Books!

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy Winter to all. A long post to follow with book recommendations, so if you're not interested you can leave it at this: my wish for you and for us all is peace and moments of joy. If you are looking for book recommendations, read on!

For me, winter is the perfect time for hibernating with a good book. I was so happy to see all the book recommendations in response to my query last month, so I wanted to reciprocate, in case you are getting ready to move into your own winter cave and need some suggestions for what to bring with you (besides coffee and chocolate, of course - or tea and biscuits, if that's the way your cookie crumbles).

And if I didn’t thank you by name below, it just means your suggestions are still on my “to be read” list!

Since I first asked for suggestions, I have read (and loved):

1. The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (thank you Gina Stewart!). Described as “Harry Potter for adults,” the story follows a sad social worker in a Kafka-esque society whose job is to track magical youth consigned to orphanages so their magic won’t upset the normals. There is mystery and humor and romance, and I hated to let the characters go when the book ended: Chauncey (a viscous pile of goo who wants to be a bellhop), Lucy (short for Lucifer because he is literally the son of the devil), and Sal (an anxious boy who transforms into a Pomeranian when he feels threatened . . .).

2. The entire Iona Whishaw series (thank you Nancy McLauchlan!). Oh. My. Goodness. I cannot get enough of this series about a former WWII spy who is trying to settle into a quiet life in rural BC, but she keeps finding dead bodies . . . . Her intelligence and determined sleuthing, along with her relationship with the dour Inspector Darling, are reminiscent of the Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries (on Netflix).

3. Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline (thank you Molly Noelle Ware!). A story arising out of the practice in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century of shipping orphans to any family who wanted workers but didn’t want to pay for them. Pathos and humor and heartbreak and a mostly happy ending.

4. Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki (thank you Stacy Harrop, and also Stephanie Barbé Hammer!). Quirky characters, doughnuts, musical prodigies, true love, and space aliens. Really, what more could anyone ask for in a book?

5. The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese. Still working on this one. I loved the beginning, with its beautiful descriptions of South India’s Malabar Coast, the shy but determined child-bride, her taciturn but big-hearted husband, the gentle ghost, and the drowning curse. I am struggling with the sudden shift to an entirely new family in Scotland, but will persevere to see the connections.

6. Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson. Benny and Byron’s mother has secrets, which she finally divulges in a recording created for them shortly before her death. Bouncing between Caribbean island life in the 60s and 70s and modern day Southern California, the sea is essentially a character in this marvelous book, as is the black cake their mother learned to make as a child. Black cake marks every major occasion, including the sudden (but not unwelcome) poisoning death of a bridegroom, shortly after he takes a bite of his wedding cake. I won’t say more to avoid spoilers!

7. The Librarian of Burned Books by Brianna Labuskes. Three women connected through their experiences of book burning in Germany in the lead up to WWII, and book banning during the war. Simply marvelous.

8. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (thank you Jette Baker!). I just started this, and I’m intrigued enough by the first few pages that I will definitely keep reading. A Goodreads reviewer described the story line thus: as Australian rare book expert Hanna Heath is called upon to conserve a priceless manuscript, “the tiny artifacts she discovers in its ancient binding—a butterfly wing fragment, wine stains, salt crystals, a white hair—only begin to unlock the book’s deep mysteries and unexpectedly plunges Hanna into the intrigues of fine art forgers and ultra-nationalist fanatics.”

My list would not be complete without a shout out to the recent publications of good friends:

9. Journey to Merveilleux City by Stephanie Barbé Hammer, a can’t-put-it-down novella delivering a modern Agatha Christie/Alfred Hitchcock-style mystery about a man who may or may not have vanished on a train. The characters are delicious (including a Goth girl who may be an octopus), and the story is quixotic and charming. It’s the perfect answer to a cold wintry afternoon of what-shall-I-do-now?

10. The Beautiful Abyss by Gini Chin. A cold and sexless marriage built on lies, a shape-shifting lover in Greece, an international drug ring. Niki’s upended her life, hoping for another chance at happiness, but at what cost? This is a page-turner, so don’t start it late at night…