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Happy reading,
Trina Hayes
Hungry for Good Books? Annual Book List for 2019
Find
these and more at www.hungryforgoodbooks.com
©Copyright December 1,
2019, by Trina Hayes
Letters after each
selection designate the book as CC: Chinese Carryout (page-turners, great for
plane rides), D: Desserts (delightful indulgences), DC: Diet Coke and Gummi
Bears (books for teens and young adults), G: Gourmet (exquisite writing,
requires concentration), GPR: Grandma’s Pot Roast (books that get your
attention and stick with you), GS: Grits (evocative of the American south), OC:
Over Cooked (good ingredients, but overwritten), PBJ: Peanut Butter and Jelly
(children’s books adults will like), PP: Pigeon Pie (historical fiction, parts
or all of the novel set at least 50 years ago), R: Road Food (audio books
for road trips and more), S: Sushi with Green Tea Sorbet (satire, irony, black
humor, acquired taste), SBP: Sweet Bean Paste (translated and international
books), SF: Soul Food (spirituality, theology, books for your soul), SN: Super
Nutrition (lots of information, yet tasty as fresh blueberries), and T: Tapas
(small bites including short stories, novellas, essays, and poetry). The
letters BC denote books for book clubs.
Asterisks (*) depict the most outstanding titles in each designation.
The plus sign (+) is for books I recommend. The number sign (#) is for books
with full reviews on my blog. All books listed were published in 2019 unless
noted otherwise.
General Fiction and Poetry
+Ackerman, Elliot, Dark
at the Crossing embeds the reader into the
truth of life along the Syria/Turkey border. This National Book Award finalist
follows an Iraqi who became a US citizen and then returned to the Middle East
to fight for a free Syria. Ackerman, a former Marine, makes war’s tragedy and
brutality hauntingly real. It’s a beautifully wrought telling based on a true
story. G/SN, BC (2017)
*Ackerman, Elliot, Waiting
for Eden is an inventive, exceptional novel about Eden, a dying soldier in a
burn center, whose story is told by a fellow soldier who was killed in the same
explosion. Through his ghostly voice, we learn of the suffering of Eden’s wife
Mary, of their 3-year-old daughter who is with her grandmother, and of the
efforts of Gabe, Eden’s compassionate nurse. Touching and deeply affecting this
novella helps the reader prepare for an Eden we hope will come especially for
our veterans. G/T, BC
+Andrews, Mary Kay, The
High Tide Club is a romp of a romance
with a touch of mystery set in the sea islands off the coast of Georgia. I
spent my honeymoon on St. Simons Island and am drawn to the rich history and
beauty of the area. When a lawyer and single mother is called to one of the
islands by the reclusive, 99-year-old owner of half of that island to find a
way to keep the National Park Service from buying her land, the lawyer can’t
imagine how she and others fit into the story and the backstory of an unsolved
disappearance on the island in 1941. D/CC/GS (2018)
*Benz, Chanelle, The
Gone Dead is both an enthralling
thriller and a soulfully lyrical novel that explores racial tensions in the
Mississippi delta. Billie James’ return to the town where her poet father died
when she was four turns deadly when she asks questions. The Gone Dead feels
like a marriage of Jesmyn Ward’s Salvage the Bones and Greg Iles’ Natchez
Burning trilogy. Exquisite pacing, characters with distinct and true
voices, and a sense of urgency underscore Benz’s remarkable talent for bringing
themes of justice, loss, and lack of hope to light. G/GPR/GS, BC
+Bowen, Rhys, The
Tuscan Child takes place in Tuscany
in 1944 where RAF officer Hugh Langley hides after his plane crashes. He’s fed
and nursed back to health by local Sofia and after his death in England in 1973
his daughter reads a letter and finds his drawings and decides to travel to
Italy to learn more. A romantic historical novel combined with a mystery is
sure to engage fans of Daphne du Maurier and cozy mysteries. Foodies will love
it too. GPR/D/SBP (2018)
*#Butler, Nickolas, Little
Faith is the novel readers have been wanting since
Kent Haruf’s All Souls at Night. It’s an engaging, thought-provoking
tale of a grandparent’s love for his grandson and for the life he’s blessed to
live. It’s a novel of gratitude for the natural world and of the threats to the
things we hold sacred. It’s holy ground in rural Minnesota. It will make you
ponder religious beliefs and what people do in the name of them. Beg your book
club to discuss it. G/GPR, BC
Carr, Bryan Allen, Opioid,
Indiana, Riggle’s parents have died and he has to
move to rural Indiana where he gets suspended from high school on a false
claim. He spends the week trying to figure out his life. The novel is best when
he gets a job washing dishes in a character-filled restaurant. S
+Carty-Williams,
Candice, Queenie
narrates a heartbreaking story of her life after Queenie’s longtime boyfriend
asks her to move out and she spirals into depression. Her humor, the texts with
her friends, and her poor decisions regarding sex make this darkly humorous
despite the sadness. Fine insight into “Black Lives Matter” mark this an
important read. S/SBP, BC.
+Cather, Willa, The
Song of the Lark is a classic and while I don’t love it the way I love My
Antonia or Death Comes for the Archbishop, it’s still a splendid
portrait of the sacrifices a woman of the early twentieth century needed to
make to achieve success as an artist. Cather is at her best when describing the
western landscape and her picture of the Colorado plains is sumptuous. Thea’s
singing voice allows her to leave tiny Moonstone, Colorado, but she couldn’t
have done so without the help of several men who taught her, supported her
financially, and offered her respite when she couldn’t have continued alone.
The language can be dated and racially insensitive, but the novel offers
insight into Cather’s evolution. G/PP, BC (1915)
Chiaverini, Jennifer, The Christmas Boutique, a search for
delightful Christmas reads for the busy holiday season led to trying this, the
latest in Chiaverini’s Elm Creek Quilts series. It features the quilt retreat’s
rescue of a Christmas boutique to benefit the county food pantry. It was short
on plot and character development. OC
+Clarke, Brock, Who
are You, Calvin Bledsoe? is the dictionary definition of the word quirky. Calvin, named
after John Calvin, the theologian about whom Calvin’s mother had written a
famous book, is at loose ends after his mother’s death. His mother’s twin
sister, who he didn’t know existed, pirates him off to Europe on a bizarre
escapade. Recommended for those who enjoy absurdity, Calvinism, and plenty of
laughter. S
Colgan, Jenny, Christmas at Rosie Hopkins’ Sweetshop is a frothy “Calgon
take me away” romantic comedy for fans of Jojo Moyes. Rosie loves living in her
small Derbyshire village where her boyfriend is starting a job teaching at the
local school and she’s doing well with her aunt’s sweetshop. A terrible
accident shakes up the town just as Rosie’s family is arriving from Australia
and all her plans are in disarray. This will relieve holiday stress. D/SBP (2014)
+Colgan, Jenny, Christmas
on the Island is a romantic,
“Hallmark” escape set on the remote Scottish Island of Mure where Flora heads
to tell her ex-boss that she’s pregnant with his baby and where a Syrian doctor
tries to help his sons during the Christmas season when they miss their mother.
This is the third in Colgan’s Island series. D/SBP (2018)
*#Conklin, Tara, The
Last Romantics uses a technique I
can’t remember having read previously –- and I love it. Renowned poet, Fiona
Skinner looks back on growing up with her siblings in the year 2079 when she’s
102 and is questioned about the inspiration for her most famous poem. Fiona was
the youngest of four when her father died and her mother took “The Pause,” an
extended period in which the children raised themselves. The effects on Renee,
the responsible eldest child, sweet Caroline, Joe, the athlete and charmer, and
Fiona who observed everything with her keen eye reverberate for almost a
century in Conklin’s steady hands. Conklin’s growth since The House Girl is
phenomenal. GPR, BC
+Day, Kate Hope, If,
Then imagines the world of three
neighboring families traversing their chosen paths and through their visions of
alternate realities. Sharp characters engaging in fascinating speculation on
the lives they might have led offer a page-turning look at the way we value
time and relationships. This offers endless topics for discussion. S/G, BC
+Denfeld, Rene, The
Butterfly Girl: see Mysteries and Thrillers
for a wonderful sequel.
*Derricotte, Toi, “I”: New and Selected Poems, this National Book Award
Finalist is a brilliant and affecting collection told in Derricotte’s poetic
voice. “What song do you sing when you sing so low we can’t hear you?” She’s a treasure
and her words make us feel her experiences as a light-skinned black woman in America.
G/T, BC
+Evison, Jonathan, Lawn
Boy shows how poverty
affects young Mike Muñoz, a Latino landscaper in Washington State. Mike is 22
and lives with his Mom and handicapped brother in a house on the reservation
despite not being Native. Mike and his Mom work constantly but can’t get ahead.
This funny, poignant look at poverty and class is a great novel for adults and
older teens. GPR/SN, BC (2018)
*#Fitzpatrick, Lydia, Lights
All Night Long combines gorgeous
language, a compelling story, a mystery, AND captivating characters. Ilya, the
smartest kid in his small Russian refinery town, is going spend a year in high
school in a refinery town in Louisiana, but he can’t stop thinking of ways to
help his older brother who’s in prison for confessing to a crime Ilya knows
Vladimir didn’t commit. Like the lights that burn all night long in the town,
this novel allows the light to breakthrough. The last pages are a pure gift
filled with love and wonder. G/GPR, SN,
BC
*Gainza, Maria, Optic
Nerve is both a novel and a
course in art history that follows an unnamed Argentinian woman through the
lives and works of illustrious painters. The narrator visualizes life and
culture via Toulouse-Lautrec, Rothko, Courbet, Rousseau, Foujita, and El Greco.
This short, inventive novel offers much to ponder and the last chapter is
exquisite. I keep reading pages of it aloud and sighing. Publishers Weekly had
it as a 2019 Top 10 book. G/SBP/SN, BC
+Gamble, Terry, The
Eulogist beautifully examines
pre-Civil War life in Cincinnati and northern Kentucky through the eyes of an
Irish immigrant. Olivia came to America at age 15 and saw slavery, women’s
rights, and religion via an educated lens. G/GPR/SN, BC
+Grames, Juliet, The
Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna traces Stella’s life from a small Calabrian village to the U.S.
over 100 years in which she survives seven or eight near-death experiences.
This family saga of secrets and Italian-American traditions and superstitions
illustrates the effects of patriarchy on family love and rivalry. That this is
a debut novel is surprising because of its depth, descriptions, character
studies, and voice. GPR/PP/SN, BC
+Gray, Anissa, The
Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls is a smart debut that demonstrates how
differently family members handle the aftermath of childhood abuse and
abandonment. Told from the points of view of three sisters, it examines
bulimia, prison, and black family and church culture in the small Michigan town
where Gray grew up.
*#Heller, Peter, The
River is a spectacular
adventure and one of the best-written novels I’ve read in a long time. Wynn and
Jack are on a canoe trip in a remote Canadian area and they’ve smelled smoke
for two days and know that they’re approaching a forest fire when they meet two
frightening drunks. This book celebrates nature and epitomizes the best aspects
of true friendship. It’s a thriller, an outdoor lover’s dream of an adventure
and a spectacular novel. G/GPR, BC
*Hepworth, Sally, The
Mother-in-Law is a clever page-turner
that will leave readers thinking about relationships and the impact of family
bonds. Lucy’s mother-in-law, Diana, wasn’t all that impressed with her son’s
choice in brides. After five years, Diana is a wonderful grandmother who helps
women immigrants assimilate in Australia and Lucy still tries to please her.
