I really enjoyed this book! I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it is much more than "just" a beach-read. It is about the history that a home can have; the connection that generations of family can have with one another.

The Cliff House in Nantucket is falling into disrepair, and Cissy is trying her best to save it. Not only because of her attachment to the house, but because of the memories that the house holds. As the story progresses, the author introduces the reader to the various characters, all of whom are really well developed and so fun to get to know. I thoroughly enjoyed cuddling up in the evenings with this book, and delving into the story that was unfolding. Very beautifully done, a new favorite for sure.

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is a very enjoyable read. Brad comes back to Nantucket to help her mother, Cissy. They are losing Cliff House. Let me say I love Cissy. She is eccentric, crazy and fun. There is a dual story of Ruth. Ruth is Bess's Grandmother. I love the past and present story of the Cliff House. You really see the significance and love for this place. There intriquing twists to the story and heartbreak too. A good beach read.

Bess Codman returns to her childhood home after four years with one mission. To get her cantankerous mother Caroline (Cissy) out of the home that her great grandmother had built 99 years ago. It was built on a bluff high above the ocean in Nantucket. That bluff has been and is falling slowly away. There is about ten feet left before the house starts to go. Cissy is determined that she is going to save the house. The tennis courts are gone, the pool is gone, the yard is gone, everything is gone including most of the patio. Cissy continues to fight.

Bess recently leaving her husband (what a guy this turned out to be) is dealing with that issue and Cissy. While fighting with him and her, she decides to go ahead and start packing. The first thing she finds is The Book of Summer. This is a book that has been in the house since the beginning and everyone who has ever been at the house has signed it, some several times.

The book goes back and forth from present day and then to quips written in the book and then to the relatives that lived in the house, mostly Bess's grandmother Ruby. It is a great story about family, very emotional, tragic and everything centered around Cliff House. You can see why Cissy is fighting so hard to keep this house.

I just loved this book and when it was over, it was very hard to let go of. Cissy is a feisty character, but one that you grow to love. I got lots of chuckles out of her. There were definitely some emotional moments and some romantic moments. Some moments you won't believe. It's just all in all a family saga that leaves you feeling good in the end.

A very entertaining read and I thank St. Martin's Press and Net Galley for allowing me to read and review this book.

Overall, this is highly enjoyable. I enjoy dual timeline stories, and find that I usually prefer the older timeline - this is no exception. Reading about Ruby and her life was entertaining and heartbreaking, but I just loved her.

The modern timeline is fine, but I found both females to be just a bit annoying at times. The concept of the "Book of Summer" was great and I'm sure I would love to actually read something like that. The entries in this one were intriguing. As I said, a highly enjoyable read.

**Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley in exchange of an honest review.**

2.5, rounding up because the writing was ok.

I was interested in reading this novel because it is set on Nantucket and mentioned erosion as a plotline. I have a friend on the island and have witnessed this situation firsthand. And, it has two story lines--past [1941] and present [2013] a device I like. BUT.

It's pedestrian and predictable. An easy, breezy read with writing and descriptions of the characters that confirmed my suspicisions and telegraphed plot lines.

The Book of Summer is a physical book in which guests of Cliff House write entries. These entries form the 1941 part of the story. Most are quite brief and because it's in faint, tight script [on my reader] often hard to decipher.

Nonetheless, this book may have a lot of fans. It's a definite summer read and easy to plow through. I just didnt care enough about the characters.

Touted as a book with [generations of] secrets--not really that grand. The early ones a bigger deal because of the times, the present ones--tamer.

So, if you have some extra time on your hand, this might be for you. But don't go running on my account.

Gable immerses the reader into Nantucket life, its grandeur and people.

Strong female characters, secrets, the world on edge as WWII commences.

The female protagonists varied, I took to Ruby due to her strength, naivety and loyalty. The actual book of summer was a great way for individual stories and characters to slowly reveal themselves.

The plot was enjoyable although I would have preferred more focus on Cliff House as opposed to an angle Gable swerved towards, I was caught a little off guard not knowing quite what to make of the impact and stealthy way it weaved into the story, on the fence about its overall presence.

The story contained a little bit of everything making it all the more entertaining.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed The Book of Summer. The story is just as much about Bess as the other women in her family, dating back nearly one hundred years. I enjoyed Bess's story just as much as her grandmother's. While I thought this might just be a light beach read, stories of war and feminism and what is marriage and family and love really, were all great additions.

