The Most Compelling Books of 2024

Reprinted from auburnpub.com

Each year I set a goal to read 100 books. Out of those 100 books, the ones that stay in my mind- the ones with characters that I just can’t forget and want to know what they are doing now- make my list of the Most Compelling Books, and here I share them with you.

Beginning with A, Anna Quindlen’s emotional After Annie was one of my first reads of the year, and I find myself still thinking about Annie, a thirty-something mother who dies in her kitchen in the beginning of the story. How Annie’s grieving husband, eleven-year-old daughter, and Annie’s fragile best friend handle her death makes up the basis for this powerful novel. 

Years after Colm Toibin gave us the brilliant Brooklyn about Eilis a young Irish immigrant who moves to the United States on her own, he follows up with Long Island. Eilis is still married to Tony, and lives in a cul-de-sac with Tony’s large Italian family on Long Island. After Tony betrays her, Eilis goes home to Ireland to visit and maybe rekindle her relationship with Jim, who now is set to marry Eilis’ best friend. Jim is torn, and the novel belongs to Jim as he must decide where his heart and future lies. 

Jacqueline Winspear winds down her popular Maisie Dobbs series set in post-WWII England as Maisie and company get a most satisfactory send-off to this incredibly well-researched and well-written historical mystery series with The Comfort of Ghosts. It’s one of the few series in which I have read every book. 

Kate Quinn moves from WWII novels (The Alice Network,The Rose Code) to Cold War Washington D.C. in The Briar Club about a group of women who live in a rooming house, and who each have a lot of secrets. Quinn tells each of the women’s stories with such clarity, and I loved how the women grew to support each when a murder or two happens at the house. 

Writing in two different timelines can be tricky, but Lynda Cohen Loigman does it so well in 

The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern which tells the story of an 80 year-old pharmacist who is forced to retire, and when she moves to a retirement community in Florida, she reluctantly reconnects with a man who broke her heart years ago. Augusta Stern is one of my favorite characters of the year.

Rufi Thorpe’s debut novel, Margo’s Got Money Troubles has a unique set-up. Margo is a single mother raising her child on her own. Needing to make money, she turns to the internet and opens an Only Fans account. Her father, a former wrestling manager, turns up to help with child care and hilarity ensues. It’s humorous and heartwarming.

Another humorous novel is Steven Rowley’s The Guncle Abroad, his followup to 

The Guncle. This time the gang is in Italy for Patrick’s brother’s wedding that Patrick’s niece is imploring him to stop. Once again, the dialogue sparkles and I laughed out loud many times.

On a more serious note, James by Percival Everett is cleaning up on the award circuit and for good cause. His intriguing retelling of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of the slave Jim is brilliant and thought-provoking. This is a must-read. 

I like to read holiday-themed books, and Susan Mallory’s One Big Happy Family about a family gathering at cabin in the woods where the guest list includes Mom, her adult children, Mom’s new hot young boyfriend, his young children, their mother (whose engagement to a another man ended badly), coworkers from the family business, and the adult daughter’s on-again, off-again, currently off longtime boyfriend is a delightful addition to the canon. Merriment and misadventures ensue.

There were two great Nonfiction titles I loved. Ina Garten’s memoir Be Ready When the Luck Happens shares her story of a painful childhood, her longtime loving marriage to her husband Jeffrey, and the part I found most interesting, how she came to own The Barefoot Contessa food shop in the Hamptons when she didn’t live in the Hamptons and had never worked in a restaurant or the food business before. She made it a megahit. 

Francis S. Barry recounts his cross-country trip on the Lincoln Highway during the pandemic in an RV with his wife in Back Roads and Better Angels. Barry, a journalist, wanted to know if we are really as divided in this country as it seems. He shares stories of the interesting people they met and a lot of great historical facts about Abraham Lincoln.

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy New Year. Feel free to share your favorite reads from 2024 in the Comments section.

Delancey by Molly Wizenberg

Reprinted from Auburnpub.com 

Delancey by Molly Wizenberg

Published by Simon and Schuster ISBN 9781451655094

Hardcover, $25, 256 pages

Molly Wizenberg writes a blog, “Orangette”, named by the London Times as the best food blog in the world. She has written columns for Bon Appetit magazine and her first book, “A Homemade Life- Recipes From My Kitchen Table” was a New York Times bestseller.

After writing that book and while waiting for it to publish, her husband Brandon decided that he wanted to open a pizza restaurant in Seattle, where they resided. That journey to owning and operating a pizza restaurant is recounted in her second teriffic book, a memoir titled “Delancey”.

Never mind the fact that Brandon has never operated a restaurant, and that prior to this, he wanted to make violins (he is a music teacher) and after that he wanted to build boats.

She describes her husband in this way- “I love that he‘s the first person our friends call when they’re in trouble. I love that he likes to make people happy. My mother once told me that the reason she fell in love with my father was that she knew she could always learn from him. When I meant Brandon, I knew what she meant.”

