Greetings from Kauai! We’re a little more than halfway through our stay here and are having so much fun I’ve almost wet myself on a daily basis. This is our first visit to Kauai, and we’ve already decided it’s our favorite Hawaiian island. The scenery at this place is epic – there are super lush mountains set against crystal blue water practically everywhere you look. If you’re having trouble picturing Kauai, think Jurassic Park – all three installments in the movie series (and many other movies) were filmed here.

We’re staying on the North Shore of Kauai in Princeville right near Hanalei Bay and lots of other great beaches, including one of our favorites so far, Tunnels Beach (shown above). There are 13 of us together on this leg of the trip, and, as you can imagine, we tend to make quite an impact wherever we go. We also tend to consume more food and drinks than the entire Duggar family. The house we’re staying in is perched on a cliff high above the ocean with amazing views:The path to the beach near our house, which we were led to believe was only a five-minute walk through a wooded area, was actually a 20-minute treacherous hike that nearly killed us in our flip flops. The beach was super private, though, and great for snorkeling. AND we scored an awesome SPOTTED: the actor Josh Lucas, most notably known to us as Reese Witherspoon’s love interest in Sweet Home Alabama. DQG spotted him, IMDB-ed him and made initial contact by asking, “Has anyone ever told you you look like Josh Lucas?” When he laughed and responded yes, Dana countered with, “Are you Josh Lucas?” POSITIVE!Lots of memories have been made during this trip. I celebrated my 28th birthday on Saturday with a surprise birthday breakfast, flowers, presents and a cake decorated with M&Ms.In even bigger news, Johnny and Trang got ENGAGED last week! We celebrated with champagne, another cake and red Solo cups.One of our favorite stops on our tour of Kauai’s North Shore was Queens Bath, a swimming area that was formed by an ancient lava flow. It took a little bit of a hike to get there, but it was well worth the effort.
A good amount of people were peacefully snorkeling and swimming in the lava pool until we arrived like a pack of wild dogs from Delaware County, PA. We really do try to be quiet, but we just get too excited. Plus, we saw turtles and started cheering “TURTLES!” each time they poked their little heads up out of the water.
Forgive the bathing suits + sneakers. It was a hike.

I finally wore my H&M Garden Collection rainbow kimono, and it made quite a statement (partially because I kept flapping my arms and squawking like a Velociraptor). Appearances by Mark, Beana, T-Fuzz and Dara below.
If you own this rainbow kimono, expect to have a good time when you wear it. This night on which I wore my kimono was the most eventful evening of our trip so far. After a dance party and limbo contest at our house then sushi and plenty of drinks at Bouchons, we headed over to Tahiti Nui to continue the fun where I nearly JWOWW-ed a local chick in a horribly unflattering orange maxi dress who felt it necessary to tell me that she didn’t appreciate the good times our group was having there. The conflict was dramatic and reminiscent of Blue Crush (”This is my island”), but I can’t really divulge any more details given the pending police investigation.
Watch out: we’ve taken nearly 1,000 photos so far, so additional photos will follow. I won’t give too much away, but I will say that the upcoming posts will include images of human pyramids.

The HCG shopping trip to NY was so fun, but the day was a bit of a blur. I awoke in Caitlin’s apartment the next morning feeling hungover and achy, with pangs of regret and confusion running through my mind. What did I even buy yesterday? How much money did I spend? Where are my underwear? Fortunately, I took lots of photos to commemorate the experience.

The entire day can be summed up in one phrase that was directed at me in every single store: “Miss, you can’t take photos or video in here.” I debated pretending like I didn’t speak English, but I bitched out, got scared and started sneaking photos and video instead. Hence, the shaky footage in our first ever HCG video.

The Barneys Warehouse Sale wasn’t all I hoped it would be.Though we saw lots of high-end items – the designer womenswear section housed everything from Balenciaga to Proenza Schouler to Rodarte – the prices were still significantly out of our price range (as in hundreds or even thousands of dollars more than we were willing to spend). If we go to the BWS next year, we’ll try to schedule our trip until after at least the first round of markdowns.

