Fabulous Fiction Firsts #642, Spotlight on Women's Fiction
by muffy
The Garden of Small Beginnings * by Abbi Waxman is a story of loss but also the joy of second chances.
It has been three year since Lilian watched her husband died in a car accident 50 feet from her front door. After a breakdown and hospitalization, she is back at her job as a textbook illustrator in a small LA publishing house, and making a life with her two young daughters, Annabel and Clare.
With the industry downturn, she could save the company by branching out to illustrate a new series on vegetable gardening. Having agreed to take a 6-weeks Saturday morning gardening class with the author, Edward Bloem, "(m)any life lessons are learned in the garden, and not just by Lilian."
"The plot is straightforward, but it is Waxman’s skill at characterization that lifts this novel far above being just another "widow finds love” story. Clearly an observer, Waxman has mastered the fine art of dialogue as well. Characters ring true right down to Lilian’s two daughters, who often steal the show." (Kirkus Review)
For readers who are charmed by such titles as Good Grief, Heat Wave; Lost Lake, and recent debuts like Happy People Read & Drink Coffee and Angelina's Bachelors.
Gail Honeyman's debut Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine * is a "smart, warm, uplifting" story about a young woman's journey toward wholeness.
Scarred inside and out, 29 year-old Eleanor aspires to be unremarkable and normal all her adult life. An accounting clerk at a small Glasgow graphic design firm, her lack of social skills makes her the butt of office jokes. She finds comfort in strict routines, solitude, copious amount of vodka on the weekends, and will insist to all who care to inquire that she is "completely fine".
Almost simultaneously Eleanor falls for a gorgeous, out-of-her-league bar singer and begins an almost frenzied (and hilarious) self-improvement program, while striking up a tentative friendship with Raymond, the slovenly IT guy after they saved Sammy, an elderly retired postal clerk on the street. The three become the kind of friends who rescue each other from the lives of isolation, and it is Raymond’s big heart that will ultimately help Eleanor find the way to repair her own profoundly damaged one.
"Walking in Eleanor’s practical black Velcro shoes is delightfully amusing, her prudish observations leavened with a privately puckish humor. But readers will also be drawn in by her tragic backstory, which slowly reveals how she came to be so entirely Eleanor. Witty, charming, and heartwarming." (Booklist)
For readers of Jojo Moyes and Helen Simonson.
* = Starred review
2017 Michigan Notable Books
by Sara W
The Library of Michigan has announced with 2017 winners of the Michigan Notable Book Award - an honor highlighting books celebrating Michigan people, places, and events.
This year's 20 award winners include Beer Money: A Memoir of Privilege and Loss by Frances Stroh, a recollection of a city, an industry and a dynasty in decline, and finding a way out, Detroit Resurrected: To Bankruptcy and Back by Nathan Bomey, which tells the story of Detroit's financial ruin, backroom intrigue and political rebirth, and Terror in the City of Champions: Murder, Baseball and the Secret Society that Shocked Depression-era Detroit by Tom Stanton, a thrilling true crime story.
The list features fiction too, such as The Charm Bracelet, Viola Shipman's story of love, family and the importance of connectivity, it covers generations of Michigan history and will resonate with anyone who has enjoyed the beauty of summers in northern Michigan, Sweetgirl by Travis Mulhauser, about a fearless teen facing the wasteland of addiction amid the isolation of the Upper Peninsula, and The Last Good Girl by Allison Leotta, the thrilling latest entry in her legal suspense series.
There's something for everyone on this list - whether you're interested in travel, classic cars, biology, poetry, or architecture.
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #548 - “I don't believe an accident of birth makes people sisters or brothers. It makes them siblings, gives them mutuality of parentage. Sisterhood and brotherhood is a condition people have to work at.” ~ Maya Angelou
by muffy
The Lake Season "sparkles with wry wit, sweet romance, and long-kept family secrets", is the first adult fiction by YA author Hannah Roberts McKinnon.
Iris Standish arrives at her childhood lakeside home in the midst of the whirlwind of activities in preparation for her sister Leah's wedding, just when her own marriage to a high-power lawyer is coming apart. As Iris work through how her carefully-constructed life spins out of control while helping Leah with the preparations for her wedding, both learn more about themselves and each other than they ever thought possible.
