Meg's Picks: July 2019, part 2

Summer reads come in all shapes and sizes. If your preferences run serious or suspenseful, these might just be what you were looking for!

The Nickel Boys, by Colson Whitehead. Whitehead's 2016 novel The Underground Railroad won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the 2016 National Book Award for Fiction. So if we're eager to see what comes next, I think that's only natural. Here, the strand of history he's dramatized follows two boys sentenced to a hellish reform school in Jim-Crow era Florida, based on an actual reformatory which operated for 111 years. If you prefer your summer reads serious and intense, you cannot miss this.

Lock Every Door, by Riley Sager. Riley Sager is totally a staff darling here at the library. We loved his debut, Final Girls, and his sophomore novel, The Last Time I Lied. We absolutely anticipate a hat-trick with Lock Every Door, in which Jules's new job as an apartment sitter in one of New York's oldest and most glamorous buildings may just cost more than it pays...

Stone Cold Heart, by Caz Frear. Frear is another new favorite, following her stellar suspense debut last summer, Sweet Little Lies, with a second novel featuring Detective Constable Cat Kinsella. She's back at London Metropolitan Police with her wisecracking partner Parnell, both of them trying to avoid the ire of boss DI Kate Steele. It's all business when they catch a case, though, involving a young Australian woman who's turned up dead following a party thrown by her new boss. The lead suspect's alibi is his wife, and she contradicts him, but which one is lying, and why? Murder is only the beginning of the mystery here.

Someone We Know, by Shari Lapena. Following 2018's An Unwanted Guest. Someone has been sneaking into houses, and their inhabitants computers, in a quiet suburb in upstate New York. They've been learning their neighbors' secrets, and perhaps sharing them. Who is he? What might he have learned? After two anonymous letters show up, rumors circulate, suspicions grow, and then a woman is found murdered. How far will these nice, unassuming neighbors go in order to keep their secrets?

Meg's Picks: July 2019, part 1

History, humor, and heart. These are just some of the bounty of July's new novels.

Dragonfly, by Leila Meacham. At the height of World War II, a group of young Americans receive a mysterious summons from their government, asking if they willing to fight for their country. While they are from very different backgrounds, each heeds the call for their own personal reasons. The group, code name Dragonfly, bond immediately. This is war, however, and the stakes in the cat-and-mouse game they're playing are incredibly high. One or more of them will have to pay the ultimate price... For fans of Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale, most definitely. 

The Chelsea Girls, by Fiona Davis. Hazel and Maxine meet as USO performers in Italy at the end of World War II, one a sheltered daughter of a renowned theater family, the other facing discrimination owing to a German-born grandfather. Following the war, Hazel pens a Broadway-bound play based on her experiences during the war, and Maxine comes from Hollywood to star...but a secret will threaten to tear their friendship apart. Davis has been developing quite a fan-base with novels like The Dollhouse and The Address--this latest is sure to be in demand.

You've Been Volunteered, by Laurie Gelman. Gelman's debut, Class Mom (2017), introduced snarky 40-something mom Jen Dixon whose appointment to kindergarten class mom put her smack in the middle of PTA drama with hilarious results. In this follow-up, Jen's son Max is now in third grade and Jen is once again catapulted into the role of class mom, even as her family life gets pulled in a dozen different directions. If your perfect summer read is a laugh-out-loud speed read, this is for you!

The Lager Queen of Minnesota, by J. Ryan Stradal. I adored Stradal's 2015 debut, Kitchens of the Great Midwest, and I've been anxiously awaiting her new novel, inspired by true events in Stradal's own family. Once upon a time, Helen Blotz inherited the family farm, which alienated her sister Edith. Helen used the proceeds from the sale of the farm to invest in her husband's family soda business, helping to turn it into the hottest brewery in Minnesota. Two generations later, the brewery's success is waning, though Edith's granddaughter's brewpub may bring family together again. Stradal's characters are deftly drawn and are deeply memorable. Have I mentioned I can't wait?

Reading Ahead: July 2019, part 3

If variety is the spice of life, then this summer's book list is quite spicy!

Lady in the Lake, by Laura Lippman. Modern psychological insights meet classic noir in Lippman's latest, set in 1960's Baltimore. Thirty-something housewife Maddie separates from her husband after an old friend reminds her of all she used to long to be, beyond marriage and motherhood. She relishes her newfound freedom, her own apartment, her affair with a city patrolman. It's only when she manages to leverage her story concerning a murdered child and her correspondence with the killer into a position with the Star that Maddie really hits her stride. If a sophisticated crime novel is your favorite brand of summer reading, this should absolutely hit your list.

