Friday 5ive- March 11, 2022

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

1) I have been waiting patiently to see The Music Man on Broadway and my turn came this week. I'm a big Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster fan, and it was such a treat to see them in this delightful show. The dancing, the singing, the costumes- it all was wonderful. Broadway vet Jayne Houdyshell was also a joy playing the comical mayor's wife, she elevates every show she is in. There was one cute thing that happened in the show- Hugh and Sutton had a scene together and there was a mistake in the scene and they could not stop giggling. They broke up and it took them a long time to pull it together, which got the audience screaming with laughter. It was good to laugh that hard with a large group of people. I will say that I got a real Dick Van Dyke vibe from Hugh in this role- the way he moved dancing, his smile, it all reminded me of Van Dyke, who also played the iconic role of Professor Harold Hill. And Sutton Foster has always reminded me of Mary Tyler Moore, so these two together was so sweet. Go see it if you come to NYC.

2) I made a new recipe for a friend's birthday lunch. Giada's Chicken Orzo Frittata was a big hit at the luncheon, all the ladies loved it. It was easy to make and it makes a great lunch or light dinner paired with a green salad. Another friend brought a delicious Tiramisu Cake from Stew Leonard's grocery store and it was a tasty lunch indeed. 

From from Food Network

3) I started a new podcast this week on the recommendation of one of our customers at the Book Cellar. Turner Classic Movies has a ten part podcast called The Plot Thickens, and season three of the podcast is about the life of Lucille Ball. The first episode is set in her hometown of Jamestown, New York, and you get to hear parts of old recorded interviews with Lucille Ball, her brother Fred, and her mother Dede  among others. It's fascinating and if you like Luciile Ball, definitely give it a listen. 

4) It was an all-Lucy week last week as I watched the fantastic new documentary on Amazon Prime Video,  Lucy & Desi, directed by Amy Poehler. Their daughter, Lucy Arnaz Luckinbill, participated in the documentary, and there are is a lot of great old video of Lucy and Desi over the years, including video of a very pregnant Lucy from the 1950s. This is a must-watch for Lucy fans. 

5) I read one really terrific book this week, perfect for Women's History Month. Kate Quinn's upcoming historical novel, The Diamond Eye, is a fictionalized account of the most successful Russian sniper in World War II- a woman named Ludmila Pavlichenko. Mila was known as Lady Death, and she had over 300 known kills as a most dangerous sniper. She was a librarian who carried her dissertation in her knapsack so she could work on it during her down times. The book tells the story of her dangerous missions, in which she suffered many injuries, as well as her trip to visit the United States, where she became friends with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Like Quinn's other recent novels, The Alice Network, The Huntress, and The Rose Code, The Diamond Eye shows us the role that brave women all over the world played during the world wars. It's a hefty book, but once you get into it, you'll speed through it as you are amazed by Mila's bravery and skill. I love all of Quinn's books, she brings these brave women to vivid life.

Have a safe, healthy week all.

Shared with Marg at the Intrepid Reader for Weekend Cooking.

Three New Books to Dip In and Out Of

Reprinted from auburnpub.com:

One of the side effects of being cooped up inside for so long is that our attention spans have shrunk. After binge-watching episode after episode of the latest Netflix craze, we need a break. When it comes to reading, the thought of tackling a big novel or doorstopper of a biography can be too daunting. This month’s Book Report has three suggestions for books you can dip into and out of to give your self a break.

Todd Doughty’s book Little Pieces of Hope had its origins on March 11, 2020 when he began to make a list of “happy-making things in a difficult world” and posted the list with a photo on his Instagram account (@todddoughty). That was the day the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic. 

The post became the basis for his book. Most of his lists are a single page, so this makes it the perfect book to just grab when you have a few minutes and want something to bring a smile to your face as you recognize things that brought you joy as a youngster or give you hope today. 

He lists things like “Staying up late and hearing “Live From New York, it’s Saturday Night!”, “A day at the state fair”,  and “Ripping open the presents” that evoke a visceral memory for so many of us. He has pages titled “Bucket-List Suggestions” (seeing a Red Sox- Yankees game at Fenway), “Things You Might Consider Doing Today” (make Ina Garten’s weeknight Bolognese), and “That Moment in Life When You” (realized your parents are people too). 

