Can't keep it to myself: Celeste Ng

Like many readers in the last year and a half, I had read Celeste Ng's celebrated novel Little Fires Everywhere. But recently, I went back and read her 2014 novel, Everything I Never Told You, which is my book club's pick for our May meeting. The story of a Chinese-American family living in 1970's small town Ohio, this delves into the years before and the months following a pivotal moment in the family's timeline.

From the moment Marilyn and James meet, they know that their relationship will be like no other. Born to Chinese parents, James has spent his life in America feeling distinctly "other", never quite fitting in, working toward the best education possible. Marilyn, raised by a single mother who teaches home ec, bucks against domesticity and wants desperately to be taken seriously as a student of math and science in a time when these are male dominated fields. These two outsiders find kindred spirits in one another, finally seen and accepted for who they are. Yet their own insecurities linger, causing tension and friction as they try to find their respective ways forward together as a couple and later as parents themselves. These long-held beliefs also will color how they parent their three children, Nathan, Lydia and Hannah, driving the family as a whole toward crisis. As the title suggests, communication, and the lack thereof, is one of the main themes in the novel. It's Ng's spare prose and beautifully drawn characters that made this almost impossible to put down.
Highly recommended.

Meg's Picks: May 2019, part 3

Excellent historical novels and a new voice in contemporary fiction are just around the corner!


The Farm, by Joanne Ramos. From a board member of The Moth, this debut novel is creating a lot of buzz! The surrogate mothers at Golden Oaks live a life of luxury. Except that they cannot leave the property. Or contact outsiders. Filipino immigrant Jane is desperate for the surrogacy fee, but she's starting to have serious worries about what she's gotten herself into.

A Bend in the Stars, by Rachel Barenbaum. This debut from Barenbaum is a must for fans of historical sagas like All the Light We Cannot See and The Women in the Castle. Set in 1914 Russia, two siblings struggle to build their lives amid the war looming on the horizon. Miri is a surgeon, but in a place and time where a female doctor is an anomaly, she's rebuffed often, even by patients--until she is summoned to care for the injured at the front lines. For brother Vanya, a scientist testing Einstein's as-yet-unpublished theory of relativity, he will risk capture in order to test his equation.

The Guest Book, by Sarah Blake. This latest from poet and novelist Blake (The Postmistress) brings readers the story of the Milton family, starting in 1935 New York when the privileged family of five is beset by tragedy. In order to help his wife, Kitty, heal, Ogden buys Crockett's Island off the coast of Maine, a place which will become the family's summer refuge over the years. In 1959, the guests invited by the now-grown Milton children will stretch family tensions to the breaking point, uncovering secrets that will resonate for generations. Blake's prose is absolutely enchanting, and I am definitely putting this one at the top of my to-read list.

Meg's Picks: May 2019, part 2

I read a LOT of debut novels, and am constantly on the lookout for new titles on the horizon that strike my fancy. Here are a couple of historical fiction debuts that I've got my eye on next month, both of which may be excellent book club picks, too.

The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna, by Juliet Grames. This richly imagined debut is based on the story of the author's own grandmother. Beautiful, smart and determined, Stella Fortuna grows up in a mountain village in early 20th-century Italy. Her father suspects her of being cursed, as she won't succumb to patriarchal expectations, and word travels quickly in their small village. When the family immigrates to Connecticut just before World War II, it's not the land of opportunity they'd imagined, and Stella continues to defy expectations and accidents alike in order to protect her younger sister. It's only as forced marriages separate the two that the close-knit sisters slowly lose touch. I'm recommending this particularly for fans of Kate Atkinson (Life After Life, etc.)

The Confessions of Frannie Langton, by Sara Collins. Collins's debut is a historical murder mystery the likes of which I've yet to run across (though it does remind me a bit of Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace). After growing up in Jamaica in the early 1800s as the slave of John Langton, Frannie accompanies John to London after his plantation harvest burns. There she is gifted to John's fellow scientist, George Benham and his wife Meg. George asks Frannie to spy on Meg, but Frannie and Meg soon wind up with a very different relationship. After the Benham's turn up dead, Frannie is immediately held as a suspect, but was she actually involved?

Meg's Picks: May 2019, part 1

Reader's block or no, there are still books I am excited about! Here are a few, coming to library shelves next month!

The Light From Other Stars, by Erika Swyler. I absolutely adored Swyler's 2015 debut novel, The Book of Speculation, so I am eagerly awaiting her sophomore effort. It's Florida in 1986 and while 11-year-old Nedda dreams of being an astronaut, her current reality is her grief-stricken father and his eccentric experiments. The explosion of the Challenger, just 10 miles away, changes everything for both of them. I'm recommending this not just for fans of Swyler's first novel, but also for readers of speculative fiction like that of Audrey Niffenegger (The Time Traveler's Wife, etc.) and Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid's Tale, etc.).

The Flight Portfolio, by Julie Orringer. Another long-awaited new work from an author who has wowed readers (in this case, with The Invisible Bridge, 2010). Here, Orringer draws on the true story of American journalist Varian Fry, who left his wife and and job behind in New York in order to help Jewish artists flee occupied Europe during the Holocaust. Orringer is another novelist I love for the sheer magnificence of her prose--you won't want to miss this.

How Not to Die Alone, by Richard Roper. For readers looking for a novel that feels like that of Maria Semple (Where'd You Go, Bernadette?, etc.) or Gail Honeyman (Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine), Roper's debut is the way to go. Andrew, 42 and single, accidentally created a second life with a white lie when interviewing for a job. Now everyone in his office believes he's married, with two children. In reality, his only family is an estranged sister and his friends are members of an online model train forum. It's only after he begins to train coworker Peggy that he begins to see that he might not have to live in his stifling comfort zone forever...but what will the truth cost him?