Inside the BWS we encountered a decent but not overwhelming amount of people, bad fluorescent lighting and all these cheeky signs which I liked at first but which eventually made me feel even more pressured to buy something. Full disclosure: writing a blog post about going to a sale also adds another layer of pressure. Wouldn’t it be kind of lame if I went all the way there and didn’t get anything?Alex was definitely scared – mostly of the price tags.We started at shoes and really dug our way through the piles that remained but found nothing worth buying. A quick glimpse of the Marc by Marc Jacobs coat I did end up getting. Originally $628, on sale for $379 ($412 with taxes); not exactly the bargain of the century, but a great coat. Since Pennsylvania has no sales tax on clothing, I always feel like I’m hit in the gut when I pay tax out of state.We left the BWS feeling a little defeated, so we headed over to Soho to buy more reasonably priced items.After a quick stop in Zara (no purchases there but I debated a plaid wool swing coat), we hurried over to one of my all-time favorite stores – UNIQLO! As I’ve mentioned on HCG before, I’m a huge fan of this Japanese chain and make it a point to shop for great basics there every time I’m in New York.
I picked up a dress, skirt, a few chiffon flowy shirts (a staple of mine) and smiled at my total: under $160 for 7 items. Booyah! I restrained myself from buying these faux fur tippets – at only $19.99 each, it’s a damn miracle I didn’t walk out of the store with a bag full of them.Our next stop was Topshop where we DID find the basic maxi skirt in navy, but it sadly wasn’t as cool as we hoped (you can see me giving it a thumbs down in the video). I made up for the lack of coolness of the maxi skirt by picking up a dress, skirt and bracelet. And Caitlin convinced the cashier to let me use her student I.D. Brilliant!
We headed over to Times Square to grab a bite to eat and celebrate Caitlin’s Aunt Anne (cryptic, I know). Despite sporting my most comfortable flats all day, my dogs were barking and greatly appreciated the rest.
You know HCG couldn’t go to New York for the first time since the 90,000 square foot Forever 21 opened in Times Square and not pay this shrine to cheap fashion a visit.
The place was absolutely INSANE. Granted, it was 10:45 p.m. on a Friday night in August, so the number of tourists in the store and in Times Square in general was practically suffocating. I could barely grasp the vast size of the place. Every floor looked the same, and I kept getting lost. The music was about twice as loud as any Abercrombie I’ve ever been in, and I developed a splitting headache that prevented me from being able to focus much less buy anything. We stumbled out into the madness of Times Square and headed back to Caitlin’s place in Long Beach to spend the rest of the weekend recovering on the beach.Don’t you worry, F21. I’ll be back.

Did I forget to mention I was going to Hawaii for two weeks? I’m sorry. I intended to post shortly after we arrived, but I feel into a comatose state of intense relaxation. I tried to type, but I couldn’t make my fingers move across the keyboard. I’m better now.

A little more than two years ago, Joe and I made the huge mistake of staying at the Four Seasons on the Big Island of Hawaii and on Maui during our honeymoon. Our trip was unbelievable, but it turns out that once you stay at a Four Seasons, you have this weird belief that you should always stay there. That’s how we ended up here.

We’ve been staying at the Four Seasons Lana’i at Manele Bay on the island of Lana’i since Sunday, and our stay has been pure bliss. An example: on day 1, I took outdoor yoga, spent 7 hours lounging on the beach, swimming, reading, napping and eating, got a massage and then took a nap. Yes, that day actually happened. We forgot how incredible the service is here, especially on the beach. I quickly got used to the ice cold washcloths, Evian sprays, never ending water, lemonade, food and drinks. Lana’i is a very secluded island with not a lot to do, and we’ve taken full advantage of the lack of activity. Other people rent ATVs, go horseback riding and take hikes. Not us. Joe snorkeled a few times, and I watched him from my lounge chair (not true. I fell asleep. But I did wave when he first went in the water).

The perfect weather – high 80s, no humidity and sunny with a breeze – has only made our experience on Lana’i all the more amazing. Below, the view from the hotel lobby. Every morning when we went to breakfast (see me with my beloved Four Seasons pancakes here), we couldn’t believe the view. It’s that breathtaking:Lots more photos from our stay on Lana’i below. The Polaroid and other stylized shots come from new apps Joe discovered for his Droid. Today we’re off to Kaua’i to spend the next seven nights in an oceanfront house with 11 of our closest friends. We still can’t believe we managed to swing this long of a trip. More updates will come from Kaua’i!

I am incredibly proud to present the first ever VIDEO on Here Comes Gina! Our shopping extravaganza in New York last Friday was really intense, and hopefully this short little number will give you a feel for the day. A more involved post detailing the purchases and scene at the BWS will follow.

