(Oprah) -- Kick back — there's a reason they call them beach reads. 

"Seating Arrangements" by Maggie Shipstead 

Winn Van Meter has everything an affluent person could hope for: a devoted wife of almost 30 years, two daughters, a privileged life in Connecticut, and a summer home on Waskeke — a fictional island resembling Nantucket. 

Despite his comforts, Winn suffers from a typical midlife dissatisfaction: "He had almost everything he could think to want, and yet still ambivalence bleached his world to an anemic pallor." 

Maggie Shipstead's "Seating Arrangements" is a whip-smart and engaging debut novel, set on Waskeke over the course of three days. Winn's oldest daughter, Daphne, is pregnant and getting married. His youngest daughter is lovelorn and mourning a recent abortion. 

Strong personalities clash as Winn struggles with his long-burning attraction to one of Daphne's gorgeous and wildly flirtatious bridesmaids, Agatha, as his marriage grows stale. "He could not be sure that he had ever been in love with Biddy, or with anyone for that matter, but Biddy was the woman he had felt the most for." 

Shipstead observes the absurdity of the upper class in Winn's trivial anxieties; he's incensed that he wasn't invited to join an elite golf club, and he carries on a rivalry with another island couple. This is the best kind of smart beach read: a book that expertly examines social life with heart and wit. 

Oprah.com: 20 romantic reads 

"Heading Out to Wonderful" by Robert Goolrick 

"Heading Out to Wonderful" — about a drifter who takes up with the wife of the richest man in small-town Virginia — is by "A Reliable Wife" author Robert Goolrick, which means it's deliciously dark and dangerous. Oprah.com: 7 books that will take you on an inner journey  QUESTIONS:

Q1:
1. Does the article review a book?
2. Is this article a book review?
3. Does the article make a judgment about a book?
Q2:
1. What book is being reviewed in the article?
2. What is the title of the book?
3. What beach read does the article examine?
Q3:
1. Who is the author of Seating Arrangements?
2. Who wrote Seating Arrangements?
3. What is the name of the person who wrote Seating Arrangements?
Q4:
1. Who is the main character of Seating Arrangements?
2. What is the name of Seating Arrangements' protagonist?
3. Who is the protagonist in Seating Arrangements?
Q5:
1. Was Winn Van Meter wealthy?
2. Did Winn Van Meter have a lot of money?
3. Was Winn Van Meter a rich guy?
Q6:
1. Was Winn Van Meter married?
2. Did Winn Van Meter have a spouse?
3. Was there a wife in Winn Van Meter's life?
Q7:
1. How long had Winn Van Meter been married?
2. For what length of time was Winn Van Meter married?
3. How long ago did Winn Van Meter wed?
Q8:
1. How many children did Winn Van Meter have?
2. Winn Van Meter was a father to how many children?
3. How many kids had Winn Van Meter fathered?
Q9:
1. How many days are covered in Seating Arrangements?
2. Seating Arrangements takes place over the course of how many days?
3. How many days appear in the novel Seating Arrangements?
Q10:
1. Was Seating Arrangements the author's first book?
2. Was Seating Arrangements the author's debut novel?
3. Was Seating Arrangements Maggie Shipstead's first novel?
Q11:
1. Who was Winn Van Meter attracted to?
2. Who did Winn Van Meter want to get with?
3. Who drew the attention of Winn Van Meter?
Q12:
1. What was Agatha's identity?
2. Who was Agatha?
3. What was Agatha's role in the story?
Q13:
1. Who had just had an abortion?
2. Who recently terminated a pregnancy?
3. Who had recently gone through the termination of a pregnancy?
Q14:
1. How was Winn Van Meter's youngest daughter feeling?
2. What was the state of Winn Van Meter's youngest daughter?
3. What emotional state did Winn Van Meter find herself in?
Q15:
1. Who was the mother of Winn Van Meter's children?
2. Who is Winn Van Meter married to?
3. Who is Daphne's mother?