"McKinnon’s voice is sharp and evocative… Making use of a gorgeous setting and serious themes, this novel rises above a flock of fluffier beach reads."
The Second Sister by Marie Bostwick, is her first stand-alone (from her Cobbled Court Quilts series) in many years.
Political campaigner Lucy Toomey’s hard work is about to pay off now that her candidtae is entering the White House. But when her estranged older sister, Alice, unexpectedly dies, Lucy is drawn back to Nilson’s Bay, her small, close-knit, Wisconsin hometown. To meet the terms of Alice’s eccentric will, Lucy must take up residence in her sister’s cottage, and over time, begins to see the town, and Alice’s life, anew.
"Bostwick depicts the mental and emotional struggle Lucy undertakes as she grieves a sister she never truly knew and weighs small-town life against the bustle of Washington, D.C."
Whiskey & Charlie by Annabel Smith is (a) "sharp perceptive (debut) novel about family and forgiveness."
Like most identical twins, (William) Whiskey and Charlie were thick as thieves as children though they were polar opposites. By the time they reach adulthood, they are estranged. Charlie is repulsed by Whiskey's flashy ad-executive lifestyle and his impulsive marriage to the lovely Rosa. But when a freak accident puts Whiskey in a coma, Charlie is forced to face the fact he may never speak to his brother again.
"Whiskey and Charlie is a wise, clever exploration of making mistakes and facing up to them, of sibling rivalry, the damage it can do, and the ways family can make us whole."
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #545 - "I have heard the mermaids singing each to each. I do not think that they will sing to me ..." ~ T.S. Eliot
by muffy
"Dazzling...[a quirky, raucous, and bewitching family saga", high praise by Sara Gruen for Erika Swyler's debut novel Book of Speculation, and rightly so. I simply couldn't put it down.
After his younger sister Enola runs off to read tarot cards for a traveling carnival, cash-strapped librarian Simon Watson lives alone in the decrepit family home that he watches nervously as it slowly crumbles toward the Long Island Sound. An old bound journal arrives at his doorstep one late June, almost at the same time his sister returns, restless and secretive. Fragile and water damaged, the book is a log from the owner of a traveling carnival in the 1700s, who reports strange and magical things, including the drowning death of a circus mermaid. Since then, generations of "mermaids" in Simon's family have drowned, always on July 24, including his mother.
As his friend Alice looks on with alarm, Simon becomes increasingly convinced that Enola will be the next victim of the family curse, and the answer must lie in the book.
"Debut author Swyler creates a melancholy world with hints of magic at the edges... Fans of historical novels, especially titles with circus themes or touched with a hint of the supernatural such as Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus, Katharine Dunn's Geek Love, or Katharine Howe's The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, won't want to leave this festival."
The Mermaid's Child by Jo Baker - the acclaimed author of Longbourn brings us the magical story of a young girl in search of her mother...who her father believes just might be a mermaid. Malin Reed, always odd and awkward never quite fits in. When her father dies, she takes to the road in search of her mother. Apprenticed to a series of strange and wonderful characters, Malin embarks on a grueling journey that crosses oceans and continents - she even disguises herself as a boy in order to get a position on a slaving ship. Misadventures, rescues (by an eccentric librarian), icebergs and pirates, Malin's journey eventually comes to a fitting end.
This pungent early novel, only now available in the U.S, (is) "beautifully written and hauntingly strange,...a remarkable piece of storytelling, and an utterly unique work of fantasy..."
The Mermaid's Sister by Carrie Anne Noble, set in a mythical Pennsylvania mountain tells the story of three foundlings taken in by Auntie, a village wise woman. When Clara realizes that her sister Maren, is slowly but surely turning into a mermaid, she and best friend O'Neill set out to take Maren to a new home in the sea. Adventure finds them when a traveling show kidnaps them all, and Clara must overcome her inner doubts about who she really is in order to save them all.
"Like all good fairy tales, this one touches on deeper themes of sibling rivalry, jealousy, insecurity, and questions of identity...Noble's treatment of the mermaid theme is fresh and original, and even her minor characters are beautifully depicted."
Like mermaids? You might also enjoy Mermaid : A twist on the classic tale by Carolyn Turgeon, and The Sea House by Elisabeth Gifford.
