Friday 5ive- Five Books I Read and Loved

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly blog post featuring five things that caught my attention this week. I've been on reading roll and read some excellent books while on a mini-vacation over Labor Day.

1) Michelle Huneven is an author who writes heart-piercing novels (Blame and Off Course were both excellent). Her latest, Bug Hollow, begins with the golden son heading off for a weeklong trip with his friends before he goes to college. When he meets a lovely young lady, he decides to spend the rest of the summer with her. His mother is unhappy about the situation, his father thinks he's sewing oats. When he tragically drowns the first week of college, and his summer girlfriend shows up pregnant, the family is thrown into turmoil. This moving story follows the family for the next twenty years as each member gets their chance to tell their story. It's one of the best books I read this year.

2) Sybil Van Antwerp is an unforgetable character in Virginia Evans' quiet and immersive novel 

The Correspondent, which consists only of letters Sybil writes and receives in return. At the age of 77, Sybil lives alone, divorced from her husband years ago, has a strained relationship with her daughter, and a son who checks in on her. She writes letters to people she knows like her sister, with whom she shares book recommendations, and people she doesn't, like authors Ann Patchett and Joan Didion. She has an interesting correspondence with the young son of a friend, and their relationship is charming. Sybil's neighbor would like to be friends with her, but Sybil seems to have difficulty with relationships not on paper. A tragedy from years ago haunts Sybil sixty years later, and explains much of why she is the way she is. It's a lovely story well told. If you liked Elizabeth Strout's Olive Kitteridge, you'll like The Correspondent. 

3) Janelle Brown's What Kind of Paradise shares the story of Jane a teenager  who lives in a cabin in the middle of nowhere in Montana in the 1990s. Jane's mom died years earlier and it's just Jane and her father who homeschools Jane and keeps them isolated. Her father doesn't trust technology and believes that the internet will be the destruction of mankind as he writes in increasingly disturbing leaflets that he distributes in the local bookstore. It's a lonely existence for Jane, who isn't allowed to have friends (other than the girl whose mom owns the bookstore). Jane is devoted to her father but when he makes her an accomplice to a devastating crime, she has to decide where her loyalties lie. It's a brilliant novel. 

 

4) There has been a lot of buzz about Patrick Ryan's big novel Buckeye. Set in the small town of Bonhomie Ohio, it follows two families from the end of WWII to the Vietnam War. Cal Jenkins works in his father-in-law's hardware store when on VE Day, a beautiful woman named Margaret comes into his store and kisses him as they hear on the radio that WWII is over in Europe. She leaves as quickly as she arrived and he is flummoxed. Cal's wife Becky has the gift of being able to contact the dead, and brings people into their home to help them contact loved ones who have passed. Cal isn't happy about this, and it causes tension in their marriage. Margaret's husband Felix is serving in the Pacific on a supply ship and she waits for word after his ship is hit. This incredible novel follows the outcome of that kiss that causes ripple effects for years to come, even affecting both couple's sons Skip and Tom. The novel tells the story of what is happening in the United States over the thirty years through these two families. It's Read With Jenna's September pick. 

4) My palate cleanser after all this serious stuff is Taj McCoy's spicy romance The Dating Prohibition. Kendra returns home to her family after years away studying with chefs in hopes of opening up a speakeasy supper club. She has returned to help her brother as he opens up his own restaurant, and is attracted to his best friend BJ, someone she has known all her life. BJ wants to help her realize her dream of opening her speakeasy and although he is attracted to Kendra, he tells her she is off-limits because she is his best friend's little sister. But is she off-limits though? If you liked The Bear as much as I do, you'll love this one. There's something for foodies, people who like family stories, and of course spice. 

  I hope you have a great back-to-school week, until next time.

The Most Compelling Books of 2023

Reprinted from auburnpub.com

It’s the time of year for my annual list of the Most Compelling Books I read in 2023. These are books that I still think about long after I finish reading them, with characters I care about in fascinating storylines.


Two of the books are current releases, first up is Alice McDermott’s novel Absolution. Unlike most of McDermott’s books that are set in New York or Ireland, this one tracks an Irish-American newlywed woman as she follows her engineer husband to Saigon, Vietnam, at the beginning of the U.S. involvement in the war. The writing is gorgeous, and it reminded me of Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible. 

Lauren Grodstein’s historical fiction We Must Not Think of Ourselves also recently published. Adam is young widowed Jewish teacher living in Warsaw in 1940 when the Nazis have forced Jewish residents to leave their homes and move into ghettos. He ends up living with two other families in a small apartment, and we watch as their lives deteriorate daily. This powerful book resonates today as we see how people struggle to keep their humanity while they are being treated inhumanely. 

Family stories are always a favorite and Tracey Lange’s The Connellys of County Down tells the story of the three adult Connelly siblings after their youngest sister is released from prison for a drug charge. She moves back in with her siblings and tries to rebuild her life as we see how what happened to her changed everyone’s life. 