Reading Ahead: May 2019, part 3

Summer is not far off, no matter what the temperatures outside may be like. Just look at the books on the horizon!

The Rosie Result, by Graeme Simsion. This third installment in Simsion's extremely popular Don Tillman trilogy (after The Rosie Project and The Rosie Effect) finds Don and Rosie up against a new challenge: their eleven-year-old son, Hudson, who is having issues at school. Don's very familiar with being socially awkward, and figures he's the best person to help Hudson learn to fit in better. Of course, that may not go quite as smoothly as Don might have planned...

Sunset Beach, by Mary Kay Andrews. Drue Campbell isn't doing so well, adrift without a job, but insult is added to injury when her estranged father reappears in her life after a twenty year absence. And that reappearance? Is at her mother's funeral. Oh, and he's now married to Drue's arch-nemesis from middle school, and they're offering her a job. Out of options, she begrudgingly takes the position, only to find herself unwittingly investigating a possible case of corruption in her father's law firm. Andrews is great for a fast page-turner that will make you laugh--perfect for an early summer read.

Queen Bee, by Dorothea Benton Frank. Frank is another author that readers automatically associate with summer books, and they won't be disappointed here. Beekeeper Holly lives a quiet life on Sullivan's Island, tending her hives and working at the library. Holly calls her demanding hypochondriac mother The Queen Bee--Holly's sister Leslie married and moved away just to be free of the family drama. But when Leslie's marriage implodes and she moves back to the island, Holly's quiet life is upended and chaos reigns on all sides. Will she ever find a way back to peace?

Reading Ahead: May 2019, part 2

Is historical fiction a win for you? If it is, here are three new titles from some of our favorite authors!

Mistress of the Ritz, by Melanie Benjamin. The Paris Ritz is run by free-spirited American Blanche Auzello and her serious-minded director husband, Claude. The hotel's glamor can't mask the tensions that plague the couple...or the havoc caused when the Germans march into the city and make the hotel their headquarters. Benjamin is notable for making real historical figures come to life in her stories (The Aviator's Wife, etc.)--readers will find themselves caught up in a story that is not often told.

Resistance Women, by Jennifer Chiaverini. In the wake of the success of Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale (2015), readers have been clamoring for more books, both fiction and non-fiction, that address the strong, secret resistance movement in Europe during World War II. Novelist Chiaverini (Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker, etc.) has taken up that call and brought readers an intense story of four women, two German and two American, who risk their lives to fight the rising fascist regime, even under the close scrutiny of the Gestapo.

The Yankee Widow, by Linda Lael Miller. Many readers may know Miller better as a prolific writer of romance novels, but here she's changed the pace and served up a compelling and revealing story of the devastation of the Civil War. In 1863, Union soldier Jacob Hammond is wounded at the Battle of Chancellorville and taken to a hospital in nearby Washington, D.C. Unfortunately, it's six long weeks before his wife, Caroline, receives the news. By the time she makes her way to his side, they have only a few hours together before he succumbs to his wounds. The grieving Caroline returns home only to have another battle erupt practically at her front door, forcing her to rise to new challenges the likes of which she'd never imagined.

Reading Ahead: May 2019, part 1

I know, I've been MIA. A dreadful combination of reader's block (even librarians get the blues) and writer's block (it's been 5 years and over 700 posts. Sometimes a woman needs a break!). In any case, I'm working on shaking off both of these hindrances and appreciate your patience in the meantime. 
The titles for next month just won't wait any longer, though, so here are the brief versions of a few you might want to reserve now:

The Last Time I Saw You, by Liv Constantine. Constantine's debut, The Last Mrs. Parrish, was on bestsellers' lists and was a huge favorite of library staff and patrons alike. The author, actually two sisters who write together, returns here with a new page-turner: when her high-society mother is murdered, Dr. Kate English's perfect world begins to crumble. She leans heavily on the shoulder of an old friend to get her through the mourning, but then finds that the murderer may not be done...not by a long shot.

Keep You Close, by Karen Cleveland. Cleveland is another author whose debut, Need to Know, absolutely wowed us with plot twists galore. We're delighted she's back with a new novel of deception and betrayal--when single parent and FBI analyst Stephanie finds a gun in her teenage son's room, she is beyond unprepared. Then a colleague on the domestic terrorism squad turns her shock into a spiral of terror and conspiracy with three little words: "It's about Zachary."

The Never Game, by Jeffery Deaver. Author of the best-selling Lincoln Rhyme series kicks off a new series here featuring professional "reward seeker" Colter Shaw. Shaw, son of a survivalist and an extraordinary tracker, works with law enforcement to help find missing persons. But in this seemingly simple case of a young woman's disappearance in Silicon Valley turns into something much bigger than anyone could have guessed.

Cari Mora, by Thomas Harris. Best known for his novels featuring the diabolical Hannibal Lecter, Harris treats readers to a new thriller with another unforgettable heroine. For years, ruthless men have sought the legendary twenty-five million in cartel gold. In fact, it lies hidden beneath a mansion in Miami Beach. Cari Mora, the house's caretaker, is a woman who has escaped the war in her native country, though not unscathed. When the frontrunner in the race to find the gold comes up against Cari, he will find himself up against a skilled survivor the likes of which he hadn't ever expected...

The Night Before, by Wendy Walker. Connecticut author Wendy Walker is a library favorite! Laura has led a troubled life, from a tragedy when she was young through a number of terribly failed romances, the last of which sent her running from her Wall Street job to lick her wounds in the home of her sister Rosie, located in the Connecticut suburb where they grew up. Laura isn't content to brood for long, though, and soon goes out with a man she met on a dating site. Except she never comes home, and Rosie's starting to worry...not just about what he may have done to Laura, but what she may have done to him.