When Economics professor Rachel Chu agrees to spend the summer in Singapore with her boyfriend Nicholas Young, she has no idea his family is worth billions. Instead of the lovely vacation she imagined, she spends her days navigating the complicated and perilous world of three mega rich Chinese families, as Nick's mom schemes to drive the couple apart. This is an insider look at wealthy Singapore society that toes the line between fun romp and over the top parody. It'll have you laughing out loud and gasping at the characters' antics!

Jake cited this "champagne cocktail in book form" as a favorite in WSIRN Episode 277: Books that feel like a vacation for your brain. When I read it last year, I didn't realize it was a retelling of A Room with a View until I thought "hmm, the name Lucy Church seems familiar," and started picking up more connections. But you do not need to be familiar with E.M. Forster's classic to enjoy this glittery, glamorous, and gossipy novel that opens on an island holiday in Capri—and then jumps forward seven years later to a decadent summer vacation in East Hampton.

As editor Jenny Jackson says, “if there is one truth universally acknowledged within the Kevin Kwan universe, it is that a single man without possession of a fortune must be in want of a rich wife.” The single man in this comedy of manners is the Viscount St. Ives, known internationally as “Viscount St. Abs” after a photo of him ironing shirtless went viral. He’s not particularly concerned with the family’s money problems; he’d happily live out his days surfing in Hawaii instead of moving through high society. But his mother needs him to marry up. English major types will recognize this as a reimagining of Anthony Trollope’s Doctor Thorne, but zero experience with the 19th century novel is required to drink down this plotty, binge-worthy, completely-over-the-top delight.