J. Ryan Stradahl’s Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club takes us to Minnesota as four generations of women of a family own and operate a popular supper club through the years. Some of them take to the business, others feel confined by it. The sense of place is so strong, you’ll want to go there to eat at the restaurant. 

Michiko Aoyama’s novel, What You Are Looking For Is In The Library is a translated Japanese novel that intersects the lives of a group of people who are each at a crossroads in their lives. When they meet a special librarian, she gives advice that helps them. This one restores your faith in humanity.

We go to India for Parini Shroff’s terrific debut novel The Bandit Queens. When a young woman in their village is falsely suspected of killing her no-good husband, other women secretly seek her assistance in taking care of their rotten husbands.

Jesse Q. Sutanto has written young adult books, romance novels, and now turns to mysteries with Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers. Vera is a 60 year-old widow owner of a tea shop in Chinatown. When she finds a dead body in her shop, she decides to investigate on her own since the police seem uninterested. Vera is a hoot, one of the best characters I’ve seen in a long time. 

Matthew Norman’s Baltimore-set novel Charm City Rocks is about a music teacher whose teenage son thinks he’s helping dad by conning a rock star his dad had a crush on years ago to come to Baltimore in the hopes that sparks fly. It’s funny and sweet and you’ll want to visit Baltimore after reading this one. 

Jane L. Rosen’s On Fire Island takes readers to that vacation community as a young widower struggles to deal with his grief with the help of an older widower neighbor and a teenage boy. The characters in this heartwarming story one are wonderful, especially Shep, the older neighbor. 

The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok deals with two women, one a young mother from China who travels to New York to search for the  daughter she was told died at birth. Her story intersects with a wealthy executive who struggles with her publishing career and raising her young daughter. 

On the nonfiction front, Helen Ellis’s book of essays, Kiss Me In the Coral Lounge recounts her loving marriage to her husband and how they survived the pandemic in a New York apartment. It’s hilarious and heartfelt, every married couple should read it.

Maggie Smith’s memoir You Could Make This Place Beautiful is the flip side, describing how she dealt with her marriage falling apart and raising her young children during this time. Smith is a brilliant poet and each word hits emotionally. 

Bonus pick- Ann Patchett's novel Tom Lake. Lara recounts to her adult daughters the story of when she dated a famous actor while working in a summer theater years ago. Set during the pandemic, the writing is perfection and Patchett never hits a false note. 

Out of the 110 books I read this year, these are the 12 books that affected me the most. What did you read that you loved?

The 2023 Books Are Great Gifts Guide Is Here

Reprinted from auburnpub.com:

Thanksgiving Day is coming upon us and that means holiday gift shopping gets into full gear so it’s that time of year for the annual Books Make Great Gifts Guide. Books make great gifts- they always fit, are never the wrong color or size, and easy to wrap.

For your best friend whose television is tuned permanently to the Hallmark Channel this month, Sarah Morgan’s The Book Club Hotel has a charming Vermont boutique hotel setting at Christmas, best friends, and a romance. 

Jenny Colgan’s The Christmas Bookshop is set in lovely Edinburgh, Scotland and centers on a young woman determined to save the bookshop where she is employed from being purchased and turned into a tacky tourist shop. 

 

Mary Kay Andrews’ annual holiday book Bright Lights, Big City takes place in New York City as a brother and sister come up from North Carolina to sell their family’s Christmas trees in Greenwich Village in New York City and save the family business. 

For your sister who loves true crime podcasts and fictional mysteries and thrillers, Jessica Knoll’s novel Bright Young Women tells the story of two women connected to the crimes of real life killer Ted Bundy. 

Tess Gerritsen starts a terrific new thriller series with The Spy Coast, where a few retired CIA spies have settled in a small town in coastal Maine. When one of them is threatened by someone from her past, the spies bond together to save the day. 

For your aunt who likes to read historical fiction and recently binged the miniseries All the Light We Cannot See, Kelly Rimmer’s The Paris Agent is a tense novel about ordinary British women who become undercover spies in WWII France, and the price they pay to try and save the world. 

Turning to Nonfiction, for your uncle the history buff, David Grann, author of Killers of the Flower Moon, has a new book, The Wager about a shipwreck, mutiny, and murder in 1740. It’s gotten rave reviews. 

Rachel Maddow’s new book Prequel has been getting a lot of buzz. It tells the true tale of Nazis sympathizers who infiltrated power positions in Congress, media, and religion in the United States in the lead up to WWII. 

Moving up chronologically, Loren Grush’s The Six is about the first six women in NASA’s space shuttle program in the 1960s and 1970s. This one is for your niece who read Hidden Figures.

Speaking of the 1970s, Henry Winkler’s fascinating memoir Being Henry takes him from his childhood through his breakout role as the Fonz on the TV hit “Happy Days’ through his struggle with dyslexia to his Emmy-winning role on HBO’s “Barry’ and more. This one will be a great gift for so many people on your holiday list. 

“General Hospital” heartthrob, Uncle Jesse on “Full House” star, and perpetually youthful-looking John Stamos has a memoir out as well that will appeal to fans of his many years in popular culture titled If You Would Have Told Me. 

