Dear Great Book Guru, In the depths of winter, my thoughts turn to summer, sunny beach days and – yes - a good beach read.  I’m thinking of something quick, with colorful characters, a familiar setting, and fun to read. Any thoughts?   A Devoted Beach Book Reader

Dear Devoted Beach Book Reader, No need to wait for summer - a good beach read is a treasure any time of year and here’s one you might enjoy: COBBLE HILL by Cecily von Ziegesar.  Cobble Hill is a neighborhood in downtown Brooklyn and home to the four families highlighted in this novel. They include a former rock star and his wife who pretends to be gravely ill; a flirtatious school nurse and her struggling musician husband; a mysterious performance artist and her inventor husband; and a bestselling British author struggling with a bad case of writer’s block and his high-power executive wife who is about to lose her job.  We follow these four couples and their children through a tumultuous year marked by arson, infidelities, cyber mischief, and multiple romances - all set against a Brooklyn Brownstone backdrop. The lives of all these characters intersect in complicated and humorous ways. But in the end, we realize the most endearing and enduring character is the quirky, picturesque  neighborhood of Cobble Hill