Captivating Fiction for March

Reposted from auburnpub.com

Last month's Book Report was filled with taut thrillers that kept you turning the page. This month we feature fiction that captures your heart and attention.

Nancy Johnson’s first book, The Kindest Lie was one of my favorite books from 2021. Her newest effort, People of Means is just as compelling and deals with timely topics in two different timelines.

In 1959, Freda leaves her home to attend Fisk University in Nashville. Freda’s parents met at Fisk, and her father is now a successful doctor while her mother volunteers for many charities in Chicago.

Freda is now faced with dealing up close with Jim Crow racism in Nashville, something she didn’t see much of back in her mostly Black suburban life in Chicago. While her father admonished her to keep her head down and concentrate on her studies, Freda meets Darius, a young man who becomes increasingly involved in the Civil Rights movement. 

Darius opens Freda’s eyes up to the injustices they face, and Freda must make a choice between keeping to studies following her father’s wishes to make a success of her career, and fighting the injustice she sees every day.

In 1992, Freda’s daughter Tulip faces a similar battle. Tulip has a good job in public relations, but deals with micro aggressions and workplace politics every day. After the Rodney King beating in Los Angeles, Tulip struggles with her feelings about the racial injustices in her world, and must decide whether to work to fight that or keep her head down and work hard to become a success in the business world as her father would like. 

Both Tulip and Freda faced a similar struggle decades apart, will Tulip follow her mother’s example? People of Means is a thought-provoking novel that resonates with issues today.

Lauren Willig’s brilliant new historical novel The Girl From Greenwich Street fictionalizes a real-life murder mystery from 1800 New York City. When young Elma Sands tells her cousin that she is leaving to get married, she is soon found dead in the bottom of a well and suspicion falls to Levi Weeks, the man she claimed she was to marry. 

Levi says he was not planning on marrying Elma and he did not see her the night she disappeared. Elma’s family insists that Levi be arrested, and Levi’s brother hires him a lawyer- Aaron Burr. 

As everyone knows from Hamilton- the Musical, Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton had an intense rivalry. Alexander Hamilton works in his way onto the defense team for Levi Weeks, where he clashes with Burr on strategy. 

The Girl From Greenwich Street is a fascinating novel, filled with intriguing characters and a  compelling storyline. Willig drops the reader right into 1800 New York City, and you feel like you are right there watching the action as it happens. 

Just as interesting as Willig’s novel is the Historical Note at the end. It will have you going down a rabbit hole to learn more about this historical event. 

Nickolas Butler’s A Forty Year Kiss tells the story of Charlie and Vivian. They married forty years ago and divorced after four years because of Charlie’s drinking and temper. 

Charlie moves away and has a career in the railroad, while Vivian still lives in Wisconsin. When Charlie moves back home, he finds Vivian on Facebook and asks to meet her again.

They slowly reconnect, with Charlie hoping to make more a permanent relationship with Vivian. But Vivian isn’t sure that Charlie has changed. Time hasn’t been kind to Vivian, she never had a successful career, and lives with her adult daughter who works multiple jobs to support her two children.

Readers will relate to Vivian and her love for her grandchildren whom she cares for, and hope that she and Charlie can find their way back to each other. It tugs at your heartstrings.

Linda Holmes charming new novel, Back After This tells the story of Cecily, who works as a producer for a small company that creates podcasts. The company is not doing well, and Cecily’s boss comes up with an idea to save them- a new podcast featuring the single-and-looking Cecily going on 20 first dates to find the perfect man, while being guided by a popular Instagram influencer. 

After Cecily reluctantly agrees to it, she keeps running into a handsome, charming man who’s perfect for her. But she can’t date him until after the podcast is over which is months away. What’s a girl to do? 

If you are podcast fan, you will enjoy the behind-the-scenes look at the industry. Linda Holmes is a cohost of NPR’s “Pop Culture Happy Hour”. This is a breezy, sweet read. 