The Golden Hour, by Beatriz Williams. Willams's latest is an epic foray into one of the most enigmatic couples in history, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, as seen through the eyes of a young woman who arrives in the Bahamas in 1941 determined to work her way into their inner circle. Williams is fast becoming a favorite staple for summer reading enthusiasts.

Window on the Bay, by Debbie Macomber. This standalone romance from Macomber finds college friends Jenna and Maureen now divorced empty nesters, each encouraged by their children to try dating again. Maybe it's time to dust off their passports and travel? Or maybe romance is right in their own backyard, just waiting to surprise them. A comfortable, easy read.

Surfside Sisters, by Nancy Thayer. Keely was eager to leave Nantucket behind to follow her dream of becoming a writer. Now a successful novelist with all that accompanies it, living in New York, keely's starting to reconsider what's important to her. A relationship gone sour has resulted in some serious writer's block, made worse when her editor rejects her latest novel. The slower, calmer pace of island life may be just the cure for what ails her.

I'll be picking up next week with my Meg's Picks posts--hint: there's a LOT of them for July! See you then!

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?

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.

Meg's Picks: April 2019, part 3

So many great new titles to read in the coming month! As if the choices weren't hard enough, here are two more that are on my radar.

The Red Daughter, by John Burnham Schwartz. In the 1960s, Joseph Stalin's daughter Svetlana Alliluyeva defects to America, running from her father's brutal legacy. Her escort? Young lawyer Paul Horvath, furnished by the CIA. Her life in America is not what she had expected, filled with stumbling blocks and mistakes, and she ultimately turns to Paul for help--even as the CIA keeps tabs on their relationship. Schwartz's father was that young lawyer, and here has crafted a fictional account of these events based on his own research and his father's reminiscences. For fans of Amor Towles (A Gentleman in Moscow, etc.) and Paula McLain (The Paris Wife, etc.), this should absolutely be on your list.

I Know Who You Are, by Alice Feeney. Feeney's follow-up to the extremely popular Sometimes I Lie (2018) stars actress Aimee Sinclair, who everyone seems to think they know from...something? It's hard to be almost famous, almost known. But one person knows Aimee very, very well--both who she is...and what she has done. And when her husband disappears, she doesn't know what to think or how to act. Of course the police think she's hiding something, and she is, but it's an older, darker secret, one that someone out there seems to know. If Aimee is going to survive this, she's got a lot of digging to do. Psychological suspense fans are already lining up--are you one of them?

Meg's Picks: April 2019, part 2

What is on my list of things to read this spring? All three of these have made my list already! Why? Read on!

The Book of Dreams, by Nina George. In this follow up to best-sellers The Little Paris Bookshop and The Little French Bistro, former war reporter Henri Skinner lies in a coma after pulling a young girl from the Thames River. Henri's ex-girlfriend, Eddie, learns that she's been listed as next-of-kin in his will. His teenage son, Sam, forms a relationship with Eddie and waits for Henri to wake up so that they can meet for the first time. This tender, thoughtful look at unfinished relationships should make for excellent book club discussion.

Cape May, by Chip Cheek. In this buzz-worthy debut, it's 1957 and young newlyweds Henry and Effie travel from their home in Georgia to honeymoon in their relative's vacant Cape May, NJ cottage. It's September and the celebrated beach town is almost completely deserted, but then they couple bump into a glamorous trio who invite them to stay and join their ongoing party. Fueled by copious amounts of gin, the group descends en masse into a series of taboo indulgences. But can Henry and Effie really shed the mores of their upbringing without consequences? If you're looking for something steamy that still has the Gatsby-esque feel of a classic, this should absolutely be on your list. It is already on mine!

A Good Enough Mother, by Bev Thomas. As the director of a renowned trauma therapy unit, London psychotherapist Ruth Hartland absolutely knows better. But when she first sees new patient Dan Griffin, she momentarily mistakes him for her own troubled teenage son, Tom, who disappeared a year and a half ago. That instant emotional connection continues, threatening her ability to maintain professional boundaries with Dan. Thomas herself is former clinical psychologist with Britain's National Health Service, lending additional credibility to her debut. Fans of psychological fiction would do well to pick this one up.

