Good Reads & Views

The Dead Romantics by Ashely Poston
Fiction

What it’s about: Florence Day is a ghost writer for an older famous author. As a failed author herself, ghost writing has allowed her to do what she loves without the fear of rejection. Moving away from home after high school to New York, Florence separated herself from her family and their funeral home business. A tragedy brings Florence home and makes her confront her past and her ability to see ghosts.

Why you might like it: If you like romance with a paranormal/fantasy twist, this book is for you. Florence is a millennial so millennials will relate to her. If you enjoy eccentric characters then Florence’s family will not disappoint.

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Soil: the Story of a Black Mother’s Garden by Camille T. Dungy
Nonfiction

What’s inside: A thoughtful and rambling memoir of a Black mother and poet developing a biodiverse garden in Ft. Collins, Colorado. Unlike naturalists before her--Thoreau, Abbey, or Muir--Dungy relates the mundane and the everyday of her life to the natural one she is growing around her home. The narrative is outwardly connected despite the forced isolation of early 2020, where much of the story is centered; it also reflects on the connections between racial and environmental justice, and on motherhood, current events, and history. Dungy calls it a story of a "Black mother finding peace in the wider-than-human world."

Reviewers say: “Fans of Dungy’s poetry will delight in her sparkling prose, and the wide-ranging meditations highlight the connections between land, freedom, and race. It’s a lyrical and pensive take on what it means to put down roots” (Publishers Weekly); “A poignant portrait of life and its challenges, told through the beauty of nature” (Library Journal).

You might also like: For more nature writing that explores the relationship between women, race and the environment, try World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Wild Girls by Tiya Miles, and We Are Each Other’s Harvest by Natalie Braszile. For additional lyrical and reflective narratives about nature, read Late Migrations by Margaret Renki, Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, or Vesper Flights by Helen MacDonald.

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Atlas of the Heart by Brené Brown
Nonfiction

What it’s about: If you're familiar with Brene's work, then this book is a profound, multilayered dive into the things we avoid. It has been a wonderful tool for unraveling difficult emotions. Of all Brene's books, this is my favorite! It is an uncomplicated ideal for voicing feelings we often struggle to identify and put into words.

Is it for you? If you seek a map for understanding your feelings and making peace with them, especially the painful ones we usually try to avoid, then this book is for you.

You might also like: The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown.

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The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley
Fiction

About the Author: “Clare Pooley graduated from Cambridge University and then spent twenty years in the heady world of advertising before becoming a full-time writer. Her debut novel, The Authenticity Project, was a New York Times bestseller, and has been translated into 29 languages. Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting is her second novel; her third novel, How to Age Disgracefully, is forthcoming. Pooley lives in Fulham, London, with her husband, three children, and two border terriers” (Amazon).

Reviewers say: “An enjoyable, cozy novel that touches on tough topics” (Kirkus Reviews).

You might also like: Two from the Heart by James Patterson or My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman. 

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Exiles by Jane Harper
Fiction

What it’s about: In his third appearance in the series (after The Dry and Force of Nature), Agent Aaron Falk attends a christening that had to be cancelled the previous year. It coincided with a popular food & wine festival where a woman disappeared after leaving her baby unattended. Now, a year later, both the christening and the annual festival are once again back on the schedule and Aaron is having second thoughts about the assumed suicide of the woman a year earlier.

Scenery: Jane Harper’s books always have the various landscapes of the land down under as a backdrop. Here the setting is South Australia’s lush wine country.

Reviewers say: “Writing at the top of her game, Harper effectively uses whodunit tropes to explore her characters’ hidden lives. Readers interested in literate and nuanced mysteries will be eager to see more of Falk” (Publishers Weekly); “For those who enjoy a slow burn with a satisfying conclusion” (LibraryReads).

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Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn 
Fiction 

What it’s about: This novel is a romance story with vulnerability and growth at its heart. Georgie is a young woman who is lost. With no longer having a secure job and no idea what she wants in life, she decides to move back to her hometown in Virginia to help her best friend prepare for her new baby. With this new task she hopes everything will fall into place, until she realizes her childhood home is now occupied by a temporary roommate, Levi, a retired bad boy and local grump. In order to find direction again in her life, she consults an old “friendfic” diary from high school and begins to cross off a bucket list of items with the help, to her surprise, of Levi. Clayborn seemingly refreshes the forced proximity and sunshine/grumpy tropes by welcoming us into this duo’s world as the pair benefits from each other and the unlikely situation they find themselves in.  