After Diana is found dead with a suicide note nearby, several unanswered
questions remain. What happened? Why? The ingenious revealing of the clues is
both smart and compelling. GPR/SBP, BC
+Hogan, Ruth, The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes is a wise, hope-filled
ode to living life despite traumatic grief. Masha can’t get beyond a tragedy
that occurred twelve years ago and only her dog and walking in her quiet
village bring her any peace. When she meets Kitty, a 70ish roller disco lover,
and Sally Red Shoes, a bag lady who sings like an angel, does she begins to
heal, but her past may not let her. It’s a worthy follow up to The Keeper of Lost Things. GPR/SBP
(2018)
+Jackson, Joshilyn, Never
Have I Ever is a propulsive binge read. Amy is leading her dream life when
Roux invades and takes over the suburban Moms’ book club with a wine enhanced
game to learn the women’s secrets. Amy doesn’t divulge, yet Roux seems to know
her worst sins already. Power, fear, evil, and love duke it out with no clear
winner in sight. A gem of a “read-it-in-day” thriller. CC/GS, BC
Jenoff, Pam, The Lost
Girls of Paris is a page-turner, romance/spy thriller about women who operated
radios and served behind enemy lines in France in the lead up to D Day. In New
York in 1946, young widower Grace finds a suitcase and photos and learns that
the owner has just died in an accident outside the train station. Flashing back
to 1943 when Eleanor, the suitcase owner, and Marie were part of the
clandestine effort, it’s a worthy topic, but it feels rushed. It made me want
to learn more about British Intelligence agent Vera Atkins despite my not
loving the novel. CC/PP, BC
*#Justicz, Julie E., Degrees
of Difficulty is a debut novel that asks insightful
questions about survival when thrust into a devastating situation. Told from
the points of view of the parents and siblings of a nonverbal, profoundly
disabled child, it’s a hope-filled, humor-laced, page-turner that you’ll devour
in a day. Select it for your book club to talk about love, forgiveness,
loyalty, family, responsibility, redemption, and transcending the hand you’ve
been dealt. GPR/SF/SN, BC
*Kellner, Megan Klco, What
Will You Teach Her? is
a spectacular collection of poems celebrating motherhood. Winner of the Michigan
Writers Cooperative Press 2019 Poetry Contest, it’s a gift of quiet
contemplation and joy. GPR/T, BC
+Kenney, John, Love
Poems for People with Children are hysterical odes to the insanity that is daily life with young
children. Buy it for overwhelmed parents with a droll sense of humor. S/T
+Kibler, Julie, Home for Erring and Outcast Girls, The Berachah Home for
the Redemption and Protection of Erring Girls, founded in 1903 in Arlington, Texas,
was different. It allowed women to keep their babies and offered help to those
in need regardless of their “sins.” The book follows Lizzie and Mattie in the
early 1900s as they deal with illness and grief. A century later, Cate, a
research librarian discovers their stories and feels a connection that helps
her deal with her own losses. Kibler offers a different look at rehabilitation,
addiction, and hope. My favorite sentence: “I won’t judge him (God) by the
people who claim to represent him, if he won’t judge me for keeping my
distance.” GPR/PP/SN, BC
+Krueger, William Kent, This
Tender Land is a Dickensian tale of
four children on a river odyssey across Minnesota in 1932. It features colorful
characters in a sweet story. Krueger’s talent for capturing the heart of young
boys is on display in this clever tale with a Mark Twain twist. GPR/PP, BC
+Letts, Elizabeth, Finding
Dorothy tells the story of the
making of the book and the movie of The Wizard of Oz as seen through
author L. Frank Baum’s wife Maud’s eyes. Maud’s mother was a leader in the
women’s suffrage movement and Maud was an early coed at Cornell University in
1880. Maud met Judy Garland on the set of the Wizard in 1939 and the story
imagines their conversations and Maud’s actions. The book is a fascinating
glimpse of women's suffrage, life on the prairie, Chicago in the 1890s, and the
world behind the scenes of the movie. A must for Oz lovers! PP/SN, BC
+Li, Lillian, Number
One Chinese Restaurant illustrates
the isolation that immigrants can feel. Set in a Chinese restaurant run by two
brothers, it shows the physical difficulty and demands of working in the
service industry. It’s a story about love, hard work, and immigration. SN, BC
Liss, David, The
Whiskey Rebels narrates the tale of the
beginnings of the U.S. financial system via a drunk deemed a traitor and a
woman seeking revenge. It offers insight into Alexander Hamilton and William
Duer but forces the reader to slog through more than 500 pages of unrelenting
details, brutality, and scheming to find them. Some in my book club enjoyed it,
but many chose not to finish it. OC/PP, BC (2008)
+Lucas, Meagan, Songbirds
and Stray Dogs is an evocative and
suspenseful portrait of small-town secrets and the difficulty of escaping
expectations. Jolene arrives in a quiet western North Carolina town pregnant
and in need of a job. Chuck is searching for his addict sister and caring for
her teen son when he’s threatened by one of his sister's unsavory
acquaintances. The ending of this debut rings true and while sad, it offers
hope. Jolene, Chuck and the minor characters are engaging and realistic. GPR/GS,
BC
+Novik, Naomi, Spinning
Silver, If you love fantasy, I recommend this retelling of the
Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale about the daughter of a moneylender who changes
silver into gold. If you don’t like fantasy, this might be a good way to try
the genre. My book club read it and most said that they didn’t like fantasy but
were glad to have read Spinning Silver. It could have been shorter and
tighter, but most fantasy lovers prefer a big saga. Listen to it to enjoy being
read a fairy tale. GPR/OC/RT, BC (2018)
*Obreht, Téa, Inland is an accomplished tale of an Old West we
rarely encounter in fiction. It’s a world in which dying of thirst or heat is
routine. Nora can’t get over the death of her first child and still talks with
her daily. Lurie, also haunted by ghosts, is on the run when he joins an outfit
herding camels in the desert. The Carnegie Medal nominee presents the 19th
Century southwest as more diverse and nuanced than most offerings. Exquisite
language explores grief, fear, and ambition. The camels captured this reader,
oh, those camels. G/S/SN, BC
+Orner, Peter, Maggie
Brown & Others offers
44 exceptional short stories and one novella in a book you’ll want to keep by
your bed to read over a long winter. Chicagoans will particularly enjoy seeing
so many stories set there. G/T
*Patchett, Ann, The
Dutch House is a brilliant Hansel
and Gretel meets Cinderella tale. Maeve and Danny live in a mansion outside
Philadelphia with their father and servants who feel like family. After their
mother left them, their father married an evil stepmother with two daughters.
Danny tells their story, and the reader falls into the boiling pot of family
stew. A bonus for me is that Patchett named a character for my wonderful friend
Julie who helped inspire her to open her bookstore. G/GPR, BC
+Powers, Richard, The
Overstory, winner of the 2019
Pulitzer Prize, is a structurally fascinating epic about the interdependence of
trees that warns of our environmental demise. Its main characters’ separate
stories connect via environmental preservation. The novel offers incredible
gifts, yet for this reader, it belabored some points beyond what the action had
already shown. The science was brilliant, but often the prose felt hectoring.
G/OC/SN, BC*#Reid, Taylor Jenkins, Daisy Jones & the Six immerses
the reader into the life of Daisy, a singer experimenting with sex, drugs, and
the party scene in late sixties LA when her voice gains recognition and she
connects with The Six, a band led by a stubborn singer/songwriter. The story is
told as an oral history of the time and embeds the reader into the 1970s music
scene. It’s a magnificent novel that you’ll want to read in a day and remember
forever. Passionate, headstrong characters, addictive writing, and a propulsive
storyline make it a winner. GPR/S, BC
+Richardson, Kim
Michele, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek highlights the 1930s Pack Horse Librarians who
delivered books to rural Appalachian hills via Cussy Mary who has a genetic
trait that makes her skin blue. She’s considered “colored” and suffers from the
prevailing racism of the time. Her story is intriguing and many will like the
tilt into romance. The ending seems abrupt and somewhat contrived yet delivers
the romantic twist. GS/PP/SN
+#Robertson, Peter, Conclusion
is a clever, sci-fi take
on mortality. In it, 55-year-olds can be scanned and if deemed healthy, they
can choose to be welded, thus never becoming sick or aging. The tradeoff is
that they’ll “conclude,” that is they’ll die at 75. Following a man whose wife
has just concluded and the people he meets, it explores mortality in a
suspense-filled journey in the northern Boundary Waters. I hope it makes people
want to save that land. CC/GPR, BC
+Rowley, Steven, The
Editor is sweet yet not
saccharine. Constructing a novel based on Jackie Onassis editing a first novel
is an ambitious undertaking that works because Rowley makes James, the
conflicted author, the star of the book with Mrs. Onassis as his encouraging
muse. In a supportive role, Mrs. Onassis’s character feels both real and
endearing as she helps James find himself and an ending for his novel. GPR, BC
+Schine, Cathleen, The
Grammarians takes a
tongue-firmly-planted-in-cheek view of family relationships particularly those
of twins and the families raising them. Laurel and Daphne love words and
language then they weaponize both to compete with one another. This Carnegie
Medal nominee offers multiple topics for a great book discussion. It’s a droll
treat that makes you think about the meaning of family. G/GPR/S, BC
+Smolens, John, Wolf’s
Mouth combines a compelling
thriller with historical fiction featuring POWs held in Michigan’s upper
peninsula near the end of WWII. Frank escapes the camp where he fears a German
commander and his men more than his American jailers. Following Frank’s life
through 1991, this delivers a powerful story. The ending seems rushed, but the
rest of the story resonates. GPR/PP/SN, BC (2016)
*Stradel, J. Ryan, The
Lager Queen of Minnesota is pure delight. It follows the lives of two sisters and their
families from the women’s teens to their late seventies. The art of brewing beer
ties them all together, but the novel is essentially about loyalty, family,
identity, happiness, and grit. Just fall into this wonder and enjoy the ride.
GPR/D, BC
*Strout, Elizabeth, Olive,
Again takes the reader back to
Maine and the remarkably ordinary life of Olive Kitteridge. I adored the Olive
Kitteridge novel and the sequel didn’t disappoint. It’s a realistic, wry
view of aging and of the realization that learning who we are is a full-time
occupation. G, BC
*#Toews, Miriam, Women
Talking is based on the true story of 130 Mennonite
women and children in Bolivia who were drugged and raped for four years and had
been told that ghosts had attacked them. Toews turns their story into a
propulsive novel showing how eight women in the colony might have reacted. As
they were all illiterate, their story is narrated by a shunned man who keeps
“minutes” of their conversations. This is an original and fierce manifesto that
reveals itself in an irresistible story that is tempting to read in one
sitting. Select it for your book club. G/SF, BC
*Tokarczuk, Olga, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, the winner of the Nobel
Prize in Literature, was first published in Poland in 2009, but was only
translated into English in 2019 after it won the Man Booker International Prize.
Janina lives in a remote Polish village on the Czech border where she studies
astrology, translates William Blake’s poetry, and takes care of vacant summer
cottages. Her neighbors consider her strange and she prefers being with animals
over humans. Her neighbor “Big Foot” dies then other dead bodies keep appearing.
Janina is sure she knows whodunit, but no one will listen to her. This is a
literary thriller/fairy tale about sanity, justice, culture, and ecology. The
ending is both unexpected and believable. She’s such a fine writer. Read this
magnificent book! G, BC
*Waldman, Amy, A Door
in the Earth follows Parveen, a recent
college graduate, to the Afghan village she’d read about in a famous bestseller
that told of the author/doctor’s work to help the remote, poverty-stricken
village which she finds is nothing like what the book said it was. She also
sees the tragic consequences of some U.S. efforts to change the place and bring
medical care to it. It’s a frighteningly realistic view of the misuse of power
written by a former New York Times Afghanistan correspondent. The story is
compelling and unsettling. Perfect for book clubs. GPR/SN, BC
*Whitehead, Colson, The
Nickel Boys proves that Whitehead
is a genius. Coming after his magnum opus, Pulitzer Prize winner—The
Underground Railroad, this is a different animal in every manner except
excellence. This is realistic narrative, straight-shooting storytelling; yet both
novels tell the truth of the stain that racism levies on the US regardless of the
century. Elwood, a smart, hardworking teen, gets sent to the Nickel Academy, a
reform school, despite his innocence. There, in the early 1960s, he encounters
inconceivable sadism. He wants to heed Dr. King’s words to love. His friend
thinks him naive. Read this novel and give thanks for the gift of Colson
Whitehead who makes us see and feel the pain. G/SN, BC
+Wiggs. Susan, The Oysterville
Sewing Circle is a 2019 Library Journal
Top Ten Pop Fiction choice and it’s a compelling story of a woman who becomes the
guardian of a friend’s two children and moves back to the small coastal Pacific
town where she grew up with them. She finds purpose in helping women victims of
domestic abuse and in using her fashion design background to make exciting
garments. The ending is abrupt, but the story is just what readers want in an
escape with heft with pages that almost turn themselves. CC/SN, BC
+Woodson, Jacqueline, Red at
the Bone returns to the African
American family life of Woodson’s previous books with a coming-of-age story
about Melody, a 16-year-old making her debut in the family’s Park Slope
brownstone, and her mother who had her at age sixteen then basically abandoned
her and her father to attend Oberlin College then make her way in New York.