There are many things in this delightful book to make you think, make you smile, make you nostalgic. Sometimes it’s just one word- “Kevin!” (from the movie Home Alone), or his Mixtape pages of songs that will have you rushing to make a Spotify playlist to dance to that bring you happiness. I particularly like his lists of characters from my favorite TV shows of yore, or books I Ioved. His name-checking of famous paintings and photographs had me Googling them to take a look. 

Little Pieces of Hope is the kind of book you’ll want to take a highlighter to so you can refer back to your favorite sections, or call your siblings or best friends to ask them if they remember this or that. It will bring a smile to your face and earn a permanent place on your favorites bookshelf.

Ann Patchett’s book of essays These Precious Days compiles some of her best pieces of nonfiction writing where she asked herself “what mattered most in this precarious and precious life.” The first essay, “Three Fathers” is a beautiful homage to the men her mother married, including her own father, and recalls what each brought to her life. She shares a lovely photo of her with the men at a family wedding in 2005, shortly before she began to lose them. 

In “Flight Plan”, Ann relays her doctor-husband’s love of piloting his plane, and how even though she worries when he takes off, she knows how much joy it brings to his life. The title essay, “These Precious Days” is the best of the book. Ann met Tom Hanks’ assistant Sooki at an event and was drawn to her right away. 

Sooki had a serious illness, and one of the medical trials for her condition was taking place in Nashville, where Ann lived. Ann’s husband was able to get Sooki into the trial, and Ann insisted Sooki stay with them during the trial. Shortly after Sooki arrived the pandemic hit, and she ended up staying with Ann for much longer than expected. Sooki staying with Ann and her husband changed their lives, and this essay is one of the most moving I have ever read.

Crime fiction writer Laura Lippman’s short story collection Seasonal Work is filled with unforgettable characters, mostly girls and young women. “Seasonal Work” is the first and strongest story, about a family whose van filled with their Christmas gifts is robbed on Christmas Eve. “Snowflake Time” is a sly story about “the woke culture” and how it affects a television news personality. People spying on others is a theme- a woman thinks her neighbor is up to no good, a wife finds her husband’s secret burner phone- and it doesn’t always end well. Even though you can read one story at a time, I admit I devoured this delectable collection in one day. 

Little Pieces of Hope by Todd Doughty- A 

Published by Penguin Life

Trade paperback, $16, 245 pages

These Precious Days by Ann Patchett- A

Published by Harper

Hardcover, $26.99, 336 pages

Seasonal Work by Laura Lippman- A

Published by William Morrow

Hardcover, $26.99, 336 pages

Three Fascinating Family Stories

Reprinted from auburnpub.com

I enjoy a good family story, one that gives the reader insight into family dynamics. This month’s Book Report has three novels that delve into interesting family stories.


Naomi Hirahara’s Clark and Division is set during WWII. Aki and Rose are two sisters, born in America to Japanese parents. They lived in a California community, and their father has a good job managing a food market. 

They faced prejudice and racism at their mostly white school. When Aki was invited to a white classmate’s birthday pool party, the other girls refused to swim in the pool with her, and the hostess was ashamed to ask her to come back and swim at another time. Rose earned the starring role in her high school’s stage production, but parents again complained, and she was bumped to a lesser role.


Then the attack on Pearl Harbor happened. The family was forced to leave their home and most of their belongings behind to move to an internment camp. The living conditions were appalling, and they lost all of the freedom they came to America to find.


Rose is sent to Detroit, and the rest of the family would follow in a few months after she was settled. When Aki and her parents arrive in Detroit, they discover that Rose was hit by a train and killed.


They were told that she committed suicide, but Aki does not believe it. In addition to trying to adjust to life in a new city, Aki makes it her mission to find out what happened to her sister.


Clark and Division blends historical fiction about the treatment that Japanese-Americans faced in America during WWII with the mystery of what led to Rose’s death. It’s an enlightening novel that immerses you in a time and place, as well as keeping you turning the pages to find out what happened to Rose. 


Tracey Lange’s We Are the Brennans takes place in Westchester County in New York. When Sunday Brennan is seriously injured in a car accident in Los Angeles, her older brother Denny travels there to bring her back home. 

