The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden

09 Monday Jun 2025

Posted by in 20th century, Fiction, Historical Fiction, suspense

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“It is 1961 and the rural Dutch province of Overijssel is quiet. Bomb craters have been filled, buildings reconstructed, and the war is truly over. Living alone in her late mother’s country home, Isabel knows her life is as it should be–led by routine and discipline. But all is upended when her brother Louis brings his graceless new girlfriend Eva, leaving her at Isabel’s doorstep as a guest, to stay for the season….” (Amazon)

* SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 BOOKER PRIZE *

* WINNER OF THE NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD FOR DEBUT FICTION *

“Remarkable…Compelling…Fine and taut…Indelible.” —The New York Times • “Moving, unnerving, and deeply sexy.” —Tracy Chevalier, author of Girl with the Pearl Earring • “A brilliant debut, as multi-faceted as a gem.” —Kirkus Reviews

A “razor-sharp, perfectly plotted” (The Sunday Times, London) tale of desire, suspicion, and obsession between two women staying in the same house in the Dutch countryside during the summer of 1961—a powerful exploration of the legacy of WWII and the darker parts of our collective past.

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Saving Five: A Memoir of Hope by Amanda Nguyen

29 Thursday May 2025

Posted by in Biography, memoir, Non-fiction

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Nguyen writes about her ambition to become an astronaut and the attack (rape) while a student at Harvard that interrupted her plans. While she doesn’t describe the assault in graphic detail, she does describe the aftermath as well as her experience advocating for her and other victims’ rights. This book is very well written, but might be triggering for survivors of sexual assault or their loved ones. 

“I am in awe of Amanda Nguyen’s courage in sharing her story and her fight to support survivors. As a survivor, I know how painful it is to revisit and recount the horror of rape and sexual abuse, along with the shame, stigma, and doubt that comes with it. Today, Amanda is more than just that story―she’s an astronaut, an author, an activist, and a champion for all.” ―Nadia Murad, recipient of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize

“If Saving Five doesn’t inspire you, check your pulse. It is an extraordinary testimony of resilience, persistence, and ambition. While Amanda’s history-making journey alone could have carried this memoir, it’s also a feat of formal invention, lyrical prose, and a gifted storyteller’s sense of suspense. I was mesmerized from page one to its triumphant ending.” ―Mitchell S. Jackson, author of Survival Math, winner of the Pulitzer Prize

“Saving Five is an extraordinarily moving account of Amanda Nguyen’s pursuit of justice and healing for herself and for millions of survivors around the world. Amanda’s story―innovatively told by versions of herself at different ages―underscores the lasting power of speaking your truth, building a movement, and never losing sight of your dreams.” ―Melinda French Gates, philanthropist and founder, Pivotal

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Martyr!: a Novel by Kaveh Akbar

16 Friday May 2025

Posted by in Uncategorized

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Chosen for February 2025 book for Weston’s Novels at Night book club 

After the death of his mother in a real-life 1988 plane crash, Cyrus and his father move from Iran to Indiana. As a struggling writer in his 20s, Cyrus decides to visit an art exhibit in New York City. Along the way, we learn more about his family members in Iran and the United States, and his mother’s journey. The story explores themes of identity, addiction, religion, and other serious topics with humor and poignancy. Kaveh Akbar’s beautiful writing and vivid imagery will stay with me.

“A brilliant and blisteringly alive novel about not just how we go on, but also why. Kaveh Akbar’s first novel is so stunning, so wrenching, and so beautifully written that reading it for the first time, I kept forgetting to breathe. I will carry this story, and the people in it, with me for the rest of my life.” —John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars

“Poet Akbar (Pilgrim Bell, 2021) is an almost deliriously adept first-time novelist, writing from different points of view and darting back and forth in time and into Cyrus’ satirical dreams and the lives of Iranian poets from Rumi to Farrokhzad. Akbar creates scenes of psychedelic opulence and mystery, emotional precision, edgy hilarity, and heart-ringing poignancy as his characters endure war, grief, addiction, and sacrifice, and find refuge in art and love. Bedazzling and profound.” —Booklist (starred review)

“Sublime . . . [Akbar’s] writing makes just enough time for beauty while never languishing . . . although a novel cannot capture what life is, its truths and inventions can powerfully gesture toward what life is like: full of both pain and pleasure, with death inevitable, and love a choice.” —Bookpage (starred review)

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Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy

09 Friday May 2025

Posted by in England, Fiction, meaning of life

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This is a very sweet story about friendship and finding a new way out of loneliness.