United by the stories of Iris’ mother Sabe, the book offers a meditation on the
music of life. Perfect language, elegant details, and caring character studies
combine to make a brilliant novel. G, BC
Mysteries, Suspense, and
Thrillers
+Atkinson, Kate, Big Sky showcases private eye
Jackson Brodie in his fifth book in a case involving eastern European sisters
involved with a bogus employment agency as Brodie gathers evidence of marital
discretions to pay his bills. Brodie and his teenage son and old dog keep
things real. Exploring human trafficking, child sexual abuse, and family life
with comic undertones isn’t simple, but Brodie always delivers. Don’t try to
define this, just read it. CC/GPR/SBP
+M.C. Beaton, The
Flirt (The Regency Intrigue Series Book 1) offers an homage to Jane Austen as Elizabeth is orphaned and
living with her cruel uncle. She tricks her way into the Duke of Dunster’s
party to snag a wealthy bachelor, but the results are not as expected. CC/D/PP/SBP
*Benz, Chantelle, The
Gone Dead, see General Fiction for
a remarkable thriller and an astonishing tale of race and secrets in the
Mississippi delta.
+Bowen, Rhys, The
Tuscan Child, see General Fiction for
a delightful cozy mystery combined with romantic historical fiction.
+Box, C. J., Endangered
finds Game Warden Joe
Pickett investigating the killing of endangered sage grouse when he learns that
his adopted daughter has been brutally beaten and left to die. Her boyfriend’s
evil family is sure he wouldn’t have hurt her. Pickett soon finds more problems
as he patrols the Rockies. Fifteenth in the compelling series. CC (2015)
+Braithwaite, Oyinkan, My
Sister the Serial Killer, winner of the LA Times Best Mystery Award, is a sinister, wry, and
compelling story of murder and sibling loyalty made believable because the
characters are so well imagined. It seemed a strange choice for my book club,
but almost forty women loved the discussion and were glad they’d read it. It
explores beauty and misogyny as it might have been told had Jane Austen written
a Nigerian murder mystery. S/SBP, BC (2018)
+Denfeld, Rene, The
Butterfly Girl is a sequel to the magnificent The Child
Finder. While searching for her lost sister whose name she doesn’t know,
Naomi is drawn to Celia, a homeless 12-year-old girl who’s escaping sexual
abuse. There’s a serial killer at large and the homeless are vulnerable.
Celia’s imagination might save her. This book is a love letter to libraries and
how they saved Denfeld and help so many people. Read The Child Finder
first. GPR/SN, BC
Giordano, Mario, Auntie
Poldi and the Sicilian Lions is a convoluted novel in which Poldi, a wig-wearing German widow
moves to Sicily to drink herself to death. Instead, she investigates a murder
and falls for a detective. It’s wry, but the detail overwhelms the narrative. OC/SBP
(2016)
+Harvey, Michael, The
Fifth Floor is the second in the
Michael Kelly mystery series set in Chicago. When his former girlfriend hires
Kelly to follow her abusive husband, connections to the mayor’s office and back
to the 1871 Chicago fire surface. Clever historic connections along with
intriguing local sights boost the narrative. CC (2008)
*Hepworth, Sally, The
Mother-in-Law, see General Fiction for
a smart page-turner with fascinating clues.
+Iles, Greg, Cemetery
Road follows Marshall McEwan home to Bienville,
Mississippi where he takes over his family’s dying newspaper and reconnects
with his former love. Corruption, murder, sex, and family come together in a
big saga of a novel packed with violence and Southern manners. Iles always
offers absorbing page-turners. CC/GS
+Jackson, Joshilyn, Never
Have I Ever see General Fiction for
a thriller with heft and a great twist.
+Johnston, Tim, The
Current begins when Audrey’s roommate drives her 700
miles home to Minnesota to see her dying father. A few miles from their
destination, the car plunges into an icy river killing the roommate. The former
sheriff wonders if the car was pushed reminding him of a similar case ten years
previously. The novel explores grief, family, community, and responsibility and
is thus much more than just a mystery. Johnston is a master at character
development. CC/GPR
+Jones, Steven Mack, August
Snow, winner of the Hammett
Prize and the Nero Award, is a rock ‘em, sock ‘em mystery featuring the unique
August Snow. Snow is a former Detroit cop who exposed corruption and got a $12
million payout after his wrongful firing. He’s rehabbing homes on the street
where he grew up in the Mexicantown area of Detroit. His father was an
African-American cop and his mother was Mexican. After a wealthy socialite
dies, he investigates and uncovers cybercrime and a cadre of criminals out to
kill him. Great characters, setting, and voice. CC (2018)
+Kim, Angie, Miracle
Creek is a courtroom drama featuring Korean
immigrants in Miracle Creek, VA where they have a hyperbaric oxygen therapy
center (HBOT) they call the Miracle Submarine. Clients sealed in the HBOT
breathe pure oxygen to cure autism, infertility and other problems. When the
book opens, two people have died and four have been seriously injured when the
capsule burned. The mother of an autistic boy who died is charged with his
murder, but so much more happens. Immigration, loyalty, family, and morality
are on view in this page-turner. CC/SN, BC
+Le Carré, John, Agent Running in the Field is pure Le Carré with
British Secret Service agent Nat as an aging, badminton-playing spy returned to
London in a new desk job he doesn’t want and reporting to an incompetent boss
he despises. Russians, Brexit, double agents, romantic intrigue, and a clever
ending form a tale only a former British spy could invent. CC/SBP/SN
+Lelchuk, S. A., Save
Me from Dangerous Men,
Nikki Griffin is a bookseller, book club leader, and private investigator who
saves women who’ve been abused by horrible men. She’s court-mandated to see a
shrink to handle her anger issues, she’s met a caring man, and she just might
have the skills of Lisbeth Salander. What’s not to like! CC
*Lippmann, Laura, Lady
in the Lake is set in 1965 Baltimore where 37-year-old
Maddie leaves her husband to pursue a life as a newspaper reporter. She’s
consumed by the death of Cleo, a black cocktail waitress whose body was found
in a city park lake. Maddie also secretly sees a black policeman and fights
racism, classism, and sexism. This book is simply phenomenal and every
character is developed fully. CC/PP/SN, BC
*Locke, Attica, Heaven, My Home returns to east Texas
where Texas Ranger Darren’s mother is blackmailing him as he, an African-American,
has been sent to make a case against the Aryan Brotherhood in a rural area. The
9-year-old son of an imprisoned Brotherhood member is missing and his family
thinks an old black man who owns the land they rent killed him. Darren’s demons
and the distrust of the whites in the community aren’t helping him do his
intended sleuthing. Locke’s Highway 59 series is exceptional for character
development, pacing, and intrigue. CC/SN, BC
*May, Peter, The
Black House is the first in the
Lewis trilogy set in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides. Fin, who’s recently lost his
only son in a tragic accident is sent to the Isle of Lewis where he grew up to
investigate a horrific murder that may be connected to an earlier killing on
the mainland. Revisiting the tragic events of his childhood isn’t helpful.
Terrific pacing and a stellar beginning to an engrossing series from a writer
who writes hauntingly chilling tales! CC/GPR/SBP (2013)
*May, Peter, The
Chess Men, the third entry in the
Lewis trilogy, returns Fin to his childhood home as the head of security at a
local fishing and hunting estate. When the wreckage of a plane lost in a long-ago
crash surfaces, Fin confronts a childhood friend and his past with a renowned
band. The setting is dramatic and haunting and almost acts as a separate
character. CC/GPR/SBP (2015)
+May, Peter, Entry Island, English speaking Montreal
detective Sime Mackenzie is sent with a French-speaking team to remote Entry
Island in the Madeline Islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence to investigate a
murder. It seems clear to the team that the widow did it, but Sime thinks something
is missing and his dreams and the disappearance of a local make him look
further. CC (2015)
*May, Peter, The
Lewis Man, the second in the Lewis trilogy, returns Fin to the Outer Hebrides
without a wife or a job. He’s no longer a Chief Inspector so he decides to try
to repair his parents’ home and his former friendships. His plans are
interrupted when a long-buried body is found in a peat bog and he traces clues
to find the killer. The second entry in the series is just as exceptional as
the first. These gripping psychological tales offer a chilling escape.
CC/GPR/SBP (2014)
*McLaughlin, James, Bearskin, the winner of the 2019 Edgar for Best First Novel, is a searingly
tight thriller. Rice Moore is the new biologist/caretaker on a massive
old-growth preserve in southwest Virginia’s Appalachian region. He’s hiding
from players in a Mexican drug cartel and he’s not your usual caretaker. When
poachers begin killing bears to sell their gallbladders and paws to world
markets, he learns that the young woman who was the previous caretaker was
raped and left for dead. The folks in the woods of Virginia are as deadly as
those on the border. This is both a gorgeously told nature saga and an
intriguing view of the multi-dimensional characters who populate the area.
G/SN, BC (2018)
*Penny, Louise, A
Better Man continues the saga of
Armand Gamache and his cohorts in Quebec. In this, the 15th in the series,
Gamache returns from a suspension as much of Quebec, including his beloved
village, is threatened with flooding and he tries to catch the murderer of an
abused woman. Compassionate and compelling as always. GPR
+Royce, Deborah
Goodrich, Finding Mrs. Ford is a promising debut thriller with a clever premise that tracks a
woman from her college job in Detroit in 1979 to her privileged life in 2014.
It covers many arenas including the mafia, Iraq, and the abuse of women with an
unexpected twist that makes for a delightful escape. CC
+Smolens, John, Wolf’s
Mouth, see General Fiction for
a suspenseful tale of POWs in the USA during WWII.
+Stander, Aaron, The
Center Cannot Hold is
the tenth in the Ray Elkins Thriller series that take place in the resort community
area near Traverse City, MI. In this one, Sheriff Elkins investigates the
burning of his predecessor’s home and the vandalizing of the former Sheriff’s
grave. Could the crimes be tied to a mysterious commune forty years ago?
Fine pacing and detailed depictions of the icy, relentless winter make this
another hit. CC (2018)
*Tokarczuk, Olga, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, see General Fiction
for the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature that’s also a compelling
mystery/thriller.
+Walker, Wendy, The
Night Before is a clever tale with
tantalizing misdirection that changes course just when you think you know
what’s happening. Laura has returned to her hometown where she’s temporarily
living with her sister after a sad breakup. Sister Rosie and her husband Joe
are worried that a harrowing incident from Laura’s teen years is affecting her
now. The thriller reveals what happens the day before and the day after Laura
disappears on a blind date. This roller-coaster of a tale has more twists than
a French braid. CC
Nonfiction
*Adichie, Chimamanda
Ngozi, Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions made my heart sing. I wish I’d been given this
when I became a parent. Renowned author Adichie’s childhood friend asked her
for advice on how to raise her baby girl to be a feminist. Adichie’s fifteen
caring and compassionate suggestions offer lessons on motherhood, race,
kindness, and more. These are the best 63 pages of advice I’ve ever read. Buy
it for a new parent. G/SF/SN, BC (2017)
+Cep, Casey, Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last
Trial of Harper Lee follows Rev. Willie Maxwell, a rural Alabama preacher,
who probably killed five family members to collect insurance money in the
1970s. Because he and his victims were black and because he had an astute
lawyer, he was never convicted of any crime. At the funeral of his last victim,
another relative shot and killed Maxwell point-blank in front of everyone and
the same smart lawyer may get the murderer acquitted. Harper Lee was in the courtroom
and planned the story to be her next book. Amazing research. SN
*Chung, Nicole, All
You Can Ever Know is a memoir of Chung’s search for her
adoptive family when she’s pregnant with her first child. She was told that her
Korean birth parents couldn’t take care of her or give her the life she
deserved so she grew up in an all-white town and went to an all-white school.
Just before she gave birth, her birth sister contacted her and everything she
knew about her origin changed. It’s a profound look at finding out who you are.