Sunday left the family home suddenly five years prior, and no one knew exactly why. Her brother Denny and his best friend Kale own Brennan’s pub, and are planning on opening a second pub in a nearby town.


Kale was Sunday’s boyfriend when she left without a good explanation why. He is now married and the father of a four year-old boy, and Sunday’s return home creates problems in his marriage.


Unbeknownst to Kale (or anyone else), Denny borrowed money from someone he shouldn’t have to finance the new pub. The stress of keeping that secret from everyone is causing him trouble.


I loved how the Brennan family worked their way into my heart. Brother Jackie is an artist who is so kind to the youngest son Shane, as is the entire family. The family rallies together to help Denny and Kale keep their business afloat.


We eventually discover why Sunday left five years ago, and that leads to more trouble for the Brennan clan. The secrets each family member keeps come to the surface and it will either save them or destroy them.


In Sara Nisha Adams’ The Reading List, Mukesh is a widower outside London in mourning for the loss of his beloved wife a year ago. He is lonely, only seeing people at his local temple and neighborhood grocery store. 

When his young granddaughter Priya asks him about the books her grandmother loved, Mukesh decides to visit the small local library that his wife frequented to get some books for Priya.


Mukesh meets Aleisha, a young librarian who lives with her seriously depressed mother and her older brother. Aleisha doesn’t like to read, but when she finds a paper in a library book that reads “Just in case you need it:” followed by a list of novels, she suggests one of these books to Mukesh.


Aleisha and Mukesh bond over these books, and it brings them both out of their shells. They become friends, and share their lives with each other. Mukesh and Aleisha work together to save the library from closure.


I enjoyed learning about Mukesh’s Indian customs, especially the food his family enjoys. If reading and libraries are something you enjoy, The Reading List should be on your To-Be-Read pile. The way they tie the Reading List to characters at the end is sweet. (A warning though- there are some sad events in this book as well.)


Clark And Division by Naomi Hirahara- A-

Published by SOHO Crime

Hardcover, $27.95, 312 pages


We Are the Brennans by Tracey Lange- A

Published by Celadon

Hardcover, $26.99, 288 pages


The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams- A-

Published by William Morrow

Hardcover, $27.99, 384 pages

Friday 5ive- June 18, 2021

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

1) On Thursday night, my husband and I heard what we hoped was fireworks. We went out on our balcony and sure enough, there was barge in the East River shooting off fireworks. It was a few days too late for the Back to Normal celebration that New York State organized earlier in the week. Maybe it was practice for the Macys 4th of July Show?

2) My husband and I put together our new wine rack from Wine Enthusiast on Saturday. (Well, I held it together while my husband screwed in the 100 screws.) Thank goodness we had a cordless drill, we were able to finish in less than two hours. It's been awhile since we had to put furniture together.

3) I received the cutest invitation for our Beach Club Book Club meeting next month. The book is Jennifer Ryan's The Kitchen Front, about a cooking contest in England during WWII. I can't wait to read and discuss the book, if it's half as much fun as the invitation, it will be a great time.

4) We watched the hugely popular French TV series, Lupin, on Netflix this week. It tells the story of a man, Assane Diop, who sets about to avenge the false imprisonment and death of his father. Assane is a "gentleman thief", inspired by the French literature character Arséne Lupin, and it's a combination of Ocean's Eleven  and Sherlock Holmes. Omar Sy winningly portrays Assane Diop, a big man with a charming smile. It's fun to try and put the puzzle together as to what is happening. I forsee future Lupin tours of Paris, similiar to the Sex and the City tours in NYC. 

5) I read two terrific books this week. I stayed up late to finish in one day Laura Lippman's latest mystery, Dream Girl. Lippman has recently paid homage to books she loved Wilde Lake  (To Kill A Mockingbird), Sunburn (the novels of James M. Cain) and now she salutes Stephen King's Misery in Dream Girl. When writer Gerry Andersen is seriously injured in a fall at his Baltimore condo, he is bedridden and dependent on his young assistant Victoria, and the nurses and therapists who come to his home. He begins to get threatening phone calls from a woman who claims to be the character of his most famous book. Are these calls real or a figment of his imagination? It's a twisty mystery that goes back and forth in time through Gerry's life, and he has to take a look at how he has lived his life. and treated others, particularly the women, in his life. It's a fantastic, meaty mystery.

