Reported by Garry
Horse by Geraldine Brooks is the
latest from the best-selling author of Caleb’s Crossing, Year of
Wonders, and many others. Spanning the years between 1850 and 2019, Horse
follows three interconnected timelines; this is the story of Lexington, the
fastest horse ever born, and his devoted jockey, Jarrett. A discarded painting,
a skeleton in an attic, the duo of Lexington and Jarrett, and the enduring
echoes of the Civil War all come together in this book that our reader had a
hard time putting down. WJ
Tracy Flick Can’t Win by Tom
Perrotta is the follow-up to his 1998 blockbuster novel Election. Set a
couple decades later, Tracy is now the assistant principal at the high school
she once attended in suburban New Jersey. Her principal announces unexpectedly
that he is resigning, and Tracy guns for the position. But…Vito Falcone – the
former star quarterback of the school – comes back to town and he also is
aiming for the principal job. Will Tracy prevail? You will have to read this
wonderful, heartwarming, and darkly funny book to find out. NH
Trashlands by Alison Stine is a dystopian
look at what may be our future, if the world does not manage to conserve our
natural resources. Coral is a young woman in what used to be southeastern Ohio,
part of the region called “Scrappalachia”. In this near future novel, plastic
can no longer be made after climate change has had drastic consequences. As
such a rarity, plastic is prized and recycled, and “pluckers” work long hours
to find every scrap to trade for their essential needs. A colorful cast of
characters surrounds Coral, as they do their best to survive. Our reader is
looking forward to more from this young author.
KP
The Saints of Swallow Hill is a
historical novel by Donna Everhart with the unusual setting of turpentine camps
during the Great Depression. This harrowing and beautiful story starts in the
hills of North Carolina where Rae Lynn Cobb and her husband Warren run a
turpentine farm. Calamity befalls Warren, and in order to keep herself out of
jail, Rae disguises herself as a man and flees to a squalid, brutal turpentine
farm in Georgia, where she must make peace with her past in order to move
forward. Our reader recommends this book and was particularly impressed by the
amount of historical research Everhart put into bringing an obscure part of
American history to life. ML
The Promise Girls by Marie
Bostwick is the story of three unconventional sisters and their narcissistic
mother who raised them to be geniuses in various fields – whether they liked it
or not. Decades after their mother published a tell-all that made the children
household names, she wants to reunite the family for a documentary film. Meg,
the artist who hasn’t picked up a paintbrush in years absolutely refuses to
participate until she is in a car crash that leaves her with crippling bills.
The filmmaker, Hal Seeger, himself a former child prodigy, uncovers long buried
secrets and helps the sisters learn how to forge their own lives. BM
Also mentioned:
Fears of a Setting Sun: The Disillusionment of
America’s Founders by Dennis C. Rasmussen
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
Death at Greenway by Lori Rader-Day
Swimming with Jonah by Audrey Schulman
Monsignor Quixote by Graham Greene
Memoir of an Independent Woman: An Unconventional Life Well Lived by
Tania Grossinger
Emergency!: True Stories from the Nation’s ERs by Mark Brown, M.D.
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Lost World of James Smithson: Science, Revolution, and the Birth of the
Smithsonian by Heather Ewing
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