Leta’s Book Reviews

~The Huntington Public Library Trustees & Staff are so grateful to Leta Watkins for her generous donation of time and energy in creating “Leta’s Book Reviews” for the past year. It has been our pleasure reading Leta’s reviews, we will all miss her book choices!

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande 2014 Non Fiction: Medical Social Science 5 Stars

Gawande is a Surgeon and Professor at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health. He brings to this book a medically and ethically based look on the aged and frail older population in America asking the serious questions doctors and family members often fail to address as a life draws to an end.

Most elders want to live their last years in their own homes independently –with a life that remains meaningful and full, but consequences of not being safe often lead to options not favorable, usually nursing home care. The author shares some hopeful alternatives and very progressive and creative ways to house the frail without forcing them into the limited and regimented life of a nursing home.

Why does the medical profession continue vigorously treating an old person nearing the end of life, often shortening their life, a life now more compromised than before. So, how do doctors and the medical profession honestly speak to people about choices of how they want their end of life to be. What are the tradeoffs people will agree to? How can professionals work patiently and sensitively with patients and their loved ones, and help them process when enough is enough, and how to let go, and die with more dignity, doing what needs to be done to ensure an ending they prefer.

This excellent, humane, thoughtful, and timely book is important for people of all ages to read. I found it helpful, moving and hopeful.

Need To Know by Karen Cleveland 2018 (Debut Book) Suspense Espionage Thriller 5 stars

If you want a nail biting, breath holding, and heart pounding thriller, this is it! I actually had to force the book shut or I would have read all night long.

The protagonist has promised to defend America against all enemies, but is put in the impossible position to either do her job, or risk the safety of her family. As the plot thickens, she realizes there are few people to trust, and as she struggles to find the truth, will she ultimately commit treason and sink into a hopeless life in prison or does she find a way out. She even questions who is the man she is married to?

This speedy thriller has one powerful last punch at its conclusion, and I never could have guessed the outcome.

Bravo, Cleveland! I cannot wait for your next book!

The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand 2018 (My adopted Author) Fiction –Murder Mystery 4 stars

So, here is your summer beaching- it -book, and Elin does not disappoint us. This is a mystery a midst the backdrop of a wedding taking place on Nantucket Island over a weekend in July 2018.

A first of its kind for Elin, here is a “who done it” mystery interspersed with sex, drugs and lobster rolls.

And it is such a good mystery that I was actually trying unsuccessfully to guess the suspect, until it was finally revealed in the last chapters of the book. Quick paced, panting and outrageous, this is a read that will keep you up until late into the night and what a perfectly timely book for the typical wedding season in America.

Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittall 2016 Fiction 4.5 stars

Whittall gives us a powerful performance as she draws us swiftly into a most riveting story that reshapes the way we think about family loyalty.

A science “teacher of the year” who previously thwarted a mass gun violence attack at his private prep school in the wealthy suburbs of Connecticut, is suddenly brought up on sexual misconduct and attempted rape charges against several girls at his school. His wife, teenage daughter, and son, are swept up into a chaos of rage and confusion as each one painfully faces the ultimate quandary- is this horrific and uncharacteristic charge true or is it false? The alleged perpetrator continues to consistently plead innocence and claims he is being “set up.”

While the once beloved town turns icy and violent against the family, each family member now spins hopelessly in emotional wreckage. The daughter immerses herself in wildly inappropriate behaviors as she struggles to make sense of her shattered world, while the wife is caught between defending her husband and abandoning him.

This incredibly speedy paced book stands out on its own in its ability to capture, and then share with the reader, intense human feelings and human frailty – pain, grief and anger are portrayed at their peak. I felt breathless as I vacillated between hope and despair.

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What Made Maddy Run by Kate Fagan 2017 (Biography) 4 Stars

This is the compelling story of the life of a teenager cut way too short by her unexpected suicide while

at Penn State.This was written by an ESPN notable sports commentator who sensitively tells what lead to this teen’s decision to end her life after struggling unsuccessfully with depression and anxiety. The strangest part of this book is that Maddy seemed like the all- American girl with a happy and larger than life persona before coming to the campus of her dreams. Once in college, we see

her coming undone as she faced the unbearable struggle to achieve academic success while training for the challenging task of exceeding in sports. This work sheds light on the unbelievable frequency of mental illness among young people striving for perfection. I felt drawn in to this eerie story of Maddy’s life and death, and thought it was completely right on in its detailing of what lead to her demise.