People of Means by Nancy Johnson-A

Published by William Morrow

Hardcover, $30, 357 pages

The Girl From Greenwich Street by Lauren Willig-A+

Published by William Morrow

Hardcover, $30, 352 pages

A Forty Year Kiss by Nickolas Butler- A

Published by Sourcebooks

Hardcover, $27.99, 322 pages

Back After This by Linda Holmes- A

Published by Ballantine Books

Hardcover, $28, 320 pages

Fall Book Highlights

Reprinted from auburnpub.com

Fall is a big season for publishers, a time when so many great books can be found in bookstores. This year is no exception, and I have three terrific books, something for all types of readers.

The first book is a mystery written by Team W as they are known- good friends Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White- titled The Author’s Guide To Murder. The authors met at a book conference, became friends, and decided to write a book together. 

In this fifth collaboration, three American authors are at a Scottish castle owned by a very famous and successful writer. They are supposed to be there for a writing conference with the famous writer, but they each have other reasons to be there.

When the writer ends up murdered, the women become suspects in the killing. The book alternates between the police interrogation of the women and the lead up to the murder. The police interviews are hilarious as we get to know each of the authors. 

Kat writes erotica and plays her part with innuendo and outrageous flirtatious behavior. Cassie is a mom of six who writes cozy mysteries and has a Mary Poppins bag filled with every item anyone would ever need. Emma writes historical fiction and is what would be called a history buff, always ready with a quick historical fact whether anyone wants to hear it or not.

Readers of Team W’s novels will get immense enjoyment as the authors have played around with own personalities and created characters that mix-and-match their own writing style and lives. I found myself laughing out loud several times.

Although it is humorous, there is a serious undertone as we learn why the women have come together to confront the famous writer. It is billed as “Murder, She Wrote” meets Agatha Christie, an accurate assessment. I highly recommend.

Lynda Cohen Loigman's new novel The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern tells the story of Augusta Stern, an eighty year-old pharmacist who has just (unwillingly) retired to a Florida community her niece found for her. 

On her first day there, she discovers that Irving Rivkin, who worked as delivery boy in her father’s pharmacy back in the 1920’s, also lives in the same retirement community. Irvin hurt her deeply many years ago and Augusta never got over it.

This is also a story told in two different time lines- the 1920’s and 1997. Frequently in two different timeline novels, one story is more interesting, but Cohen had me equally engaged in both stories.

Augusta is a fabulous character, she can be difficult and a tough nut to crack. Although she initially keeps to herself, she eventually makes friends. What she doesn’t understand is why Irvin is pursuing her romantically after he broke her heart years ago with no explanation.

It’s refreshing to see more older female characters in recent novels and Augusta is one of the more intriguing and well-drawn ones. We get the opportunity to see how she became the person she was, and her close attachment to her great aunt Esther, another intriguing older female character. The setting of 1920’s Brooklyn is so vividly created, I could picture Augusta’s father’s pharmacy clearly. I also highly recommend The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern.

There are many memoirs out this fall, and Connie Chung’s Connie is one of the more interesting ones. Chung, the daughter of Chinese immigrants, became one of the most prominent broadcast journalists in the 1970s. 

She was one of the few female television reporters covering the Nixon White House during the tumultuous Watergate years. Chung has to battle not only sexism but also anti-Asian attitudes during her tenure. She believed the best way to do that was to become one of “boys”- she could curse like a sailor, and she gave as good as she got.

Chung worked incredibly hard, and would take any opportunity to show that she was a team player. At one point she anchored a pre-Today Show news hour, reported on stories for the Nightly News, then did live news cut-aways at 9pm and 10pm. She worked nearly around the clock.

She is one of the few people to work on-air for all three broadcast networks- she co-anchored the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather (who undermined her), co-anchored 20/20 on ABC, and was an anchor on the local Los Angeles CBS station for years.

If you know of Chung’s career, you’ll want to read Connie, and if you don’t know her, you’ll want to read what it was like to be a woman in the news business at this time. It’s a fascinating read.

