Thursday, December 17, 2009

Lookalikes

Ah, Summer! Winter is barely upon us, but summer is never far from my thoughts.  Both of these books have summer themes and will be on my reading list for 2010. SUMMER HOUSE was published in June of 2009. The finished book in the U.S. has a different cover, but this is the cover I fell in love with. LOCAL KNOWLEDGE was published in January of 2009, but I only just heard of it by way of Mary at Bookfan's latest Mailbox Monday post. Has anyone out there read either one?


LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
by Liza Gyllenhaal

About the book (from the publisher): From an exciting debut author—a novel about three people haunted by the mistakes of their past and their plunge into an uncertain future.

Maddie Alden has always longed for more than her small town could offer. Now that it’s being overrun by wealthy New Yorkers looking for a respite from the city, Maddie has gotten herself a lucrative new job in real estate. And her first sale brings her a charismatic new friend who is everything Maddie longs to be. Little does Maddie realize that the glamorous Anne will shake up her quiet marriage— and will force Maddie to face the truth about the past, and the terrible secret she shares with her husband and his best friend…

SUMMER HOUSE
by Nancy Thayer

About the book (from the publisher):After years of wandering from whim to whim, thirty-year-old Charlotte Wheelwright seems to have at last found her niche. The free spirit enjoys running an organic gardening business on the island of Nantucket, thanks in large part to her spry grandmother Nona, who donated a portion of land on the family’s seaside compound to get Charlotte started. Though Charlotte’s skill with plants is bringing her success, cultivating something deeper with people–particularly her handsome neighbor Coop–might be more of a challenge.

Nona’s generosity to Charlotte, secretly her favorite grandchild, doesn’t sit well with the rest of the Wheelwright clan, however, as they worry that Charlotte may be positioning herself to inherit the entire estate. With summer upon them, everyone is making their annual pilgrimage to the homestead–some with hopes of thwarting Charlotte’s dreams, others in anticipation of Nona’s latest pronouncements at the annual family meeting, and still others with surprising news of their own. Charlotte’s mother, Helen, a Wheelwright by marriage, brings a heavy heart. She once set aside her own ambitions to fit in with the Wheelwrights, but now she must confront a betrayal that threatens both her sense of place and her sense of self.

As summer progresses, these three women–Charlotte, Nona, and Helen–come to terms with the decisions they have made. Revisiting the lives and loves that have crossed their paths and the possibilities of the roads not taken, they may just discover that what they’ve always sought was right in front of them all along.

13 comments:

Mary (Bookfan) said...

Well, you saw I have Local Knowledge on my shelf (as mentioned in my Mailbox Monday post) and I read Summer House a few months ago. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. It had a very different cover, though.
I love the cover you showed!

bermudaonion said...

You'd think they could come up with different pictures for the covers. I like the top one more.

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

I LOVE the cover, but hate when they copy it and use it somewhere else :( the top is better IMO.

Wall-to-wall books said...

I love, love this post! I did a post a while back about several "look alike covers" I think it so funny!
Nancy Thayer - I have read a couple of hers, can't remember what though.
Beautiful cover (on both of them, LOL)

Oh! It was called "Act of Love" I think,or something like that. It was really good!

Stephanie said...

*LOL* I'm guessing it was a stock photo.

Lisa said...

Well, it is a great cover!

librarypat said...

Sound like two books well worth the time to read.
There are just too many good books out there.

Marie Cloutier said...

I like the first one more, too. But they're both beautiful covers. :-)

holdenj said...

I can't believe it! I really enjoyed Summer House, though, definitely worth the read!

Zibilee said...

It's always so funny to me when this happens. You'd think that someone would have noticed this before the book went to print, but obviously not! I really like the feature by the way.

avisannschild said...

I like both these covers: the top one for the way it incorporates the title into the picture and the lower one because I find the blurriness adds to its appeal. I love these types of posts!

Dawn @ sheIsTooFondOfBooks said...

You have a great memory! I might see a cover that I've seen before (on a different book), but unless it's on my bookshelf, I don't think I'd be able to pull the two of them together.

I like the arrangement of the top photo better (using the sign for the book title), but am drawn to the blurriness of the bottom photo ...

Just Mom said...

How interesting - I have never seen this before and didn't know it happened.