NPR Books' Summer Of Love
by eapearce
The hottest month of the summer is almost upon us and in honor of their Summer of Love theme this year, NPR Books has just released a list of 100 swoon-worthy romances to keep you occupied during August and beyond. Readers and authors alike voted on their favorite romance novels, and then the votes were tallied and divided into categories to produce the final list, which you can check out here!
I love the diversity of the list: it includes historical, paranormal and LBGT romances, classics such as Pride and Prejudice, and entire series. There's even a YA category! Even readers who don't consider themselves readers of romance novels will be able to find something that catches their eye. Look for any of the books that interest you from the list in our catalog!
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #543 - "Freedom Is just frosting On somebody else's Cake -- And so must be Till we Learn how to Bake.” ~ Langston Hughes
by muffy
The Art of Baking Blind, a debut novel by Sarah Vaughan (Oxford, a former news reporter for The Guardian) is a MUST for fans of PBS' Great British Baking Show.
Five amateur bakers are competing to become the New Mrs. Eaden, Mrs. Eaden being Kathleen, the recently deceased wife of the upscale supermarket chain's founder and the author of the 1966 classic, The Art of Baking. The winner not only will take away £50,000 but a baking career is almost a sure thing.
Housewives Vicki, Jenny, and Karen; single dad Mike; and single mom Claire will face off at the Eaden country estate through rounds of cakes, biscuits, breads, pies and pastries, pudding, and "celebratory tea" while dealing with personal challenges and difficult family dynamics. As unlikely alliances are forged and secrets rise to the surface, they will learn, as did Mrs. Eaden before them, that while perfection is possible in the kitchen, it's very much harder in life.
"Delectable 'food porn', as one character puts it."
The Cake Therapist by award-winning cookbook author Judith Fertig brings to mind Aimee Bender's The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake.
Claire "Neely" O'Neil, a pastry chef of extraordinary talent has a unique gift. She can "taste" feelings - cinnamon makes you remember; plum is pleased with itself; orange is a wake-up call. She can also customize her creations to help her clients, whether to celebrate love, overcome fear, or mourn a devastating loss.
When she returns home to Millcreek Valley (OH) after a series of personal and business set-backs in the big city, opening her own bakery seems the perfect move, especially now that the town has become a thriving bridal district. Neely's talents for helping people through her pastry palette have always been useful, but a recurring flavor of alarming intensity signals a long-ago story involving a unique piece of jewelry begs to be told. Getting to the end of this story may be just what she needs to help herself.
"Fertig crafts a culinary tale that has as much substance as sweetness and is as pleasingly layered as Neely's signature rainbow cake. "
For readers who enjoyed The Love Goddess' Cooking School by Melissa Senate; The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister; When in Doubt Add Butter by Elizabeth Harbison; and The Glass Kitchen by Linda Francis Lee.
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #540 - “Sensual pleasure passes and vanishes, but the friendship between us, the mutual confidence, the delight of the heart, the enchantment of the soul, these things do not perish and can never be destroyed.” ~ Voltaire
by muffy
The Enchanted April (1922), a women's fiction classic by Elizabeth Von Arnim is transported a century forward and across oceans by children's author/publisher Brenda Bowen into Enchanted August, her debut novel for adults, and an invitation to get away from it all, if only for little while.
Hopewell Cottage
Little Lost Island, Maine.
Old, pretty cottage to rent on a small island.
Springwater, blueberries, sea glass.
August.
When Lottie Wilkes and Rose Arbuthnot spotted this notice at their children's preschool bulletin board on a dreary spring morning, it seemed like a godsend, and a much needed break from relentless child-rearing demands and husband-troubles. To cover the steep rent, they invited two strangers - Caroline Dester, an indie actress in need of anonymity to nurse a very public humiliation; and elderly Beverly Fisher, who is not at all what they were expecting. If its not a perfect quartet, they were determined to make it work. That is, until the late-August blue moon, when real life and its complications made their way to this idyllic island.
"Bowen has conjured up a delightful and inviting island summer complete with all the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of Maine to create a feast for the senses." "A thoroughly pleasant summer read as breezy as the island itself."
Also suggested are: The Girls of August by Anne Rivers Siddons; Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan; Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews; and the latest from Jane Green - Summer Secrets.