The Author’s Guide To Murder By Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig & Karen White-A

Published by William Morrow

Hardcover, $30, 416 pages

The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman- A

Published by St. Martin’s Press

Hardcover, $29, 312 pages

Connie by Connie Chung- A

Published by Grand Central

Hardcover, $32.50, 323 pages

Friday 5ive- September 9, 2022

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly-ish post featuring five things that caught my attention this week. Ive been off for the last few weeks, my family took a trip to Scotland and Ireland, and I will be posting about that separately. (It was an amazing trip!)

1)  I visited the new location of Bookstore1 in Sarasota, Florida last week. It's a wonderful bookstore, and the most inpressive part of the store is their Staff Recommends display. It is the largest Staff Recommends display I've ever seen. They have a huge two-sided unit filled with books and as you wander the store, you'll find more recommendations throughout mixed in with their regular displays. They must be a very literate staff! I chatted a bit with Roxanne, and picked up a Staff Recommended novel- Carter Bays' The Mutual Friend. If you ever visit Sarasota, you must stop by.

2)  Everyone in NYC loves to watch the US Open, and I confess that I have not been bitten by that bug- until this year. Watching Serena Williams win her match against the number two ranked player was thrilling, one of the most exciting sporting events I have ever seen. Now I am pulling for Frances Tiafoe to win on the Men's side, he has an incredible story. 

3)  Like everyone else I was saddened to hear of the death of Queen Elizabeth II. She had a remarkable reign spanning 70 years and her devotion to duty and her country will long be remembered. When we were at Edinburgh Castle a few weeks ago, we saw not only the Crown Jewels, but also the Stone of Destiny. The stone will be placed under the throne at Westminster Abbey at King Charles III's coronation as is tradition. And we saw it in person! (But we couldn't take photos.) 

4)  We're watching Five Days at Memorial on Apple TV+, based on the book by Sheri Fink. (We both thought the book was so powerful.) The true story takes place in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, when Baptist Memorial Hospital was left to fend for themselves after New Orleans flooded. They lost power, ran out of food and water, and had no plan or way to evacuate their hundreds of patients, staff and community members who sought safety from the hurricane. When the New Orleans Police Department finally shows up after five days, they are there to enforce an evacuation order, and doctors and nurses are forced to leave patients behind who cannot be evacuated. How some of these patients died is the question to be answered. It's riveting television with amazing performances led by Vera Farmiga and Cherry Jones. 

5) I've read alot recently, including some terrific historical novels based on real people and events from two books I loved in 2021. Lauren Willig's Two Wars and a Wedding  follows a character from last year's Band of Sisters (one of my favorite books from 2021). Smith College graduate Betsy Hayes studies archeology at the American School in Greece in 1896 and desperately wants to go on a dig, but women are not allowed. When a war breaks out between Greece and Turkey, Betsy ends up as a nurse and proves herself to be an outstanding nurse. Having seen the horrors and dangers of war up close, Betsy travels to Cuba in 1898 to stop her best friend Ava from joining Clara Barton's Red Cross nurses, but ends up again in the throes of war as a nurse. Once again, Lauren Willig's brilliant writing and detailed research into historical events I knew little about had me enthralled. Betsy is an unforgettable character, and watching her grow from a single-minded young student into a strong, brave and caring woman was a wonderful journey . I'll be buying this book when it publishes in March of 2023. 

Susan Elia MacNeal's Maggie Hope WWII mysteries is one of the few series I will always read, and her latest book, Mother Daughter Traitor Spy, is a standalone novel. The last Maggie Hope novel, The Hollywood Spy, had Maggie in WWII Los Angeles, where Maggie tangled with Nazis. Mother Daughter Traitor Spy tells the story of Veronica and her mother Violet during WWII. When Veronica makes a bad personal choice, she loses her job in New York and she and her widowed mother move to Los Angeles. Veronica unintentionally finds herself as secretary for someone who is heavily involved in the Nazi movement in the United States. Meanwhile, Violet's lovely embroidery catches the eye of a Nazi leader's wife, and soon she is designing and sewing clothes for many of the women's friends. Horrified by the things they are hearing, Veronica and her mother go to law enforcement and end up working as spies for the US military. I found myself wanting to know more about this time period in Los Angeles after reading The Hollywood Spy, and was so happy to see that Susan Elia MacNeal was continuing this fascinating story in Mother Daughter Traitor Spy, based on two real women. As I read this terrific story, I could not help but see the connections between what was happening politically in the 1940s and what is happening in our country in the last few years, and that adds to the importance of this book. This one publishes on September 20th, and if you like historical fiction, this is one you must read. 

