Vinegar Girl : The Taming of the Shrew Retold by Anne Tyler

18 Monday Jul 2016

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I loved Anne Tyler’s newest, a lighthearted, super adorable farce full of quirky characters. A friend told me she thought it was the perfect summer read and I agree.

“Resplendent storyteller Tyler (A Spool of Blue Thread, 2015) is perfectly paired with The Taming of the Shrew…Deeply and pleasurably inspired by her source, Tyler is marvelously nimble and effervescent in this charming, hilarious, and wickedly shrewd tale of reversal and revelation.”—Booklist (starred review)

“[A] screwball comedy of manners that actually channels Jane Austen more than Shakespeare. It’s clear that [Tyler] had fun with Vinegar Girl, and readers will too…A fizzy cocktail of a romantic comedy, far more sweet than acidic, about finding a mate who appreciates you for your idiosyncratic, principled self — no taming necessary.”—NPR.org

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Like Family by Paolo Giordano, translated by Anne Milano Appel

11 Monday Jul 2016

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A spare and elegant novel that explores the topics of family and loneliness.  A poignant and melancholy (but not sad) book about Mrs. A, a dynamic nanny and caretaker who is the glue that holds a young family together. A good book to read on a rainy afternoon.

“Combining the edginess of modern life with the touching theme of losing someone who has become just like family, [this book] confirms Giordano as a writer who understands the complexities of human relationships.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) 

“Beautifully crafted…its themes are universal and it will appeal to anyone who treasures the gifts of others.” —Library Journal (starred review)

“[A] short work of fiction can resonate more deeply than longer volumes. That’s the case with LIKE FAMILY, the elegiac new novella by Paolo Giordano…. This poignant work points out that there is no one way to define a family, and that, in any definition, the primary ingredient is the ability to love.”—BookPage

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In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

06 Wednesday Jul 2016

Posted by in Fiction, mystery

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Nora lives a quiet life in London as a writer when she receives an invitation to her old friend Clare’s hen (bachelorette) party. Nora hasn’t seen Clare in ten years, since a traumatic event during high school caused Nora to leave her past behind. The small hen party group assembles at an unusual house made of glass in an English forest, where strange things begin happening. The book is a little bit mystery, a little bit thriller, but mostly a psychological novel about friendship and memory. I listened to the audio book and found the narrator’s performance really enhanced the story. The dark, snowy setting and suspenseful plot will keep you cold this summer.

“WARNING: This book is hot. Do not pick it up late at night or if you are in a dark, dark wood…Ruth Ware has a gift. This British author’s first foray into fiction is a hit…it delivers a punch and keeps you guessing—an ideal August psychodrama that reminds us why mysteries remain such fun—except at night.” –The New York Journal of Books

“Ware slowly unspools the mystery, setting a truly spooky scene … with a constant undercurrent of danger. Read it on a dark and stormy night—with all the lights on.” –Kirkus Reviews

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The Intouchables – dvd

27 Monday Jun 2016

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This is the best movie I have ever seen about two men and rare friendship.  Based on a true story this is a poignant comedy that begins when a wealthy aristocrat who is paralyzed from a para gliding accident hires a chronically unemployed immigrant from Senegal.  Their lives are forever changed.  Put away your aversion to subtitled movies and check this out!  This is a unanimous favorite among the Weston staff.

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All Things Cease to Appear by Elizabeth Brundage

20 Monday Jun 2016

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This was an unsettling page-turner that I couldn’t put down. Set in a small farm town in upstate New York, the story opens with the murder of a young woman, who is killed in her home. As the story unfolds, we learn more about why she and her family moved to this house, which has a dark history. This is suspenseful, creepy, and beautifully written.

“A dynamic portrait of a young woman coming into her own [and] of a marriage in free fall. . . . It rises to [great] literary heights and promises a soaring mix of mysticism.” —Booklist (starred review)

“All Things Cease to Appear is a riveting ghost story, psychological thriller, and literary page turner. It’s also the story of four women: Ella, Catherine, Justine, and Willis. With masterful skill and brilliant empathy, Brundage brings each of them to vivid and remarkable life. At its heart, this is a story about women’s grit and courage, will and intelligence. It’s a powerful and beautiful novel.” —Kate Christensen

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Days of Awe by Lauren Fox

13 Monday Jun 2016

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A moving story of family life with a cast of well-developed characters headed by a flawed but likable protagonist named Isabel.   We meet Isabel as she navigates her mid-life marked with losses small and large and wrestles with the problematic notion that “every happy moment is already on the way to becoming nostalgia”.  Author Lauren Fox is a gifted writer who pens her novels with wit and keen insight into relationships.