Julie Metz's nonfiction Eva and Eve, looks at the life of her mother, who escaped from Vienna with her parents during WWII. Metz and her mother had difficulties, and Metz hopes by visiting Vienna and Italy, where her mother spent nine days before boarding the ship to America, she will better understand her mother. If you only know about Austria's history during WWII from The Sound of Music or the brief mention of the Anschluss (annexation) of Austria by Germany in your high school history book, you'll learn so much more about that important moment in history. It also has relevance in today's world if you look at what Russia is trying to do with the Ukraine and other neighboring countries. It's an enlightening book. My full review publishes June 28th. 

Our apartment building has lifted all mask requirements for vaccinated people, and it seems like teh whole world has changed for the better. I hope all is well in your part of the world as we get back to normal.

Two Great Women's History Month Reads

Reprinted from auburnpub.com:

March is Women’s History Month, and if you prefer novels to reading nonfiction historical accounts about women, there are two newly published excellent books that will satisfy you.

While researching another novel about WWI, author Lauren Willig found letters from alumni of the all-female Smith College about their time in France during WWI. A group of young women were recruited to travel to France and provide aid to villagers whose homes and communities were damaged or destroyed by the Germans.

That research turned into her latest historical fiction, Band of Sisters. When Kate, a Smith College alumni, gets a letter from her former college friend Emmie asking her to join up with the alumni group going to France to aid villagers, she is intrigued. 

Kate was a scholarship student at Smith, and she stood out from most of the daughters of wealthy and influential families there. She was smart and worked hard, but she felt different from the other young ladies of privilege.

She and Emmie were best friends, until something happened that ended that. Still, Kate is looking for more in her life than teaching at a girls’ school, and she agrees to join Emmie in this endeavor.

When the young women arrive in France, their situation is not what they expected. The chateau that is their headquarters and living quarters is dilapidated, and they are expected to do things like drive and repair huge supply trucks, and purchase livestock, things they were not trained to do. The woman put in charge of purchasing chickens bought roosters instead, a mistake that led to no eggs and endless teasing.

The women were shocked at the conditions of the villages they were to help. They weren’t just there to throw Christmas parties and help them replant crops, they had to rebuild entire villages. They aided in medical care, (there was a female Smith alumna doctor with them), and had to figure out how allocate the little supplies they had to to do the most good.

The characters in Band of Sisters feel so real because Willig based them on real women- the writers of all the many letters she read, written by the actual alumni who went to France. These women rose to the occasion, and because the eyes of the world were upon them, failure would be a major setback for women just at the time that women’s suffrage was taking hold in the United States. 

Band of Sisters is one of the best historical novels I have read because it is based in reality. The writing pulls you in immediately, and you care about these young ladies who leave the safety of their comfortable homes to come to the aid of people they don’t know. Lauren Willig drops you right into the middle of a war zone with these intrepid young women. 

Kristin Hannah’s newest novel, The Four Winds takes the reader from the Texas panhandle in the 1920s to the agricultural fields of California in the 1930s during the Great Depression. 

Elsa is a lonely young woman from a wealthy family in Texas. When she finds herself pregnant by the son of Italian immigrants, her family disowns her and she is reluctantly taken in by her new husband’s parents, who had hoped that their son would be able to leave their family farm and go to college.

Elsa is accepted by her husband’s family, and she grows to love them and the farm. She now has a teenage daughter who is openly hostile to her, and a husband who is growing increasingly distant and unhappy.

When the dust storms roll across Texas and Oklahoma, devastating the farm, and the Great Depression destroys the economy, Elsa is forced to take her two children and flee to California, where they have been told there is work for them picking crops.

The reality of the situation is very different. There are many thousands of refugees like Elsa who are forced to live in tents, and if they can get work on farms, the pay is so little that they can barely subsist.

Although Hannah’s story is set during the 1930s, it resonates with what has been happening today. The refugee situation at the border, the growing inequality between workers and owners, the despair of people in difficult situations. Like Jess Walters’ novel, The Cold Millions, the story of the growing workers' movement is brought to life. The Four Winds puts the reader right in Elsa’s shoes.