Ikigai, The Japanese Secret to a Happy Life by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles 2016

(Self Help Book-International Best Seller) 4 stars

What gems of wisdom within these 179 pages! Authors travel to a very remote town in Japan where people typically live very long lives, with many residents over 100 years old. This documentary asks questions like, how can people live longer happier lives? What is “Ikigai”? Are there secrets to longevity the Japanese in this village can impart? Basically, the premise is to find the purpose of your life and to keep actively doing that while eating a specific certain way, keeping your body busy and moving most of the day and fostering a community that celebrates life often. An easy read and a refreshing outlook on the wisdom of Ikigai.

bread and roses too

Historical Fiction “ Young Adult” 4 Stars

The Vermont Humanities Council VT Reads Book for 2018

This is the story of the 1912 textile mill strike in Lowell, Massachusetts and it follows one particular family’s involvement and the resulting hardships each member incurred. The young woman in the family strikes up an unlikely alliance with a runaway boy, and together they leave behind the chaos and confusion in Lowell, and end up staying with a Vermont family that garnishes them both with love and a newly found level of comfort. What happens when the boy betrays this kindness and yet still finds love and acceptance? A sweet little gem of a tale proving once again, the world holds beauty and love, despite the odds

Shattuck took 7 years to write this incredible story, and she nailed it! The style of the prose is gorgeous and exquisite and paragraphs are full and rich, each to be savored.

The tale is about the lives of three women in the wake of WW2, all widowed by heroic spouses that died trying to overtake Hitler’s evil reign. These very different women are trying to survive in this crumbling Bavarian castle, and they fight for their ability to take care of their children, everyone shaken and bruised from war.

The deceit, betrayal and hidden secrets each women hold sheltered well inside their hearts, and then, the forgiveness and love they showed each other, all made for a magnificent story which examines right and wrong and the consequences of doing one or the other. A powerful and intimate piece on the entangled lives of the three refugees, and what happens when they finally scatter from the castle.

This sweet little love story that I will never outgrow left me sobbing as I read the last bittersweet pages. It takes place in a tiny town in Vermont during late 1880’s until mid-1900’s and follows a farm family on the brink of disaster. The father figure blames his only son for his wife’s death in childbirth, and he becomes angry, bitter, alcoholic and violent and pretty much ignores his son. It then is this son who single- handedly keeps the farm going.

Vermonters especially would appreciate all the profuse references to specific labor intensive daily chores trying to feed, and shelter a family, in a harsh winter climate and an often isolated home.

Most of the story is about that son, and the surprising partnership and true love he found to sustain him though flash backs of his tragic upbringing.

The pace of this book is so refreshingly slow and deliberate and one can take the time to savor every chapter, as well as learn to understand why people act the way they do. It bears witness to the powers and beauty of true love.

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi 2016 Memoir 4.5 stars

The author takes you on a journey of his life studying a decade to become a brilliant and notable Neurosurgeon practicing at Stamford. In his busy medical life, he interacts with the dying and the severely ill patients and their families – operating on brains with precise and skilled surgery.

Just as he’s completing his medical studies, he discovers he has stage 4 lung cancer, at a very early age, and now he who cured the sick becomes the sick. His health deteriorates quickly as he wrestles with the reality of death, but the when and how eludes him (or is he just in denial). And what he and his wife decide to do is huge and hopeful.

This book demonstrates how a doctor could suddenly become ultra aware of how to best interact with patients, a lesson he now learns from how his own care.

Lots of medical information, lots of profound philosophy about living and dying, and lots of potent raw human emotion fill these heart braking pages. I felt both honored and humbled to witness intimately this incredible life story which he wrote while dying.

Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan 2017 Historical Fiction

(Long Listed for 2017 National Book Award)

4 stars (Found on Listen Up Vermont)

This is a story set in WW2 in Manhattan beach and both the prose and the tale itself make for an interesting read. What happens to a family with a teenage daughter so severely disabled she must be cared for totally, day in day out. Can a father bear witness to such a life that creates in him anguish and shame, plus dire and desperate thoughts? And how do his only other child and wife deal with the situation.

