Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish that asks bloggers to create Top Ten lists on a variety of bookish topics. This week’s topic is…Top Ten Books For Readers Who Like ____. I decided to go with more of a theme than a genre for this one…Top Ten Books for People Who Like to Read about Wealthy People Behaving Badly! And, we’ve got quite a cast of both fictional and real wealthy people behaving very, very badly…
Top Ten Books About Wealthy People Behaving Badly
A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams (review)
1930’s elite beach community debauchery…and my favorite beach read.
Another City, Not My Own by Dominick Dunne (mini review)
Dunne (now deceased) was a Vanity Fair columnist and is known for chronicling (often in the form of thinly veiled fiction) wealthy people who find themselves in trouble with the law. Any of his books fit this category, but this one about the O.J. Simpson trial is one of my favorites.
Bittersweet by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore (review)
Secrets, lies, and betrayals in a wealthy family’s summer compound…and one of my Best Books of 2014.
Boys Will Be Boys by Jeff Pearlman (mini review)
Off the page partying during the glory days of the Dallas Cowboys…
Ghosts of Manhattan by Douglas Brunt (review)
Money, drunkenness, cocaine, and hookers during the 2005 Wall Street mortgage bubble…
Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead (review)
Wedding faux pas in a wealthy, Northeastern vacation community…
The Big Rich by Bryan Burroughs (mini review)
Eccentricities of the “big four” Texas oil families (Hunt, Murchison, Cullen, and Richardson)…
The Gold Coast by Nelson DeMille (mini review)
Old money Long Island meets the Mafia…one of my all-time favorite books.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The grandaddy of “wealthy people behaving badly” books…
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (review)
Secrets, lies, and destruction on a wealthy family’s private island…
Tuesday Intro
Every Tuesday, fellow blogger Bibliophile By the Sea hosts First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, where bloggers share the first paragraph of the book they are currently reading or thinking about reading soon.
After trying a couple different books, I landed on Panic as my lighter “recovery book / palate cleanser” after finishing A Little Life. I’m not too far into it yet, but it’s proving easy reading and suspenseful in a high school drama kind of way. Just the type of thing I needed after the all encompassing seriousness of A Little Life.
Plot Summary from Amazon
Panic began as so many things do in Carp, a poor town of twelve thousand people in the middle of nowhere: because it was summer, and there was nothing else to do. Heather never thought she would compete in panic, a legendary game played by graduating seniors. She’d never thought of herself as fearless, the kind of person who would fight to stand out. But when she finds something, and someone, to fight for, she will discover that she is braver than she ever thought.
Dodge has never been afraid of panic. His secret will fuel him, and get him all the way through the game; he’s sure of it. But what he doesn’t know is that he’s not the only one with a secret. Everyone has something to play for. For Heather and Dodge, the game will bring new alliances, unexpected revelations, and the possibility of first love for each of them—and the knowledge that sometimes the very things we fear are those we need the most.
Here’s the first paragraph:
Saturday, June 18
Heather
The water was so cold it took Heather’s breath away as she fought past the kids crowding the beach and standing in the shallows, waving towels and homemade signs, cheering and calling up to the remaining jumpers. She took a deep breath and went under. The sound of voices, of shouting and laughter, was immediately muted. Only one voice stayed with her.
I didn’t mean for it to happen.
What do you think? Would you keep reading?
I sometimes need to find a ‘cleanser’ after reading a heavy book. Glad to hear you’re enjoying Panic, I enjoyed the intro as there is nothing like swimming underwater for blocking out all the sounds but I’m intrigued to know whose voice stayed with her. I’m joining in First Paragraph, First Intro this week https://cleopatralovesbooks.wordpress.com/2015/03/10/4158/
Yep! I would keep reading. I’m curious what you think of Panic. That one has been on my list for a while but haven’t gotten to it yet. I can think of a plot or two for your top ten Tuesday topic, racy reads about real people in the near-west end? Shh. Don’t tell anyone I said that.
Gatsby of course! What a good call… maybe you’d like to read “Even in Paradise”. We were liars is also a fabulous call. Nice list 🙂
I enjoyed the intro…I haven’t yet read Lauren Oliver, but this one might be a good place to begin. Thanks for sharing.
In your Top Ten, I see a couple I enjoyed: Another City, Not My Own (loved Dominick Dunne); and We Were Liars.
Here’s mine: “WHAT REMAINS”
Can’t get enough of “wealthy people behaving badly”! You just reminded me that I picked up Bittersweet last year when it was a kindle daily deal.
A Little Life certainly sounds like a must read. Glad you settled on a recovery book 🙂
It was SO good and, under hyped, I think…
I’m curious about Panic. Will wait to hear your thoughts about it before I decide to put it on my TBR list.
My Tuesday post: http://www.bookclublibrarian.com/2015/03/first-chapter-first-paragraph-97.html
OK, I’m having a good time investigating how people decided to share this Top Ten topic. Very creative. Yours is fun. I think I’ve only read THE GREAT GATSBY, but I’ve got another couple on my Kindle and have heard of others.
Good luck with PANIC.
I love your category of Wealthy People Behaving Badly! I have several of the books on your list that I need to start. I love Dominick Dunne, and I miss his column in Vanity Fair. It was so much fun to read.
I so miss him and pretty much stopped reading VF after his column ended.
Oohh, I might have to check out Boys Will Be Boys… Nice list!
It’s awesome – especially in light of the recent Jerry Jones extortion scandal. Also – Cane Mutiny is kind of the college version of Boys Will Be Boys (it’s about the Miami Hurricanes back in their heyday).
I hope she doesn’t drown. I love your top ten topic, so many books revolve around that theme and some of the best characters too. Well done. Kelley at the road goes ever ever on
Thank you!
Woah, that’s quite the theme for today. I would have never thought of it. 🙂 I think so often people view wealthy people in a bad light. I’m currently writing a book that views wealthy people in a good light. It’s a lot of fun going against the norm, so to speak. 🙂 Aidyl @ Noveltea
I don’t view wealthy people in a bad light in real life…I just find the bad apples really fun to read about!
This sounds intriguing. I may have to go find this one.
I’ve read a few of those books on your people behaving badly list! Want to read Panic.
Love this list — I think I’ve read all of them except the Dallas Cowboys one — so I guess rich people behaving badly must be an interest of mine. I loved Bittersweet and felt it didn’t get much attention — maybe the paperback release will change that?
I know – it really didn’t catch on the way I thought it would! But, it was the most purchased book from my blog and my IRL friends who read it all loved it. So, maybe the paperback?!
Panic sounds good. Girl Who Reads
Love this topic! I still need to read Seating Arrangements.
HA! I love this topic! And, yes…I would definitely keep reading Panic; hope you’re enjoying it!
Your title made me laugh! Gatsby and We Were Liars definitely has rich people behaving badly! Bittersweet has been on my TBR for awhile but now I need to look for A Hundred Summers. I like the sound of Panic and I’ve heard great things about the author so I’d definitely keep reading.
Nice list of books for this week’s TTT post!! Here’s a link to my TTT post for this week: http://captivatedreader.blogspot.com/2015/03/top-ten-tuesday-ten-books-for-readers.html
I’d keep reading because the first paragraph left me hanging. Maybe I’m just feeling crabby today, but I thought the first line was an over-used cliche. Sorry. I hope the book is a good one for you.
I would certainly keep reading. Sounds like another one I might enjoy. Curious what A Little Life is ALL about. Everyone seems shocked by it.
I haven’t read any Dominick Dunne yet – this one sounds like a good one to start with!