Fall into Reading

The autumnal equinox isn’t until September 22, but it’s beginning to feel like fall here in northern Michigan. When I woke up a few days ago, the temperature had dropped into the low fifties and the sky was still pitch black, so I turned on the kettle, steeped my tea, and hopped back into bed with my book. The temperature is supposed to be in the upper 70s this week, but I’m still ready to curl up with good books as the daylight hours diminish. (Sunrise is at 7:14 a.m. today here on the western edge of the Eastern time zone.) As you begin to drift toward autumn, try one of these titles I devoured in the last few months.

I’m excited that four of the authors of these books, Graham Moore, Catherine Newman, Rainbow Rowell, and  Zoë Schlanger, will be at the Harbor Springs Festival of the Book beginning on September 27 and that I will get to introduce them when they read. Tickets to the festival are sold out, but those of you who will be attending may want to read some of these titles in the coming weeks. 

*All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker is a spectacular mystery. It begins in 1975 when Patch, named for the patch covering his eye socket, intervenes to save a girl being assaulted in the woods and is himself kidnapped. During his captivity in a dark cellar, a girl named Grace offers him hope with her descriptions of a colorful outside world. After he escapes, he and his best friend Saint search for Grace and other possible victims. Saint and Patch are phenomenal characters and this tale of twists, anguish, resilience, love, and art is a winner. GPR, BC

*The Light Eaters by Zoë Schlanger is a fascinating exploration of the strides in plant science that will change the way you see the world. The chapter on hearing mesmerized me with the suggestion of a flower forming a bowl shape resembling a concave satellite dish. Seeing evidence of plant “communication” and “intelligence” explained in Schlanger ‘s exquisite writing entranced me. G/SN, BC

*Sandwich by Catherine Newman illustrates the toll being the emotional center of a family can bring. Rocky loves her newly adult children, her elderly parents, and her capable, but emotionally distant husband. On their yearly Cape Cod beach vacation, she caters to each family member’s sandwich cravings while holding a long-buried secret and being torn apart by her role in the sandwich generation. Written with humor and heart, Sandwich feels real as it explores generational trauma and depression with irony. Readers will laugh through their tears. GPR/S, BC

*Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy, 83-year-old Helen Cartwright’s husband and son have died. Her “life is essentially finished” so after an absence of sixty years, she returns to the English village where she grew up. Her life is tedious until early one morning when she sees her neighbor’s discarded fish tank on the sidewalk and brings it into her home. In it she finds a live mouse. After looking for ways to get rid of the creature, she begins caring for it and names it Sipsworth. Her care of the mouse leads her to connections with people in the village and her backstory reveals itself as she becomes friends with a librarian, a man at the hardware store, and a doctor. This is a charming fable, a warm, kind story that you’ll want to reread whenever you need a lift. It’s heartwarming without being simplistic or saccharine. I adored it. GPR/SF, BC

*Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell exemplifies the best definition of a heartfelt, witty, kind, and well written rom-com. If rom-com ever becomes an Olympic sport, Slow Dance will win gold. Shiloh, Cary, and Mikey were inseparable best friends growIng up poor in Omaha. They always wanted to leave. Cary joined the Navy and went far. Shiloh went to college but returned and married; now she’s 33 and divorced with two young kids and is living with her mother. When Cary returns for Mikey’s wedding, the impossible seems possible, but will Shiloh see it? If you loved Rowell’s YA masterpiece Eleanor and Park, you’ll love this adult novel. D/GPR/SF, BC

*Spirit Crossing: Cork O’Connor #20 by William Kent Krueger is one of the best in this popular mystery series. Cork’s grandson Waboo has visions leading to a missing girl while bringing unwanted attention to his gift. Native girls and young women are disappearing, but law enforcement doesn’t pay attention until the white daughter of a State Senator vanishes. Cork’s daughter returns from Guatemala with a secret and disputes over a pipeline across sacred native land bring out the worst in a sadistic security officer. The caring nature of the community shines through. Based on true stories of missing indigenous women, this is a tale we all should read and it’s a page-turner to boot. CC/GPR/SN, BC

*Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout (out today) encapsulates the depth, breadth, and meaning of love with a simplicity rarely explored in contemporary fiction. The novel features memorable characters from Strout’s previous novels. Bob Burgess is the focus of the book as he takes walks and has deep conversations with Lucy Barton who also visits 90-year-old Olive Kitteridge in her senior apartment where they tell each other stories. Bob’s wife Margaret, a pastor, ministers to everyone. William, Lucy’s ex-husband and current partner, still bores friends with talk of his research. Bob’s sister-in-law dies, leaving Bob sad and his brother adrift. When Bob is asked to defend a man accused of murdering his mother, Bob sees the man’s core and helps him find himself as Bob processes who he is and learns of his own gifts. Love is love every day of the week in this another magnificent ode by one of America’s finest writers. GPR, BC

*The Wealth of Shadows by Graham Moore is an exceptional espionage thriller based on the true, but little  known 1939-1944 story of economists who waged a secret financial battle to cripple Nazi Germany. Using real people, both famous and unknown, Moore builds a compelling tale of patriotism. Ansel Luxford is my new hero. What a movie this would make. Be sure you read the footnotes at the end of the book after you read each chapter; they add mind-boggling, pertinent information. PP/SN, BC

One I didn’t adore also debuted today:

Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty, the author of Big Little Lies, is a too-clever tale of a flight on which a passenger visits each of the other passengers with a prediction of when and how that person will die. At 512 pages, the number of travelers with terrifying death sentence proclamations becomes dizzying. Moriarty concludes the book masterfully as she ties the characters together, but the minutiae of the 400-plus pages leading to that satisfying conclusion aren’t worth the wait. OC