Life with Brandon was never boring, and even though Molly was a little wary of the fact that Brandon always threw himself completely into whatever he was doing for the time being, she knew she wanted to marry him.

Wizenberg brings the reader right into the middle of all of the decisions one makes when deciding to open a restaurant. She admits that many people dream (albeit briefly) of running a restaurant, thinking it will be like “having a dinner party every night. Most restaurants are not like dinner parties. Most restaurants feel more like Thanksgiving dinner.”

Once the decision was made, Brandon and Molly went to their friends who had experience in this area. Her brother David, who co-owns several Washington D.C restaurants, advised them to pick a location with other successful businesses.

The great researcher, Brandon traveled the country tasting the best pizzas, and picking the brains of the owners. He became an expert on what makes the best pizza dough, how much yeast and salt to use, and the ideal temperature needed to make the dough rise.

They found the right location, and gathered their friends around to help them physically build the restaurant. They demolished the interior and set to work. Wizenberg’s descriptions of all their hard work exhausted me just reading about it.

As someone who once ran a restaurant with her husband, I understood so much of what Molly and Brandon went through. Dealing with vendors, hiring and managing a staff, and dealing with inspectors from different departments who contradict each other, cooking every night, things that break down- it never ends.

Molly and Brandon’s day would start at 9am, when they would meet the food vendors making the day’s deliveries. Then they prepped the food, dealt with problems, made sure the dough was rising properly, greeted the employees, set the tables, made the pizzas and salads and desserts, served the food, closed up, cleaned up, and made the dough for tomorrow. They were home by 2am.

Wizenberg’s does a wonderful job dispelling the romance of owning a restaurant. It is hard work, and it’s like having a newborn baby, but one that doesn’t ever grow up and need less constant attention.

Eventually Molly realized that working at the restaurant was Brandon’s dream, but not necessarily hers. She wanted to get back to her writing and she missed cooking dinner in her own home at night. Working as the salad and dessert chef was making her miserable.

She screwed up her courage to tell Brandon, and although he was taken aback, he understood. One story she tells about Brandon coming home after a terrible day and saying he wanted the close the restaurant is compelling, and a lesson that all married people eventually learn about being supportive.

Wizenberg has also put in some wonderful recipes , including Sriracha and Butter Shrimp, a Meatloaf using fish sauce, and a Winter Salad with Citrus and Feta that all look amazing.

Wizenberg is a terrific writer with an interesting and conversational voice, and “Delancey” is a fascinating look at the inner workings of running a restaurant. If you have ever worked in one (which many people have), this book is for you. And if you have ever worked with your spouse, you’ll enjoy it too.

rating 5 of 5

Help For The Haunted by John Searles

Reprinted from auburnpub.com

Help For The Haunted by John Searles

Published by William Morrow ISBN 978-0-06-077963-4

Hardcover, $26.99

 368 pages

The recent movie The Conjuring recounts the story of Ed and Lorraine Warren, a Connecticut couple who specialized in ridding homes of demons and ghosts. Author John Searles grew up in the same town as the Warrens and recalled seeing them at church and in the grocery store.

His new novel, Help For The Haunted features a fictionalized version of the Warrens, Sylvester and Rose Mason. The Masons have made a living helping people who feel there are demons or ghosts in their home, or have family members possessed by some evil force.

The Masons have two daughters; Rose, an angry young woman at war with her parents, and teenage Sylvie, who tries always to be the good daughter. A local reporter wrote an unflattering book about the Masons, questioning whether the Masons actually helped people or it was all a ruse.

The book opens with the Masons getting a late-night phone call, which happened often. This time, though, it was young Rose who had been sent away to boarding school. She wanted her parents to come meet her at an abandoned church to talk over their problems.

Sylvie goes along and waits in the car with her mother while Sylvester goes to talk to young Rose. A long time passes and the older Rose goes inside the church to see what is happening. Sylvie falls asleep and is awakened by two gunshots. She rushes inside and finds her parents dead.

The rest of this terrific novel mixes a murder mystery with a coming-of-age story, adding a dash of the supernatural and generally scaring the heck out of the reader. Sylvie ends up living with her sister, who is still angry and barely cares for herself, let alone her young sister.

Sylvie had named the man whom she believed she saw in the church after her parents’ murder and he was now in prison. But Sylvie was having doubts. Did she really see this man or was this something she had been led to believe? She must discover the truth.

We see Sylvie’s life with her parents told in flashback. Her parents were devoutly religious, and they traveled the country speaking about their work, as well as helping people who send for them.

One young girl is particularly troubled. Her father sends for the Masons, and as a last resort, the Masons bring the girl to live with them. The girl stays in their basement, where Sylvester has set up his “office”.

The basement plays a big role in the novel, almost a character unto itself. Also involved in the mix is an oversized Raggedy Ann doll, which ends up locked in a cage. (Searles got the idea for the Raggedy Ann doll from one his own mother had.)