Reading Ahead: March 2019, part 3

Gothics, suspense, historical fiction are all on the menu next month. Ready for a new favorite?

The Island of Sea Women, by Lisa See. Mi-ja and Young-sook are best friends living on the Korean island of Jeju, though they come from very different backgrounds. When they are old enough, they begin working with their village's all-female diving collective. As time goes on, however, (the story begins in the 1930s during a period of Japanese colonialism and runs to present day) their country is caught between warring empires, pitting family against family, the force of dark secrets tearing at their friendship. Fans of See's earlier work (The Teagirl of Hummingbird Lane, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, etc.) won't want to miss this.

The Night Visitors, by Carol Goodman. When Alice flees a relationship gone dangerous with her ten-year-old son Oren in tow, she meets up with social worker Mattie. Mattie doesn't take the pair to a shelter, however, but home to her ramshackle house in the woods. While Mattie's heart is in the right place, and she has plenty of room, Oren also reminds her very much of her younger brother, who died thirty years ago. And Mattie isn't the only one harboring some unsettling secrets. Goodman is a personal favorite, and this latest gothic thriller is already on my to-read list this spring.

All the Wrong Places, by Joy Fielding. After being let go from her advertising job due to a merger, and breaking up with her cheating boyfriend, Paige Hamilton is in serious need of some personal validation. On impulse, she signs up for a dating app, the same one her friend Chloe uses, it turns out. When both women, as well as another person close to Paige, start dating Mr. Right Now, no one could predict that something so innocuous could have such dangerous consequences...

The Mark (The Big Kahuna) , by Janet Evanovich and Peter Evanovich. FBI Agent Kate O'Hare and charming con-man Nicolas Fox team up again on another case that the FBI would ordinarily shrug off: finding a missing Silicon Valley billionaire, nicknamed The Big Kahuna. Beyond the man's greedy trophy wife and shady business partner, neither of whom seem terribly interested in the man's whereabouts, the investigation's only real lead seems to be the beach bum son, living the dream in Hawaii. What can Kate and Nick do but go undercover, posing as a married couple in the laid-back surfer community. Expect lots of Evanovich's signature humor here.

Silent Night, by Danielle Steel. The daughter of Hollywood royalty, Paige Watts has channeled her own acting aspirations into her daughter's career--by age nine, Emma has the lead role on a hit TV show. But after the unthinkable happens, Emma goes to live with her aunt Whitney, who chose a very different path from sister Paige. This isn't a bad thing, because Emma needs all the help she can get in the wake of tragedy, and her road to healing will change her, and everyone around her.

Meg's Picks: February 2019, part 2

Need something different to keep you company? I have a few suggestions!

The Last Romantics, by Tara Conklin. Conklin, whose 2013 debut, The House Girl, was a huge reader favorite, returns here with a new novel. Celebrated poet Fiona Skinner, when asked about the poem that made her famous, The Love Poem, recounts a summer of her youth that she shared with her three older siblings. This summer, after Fiona's father passed away unexpectedly and her mother sank into a crippling depression, is known as the Pause, and while it created a shared bond among the siblings, it also  affected each of them differently as they grow up. Also available in Large Print. 

The Lost Girls of Paris, by Pam Jenoff. Jenoff (The Orphan's Tale, etc.) returns to World War II fiction, this time with the story of Grace Healy, who in 1946 finds a suitcase in Grand Central terminal. In it are the photos of  dozens of women, all of whom turn out to have been spies deployed out of London during the war. Twelve of them, however, never returned home, and Grace cannot help but pick up their trail, eager to learn more about what happened to them. For fans of Jenoff's other work and of Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale, this should be a on your to-read list.

Finding Dorothy, by Elizabeth Letts. In 1938 Hollywood, Maud Baum, widow of author Frank Baum, has been trying to find a way onto the set for The Wizard of Oz since she found out about the film. She's the only one who can keep the producers true to the spirit of the book, now nineteen years after Frank's passing, since she's the only one who knows its secrets. When she hears Judy Garland sing, Maud realizes that Judy is perfect for the role and vows to protect her, just as she tried to protect the real Dorothy. Written as fiction but deeply researched and holding closely to the fact, this is perfect for any who loved the iconic book and/or film.

Meg's Picks: February 2019, part 1

Fiction is full of history and high-rises next month. Here are a few of my picks!

