Category: Recommended Read Page 5 of 8

published March 15, 2015
Viking Press

Chevalier’s absorbing new book traces US pioneer migration from east coast to west through the fictional Goodenough family. With one family’s struggle to tame a barely habitable patch of land, and a son’s journey to find his place in a still new and expanding country she strips the romanticism out of pioneer life, without making the world totally bleak or lacking in kindness.  And of course, there are the apples and their ability to be uprooted, to thrive in unlikely places, to be grafted and strengthened, and to evoke memories.

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published March 1, 2016
Severn House

Nickson’s newest Victorian procedural opens in late 1891 with DI Tom Harper mulling his latest case – the gruesome discovery of a dead infant, mailed to a post office. Some things have changed since we last met Harper – the hearing in his right ear is significantly worse, and a source of constant worry for him. He also has a new partner, the recently promoted Detective Constable Ash.

Harper’s previous partner, Sergeant Billy Reed took a position with the Leeds Fire Brigade after an ethical disagreement in their last case (Two Bronze Pennies, 2014) led to a falling out.

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published March 1, 2016
Simon & Schuster

Have you ever considered the lengths you would need to go to disappear and become someone new? Lutz has apparently given it a lot of consideration and it turns out it is no easy task.

“The Passenger” opens with Tanya Pitts deciding to go on the run when she finds her husband dead in their home after a fall down the stairs. Why run when it was an accident?

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published February 23, 2016
Doubleday

When you read a novel about the doomed zeppelin Hindenburg, you already know how it ends. But Lawhon (The Wife, The Maid, and the Mistress, 2014) has some ideas about how that inevitable ending came about.

In May of 1937 passengers and crew boarded the Hindenburg in Frankfurt, Germany, with the expectation of landing in New Jersey three days later. The airship was a luxurious marvel, though emblazoned with swastikas, and kept aloft with highly combustible hydrogen. Lawhon introduces the cast of characters first in short sections as they go about settling in for the journey. Like an old mystery movie we have The Stewardess, The Journalist, The Cabin Boy, The Navigator, The American, etc. The story unfolds through their eyes as the 16-story Hindenburg makes its way. There are personal dramas and intrigues along with an undercurrent of menace as the ship is also hosting several Gestapo officers due to a bomb threat.

Lawhon’s research shows through her details about the ship, from its luxurious appointments to its inner mechanics. Some of the most interesting information involves the painstaking efforts made to respect the hydrogen, whether it be special rubber boots in restricted parts of the ship to avoid creating a static spark, to the specially pressurized lounge where cigarettes are doled out carefully and do not leave the room under any circumstance.

The “Flight of Dreams” will only end one way, but there is intrigue and suspense in getting there, making this is a great choice for fans of historical fiction.

Happy Reading!

An advance galley of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest opinion.

published February 23, 2016
Penguin Books

This quick read is dark, funny, and devastating, taking the reader from Lizzie/Beth/Elizabeth’s awkward, overweight adolescence through her equally awkward, thin adulthood in 13 connected stories.

Awad tells Elizabeth’s tale by jumping into various points in her life, through telling vignettes. Most are from Elizabeth’s point of view with a couple from the perspective of the men in her life. Starting in Missasagua (or “Misery Saga” as she calls it) we see Lizzie play the role of fat friend to thinner girls, and needy sure thing to callow men looking for a little worship to boost their egos. Later she is thin – a state hard fought, hard won, hard maintained, and grimly enjoyed. Beth, as she is now called, endures passive aggressive scone eating with a metabolically-blessed coworker while carefully calculating every lettuce leaf she eats in pursuit of her goal. Some of the most affecting parts of the book deal with her relationships with her husband and her mother.

This story of one woman’s uneasy relationship with her body is an excellent choice for both women and men. It would also no doubt spark lots of discussion in a book club setting.

Happy Reading!

An advance galley of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest opinion.

published February 9, 2016
Polis Books

A barely-competent family of thieves, the entitled son of a mobster, his seriously pissed-off supermodel ex-girlfriend, an ex-cop security officer, and a jewel-encrusted bra (the eponymous “ice chest”) combine for a first-rate caper with laugh-out-loud moments.

Clarissa Cartwright is the face (and body) of Enigma lingerie. She will wear the $5.5 million dollar bra as the centerpiece of Enigma’s Birds of Paradise Collection show. Rafe Valentine has a plan for his crew of criminals to get their hands on the jeweled bra with the begrudging help of his young nephew, Branson, who works at the hotel hosting the Atlanta show. But he doesn’t count on the theft going sideways, and  being  pursued by both the Enigma security team (featuring one operative who wields a mean Hello, Kitty stun gun), and the ex-boyfriend (with mob sidekicks).

The twists and laughs keep coming in this quick satisfying read. Fans of Lisa Lutz’s Spellman Files series, or Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum mysteries would enjoy this madcap tale with its large cast of characters.

Happy reading!

An advance galley of this book was kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest opinion.

published February 9, 2016
GP Putnam’s Sons

This atmospheric novel set in Cornwall moves the reader back and forth in time as two women experience life-changing events in the genteel decay of Pencraw Estate, known affectionately by the Alton family and locals as Black Rabbit Hall.

The Alton family in the 1960s is the picture of privilege. Toby and Amber (twins), and younger siblings Barney and Kitty bask in the affection of their brash, beautiful American mother, who is equally worshiped by their father, Hugo Alton. Black Rabbit Hall is the family’s summer refuge from the bustle of London. It is eccentrically disheveled and lightly staffed. The floors are uneven, slate flies off the roof with every storm, birds and other creatures perish in the chimneys regularly, the heat is uneven, and the clocks are so hopelessly off everyone must tell time in their own way (a stomach rumble, the position of the sun.)

Still with all that is left unrepaired the Altons wouldn’t trade their time at Black Rabbit Hall. Summers are a magic idyll where they shut out the world and run wild in the woods, splash at the beach, and watch for the rabbits to come out of their dens at dusk.

As with all good gothic page-turners tragedy comes and the heart is torn out of Black Rabbit Hall. We skip forward in time as Lorna, a young bride-to-be is drawn to Pencraw, a place she vaguely remembers from childhood trips with her family. It is now truly in disrepair and inexplicably on the market as a wedding venue. Chase seems to take great delight in giving the Hall a personality of its own (a breakfast between Lorna and the lady of the Hall, brittle Caroline Alton, in the decrepit dining room is particularly vivid.) As Lorna’s husband-to-be said, Black Rabbit Hall is “sort of like being trapped in a Kate Bush song.” This satisfying, moody book of tragedy, twists, and fierce love is a good choice for rainy afternoon reading.

Happy reading!

An advance galley of this book was kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest opinion