5 reads that pack sunny glow

“Maggie saw the sunset before she saw the cottage. It stretched across Lake Michigan in a broad sweep of orange and a glowing pink not unlike the colors of her borrowed skirt. Beach clothes, indeed.” Nora Edinger, Dune Girl

Looking paler than oatmeal? Wearing so many layers you cannot bend your elbows? Watching commercials for Caribbean travel with your jaw dropped to your chest?

If you answered “yes” to any of the above questions, you clearly need a break from winter. And, here it is — a list of five reads guaranteed to restore your sunny disposition!

1. The Patmos Deception by Davis Bunn. If you’ve never read Bunn’s extraordinarily diverse work, you are in for a treat. This book is a thriller set in the Greek Isles. It’s chock full of deeply-drawn characters, blue-sea bliss, romance, archaeology, mysterious religious relics, smuggling and the clever circumvention of political realities. It’s all there and you’ll feel like you are, too.
2. Sisterchicks in Gondolas by Robin Jones Gunn. Part of a travel/friendship series, this book brings two sisters-in-law who happen to be friends to Venice. When they’re not cooking for ministers (the surface reason for their visit), they’re sleeping on the roof of a palazzo, charting their favorite flavors of gelato and figuring out how to purchase less than a bushel of fresh produce at a time. Pure summer on a plate.
3. The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who’ve Lived the Longest by Dan Buettner. In this non-fiction work, Buettner details the delightful lifestyles of five of the world’s longevity hot spots — which happen to be literal hot spots. Sun, people. This book is about sun (among other good things.)
4. Dune Boy: The Early Years of a Naturalist by Edwin Way Teale. This classic memoir recalls Teale’s childhood summers spent visiting his grandparents’ farm in the Indiana Dunes. Full of golden light and warm sand.
5. And, finally, there is Dune Girl, by Nora Edinger. (Hey, it’s a poor frog that won’t croak for her own pond.) Also set at the Indiana Dunes in high summer (and titled in homage to Teale’s work) this beach read is a contemporary spin on the Old Testament love story of Ruth and Boaz. There’s sand, high surf, romance and a dog with plans of his own. Check out this guaranteed clean read at  Amazon Kindle.