Band of Sisters by Lauren Willig- A+

Published by William Morrow

Hardcover, $27.99, 538 pages

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah- A+

Published by St. Martin’s Press

Hardcover, $28.99, 464 pages

Friday 5ive- March 5, 2021

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly blog post about five things that caught my attention this week. I cannot believe it is March 2021, it seems like yesterday it was March 2020.

1)  I saw Clinton Kelly on the Rachael Ray Show making a no-bake dessert that I knew my husband would enjoy- Banoffee Pie. It's a simple dessert, but one part is time consuming. You need dulce de leche, and since I couldn't find any premade in the four grocery stores I looked, I had to make my own. You take one can of sweetened condensed milk, place it in a large pot of boiling water (completely covering the can), bring it to a simmer for 2 1/2 hours. After letting it cool, (which I apparently did not do long enough because when I opened the can, caramel sauce sprayed my hair) it is ready to pour over a pretzel crust with sliced bananas on top. Top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. My husband loved it and we both decided it was worth the caramel sauce that I had to wash out of my hair. The recipe is here.

2)  We purchased a wine credenza from Wine Enthusiast to organize all of our wine accessories (glasses, knickknacks, too many wine bottles) and it arrived this week. It looks good in our foyer, and now I have much-needed cupboard space in my kitchen.

3)  I joined a fascinating book Zoom this week- William Morrow presented A Celebration of Women's History Month to launch Lauren Willig's new historical fiction Band of Sisters, based on the true story of a group of the all-women's Smith College alumni who went to France during WWI to aid French villagers displaced by the Germans. The book is fabulous, it will be one of my best of 2021 I can already tell (my review is here), and the Zoom was fantastic. Carol Fitzgerald from BookReporter.com moderated a panel of female historical fiction writers Lauren Willig, Vanessa Riley (her book The Island Queen will publish in July), Kristin Harmel (The Book of Lost Names), and Marie Benedict (The Mystery of Mrs. Christie) discussing determined women in history, and researching and writing historical fiction, and I could listen to them talk all night. 

4)  I'm watching reruns of 1990's sitcom Designing Women on Hulu on my Echo Show while I make dinner at night. (I guess that is appropriate for Women's History Month). I love that show! We used to watch it every week, back when you used to watch a show on TV once a week. I laugh all throughout dinner prep, and I every time Julia Sugarbaker goes off on one of her rants, I know them word for word. Dixie Carter, Delta Burke, Jean Smart, Annie Potts and Meshach Taylor (as delivery man Anthony) were expertly cast. 

5) I started and finished one book and am halfway through another. J.T. Ellison's thriller Her Dark Lies. is set on an isolated island off the coast of Italy, where Eliza, an artist, is preparing for her wedding to Jack, a scion of one of the America's wealthiest families. From the beginning things go wrong, people are being killed, and clues are dropped about Jack's first wife,who died three weeks after her their wedding. There is a lot going on here, people are not who they seem to be. It's a cross between Rebecca and a soap opera. My full review publishes Tuesday. 

I'm a big fan of Kate Quinn's historical fiction books (The Alice Network, The Huntress), about women doing their part during war to serve their country, even putting themselves in jeopardy. Her latest, The Rose Code, is about three British women who work at Bletchley Park trying to break the German secret war communication codes. Set in two time periods, one in 1939, where three women- Mab, Osla, and Beth- work on the top secret project, and then seven years later when one of the women is locked away in a sanitarium because she knows there was a spy at Bletchley and seeks the assistance of the other two to prove it. It's vintage Kate Quinn, and I can't put it down. 

Stay safe, socially distant, wear a mask, wash your hands, get the vaccine when it's your turn, and we'll get through this sooner rather than later.

This post was shared with Marg at The Intrepid and Baker on her Weekend Cooking posts here.

Band of Sisters by Lauren Willig

Band of Sisters by Lauren Willig

Published by William Morrow ISBN 9780062986153

Hardcover, $27.99, 528 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.