Don’t judge us or our dance moves -  it was a very, very long day, and we were practically delirious near the end.  We were scolded for taking video in every store, so we had to get REALLY sneaky to score this footage (hence the scene of me hiding between the racks at F21).

Special thanks to Joe for his masterful editing skills!

August 20, 2010 is a very happy day at Here Comes Gina. Today, for the first time, we are going to the Barneys Warehouse Sale.

For those unfamiliar with this event, the Barneys Warehouse Sale is a semi-annual blowout of amazing designer goods from everyone’s favorite luxury department store, Barneys New York. The sale is notorious for huge discounts, serious fashion finds and complete chaos. My only experience with an intense sale was the Running of the Brides at Filene’s Basement before my wedding, and I got into a near-violent altercation with a drunk woman wearing a large Miller Lite t-shirt and dirty sweatpants. But I also got a Monique Lhuillier slip dress for $250 which I wore as my second wedding dress. Take that, take that.

Clearly, I have big hopes for the BWS. I have dreamed of attending this sale for years, and the stars finally aligned when the sale dates coincided with a reunion trip with two of my longtime friends, Caitlin and Alex, in New York. Actually, the trip was originally planned (after much rescheduling) for last weekend, but I made a desperate plea for a date change when I realized I could go to the BWS. Luckily for me I have great friends.

The BWS isn’t Caitlin’s scene, so Alex and I are rolling to the sale Snooki and J-Woww style with plans to dominate. Our biggest fears are: (1) long lines, (2) really high price tags, and (3) lack of bathrooms. After the BWS, we’re meeting up with C and heading over to Soho to hit up HCG favorites Uniqlo and Topshop, then stopping by H&M and the new F21 in Times Square if we haven’t collapsed or run out of money. I can’t think of a better way to spend a Friday.

The Ultimate Barneys Warehouse Sale Survival Guide [Racked]

We’re not ones to wish away summer, but no season excites a hard-core shopper more than fall – and it’s almost here! You already know HCG loves maxi dresses, so it’s no surprise that we’re obsessed with finding an amazing black maxi skirt for fall.

The maxi skirt is a wise investment for many reasons. Not only can this piece be worn pretty much anywhere – work, shopping, parties, church (yes, HCG uses even religion as an excuse to dress up) – it’s perfect for transitioning from warmer to cooler weather. Wear it now with a tank and sandals and wear it later with a fitted leather jacket and big scarf.

The gold standard of maxi skirts is, of course, by Rick Owens and is pictured above ($800 at Net-a-Porter). While we’d love to have this wool-blend maxi skirt in our closet, we’d probably need a 90% discount before we could justify buying it. Fortunately, we found a bronze standard maxi skirt which is actually 95% cheaper than the Rick Owens version and which will fit the bill just fine (basic maxi skirt, $36 at Topshop):

We’re making a very special shopping trip to New York tomorrow and hope to pick this skirt up at Topshop, so we’ll let you know how it looks in person if we find it. If we can’t find this skirt, don’t worry. I’m sure we’ll find lots of other stuff to buy to make up for it.

This is strange.  But cool – we think.

Three highly anticipated and not-yet-released Target collaborations – bags by Mulberry, clothing by Tucker and housewares by John Derian – are being offered exclusively on Gilt Groupe this Friday, August 20 at noon before they hit stores.

Full disclosure: we love Gilt and the adrenaline-pumping flash sales the site offers every day at noon. We hate how the site sometimes crashes and how all the good stuff is already sold out or “in members’ carts” at 12:01 p.m. But while Gilt’s partnership with Target is a creative way to expand Target’s reach (if that’s even possible) to an audience already obsessed with online deals, we’re not sure we buy into it. The quality of the pieces in each Target designer collection greatly varies. As we’ve all learned the hard way before, just because something looks cool online doesn’t mean it will have the same effect in person. Plus, isn’t half the excitement about a Target collaboration getting pumped in the days leading up and stalking your local store like a psycho? This whole Gilt thing really messes with that routine. In the very least, the Gilt/Target pairing will help us learn more about the wares before they hit stores, and we welcome the advance knowledge.

If you’d rather wait to peruse the goods in your Target store, John Derian for Target launches on September 5, Tucker (the upcoming collab we’re most excited about) launches on September 10 and Mulberry launches on October 10. If you end up shopping Target on Gilt this Friday, holla at your girl!

A summer filled with weekends spent on the beach means the feet are in need of some extra attention by the time August rolls around. While I faithfully use The Body Shop’s Hemp Hand Protector to soften my soles, a good foot lotion gets a girl only so far.

