Read It
With summer upon us and dreams of foreign travel to places suave and soignée becoming more real (and appealing—seriously, when did summer stop being about relaxing and start being about chauffeuring kids from hither to yon under the hot noontime sun?), award-winning author Ellen Sussman’s new novel, French Lessons, is the perfect summer read—it’s literary enough to make the reader feel worthy; it’s enough of a potboiling page-turner to make those days on the beach (or at the pool during the interminable swim lessons) fly by. Released on June 28; preorder your copy today!  — KA

Blog It
It seems somewhat counterintuitive to recommend a blog in large part because of its advertisements, but, in fact, that is the case with this issue’s pick. Habituallychic.blogspot.com is gorgeous in its own right (and the dedication with which its author, New York-based interior designer Heather Clawson, tracks down vintage, obscure, and foreign photographs is inspiring), but it is also that very rare beast—a blog whose ads are actually worth clicking on, and purchasing from. The links, too, to the “You Might Also Like” posts will have you going down the style-blog rabbit hole for hours on end—you have been warned.  — KA

Hear It
One of our favorite North Shore rockers, Eddie Vedder, is coming out with a solo ukulele album to kick off the month of June. The Pearl Jam front man’s new disc, Ukulele Songs, will come out in tandem with a live solo DVD titled Water on the Road, and a number of its songs Vedder first wrote and played live almost a decade ago, but never released until now. Glen Hansard of The Swell Season (who also makes a guest appearance on the album) will be joining Vedder this summer on tour, where they’ll be making a stop in Chicago for two shows at The Chicago Theatre. The Evanston native isn’t stopping at this album in 2011; Vedder has already convened with Pearl Jam to begin recording a follow-up to their 2009 release Backspacer and hopes to get the project done by the end of the year.  — EP

See It
If it’s summer, it must be time to head to Ravinia—and this highlight of our North Shore cultural year is kicking things into high gear this season, with a fun mix of rock, pop, crooner-favorites, classical, and swing—Maroon 5, Peter Frampton, Robert Plant, and Steely Dan, among others, will all be in the Park (along with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, making their annual arboreal pilgrimage north). But, without a doubt, this year’s must-have ticket is definitely native-girl Jennifer Hudson’s concerts on July 16 and 17…if you can score one. Ready, set…go!  — KA