The Kindest Lie by Nancy Johnson

The Kindest Lie by Nancy Johnson

Published by William Morrow ISBN 9780063057272

Hardcover, $27.99, 322 pages

Sometimes you read a book, and you know its going to be one that you will tell everyone about it, until they ask you to please stop. Nancy Johnson's debut novel, The Kindest Lie, is one of those. 

Ruth Tuttle is a Yale-educated Black engineer at a consumer packaged goods company. She's married to Xavier, a high-level executive at PespiCo. They live in Chicago, and are celebrating the election of Barack Obama with their friends.  

Life is good, and when Xavier talks of now starting a family with Ruth, she balks. Ruth never told her husband that when she was seventeen, she gave birth to a baby. Her grandmother and older brother Eli took the baby and gave him up for adoption. Ruth left for Yale and it was never spoken of again.

Ruth returns home to Indiana, to her hometown of Ganton, whose "very soil was a trapdoor, a gateway to nothingness that few people climbed out of." The author paints a vivid picture of Ganton in that one sentence. The town relied on one big industry, a car manufacturing plant, and when that plant closed, the entire town was decimated.

When Ruth stops into a local small store owned by her grandmother's best friend Lena, a white woman, she meets Midnight, Lena's eleven year-old grandson. Midnight's arm was disfigured, and he "stood on the outside of things, bitter, chafed by the unfairness of life". His mother died giving birth to his sister, who also died. His father lost his job at the plant, and spent his time drinking, so Midnight lived mostly with his grandmother.

Ruth feels a kinship with Midnight. She and her brother were raised by her grandparents, her mother had a drug problem and left, she never knew her father. Ruth's grandparents sacrificed much to send Ruth to Yale, knowing that she could be successful if she left Ganton.

Confronting her grandmother and brother about what happened to her baby does not go well for Ruth. They insist that they did what was best for all involved, and tell her to leave it alone, but she is determined to find her son.

The story is told from the viewpoints of Ruth and Midnight. The author succeeds in putting the reader in their shoes, these two characters who have lived such different lives, yet share so much. You feel deeply for everyone, that they are doing the best they can. It is a gift that Nancy Johnson can allow the reader to see each character's side of the story. 

The Kindest Lie is a heartbreaking, beautifully written novel that tackles secrets, race, class and gives us insight into what happens when a small town's industry disappears, the myriad of ways it destroys people. It is a richly developed story, with so much humanity contained within its pages. I think everyone can relate to something in this book. When I can't stop thinking about these characters, I know that I have read something profound that touched me deeply. I give The Kindest Lie my highest recommendation, and encourage everyone to read this book. 

Her Last Flight by Beatriz Williams

Her Last Flight by Beatriz Williams
Published by William Morrow ISBN 9780062834782
Hardcover, $27.99, 400 pages

Many readers know Beatriz Williams' Schuyler Sisters series of novels, featuring generations of her fascinating fictitious family. Her last novel, The Golden Hour, took place in Bermuda during WWII, with the infamous Duke and Dutchess of Windsor as major characters.

Her newest novel, Her Last Flight, combines the real with the fictitious with the story of a pioneering female aviatrix inspired by the story of Amelia Earheart. Told in two different timelines, in 1948 we meet Janey Everett, a WWII war correspondent and photo journalist, who is writing a book about Sam Mallory, a famous pilot who was once stranded on a deserted Pacific Island with Irene Foster, the iconic female aviatrix, after their attempt to fly from the United States to Australia ended abruptly.

Foster and Mallory became a cause celebre, as the world breathlessly followed the attempts to find the downed airplane. When they are eventually rescued weeks later, people all over the world want to hear about their escape and what really happened while they were stranded together on the island. Foster becomes a celebrity, and Mallory returns home to his wife and young child.

In 1937, Irene Foster disappears during an around-the-world race, her plane thought to have gone down in the Sahara Desert.

Janey Everett ends up in Hawaii, convinced that the woman named Irene Lindquist is in fact Irene Foster, who did not die in 1937. Everett supposedly wants information about Sam Mallory for her book, and she won't give up until Irene confesses her true identity.

Her Last Flight zooms back and forth between Irene and Sam's story on the island, Janey's attempt to get information about Sam Mallory from Irene, and parts of the book that Janey actually ends up writing. Each storyline is equally intriguing on its own, and Williams' skillfully weaves them together as the novel reaches its surprising conclusion.

