Big Angel is the patriarch of a sprawling Mexican-American family. He’s the one everyone looks up to, the one who sets the rules – kind of like the Godfather. However, he is dying of cancer and starting to look at the world a little differently. The House of Broken Angels takes place over two days…
Typically, when I think of a spinster detective, it's Miss Marple who comes to mind. I'm quite enamored of that fluffy little old lady, the tidy-yet-murderous village of St. Mary Mead, and her ever-present knitting needles. But sometimes I yearn for something a little darker. Not gory, but ominous and unexpected and unputdownable. If you,…
“There's something about first love, isn't there? she said. It's untouchable to those who played no part in it. But it's the measure of all that follows.” ― Sarah Winman, Tin Man Michael and Ellis were the best of friends and embraced life with exuberance as they grew up together exploring Oxford, England on their…
Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor are larger-than-life figures in American history. Franklin, the only American president elected three times, lead the country through the Great Depression and World War II, despite being crippled by polio. Eleanor redefined the role of First Lady, and sometimes caused controversy with her…
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…
Whenever I get invested in a series, I start to worry. What if the author does a terrible job with the final book? What if they can’t wrap it up in a way that feels true and satisfying – leaving me wanting more, while making sure that the characters find resolution? What if they can’t…
While many of us can probably recall a heart-stopping moment when we narrowly averted a serious injury or even death - seventeen times? That is about sixteen more close calls than any one person should have to endure. And yet, that is how many times Irish novelist Maggie O'Farrell has dodged the bullet. Best known…
I have always been fascinated by Alaska and the people who choose to live in the remotest parts of the state. This fascination drew me to Kristin Hannah’s memorable new book, The Great Alone, where a girl comes of age in such an unforgiving, breathtaking environment. Ernt Albright is a restless Vietnam War veteran and…
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…
I’m not saying that Matt Haig’s HOW TO STOP TIME is guilty of false advertising, exactly. But if you were hoping for an instruction manual for pressing a giant cosmic pause button, this is probably not the book for you. (To be fair, we’re shelving it in the fiction section. It’s not like you weren’t…