“Sipsworth is a love story about a woman and a mouse. Reason suggests that such a relationship couldn’t possibly work, and yet I found myself pulling for this unlikely duo on every page. Simon Van Booy’s characters are loaded with charm, resilience, and the deep desire for connection that all mammals share. I loved it.”—Ann Patchett

“A memorable story about serendipity—and what can happen when we keep our hearts open to surprise.”—Christian Science Monitor

“Whimsical, beautifully detailed, and filled with heart, Sipsworth is a slim, sparkling jewel of a novel.”—Christina Baker Kline

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Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor

30 Wednesday Apr 2025

Posted by in Fiction, Science fiction, United States

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Nnedi Okorafor is a prolific science fiction author whose books often incorporate her Nigerian heritage. This was my first time reading her, and I can see why she is an acclaimed, award-winning writer. Death of the Author is the story of Zelu, who achieves success after publishing a novel about robots (a book we also read throughout this story). Unable to walk from a childhood fall, Zelu begins to incorporate futuristic technology into her own life. A hard book to describe, but well worth the read! 

“There’s more vivid imagination in a page of Nnedi Okorafor’s work than in whole volumes.” — Ursula K. Le Guin

“Okorafor’s book bounces between the novel (about the writer) and the novel-within-the novel (about the robots), and the result is an ambitious blend of genres.” — NPR

“Nnedi Okorafor is so ferociously talented that we are starting to see she cannot be boxed into any category or genre. Her new novel, Death of the Author, is a deeply felt dazzle. A blaze. It is true deep to the bones.” — Luis Alberto Urrea, Pulitzer Prize finalist and bestselling author of The House of Broken Angels

“A captivating Möbius strip of literary SF.” — Library Journal (starred review)

“[Her work is] irresistible to readers. Her nearly two dozen works of fiction have earned Okorafor a slew of honors—four Hugos, a Nebula, a World Fantasy Award. And a new generation of American storytellers who explicitly use their African heritage, history and mythology to inspire their work have followed in her wake, including Tomi Adeyemi, Ayana Gray, Jordan Ifueko and Namina Forna. . . . Connection is the heartbeat of Okorafor’s work.” — New York Times, 12 African Artists Leading a Culture Renaissance Around the World

“Okorafor explores what it means to be human. . . . All-out Okorafor – her best yet.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Death of the Author explores . . . conservationism, Africanfuturism, and what a world without humans could look like. The focus on the near future and the issues that Zelu faces give the postapocalyptic Rusted Robots a greater urgency. Her desire to live life on her own terms will engage readers who love to watch protagonists grow. Highly recommended for fans of Octavia Butler, Nicky Drayden, and Tade Thompson. . . . [Okarofor’s] latest book-within-a-book will attract genre and literary fiction fans alike.” — Booklist(starred review)

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Who Is Government?: The Untold Story of Public Service by Michael Lewis

23 Wednesday Apr 2025

Posted by in Federal Bureau of Investigation, Non-fiction, United States

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Don’t let the bland cover fool you.  This was a fascinating read.  My favorite chapters were the cybercrime/bitcoin stellar work of the IRS career man, the coal mine inventor working for the Labor Department, and the jet propulsion researcher at NASA. But not one chapter disappointed. A+ read!

“Perhaps never before has there been a book better timed or more urgent.” —Washington Post

“Michael Lewis has this incredible ability to zoom in on one person’s story, and from there reveals something much bigger about our culture. His books leave you seeing the world differently, and his books about federal workers are no exception.” —Katie Couric

“A spirited rebuttal to the canard that federal civil servants are nest-featherers up to no good. . . .

All the contributions. . . press the point that the government’s work is useful—and no one else but government workers are likely to do it. Compelling arguments against ideologues bent on dismantling the government.” —Kirkus Reviews

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Going Home by Ted Lamont

14 Monday Apr 2025

Posted by in England, Fiction, Humor

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Not often do we find a book that nails male friendship…..spot on….and so funny!  

“Going Home is a sparkling, funny, bighearted story of family and what happens when three men—all of whom are completely ill-suited for fatherhood—take charge of a toddler following an unexpected loss” –  Amazon

“A trio of unlikely British men are tasked with unexpected fatherhood duties in the care of a delightfully inquisitive 4-year-old named Joel. The novel’s unforgettable characters and emphasis on caregiving and friendship spread a poignant and joyful message.”—The Christian Science Monitor

“There is so much to love about this book, foremost the poignantly, sometimes painfully detailed portrait of 30-something guys….Joel himself—his way of speaking, his tantrums, his predilections, his memory—is one of the most vivid fictional children since Jack in Room….Their synagogue has a new rabbi, a woman named Sibyl Challis, who is also the best rabbi character in recent memory….A great premise, a great story, but most of all, great characters.”—Kirkus (starred review)