Reviewers say: “This is a book for plunging into, a river of feelings with an inescapable current. Even as you are swept away, you know Clayborn’s hand is safely on the tiller, steering you expertly through the rapids” (New York Times). 

You might also like: Love in the Time of Serial Killers by Alicia Thompson or Great and Precious Things by Rebecca Yarros. 

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The Ex-Hex (#1) by Erin Sterling
Fiction

What it's about: Vivienne Jones is a witch with a broken heart. To get back at her ex (Rhys), she puts a curse on him. Nine years later, that curse has come back to haunt her, Rhys, and her town of Graves Glen, Georgia. Rhys Penhallow is a descendant of a family of witches who are in charge of protecting and recharging Graves Glen’s key lines. This is done every year during the town’s Fall Festival. Not knowing he has been hexed, Rhys has done damage to the key lines which cause a lot of things to go awry for the town. Vivienne and Rhys must put their differences aside in order to break the hex and restore the town.

Good to know: This book has been described as Hocus Pocus but with spice! A Perfect goofy/spooky book to read during October. Nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award in the Best Romance category of 2021.

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Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge by Spencer Quinn
Fiction

What it’s about: Newly widowed Loretta Plansky is beset by relatives’ demands for money, so when she receives a phone call in the middle of the night from someone claiming to be her grandson Will, she doesn’t blink. What she does do is give him the password to her checking account. Next morning she wakes up three million dollars poorer, the victim of a scam. The FBI can only tell her the money went to a little town in Romania, and there’s no way to recover it. Not what Mrs. Plansky wants to hear, so she hops a plane to Romania and sets about recovering her lost wealth. This rollicking story is a treat you won’t want to miss! 

Reviewers say: “Readers will root for 71-year-old Loretta as she stumbles onto clues and, despite a less-than-stellar memory, finds the gumption to follow them” (Booklist); “Fans of Richard Osman's "Thursday Murder Club" series will appreciate the latest addition to the ranks of older sleuths” (Library Journal). 

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You Are a Badass Every Day by Jen Sincero
Nonfiction

What it’s about: This book is easy to read, you can literally read a page or two a day in the morning and it will make your whole day better. It’s wonderfully relaxing, motivating, and inspiring. From taking stock to following up on dreams, making changes or sharpening your goals, this is a fantastic read! It’s like sitting with a very positive friend who is on board, encouraging and funny too!

Is it for you? If you are seeking a truly relatable approach to self-improvement and self-development you should check out this exceptional book.

You might also like: Badass Habits by Jen Sincero

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Good Night, Irene by Luis Alberto Urrea
Fiction

What it’s about: This historical novel, spanning World War II from D-day to the liberation of Buchenwald, is based in part on the experiences of Urrea's mother, revealing the little-told story of the women of the American Red Cross Clubmobile Corps service. It’s a loving portrait of two of the “Donut Dollies” (but don’t call them that!) —Irene Woodward, a city girl escaping an abusive fiancée and Dorothy Dunford, a farm girl who lost her family and home—supporting the men on the battlefront, serving coffee, donuts, smiles, and a last word of encouragement before they enter the fray. Irene and Dorothy go where they are most needed, and that can land them in harrowing and dangerous situations—in the middle of a village bombing, running from foxhole to foxhole delivering mail, being chased by a German with a bayonet. There are also moments of quiet as the women’s friendship deepens, and as they develop friendships with the servicemen who flit in and out of the story. Powerful, uplifting, and heartfelt.

Reviewers say: “WWII fiction fans, who have an abundance of options, should embrace Urrea's vivid, hard-hitting novel about the valiant achievements of these unsung wartime heroines” (Booklist); “there’s plenty of grit, detail, and twists that make for both a fine page-turner and an evocation of war’s often cruel randomness. Top-shelf historical fiction delivered with wit and compassion” (Kirkus).

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