Whether you are planning a beach vacation or just wish you were, Jenna Bush Hager has the perfect book to get you in the summer mindset.
For June 2021, TODAY's book expert picked "Malibu Rising" by Taylor Jenkins Reid as her Read With Jenna book club pick.
"I felt like 'Malibu Rising' was a compulsively fun read that anybody would want to throw in their beach bag," Jenna said. "I think after the year we’ve had, everybody is looking forward to summer and this book felt like the perfect kick-off."
The book is about four siblings — Nina, Jay, Hud and Kit Riva — and the night that changed their lives forever. Each remarkable in their own right, the four adults are also well-known for being the offspring of fictional singer Mick Riva.
Over a 24-hour period, Reid skillfully mixes Nina’s legendary end-of-summer party with flashbacks to Mick’s tumultuous relationship with the mother of his children.
"I knew that I wanted the story to take place over 24 hours, and that I was going to divide it hour by hour so that you could go through this day with the family, but it wasn't until I began to get into the hours that I kept thinking, well, we need to go back in time, you need to understand how we got to this place," said Reid.
As romance sparks, alcohol flows and family secrets creep to the surface, the flashbacks give insight into what made the four of them the people they are now. In the light of morning, the adult siblings must face the bonds that hold them together head-on.
"Everyone in the family was inspired by my desire to tell a specific story about siblings that band together during really difficult periods of time," Taylor Jenkins Reid told TODAY, "What I tried to do is take what felt like a real person, but then add that element of fame, and glamour and beauty and all those things."
In addition to strong, developed characters, Reid said it was equally important to her to capture the rich settings of Malibu in the 1950s and 1980s.
"It's a really specific place that has a lot of glamour, but also, it's sort of rustic by definition, and so you don't often get those two things happening at once," said the "Daisy Jones and The Six" author.
As the book club dives into the June pick, Jenna hopes members will be transported to the cliffside homes and wide, sandy beaches of Malibu.
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For more book recommendations, check out:
- All of Jenna Bush Hager's book club picks
- 5 books to read after 'Great Circle' by Maggie Shipstead
- 9 questions to consider after reading 'Great Circle' by Maggie Shipstead
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