The First Ladies by Benedict and Murray

THE FIRST LADIES by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray is another wonderful and informative historical fiction collaboration by these two best-selling authors (The Personal Librarian).  This time, they are focusing on Eleanor Roosevelt and renowned educator Mary McLeod Bethune. Taking readers behind the scenes and musing about relationships and attitudes (“funny how the same women who talk with me about the advancement of women in a formal meeting space open to whites and Negroes pretend not to even see me in this social setting”), Benedict and Murray highlight racial tensions from the late 1920s to the mid-1940s. The public and private strength of both famous women is evident as well as the parallels in how each had to rely on her own fortitude to ignore hurtful comments and actions. As Bethune says, “their racism isn’t my problem. Racism belongs to the people who are racists.”  Weaving in other historical characters, like FDR, Lucy Mercer, Missy LeHand, Lorena Hickock, and even Billie Holiday lends authenticity and immediacy to the storyline which is told from alternating perspectives. THE FIRST LADIES received starred reviews from Booklist (“impeccably researched, relevant novel is a must-read and destined to be a book club favorite”) and Library Journal (“unshakable bond of sisterhood”); plus this title was a LibraryReads selection for June 2023.

The Door-to-Door Bookstore by Carsten Henn

THE DOOR-TO-DOOR BOOKSTORE by Carsten Henn was published internationally in 2020 and has been a best-seller which, as Booklist says, is a “charming story about the power of books and reading.” In this shorter novel, readers meet Carl Kollhoff who works delivering books in a small German town. The bookstore itself is in transition as the next generation is taking over and fails to appreciate the value that Carl brings. Throughout the story, readers meet a variety of customers and watch them evolve slowly. A favorite character is a nine-year-old little girl named Schascha who acts as a catalyst for much action, including Carl’s own growth and willingness to be more open. Overall, though, I felt little empathy for other characters and would recommend “curmudgeonly old man” stories like A Man Called Ove or the more recent The Lonely Hearts Book Club first.

New cookbook titles ...

THE ULTIMATE MEDITERRANEAN DIET COOKING FOR ONE COOKBOOK by Kelly Jaggers includes “175 Healthy, Easy, and Delicious Recipes Made Just for You.” Jaggers is clearly passionate about preparing food; she is the author of several cookbooks, a cooking instructor, personal chef, and caterer. And it’s a good thing, too, that the recipes are great because that cover could be so much more appealing, right? This new cookbook is part of a series (others are on Baking for One and Cooking for One) and Jaggers divides it into fairly standard sections such as breakfast, side dishes, seafood, poultry, and desserts. She includes nutritional information for each recipe and also has some beautiful pictures (a sampling of which appears in the look inside feature at amazon). In general, the recipes seem to meet the promise of being healthy and relatively easy. I am excited to try the Frozen Fruity Yogurt Bark (only 4 ingredients).    

SIMPLY TOMATO by Martha Holmberg offers “100 Recipes for Enjoying Your Favorite Ingredient All Year Long.” SIMPLY TOMATO received starred reviews from Booklist (“consider this the tomato Bible”) and Publishers Weekly (“an indispensable resource for tomato lovers”). It is a unique book for the more experienced cook and is filled with mouth-watering choices. Holmberg has been very creative; for example, she includes eight tomato soups, three of which are variations on gazpacho. Numerous salads (like Sungold Cherry Tomato and Summer Corn Salad), pastas (Penne with Blasted Cherry Tomatoes, Fennel, and Salami), and both main and side dishes are featured as well as snacks (like Grilled Cheese with Sun-Dried Tomato and Smoky Red Pepper Mayonnaise), drinks, and tarts or pastries. Nutritional information is not provided and not every recipe has a picture, but tomatoes are so easy for the home gardener to grow that this cookbook will offer many fun ideas for experimenting during harvest season and beyond. 