GPR/SN, BC
+Dana, MaryAnn McKibbon,
God, Improv, and the Art of Living shows how living life requires improvisation. Dana, who studied
improv at Chicago’s Second City and who’s both a parent and a pastor, saw that
using seven improv principles could help her with all her roles. Life never
goes according to plan, so learn to improvise. She’s also a gifted speaker and
workshop leader and offers much wisdom and enthusiasm for churches. SF/SN, BC (2018)
*Dreyer, Benjamin, Dreyer’s
English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style is one of the most enjoyable books I’ve ever
read. I laughed and laughed. Not only does Dreyer give pithy advice on grammar,
punctuation, and writing, his droll humor makes that advice a vacation on the
page. I plan to keep this book on my desk at all times and will reread my
favorite parts whenever I need a lift. This entertaining tome will make anyone
a smarter, better writer. G/S/SN
*Evans, Rachel Held, Inspired:
Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again examines Bible stories and retells them in poetry, stories,
interpretations, and imaginative renderings. She helps the reader wrestle with
the doubt that some misappropriated passages have caused. I led a discussion of
this last winter and the class found it unique, transformative, and
compassionate. Evans died from a sudden illness as we were finishing and we
grieve the loss of such a profound truth-teller who was also a brilliant writer
whose words inspire. What a loss!
G/SF/SN (2018)
+Fountain, Ben, Beautiful
Country Burn Again: Democracy, Rebellion, And Revolution examines the 2016 election and the historical
context that led to Trump’s victory. Fountain expertly explores every nuance of
the campaign and why Trump won. Fountain lays out an impressive thesis showing
white supremacy at the root of our current trials and Trump’s victory. His
brilliance forces the reader to contemplate. This is a book to read slowly then
reread. G/SN, BC (2018)
+Geary, James, Wit’s
End: What Wit Is, How It Works, and Why We Need It explores wit from puns to repartee. Each chapter is written in the
style becoming it with chapters written in jive, rap, and a play. If you love
words and clever plays upon them, you’ll enjoy this tome. Don’t read it
straight through; visit the chapters for entertainment. S/SN (2018)
+Gordinier, Jeff, Hungry presents a gripping view of Rene Redzepi and
Noma, the world’s top-ranked restaurant. Gordinier embeds himself in Redzepi’s
travels as he frantically seeks the rarest local ingredients in Denmark,
Australia, and Mexico. Gordinier journeys in search of self and that’s what
makes the book sing as the reader cheers for him and as he contemplates life’s
meaning. GPR/SN
*Land, Stephanie, Maid:
Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive will make you feel some of what it’s like to be
cold, hungry, frightened, and anxious when you’re trying to hang on and raise a
child with minimum support. You must read this book to begin to understand and
bear witness to her stark struggles to survive. Stephanie Land is someone we
should all respect for her fine writing, intelligence, resilience, and loving
support of her daughter. GPR/SN, BC
*Laymon, Kiese, Heavy:
An American Memoir, the winner of the Andrew
Carnegie Medal and on every best of 2018 list is that good. It’s a powerful
memoir showing how the weight of secrets, lies, and fear can destroy a black
man and his body. Laymon grew up the son of a brilliant mother in Jackson, MS.
He suffered from anorexia and obesity as a result of coping with his secrets.
His writing is genius, his transformation real, and he shares it beautifully.
G/SN, BC (2018)
+Lillien, Lisa, Hungry
Girl: Simply Six: All-Natural Recipes with 6 Ingredients or Less has imaginative ideas using healthy ingredients
to make tasty foods easily. She has me thinking about making blender muffins
and buying a small spiralizer. SN
*Ludwinski, Lisa, Sister Pie: The Recipes and Stories of a Big-Hearted
Bakery in Detroit made this reader who has never had any desire to
bake pies want to make savory pies, hand pies, shortbread, and maybe even a
blueberry plum balsamic pie. Her repertoire is imaginative and features great
seasonal ingredients. Her compassion and devotion to community make you want to
head to Detroit. The book was an IACP finalist and landed on every Top 10
Cookbooks of 2018 list. SF/SN (2018)
Mundy, Liza, Code
Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II presents fascinating information about the new
college graduates and teachers selected to break code during World War II. It’s
too long and too repetitive though. On a personal note, I was surprised to
learn that my father’s 5th Infantry Division made it from Iceland to
Ireland because the code breakers found them safe passage. My book club did not
enjoy this. SN (2018)
+Norris, Mary, Greek
to Me: Adventures of the Comma Queen is a blend of an informative book with scholarly appeal paired
with Norris’s delicious Greek travelogue. She teaches the reader about the
origin of the alphabet while sharing her escapades traveling alone to Greek
islands and remote villages. Wouldn’t everyone like to sit naked on a beach
that had belonged to a favorite author? She did it. Her section on epithets
alone is worth the retail price of the book for language-lovers. SN/D
*Oluo, Ijeoma, So you
want to talk about race breaks
through all the pretense of understanding race in the U.S. and makes sense of
why it’s a problem, why we should care, and what we should do. Filled with
facts and stories that illuminate them. This is a primer every American needs
to read and utilize. Buy this book!
G/SN, BC (2018)
+Page, Susan, The
Matriarch: Barbara Bush and the Making of an American Dynasty uses over 100 interviews with Bush friends and family members, many
hours of conversation with Mrs. Bush as she neared the end of her life, and
extensive research to show what made her “the matriarch.” Susan Page is a
gifted journalist and this book makes Mrs. Bush come alive. It’s a piece of
history everyone should read. SN, BC
+Reichl, Ruth, Save Me
the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir is pure delight. Reichl shares the ups
and downs of running Gourmet magazine
from its heyday through its demise. Even if you have no interest in food or
cooking, this book is a gem as Reichl puts the reader into her experiences.
G/SN, BC
*Shapiro, Dani, Inheritance:
A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love, Shapiro submitted her
DNA to a genealogy testing center and shockingly found that the father she
adored, wasn’t her biological father. As both her parents were deceased, she
took to the Internet and soon found a video of her biological father thus
setting off a journey to uncover secrets and to determine who she was if she
was no longer who she’d always known herself to be. Only an author like Shapiro
could turn her own story into a meditation on acceptance and love. She’s such a
treasure. I’m glad I’d read several of her other books so I already “knew” her,
but it stands alone beautifully. Perfect for book clubs. G/GPR/SF, BC
+Skoczylas, Patricia, Lullabies
and Laments is a tough read. Told in a stream of
consciousness, it illustrates a frighteningly hard childhood that still
provided love and community. I had to put it down many times as it was too sad
to endure especially as I know some of the family members. SF
Peanut Butter and Jelly – Picture Books and Books for Preschoolers
and Toddlers
+Dewdney, Anna, Llama,
Llama, Easter Egg is
just what a two-year-old wants to read before and after an Easter egg hunt.
Using books like this to foreshadow events makes them more fun. PBJ Ages 0 - 3
(2015)
+McGhee, Holly M.,
illustrated by Pascal Lemaitre, Listen teaches empathy and the importance of our
connection to the natural world. PBJ Ages 3 - 7
+McMullan, Kate and Jim,
I’m Tough is just what a
preschooler wants. With a tough pickup truck, an adorable dog, and a farm
filled with cows, the colors and drama will keep any child turning the pages.
My grandson loved “reading” this to me. PBJ Ages 2 - 7 (2018)
*Medina, Juana, Juana
& Lucas is the story of Juana
and her dog Lucas. They live in Bogota, Colombia. Juana loves Lucas and her
family, but she detests her school uniform, dance class, and most of all,
learning English until her grandfather tells her about a fantastic treat that
makes her want to learn English quickly. PBJ/SN Ages 5 - 8
*Moore, Lindsay, Sea
Bear: A Journey for Survival is a gorgeously illustrated view of polar bears, sea creatures
and survival. Little ones will love the pictures and will inhale the lessons of
patience, determination, and climate change. PBJ/SN Ages 4 - 8
+Parr, Todd, The Cars
and Trucks Book is for car and truck-loving
preschoolers. The bright colors and bold lines lead the story. Cars and trucks
on the farm and everywhere are a treat for kids. My grandson lined up his cars
and trucks and asked me to read them this tale. What an endorsement. PBJ Ages 2
- 6 (2018)
+Patricelli, Leslie, Potty
is a book for the “newly
potty trained and proud of it” crowd. My grandson made me read this at least
six times EVERY day for weeks. He found this book uproariously funny. It’s much
better than the other options. PBJ Ages 2 – 4 (2010)
*Schertle, Alice,
illustrated by Jill Mc Elmurry, Good Night, Little Blue Truck is a wonderful addition to the bedtime story
genre. Kids love the Little Blue Truck books and parents love that they won’t
go nuts reading them repeatedly as they’re charming. PBJ Ages 2 - 5
Peanut Butter and Jelly – Chapter Books and Books for Early
Readers
+Sheinkin, Steve, Time Twisters: Abraham Lincoln: Pro Wrestler makes learning history fun. When Abraham Lincoln
hears kids call history boring, he decides to teach them a lesson by opting out
and becoming a pro wrestler. Can kids save the day? PBJ/SN Ages 7 – 10
+Sheinkin, Steve, Time Twisters: Amelia Earhart and the Flying Chariot sends the time-traveling kids to ancient Greece with Amelia Earhart
driving a chariot before returning to cross the Atlantic by plane. PBJ/SN Ages 7 – 10
Diet Coke and Gummi Bears: Young Adult Books and Books for Teens
and Tweens
Faring, Sara, The
Tenth Girl is a haunting gothic
novel set at the southern tip of Argentina in a school where Mavi moves to
teach English and escape her mother’s past. The first 350 pages of the book
have little narrative arc and thus were tedious for me. The last 100 pages were
faster paced with a twist. This is a book you’ll either adore or not.
Recommended for teens who love ghostly tales. Teens are loving it. DC Ages 15
and older.
+Mathieu, Jennifer, The
Liars of Mariposa Island is a story
told by two teen siblings and their controlling, alcoholic mother. Set in 1986,
when Elena babysits a wealthy Texas island family and her brother works in a
restaurant as well as in flashbacks to their mother’s childhood life in a
wealthy Cuban family until the Cuban revolution delivered her to Texas as a
poor, lonely refugee, the novel explores abuse, trauma, and loyalty. Teens and adults will find it compelling. DC,
BC Ages 12 - 18
+Perkins, Mitali, Forward Me Back to You shares the stories of
Kat, a jiu-jitsu champion, who was attacked by a boy in her high school and is
staying with an older aunt in Boston to heal and Robin who was adopted by
wealthy, white parents from an orphanage in India. They go to Kolkata with two
others from their church youth group on a service project working with
survivors of human trafficking. Will Robin find his birth mother or any
connections to India? Will Kat survive? This book explores justice, faith,
healing, and above all kindness. DC/GPR/SF/SN, BC Ages 14 and older
*Sheinkin, Steve, The
Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights details the 1944 explosion that killed more than 300 men at the Port
Chicago Naval Magazine in California. All the officers were white and all the
sailors handling the explosives were black and had no training. Of those who
died 202 were black sailors. After the explosion, 50 black sailors refused to
return to work under the same conditions and were charged with mutiny. The
fifty men tell the story of their heroism in this National Book Award Finalist.
PBJ/DC/SN Ages 10 – 14
(2014)
*Warga, Jasmine, Other
Words for Home is an exquisite view of
the immigrant experience as seen through Jude, an eleven-year-old Syrian girl
who accompanies her pregnant mother to live in Cincinnati. Told in verse, Jude
makes being “other” come alive through her heart and her hope-filled story.
Plenty for book groups to ponder regardless of their ages. My adult group is
going to discuss it. GPR/DC/SN, BC Ages 10 - 14
*Wynne-Jones, Tim, The
Starlight Claim drops the reader into a
wintery thriller in the Canadian wilderness. Nate, haunted by the death of his
best friend, plans a trip to their camp with a buddy. When he’s grounded, Nate
goes alone without anyone knowing. Upon arriving at his family’s remote cabin,
he finds it occupied by escaped prisoners, but the area is snowed in and he
can’t contact anyone, so he uses his wits to survive. Harrowing, compelling,
and full of questions about life, this is a winner for older teens and adults.