The author takes you into the lives of mobsters, navy soldiers on a precarious world- wide adventure at sea, and the first woman diver, repairing war ships and fighting against all odds to make her way in a male world. The reader can be assured of a book full of surprises and a satisfying completion.

Happiness Is A Choice You Make by John Leland 2018 3.5 stars Memoir

(Found on Listen Up Vermont)

Leland is going through a mid life crises and has many questions about how the oldest old in America deal with the latter part of life. He wants to learn lessons and how he can use the answers to better his own life, and gain wisdom. He follows the lives of 6 elderly New Yorkers, with monthly visits for a year, and what he comes to discover is both enlightening and surprising, yet the nuts and bolts of body and mind decay were predictable.

As you become privy to the details of each one’s everyday life, you become aware of situations so upsetting you assume these elders would be depressed, lonely, dependant and in constant physical pain.

Yet, here lies the mystery. Most of these people could choose to focus on life, whatever theirs was, and live day by the day, often in good spirits. Some lived in an apartment, some in a nursing home. One widow was contemplating marriage to another old person while they courted in a facility. Another was still working with no plans to retire. Often in and out of hospitals and rehab, they appreciated returning to their homes, and perhaps had to adjust and adapt, but they did so anyway. Although you might get discouraged by the gravity of their difficult situations, you also become inspired and hopeful about how one might choose happiness as life comes closer to ending.

(HPL & Listen Up Vermont)

Based on a real network of women spies in 1914 during WWI’s German occupation of France, the many historical and factual references make this Historical Fiction at its best!

The story goes back and forth between the life of a WWI spy that was tortured and later imprisoned and the present day quest of a young out of wedlock pregnant American woman trying to locate a missing and beloved cousin.

Going only on a name and address of the now elderly and broken down bitter spy, she locates her, and they join a very unlikely partnership to find and avenge the atrocities of an officer that tortured the spy and later had connections to the cousin.

Both women have a complicated love interest, one in the past and one now.

The writer skillfully takes us into these two lives in a clever and captivating manner. Character development is at the utmost premium in this book, and we come to love the spy who is an angry drunken outspoken woman, and the American, who is conflicted about her “dilemma” and her mother’s constant interference in her life.
The story itself, the people in it, and the ever so clever transitions between present and past make this a most interesting read.

(Found on Listen Up Vermont)

This book, to be soon made into a film, is by a Scottish author who has been given many prestigious awards for this work, and actually wrote the book while working a full-time job.

The quirky and emotionally challenged protagonist captures your heart instantly and you have an inside view to the workings of the mangled mind of a woman who suffered the most unspeakable childhood abuse and neglect by her evil mother. The reader must wait, though, until the final chapters to be informed on what actually occurred in Eleanor’s childhood that left her so utterly traumatized she is unable to remember the event herself. How did her face end up literally scarred and her need for connection so potent?

Eleanor’s existence is that of a social recluse and her obsession with becoming a “normal” gal soon backfires. She finally faces realities about how she must create a new future and eventually comes to appreciate the splendor of her new and only “friend”, Raymond. Here is a man who can accept Eleanor’s stony façade and catches her as she spirals into the depths of depression and alcoholism. How can just one warm and sincerely delivered hug touch her heart so significantly? I loved Eleanor! I loved Raymond. The power and honesty of their friendship renewed my hope for humanity.

This book is funny, unique and heart- rending, and the end is spectacularly hopeful. I haven’t read a sweeter nor breathtaking novel in a very long time!

This gentle little story takes place in a mere day, yet the events in these hours are filled with dogs and dog owners and the little lady, Poppy, who is their “dog walker.” And of course, dogs can really be all about their human companions, so the story is equally dog, equally people.

Poppy’s day simply goes out of whack when her brother shows up revealing a life changing secret, her partner will find out if he is going to be plagued by a serious illness and her client needs her help getting set up with a new dog she just adopted. So they all travel in one car with 2 dogs on a very hot day. Things just keep getting more and more stressful as events spin things out of control. by Tayari Jones Copyright 2018

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones (Oprah’s Book Club Pick for 2018) 4 stars

Oprah’s pick this year doesn’t disappoint! The cast is all black and the book starts out with a bang right out of the gate!

A young couple married just a year faces the terror of a lifetime when the man is wrongly accused of raping another guest while they are at a hotel. Roy is then sent to prison for a 12 year stint, and his cell mate turns out to be a person Roy has spenta lifetime wondering about. His wife, Georgia, hangs in there only for a few years and then goes on with her own life, only to be shocked when Roy shows up getting out early in just 5 years. A love triangle ensues – who will win Georgia’s heart?