The Age of Light, by Whitney Scharer. Part love story, part coming of age tale, Scharer's debut it set across the backdrop of glamorous 1930's Paris and later, the devastation of World War II. Vogue model turned photographer Lee Miller moves to Paris to reinvent herself. There she meets surrealist artist and photographer Man Ray, where she becomes his student, his lover and his muse. Even as they mingle through the opium dens and smoky bars that cater to the day's art-world elite, Miller slowly begins to pull away, making a name for herself, much to her lover's jealous rage. Historical fiction fans are already beginning to line up for this, myself among them.

More Than Words, by Jill Santopolo. Santopolo's bestselling 2017 novel, The Light We Lost, has been a reader favorite, and is in development for film. So it's only natural that her newest novel is generating buzz already. Heiress Nina Gregory grieves for the perfect and successful father she idolized, but in the aftermath of his death, Nina begins to uncover the disastrous secrets he had been keeping from her. Knowing that she was meant to carry on the family business running luxury hotels, she finds herself torn between duty and desire, expectations and aspirations. How can she trust anything or anyone when the man she trusted most has let her down so completely? I'm recommending this to readers who like romance and drama with some substance.

The Huntress, by Kate Quinn. Recommended for readers of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Quinn's previous book, The Alice Network. In post-war Europe, Nazi hunters and a former Russian bomber pilot search for Nazi war criminal Lorelei Vogt,aka The Huntress, who committed unspeakable atrocities during the last days of World War II before vanishing. The trail leads from Poland to the United States, where in Boston a young woman welcomes her widowed father's new bride, an Austrian refugee named Annelise, with more than a little suspicion. How long will it take to track down the Huntress? And what will happen when they do? Also available in Large Print.

What I've Been Reading, 2018 wrap-up

By the very skin of my teeth, I finished my 100th book of 2018 on December 30th! I should note that a few of these (the first title and the last three) are all books I have in my personal collection and are not currently available in the Trumbull Library collection. Links for these go to Amazon instead of the regular Library catalog links.

Reunion at Red Paint Bay, by George Harrar. Simon Howe is a native resident of quiet Red Paint Bay, Maine, a place that advertises as "the friendliest town in Maine". He's the editor of the local paper, a stable husband and father. And then he starts to receive anonymous postcards, each increasingly menacing in tone, alluding to a pending threat not just to Simon, but to his family as well. It's a story of guilt, denial, and the secrets that haunt us, all with an unexpected twist ending. A fast read and something a bit off the beaten path, definitely more than your average psychological suspense novel. This title is also available to Trumbull residents via Overdrive.

Nine Perfect Strangers, by Liane Moriarty. Nine people gather at a remote health resort for a ten day retreat. Some are here to lose weight, or to jump start a life transition, or to deal with life's stressors. Most of the guests don't really seem to "need" a health resort, and yet, here they are at Tranquility House. The most intriguing person there, however, is the enigmatic guru who runs the place and who will test each of her guests to their limit, and possibly beyond, during the course of their stay. This was absolutely a page-turner, and if the story lines were not all of equal strength, I really didn't care. It was just what I needed it to be. Also available in Large Print and Audio. 

Merry Ex-Mas, by Sheila Roberts. I was advised that I'd been a little grinchy this holiday season and should consider a holiday novel to get me in the proper spirit. While the advice might have been good, I'm not sure this particular title was the best choice for me. Three friends in picturesque Icicle Falls are dealing with some serious relationship issues. Ella, newly divorced, is still living with her ex-husband while they try and sell their house, which is super awkward. Bakery owner Cass is having to try and make her daughter's dream wedding happen, on a budget, while dealing with the holiday rush AND the presence of her ex and his trophy wife...in her house. And Charlene's ex-husband resurfaces wanting to kiss and make up after the ultimate betrayal, but does he have ulterior motives? It was okay, but not my favorite thing ever.

The Reckoning, by John Grisham. I haven't read Grisham in years and years, but the subject matter of this new novel really intrigued me. Clanton, Mississippi's favorite son Pete Banning returned from World War II a decorated hero, having survived hell during his years stationed in the Philippines. Then, not long after returning home, this family patriarch drives into town one cool autumn morning and commits an act that shocks and horrifies his family and his community. Regardless of who asks or how many times they ask him why, Pete refuses to give any explanation for his actions, resigned to taking his secret to his very grave. Tremendously fascinating. Also available in Large Print and Audio.

