of Modern America\u201d<\/b><b> by Lauren Hough<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Why not go on someone else\u2019s road trip instead? Essayist Lauren Hough (\u201cLeaving Isn\u2019t the Hardest Thing\u201d) refurbishes a 2001 Dodge van and sets off on the great American highway from Texas with Woody Guthrie, her faithful Husky, riding shotgun. She\u2019s wise and witty, a relatable guide as she explores the ordinary corners of America \u2014 diners, gas stations, takeout windows, van-sleepers \u2014 that social media missed. The title is a nod to John Steinbeck, and her journey is in that tradition but made modern, with all that entails.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=4323\">EV sales have slowed down. That puts pressure on Massachusetts\u2019 climate goals.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span><b>\u201cThe Shampoo Effect\u201d<\/b><b> by Jenny Jackson<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The bestselling author of \u201cPineapple Street\u201d is back with a book about midlife on the North Shore (Jackson grew up in Ipswich; in the book, the town is called Greenhead). Caroline Lash escapes here from the confines of her publishing career in New York, only to be plunged into a bookworthy story arc involving cute townie Van Whittaker and his longtime hometown friend group, including an ex-girlfriend who became pregnant before Caroline arrived. There\u2019s the whiff of John Updike and suburban woe, updated for contemporary audiences \u2014 a juicy beach read with a juicier beach setting.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><b>\u201cSomeone Else\u2019s Husband\u201d<\/b><b> by Kimberly McCreight<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>A wealthy Upper East Side wife. A philandering husband on a far-flung vacation to Mount Kilimanjaro, emphasis on the kill: Shortly after their affair, his mistress is found dead in an East Village loft. Author Kimberly McCreight climbed Kilimanjaro when her longtime marriage ended, but this is where the similarities end. Satisfying for anyone who relishes domestic dramas like \u201cBig Little Lies\u201d and \u201cThe Undoing.\u201d (In fact, the book has been optioned as a series.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><b>\u201cValley of the Moms\u201d<\/b><b> by Hannah Selinger<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Another sizzly North Shore romp, this one by Boxford\u2019s own Hannah Selinger. It\u2019s set in Hamilton, depicted as a swanky enclave with an all-powerful PTO. Protagonist Anna Plummer is without a premium PTO membership, which means that her tot can\u2019t attend a school dance. When she confronts the intimidating PTO president about the system, drama spills over, and, a year later, Anna is found dead in the Ipswich River. Art imitates real life: Selinger was in a similar beef with her hometown PTO over tiered payment practices in 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><b>\u201cVera Stein is Fine\u201d<\/b><b> by Julie Murphy<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Forty-year-old Vera Stein wanted to be a screenwriter. Instead, she became an assistant to Brody Turner, a Hollywood himbo and her longtime crush \u2014 until she\u2019s about to be replaced by a younger model. She flees to Palm Springs to find refuge with her grandmother, Ruby, a faded horror movie actress, at retirement community Starlight Palms. She becomes their activity coordinator and resumes a romance with a college friend who\u2019s now Starlight\u2019s doctor. Is this \u201cEat, Pray, Love\u201d meets \u201cThe Golden Girls\u201d? I\u2019ll soon find out, but it sounds perfect for anyone who appreciates rom-coms, Hollywood hijinx, and midlife reinvention.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=4321\">Millions of children can get $1,000 from Trump for retirement accounts. Will it shrink the wealth gap?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s what\u2019s on my list, from frothy to suspenseful, with a few set close to home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4325,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Getting a parenting break? 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