For the person who loves to be creative in the kitchen, there are two good cookbooks out. Natasha’s Kitchen by popular blogger Natasha Kravchuk has 100 “family-friendly and foolproof” recipes, including some from her native Ukraine.  

Molly Baz shares her motto More is More in her cookbook that is great for cooks of all skill levels. Molly believes in intuitive cooking not so much in exact measurements. 

 Fans of The Games of Thrones have their next read in Rebecca Yarros' two novels

 Fourth Wing and Iron Flame.  

For Young Adults, Rebecca Ross’ Divine Rivals is a popular fantasy one, the first book in her Letters of Enchantment series. 

Jenny Han’s The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy has been repackaged in a three-book set for those who love the Prime series it is based on. 

Middle grade readers are big fans of Rick Riordan’s series of novels, and his new one in the Olympians series is The Chalice of the Gods. 

Christopher Paolini’s new addition to his popular Eragon series is Murtagh. 

Other popular series for children are The Magic Tree House which has over 50 books in the series, the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, and The Bad Guys series. 

Mo Willems has a new picture book for youngsters, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Sleigh and poet Amanda Gorman’s Something, Someday teaches about kindness. And you can’t go wrong with a Sandra Boynton board book for babies.

Remember that you can support independent booksellers buy purchasing on bookshop.org.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Friday 5ive- July 14, 2023

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly-ish post featuring five things that caught my eye this week. We took a week off to go to Florida, I hope you didn't miss me.

1)  We were excited to see two projects completed at our home in Florida. New bookshelves were put in, along with a desk in the office, so you know I enjoyed organizing the books. The only thing that would have been better is if my my two favorite book organizers Anna and Allison were there to help. We also had a new bar area put in the kitchen, and both projects turned out so wonderful.

2)  Our JetBlue plane from JFK to Florida was called Bear Force One, with the Boston Bruins logo and colors. I'm not a hockey fan, but I know a few Bruins fans so I sent them a  photo.

3) I was on my own for dinner a couple nights this week and when I was debating what to have, an article from CNN popped on my phone about "Girl Dinner". Apparently when women are having dinner on their own at home, pulling out fruit, cheese and crackers for dinner is the latest fad. So I picked up burrata, some grapes and pineapple and added some crackers and proscuitto from my neighborhood Italian grocery store and had a lovely little dinner. Girl Dinner will on my regular rotation- no cooking is involved and in this heat that is a good thing. 

4) I ended up spending an extra two days on Florida due to flight cancellations so I made the best of it by catching up on the last season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon Prime. All I can say is Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino know how to wrap up a show. They gave us a glimpse into the future for all the characters and Alex Borstein (Susie) and Rachel Brosnahan (Midge) put on a tour-de-force of acting in the last few episodes that stunned me. If they don't get all the awards, there is no justice. If you've never watched this series, do yourself a favor and watch it now. I loved Midge's Joan Rivers-like NYC massive apartment, a nice tip of the hat to Joan.

5) I read some terrific books lately. Kelly Rimmer's WWII novel, The Paris Agent, tells the story of ordinary British people who became spies to save the world from the Nazis. It is intense and so gripping. My five-star review can be found here. 

Speaking of spies, Beatriz Williams' novel, The Beach at Summerly, also has at its core a spy story,but this one is set in the Cold War and with Russians. Emelia's parents have been caretakers for a wealthy New England's summer family home on Winthrop Island on the Long Island Sound. She and her siblings grew up with the sons of the family, and Emilia had a crush on one of the boys. After WWII, the boys' widowed Aunt Olive comes to stay with her young children, and Emilia ends up taking care of the children and growing close to Olive. Her relationship with Olive brings her to the attention of FBI agent Sumner Fox who is looking for someone who is passing along information to the Russians. This one is for fans of the late, great TV show The Americans. I love how Williams' ties this book into her previous terrific novel, Our Woman in Moscow. 

I also read Isabel Allende's debut novel, The House of the Spirits. This one was my July Blind Date With a Book -Banned Book Club edition gifted to me by my wonderful daughter-in-law Anna. I can't believe I never read this book before! It's an epic family story, set in an unnamed South American country. Esteban Trueba works hard to build a life of wealth and privilege for his family. He is tough, and sometime violent. Esteban loves his ethereal wife Clara, who is able to connect to the spirits of those who have passed on. Their daughter Blanca falls in love with a man her father forbids her to see, a man whose politics are the complete opposite of Esteban's. As Esteban's political power grows, Blanca grows further apart from her father. Blanca's daughter Alba is the light of Esteban's eye, but as she grows up, she sees the world in a different light than her grandfather and wants to change things in her increasingly volatile country. Written in 1985, ostensibly about Chile, this book resonates with much that is happening right now in the United States. This book is one of the best I have ever read, it has earned a permanent place on my Staff Recommends shelf at the Book Cellar. 

Have a safe, healthy week- stay cool.