I am a big fan of Michelle Gable's writing style and I do think that think book was true to her style. I, however, was not a huge fan of this one. I didn't connect to the characters at all. I felt like they were held at a distance, except for Ruby who I thought had a lot of spirit. I wasn't a fan of one of the things used a big plot point that was meant to be a dramatic realization that changed Ruby's life and those of her children and children's children. I find the use of this particular thing as a plot device, especially one that proves how strong another person is because they overcame it about the other person, to be mildly offensive. I understand in the time period of that plot line that it was dealt with in the way the author deals with it in this book, but I personally am not a fan the use of this in fiction. Other than that, I did enjoy the book and the saga of Cliff House. Gable did a wonderful job describing the setting to make you feel like you are there, which I always think is a strong point for her. But overall, it wasn't her strongest book.

I simply loved reading this story. From the first page to the last, Michelle Gable had me hooked. I loved that the story bounced between times, reading the different point of views. Surprises, twists & turns, this book has it all. Wishing that somehow there could be a sequel. Thank you so much for the chance to enjoy it!

I really wanted to like this book because I love reading about Nantucket. It just didn't hold my interest enough to want to continue reading it I felt nothing for the characters at all.

This book was a DNF for me. Unfortunately I was not drawn into the story line after three valiant attempts. Though set in Nantucket, it felt much more different to me than other books I have read with a similar setting. The normal warmth and charm didn't come across in the storyline to draw me in. I also had a hard time shifting between the present and past storylines.

Brilliant book. Excellent main characters and plot. I would recommend this book.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I am of two minds about this book.

I won't go into detail about the plot, which can be read here in a thousand other reviews.

Here is what I really thought of the book:

It was a slow start, but the modern story grew on me. Although at times, Cissy's antics seemed quite far-fetched.

I enjoyed the historical part of the story, set between 1940 and 1945.

But I wanted to kill Ruby. There was nothing redeeming about her. In each of her scenes I constantly rolled my eyes and sighed.

I also thought the gay storyline was unnecessary. It didn't make the story any better by being included. Had that been changed to alcoholism, the story would have remained - or at least - turned out the same.

While it was not a prudish story - there is a very graphic sex scene that takes place in the 1940s, when it came to talking about homosexuality, I felt that it was too ambiguous. I had to look up Blue Discharge because I had no idea what it meant, and the author did not clarify it until later in the story, although I could have guessed.

Other than my dislike of Ruby, and my dislike of the homosexual storyline (which has it's place in fiction, just not in this particular instance), this book was 'okay'. I never thought of stopping reading and I was honestly curious to find out what happens to Cissy and her lovely home during the modern story line.

I would read another book by this author if given the opportunity.

Predictable and odd, but the characters worked their way into my heart by the end.
When I first picked up The Book of Summer, I was hoping to read something lighthearted and cute, without any mention or reference to WWII, as I’d been reading a lot of WWII books lately. Unfortunately, this book definitely was none of these things. Well, parts of it were lighthearted and cute, but there was a definite WWII story here, that somehow I missed noticing on the synopsis. Whoops! So this book was not what I was looking to read when I read it, and I think this factored into my feelings about the book.
The book is told from the point of view of Bess, an ER doc in San Francisco, who travels home to Nantucket to help move her mother, Cissy Codman, out of the historic Cliff House, which is teetering on the edge of falling into the Atlantic. Besides Bess, we also go back in time to WWII era, and hear from Ruby, who happens to be Bess’s grandmother (and Cissy’s mother).
The time shifts are handled well, and I preferred the plot of Bess and Cissy and trying to save Cliff House from erosion rather than the WWII plotline. I think this may be just because I’ve been reading so much WWII lately, that I’m a bit weary of this time frame right now.
Bess’s mother, Cissy, really irritated me at first. For example, Bess arrives at the airport, and Cissy goes to pick her up at the airport. On a bike. This didn’t endear me to Cissy at all; I was just irritated by her. But by the end of the book I liked Cissy and had warmed to her larger-than-life personality. Besides Cissy, we’ve got what is perhaps the best-named character I’ve read in quite some time: Chappy Mayhew. He’s the cranky man who lives across the street, who has a feud with Cissy, and oh yeah, Chappy’s son, Evan, just happens to be an ex-love of Bess’s.
Bess is going through a divorce, from a nasty man named Brandon, and is at somewhat of a crossroads in her life. You can sense the predictability here with these plotlines, and while it was fine, it was predictable.
Back in WWII time, the plot is a bit more original, and shines a light on how the US military treated gay men. I can’t recall reading a book that spotlights this issue, so this issue and the saving homes from erosion issue in the modern sections felt fresh and interesting to me. The characters in the WWII time were fine. Ruby was a bit too naïve for me, and Hattie, a new friend from Europe was intriguing, but I don’t think enough was done with her character.
There are two small parts of the book that were exceedingly odd to me. There’s one scene between Bess and her soon-to-be-ex-husband with verbal abuse, which was so disturbing and frankly bizarre, and another scene back in 1941 time where Ruby sees something she shouldn’t, that was just kind of odd. Without spoilers, I will say that I thought both of these scenes could’ve been edited down, and the reader would still understand what was happening.
There was a lot of language in this book, which surprised me. I wasn’t expecting the swearing, so that jarred me out of the narrative whenever a character would swear.
I couldn’t quite connect to any of the characters. They are all wealthy, and live on a fancy island back east, and I just couldn’t connect to their mindset and their way of life, or anything about them. It’s not that I didn’t like them; I just didn’t connect on any level. I’m not exactly sure why. But by the end of the book I wanted Bess to have her happy ending, and I wanted Cissy to be able to find a way to stay in Cliff House.
I think some people will really like this book. It’s got an interesting setting, on Nantucket, and I could see the fancy houses and the smell the sea as I read, but I just failed to connect to the story and the characters.