A solid foot scrub is necessary to keep your feet as pampered as possible. Enter Lush’s Ocean Salt Scrub, a bright blue and fresh-smelling scrub made primarily of sea salt and lemon, lime and grapefruit juices. The Ocean Salt Scrub is labeled “face and body scrub,” so I was unsure that it would be intense enough for the feet. But the sales associates at Lush in Philly assured me it’s the best product to use on feet, and, fortunately for them – HCG hates nothing more than a liar pushing a product – they were right.

The Ocean Salt Scrub is rough enough to get the job done but not so harsh that it hurts, and the avocado and coconut fats help to moisturize the skin. The best way to use this scrub on the feet is to apply a small amount of thick foot cream on dry feet (as mentioned above, I use the Hemp Hand Protector) and then go to town with the scrub – note: very little scrub is necessary. Rinse, pat dry and slather on your foot lotion for optimum results. At the Haus of Gina, this ritual takes place right before bed, and we awaken to super soft feet in the morning.

If you don’t feel like dropping $20 on foot scrub, just mix together some sea salt and random juices in a bowl. I’m sure you’ll get the same result.

Ocean Salt Scrub, $19.95 (4.2 oz.) at Lush

To celebrate the launch of its new black pants, Gap is hosting The Black Magic Event in 10 select stores across the country  tomorrow August 14, and the Philadelphia store is on the list! So is the Edna, Minnesota store, and we’re willing to bet those chicks are even more excited than we are.

The Walnut Street store opens at 9:00 a.m., but you may want to arrive early to this party: the first 50 people to arrive at Gap tomorrow morning will get a free pair of black pants (any style), and according to a Walnut Street Gap staffer, “There’s definitely going to be a line.” Bring in the coupon pictured above and get 25% off your entire purchase or 40% off if you use your Gap card. Can’t make it to the store on Saturday? Don’t fret. The 25% discount (and we’re assuming the 40% discount as well, but the Walnut Street staffers were not able to confirm this) is good through August 22.

But let’s not overlook the pants. After all, are they worth your time? The really skinny pants ($59.50) pique my curiosity the most. Skinny black pants can easily work as an alternative to leggings when your ensemble calls for more substantial fabric on bottom, and, though the really skinny cut seems to have some give, I imagine these pants would tuck nicely into boots. 40% off the really skinny pants = final price of $35.70!The slim crop pants ($49.50) look like a dead ringer for the J. Crew Minnie pants I loved so much last fall, and these bad boys will set you back only $29.70 after the 40% discount.
Click here to see a full listing of the stores and times and to print the required coupon. Happy shopping!

The HCG community has Amanda Ludwikowski (a.k.a. A. Lud) to thank for this post.  After Amanda expressed a genuine plea for more solid book recommendations, we set out to create a list of some of the books we’d suggest you read this summer.  And yes, we know summer is almost over. But some of us have Hawaiian vacations and daily train rides to look forward to.

By no means is list this a comprehensive guide to The World’s Best Books or even The World’s Remotely Decent Books; it is simply a sampling of enjoyable books we would recommend to a friend.  We’re willing to bet many HCG readers have already read a good number of the books on this list, but maybe a few haven’t.  Special thanks to CF and MR for their assistance with this post!

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Every woman we know was surprised by how much she enjoyed this book.  The context and time period – circus life in Depression-era America – sounds terribly boring and kind of dirty at first, but the vivid imagery and engrossing plot are well worth your time.  After 23-year-old Jacob Jankowski’s parents are killed in a car crash, he drops out of school and joins a traveling circus where he acts as caretaker for a menagerie of animals and falls madly in love.  This romantic page-turner has so many touching moments, plus a dwarf clown, and portrays a circus life that seems so different from current-day circuses (which HCG fervently boycotts).  Hurry up and read this before the movie version, starring Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson, is released next year.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
If you think you had a tough childhood, chances are Jeannette Walls has you beat (but Precious still tops the overall category.  There really can be no life situation worse than getting AIDS from your father).  This candid memoir chronicles Walls’s incredibly impoverished upbringing and is honest, raw and, at times, heartbreaking.  But you can take comfort in the fact that Walls didn’t allow growing up homeless and poorer than you can imagine with a certifiably crazy mother (if you’re read this book, the scene with the chocolate bar is almost unbearable) and an alcoholic father to derail her bright future.  Take our word on this one; books like The Glass Castle don’t come around often.

Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos
A beautifully written but easy chick-lit and even mommy-lit read which is perfect for summer.  The stories of three women are woven together around the main character, Cornelia, who has just moved to suburban Philadelphia.  The characters are complex, and though the book builds a climax that you will see coming from a mile away, the resolution is heart-warming and you’ll be sad to leave the characters behind.

I am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe
Tom Wolfe’s 2004 novel follows beautiful, brilliant Charlotte Simmons, a poor, sheltered freshman from rural North Carolina to DuPont University, an elite fictional school based off of Wolfe’s research at schools like Stanford, Michigan and Duke.  Naive Charlotte has no idea what she’s about to encounter among the jocks, rich kids and more experienced students at DuPont, and we’ll just say most of it is sad, wince-worthy and left us feeling slightly ashamed at having gone to college during this time. Sure, it’s no Bonfire of the Vanities, but Charlotte Simmons is a masterful chronicle of college life in the 2000s.

Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld
Most people loved this first novel by young author Curtis Sittenfeld, but certain HCG staffers refer to it as the poor man’s I am Charlotte Simmons, since comparisons between the books are nearly unavoidable.  Lee Fiora, an underprivileged young girl from South Bend, Indiana wins a scholarship to a prestigious East Coast boarding school where she struggles to fit in among her more well-bred peers.  If you’re not into Tom Wolfe or don’t have the energy to plow through nearly 700 pages (did we forget to mention Charlotte Simmons is a brick?), Prep, which was named one of top 10 books of 2005 by the New York Times, is a quick, engrossing read with cleanly-written prose.

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
While we’ve read our fair share of Jodi Picoult books, we wouldn’t exactly call ourselves devotees of this author (sometimes even we tire of reading about children dying). In Nineteen Minutes, Picoult chronicles the life of a high school shooter from his elementary school days of incessant bullying, and she attempts to pinpoint what caused him to wake up one day, load his backpack with four guns and kill nine students and one teacher in the span of 19 minutes. As with all Picoult novels, the story concept is powerful, the moral lines are blurry and the reader identifies with every character (including the shooter and his parents). While I haven’t read this book yet, CF and her crew speak very highly of this book and the lasting effect it has.

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
Curtis Sittenfeld’s fascination with Laura Bush produced this captivating novel based on Ann Gerhart’s biography of the former first lady. Sittenfeld traces the life of Wisconsin-born Alice Lindgren (Laura) from her career as a young librarian to her complex marriage to Charlie Blackwell (George W. Bush). When Charlie becomes governor of Texas and eventually president, Alice finds herself struggling to balance her private political beliefs with her husband’s public opinions. Like Laura, 17-year-old Alice accidentally killed a classmate in a car accident, and the profound impact of that tragedy on Alice’s life reverberates throughout the book. While we know American Wife is not a truthful account of the life of Laura Bush, reading it with the mindset that “all of this stuff definitely happened to Laura Bush” no doubt makes the book more exciting.

What Remains by Carole Radziwill
When Carole Radziwill married a cousin of JFK Jr., she gained access to America’s most famous family but she also scored the most glamorous best friend a woman could want: JFK Jr.’s wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. In this memoir, Radziwill shares her grief after JFK and CBK die in a plane crash and Radziwill’s husband succumbs to cancer only three weeks later (when it rains on a Kennedy, it pours). Terribly depressing but insightful, What Remains is hopeful despite the heartache. While we didn’t hate Radziwill’s narratives of her working-class upbringing and career as a producer for ABC News, the real draw of this book is the author’s relationship with CBK and the ultra-private Kennedy clan.

Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann
If you’re an American woman and you haven’t read this book, you’re doing yourself a severe disservice. Published in 1966, Valley of the Dolls begins in 1945 and follows three young women who become best friends while trying to make it in New York’s notoriously tough entertainment scene. Chock full of sex, drugs (think lots of pills and drinking) and plenty of drama, this cult classic is trashy in a good way. We’re not promising you’ll feel smarter after having read Valley of the Dolls, but you will feel cooler. After all, it’s vintage.