Have a good, safe, healthy week.

New in Paperback- Band of Sisters by Lauren Willig

Band of Sisters by Lauren Willig

Published by William Morrow Paperbacks ISBN 9780062986160

Trade paperbacks, $16.99, 544 pages

I enjoy historical fiction most when the story is one that I am unfamiliar with, and it is based on real people. In this vein, author Lauren Willig introduces the reader to The Smith College Relief Unit, a group of women from the Smith College in the United States who volunteered to go into the Somme in France during WWI, working to help French viilagers displaced during the war in her novel "Band of Sisters". 

These young women, who didn't even have the right to vote yet, got on a ship to cross the Atlantic Ocean to go to a war zone, to help people they didn't know. Willig discovered this in a memoir titled "Ladies of Grecourt" by Ruth Gaines, a member of the unit. Then she found a cache of letters and journals written by the young women of the unit. Many of the stories in those letters ended up fictionalized in this fascinating novel that I could not put down.

I got so caught up in the individual stories of these interesting young woman, like Kate, the Irish young woman, a school teacher who was recruited by Emmie, her former roommate at Smith. Julia, Emmie's cousin, is a doctor with a serious demeanor. Mrs. Rutherford is the formidiable woman who was the driving force behind this enterprise. 

Mrs. Rutherford told the ladies that they will be planting food, helping to build new shelters and schools, whatever was needed. The women drove huge trucks, learned how to give first aid, procured supplies by any means they could, and figured out how to get it to the people who needed it. They did all that and more in a time before Excel spreadsheets and Google docs, and did it in extremely uncomfortable clothing.

Willig drops the reader right into the war zone along with these brave, enterprising women. We see them at the best, working together to help people who were much worse off than they were led to believe, and at their worst, as close quarters during a crisis can cause some people's behavior to deteriorate. 

When the war comes to their doorstep, the tension rachets up as the women work to save as many villagers as they can. I bit my nails to the quick as I was reading this section. 

I also enjoyed the callback to the most recent novel by Lauren Willig, Beatriz Williams and Karen White, All The Ways We Said Goodbye, with a character and setting from that collaboration making an appearance here.

Readers of Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series should definitely put Band of Sisters on their TBR list and buy it now. I know so many women who would love this book. This is Lauren Willig's best book yet, I can't wait to see what research she stumbles upon for her next book.

My review of All The Ways We Said Goodbye is here.

Friday 5ive- July 2, 2021

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly blog post featuring five things that caught my attention this week. I took last week off because we were in Florida with friends, having a wonderful time. The weather was perfect, sunshine and warmth. We return to NYC and it was 95+ degrees for four days! Here now, the Florida edition of the Friday 5ive:

1) Numerous people have told us that the Beach Bistro restaurant on Anna Maria Island is a fabulous restaurant. We decided to celebrate our anniversary there, and it was everything we were told it would be. They gave us a lovely table right by the window, overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. It's more than a dinner, it is an experience. They started us with a shooter vodka cocktail and a small scoop of vanilla praline ice cream. There are four courses after that, the most interesting was Roberto's Farm Salad, pictured below. It came with mixed greens, roasted vegetables (the butternut squash was so tender and delicious), grilled fruit (strawberries, blueberries), a small ball of mozzarella drizzled with balsamic glaze, and topped with a scoop of lemon sorbet. You may think this combination sounds strange, but it worked so well together. We will be returning soon.

2) We replanted a firecracker bush two years at our Florida house and this is the first time we have been there to see it in full bloom. It's so pretty!