Bottom Line: A bit lackluster and predictable. I couldn’t connect to the characters.

Bess returns to Nantucket to convince her mother to move from the family home that is about to fall into the ocean. They find a diary from her grandmother written in the 30's and 40's named the book of summer. They never expected so many family secrets. An enjoyable read set on an island that is slowly receding into the sea. Anyone who lives near the beach can sympathize with Bess and her family.

This is such a wonderful book I can't even describe the emotions it provoked.

This was a very enjoyable story set in the current day and jumping back to the 1940s with the first generation of this family. The story is mainly about the strong women of Cliff House which is unfortunately slipping into the sea, with the erosion getting to the point that they need to move out.

The story starts in the present day with Bess returning home to Nantucket to get her mother, Cissy, out of the house before it slips over the cliff. She seems to have drawn the short straw as her Father, sister and brother could also have helped but it seems to have fallen to Bess. Bess is a physician in San Francisco so had to take additional time off to try and persuade Cissy to leave.

Cissy is a right character! Everyone knows her and she is definitely an eccentric who does things her own way, riding around town on her bike and being involved in everything, mostly trying to shore up the coastline and trying to move Cliff House back from the edge of the cliff - the whole house! Bess certainly had her hands full, but was used to it, growing up with her exuberant mother.

The story flips back and forth between the present day and the 1940s, but the main story is set mostly from the 1940s and Bess's grandmother Ruby and the way things were at their summer house before and after the war. There are various people lost over the years, to war and illness, and there's lots of descriptions of the heady days before the war of parties all summer long, before the war changes things for everyone.

There's a very slow burning romance between Bess (who is just divorcing her cheating, verbally abusive husband) and Evan, Bess's high school boyfriend. It's very slow and laid-back, but is a nice background story. Bess is a chip off the old block, even if she doesn't think she is, quite forthright in her comments and very funny at times, I really liked her character.

Cissy fights as hard as she can but eventually even she has to admit that Cliff House is unsalvageable, but then decides she's 'going down with the ship' and refuses to leave! Of course things come to a head near the end of the book and thankfully Cissy does finally leave, but it is very sad that they lost such a magnificent sounding house.

I really enjoyed the whole story, although I did feel it was a bit too drawn out at times, about life before and after World War II and how the way of life had changed for people over the decades on Nantucket Island in particular. The historical side of the story was especially fascinating. Very interesting read.

I received an ARC of The Book of Summer in exchange for an honest review.

This was the first of Michelle Gable's books which I have read, and I enjoyed the story line. I liked reading the letters in "The Book" as well, which I think helped give depth to the characters.

I would suggest this book to anyone who wants to be taken away to Nantucket!! I love the background and need to vacation there, soon!

I love stories of old houses and the family secrets! I was caught up in the history of Cliff House and was on edge as the edge of the cliff came closer. The story also drew me into the emotions and struggles of the men and families during the war.

I really enjoyed Gable's novel A Paris Apartment so I did not expect to feel so "meh" about this one. I suspect it's a case "not you but me." Other readers will surely enjoy the setting, characters, and tandem storylines. I had a lackluster reaction for reasons all my own: Bess married a terrible man the first time around and her divorce isn't even finalized and she's already falling in love. Granted, it's her ex-boyfriend from high school so there's history there. But I'm really irritated by stories about women who are terrible decision makers and then everything works out magically. It's not that people don't deserve a second chance- they absolutely do!! It's just that there are plenty of us who use discernment, avoid people who would be bad for us, and still don't have our happily ever after. Whomp whomp.

In any case, the present-day storyline aggravated me and I had a hard time handling her mother's character. Sometimes you prefer one storyline over another and that's fine. But then the characters in the past storyline annoyed me, too. They were more like caricatures. It may be I never got over my initial grumpiness to give this book a fair chance. I suspect others will find it to be a perfectly lovely beach read.