I love this book. DC/GPR, BC Ages 14 and older
Hungry for Good Books? Annual Book List for 2019
Find
these and more at www.hungryforgoodbooks.com
©Copyright December 1,
2019, by Trina Hayes
Letters after each
selection designate the book as CC: Chinese Carryout (page-turners, great for
plane rides), D: Desserts (delightful indulgences), DC: Diet Coke and Gummi
Bears (books for teens and young adults), G: Gourmet (exquisite writing,
requires concentration), GPR: Grandma’s Pot Roast (books that get your
attention and stick with you), GS: Grits (evocative of the American south), OC:
Over Cooked (good ingredients, but overwritten), PBJ: Peanut Butter and Jelly
(children’s books adults will like), PP: Pigeon Pie (historical fiction, parts
or all of the novel set at least 50 years ago), R: Road Food (audio books
for road trips and more), S: Sushi with Green Tea Sorbet (satire, irony, black
humor, acquired taste), SBP: Sweet Bean Paste (translated and international
books), SF: Soul Food (spirituality, theology, books for your soul), SN: Super
Nutrition (lots of information, yet tasty as fresh blueberries), and T: Tapas
(small bites including short stories, novellas, essays, and poetry). The
letters BC denote books for book clubs.
Asterisks (*) depict the most outstanding titles in each designation.
The plus sign (+) is for books I recommend. The number sign (#) is for books
with full reviews on my blog. All books listed were published in 2019 unless
noted otherwise.
General Fiction and Poetry
+Ackerman, Elliot, Dark
at the Crossing embeds the reader into the
truth of life along the Syria/Turkey border. This National Book Award finalist
follows an Iraqi who became a US citizen and then returned to the Middle East
to fight for a free Syria. Ackerman, a former Marine, makes war’s tragedy and
brutality hauntingly real. It’s a beautifully wrought telling based on a true
story. G/SN, BC (2017)
*Ackerman, Elliot, Waiting
for Eden is an inventive, exceptional novel about Eden, a dying soldier in a
burn center, whose story is told by a fellow soldier who was killed in the same
explosion. Through his ghostly voice, we learn of the suffering of Eden’s wife
Mary, of their 3-year-old daughter who is with her grandmother, and of the
efforts of Gabe, Eden’s compassionate nurse. Touching and deeply affecting this
novella helps the reader prepare for an Eden we hope will come especially for
our veterans. G/T, BC
+Andrews, Mary Kay, The
High Tide Club is a romp of a romance
with a touch of mystery set in the sea islands off the coast of Georgia. I
spent my honeymoon on St. Simons Island and am drawn to the rich history and
beauty of the area. When a lawyer and single mother is called to one of the
islands by the reclusive, 99-year-old owner of half of that island to find a
way to keep the National Park Service from buying her land, the lawyer can’t
imagine how she and others fit into the story and the backstory of an unsolved
disappearance on the island in 1941. D/CC/GS (2018)
*Benz, Chanelle, The
Gone Dead is both an enthralling
thriller and a soulfully lyrical novel that explores racial tensions in the
Mississippi delta. Billie James’ return to the town where her poet father died
when she was four turns deadly when she asks questions. The Gone Dead feels
like a marriage of Jesmyn Ward’s Salvage the Bones and Greg Iles’ Natchez
Burning trilogy. Exquisite pacing, characters with distinct and true
voices, and a sense of urgency underscore Benz’s remarkable talent for bringing
themes of justice, loss, and lack of hope to light. G/GPR/GS, BC
+Bowen, Rhys, The
Tuscan Child takes place in Tuscany
in 1944 where RAF officer Hugh Langley hides after his plane crashes. He’s fed
and nursed back to health by local Sofia and after his death in England in 1973
his daughter reads a letter and finds his drawings and decides to travel to
Italy to learn more. A romantic historical novel combined with a mystery is
sure to engage fans of Daphne du Maurier and cozy mysteries. Foodies will love
it too. GPR/D/SBP (2018)
*#Butler, Nickolas, Little
Faith is the novel readers have been wanting since
Kent Haruf’s All Souls at Night. It’s an engaging, thought-provoking
tale of a grandparent’s love for his grandson and for the life he’s blessed to
live. It’s a novel of gratitude for the natural world and of the threats to the
things we hold sacred. It’s holy ground in rural Minnesota. It will make you
ponder religious beliefs and what people do in the name of them. Beg your book
club to discuss it. G/GPR, BC
Carr, Bryan Allen, Opioid,
Indiana, Riggle’s parents have died and he has to
move to rural Indiana where he gets suspended from high school on a false
claim. He spends the week trying to figure out his life. The novel is best when
he gets a job washing dishes in a character-filled restaurant. S
+Carty-Williams,
Candice, Queenie
narrates a heartbreaking story of her life after Queenie’s longtime boyfriend
asks her to move out and she spirals into depression. Her humor, the texts with
her friends, and her poor decisions regarding sex make this darkly humorous
despite the sadness. Fine insight into “Black Lives Matter” mark this an
important read. S/SBP, BC.
+Cather, Willa, The
Song of the Lark is a classic and while I don’t love it the way I love My
Antonia or Death Comes for the Archbishop, it’s still a splendid
portrait of the sacrifices a woman of the early twentieth century needed to
make to achieve success as an artist. Cather is at her best when describing the
western landscape and her picture of the Colorado plains is sumptuous. Thea’s
singing voice allows her to leave tiny Moonstone, Colorado, but she couldn’t
have done so without the help of several men who taught her, supported her
financially, and offered her respite when she couldn’t have continued alone.
The language can be dated and racially insensitive, but the novel offers
insight into Cather’s evolution. G/PP, BC (1915)
Chiaverini, Jennifer, The Christmas Boutique, a search for
delightful Christmas reads for the busy holiday season led to trying this, the
latest in Chiaverini’s Elm Creek Quilts series. It features the quilt retreat’s
rescue of a Christmas boutique to benefit the county food pantry. It was short
on plot and character development. OC
+Clarke, Brock, Who
are You, Calvin Bledsoe? is the dictionary definition of the word quirky. Calvin, named
after John Calvin, the theologian about whom Calvin’s mother had written a
famous book, is at loose ends after his mother’s death. His mother’s twin
sister, who he didn’t know existed, pirates him off to Europe on a bizarre
escapade. Recommended for those who enjoy absurdity, Calvinism, and plenty of
laughter. S
Colgan, Jenny, Christmas at Rosie Hopkins’ Sweetshop is a frothy “Calgon
take me away” romantic comedy for fans of Jojo Moyes. Rosie loves living in her
small Derbyshire village where her boyfriend is starting a job teaching at the
local school and she’s doing well with her aunt’s sweetshop. A terrible
accident shakes up the town just as Rosie’s family is arriving from Australia
and all her plans are in disarray. This will relieve holiday stress. D/SBP (2014)
+Colgan, Jenny, Christmas
on the Island is a romantic,
“Hallmark” escape set on the remote Scottish Island of Mure where Flora heads
to tell her ex-boss that she’s pregnant with his baby and where a Syrian doctor
tries to help his sons during the Christmas season when they miss their mother.
This is the third in Colgan’s Island series. D/SBP (2018)
*#Conklin, Tara, The
Last Romantics uses a technique I
can’t remember having read previously –- and I love it. Renowned poet, Fiona
Skinner looks back on growing up with her siblings in the year 2079 when she’s
102 and is questioned about the inspiration for her most famous poem. Fiona was
the youngest of four when her father died and her mother took “The Pause,” an
extended period in which the children raised themselves. The effects on Renee,
the responsible eldest child, sweet Caroline, Joe, the athlete and charmer, and
Fiona who observed everything with her keen eye reverberate for almost a
century in Conklin’s steady hands. Conklin’s growth since The House Girl is
phenomenal. GPR, BC
+Day, Kate Hope, If,
Then imagines the world of three
neighboring families traversing their chosen paths and through their visions of
alternate realities. Sharp characters engaging in fascinating speculation on
the lives they might have led offer a page-turning look at the way we value
time and relationships. This offers endless topics for discussion. S/G, BC
+Denfeld, Rene, The
Butterfly Girl: see Mysteries and Thrillers
for a wonderful sequel.
*Derricotte, Toi, “I”: New and Selected Poems, this National Book Award
Finalist is a brilliant and affecting collection told in Derricotte’s poetic
voice. “What song do you sing when you sing so low we can’t hear you?” She’s a treasure
and her words make us feel her experiences as a light-skinned black woman in America.
G/T, BC
+Evison, Jonathan, Lawn
Boy shows how poverty
affects young Mike Muñoz, a Latino landscaper in Washington State. Mike is 22
and lives with his Mom and handicapped brother in a house on the reservation
despite not being Native. Mike and his Mom work constantly but can’t get ahead.
This funny, poignant look at poverty and class is a great novel for adults and
older teens. GPR/SN, BC (2018)
*#Fitzpatrick, Lydia, Lights
All Night Long combines gorgeous
language, a compelling story, a mystery, AND captivating characters. Ilya, the
smartest kid in his small Russian refinery town, is going spend a year in high
school in a refinery town in Louisiana, but he can’t stop thinking of ways to
help his older brother who’s in prison for confessing to a crime Ilya knows
Vladimir didn’t commit. Like the lights that burn all night long in the town,
this novel allows the light to breakthrough. The last pages are a pure gift
filled with love and wonder. G/GPR, SN,
BC
*Gainza, Maria, Optic
Nerve is both a novel and a
course in art history that follows an unnamed Argentinian woman through the
lives and works of illustrious painters. The narrator visualizes life and
culture via Toulouse-Lautrec, Rothko, Courbet, Rousseau, Foujita, and El Greco.
This short, inventive novel offers much to ponder and the last chapter is
exquisite. I keep reading pages of it aloud and sighing. Publishers Weekly had
it as a 2019 Top 10 book. G/SBP/SN, BC
+Gamble, Terry, The
Eulogist beautifully examines
pre-Civil War life in Cincinnati and northern Kentucky through the eyes of an
Irish immigrant. Olivia came to America at age 15 and saw slavery, women’s
rights, and religion via an educated lens. G/GPR/SN, BC
+Grames, Juliet, The
Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Luna traces Stella’s life from a small Calabrian village to the U.S.
over 100 years in which she survives seven or eight near-death experiences.
This family saga of secrets and Italian-American traditions and superstitions
illustrates the effects of patriarchy on family love and rivalry. That this is
a debut novel is surprising because of its depth, descriptions, character
studies, and voice. GPR/PP/SN, BC
+Gray, Anissa, The
Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls is a smart debut that demonstrates how
differently family members handle the aftermath of childhood abuse and
abandonment. Told from the points of view of three sisters, it examines
bulimia, prison, and black family and church culture in the small Michigan town
where Gray grew up.
*#Heller, Peter, The
River is a spectacular
adventure and one of the best-written novels I’ve read in a long time. Wynn and
Jack are on a canoe trip in a remote Canadian area and they’ve smelled smoke
for two days and know that they’re approaching a forest fire when they meet two
frightening drunks. This book celebrates nature and epitomizes the best aspects
of true friendship. It’s a thriller, an outdoor lover’s dream of an adventure
and a spectacular novel. G/GPR, BC
*Hepworth, Sally, The
Mother-in-Law is a clever page-turner
that will leave readers thinking about relationships and the impact of family
bonds. Lucy’s mother-in-law, Diana, wasn’t all that impressed with her son’s
choice in brides. After five years, Diana is a wonderful grandmother who helps
women immigrants assimilate in Australia and Lucy still tries to please her.