“Isabel (and Fox) has such an offbeat way of looking at things that you’ll eagerly keep reading just to see what she’s going to say next”. –Kirkus Reviews

“As Fox deconstructs the myth of perfect womanhood, her humor and humanity remind us that love’s the only lifeboat through grief.” —People Magazine Book of the Week

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Lab Girl by Hope Jahren

06 Monday Jun 2016

Posted by in Biography, Humor, Non-fiction

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I was riveted by Hope Jahren’s interview on NPR and startled by the sincere gratitude of those women in science fields who called to thank her for writing this book.  Hope is a fighter.  She is passionate about the plant world.  She has fought tooth and nail to practice “her science” and not let academia dictate, squelch, or underfund her path……and she writes in beautiful prose…and she includes some hysterically funny experiences.  Hope is best at teaching, nurturing. Open these pages and walk into nature with an inspirational guide.

“Lab Girl surprised, delighted, and moved me. I was drawn in from the start by the clarity and beauty of Jahren’s prose, whether she was examining the inner world of a seed, the ecosystem around the trunk of a tree, or recounting her own inspiring journey. With Lab Girl, Jahren joins those talented scientists who are able to reveal to us the miracle of this world in which we live.” —Abraham Verghese

“Some people are great writers, while other people live lives of adventure and importance. Almost no one does both. Hope Jahren does both. She makes me wish I’d been a scientist.” —Ann Patchett

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Blanche on the Lam by Barbara Neely

31 Tuesday May 2016

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Here is a thoroughly refreshing slant on the cozy mystery genre set in the countryside of North Carolina among the Carters, a dysfunctional family quietly feuding over their matriarch’s fortune.  Enter Blanche White, a black 40 year old housekeeper with moxie who knows she is made invisible by her color and profession. Blanche is an avid reader of people and situations who feels this is as much a part of her work as making beds and readers will delight in her social commentary. Nothing is what is seems in the tangled affairs of the Carter household and when Nate, the black groundskeeper, is murdered, Blanche summons all of her wits and gumption to bring the killer to justice.

“One of the best fictional detectives conjured up in years,” Library Journal

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How to Cook a Moose: A Culinary Memoir by Kate Christensen

23 Monday May 2016

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In this engaging memoir, the author and her boyfriend move from New York City to New England, where they spend time in New Hampshire before making a home in Portland, Maine. The book includes plenty of recipes, interesting facts about New England, and the author’s own love story.

“[An] exuberant, unabashedly gourmand-esque follow-up to Blue Plate Special…Christensen is eating well, in love, and radiating the ‘quiet internal daily joy of living in a culture based on authenticity and integrity.'”—Kirkus Reviews

I like that Ms. Christensen shows us, as M.F.K. Fisher did, the pleasures of a world of food where the scrupulous weighing out of precise calories, vitamins and other nutritional units doesn t exist, because to labor over it is to exist without spirit…Her book gets us thinking about what we are really hungry for and whether the rules of eating have begun to outweigh its pleasures. —Wall Street Journal

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Thirteen Ways of Looking by Colum McCann

16 Monday May 2016

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The title story in this collection of short stories from the author of Transatlantic and Let the Great World Spin, takes place in Brooklyn on a snowy day when an elderly man falls on the slippery sidewalk.  The snow obscures what has actually happened just as the thoughts of the man and his past float and spin through his head like the flakes in a snow globe.

The other two stories, “Sh’khol” and “Treaty” both pack a powerful punch and deal with the shifting aspects of memory as well.

Be sure to check McCann’s website (http://colummccann.com/) for background information that is relevant to understanding the title story.

“In just three short stories and one novella, McCann weaves the magic that made Let the Great World Spin so acclaimed—especially in one brilliant short piece of metafiction in which the process of writing a story becomes interwoven with the story created.”—The Huffington Post

“McCann is a writer of power and subtlety and beauty. . . . The powerful title story loiters in the mind long after you’ve read it.”—Sarah Lyall, The New York Times

“McCann is a passionate writer whose impulse is always toward a generous understanding of his diverse characters.”—The Wall Street Journal

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