Best Books to Read Now: 2018 Women With Books Summer Reading Challenge

This time of year, I'm always being asked - WHAT'S A GOOD BOOK TO READ???  
Between road trips, vacations and lazy days in the shade, it seems like everyone agrees that it's the perfect time to immerse yourself in a great book. 

So in response to popular demand, I'm introducing....

For the next three months, join me as we explore new genres, discover new authors and bask in the glory of love... mystery... adventure...  Of course you can pick whatever book you want in each category but I'm going to give some recommendations... you know me. I can't RESIST giving book recommendations...

Ready?  Let's start with what everyone's been obssessing about!

A royal book! 
 

I've done a lot of talking about the Royal wedding of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry this spring, including hosting several inspiring authors of royal romance. Here are some of their awesome books:

A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole Amazon || iBooks

Royally Wed by Teri Wilson Amazon || iBooks

Command Me by Geneva Lee Amazon || iBooks

The Royal We - Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan Amazon || iBooks

BEACH BOOKS

Every time I do the lightning round in a podcast interview I ask people if they prefer a book with abs on the cover or a beach scene. So let's pick some books with beach scenes this summer. My recommendations...

Kristy Woodson Harvey's Peachtree Bluff series: Amazon || iBooks

All the Breaking Waves by Kerry Lonsdale: Amazon || iBooks

Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers by Sara Ackerman: Amazon || iBooks

New To You Genre

Branch out this summer. Do you want to try...

A mystery? Try Deanna Raybourn's Victorian ones or Gigi Pandian's Treasure hunt ones!

Fantasy? Try the new series by Jeffe Kennedy or L. Penelope

Historical women's fiction? The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

Paranormal romance & Urban Fantasy?  The Shadowchasers' series by Seressia Glass or anything by (my all-time favorite) Ilona Andrews

Book from a Former Women With Books Guest

I've already mentioned a bunch on this page! But check out the Women With Books episodes for a deeper dive. 

A Diverse / Inclusive Read
 

It's really important to me, as a reader, an author and a podcast host to promote and recommend books by all types of authors. Many of the recommendations I'm making in this post include authors of color, but for even more books check out... 

WOC Romance
20 Books by LGBT Authors You May Not Have Read...but should

 

Debut Author

 

This is another branch of the Women With Books mission statement, to support debut authors. To that end, I'm very excited to suggest these authors who all debuted in the past year!

Alexis Daria's debut,  Take the Lead: Amazon || iBooks

Kate Clayborn's debut,  Beginner's Luck: Amazon || iBooks

Jasmine Guillory's debut, The Wedding Date:  Amazon || iBooks

Madame de Boudoir's debut, King of the Sea  Amazon || iBooks

A Book that Inspired a Movie/ TV Show

I always love reading books that will be or have already been interpreted on the big (or little) screen. Part of it is keeping up with the zeitgeist, participating in the discussions at the water cooler. And part of it is my analytical brain that likes to see the differences in adaptations. Either way, I enjoyed BOTH the books and the adaptations of the first and third of these (and I'll definitely be buying a ticket to Crazy Rich Asians!)

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty: Amazon || iBooks

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan:  Amazon || iBooks

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline: Amazon || iBooks
 

A Book with A Pretty Dress on the Cover

 

As I mentioned above, I always ask guests if they prefer abs covers or beach scene covers. But you know what my favorite type of cover is? Pretty Dress Covers. And these three are GORGEOUS, don't you think??  (Another favorite is Deanna Raybourns' Lady Julia Grey series, mentioned above.)

Chanel Cleeton's Next Year in Havana 
Taylor Jenkins Reid's Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Sonali Dev's A Bollywood Affair

So. Are you ready? Inspired? Feeling competitive?  I'd love to hear what you're reading this summer and what you recommend! Comment below or on any of my social media and use the hashtag: #WWBSummerReads to update your friends and the Women With Books community on what you're reading this summer! (And check out the podcast where I talk about all this!)

AND... while you're updating your TBR pile, make sure you reserve your copy of my next release... THE ROYAL RUNAWAY!  Anyone who has good taste in books will enjoy it! 
 

All These Things That I Love - May 2018

A monthly roundup of things that give me life...

I'm re-watching, actually, THE CROWN. In preparation (and celebration) of the Royal Wedding, the dramatization of Prince Harry's grandparents' marriage is truly riveting historical drama...

Rose' all day. Aren't they pretty? And delicious. But mostly pretty. 

To this Celine Dion song. Okay, I'm listening to it while watching this amazing video. What's not to love? The unapologetic ferocity of Celine Dion?  And the sly humor of Deadpool?  It seriously gives me hope that all of my so-called "crazy" ideas just might work...

It was my birthday last month and I gleefully skipped to Ulta and Sephora to pick up my birthday gifts. And aren't they gorgeous? Must-haves, seriously. The NARS orgasm blush is a perennial best-seller and supposedly great on all skin tones? (I'm not sure as I only have one - but it's not overpowering on this pale girl.)

And I'm not a really a matte lipstick kind of gal - give me an easy color balm any day but this Bite set might have won me over... to Bite matte lippies, anyway. 

Make sure you're signed up for all your birthday rewards, too! (I don't get anything out of this - I just really like my tribe to get free, awesome stuff.)