The genius of Help For The Haunted is that Searles successfully combines so many genres. He gives you a heroine to care about and empathize with, some scares and chills along the way, a dysfunctional family with a secret, all the while trying to solve a murder mystery. The solution to the mystery is surprising, and I doubt that many people will have figured it out before the big reveal.

Sylvie is an intriguing young heroine; she belongs up there with Stephen King’s Carrie, Roald Dahl’s Matilda and even Harper Lee’s Scout Finch. Searles has written such a real, honest, believable character. Her outsider status is one that many readers can identify with.

All of the characters are richly developed here. Even a minor character, like Dereck, an old high school boyfriend of Rose, is so fully realized and I admit to a little bit of a crush on him. Uncle Howie is an interesting character as well; we don’t really know what the deal is with him. Does he love his brother or despise him?

With Halloween on the way, this is the perfect time to read Help For The Haunted. If you like a brilliantly written scary book, one with interesting characters and a puzzle of a mystery, pick this one up. Just be sure to leave all the lights on while you read. And lock the basement door.

rating 5 of 5 stars

Diane LaRue is a member of the National Book Critics Circle and blogs about books at http://bookchickdi.blogspot.com. You can follow her on Twitter @bookchickdi and she can be emailed at laruediane2000@yahoo.com.

Maeve Binchy's Last Book- A Week in Winter

A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy

Published by Knopf ISBN 978-0307273574

Hardcover, $26.95, 336 pages

Reprinted from auburnpub.com

Irish author Maeve Binchy came to the attention of American readers in the 1990s when one of her novels, “Circle of Friends”, was made into a popular movie.  Soon we were all reading her beautifully crafted books of middle-class Irish, usually from the rural areas of Ireland, who often moved to the big city looking for love and a career.

Binchy passed away last year at the age of 72, and her many worldwide fans were saddened to hear of the news. Many of her novels featured recurring characters and settings, and readers lost not only her, but those familiar friends as well.

Her last novel, “A Week in Winter”, is vintage Binchy at her best. We have a large cast of characters, each telling their own stories, as they come together to spend a week in a beautiful Irish hotel set on a dramatic cliffside in the small town of Stonybridge.

Chicky Starr is a young Irish lass living in Stonybridge with her family. She falls in love with Walter, a handsome young man traveling through Ireland who convinces her to leave her family and come with him to America.

Her family is dead set against her doing this, but Chicky is in love. They end up in New York City, but Walter is a wanderer and he soon leaves Chicky stranded alone in a foreign country.

Chicky finds a job and a home at a boarding house where she cooks and cleans. She is too embarrassed to tell her family what has happened to her, so she tells them that Walter and she were married, but he has died in a car crash.

Eventually she decides to go back home to Stonybridge, and with the money she has saved over the years buys a large Irish home and turns it into a hotel. Her family believes she will fail, but Queenie, the elderly woman who owns the castle-like home, casts her lot with Chicky and they begin to make it a reality.

Rigger was a young man born out of wedlock to Nuala, who left Stonybridge to work in Dublin. He fell in with a bad crowd and got into trouble. Nuala sent him to Stonybridge to work with Chicky, and there he changed his ways, fell in love and became Chicky’s right-hand man.

As the hotel prepares to open, we meet the first week’s guests. Each guest gets their own chapter to tell their own story, and this is vintage Binchy. We even see some characters from our favorite Binchy books, like the Signora from “Evening Class”, and some of our favorite places, such as Quentin’s restaurant and Whitethorn Woods, make cameos. It will bring a smile of recognition to regular Binchy readers.

There are many interesting stories here, including Winnie,’s, a thirty-something unmarried nurse. After giving up hope, she finds love with a wonderful man. The only problem with him: he has an unusually close relationship with his mother, Lillian.

Winnie tries to engage with Lillian, but it is clear that Lillian won’t approve of any woman her son dates. Winnie arranges for a romantic week away with her man, but it ends up he cannot go due to a work commitment, and suggests that Winnie takes his mother instead. It doesn’t look like a promising week.

Freda is a young librarian who loves her job but hasn’t been lucky in the love department. She meets a man whom her best friend and aunt have their doubts about, and soon Freda is abandoning her work and friends for this man. Freda also has a secret; she has visions of things to come.

There is a husband and wife doctor team who have seen some sad and troubling things and long to have a baby. An aging American actor is (he thinks) incognito, but everyone recognizes him. An older couple who spends their free time entering sweepstakes wish they had won the first place trip to Paris instead of the second prize of a trip to Ireland. A hard-working Swedish man loves music and has doubts about taking over his father’s business.

All of these people converge at Chicky’s hotel for a week in winter. We get to know them- their longings, their fears, their hopes, their sadness, and their joys. Binchy is a master at showing us their humanity and making us care about them. The reader identifies with something about each of them.

Binchy tells universal stories about people we know, people we are. They strive to have better lives, work hard and long for true love. She sets these stories in her beloved Ireland, and we learn a little bit about life in the Emerald Isle.

If you are a fan of Maeve Binchy, “A Week in Winter” is not to be missed, even though she most certainly will be.

Rating 5 of 5 stars

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