After Diana is found dead with a suicide note nearby, several unanswered
questions remain. What happened? Why? The ingenious revealing of the clues is
both smart and compelling. GPR/SBP, BC
+Hogan, Ruth, The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes is a wise, hope-filled
ode to living life despite traumatic grief. Masha can’t get beyond a tragedy
that occurred twelve years ago and only her dog and walking in her quiet
village bring her any peace. When she meets Kitty, a 70ish roller disco lover,
and Sally Red Shoes, a bag lady who sings like an angel, does she begins to
heal, but her past may not let her. It’s a worthy follow up to The Keeper of Lost Things. GPR/SBP
(2018)
+Jackson, Joshilyn, Never
Have I Ever is a propulsive binge read. Amy is leading her dream life when
Roux invades and takes over the suburban Moms’ book club with a wine enhanced
game to learn the women’s secrets. Amy doesn’t divulge, yet Roux seems to know
her worst sins already. Power, fear, evil, and love duke it out with no clear
winner in sight. A gem of a “read-it-in-day” thriller. CC/GS, BC
Jenoff, Pam, The Lost
Girls of Paris is a page-turner, romance/spy thriller about women who operated
radios and served behind enemy lines in France in the lead up to D Day. In New
York in 1946, young widower Grace finds a suitcase and photos and learns that
the owner has just died in an accident outside the train station. Flashing back
to 1943 when Eleanor, the suitcase owner, and Marie were part of the
clandestine effort, it’s a worthy topic, but it feels rushed. It made me want
to learn more about British Intelligence agent Vera Atkins despite my not
loving the novel. CC/PP, BC
*#Justicz, Julie E., Degrees
of Difficulty is a debut novel that asks insightful
questions about survival when thrust into a devastating situation. Told from
the points of view of the parents and siblings of a nonverbal, profoundly
disabled child, it’s a hope-filled, humor-laced, page-turner that you’ll devour
in a day. Select it for your book club to talk about love, forgiveness,
loyalty, family, responsibility, redemption, and transcending the hand you’ve
been dealt. GPR/SF/SN, BC
*Kellner, Megan Klco, What
Will You Teach Her? is
a spectacular collection of poems celebrating motherhood. Winner of the Michigan
Writers Cooperative Press 2019 Poetry Contest, it’s a gift of quiet
contemplation and joy. GPR/T, BC
+Kenney, John, Love
Poems for People with Children are hysterical odes to the insanity that is daily life with young
children. Buy it for overwhelmed parents with a droll sense of humor. S/T
+Kibler, Julie, Home for Erring and Outcast Girls, The Berachah Home for
the Redemption and Protection of Erring Girls, founded in 1903 in Arlington, Texas,
was different. It allowed women to keep their babies and offered help to those
in need regardless of their “sins.” The book follows Lizzie and Mattie in the
early 1900s as they deal with illness and grief. A century later, Cate, a
research librarian discovers their stories and feels a connection that helps
her deal with her own losses. Kibler offers a different look at rehabilitation,
addiction, and hope. My favorite sentence: “I won’t judge him (God) by the
people who claim to represent him, if he won’t judge me for keeping my
distance.” GPR/PP/SN, BC
+Krueger, William Kent, This
Tender Land is a Dickensian tale of
four children on a river odyssey across Minnesota in 1932. It features colorful
characters in a sweet story. Krueger’s talent for capturing the heart of young
boys is on display in this clever tale with a Mark Twain twist. GPR/PP, BC
+Letts, Elizabeth, Finding
Dorothy tells the story of the
making of the book and the movie of The Wizard of Oz as seen through
author L. Frank Baum’s wife Maud’s eyes. Maud’s mother was a leader in the
women’s suffrage movement and Maud was an early coed at Cornell University in
1880. Maud met Judy Garland on the set of the Wizard in 1939 and the story
imagines their conversations and Maud’s actions. The book is a fascinating
glimpse of women's suffrage, life on the prairie, Chicago in the 1890s, and the
world behind the scenes of the movie. A must for Oz lovers! PP/SN, BC
+Li, Lillian, Number
One Chinese Restaurant illustrates
the isolation that immigrants can feel. Set in a Chinese restaurant run by two
brothers, it shows the physical difficulty and demands of working in the
service industry. It’s a story about love, hard work, and immigration. SN, BC
Liss, David, The
Whiskey Rebels narrates the tale of the
beginnings of the U.S. financial system via a drunk deemed a traitor and a
woman seeking revenge. It offers insight into Alexander Hamilton and William
Duer but forces the reader to slog through more than 500 pages of unrelenting
details, brutality, and scheming to find them. Some in my book club enjoyed it,
but many chose not to finish it. OC/PP, BC (2008)
+Lucas, Meagan, Songbirds
and Stray Dogs is an evocative and
suspenseful portrait of small-town secrets and the difficulty of escaping
expectations. Jolene arrives in a quiet western North Carolina town pregnant
and in need of a job. Chuck is searching for his addict sister and caring for
her teen son when he’s threatened by one of his sister's unsavory
acquaintances. The ending of this debut rings true and while sad, it offers
hope. Jolene, Chuck and the minor characters are engaging and realistic. GPR/GS,
BC
+Novik, Naomi, Spinning
Silver, If you love fantasy, I recommend this retelling of the
Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale about the daughter of a moneylender who changes
silver into gold. If you don’t like fantasy, this might be a good way to try
the genre. My book club read it and most said that they didn’t like fantasy but
were glad to have read Spinning Silver. It could have been shorter and
tighter, but most fantasy lovers prefer a big saga. Listen to it to enjoy being
read a fairy tale. GPR/OC/RT, BC (2018)
*Obreht, Téa, Inland is an accomplished tale of an Old West we
rarely encounter in fiction. It’s a world in which dying of thirst or heat is
routine. Nora can’t get over the death of her first child and still talks with
her daily. Lurie, also haunted by ghosts, is on the run when he joins an outfit
herding camels in the desert. The Carnegie Medal nominee presents the 19th
Century southwest as more diverse and nuanced than most offerings. Exquisite
language explores grief, fear, and ambition. The camels captured this reader,
oh, those camels. G/S/SN, BC
+Orner, Peter, Maggie
Brown & Others offers
44 accomplished short stories and one novella in a book you’ll want to keep by
your bed to read over a long winter. Chicagoans will particularly enjoy seeing
so many stores set there. G/T
*Patchett, Ann, The
Dutch House is a brilliant Hansel
and Gretel meets Cinderella tale. Maeve and Danny live in a mansion outside
Philadelphia with their father and servants who feel like family. After their
mother left them, their father married an evil stepmother with two daughters.
Danny tells their story, and the reader falls into the boiling pot of family
stew. A bonus for me is that Patchett named a character for my wonderful friend
Julie who helped inspire her to open her bookstore. G/GPR, BC
+Powers, Richard, The
Overstory, winner of the 2019
Pulitzer Prize, is a structurally fascinating epic about the interdependence of
trees that warns of our environmental demise. Its main characters’ separate
stories connect via environmental preservation. The novel offers incredible
gifts, yet for this reader, it belabored some points beyond what the action had
already shown. The science was brilliant, but often the prose felt hectoring.
G/OC/SN, BC*#Reid, Taylor Jenkins, Daisy Jones & the Six immerses
the reader into the life of Daisy, a singer experimenting with sex, drugs, and
the party scene in late sixties LA when her voice gains recognition and she
connects with The Six, a band led by a stubborn singer/songwriter. The story is
told as an oral history of the time and embeds the reader into the 1970s music
scene. It’s a magnificent novel that you’ll want to read in a day and remember
forever. Passionate, headstrong characters, addictive writing, and a propulsive
storyline make it a winner. GPR/S, BC
+Richardson, Kim
Michele, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek highlights the 1930s Pack Horse Librarians who
delivered books to rural Appalachian hills via Cussy Mary who has a genetic
trait that makes her skin blue. She’s considered “colored” and suffers from the
prevailing racism of the time. Her story is intriguing and many will like the
tilt into romance. The ending seems abrupt and somewhat contrived yet delivers
the romantic twist. GS/PP/SN
+#Robertson, Peter, Conclusion
is a clever, sci-fi take
on mortality. In it, 55-year-olds can be scanned and if deemed healthy, they
can choose to be welded, thus never becoming sick or aging. The tradeoff is
that they’ll “conclude,” that is they’ll die at 75. Following a man whose wife
has just concluded and the people he meets, it explores mortality in a
suspense-filled journey in the northern Boundary Waters. I hope it makes people
want to save that land. CC/GPR, BC
+Rowley, Steven, The
Editor is sweet yet not
saccharine. Constructing a novel based on Jackie Onassis editing a first novel
is an ambitious undertaking that works because Rowley makes James, the
conflicted author, the star of the book with Mrs. Onassis as his encouraging
muse. In a supportive role, Mrs. Onassis’s character feels both real and
endearing as she helps James find himself and an ending for his novel. GPR, BC
+Schine, Cathleen, The
Grammarians takes a
tongue-firmly-planted-in-cheek view of family relationships particularly those
of twins and the families raising them. Laurel and Daphne love words and
language then they weaponize both to compete with one another. This Carnegie
Medal nominee offers multiple topics for a great book discussion. It’s a droll
treat that makes you think about the meaning of family. G/GPR/S, BC
+Smolens, John, Wolf’s
Mouth combines a compelling
thriller with historical fiction featuring POWs held in Michigan’s upper
peninsula near the end of WWII. Frank escapes the camp where he fears a German
commander and his men more than his American jailers. Following Frank’s life
through 1991, this delivers a powerful story. The ending seems rushed, but the
rest of the story resonates. GPR/PP/SN, BC (2016)
*Stradel, J. Ryan, The
Lager Queen of Minnesota is pure delight. It follows the lives of two sisters and their
families from the women’s teens to their late seventies. The art of brewing beer
ties them all together, but the novel is essentially about loyalty, family,
identity, happiness, and grit. Just fall into this wonder and enjoy the ride.
GPR/D, BC
*Strout, Elizabeth, Olive,
Again takes the reader back to
Maine and the remarkably ordinary life of Olive Kitteridge. I adored the Olive
Kitteridge novel and the sequel didn’t disappoint. It’s a realistic, wry
view of aging and of the realization that learning who we are is a full-time
occupation. G, BC
*#Toews, Miriam, Women
Talking is based on the true story of 130 Mennonite
women and children in Bolivia who were drugged and raped for four years and had
been told that ghosts had attacked them. Toews turns their story into a
propulsive novel showing how eight women in the colony might have reacted. As
they were all illiterate, their story is narrated by a shunned man who keeps
“minutes” of their conversations. This is an original and fierce manifesto that
reveals itself in an irresistible story that it’s tempting to read in one
sitting. Select it for your book club. G/SF, BC
*Tokarczuk, Olga, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, the winner of the Nobel
Prize in Literature, was first published in Poland in 2009, but was only
translated into English in 2019 after it won the Man Booker International Prize.
Janina lives in a remote Polish village on the Czech border where she studies
astrology, translates William Blake’s poetry, and takes care of vacant summer
cottages. Her neighbors consider her strange and she prefers being with animals
over humans. Her neighbor “Big Foot” dies then other dead bodies keep appearing.
Janina is sure she knows whodunit, but no one will listen to her. This is a
literary thriller/fairy tale about sanity, justice, culture, and ecology. The
ending is both unexpected and believable. She’s such a fine writer. Read this
magnificent book! G, BC
*Waldman, Amy, A Door
in the Earth follows Parveen, a recent
college graduate, to the Afghan village she’d read about in a famous bestseller
that told of the author/doctor’s work to help the remote, poverty-stricken
village which she finds is nothing like what the book said it was. She also
sees the tragic consequences of some U.S. efforts to change the place and bring
medical care to it. It’s a frighteningly realistic view of the misuse of power
written by a former New York Times Afghanistan correspondent. The story is
compelling and unsettling. Perfect for book clubs. GPR/SN, BC
*Whitehead, Colson, The
Nickel Boys proves that Whitehead
is a genius. Coming after his magnum opus, Pulitzer Prize winner—The
Underground Railroad, this is a different animal in every manner except
excellence. This is realistic narrative, straight-shooting storytelling; yet both
novels tell the truth of the stain that racism levies on the US regardless of the
century. Elwood, a smart, hardworking teen, gets sent to the Nickel Academy, a
reform school, despite his innocence. There, in the early 1960s, he encounters
inconceivable sadism. He wants to heed Dr. King’s words to love. His friend
thinks him naive. Read this novel and give thanks for the gift of Colson
Whitehead who makes us see and feel the pain. G/SN, BC
+Wiggs. Susan, The Oysterville
Sewing Circle is a 2019 Library Journal
Top Ten Pop Fiction choice and it’s a compelling story of a woman who becomes the
guardian of a friend’s two children and moves back to the small coastal Pacific
town where she grew up with them. She finds purpose in helping women victims of
domestic abuse and in using her fashion design background to make exciting
garments. The ending is abrupt, but the story is just what readers want in an
escape with heft with pages that almost turn themselves. CC/SN, BC
+Woodson, Jacqueline, Red at
the Bone returns to the African
American family life of Woodson’s previous books with a coming-of-age story
about Melody, a 16-year-old making her debut in the family’s Park Slope
brownstone, and her mother who had her at age sixteen then basically abandoned
her and her father to attend Oberlin College then make her way in New York.