This novel gives us wonderful insight into the complex affairs of the heart, all at once confusing, destructive and overwhelming when loyalty, betrayal and jealousy are in the mix. It was a powerful read.

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

This novel is set in

Memphis in 1939, and is about a 12 year old girl and her four siblings that live on their family boaton a river. Their mother leaves the boat during a difficult labor and the chi

ldren are kidnapped and taken to a horrible orphanage where the poor wards will be sold to wealthy families. The characters are fictional in this story, but this orphanage is a real place from the 30’s-60. It was called the Tennessee Children’s Home Society, and Wingate has done extensive research while writing this most captivating tale. The book also has a current d

ay part about a privileged woman who is digging into her family’s past and learns of her ties to the Children’s Home. At the same time, she is finding a new love while still engaged to a lifelong friend that she isn’t sure will be the “one.” I highly recommend this to anybody who has the bravery to witness an ugly part of US history that remained under wraps for way too long. You may find this riveting and compelling tale worth reading – the story’s surprise ending is uplifting!

Beartown by Fredrik Backman (author of best seller, A Man Called Ove)

So what is so remarkable about Beartown, a Swedish town out in the boondocks? Well, actually nothing, except that it is notorious for cranking out professional ice hockey stars. The main plot is about a teenage girl, the daughter of the hockey manager, who accuses the star hockey player of raping her at an out of control teenage party. The book features the town’s obsession for winning the upcoming hockey competition, willingly taking the side of the boy against the girl, who they stone by slander in a town where nothing matters as much as the win. The characters will leave a powerful impact long after the final chapter is read…the gutsy woman who owns the seedy town bar, the aged sentimental coach being ruthlessly put out to pasture, the only career women in town who can never stop feeling like an outsider and the youngest team player suffering the ruthless bullying of vicious teammates. Who will emerge surprisingly as the hero, dangerously standing up for justice in a town gone mad in a groupthink that is nasty and evil? Backman is creative and skillful in putting you into the perspectives of the various towns folk. Complex and raw emotions sizzle and emerge throughout the entire novel. I found the conclusion inspiring and satisfying. Undoubtedly, this was one of my finest reads.

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah (Author of best seller, The Nightingale)

This novel is about a man returning home from Viet Nam a broken, violent and frightened person. On a whim, he moves wife and teenager to the wilds of Alaska where they must learn to survive.

The books deals with domestic abuse, and because it takes place during the 70’s, the laws were not conducive to victims. The man is so paranoid about the world ending, that he literally builds a wall around his homestead to keep his family locked in and the neighbors out. What were exquisite about this story was the incredibly beautiful descriptions of the Alaskan landscapes. The coming of age for the daughter and her first love affair was sweet. If you can tolerate being privy to the abuse here, you might love to watch this family learn skills necessary to stay alive. Luckily, this read ends on a positive note.

The Hate You Give by Angela Thomas

Sixteen-year-old Starr is African American and lives in a slum filled with gangs, drugs and violence. Her parents send her to an all white private posh high school where she must act totally different from herself at home. Her boyfriend is white and she struggles to keep her two worlds from colliding. Everything comes crashing down around her when she witnesses the fatal shooting of her lifelong black friend by a shady cop and then bravely fights this unjust killing by appearing before a judge stating the truth. What happens to her when verdict is announced is difficult and disturbing. The book boldly confronts racism and is timely as we in America watch The Black Life Matters Movement.

The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir by Jennifer Ryan (Her Debut Novel)

This book takes place during the early part of WW2 in a charming little village called Chilbury in a rural part of England. The women of Chilbury village decide to form an all women choir while their men folk are away fighting in the war. We see the struggles of five women as told in their diaries and letters and journals. These fascinating women must learn to deal with life on their own. Amidst this group there’s a midwife that commits an unspeakable crime, a middle aged widow that falls in love against all odds, aJewish refugee hiding and fearing deportation and a brave teenager that will do anything to keep the choir united even as they struggle to understand and believe in each other. This charming and gentle story is engaging, as well as inspiring, and a perfect winter read.