The Songbirds of Darling Bay Trilogy, by Rachael Herron. (The Darling Songbirds, The Songbird's Call, The Songbird Sisters) Sisters Adele, Molly and Lana Darling were once a country music sensation who poised to hit the big time when a family tragedy causes the band to break up...and their family ties to fracture. A decade later, Adele comes back to the town they'd called home as girls, feeling the need to leave Nashville behind and put down real roots. As she finds a place and a purpose, she gradually reaches out and pulls middle sister Molly back, too. Molly has ended a long stint working for a cruise line and is, essentially, without a place to go. And once she's back in Darling Bay and finding her life's work, it seems like only a matter of time before Lana makes her way home, too. In the end, the trilogy is obviously about family, but also about love and friendship, about letting go of the past and moving forward, starting over. I'm a huge fan of Herron's characters, who are very flawed and that much more endearing for it.

And that rounds out 2018! I'm going to try for another 100 in 2019, and will be tracking over on Goodreads.com. I hope you'll join me!

What I've Been Reading: October 2018

Well, it was bound to happen. I have hit a bit of a reading lull, or at least it feels that way, somehow. There have been a few titles that I've finished within a day or two this past month, but everything else has been mostly read simultaneously, a few pages at a time--to me, that just feels less fulfilling. Anyone else?

In any case, here we go!


A Man Called Ove, by Frederik Backman. I've held off on this one, which I know so many people have read and loved, because I knew my bookclub would read it and I wanted to wait. So now we've met, and I've read it! Ove is the neighborhood curmudgeon, keeping the world at arm's length and subscribing to a merciless sense of fair play. We meet him on one of his darkest days, which is turned around by a chance annoyance--a new family moving in, and making a hash of things in the process. Ove, who has not let anyone into his life in such a long time, soon finds himself surrounded by people who need him, and it is only most reluctantly that he acknowledges his need for them, too. A fast read, and an inspiring one. I very much enjoyed it, and it made for excellent discussion with the book club members.

A Breath After Drowning, by Alice Blanchard. Child psychiatrist Kate Wolf is devastated when one of her young patients commits suicide. Still reeling, she takes on a new patient, a girl abandoned at the hospital by her mother. Her confidence shaken, Kate doubts her ability to help her new patient, only to find the girl and her family have ties to Kate's own past, forcing her to acknowledge her own personal tragedy. While the plot here is fascinating, I found the style abrupt, almost as though too much of the story had been edited out--it felt like there were holes and that I was having to infer an awful lot. Sadly, not my favorite.

Leave No Trace, by Mindy Mejia. Ten years ago, a man and his son disappeared into the acres of forest in Minnesota near the Boundary Waters, and the townsfolk have presumed them dead for years. Now, the son has reappeared, found ransacking an outdoor equipment store. Violent and uncommunicative, he's sent to the local psychiatric facility where he chooses only to communicate with speech therapist Maya. He's still unwilling to share all of his secrets: where they've been, why they disappeared, why he came back. And Maya certainly has secrets of her own, including the reason she wants to help him return to the wild and his father. Beautifully written in taut, spare prose, this is a suspense novel to be savored--I didn't want to miss the smallest detail.

Lost Girls: an unsolved American mystery, by Robert Kolker. In 2010, the remains of five young women were found on the same Long Island Beach, all of them sex workers who had once used Craigslist to post their ads. Kolker investigates their individual pasts, their disappearances, the police investigation, and the nearby gated community which appears to be peopled with very private citizens, all with something to hide. The five women are all believed to have been killed by the same person, called the Long Island Serial Killer or LISK (sometimes also called the Gilgo Beach Killer or the Craigslist Ripper). I'm on a true-crime jag, and this was compellingly written. The case is currently still unsolved.

Something in the Water, by Catherine Steadman. I read this on a recommendation from a coworker, who said she couldn't put it down. I can concur, it was absolutely gripping. In a novel where you start at the end and work backward, we meet Erin while she's digging a grave for her husband. It is only as we track back her relationship with her husband, their recent wedding and their honeymoon in Bora Bora that we slowly get the picture of how she has come to this desperate situation, a young documentary film-maker, now a widow, hiding a body in the English countryside. Steadman's debut is excellent, and I look forward to her next outing.