The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand

THE FIVE-STAR WEEKEND by Elin Hilderbrand is a twisty soap-opera beach read that Hilderbrand’s many fans will really enjoy. The main character is Hollis Shaw, recently discovered food blogger and influencer, who has been distracted from time with her husband, Matthew (increasingly pursuing his own interests, too), and daughter Caroline, a college age film student. A LibraryReads Hall of Fame title for June, THE FIVE-STAR WEEKEND received starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly. And The New York Times recently recommended this beach read and the “vicarious proximity” to success and wealth.  Hollis invites four friends: Tatum (from childhood and high school), Dru-Ann (from college), Brooke (fellow Mom) and Gigi (recent internet follower) to an extravagant weekend filled with gourmet meals, shopping, music/dancing, and drinking. To be honest, they are all pretty seriously messed up with plenty of insecurities and drama related to relationships, sexuality, employment, and class issues. Readers will find this guilty pleasure and its Nantucket setting to be a happy diversion for the holiday weekend.

Esme Cahill Fails Spectacularly by Marie Bostwick

ESME CAHILL FAILS SPECTACULARLY by Marie Bostwick is ultimately a story about family and finding your purpose in life. Esme is a book editor who loses her job and her husband. She returns to the family’s lakeside lodge for a summer and that’s when she quickly realizes that the financial situation for the family business is in a perilous state, too. Eventually, Esme, her mother, Robyn, her grandfather, George, plus their new chef, Dawes, band together to update the facilities and try to attract new guests. Bostwick’s descriptive writing is full of details about nature, food, and setting: “[if] the gold Formica counters in the kitchen said 1970s, then the brick-patterned vinyl flooring positively screamed it.” Writing and creativity play a big part in this story, too. Esme’s deceased grandmother, Adele, features in her stories about the 1940s in Asheville, North Carolina and there is another writer, Oscar, trying to turn his career around. Plus, some absolutely astounding colorful quilts have their own story to tell. As Bostwick points out, “Everything is a story … The stuff that happens to us is just... stuff. The only reason it means anything is because we attach stories to it, declarations of what we've decided is true and worth passing on. Without stories, there aren't any memories. Or art, or history, or faith... Almost everything that matters is connected to stories, large and small.” Definitely recommended.

Earlene Fowler has also written a series of books about quilting and a special grandmother, Dove.

Drowning by T. J. Newman

DROWNING by T. J. Newman (Falling) is an absolutely fantastic adventure that readers will not want to put down. All about the rescue of flight 1421, this is so realistic in part because Newman is a former flight attendant, but also because she has done significant research as described in the author’s note. With multiple passengers and crew involved in an airline disaster, readers have an opportunity to learn about the lives of twelve individuals, making DROWNING a bit reminiscent of much earlier “disaster” books from Arthur Hailey. It is a diverse group: engineer Will Kent and his eleven-year-old daughter Shannon, newlyweds and an older couple with decades of married life, a nurse, a bartender who cannot swim. The emergencies they face allow for reflection on life and its meaning: “That was all life was. Shifting the balance, every day, to make room for joy and grace in whatever circumstances you've got before your time runs out.” DROWNING received starred reviews from Booklist, Kirkus, and Library Journal; plus, it was an Amazon Best Book of June 2023. I would highly recommend for those looking for a suspenseful, quick, but surprisingly educational, and exciting read.

The Night in Question by Glasgow and Lawson

THE NIGHT IN QUESTION by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson (The Agathas) is the second in a mystery series involving two teenage friends, Alice Ogilvie and Iris Adams, who frequently channel Agatha Christie and her characters like Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot. In this (overly?) complicated case, Glascow and Lawson have Alice and Iris “trying to solve two mysteries seventy-four years apart.” One of their classmates, Rebecca Kennedy, is viciously attacked at a Sadie Hawkins dance at Levy Castle and as they try to prove that another student, Helen Park, is innocent, the would-be detectives learn about the possibility of earlier murders at the same location. Did famous movie stars Mona Moody and Clifford Hayes really die accidentally? Can Alice and Iris (without too much trouble from parents and the authorities) “draw a line from Mona Moody to what happened to Rebecca Kennedy”? There are plenty of clues (and red herrings) in the short, alternately narrated chapters which are “so Agatha Christie: a secret passage, a hidden staircase, sneaking around in the dark with a storm raging outside.”