The Cairo Trilogy: Palace Walk, Palace of Desire, and Sugar Street

By Naquib Mahfouz

Published in Arabic 1957 Translated into English in 1992

Mahfouz was awarded The Nobel Prize for Literature. This trilogy was edited by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

These books take place in Egypt during the world wars, and follow one family, as they face the many changes in their society. Early in this saga, the men spend their nights drinking to inebriation and having numerous affairs, while the wives are forbidden to leave their homes and must wait on their spouses. We watch curiously as roles change with time. Mahfouz has a unique style of writing – often, characters speak and then we read what they really meant to say, but could not. A challenge for the reader is keep track of long Arabic names, and to understand the varied political aspect of the wars. All in all, you will come to love, laugh and cry with this family, and see them in all their complexity, then sadly say goodbye to them at the end.

A Tangled Mercy by Joy Jordan-Lake

(Jordan–Lake did enormous research to write this book)

Outstanding novel that takes place in Charleston, SC during the failed Slavery Uprising of 1822, which was spearheaded by slave members of The African Methodist Church and then to the present horrible mass shooting in the same landmark church. Novel focuses on a slave’s choice to either save himself from the nooses to protect the woman he loves or lead the rebellion. Meanwhile, Kate, a present day Harvard grad student comes to Charleston trying to figure out why her recently deceased mother was obsessed with that slave rebellion of 1822. Actually eventually Kate uncovers her own personal family connection to it. Throughout the book, Kate becomes enmeshed in a group of people that help her uncover the mystery, she becoming romantically involved with one of them. Stellar book examines slave brutality yet ends with enduring hope for freedom and forgiveness. Loved this book, so skillfully written!

Everyone Brave Is Forgiven by Chris Cleave

Historical Fiction – NY Times Bestseller

WW2 book set in London and war time island, Malta. Novel is actually based on real- life love letters between author’s grandparents. So many books about this tragically brutal war, but this particular gem seems different in a good way. Cleave brings to life characters that are witty and funny, at the same time disparate, starving and emotionally deplete. There’s a life changing glance between a soldier going off to war at train station and a wealthy school teacher based in London whose school is destroyed, with many pupils lost. The two correspond throughout the miseries of war, he being maimed and she becoming a morphine addict. What is their hope of finding true love after all this? Can their lives be patched together to resemble happier times? If you are brave enough to read this, you are forgiven for not being there.

A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly

Young Adult Fiction 4 stars

2003 Winner of Medals and Honors

This book is a somewhat hidden gem and it is beautifully written. The year is around 1906. A young girls dreams of escaping the brutal life on the farm, straddled with raising siblings, cooking, cleaning, farming the land, milking, chickens, the whole shebang, and whatever else her controlling, depressed father wants her to do. This does not include going to college. A spinster teacher in town supports her desire to become a writer. The girl takes a job working at a resort near where she lives and she uncovers the details regarding a murder. There is a thread throughout this story, based loosely on the famous murder that took place back then in upstate NY.

Lit: A Memoir by Mary Karr, Writer and Poet, 2009, 4 ½ stars (Leta Pick)

Can be found on “Listen Up Vermont”

Mary’s childhood life was one of neglect, with alcoholic parents. She became an alcoholic mother and wife. It is excruciating to witness from her own perspective the ugliness and desperation of living in constant fear of falling off the wagon…which she does, over and over again. Through the support of sober friends and AA, she learned to be grateful, pray, and is sober now, and able to write. And write well she does! I loved this book because I learned a lot from her experience with faith. She has 2 earlier memoirs (Liars Club and Cherry) focusing on her younger years.

The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty,

2013 450 pages 4 ½ stars

Imagine finding out about a husband’s secret that is so horrific that your life becomes unbearable and so you spin totally out of control. You ask yourself how this person you thought you knew and trusted could have behaved so savagely. This novel follows the lives of 3 very different women all facing incredibly difficult life challenges. The author ties these women together as their lives becoming interwoven in fascinating ways. The books reads in a quick, shocking, and totally absorbing manner and the climax is profound! I found the plot complex and thought provoking and enjoyed it even more than her novel, Big Little Lies that in itself was stellar.

