Good Reads & Views

The Twelve Clues of Christmas by Rhys Bowen
Fiction

What it’s about: In 1930s England, perpetually broke Lady Georgiana lands a position as hostess for a house party at Christmastime. Everyone comes expecting to have a good old fashioned English Christmas celebration, but every day, someone in the surrounding countryside dies.  Are they accidents or murders? Is it the Lovey Curse or something more sinister? 

Why you might like it: The author draws a winning picture of the quaint village of Tiddleton-under-Lovey, perfect for cozy mystery fans, and Lady Georgiana narrates the story with plenty of humor.

Reviewers say: “Lady Georgiana's sixth outing (after Naughty in Nice) offers another witty and thoroughly enjoyable mystery with a dash of  romance" (Library Journal).  “Bowen blends zany humor with fair-play detection as well as any author of traditional mysteries” (Publishers Weekly).

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Murder Past Due by Miranda James
Fiction

What it's about: Charlie Harris, librarian, and his lovable cat, Diesel, put aside their quiet life to find who murdered a famous author before the wrong person is arrested. The trouble is, it seems every last one of Charlie's friends and coworkers had a score to settle with the novelist.

Why you might like it: If you like cozy mysteries or Southern settings, give this series opener a try.

Reviewers say: "Sympathetic characters, including the intuitive Diesel; a lovingly described home life with his faithful housekeeper...all add to the appeal, as do the details of library work and academic life in small-town Mississippi" (Booklist).

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The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal
Fiction

What it's about: Set in 1950s USA, a huge meteorite strikes off the East Coast, obliterating Washington DC and upsetting the climate. The International Space Coalition is created to get as many people off Earth as possible before it becomes uninhabitable.  But Dr. Elma York, a pilot and a "computer" for the ISC, can't help but notice only men are being selected to be astronauts. After an appearance on a children's show to explain rocketry, Elma finds herself dubbed the Lady Astronaut by the press. Now if only she can convince the ISC to take women seriously.

Reviewers say: "Readers will thrill to the story of this ‘lady astronaut’ and eagerly anticipate the promised sequels" (Publishers Weekly);  "A fast-forward thrill ride, Hugo Award winner Kowal's exciting alternate history...highlights the space race and the sexism of the time" (Library Journal).

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Wonderland Creek by Lynn Austin

What it’s about: During the Great Depression, Alice Ripley has spent her 22 years with her nose in a book. When her boyfriend breaks up with her and she loses her job, she decides to take donated books from her hometown of Blue Island down to Acorn, Kentucky, for the Packhorse Librarians. Thinking to stay only a few days, Alice gets caught up in the lives of the library staff and patrons and realizes that she has hardly lived at all before.

Why you might like it: This is a Christian historical novel with a heartwarming coming of age story. There are elements of romance as well.

You might also like: The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes is another book about the Packhorse Librarians of the Great Depression. Prayers for Sale by Sandra Dallas is about friendship between an older and younger woman.

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The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher
Fiction

What it’s about: In a fantasy world where humans have retreated to Spires far above the deadly surface, Merchant Captain Grimm flies his merchant ship Predator for Spire Albion until he is tapped to lead a team of agents on a secret mission.

Why you might like it: The cast of characters is large yet  nonetheless fully realized. Humor is mixed equally with suspense. The main characters are fundamentally good people caught up in an epic battle. It is the first in a series, and a lot of the world is yet to be explored by the characters.

You might also like: The Guns Above by Robyn Bennis another steampunk world with airships.

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Leadership in Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Nonfiction

What it's about: A presidential historian looks at 4 presidents and asks, are leaders born or made? Goodwin looks at Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D Roosevelt and Lyndon B Johnson, examining their early lives, dramatic reversals of fortune each experienced early in adulthood, and shows how they proved equal to the crises of their time.

Why you might like it: If you enjoy U.S. history, particularly learning new things about our presidents, give this a try. Or pick this up if you want a study in leadership qualities that is easily and compulsively readable.

You might also like: Presidents of War by Michael Beschloss if you're looking to read more about presidents and their times. Or try Dare to Lead: Brave work, Tough Conversations, Whole Hearts by Brene Brown if you're looking for more on leadership.

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The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer Ryan
Fiction

What it's about: World War II has come to the small English village of Chilbury. This charming ensemble story follows four female narrators through romance, intrigue, and heartbreak as they and their neighbors try to keep their spirits up during a dangerous time.

Why you might like it: If you like reading about women who find their strength in adversity, you might enjoy this book. If you enjoy following a carefully crafted narrative of multiple viewpoints, then this book is for you.

You might also like: If you like novels told in letters, try The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer which is set just after WW II, or Dream When You're Feeling Blue by Elizabeth Berg about young women finding their place amid the upheaval of WWII America.

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The Whole Town’s Talking by Fannie Flagg
Fiction

What it’s about: When Swedish immigrant Lordor Nordstrom founded the Missouri town of Elmwood Springs, he set aside a beautiful parcel for the town cemetery. Over the course of more than a century, this novel tells the interconnected stories of Elmwood Springs’s inhabitants—later the inhabitants of the cemetery after they pass away.

Why you might like it: A book about the dead might sound macabre, but in Fannie Flagg’s capable hands it is endearing and funny: “I went to your funeral and sent you flowers.” “Thank you. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to reciprocate.”

Reviewers say: “Flagg does a clever job of tracking her clan of interconnected families through the decades...[She] doesn’t stray far from her winsome and winning formula: adorable town with a cute history, check. Quirky characters, check” (Kirkus).

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The Clergyman’s Wife by Molly Greely
Fiction

What it’s about: This gentle, thoughtful novel tells the story of Charlotte Collins, nee Lucas, from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.  If you read it, you may remember that after Elizabeth rejected the pompous Mr. Collins’s marriage proposal, her friend Charlotte accepted it for the security it offered. This book takes up Charlotte’s married life three years later. Charlotte does not feel love or even companionship with her husband, but not until she befriends Mr. Travis, one of the local farmers, does she start to appreciate how empty her life has been.

Why you might like it: The first-person narration takes the reader deep into Charlotte’s world, from restrained depictions of her marriage to evocative descriptions of the natural world. If you enjoyed Pride and Prejudice, this novel allows you to spend more time in the Austen universe. 

Reviewers say: "Austenites will appreciate her faithful depiction of favorite familiar characters while creating a new story for them" (Library Journal).

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Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld
Fiction 

What it’s about: Pride and Prejudice has been transported to modern-day Cincinnati!  Liz Bennet is a magazine editor and Fitzwilliam Darcy is a neurosurgeon in this hilarious retelling of Jane Austen’s classic. Level-headed Liz and sweet-tempered Jane come home from New York City after Mr. Bennet has a heart attack and find the family’s finances are in terrible shape.  Mrs. Bennet’s solution? Getting her oldest daughter married to an ER doctor who had appeared on a reality TV dating show.

Is it for you?  If you like character-driven stories with bantering dialog and witty narration, this book will keep you smiling, if not laughing out loud, all the way through.

Reviewers say: Sittenfeld’s “charming retelling is a delightful romp for not only Austen devotees but lovers of romantic comedies and sly satire, as well” (Booklist); “Sittenfeld's inclusion of a Bachelor-like reality show is a brilliant parallel to the scrutiny placed on characters in the neighborhood balls of Jane Austen's novels” (Library Reads).

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