Summer Suggestions

 Ever wonder what it would be like to be Justin Bieber, or any other child singing sensation?  Sure you’re rich, but you’re also only 11, you’re secluded from others your age, and you must follow your mom’s draconian rules.  This is the strange world of the “angel of pop” as portrayed in The Love Song of Johnny Valentine by Teddy Wayne. Johnny or “JV” as the press refers to him, is singing in 30 cities over 46 days to promote his new single “Guys vs Girls.”  When he’s not performing, he’s either being homeschooled or on lockdown in his hotel room where he incessantly plays his video games.  His mom is often out living the high life so his companion is his bodyguard who stresses how easy it would be for him to be kidnapped and abused.  His father is not in the picture, but unbeknownst to mom, Johnny knows how to contact him and plans to make their reunion the finale of the big show in Madison Square Garden.  Preternaturally wise in the ways of music and business, Johnny has a lot to learn about being a regular kid and his lessons are to begin now.

In The Expats, a thriller by Chris Pavone, a woman with a secret CIA past is persuaded by her husband to relocate to Switzerland so that he can pursue a lucrative investment banking opportunity.  She willingly moves her family abroad so that she can live as a regular mother and neighbor in the Swiss expat community and not have to be reminded of the things she did in The Agency.  But things aren’t going the way she planned-her husband is getting very tight-lipped and secretive and her new neighbors seem to know more about her marriage than she does. Filled with twists and turns, red herrings, and shocking revelations, this book must be read twice to get the full effect.