I'm a sucker for a cozy mystery, especially one that involves food, books, and a little bit of magic. The Secret, Book and Scone Society fits that bill perfectly. In the small mountain town of Miracle Springs, North Carolina, people come from near and far to visit the local healing springs, stay at the luxury…
Sometimes you read a book and it affects you so much that you just have to talk about it with someone. That’s how it is for me with Educated, and I’m lucky that one of my colleagues has also just read it and can’t stop talking about it either. We might be boring all the…
Some books stay with you long after you’ve finished reading them. An American Marriage was one of those books for me. I read it with a lump in my throat, feeling deeply for the characters, all of whom are African American and caught in an impossible situation. Here’s the plot: Celestial and Roy are relative…
Sometimes I end up reading books that are unexpectedly timely. Case in point: The Widows of Malabar Hill. I picked it up for the mystery, the exotic setting and the historical time period (India 1916-21), but I ended up really appreciating its relevance to current women's issues. Watching the Golden Globes on Sunday night, I was reminded of the strong, intelligent main…
This book left me speechless. At the same time, it made me feel a whole lot. I’m not sure I can find words to describe it, but I’ll try. I made a list of adjectives: sad, angry, profane, funny, shocking, relatable. Alexie is a genius with language, and I could feel his pain coming so…
Private investigator Nils Shapiro is not happy. He’s trying (unsuccessfully) to get over his ex-wife; he doesn’t have a steady job; he hates his house. Not to mention that it’s a freezing Minneapolis winter. So when he gets a call from the Edina Police Department to help solve a bizarre murder, he realizes he’s about…
In this book, Peter Heller has created one of my favorite literary heroines. Celine Watkins is a 69-year-old private investigator, born into East Coast money, fluent in French, educated at prep school and Sarah Lawrence College. Still reeling from the loss of both of her sisters and the destruction of the Twin Towers, she is…
Susan Ryeland is a London book editor who has just received the latest manuscript from one of her most irascible authors, Alan Conway. Much as she dislikes him, he’s the best seller at her publishing house, so there’s no question that she will give the book her full attention. But the manuscript’s ending appears to…
This is a beautiful story of an Irish Catholic family over two generations; of love, secrets, and reconciliation; of what it means to be a family, and what it takes to remain one. Its plot is deceptively simple: Nora Rafferty’s son Patrick has died in a drunk-driving accident. In her grief, Nora calls her long-estranged…
First off, let me just warn you: there are no lovable curmudgeons in this book. If you’re looking for another Man Called Ove or My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, you won’t find it here. However, you will find a moving, sensitive portrayal of a small town obsessed with hockey, and what…
