Amherst by William Nicholson

This was an amusing quick read about a young woman writing a screenplay about the love affair between Emily Dickinson's brother and Mabel Loomis Todd.  I guess it's all based on fact and it was a pretty interesting story. The novel jumps back and forth in time, sometimes as Alice, the young writer, and sometimes to Mabel, the young woman who has the affair with Austin Dickinson.

There are parallel stories here as Nick, the older man that Alice stays with when doing her research in Amherst, is married (as was Austin).  Of course, Alice falls for him.  Some of this was predictable, but it was entertaining and had some interesting discourses on love, marriage, fidelity, and more.

Orient by Christopher Bollen

I heard about this book on NPR and read some reviews and was intrigued.  It's a LONG book for a "summer read" but it's interesting, captivating and very well written.  Here's a review from the LA Times that says it all.
http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-ca-jc-christopher-bollen-20150510-story.html

A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler

I have always loved Anne Tyler's novels and this is no exception.  Read what the NYTimes reviewer says:

Give or take a few details, this extended/blended/fouled-up family could be any of ours. That makes it cliché territory, risky for an ambitious novelist. It’s also quintessential Anne Tyler, as well as quintessential American comedy. Tyler has a knack for turning sitcom situations into something far deeper and more moving. Her great gift is playing against the American dream, the dark side of which is the falsehood at its heart: that given hard work and good intentions, any family can attain the Norman Rockwell ideal of happiness — ordinary, homegrown happiness.

So true....and I love the way the story unfolds....a bit at a time.  The reader learns things about the characters as Tyler wants them to. You know from the start that Denny is the "problem" child, but then you learn new things along that way that make you understand why he is the way he is.

And Junior and his wife - that story unfolds at the end of the book

It's a really enjoyable read. I highly recommend!