Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly blog post about five things that caught my attention this week. While it seems like we are caught in an endless time loop (like the Hulu movie, Palm Springs, I wrote about last week), this week had a new twist- a tropical storm that led to a week-long power outage!
1) On Tuesday, tropical storm Isaias hit New York. I spent most of the afternoon trying to keep the chairs on our balcony from flying away, and I was successful, although a little bit soggy. I did see a small table whip by our balcony from one of neighbors' balconies. I hope no one was injured when it landed. We are renting a house in Westchester on the weekends, and they got hit pretty badly. Trees down all over the place, and the power will be out probably until Monday. At least we have another place to stay, so many people there, on Long Island, and in New Jersey and Connecticut will be suffering for almost a week.
2) While running errands here in the city, I saw a lovely exterior display on a new day spa, Upkeep. It's nice to see something so pretty on a city side street. I wish them the best of luck.
3) I also saw this popup Liitle Free Library on the sidewalk. I guess someone wanted to share their books and thought this was the best way. It does appear that some of the books were claimed. There's some good ones left- Ragtime, The Color of Water, The Things They Carried.
4) The New York Public Library hosted a discussion of Fiona Davis' new historical mystery novel, The Lions of Fifth Avenue, with Zibby Owens of the podcast Moms Don't Have Time To Read Books. I read Davis' book and really enjoyed it. Part of it is set in 1913, where the superintendent of the main branch of the NYPL and his family live in an apartment inside the library. When rare books go missing, who is the main suspect? I have taken the guided tour of the library a few times, and got so much more out of the book because I did that. It was interesting listening to Davis talk about her research for the book. It was chosen as Good Morning America's August Book Club read. Click here to watch the discussion.
5) Buckle up, because I read five books last week. In addition to The Lions of Fifth Avenue, I read Allison Winn Scotch's novel, Cleo McDougal Regrets Nothing, about a congresswoman who is planning a run for President when her best friend from high school pens an op-ed piece about why she is a horrible person. If you have Amazon Prime, it is a free read on Kindle, and well worth it. It has a lot to say about women's roles today.
For a different kind of political novel, The Day That Lincoln Lost by Charles Rosenberg is an alternate history political thriller about the election of 1860, and the trial of a female abolitionist whose lawyer is none other than Republican nominee for president, Abraham Lincoln. History and politcial junkies will enjoy it. My full review is here.
Fans of Christina Baker Kline's The Orphan Train and Lisa Wingate's Before We Were Yours will want to read Ellen Marie Wiseman's The Orphan Collector. Set in Philadelphia during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, it's the story of a 12 year-old girl who loses her mother to the pandemic and then must find out what happened to her twin baby brothers. It's a riveting story, and I read it in one day. I couldn't put it down.
Lastly, Helen Cullen's novel, The Dazzling Truth is about a family living on an island near Galway off the Irish coast. The mother has crippling depression and anxiety, and her illness impacts the entire family. It's beautifully written, and your heart will break for all of them, but especially Maeve, the mother. I highly recommend it, and my full review will publish on Tuesday.
Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed THE ORPHAN COLLECTOR!!
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