3)  We took the boat out for a sunset dinner cruise with pizza from Venezia restaurant and a bottle of Caymus Cabernet. It was gorgeous evening, and there were dolphins following alongside the boat. They must have heard how good the pizza was. 

4)  While the guys golfed, the ladies headed to the Longboat Key Resort beach club. The water was so warm, and the rum punch was so refreshing. My friend took this great photo of the beach club.

5) I didn't do a lot of reading, just two books. The first was Emilie Richards' novel, The House Guests (my full review is here), about Cassie, a woman who invites a stranger, Amber, and Amber's teenage son to move in to her home with her and her teenage stepdaughter. The two woman slowly form a friendship and we learn that Amber is on the run from someone and Cassie's deceased husband spent all of their money and was involved in something she knew nothing about. It's such a great book, wonderful characters with an intriguing storyline. 

I continued with Lauren Willig's Pink Carnation series of spy novels set in England during the Napoleonic War with The Temptation of the Night Jasmine. Once again we have swashbuckling action, spies, and a romance between Robert, a Duke just returned from India wanting to avenge the murder of his superior officer by a comrade, and Charlotte, a bookworm who loves romance novels. One of the most interesting plot points involves King George III, who, if you only know him from Hamilton, is a somewhat different person here. I am so enjoying these delightful novels and the monthly Facebook Live discussions with Lauren Willig and special guests.

I hope you all have a very enjoyable 4th of July holiday!

Friday 5ive- April 30, 2021

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly blog post featuring five things that caught my attention this week.

Can you believe it's the last day of April already?

1)  Walking home from midtown, we saw this lovely lighted floral display on the exterior of Van Cleef & Arpels on Fifth Avenue. It really brightens up the corner.

2) While running errands, I spotted this interesting (?) display in a store window of clowns in ferris wheel. I was just talking with a friend about her collection of clowns, but I don't think hers were like these Stephen King-type of clowns in the window. 

3)  Author Lauren Willig is hosting a monthly read along of her wonderful historical fiction/romance/spy Pink Carnation series, and this week it was a discussion of the third book, The Deception of the Emerald Ring. Author Eloisa James, whose six book historical romance series, The Wildes of Lindow Castle, is equally enjoyable, was the special guest host, and the conversation between the two was fascinating and educational. They also added to all of the attendees To-Be-Read pile with their callbacks of books that influenced their writing. The Deception of the Emerald Ring is my favorite of the series so far (perhaps the Irish setting had something to do with it), I so enjoyed the snappy dialogue between Letty and Geoff.  You can watch the discussion on Lauren Willig's Facebook page here.

4)  I really enjoyed watching the NBC comedy series, Kenan, starring SNL star Kenan Thompson. Kenan plays a widowed dad of two young daughters, and the host of a local Atlanta TV morning talk show. Don Johnson is so funny as his father-in-law who lives with Kenan and helps with the girls. Throw in SNL star Chris Redd as Kenan's live-in brother and manager, and you've got a fresh, funny take on Full House. Kenan has been in television since he was a teenager (remember Kenan & Kel on Nickolodeon in the late 90s?) and he is so completely charming and at ease on camera. The bro chemistry between Johnson and Redd is hilarious, and I hope we get to see more of Fortune Feimster as reporter on the talk show in season two, she always adds such fun to any show she is on. You can catch Kenan on Peacock TV, and it's a free app. You'll laugh at the snappy, witty dialogue. 

5)  I've done a lot of reading this week.  My favorite read of the week is Damhnait Monaghan's charming debut novel, New Girl in Little Cove, about a young woman who moves from Toronto to the tiny Newfoundland town of Little Cove to teach high school French. It's a mashup of the Broadway show Come From Away, TV's Schitt's Creek and Netflix's Derry Girls. I just adored this feel-good story, my full review will publish here on May 4th.  

I hope you all stay safe, socially distant when necessary, wash your hands, and follow all the health guidelines for your area, including wearing masks when required. More and more of us are getting vaccinated and we're moving towards a return to the life we all miss.