The Nix by Nathan Hill (his debut novel)

2016 732 pages… 4 stars

I feel like I have just been on the most amazing strange and powerful journey. Novel begins in 2011 when this woman attacks a Republican Presidential Candidate and the authorities quickly link her to when she was a radical Viet Nam Protester back in 1968 during the Chicago Convention Riots. Her son, whom she abandoned at a young age, is basically torn between helping her get acquitted from serious charges and writing a book to tarnish her forever. This is the story of her life and how she got here from there. The son’s life has been conflicted by a very close and odd relationship with a boy and girl set of twins he met as a youth. He is also being slandered at his college professor job. This novel is very sensual in parts, very heart breaking, and very entertaining. The style is unique – a run on sentence sometimes lasts for an entire long paragraph. I just loved the 60’s part; it transported me back to familiar times!

Faithful by Alice Hoffman

2016 ….4 1/2 stars

Stars (Stacey pick)

Shelby, an average teenager, has a car wreck and her passenger, her best friend, becomes comatose for her life. Shelby hits rock bottom not able to continue in even the most common sort oflife. Book takes you on her journey as she climbs her way back in N Y City among castoffs and odd people (plus some stray canines). She breaks a heart and has her own broken, and she achieves greatness in her own rite. As a teenager or mother of one, this novel will have you cheering Shelby on and help you believe in angels and miracles alike. A heart-throb for sure!

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman 2014

4 stars (Leta pick)

Ove, a grumpy, old fart with a short anger fuse, and strict adherence to a rigid way of living falls to pieces after his beloved wife passes. Each time he tries to check out to join her in an afterlife another bothersome neighbor appears with kindness and love. Ove appears to hate all these people, but fate shows them to be the catalyst in his healing broken heart, He even tries to throw out a stray cat that won’t give up on him. This novel is both heart- warming and hilarious, and I couldn’t stop my tears from spilling onto the last pages…will you be transformed into another believer that life is sweetest when shared with others, no matter what their oddities are?

The Late Show by Michael Connelly

5 stars!! (Gary gave 5 stars as well-he’s read all 29 of this author’ books)

A detective crime novel that is fast paced, easy to follow, simply written and stellar in its ability to keep the reader begging for the next page! The protagonist, a young female detective, is fighting the “old boys club” mentality when her supervisor gives her the nighttime beat in California’s Hollywood district as punishment for her filing a sexual harassment complaint against him. The 3 cases she works and obsesses about puts both her career and her life in perilous danger. I can’t think of a more suspenseful and riveting crime story period!

The Trophy Child by Paula Daly

4 stars (librarian pick)

Murder mysteryabout a “tiger mom” who has driven her young podigy daughter to wreckage pushing her to achieve unattainable perfection. Meanwhile, her step daughter is shunned and treated poorly…while a son lives a “stoner” life. Husband is so tormented by this crazy dangerous behavior of wife that he turns to women and booze to escape the terrible situation at home. One child runs away and then the mother comes to a tragic death. Who killed her and why ? This book really uncovers in a poignant way the power games played by family members and each their unique ways to rebel against the mother. Face paced and engaging story.

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See

the tea girl

(author of Snow Girl and the Secret Fan) ( I have read six of this Chinese American author’s novels and this one doesn’t disappoint)

307 pages 4 stars

The story takes place mostly in present day China and follows a poverty stricken hill country village with their life work of harvesting

tea trees. The main character, Li-yan, rejects the village rituals and customs by having a baby our of wedlock and giving this baby up for adoption to Americans. The book basically follows the lives of mother and daughter, both desperately seeking to find each other. You learn fascinating information on how this village harvests their world sought after unique Pu’er tea, and how their lives change drastically as they benefit financially from its sales. The author has done an enormous amount of research on the subject. What a lovely celebration of the ties that bind! The conclusion is both heart warming and spiritually satisfying.

The Baker’s Secret by Stephen Kiernan (Middlebury College Alumni)

4 stars

Another stellar book Kiernan writes about WW2, and the occupation of a tiny French village by Nazi’s, and then their liberation, after the town has been ravaged by war. The character development is so well done, and the story line unique and interesting. I will neverforget the heroine, Emma, and her courage to carry on, with unselfish sacrifices – her main focus being to secretly, yet dangerously, help her fellow villagers. You will laugh, weep, and you will not forget this touching story! The D-Day warring is graphic and not for the faint of heart, yet the book’s conclusion will have you cheering!

