Staff Choices

When novelist Ann Patchett says that one must read a book, I almost always take her advice. Patchett wholeheartedly recommends reading Meg Mason's novel Sorrow and Bliss, which is about mental illness, dysfunctional families, and a failing marriage. While these themes may sound far heavier on the “sorrow” than the “bliss”, it is often an incredibly funny book.

 Martha, the main character and the narrator of the novel, shares her observations of her struggles with such biting wit. She is prickly and difficult, but also brilliant, and as she tells the story of her life the reader begins to understand how, at the age of forty,  Martha has returned to her childhood home without any seeming  prospects for the future.  While Sorrow and Bliss does focus on mental illness (Martha has been diagnosed with something so severe that it is never named in the novel), this is also a story about the love of family and friends.  Martha’s relationship with her younger sister Ingrid is so refreshingly real in how they both rely on, and alternating, resent one another.

At the end, there is much hope in this novel, just not of the saccharine variety. Sorrow and Bliss should appeal to readers who enjoyed Normal People by Sally Rooney or Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman.

Angie Hockman's debut book, Shipped , is a entertaining, enemies-to-lovers rom-com which confronted some serious issues to enhance the plot. The two main characters, Henley Evans and Graeme Crawford-Collins work for an adventure cruise line and are vying for the same promotion. They are sent on a cruise to the Galápagos Islands to work on some new marketing ideas that will decide who will get the coveted Digital Marketing Director position.

A majority of the story takes place in the gorgeous Galápagos Islands. The natural beauty and habitat of this region was truly a star feature in the book.  I also really appreciated the awareness of environmental issues throughout the story.

I highly recommend this book to those looking for a light rom-com in an exotic setting to read this spring.

Time travel within a small coffee shop in Tokyo. Strict rules must be followed but you won't have much time. It is a little fanciful but it is not science fiction.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold is a quiet, unassuming story about people who seek to reach back in time, to have another chance to meet someone important to them; despite that when they do, nothing in the present will change. Each person must decide if the emotional journey is worth it.

This is author Toshikazu Kawaguchi's debut novel. His playwright writing style may be evident as readers learn more about the characters. Some of the writing is a little simplistic but translating the story into English probably plays a factor.

If you like gentle stories about ordinary people who are searching for important truths for themselves, you might like Before the Coffee Gets Cold.
 

Our Italian Summer by Jennifer Probst is a story is about three generations of Ferrari women who love each other, yet do not always see eye to eye. Francesca- a workaholic, single mother who hardly has time for herself yet alone her family. Allegra who is in those pivotal years between teenager and adult trying to figure out who she is and what she wants in life. All she knows is she does not want to be like her mother. Sophia, the matriarch, hates seeing her girls suffer and yet holds a secret of her own. The solution to their problems is a trip of a lifetime to Italy. Through breathtaking cities, scrumptious food, awe-inspiring churches, ancient villages and a handful of extraordinary people the Ferrari women found a way to come together.

Even though there is some romance, truly, this is a story about rebuilding a family, learning to let go, and finding yourself at any age.  

This contemporary family drama will have you wanting to visit Italy and savor the food, wine, and history.  A perfect read and escape for 2021!

Inspector Gamache leaves the comfort of Three Pines for Paris in this gripping new addition to Louise Penny's popular mystery series. On their first night in Paris, after gathering for a family dinner with his godfather Stephen Horowitz, Gamache witnesses a terrible hit and run. The police investigate it as an accident, but Gamache and his family suspect differently. Paris comes alive as Armand, Jean-Guy Beauvoir and even his wife Reine-Marie track down clues to this tangled mystery. Eventually the mystery hits close to home as Armand's son Daniel,  his godfather Stephen, and the entire family gets wound up in the web of deceit and lies. Who to trust? is the question Armand struggles with, and, is the Devil really here as Stephen foretells? 

Louise Penny continues to entertain with this latest novel. Her books are captivating, and enjoyable and always filled with great character development and an intimate sense of place. I love to read them and love them even more in audio. You don't need to read them in order, but it does make the experience even more enjoyable.

Mira Grant's frightening novel, Into The Drowning Deep,  was my second "out of my comfort zone" read for January (the first one being the second installment of the Bridgerton series, but that is probably me along with half of the country). I heard a recommendation for this sci-fi/horror novel on a podcast, and was intrigued by the premise of a combined ship of research scientists and television crew going to investigate the sighting of mermaid-like creatures in the Mariana Trench. A similar expedition seven years prior resulted in all people aboard mysteriously lost at sea, with only a short clip of terrifying video footage to hint at what had happened to them all. 
Without giving away too much of the plot, this novel is like a combination of Jaws and the disaster films I use to watch as a kid, like The Towering Inferno or Poseidon Adventure. Of course this has the added layer of an unknown menace that is out there lurking in the deep, creating just the right amount of dread. You have your villains, both of the human and monster type, a shipboard romance of the non- heterosexual variety, a neuro-diverse heroine, commentary on conservationism and exploitation of natural resources, oh, and plenty of gruesome deaths. So in short, there is a lot going on in the story. Some of the dialogue is a bit hokey, but overall this was a very gripping and scary book. 