Friday 5ive- April 2, 2021

Welcome to the Friday 5ive,  a weekly blog featuring five things that caught my attention this week, and welcome to April where one day it can be 60 degrees and the next day it's 36.

1)  While exiting the TJ Maxx store in my neighborhood, I noticed a small garden area behind the store with this beautiful mosiac. I've been to that store many times, and this is the first time I've noticed it.

2)  I have this app called Citizen that notifies me when there is police or fire activity nearby. This notification popped up on Saturday. You'll be happy to know they caught the offender.

3)  My mom sent me a set of postcards from my hometown of Auburn, NY for my birthday. Each postcard has a photo of some iconic sight, and they brought back so many memories. There are historical sights, like the statue of Harriet Tubman, and things that have personal memories- Falcon Park, where we watched many a baseball game, Springside Inn, where we had our son's wedding reception, and Angelo's Pizza, the place where everyone ended up after an evening dancing the night away. What a fun gift! You can find them at auburnpcproject.com. 

4) As a huge fan of Tina Turner's (her Private Dancer album is one of my all-time favorites)I was so pleased with the new HBO documentary on her life. The archival footage they had of her early performances with Ike Turner was truly incredible, and the documentary was broken into five parts, covering her entire life. How she reinvented herself in the 1980s as a rock'n'roll queen through sheer will, hard work, talent, and finding the right manager was so impressive. I found it very telling that she does not want to be known for surviving the abuse she took at the hands of her husband Ike. She was done with that part of her life, and constantly speaking about it brings up painful memories, I wish people would let her move on from that. I'm really glad I got to see the Broadway show Tina Turner the Musical before everything shut down last year. I'm happy she finally found love with her husband of thirty years, Erwin Bach. This is must-see TV for music fans.

5) Two books were on my reading list this week. I read the second book in Lauren Willig's Pink Carnation spy series, titled The Masque of the Black Tulip. The books are set in the early 1800's, with England worrying that Napoleon will try to invade. There are a series of spies, including the Pink Carnation, embedded in Paris society, sending information back to England. Young Henrietta Selwick is taking after her brother Richard, known as the Purple Gentian, acting as a courier for the Pink Carnation's information. She has a crush on her brother's best friend Miles, who will not act on his growing feelings for Henrietta out of respect for his friend. Henrietta and Miles end up working together to discover the identity of the dastardly French spy, the Black Tulip, and mayhem ensues. It's a fun, action-filled romantic romp that is a perfect read for those who enjoyed Bridgerton on Netflix. Lauren Willig is hosting a year-long readalong of the Pink Carnation books, and each month she and a different romance author host a Zoom chat about one of the books. This month, Tasha Alexander, author of the historical fiction Lady Emily series, led the discussion. It was a fun and informative evening, check out Lauren Willig's Facebook page for more information.

 I'm in the middle of Chip Gaines new book, No Pain, No Gaines. He talks about the importance of networks, the people in your life who can help you achieve your goals. He's a real people person, very curious about what makes people tick, and if you are a fan of he and his wife, Joanna Gaines, HGTV show, Fixer Upper, this is a book you will enjoy. I like it so far, and I'm not particularly a fan of their show. He has an easy conversational style, and I particularly liked that he allowed his family and Joanna's family each to share their thoughts. My full review publishes here on Monday. 

Stay safe, socially distant, wear a mask, wash your hands, and get the vaccine when it's your turn. Good times are ahead!

Friday 5ive- March 19, 2021

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly blog post featuring five things that caught my attention this week. This week was always a big celebration week back in my Catholic School days- we had St. Patrick's Day on March 17th (there was a large Irish population in my city and our principal was Sister Walter Anne O'Malley) and St. Joseph's Day is celebrated on March 19th. (The nuns at our school were Sisters of St. Joseph).

1) I made a new recipe from the New York Times this week- Skillet Hot Honey Chicken with Hardy Greens. It was so easy and quick to make, and since we don't like hot, I used a very mild pepper. You can use whatever pepper you like. We like bone-in thighs, and the crispy skin with the honey/apple cider vinegar sauce on the greens (we used romaine lettuce) was delicious. We paired it with salt potatoes. It's a great weeknight quick dinner and the recipe is here.