Under the Harrow by Flynn Berry

4 1/2 stars

The main character, Nora, finds her sister brutally murdered and becomes obsessed with finding the killer. She stalks a neighbor

she is convinced is the culprit, but eventually, she, herself, becomes the suspect. The book takes place in London, with all those funny terms for things. The writer’s style can challenge you a bit in ways that you are often brought back in time without obvious clues. The book skillfully reveals how those disturbing memories of your past can haunt and hold you captive for a lifetime. I stayed up well past my bedtime to read the conclusion of this book with its shocking and unsuspected ending. A superb and very exciting psychological mystery.

GoodFather

The Good Father by Noah Hawley

4 1/2 stars (Leta Watkins Pick)

What if you had a son from a previous marriage that is accused of assassinating a Presidential candidate that almost the entire country wants elected? He was their new JFK, their hopes for a fut

ure, and their dreams of a better country. This all rode on his shoulders. This is a quick paced psychological thriller which keeps you in this eerie kind of zone as his father sets out on a quest to, against all odds, free his sons from the death sentence. But first he must follow in his son’s steps as he ties together that last year of aimless wandering his son embarked on across USA. This read keeps you so captivated and helplessly engaged right through to the end. What an honest and poignant look at parenting.

The Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand

4 1/2 stars

Elin is at the top of her game!! – I’ve read all her 19 books and this one is a hoot and as juicy as can be! Story about twin identical sisters, one living on Nantucket Island, and the other, Martha’s Vineyard. Twins are worlds apart & as different as can be, but estranged for over 10 years. Plot is original, but basically Parent Trap theme. They find themselves in circumstances that have them switch lives and islands. Tabitha has a completely out of control teenager, and Harper, a police record and enough

scandalous behavior that she is shunned by the whole island. This book cannot be more outrageous and has an incredible happy ending that warms the heart. Pack this book into your summer bag and have a perfect beach theme and fun-filled novel!

Love Warrior by Glennon Doyle Melton

4 stars (Stacey’s pick)

Melton writes about her troubled life, starting in her youth, and describes the brutal path that leads her to bulimia, drugs and wanton sex. Once she hits rock bottom, pregnant and having drunken black outs every night, she marries and starts a journey which leads to the ultimate betrayal by the man she assumed she could trust. We watch as she delves unto psychotherapy, yoga and healthy pursuits and cheer Glennon on as she finally makes her way back. We are also astonished by how this married couple can face their pain and dysfunction and finally find a beautiful deep and true love. An inspiring account of what it is to be a Love Warrior.

The Punch by Noah Hawley

4 1/2 stars (Gary Watkins’ pick)

“Brotherly love never hurt so good!” An incredible story about the most dysfunctional family one could ever imagine, yet a family that displays fierce loyalty and love despite all odds against it. Two brothers worlds apart with one obviously dead ended in life, the other by all accounts highly successful (until we discover that he has a wife and family on each side of the country.) Mother is not dealing well with her new path into widowhood and we watch her unravel as they take a trip to NYC where they will have a memorial for the father and then on to Maine to bury his ashes at their childhood vacation spot. Hawley spins the tale well and keeps you enraptured to the book’s astonishing and hilarious conclusion. He writes with wit and a fresh approach to dialogue. This book is at the same time desperate and funny, insane and addictive.

A House Without Windows by Nadia Hashimi

4 stars (An International Best Seller)

Book takes place in Afghanistan where a woman is found at the scene of her husband’s brutal killing, and is falsely accused. The story takes you on a journey into prison where she is surrounded by other women accused of ridiculously insignificant crimes resulting merely from their plight of living in an old, traditional culture. Her young Afghan-born American-raised lawyer wants to make a breakthrough into such an unjust system of law against women, but it’s a huge struggle and exhausting. You really get a glimpse of life behind closed doors in this society, plus follow the woman’s mother who practices witchcraft. Can she save her daughter from execution secretly knowing her daughter is hiding the shameful truth about the murder to save the honor of a child? A gripping story with a real foreign feel to it.

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

4.5 stars

Ng’s debut book…whew…this was a perfectly addictive novel that begins with a bang. Lydia is missing, then found dead and her parents and siblings dive into destruction after this tragedy. The book shows in an amazingly smooth and keenly observed style how a mixed race couple had driven their daughter to extremes by their obsessive pressure for her to achieve greatness and fit in. You come to view how this family really functions in their dysfunctions and secrets. I loved this read – it was highly emotional and a fast paced mystery.