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #538 -“Are you ready to stop colluding with a culture that makes so many of us feel physically inadequate? Say goodbye to your inner critic, and take this pledge to be kinder to yourself and others." ~ Oprah Winfrey
by muffy
Dietland * *, Sarai Walker's debut - is "part Fight Club, part feminist manifesto, an offbeat and genre-bending novel that aims high, and delivers."
Alicia "Plum" Kettle, tipping the scale at 300 lbs. is counting the days when she will become her true, thin self... "she won't be alone all the time... she'll dress in pretty clothes, she'll travel, she'll have a job that she likes", instead of being the closeted advice columnist for a glamor teen magazine, working out of the corner café. After every diet plan imaginable has failed her, Plum is contemplating bariatric surgery. While used to humiliated stares and taunts, she is uneasy when she finds herself being stalked by a odd-looking young woman who leaves her strange little "gifts" that ultimately leads her to a secret society of women responsible for a series of gruesome kidnappings and killings worldwide.
"Hilarious, surreal, and bracingly original, Walker's ambitious debut avoids moralistic traps to achieve something rarer: a genuinely subversive novel that's also serious fun." If I have failed to convince you that this is one debut not to be missed, here is what two of my favorite authors have to say...
"Dietland is a book I have been waiting for someone to write all my life, and it hit me hard right where I live, right where so many of us have wasted too much time living. It's courageous, compassionate, intelligent, pissed off and much more fun than it has any right to be." ~ Pam Houston
"Sarai Walker is an immensely talented writer and her debut novel, Dietland—filled with wit, wisdom and wonder—is a pleasure." ~ Jill McCorkle
For readers who enjoyed The Middlesteins; Where'd You Go, Bernadette; and The Next Best Thing. Ideal for book groups seeking something more socially aware and gender-conscious in their women's fiction.
* * = 2 starred reviews
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #536
by muffy
One of the most anticipated debut this season is The Sunlit Night * by Rebecca Dinerstein, and it does not disappoint. In the beautiful, barren landscape of the Far North, under the ever-present midnight sun, two New Yorkers unexpectedly find love and courage to take destiny into their own hands.
A year in Japan after college graduation is no longer an option for Frances when her boyfriend calls it quits and unceremoniously drops her off at a bus stop. At the postage-sized Manhattan apartment she shares with her parents and sister Sarah, there is more bad news. The painting apprenticeship at a Norwegian artist colony which she turns down earlier now seems like a godsend, never mind that there is only one artist living there - Nils, enigmatic and middle-aged, who paints only with the color yellow.
17 year-old Yasha, raised in the Russian enclave of Brighton Beach, sees his mother for the first time in a decade outside the family bakery's window, only to recognize a selfish and unreliable parent. The real heartache is losing his beloved father to heart failure on a home-coming trip to Moscow, but he is determined to carry out his father's last wish to be buried "at the top of the world".
And so Frances and Yasha meet at the Viking Museum in Lofoten, a string of islands ninety-five miles above the Arctic Circle. Their unlikely connection and growing romance fortifies them, and teaches them that to be alone is not always to be lonely, and that love and independence are not mutually exclusive.
"Funny, dark, warm, and as knowing of place as any travel book or memoir." ~ Jonathan Safran Foer
"...(a) luminous story about love, family, and the bewilderment of being young. Enchanting in every way." ~ Maggie Shipstead.
* = starred review
2015 Summer Reading Lists
by muffy
Let's start with The New York Times Cool Books for Hot Summer Days.
Female Literati Pick Summer's Best Books, 11 top women novelists share their favorite warm-weather reading choices, among them : Nell Freudenberger, Meg Wolitzer, Lily King, Miranda July, Adelle Waldman, and Maggie Shipstead. If you recognize these names, you like Women's Fiction. Well, here is The Huffington Post's recommendations to get you started for the summer.
And for the Romance reader: Romance for the Real Girl.
Speaking of style... Vogue's Megan O'Grady shares This Summer's Best Beach Reads.
Want to know what I'll be packing in my beach bag? 17 Of The Best Books Of Summer 2015.. Don't want to miss out? Hurry and put reserves on these early summer releases.
And finally, the 2015 edition of the UC Berkeley Summer Reading List for New Students. It offers a potluck of great suggestions from the faculty. "Is this required reading? Absolutely not. Do we hope you'll find something on this list that appeals to you? Absolutely yes."
And you know Summer Game 2015 is HERE, don't you?