“Funny and poignant, bittersweet and moving…. Going Home made me cry on more than one occasion, and laugh out loud many more times. It’s a terrific reminder that what binds us to our loved ones isn’t blood but the care we take to keep them close, and our ability to show up for them when we screw it up on the first go-round.”—Isaac Fitzgerald, The New York Times

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From Here to the Great Unknown: a Memoir by Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough

07 Monday Apr 2025

Posted by in Biography, memoir, Non-fiction, United States

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Before she died, Lisa Marie Presley asked her daughter Riley Keough to help write her autobiography. After Lisa Marie passed, Riley used hours of her mother’s recordings to complete the book. Without knowing much about the Presley family before reading this, I was moved by Lisa’s story and her family bonds. I recommend the audiobook.

“Instead of tap dancing around the hard parts, we’re drilling into the bedrock. We hear less from Presley and more from Keough, who comes across as level headed, valiant and kind. . . . Keough approaches the episode with respectful levity, the best tool available to members of a dysfunctional family. . . . Presley still gets a word in here and there, and these passages show how determined she was to stand up to her demons.”—The New York Times

“When her actor daughter, Riley Keough, writes that she wants Lisa Marie to emerge from the pages of the memoir as a ‘three-dimensional character’, she’s not kidding . . . it’s clear that Presley was nothing if not radically honest. It’s also striking how Keough seems to almost plead with the reader to understand and love her mother as much as she does. Ultimately, this is a book built on grief: Lisa Marie Presley’s for her father and son, but also a daughter’s for her mother.”—The Guardian

“The book is of two minds: It’s an unadorned, conversational memoir that’s more matter of fact than gossipy, little interested in preserving what her father’s biographer Peter Guralnick once called ‘the dreary bondage of myth.’ And it’s a frank, almost unbearably heavy meditation on grief. . . . Stunningly candid . . . Both women write gracefully about the unbearable, immovable heaviness of grief. Keough’s portrait of her mother in her final months is especially indelible. ‘I had mistakenly thought she was so strong-minded that nothing could ever truly hobble her,’ she writes. ‘But of course it could. Enough pain can hobble anyone.’”—The Washington Post

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Isola: a Novel by Allegra Goodman

26 Wednesday Mar 2025

Posted by in action, adventure, Biographical fiction, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Travel

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In 1500s France, orphaned Marguerite is dependent on her guardian, who forces her to travel with him to New France (Canada). When she develops a relationship with another young man on their ship, her guardian abandons them on an uninhabited island as punishment. An intense, powerful novel about the strength of women, based on a true story.

“A shocking story, made all the more stunning by the fact that it has its roots in true history, Isola is an immersive journey through the eyes of Marguerite de la Rocque, who redefines what makes one a woman of worth and what the difference is between having a life and truly living.”—Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“Goodman writes with fluid beauty, deep empathy, and an emotional undertow that pulls you in and holds you from the first page to the last.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Goodman’s lush and enthralling castaway tale of betrayal and love, suffering and strength is magnificent in its beauty, mystery, fury, and redemption.”—Booklist, starred review

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Hidden Libraries: The World’s Most Unusual Book Depositories by DC Helmuth (Author), Nancy Pearl

22 Saturday Mar 2025

Posted by in Non-fiction, Travel

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“Discover 50 of the world’s most magnificent hidden libraries – each with a unique and uplifting story to tell – featuring a foreword by librarian, bestselling author, and literary critic Nancy Pearl.

Book swap your latest read in a cool 1950s style fridge in New Zealand or hike through the ethereal woodlands of Eas Mor in Scotland where a hidden library in a small log cabin awaits. Each entry shares the library’s mission and impact on the local community and offers fascinating stories from its resident caretaker.

Inside Hidden Libraries: 

  • 50 enchanting, obscure and astounding libraries from around the world
  • Fascinating insider knowledge and unique stories from each library’s resident caretaker
  • Captivating photos accompany every entry and the exact location of each hidden library is revealed
  • Featured libraries include: North America – Idaho: Little Free Library in a Cottonwood Tree; California: The Prison Library Project. South America – Argentina: The Weapon of Mass Instruction; Colombia: The Biblioburro. Africa – Egypt: St Catherine’s Monastery; Mali: The Timbuktu Manuscripts. Asia & the Middle East – China: The Lonely Library; Philippines: Reading Club 2000. Europe – England: Phone Booth Library; Norway: The Future Library. Oceania & Beyond – Antarctica: The Little Free Library at the South Pole; Outer Space: The International Space Station Library

Written by Diana Helmuth, an award winning author who writes about subjects including travel, nature, and philosophical trends”  (Amazon)

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