United by the stories of Iris’ mother Sabe, the book offers a meditation on the
music of life. Perfect language, elegant details, and caring character studies
combine to make a brilliant novel. G, BC
Mysteries, Suspense, and
Thrillers
+Atkinson, Kate, Big Sky showcases private eye
Jackson Brodie in his fifth book in a case involving eastern European sisters
involved with a bogus employment agency as Brodie gathers evidence of marital
discretions to pay his bills. Brodie and his teenage son and old dog keep
things real. Exploring human trafficking, child sexual abuse, and family life
with comic undertones isn’t simple, but Brodie always delivers. Don’t try to
define this, just read it. CC/GPR/SBP
+M.C. Beaton, The
Flirt (The Regency Intrigue Series Book 1) offers an homage to Jane Austen as Elizabeth is orphaned and
living with her cruel uncle. She tricks her way into the Duke of Dunster’s
party to snag a wealthy bachelor, but the results are not as expected. CC/D/PP/SBP
*Benz, Chantelle, The
Gone Dead, see General Fiction for
a remarkable thriller and an astonishing tale of race and secrets in the
Mississippi delta.
+Bowen, Rhys, The
Tuscan Child, see General Fiction for
a delightful cozy mystery combined with romantic historical fiction.
+Box, C. J., Endangered
finds Game Warden Joe
Pickett investigating the killing of endangered sage grouse when he learns that
his adopted daughter has been brutally beaten and left to die. Her boyfriend’s
evil family is sure he wouldn’t have hurt her. Pickett soon finds more problems
as he patrols the Rockies. Fifteenth in the compelling series. CC (2015)
+Braithwaite, Oyinkan, My
Sister the Serial Killer, winner of the LA Times Best Mystery Award, is a sinister, wry, and
compelling story of murder and sibling loyalty made believable because the
characters are so well imagined. It seemed a strange choice for my book club,
but almost forty women loved the discussion and were glad they’d read it. It
explores beauty and misogyny as it might have been told had Jane Austen written
a Nigerian murder mystery. S/SBP, BC (2018)
+Denfeld, Rene, The
Butterfly Girl is a sequel to the magnificent The Child
Finder. While searching for her lost sister whose name she doesn’t know,
Naomi is drawn to Celia, a homeless 12-year-old girl who’s escaping sexual
abuse. There’s a serial killer at large and the homeless are vulnerable.
Celia’s imagination might save her. This book is a love letter to libraries and
how they saved Denfeld and help so many people. Read The Child Finder
first. GPR/SN, BC
Giordano, Mario, Auntie
Poldi and the Sicilian Lions is a convoluted novel in which Poldi, a wig-wearing German widow
moves to Sicily to drink herself to death. Instead, she investigates a murder
and falls for a detective. It’s wry, but the detail overwhelms the narrative. OC/SBP
(2016)
+Harvey, Michael, The
Fifth Floor is the second in the
Michael Kelly mystery series set in Chicago. When his former girlfriend hires
Kelly to follow her abusive husband, connections to the mayor’s office and back
to the 1871 Chicago fire surface. Clever historic connections along with
intriguing local sights boost the narrative. CC (2008)
*Hepworth, Sally, The
Mother-in-Law, see General Fiction for
a smart page-turner with fascinating clues.
+Iles, Greg, Cemetery
Road follows Marshall McEwan home to Bienville,
Mississippi where he takes over his family’s dying newspaper and reconnects
with his former love. Corruption, murder, sex, and family come together in a
big saga of a novel packed with violence and Southern manners. Iles always
offers absorbing page-turners. CC/GS
+Jackson, Joshilyn, Never
Have I Ever see General Fiction for
a thriller with heft and a great twist.
+Johnston, Tim, The
Current begins when Audrey’s roommate drives her 700
miles home to Minnesota to see her dying father. A few miles from their
destination, the car plunges into an icy river killing the roommate. The former
sheriff wonders if the car was pushed reminding him of a similar case ten years
previously. The novel explores grief, family, community, and responsibility and
is thus much more than just a mystery. Johnston is a master at character
development. CC/GPR
+Jones, Steven Mack, August
Snow, winner of the Hammett
Prize and the Nero Award, is a rock ‘em, sock ‘em mystery featuring the unique
August Snow. Snow is a former Detroit cop who exposed corruption and got a $12
million payout after his wrongful firing. He’s rehabbing homes on the street
where he grew up in the Mexicantown area of Detroit. His father was an
African-American cop and his mother was Mexican. After a wealthy socialite
dies, he investigates and uncovers cybercrime and a cadre of criminals out to
kill him. Great characters, setting, and voice. CC (2018)
+Kim, Angie, Miracle
Creek is a courtroom drama featuring Korean
immigrants in Miracle Creek, VA where they have a hyperbaric oxygen therapy
center (HBOT) they call the Miracle Submarine. Clients sealed in the HBOT
breathe pure oxygen to cure autism, infertility and other problems. When the
book opens, two people have died and four have been seriously injured when the
capsule burned. The mother of an autistic boy who died is charged with his
murder, but so much more happens. Immigration, loyalty, family, and morality
are on view in this page-turner. CC/SN, BC
+Le Carré, John, Agent Running in the Field is pure Le Carré with
British Secret Service agent Nat as an aging, badminton-playing spy returned to
London in a new desk job he doesn’t want and reporting to an incompetent boss
he despises. Russians, Brexit, double agents, romantic intrigue, and a clever
ending form a tale only a former British spy could invent. CC/SBP/SN
+Lelchuk, S. A., Save
Me from Dangerous Men,
Nikki Griffin is a bookseller, book club leader, and private investigator who
saves women who’ve been abused by horrible men. She’s court-mandated to see a
shrink to handle her anger issues, she’s met a caring man, and she just might
have the skills of Lisbeth Salander. What’s not to like! CC
*Lippmann, Laura, Lady
in the Lake is set in 1965 Baltimore where 37-year-old
Maddie leaves her husband to pursue a life as a newspaper reporter. She’s
consumed by the death of Cleo, a black cocktail waitress whose body was found
in a city park lake. Maddie also secretly sees a black policeman and fights
racism, classism, and sexism. This book is simply phenomenal and every
character is developed fully. CC/PP/SN, BC
*Locke, Attica, Heaven, My Home returns to east Texas
where Texas Ranger Darren’s mother is blackmailing him as he, an African-American,
has been sent to make a case against the Aryan Brotherhood in a rural area. The
9-year-old son of an imprisoned Brotherhood member is missing and his family
thinks an old black man who owns the land they rent killed him. Darren’s demons
and the distrust of the whites in the community aren’t helping him do his
intended sleuthing. Locke’s Highway 59 series is exceptional for character
development, pacing, and intrigue. CC/SN, BC
*May, Peter, The
Black House is the first in the
Lewis trilogy set in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides. Fin, who’s recently lost his
only son in a tragic accident is sent to the Isle of Lewis where he grew up to
investigate a horrific murder that may be connected to an earlier killing on
the mainland. Revisiting the tragic events of his childhood isn’t helpful.
Terrific pacing and a stellar beginning to an engrossing series from a writer
who writes hauntingly chilling tales! CC/GPR/SBP (2013)
*May, Peter, The
Chess Men, the third entry in the
Lewis trilogy, returns Fin to his childhood home as the head of security at a
local fishing and hunting estate. When the wreckage of a plane lost in a long-ago
crash surfaces, Fin confronts a childhood friend and his past with a renowned
band. The setting is dramatic and haunting and almost acts as a separate
character. CC/GPR/SBP (2015)
+May, Peter, Entry Island, English speaking Montreal
detective Sime Mackenzie is sent with a French-speaking team to remote Entry
Island in the Madeline Islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence to investigate a
murder. It seems clear to the team that the widow did it, but Sime thinks something
is missing and his dreams and the disappearance of a local make him look
further. CC (2015)
*May, Peter, The
Lewis Man, the second in the Lewis trilogy, returns Fin to the Outer Hebrides
without a wife or a job. He’s no longer a Chief Inspector so he decides to try
to repair his parents’ home and his former friendships. His plans are
interrupted when a long-buried body is found in a peat bog and he traces clues
to find the killer. The second entry in the series is just as exceptional as
the first. These gripping psychological tales offer a chilling escape.
CC/GPR/SBP (2014)
*McLaughlin, James, Bearskin, the winner of the 2019 Edgar for Best First Novel, is a searingly
tight thriller. Rice Moore is the new biologist/caretaker on a massive
old-growth preserve in southwest Virginia’s Appalachian region. He’s hiding
from players in a Mexican drug cartel and he’s not your usual caretaker. When
poachers begin killing bears to sell their gallbladders and paws to world
markets, he learns that the young woman who was the previous caretaker was
raped and left for dead. The folks in the woods of Virginia are as deadly as
those on the border. This is both a gorgeously told nature saga and an
intriguing view of the multi-dimensional characters who populate the area.
G/SN, BC (2018)
*Penny, Louise, A
Better Man continues the saga of
Armand Gamache and his cohorts in Quebec. In this, the 15th in the series,
Gamache returns from a suspension as much of Quebec, including his beloved
village, is threatened with flooding and he tries to catch the murderer of an
abused woman. Compassionate and compelling as always. GPR
+Royce, Deborah
Goodrich, Finding Mrs. Ford is a promising debut thriller with a clever premise that tracks a
woman from her college job in Detroit in 1979 to her privileged life in 2014.
It covers many arenas including the mafia, Iraq, and the abuse of women with an
unexpected twist that makes for a delightful escape. CC
+Smolens, John, Wolf’s
Mouth, see General Fiction for
a suspenseful tale of POWs in the USA during WWII.
+Stander, Aaron, The
Center Cannot Hold is
the tenth in the Ray Elkins Thriller series that take place in the resort community
area near Traverse City, MI. In this one, Sheriff Elkins investigates the
burning of his predecessor’s home and the vandalizing of the former Sheriff’s
grave. Could the crimes be tied to a mysterious commune forty years ago?
Fine pacing and detailed depictions of the icy, relentless winter make this
another hit. CC (2018)
*Tokarczuk, Olga, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, see General Fiction
for the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature that’s also a compelling
mystery/thriller.
+Walker, Wendy, The
Night Before is a clever tale with
tantalizing misdirection that changes course just when you think you know
what’s happening. Laura has returned to her hometown where she’s temporarily
living with her sister after a sad breakup. Sister Rosie and her husband Joe
are worried that a harrowing incident from Laura’s teen years is affecting her
now. The thriller reveals what happens the day before and the day after Laura
disappears on a blind date. This roller-coaster of a tale has more twists than
a French braid. CC
Nonfiction
*Adichie, Chimamanda
Ngozi, Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions made my heart sing. I wish I’d been given this
when I became a parent. Renowned author Adichie’s childhood friend asked her
for advice on how to raise her baby girl to be a feminist. Adichie’s fifteen
caring and compassionate suggestions offer lessons on motherhood, race,
kindness, and more. These are the best 63 pages of advice I’ve ever read. Buy
it for a new parent. G/SF/SN, BC (2017)
+Cep, Casey, Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last
Trial of Harper Lee follows Rev. Willie Maxwell, a rural Alabama preacher,
who probably killed five family members to collect insurance money in the
1970s. Because he and his victims were black and because he had an astute
lawyer, he was never convicted of any crime. At the funeral of his last victim,
another relative shot and killed Maxwell point-blank in front of everyone and
the same smart lawyer may get the murderer acquitted. Harper Lee was in the courtroom
and planned the story to be her next book. Amazing research. SN
*Chung, Nicole, All
You Can Ever Know is a memoir of Chung’s search for her
adoptive family when she’s pregnant with her first child. She was told that her
Korean birth parents couldn’t take care of her or give her the life she
deserved so she grew up in an all-white town and went to an all-white school.
Just before she gave birth, her birth sister contacted her and everything she
knew about her origin changed. It’s a profound look at finding out who you are.
