My favorite book searching tool has posted! This year, I'm gravitating towards these biographies and memoirs.
Mr. B by Jennifer Homans
Scenes from My Life by Michael K. Williams
Solito by Javier Zamora
Dear Denise by Lisa McNair
Star Child by Ibi Zoboi
Recently my library curated a list of novels based on historical figures. From that list, I found two completely engrossing reads.
Booth by Karen Joy Fowler
Fowler takes us into a deeply troubled, yet fascinating
family. Although the action culminates in the event that made this name
infamous, the stories of John’s siblings are equally, if not more, dramatic. Nothing
less would be expected from the offspring of a Shakespearean actor.
The Mayfair Bookshop
by Eliza Knight
In this novel, we enter the world of Nancy Mitford. A
struggling, though not impoverished writer, Mitford longs for acclaim. As her 30th
birthday approaches, she enters into a marriage of convenience and soon
discovers her husband lacks what it takes to be the breadwinner. So Mitford turns
her family’s foibles into the perfect plot for her next project. Fast forward
to the present, Lucy, a young library curator, travels to London on assignment.
She lands in Mitford’s bookshop and begins searching for clues to solve a
long-running mystery in her own family.
For more titles, see this list.
Anyone else still reeling from the season finale of Bad Sisters? If you need something to fill the void, try Sally Hepworth’s The Good Sister.
Fern, a librarian, is our protagonist and narrator.
When her sister Rose finds out she can’t have a baby, Fern decides to remedy
the situation. She does this, in part, because of the guilt she still carries -
but doesn’t quite understand - from a
tragic event from their childhood. When Rose’s overbearing personality grates
on her, she has this to say:
“Still, the illogical irritation is there. But
illogical irritation is something one is allowed to have with one’s sister. I
have read enough books about sisters to know that is true.”
But in this particular book, revealing what’s true
makes for a stunning plot twist.
Reading this remembrance of Angela Lansbury this week took me back to my grandparents’ house in Arkansas where the tv always seemed to be loudly playing Murder She Wrote. It was also at my grandmother’s house that I first discovered Agatha Christie. I still love a good mystery, and if it’s a little quirky, so much the better. Today’s repost reminds me of an author I need to revisit, Emily Arsenault.
Not since reading the Flavia de Luce mysteries, have I been so intrigued by the amateur sleuths that crop up in Emily Arsenault's books.
The Broken Teaglass follows two young dictionary editors as they start finding random citations from a mysteriously quirky story called The Broken Teaglass. As the excerpts turn up out of order, they intriguingly reveal a corpse, a guilty conscience, and a love affair all set in the very dictionary offices from which they are working. What could be better than a novel that combines unrequited love, murder, and words? Arsenault builds up the suspense with each excerpt, and helpfully puts them all in order in the later chapters revealing that context matters.
In the mood for a musical last night after reading When You Get the Chance by Emma Lord, I watched Better Nate Than Ever on Disney+. Usually, I lean towards the page rather than the screen, but in this case, maybe because Tim Federle wrote both, the movie captured all the charm of the novel while getting to show us the choreography and music.
Here’s what I had to say about the novel and its sequel
in 2017.
Better Nate Than Ever by
Tim Federle was a book we enjoyed listening to in the car last summer, so I was
excited for the next book in the series Five, Six, Seven, Nate!
In the first book, middle schooler Nate Foster travels
to New York by himself to audition for a Broadway show. After several mishaps,
Nate lands a spot in a new show called E.T. The Musical.
The second book opens with Nate saying goodbye to his
best friend Libby as he packs for rehearsals. Back in New York, his Aunt Heidi
gives him both a place to stay and an appreciation of his dream – which is all
but nonexistent at home.
Awkward and simultaneously self-conscious and
confident, Nate stands out in the cast of polished, experienced child actors.
Nate soon finds support from the dance coach and a seasoned actress playing the
understudy to E.T. She recognizes Nate’s gift of a photographic mind that not
only remembers lines, but whole scenes of blocking. While he tries to stay out
of way of the show’s star Elliott, played by his hometown nemesis Jordan, he is
comforted by the gifts left by a secret admirer.
Even though the director, who has only worked on video
games, can’t remember his name, he will soon have to rely on Nate in ways he
never expected.
Narrated by Nate, the novel is funny, snarky, and
sweet. Nate never shies away from voicing his unique perspective of the
theater, his fellow middle schoolers, and his own view of himself. As he
commits the musical to heart, he becomes a star – both on stage and off.
a pleasant smell that frequently accompanies the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather
This week, we had our first rain after an unusually
dry summer and with it, our first petrichor. I was August 8 years old when I
came across this word in a book. And then I read it in another one and another
one. (Funny how when you learn a new word, you tend to start seeing it
everywhere?) Of course, I haven’t heard anyone say it, so I may be mispronouncing
it.
It popped up most recently in The Machine by
James Smythe. In this nod to Frankenstein, I think, a woman attempts to
restore her husband’s memory after it has been removed. As the memories are restored,
his violent tendencies also return.
The other appearances remain a mystery (since all of
the possible contenders are on hold), but it may have also been spotted in one
of these. Even if I am mistaken, they include quite pleasing moments
nonetheless.
The
Taste of Salt Martha
Southgate
What
I Carry
by Jennifer Longo
Diary
of a Void
by Emi Yagi
Butterflies
in November
by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir
Fall sports are back on track, schools are hosting meet the teacher nights after a hiatus, and it’s almost as if the pandemic was a strange fever dream. Almost.
Before the
onslaught of her own senior year demands – AP homework, college applications,
and decorative jumpsuits - my daughter
read and recommended one of Jodi Picoult’s newest novels, Wish You Were Here.
Diana and
Finn are all set for their Galapagos Island vacation, planned for March of 2020.
However, Finn, a surgical resident at a New York City hospital feels compelled
to stay as the first COVID cases begin trickling in. Diana decides to go alone
and just manages to catch the last plane and ferry to a remote island as governments
around the world begin to impose lock-downs.*
With all
ties cut off to the rest of the world, Diana survives thanks the kindness of a
few locals, who we suspect are used to catering to the needs of thankless
American tourists. Although she gets sporadic emails from Finn, which truly
narrate the horrors patients, caregivers, and family members face in dealing
with this virus, Diana befriends a local nature guide who shows her the island’s
wonders. Which, as the reader discovers, are breathtaking in their own right.
*Apparently just
like the Witch who froze Narnia, according to my daughter’s English teacher.