Summer Sisters by Judy Blume
My personal obsession as a 15-year-old girl, Summer Sisters is one of Judy Blume’s rare forays into adult fiction (don’t mistake this book for Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret which is also awesome). The story unfolds over almost 20 summers in the lives of two young women spent in Martha’s Vineyard – from 1977 when they’re twelve to 1995 when they celebrate their 30th birthdays. Like all best friends, the women grow closer and apart over the years, and this story of friendship is one to which every girl can relate. Believe me, there isn’t a better beach read than this book; my hardcover copy still has sand between the pages 12 years later.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Are you one of the few people who haven’t read Eat, Pray, Love?  Recent divorcée Elizabeth Gilbert decides to ditch regular life and spend a year on a mission of self discovery by eating in Italy, praying in India and loving in Bali.  Like most people, we loved the eating + loving and could’ve done without the praying (CF even skipped right to the love after she was full from eating).  We really enjoyed this book, and you’ll want to judge Julia Roberts as Elizabeth Gilbert on the big screen in the upcoming movie version for yourself.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
A complicated, fast-paced and deeply entertaining novel, The Shadow of the Wind is the story of a boy, Daniel, who is trying to uncover the truth behind the enigmatic author of an obscure mystery story with which Daniel has become obsessed.  The book takes the reader on twists and turns, through murders and love stories – you will undoubtedly be captivated until the very last page.

Naked by David Sedaris
Of all the collections of autobiographical essays by David Sedaris, this might be the funniest.  Sedaris takes the reader on hilarious adventures (to a nudist colony, to summer camp in Greece, to a psychiatric hospital where the author worked for a stint) and the reader gets to know Sedaris’s family, which, though eccentric, is always good-hearted and loving (unlike the family in Running with Scissors, which was just awful and weird). Sedaris’s humor is pointed and irreverent, but is never mean-spirited.  If the stories “Next of Kin” and “True Detective” don’t have you rolling on the ground laughing, gasping for air, then we feel sorry for you.

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Much like Water for Elephants, the premise of this book initially turned me off – the story of Calliope, a first-generation American girl raised in Detroit by Greek immigrant parents who realizes during adolescence that she is a hermaphrodite. But I swear it’s not like that. Middlesex is a beautifully written, magical novel from the author of The Virgin Suicides that traces the complex and incredibly entertaining tale of the Stephanides family. Calliope’s personal story is unique and her longtime struggle with her gender confusion is especially compelling. If you still need convincing, Middlesex won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2003. Read it.

Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner
Jennifer Weiner’s first novel, published in 2001, is classic chick lit at its best. Weiner’s smart, witty dialogue is quick, sarcastic and funny. We meet 28-year-old Candice Shapiro as she gets unceremoniously screwed in print by her ex-boyfriend whose magazine column dedicated to loving a larger woman (translation: Candice) mortifies and devastates her. But don’t worry, Candice uses the experience to revamp her life and ends up happier than she ever could have imagined. An added bonus: the novel is set in Weiner’s (and HCG’s) hometown city, Philadelphia. Woot, woot!

Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
Watch out: it’s tough to read about Parisian children suffering in Nazi death camps during the Holocaust. In Sarah’s Key, American journalist Julia Jarmond retraces the ordeal of Sarah, a 10-year-old Jewish girl brutally snatched from her home in Paris during the 1942 Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup. The events Jarmond learns of are horrifying, but the chapters written from young Sarah’s perspective are the most touching. This novel, which was our November 2009 book club choice, is an eye-opener to say the least. We’re willing to bet that you, like most people we know, had no idea of the atrocity that was the Vel’ d’Hiv’ or the involvement of the French police.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
A stay-up-all-night read, this book – our March 2010 book club pick – is already an international best seller, and the U.S. movie version is currently in the works. Disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist finds himself on an unexpected hunt through Sweden for a serial killer with the tiny, bad ass, world-renowned computer hacker Lisbeth Salander as his partner. This book is awesome, and you won’t want to be left out of the discussion once you realize everyone else you know has read it (along with Larsson’s even better sequels The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest). The drama surrounding the author’’s sudden death in 2004 and the battle over his estate (which may or may not include manuscripts for additional books) makes his novels all the more compelling. While we readily acknowledge that many HCG-recommended books lean toward the ladies, this one is loved by men and women alike.

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Our last pick is quite possibly the best on the list. If you’re looking for an enjoyable, engrossing summer book that won’t make you feel embarrassed while reading in public (and this book is way more than not embarrassing), your search ends here. You will lose yourself and many hours in the magical and passionate love story between Fermina Daza and Florentino Ariza that spans 50 years. Lots of unexpected and deliciously steamy love scenes are an added and welcome bonus.

Image of amazing book table via one of our favorite blogs Design Sponge.