I was so invested in each character- Janey's hard exterior and quippy dialogue, Irene's ambition to be a pilot and her love for her family, Sam's ambivalence between what he wants and his responsibility- I felt for each one.

Williams puts in a few twists that had me literally gasping as I read them, I love when a book surprises me like that. I always enjoyed history class in high school, and when an author writes a historical novel that captures me as much as Her Last Flight did, I can only say "Bravo". This one is Beatriz Williams' best book yet. I highly recommend it, especially for fans of historical fiction and strong female characters.

Two New Novels For Spring

Reprinted from the Citizen:

Today is Mother’s Day, and it is surely a very different Mother’s Day than the ones we have traditionally celebrated. Most of us won’t be able to see our moms in person, so whether it’s by Skype, FaceTime, What’sApp, Zoom or the old school telephone call, I hope you take the time to connect with your mom. And if you know someone whose mom is no longer with them, maybe take the time to contact them just to tell them you’re there for them.

My mom gave me my love of reading, and I like nothing more than finding a book I know she will love and sending it to her. Talking about books is great way to connect, and it’s something else to talk about besides the weather and how cooped up we all feel these days.

Spring is a big time for publishers, with many new titles hitting the shelves, and authors going around the country to visit bookstores and readers to talk about their books. Now that they can’t do that, they turn to the internet to connect with readers. 

One of my favorite places is A Mighty Blaze, a Facebook page created by two authors, Caroline Leavitt and Jenna Blum. Every week, authors who have new books out talk about their work on A Mighty Blaze’s Facebook page. If you find yourself looking for a new read, head over to the Facebook page to hear from the authors themselves.

Lian Dolan’s new novel, The Sweeney Sisters is for those of you who have sisters or want sisters. Three sisters come together to deal with the death of their father, a larger-than-life and beloved author. 

Liza is the oldest daughter, the one who still lived in their hometown. She owns an art gallery, is married to a successful man, and mom to two teens. If you need something done, go to Liza. She is organized, and at her home on Thanksgiving, every course is timed to perfection and the tablecloths are pressed.

Maggie is daughter number two, a free spirit artist who likes to stir up trouble. If someone is going to blurt out something at the wrong time, it’s Maggie. Tricia is the youngest, a hard-charging lawyer and marathon runner. 

Things take a turn when a former neighbor shows up claiming to be their half-sister, the oldest daughter of their father. You will laugh out loud at parts, and there is a just enough romance to keep it interesting.

Jason B. Rosenthal’s memoir My Wife Said You Wanted To Marry Me tells the true story of his life and love with his wife, author and artist Amy Krouse Rosenthal. The world first knew about them when Amy’s “Modern Love” essay in the New York Times titled “You May Want To Marry My Husband” appeared in 2017.

Amy’s essay dealt with the fact that she was dying and wanted to tell the world about her wonderful husband, detailing all of his good qualities and describing their life together. Five million people read Amy’s essay as it went viral.

Now Jason gets to tell their love story in his memoir. Amy said that when they went on their first date she knew they would get married, but it took Jason a year to know that. He speaks lovingly about Amy and her wonderful family.

Amy was a list maker and when they married, she created a list of Marriage Goals and Ideas, with things like “Get dressed up and go on dates” and “Never stop learning- take classes, read, cook and travel”. For the most part, they kept to the list throughout their life

She was also creative, and became a famous children’s book author. Amy and Jason were a great couple, and they raised three terrific children, Justin, Miles and Paris. 

They were excited to see their children grow into wonderful adults and when the youngest was heading off to college, Amy made a list of things they would do as empty nesters. Life was good.

And then Amy got sick. Jason describes the awful parts of the end of his wife’s life, and it is hard to read. But the thing that shines through is the love they had for each other and how lucky they were to have had it. It’s a love letter to his wife, much like Calvin Trillin’s brilliant book, About Alice.

The Sweeney Sisters by Lian Dolan- A

Published by William Morrow 

Hardcover, $27.99, 304 pages

My Wife Said You May Want To Marry Me by Jason B. Rosenthal- A
Published by Harper Books

Hardcover, $26.99, 256 pages