I read it during the midst of the Coronavirus quarantine and honestly felt like it “saved” me during this experience. I can also be critical of books dealing with 9/11 (sometimes it feels wrongly used for the sake of drama to me), but I thought this one handled it well.Īnd I would be remiss not to mention my favorite part - each “year” came with a rundown of all the pop culture items we were talking about at the time - including some of my personal faves: Dunder Mifflin in 2008, the Villanova Wildcats in 2016 and the Philadelphia Eagles in 2018! It was just a really fun addition to a book taking place over a few decades.Ģ8 Summers was a 5 STAR read for me. While I can normally be critical about books glamorizing affairs, I thought this book did it in a really smart way that made sense and showed that all relationships are different and complex. Naturally, this becomes more complicated with age, marriage and kids. It’s about two people who decide to have a “same time next year” meeting that lasts each Labor Day weekend over the course of … you guessed it … 28 Summers. If you already read it, check out the sequel: The Sixth Wedding: A 28 Summers Story (2021) (a short story that takes you right back into the characters’ lives, a few years later, as Jake returns to Nantucket for Labor Day weekend 2023).Ģ8 Summers lived up to all my expectations of a classic Elin book - preppy Nantucket setting, light but still has substance, well-drawn-out characters, realistic but still clever dialogue, compulsively readable … I feel like I can go on forever! My #2 Top Pick for Elin Hilderbrand’s best bookīest for those who enjoy popular culture references and decades-long romances Read these books in my Summer Reading Challenge.

The Perfect Couple: the ultimate “death at a wedding” in Nantucket mystery.

28 Summers: a tear-jerker with a wealth of pop culture references.

Summer of ’69: light historical fiction drama set during a momentous Summer in Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.

The Rumor by Elin Hilderbrand