2) We made a trip to Wine Geeks in Armonk on Saturday. It's housed in a converted gas station, and the interior keeps that look with stacked metal shelving for the wine. I really liked the unique look of the shop, and we had a nice chat with the knowledgeable and friendly store owners Derek and Carol Todd. They had a well curated selection of wine and spirits, and if you ever find yourself in Westchester County, stop by.

3)  I did three book Zooms this week. On Adriana Trigiani's Tuesday edition of AdrianaInk's Facebook Live this week, she hosted two funny ladies -Laraine Newman from the original Saturday Night Live cast, (talking about her Audible.com original book, May You Live In Interesting Times about New York City in the 1970s and her time at SNL) and Susie Essman, (who plays the foul-mouthed and most popular character Susie Greene on Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm). All three of these ladies are so interesting, the conversation could have gone on all night.

On Wednesday, I listened to Pamela Klinger-Horn interview Lauren Willig (Band of Sisters), Kate Quinn (The Rose Code) and Elizabeth Wetmore (Valentine) about their historical fiction books. All three women's books deal with women working together to deal with difficult situations- Band of Sisters is about Smith College alumni helping French villagers in WWI, The Rose Code shares the story of three women working at Bletchley Park in London during WWII attempting to decode German war communications, and Valentine deals with the aftermath of a vicious attack on a young Mexican teenager and the effect that had on her and other women in Odessa, Texas in the 1970s. I loved all three books, and the discussion was enlightening.

Thursday's Zoom was a discussion with Michael J. Fox talking about his memoir (that deals with living  with Parkinson's Disease) No Time Like The Future with his friend mystery writer Harlan Coben, talking about his book Win (a book that will surely keep you up at night to finish). The men have been friends for years, so the conversation was easy and both men's books would make good gifts. Maybe they will write a book together about golf someday. (My husband would like that.)

4) We finally got around to watching the comedy Ted Lasso on AppleTV+. This is the show we all need during the pandemic! Ted Lasso (played by Jason Sudeikis, who is winning all the awards for his fabulous perfomance) is a small college American football coach who is hired to coach a Premier soccer team in England, even though he knows NOTHING about soccer. The female owner of the team, brilliantly played by Hannah Waddingham, wants to decimate her ex-husband's team that she won in her divorce. It is such a happy show that will put a smile on your face, filled with hilarious laughs and Ted Lasso is a guileless, sweet character. The writing is pitch-perfect and the acting by all is wonderful. If you don't have AppleTV+, you can get a free 7 day trial- you can watch all 10 half-hour episodes in seven days then cancel. Trust me, after all the serial killer documentaries you have been watching, you need this.

5) I read two books this week. The first is Silence Is A Sense by Layla AlAmmar, about a 24 year-old Syrian refugee in Great Britain. She spends her days looking into the windows of her neighbors in her apartament complex. The trauma she suffered during her escape from Syria and her journey across Europe have caused her to not speak, which most people take to mean that she is deaf. It's a stunning book, and I've never read a book that put me more into the head of a character as this one. My full review is here.

You always know what you're getting in a RaeAnne Thayne book, and her new novel gives us characters to root for in a beautiful setting, and a situation some can relate to in The Path to Sunshine Cove.  Jess travels the country helping people downsize and organize their home and when she ends up in her sister Rachel's town, they have a chance to repair their broken relationship. Rachel's Instagram life is not as beautiful as it seems though, as she deals with her young son's diagnosis on the spectrum, two young daughters, and a husband busy building his career as a construction company owner. The sisters have yet to deal with the tragedy that took their parents years ago, will they let that tear them further apart or bring them together? My full review publishes Tuesday. 

Stay safe and socially distant, wear a mask, wash your hands and get the vaccine when it's your turn. We are getting so close to getting back to good times, can you feel it?

This post was shared with The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader's Weekend Cooking posts.