The library also owns the eaudiobook version of Into The Drowning Deep, available for automatic download on Hoopla. This allowed for me to both listen to the novel as I went about my day, and then find my place in the physical book at night to continue on with the tale. Note that this is the first in a series, wondering if it is save to go back into the water yet?

Author Arshay Cooper grew up on the West Side of Chicago in a rough neighborhood with seemingly insurmountable obstacles in his way at almost every turn. While attending high school in the 1990's, a benefactor introduces the sport of rowing to his school. It was difficult to recruit a team of students willing to participate. Arshay was one of them. The assembled group of students quickly discovered how much physical effort and team coordination is required to row. They are ridiculed by their classmates and then by other rowing teams. Some didn't even know how to swim. With a combination of grit, dedication and determination their team improved. They get to be part of something together. Arshay became a team leader among his fellow students. You can hear in his voice the beginnings of the motivational speaker and activist he is today. This book is about the power of someone believing in you so that you can believe in yourself so that you can succeed and pay it forward.

Olive Again by Elizabeth Strout  is a sequel to her successful novel Olive Kitteridge, which was written a decade ago, and was made into a 4 part TV series

You don’t need to have read Olive Kitteridge, to enjoy Olive Again, but it will help to have a familiarity with this cranky unforgettable character

Olive, who lives in a coastal town in Maine is now in her 70’s and is a widow. Grief has not softened the edges, she is still stubborn, opinionated, salty and gossipy. Finding herself lonely after the death of her husband, Olive strikes up an unlikely relationship with Jack Kennison, a retired Harvard professor whom she and her husband once mocked as arrogant. They share a prickly connection as they both regret alienating their children and many friends along the way.

Like Olive Kitteridge, this novel is made up of 13 somewhat connected short stories. Olive plays a role in most of them, as do several characters from Strouts novels The Burgess Boys and Amy and Isabelle.

Elizabeth Strout brilliantly weaves these stories together with themes of loneliness, regret, faith, class division and family ties. There is a richness and a raw humanness to each of them. The underlying theme within them is resilience.

Olive is THE most complex character I have ever come across. Strout is a master at showing the subtleties of characters , and their innermost thoughts.

Olive will surprise you, confuse you, and she might even anger you, but she will also inspire you.. Through it all, somehow you can’t help but root for her! All the credit goes to Elizabeth Strout for creating yet another well written novel. I have enjoyed all of her books, and this one was well worth the wait. I hope you enjoy it.

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig was an extraordinary example of literary fiction along with a healthy helping of fantasy thrown in. 

Nora Seed is having a really bad day. She is mugged, loses her job, blamed for other’s people’s failures, and her cat is run over by a car. She is also seriously depressed. This day is one of many bad days that Nora has experienced over the last decade of her life. She can’t take life anymore and attempts suicide.

When she wakes up, Nora discovers that she is in the space between life and death known as The Midnight Library.

“Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices… Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?”

This magical library, overseen by a version of Mrs. Elm, Nora’s kindly grade school librarian, offers Nora the opportunity to choose “books” that are variations on her life that exist in a kind of alternate universe. Technically she’s able to try on lives to see if there is one she wants to live. The only catch is that the library and any opportunities therein will disappear forever if she doesn’t ultimately decide she wants to live.

This book makes you ponder your own life, and if you’re living your truest and best version of yourself. Matt Haig is such a talented writer and knowing that he has struggled with depression and thoughts of suicide made this book all the more meaningful. If you enjoyed Taylor Jenkin Reid’s book Maybe in Another Life this should be your next read. It would make a perfect book discussion choice as well.

A touching often painful story of a young boy “Shuggie” growing up in the bleak, coal covered public housing of  Glasgow, Scotland in the 1980’s. His beloved mother is haunted by unfulfilled dreams of glamour and soaks her disappointments in alcohol. His mostly absent father and older siblings walk out, leaving Shuggie to navigate the burden. He has his own societal struggles of not being a “normal” boy as he navigates his yearnings and desires.

This is a raw epic tale of a working class family, their struggles with love, devotion, poverty, addiction and sexuality. The Winner of the Booker Prize and first time novelist Douglas Stuart tells a rich, somewhat autobiographical, unforgettable story that will stay with you for a long time.