Publishing at the end of December is Ain’t Nobody’s Fool- the Life and Times of Dolly Parton, Martha Ackermann's biography of one of our most talented and beloved people.
Ackermann takes Dolly from her beginnings growing up in a large, loving, and impoverished family in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. Music has always been a part of her life, and her talent and determination helped her climb the ladder to become the star we all know and love.
But it wasn’t always easy. Nashville did not welcome someone they saw as too ambitious. She was the subject of lawsuits and death threats at one point, and she suffered from a deep depression.
Parton came back, and in addition to her huge accomplishments in music, she developed Dollywood, a successful amusement park near her hometown. She gave back to her community and others worldwide with her Imagination Library, which has donated hundreds of millions of books to young children to encourage reading in the home. And she donated one million dollars to help create the COVID vaccine that has saved countless lives. Dolly is a national treasure.
If you like family stories, there are two good interesting ones this month. Angela Tomaski’s novel The Infamous Gilberts begins with the Gilbert family mansion about to be sold and turned into a luxury hotel while we learn of the lives of the five fatherless children who grew up there.
The book takes the family from WWII through the beginning of the 21st century, as these eccentric children must learn to deal with all the changes in the world that baffle and confuse them. It’s billed as a blend of comedy, tragedy, and intrigue, and fans of the film “The Royal Tennenbaums” will enjoy this one.
Jennifer Niven’s Meet the Newmans also deals with a family. The Newmans- Del, his wife Dinah, and two sons Guy and Shep- have been staples of network television for two decades. (Think Ozzie and Harriet).
They have basically been playing themselves in a sitcom, but recently ratings have been falling and the family is following suit. Del is hiding a secret from Dinah, Dinah is going numb, Guy is hiding the truth about his love life, and rock’n’roller Shep seems headed for real trouble.
When Del has a bad car accident, Dinah hires a young female reporter to write their last episode, but she clashes with Dinah as she tries to bring the show into the ‘60s. It’s a nostalgic trip about changing times changing families.
If you loved Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Daisy Jones and the Six, Ashley Winstead’s The Future Saints is a good next read. Record executive Theo has been tasked with trying to get a new album from the Future Saints, a group featuring sisters who are spiraling after a tragedy. If he can’t, the label will drop them.
Lead singer Hannah changes their style from pop-rock to a harder rock, and Hannah and her sister Ginny refuse to listen to Theo. When the new sound goes viral, and the Saints become poised on the dusk of stardom, is it everything they dreamed or will it destroy them?
There are several good mysteries out this month. Laura Dave continues the story she told in The Last Thing He Told Me with her sequel The First Time I Saw Him. Hannah’s husband mysteriously disappeared five years ago and left her to raise and protect his teenage daughter Bailey.
When she sees her husband at her art exhibition, she realizes that she and Bailey are once again in danger. Hannah and Bailey have to go on the run and hope that the family can reconnect safely.
Alice Feeney’s newest thriller My Husband’s Wife also features an artist. Eden is returning home after her exhibition but when she puts her key in the lock, it doesn’t work. A woman who looks like Eden answers the door, and Eden’s husband tells her that the woman who answered the door is his wife. It’s another propulsive stunner from Feeney.
Karen Parkman’s debut novel is The Jills, and it revolves around the world of the Jills, the cheerleaders for the NFL’s Buffalo Bills. Virginia is a Jill, and when her best friend on the squad disappears, Virginia puts everything on the line, including getting involved with some dangerous men, to find her friend. It’s an intriguing look at life as an NFL cheerleader.
I hope you can find something here to warm up your cold January nights.
No comments:
Post a Comment