In the May 23, 2017 “Match Book” column in the New York Times Book Review, a reader named Anetra Smith explains that she’s going on a much-needed beach vacation and would like to bring some epistolary novels because she loved The Divorce Papers by Susan Rieger and The Attachments by Rainbow Rowell. She received suggestions for Bram Stoker’s Dracula, […]
Cindy: Eddie’s first email to his Uncle Morton does not bode well for the coming week, in which he’s to take charge of Ziggy, his uncle’s pet dragon. Josh Lacey’s The Dragonsitter (2015) is told in humorous messages, rarely answered, from Eddie to his uncle and illustrated with the tragic, and very funny, scenes of chaos that […]
Lynn: I am not a happy flyer. In fact, I’m quite convinced that our plane arrives safely at its destination due to my willpower alone. So when I write here that I read the entirety of The Hired Girl (Sept 2015) on the flight to ALA’s Annual Conference in San Francisco, you will understand the power […]
Lynn: Have you ever hit one of those periods where nothing you pick up to read is quite up to scratch? If so, I have a suggestion that is a sure cure. The delightful and highly unique Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer (May 2015), by Kelly Jones, may be eggsactly what you’re looking […]
This is the time of year when I start compiling the titles to promote to book groups for next year. I always look at the current prize winners, but I also look for a couple of “under the radar” titles. These are the books I suggest for groups who enjoy discovering new authors and spreading […]
Here’s a book that begs to be read in August when minds are melting from the heat and readers want something engaging but not too taxing. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Co-authors Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, aunt and niece respectively, have constructed a charming post-World War II epistolary novel that […]