LIKE... did someone say a free, awesome book?  LOVE IN THE TIME OF HYGGE is the book I'm including in my newsletter this year, chapter by chapter and some people are saying it's the best, most entertaining novella they've gotten for free all year.  But it's only for those in The Inner Circle.

Cover Reveal - THE ROYAL RUNAWAY!

It's time to announce the secret that I've been carrying for so many months...

Yes, you may commence with the squealing and ooohs and aaahs. I won every book cover lottery, the stars were aligned, the feng shui was perfect, and my publisher clearly loves me the most of all the authors they've ever published, in the history of the world. 

I'm not being cocky, my cover is just THAT GOOD. 

Don't you want to instagram it? Model with it? Print it out and put it on a wall? (Believe me, you're welcome to do all those things!)
 

More than that, don't you want to READ IT???

Honestly, I can't wait for the world to read it. The early readers have been sent into a tizzy by this story of the aftermath of a #RoyalWedding gone wrong. THE ROYAL RUNAWAY is the story that I've always wanted to write - a perfect blend of suspense, romance and mystery. 

THE ROYAL RUNAWAY is a princess story AND a spy story. It has kissing AND dead bodies. It has good and evil, tears and laughs. And kissing. Did I mention kissing?

Oh, you want to pre-order it?  One-click here: Amazon. (And THANK YOU for pre-ordering. It helps my publisher know that people love my stories and want more of them!)
 

Make sure that you're signed up for The Inner Circle newsletter, where I will be sharing exclusive content and inspiration for THE ROYAL RUNAWAY  in the months to come. 

And as this will be a paperback book, I will also be doing book giveaways for my social media followers and newsletter subscribers so follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter!

As always, thank you for your support and excitement! I can't wait to see what the next few months bring!

Best Books to Read Now - May 2018

Reminder/ Caveat/ Disclaimer: This is my (hopefully) monthly list of books I’ve read and enjoyed. These are not reviews, I do not include books I didn’t enjoy because life is too short to speak badly of books!

My omnivorous book tastes are showing this month. Let's see what I'm currently obsessed with....

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Amazon || iBooks

I already posted about this last month, but this is probably still the number one book that people want to talk to me about. Pros, cons, 80's nostalgia, a VR future, everyone is having THOUGHTS about Ready Player One. 

Island of Sweet Pies & Soldiers by Sara Ackerman

Amazon || iBooks

This book has everything - a World War II narrative in a beautiful location, friends, family, love and a lion. Just trust me and read it.

What is everyone reading this weekend? Me? I'll be finishing up Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers! It's so good! #amreading #bookclubbook

34 Likes, 8 Comments - Lindsay Emory (@lindsayemory) on Instagram: "What is everyone reading this weekend? Me? I'll be finishing up Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers!..."

Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes

Amazon || iBooks

I practically live-read this on instagram, sharing the bits and OH YASSS parts that I loved (and needed to hear?) It's a short, easy read that will inspire and motivate you and give you insight into the mind of a woman with a huge cultural impact on the world. 

Kiss of Steel by Bec McMaster

Amazon || iBooks

I have mentioned multiple times, but two of my favorite paranormal series are drawing to a close soon and I've been on the hunt for new ones to take their place. I am happy to announce that I've found two new ones that I'm very excited about (one to share next month as I haven't quite finished the book.)  I devoured this Steampunk/ urban fantasy/ vampire book and I cannot wait to read the rest of the series by the pool this summer.  

Oh I'm so glad that there are such good books in the world, aren't you?
 If you're not already, make sure you're signed up for my Inner Circle newsletter because BIG THINGS are coming. 

And my Women With Books podcast is closing out Season 2 with amazing guests and special royal wedding coverage.  I'm going to have an exclusive giveaway for Women With Books newsletter subscribers at the end of the month you won't want to miss out on!

All These Things That I Love - April 2018

A monthly roundup of things that give me life...

All my favorite reality shows lately. Southern Charm is back!  (And I just caught the premiere of Southern Charm - New Orleans at lunch today. Y'ALL. This cast. We'll have to talk after some more episodes.)

The Queer Eye reboot is EVERYTHING. Cry, laugh, moisturize with a new Fab Five that you'll fall in love with. And Bethenny & Fredrik drove me nuts but I'm a sucker for New York real estate. I was disappointed they didn't invest in the Hamptons remodel. That would have been my ideal show, TBH.

Slightly chilled Lodi wines on the patio. This one was around $10 at Trader Joe's and I wish I'd bought extra. 

To 80's music! Hubs and I both read Ready Player One and had a movie date night after and because we're children of the 80's we enjoyed all the references and music soundtrack. 

Have you seen the movie or read the book? Or both? What did you think?

You’ve probably seen them in some of my Instagram posts (above, with READY PLAYER ONE), but I’m so in love with this purse clip. It’s discreet  enough to clip on the outside of your purse (see above) and really easy to hang on tables at restaurants (or the inside of restroom stalls that don’t have hooks – MY BIG PET PEEVE!!!)

I have the gunmetal version because like I said – discreet. Honestly, this would be a good thing to buy a bunch of, to keep on hand for gifts. Doesn't every woman need a good way to hang their handbag?

Best Purse Clip Ever. 

Now that I look back at this list, I'm having a very basic month - wine, reality TV and date nights. But honestly, sometimes we all just need to get back to basics and enjoy the simple things that make us happy.   Let me know what you're loving lately in the comments below or on my Facebook page and Instagram! Especially if you have wine recommendations. ;-)