GPR/SN, BC
+Dana, MaryAnn McKibbon,
God, Improv, and the Art of Living shows how living life requires improvisation. Dana, who studied
improv at Chicago’s Second City and who’s both a parent and a pastor, saw that
using seven improv principles could help her with all her roles. Life never
goes according to plan, so learn to improvise. She’s also a gifted speaker and
workshop leader and offers much wisdom and enthusiasm for churches. SF/SN, BC (2018)
*Dreyer, Benjamin, Dreyer’s
English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style is one of the most enjoyable books I’ve ever
read. I laughed and laughed. Not only does Dreyer give pithy advice on grammar,
punctuation, and writing, his droll humor makes that advice a vacation on the
page. I plan to keep this book on my desk at all times and will reread my
favorite parts whenever I need a lift. This entertaining tome will make anyone
a smarter, better writer. G/S/SN
*Evans, Rachel Held, Inspired:
Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again examines Bible stories and retells them in poetry, stories,
interpretations, and imaginative renderings. She helps the reader wrestle with
the doubt that some misappropriated passages have caused. I led a discussion of
this last winter and the class found it unique, transformative, and
compassionate. Evans died from a sudden illness as we were finishing and we
grieve the loss of such a profound truth-teller who was also a brilliant writer
whose words inspire. What a loss!
G/SF/SN (2018)
+Fountain, Ben, Beautiful
Country Burn Again: Democracy, Rebellion, And Revolution examines the 2016 election and the historical
context that led to Trump’s victory. Fountain expertly explores every nuance of
the campaign and why Trump won. Fountain lays out an impressive thesis showing
white supremacy at the root of our current trials and Trump’s victory. His
brilliance forces the reader to contemplate. This is a book to read slowly then
reread. G/SN, BC (2018)
+Geary, James, Wit’s
End: What Wit Is, How It Works, and Why We Need It explores wit from puns to repartee. Each chapter is written in the
style becoming it with chapters written in jive, rap, and a play. If you love
words and clever plays upon them, you’ll enjoy this tome. Don’t read it
straight through; visit the chapters for entertainment. S/SN (2018)
+Gordinier, Jeff, Hungry presents a gripping view of Rene Redzepi and
Noma, the world’s top-ranked restaurant. Gordinier embeds himself in Redzepi’s
travels as he frantically seeks the rarest local ingredients in Denmark,
Australia, and Mexico. Gordinier journeys in search of self and that’s what
makes the book sing as the reader cheers for him and as he contemplates life’s
meaning. GPR/SN
*Land, Stephanie, Maid:
Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive will make you feel some of what it’s like to be
cold, hungry, frightened, and anxious when you’re trying to hang on and raise a
child with minimum support. You must read this book to begin to understand and
bear witness to her stark struggles to survive. Stephanie Land is someone we
should all respect for her fine writing, intelligence, resilience, and loving
support of her daughter. GPR/SN, BC
*Laymon, Kiese, Heavy:
An American Memoir, the winner of the Andrew
Carnegie Medal and on every best of 2018 list is that good. It’s a powerful
memoir showing how the weight of secrets, lies, and fear can destroy a black
man and his body. Laymon grew up the son of a brilliant mother in Jackson, MS.
He suffered from anorexia and obesity as a result of coping with his secrets.
His writing is genius, his transformation real, and he shares it beautifully.
G/SN, BC (2018)
+Lillien, Lisa, Hungry
Girl: Simply Six: All-Natural Recipes with 6 Ingredients or Less has imaginative ideas using healthy ingredients
to make tasty foods easily. She has me thinking about making blender muffins
and buying a small spiralizer. SN
*Ludwinski, Lisa, Sister Pie: The Recipes and Stories of a Big-Hearted
Bakery in Detroit made this reader who has never had any desire to
bake pies want to make savory pies, hand pies, shortbread, and maybe even a
blueberry plum balsamic pie. Her repertoire is imaginative and features great
seasonal ingredients. Her compassion and devotion to community make you want to
head to Detroit. The book was an IACP finalist and landed on every Top 10
Cookbooks of 2018 list. SF/SN (2018)
Mundy, Liza, Code
Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II presents fascinating information about the new
college graduates and teachers selected to break code during World War II. It’s
too long and too repetitive though. On a personal note, I was surprised to
learn that my father’s 5th Infantry Division made it from Iceland to
Ireland because the code breakers found them safe passage. My book club did not
enjoy this. SN (2018)
+Norris, Mary, Greek
to Me: Adventures of the Comma Queen is a blend of an informative book with scholarly appeal paired
with Norris’s delicious Greek travelogue. She teaches the reader about the
origin of the alphabet while sharing her escapades traveling alone to Greek
islands and remote villages. Wouldn’t everyone like to sit naked on a beach
that had belonged to a favorite author? She did it. Her section on epithets
alone is worth the retail price of the book for language-lovers. SN/D
*Oluo, Ijeoma, So you
want to talk about race breaks
through all the pretense of understanding race in the U.S. and makes sense of
why it’s a problem, why we should care, and what we should do. Filled with
facts and stories that illuminate them. This is a primer every American needs
to read and utilize. Buy this book!
G/SN, BC (2018)
+Page, Susan, The
Matriarch: Barbara Bush and the Making of an American Dynasty uses over 100 interviews with Bush friends and family members, many
hours of conversation with Mrs. Bush as she neared the end of her life, and
extensive research to show what made her “the matriarch.” Susan Page is a
gifted journalist and this book makes Mrs. Bush come alive. It’s a piece of
history everyone should read. SN, BC
+Reichl, Ruth, Save Me
the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir is pure delight. Reichl shares the ups
and downs of running Gourmet magazine
from its heyday through its demise. Even if you have no interest in food or
cooking, this book is a gem as Reichl puts the reader into her experiences.
G/SN, BC
*Shapiro, Dani, Inheritance:
A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love, Shapiro submitted her
DNA to a genealogy testing center and shockingly found that the father she
adored, wasn’t her biological father. As both her parents were deceased, she
took to the Internet and soon found a video of her biological father thus
setting off a journey to uncover secrets and to determine who she was if she
was no longer who she’d always known herself to be. Only an author like Shapiro
could turn her own story into a meditation on acceptance and love. She’s such a
treasure. I’m glad I’d read several of her other books so I already “knew” her,
but it stands alone beautifully. Perfect for book clubs. G/GPR/SF, BC
+Skoczylas, Patricia, Lullabies
and Laments is a tough read. Told in a stream of
consciousness, it illustrates a frighteningly hard childhood that still
provided love and community. I had to put it down many times as it was too sad
to endure especially as I know some of the family members. SF
Peanut Butter and Jelly – Picture Books and Books for Preschoolers
and Toddlers
+Dewdney, Anna, Llama,
Llama, Easter Egg is
just what a two-year-old wants to read before and after an Easter egg hunt.
Using books like this to foreshadow events makes them more fun. PBJ Ages 0 - 3
(2015)
+McGhee, Holly M.,
illustrated by Pascal Lemaitre, Listen teaches empathy and the importance of our
connection to the natural world. PBJ Ages 3 - 7
+McMullan, Kate and Jim,
I’m Tough is just what a
preschooler wants. With a tough pickup truck, an adorable dog, and a farm
filled with cows, the colors and drama will keep any child turning the pages.
My grandson loved “reading” this to me. PBJ Ages 2 - 7 (2018)
*Medina, Juana, Juana
& Lucas is the story of Juana
and her dog Lucas. They live in Bogota, Colombia. Juana loves Lucas and her
family, but she detests her school uniform, dance class, and most of all,
learning English until her grandfather tells her about a fantastic treat that
makes her want to learn English quickly. PBJ/SN Ages 5 - 8
*Moore, Lindsay, Sea
Bear: A Journey for Survival is a gorgeously illustrated view of polar bears, sea creatures
and survival. Little ones will love the pictures and will inhale the lessons of
patience, determination, and climate change. PBJ/SN Ages 4 - 8
+Parr, Todd, The Cars
and Trucks Book is for car and truck-loving
preschoolers. The bright colors and bold lines lead the story. Cars and trucks
on the farm and everywhere are a treat for kids. My grandson lined up his cars
and trucks and asked me to read them this tale. What an endorsement. PBJ Ages 2
- 6 (2018)
+Patricelli, Leslie, Potty
is a book for the “newly
potty trained and proud of it” crowd. My grandson made me read this at least
six times EVERY day for weeks. He found this book uproariously funny. It’s much
better than the other options. PBJ Ages 2 – 4 (2010)
*Schertle, Alice,
illustrated by Jill Mc Elmurry, Good Night, Little Blue Truck is a wonderful addition to the bedtime story
genre. Kids love the Little Blue Truck books and parents love that they won’t
go nuts reading them repeatedly as they’re charming. PBJ Ages 2 - 5
Peanut Butter and Jelly – Chapter Books and Books for Early
Readers
+Sheinkin, Steve, Time Twisters: Abraham Lincoln: Pro Wrestler makes learning history fun. When Abraham Lincoln
hears kids call history boring, he decides to teach them a lesson by opting out
and becoming a pro wrestler. Can kids save the day? PBJ/SN Ages 7 – 10
+Sheinkin, Steve, Time Twisters: Amelia Earhart and the Flying Chariot sends the time-traveling kids to ancient Greece with Amelia Earhart
driving a chariot before returning to cross the Atlantic by plane. PBJ/SN Ages 7 – 10
Diet Coke and Gummi Bears: Young Adult Books and Books for Teens
and Tweens
Faring, Sara, The
Tenth Girl is a haunting gothic
novel set at the southern tip of Argentina in a school where Mavi moves to
teach English and escape her mother’s past. The first 350 pages of the book
have little narrative arc and thus were tedious for me. The last 100 pages were
faster paced with a twist. This is a book you’ll either adore or not.
Recommended for teens who love ghostly tales. Teens are loving it. DC Ages 15
and older.
+Mathieu, Jennifer, The
Liars of Mariposa Island is a story
told by two teen siblings and their controlling, alcoholic mother. Set in 1986,
when Elena babysits a wealthy Texas island family and her brother works in a
restaurant as well as in flashbacks to their mother’s childhood life in a
wealthy Cuban family until the Cuban revolution delivered her to Texas as a
poor, lonely refugee, the novel explores abuse, trauma, and loyalty. Teens and adults will find it compelling. DC,
BC Ages 12 - 18
+Perkins, Mitali, Forward Me Back to You shares the stories of
Kat, a jiu-jitsu champion, who was attacked by a boy in her high school and is
staying with an older aunt in Boston to heal and Robin who was adopted by
wealthy, white parents from an orphanage in India. They go to Kolkata with two
others from their church youth group on a service project working with
survivors of human trafficking. Will Robin find his birth mother or any
connections to India? Will Kat survive? This book explores justice, faith,
healing, and above all kindness. DC/GPR/SF/SN, BC Ages 14 and older
*Sheinkin, Steve, The
Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights details the 1944 explosion that killed more than 300 men at the Port
Chicago Naval Magazine in California. All the officers were white and all the
sailors handling the explosives were black and had no training. Of those who
died 202 were black sailors. After the explosion, 50 black sailors refused to
return to work under the same conditions and were charged with mutiny. The
fifty men tell the story of their heroism in this National Book Award Finalist.
PBJ/DC/SN Ages 10 – 14
(2014)
*Warga, Jasmine, Other
Words for Home is an exquisite view of
the immigrant experience as seen through Jude, an eleven-year-old Syrian girl
who accompanies her pregnant mother to live in Cincinnati. Told in verse, Jude
makes being “other” come alive through her heart and her hope-filled story.
Plenty for book groups to ponder regardless of their ages. My adult group is
going to discuss it. GPR/DC/SN, BC Ages 10 - 14
*Wynne-Jones, Tim, The
Starlight Claim drops the reader into a
wintery thriller in the Canadian wilderness. Nate, haunted by the death of his
best friend, plans a trip to their camp with a buddy. When he’s grounded, Nate
goes alone without anyone knowing. Upon arriving at his family’s remote cabin,
he finds it occupied by escaped prisoners, but the area is snowed in and he
can’t contact anyone, so he uses his wits to survive. Harrowing, compelling,
and full of questions about life, this is a winner for older teens and adults.
I love this book. DC/GPR, BC Ages 14 and older
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