Orphans of the Carnival, by Carol Birch. Julia Pastrana was a wonder of her time, a queen of the freakshow, touring New Orleans, New York, London, Vienna, and Moscow. Today, she would be diagnosed with hypertrichosis terminalis, but in the mid 1800s, physicians declared she was half brute, half human--as an act, she was often called the Bear Woman. Fluent in English, Spanish and French, Julia was also an accomplished musician and dancer with an excellent singing voice. Leaving the small Mexican village where she grew up in hopes of a better life with the sideshow troupe in New Orleans, Julia seeks happiness and perhaps love, which she finds with Theodore Lent. Based on a true story and framed in Birch's flavorful prose, this was a delectable read.

The Home for Unwanted Girls, by Joanna Goodman. Maggie is a young woman in Quebec in the 1950s, her mother French and her father English. Caught between two worlds, she is pushed to reject her French background, only to fall for a French boy who lives on a neighboring farm. Maggie becomes pregnant and is sent away, forced to have her baby in secrecy and give her up immediately. Elodie grows up in Quebec's impoverished orphanage system, only to have all orphanages turned into mental institutions by governmental decree--as a result, Elodie and thousands of orphans like her are declared mentally ill. Told in two parts that intertwine but never touch, the stories of Maggie and her daughter are hauntingly poignant. I'd recommend this to readers who liked Lisa Wingates's Before We Were Yours.

Meg's Picks: November 2018, part 2

I've mentioned before, these are often my favorite posts: full of new titles that might be off the beaten track a bit but still very worthy of the spotlight. If you're tired of the same-old-same-old, here are a few to take into consideration...

Come With Me, by Helen Schulman. Schulman, author of the 2011 bestseller This Beautiful Life, returns here with a thrilling and somewhat alarming tale of the possibilities of technology. Stanford junior and tech start-up genius Donny has developed an algorithm that may allow people to access their "multiverses", the lives they might have had if life choices had been played out differently. One of his first test subjects is PR part-timer Amy Reed, whose daydreams often drift to a simpler, less encumbered life, one without her out-of-work husband and rowdy children. As the testing draws her daydreams frighteningly close to the surface, Amy and her family have to make some serious choices. Dark comedy fans should absolutely check this out.

The Shadows We Hide, by Allen Eskens. In this sequel to 2014's The Life We Bury, Joe Talbert returns to investigate the murder of the father he never knew, and to reckon with his family's past. What he discovers upon arriving in his father's small hometown is that no one has much to say about the deceased except that his death was long overdue. Upon further digging, it seems the man had been a cheat and generally nasty character. But Joe must continue to dig, both to solve the murder as well as to fill in the missing pieces of his own family history. I'm recommending this to fans of Jane Harper (The Dry, etc.).

Once A Midwife, by Patricia Harman. This new addition to Harman's popular Hope River series (The Midwife of Hope River, etc.) follows midwife Patience Hester through World War II, facing trouble when her husband Daniel refuses to fight after seeing too much bloodshed in the first world war. This earns him not only the scorn of his neighbors, but also a prison sentence, leaving Patience behind to support their family, raising their four young children in his absence. Historical fiction fans looking for a different take on WWII fiction might want to add this to their reading lists.

Reading Ahead: November 2018, part 3

This is the prime season for easy, entertaining reads. Here are a few that readers are already beginning to line up for.

Beauchamp Hall, Danielle Steel. Steel's latest features a young American woman who finds adventure, professional satisfaction, and love when she becomes involved with the filming of a Downton Abbey-type television program near London. And she's a long way from her roots in small-town Michigan. Lots of heart, lots of fun, perfect for Steel's fans. Also available in Large Print. 

Master of His Fate, by Barbara Taylor Bradford. Bradford kicks off a new historical fiction series set in Victorian England in her latest novel. James Lionel Falconer is young, charming and confident, rising from his start as an assistant in his father's Camden Town market stall to a high position in a classy trading company. While personal tragedy nearly undoes James, it's a royal summons that ultimately will let him prove his worth. Bradford fans will be delighted with her new cast of characters.

Night of Miracles, by Elizabeth Berg. This sequel to Berg's hugely popular The Story of Arthur Truluv follows Lucille Howard, who is now teaching baking classes out of her home to help fill her time after a personal loss. She reaches out to a new resident and hires her as an assistant, and helps other neighbors who are experiencing personal struggles. If your preference is warm, comforting, easy reading to curl up with this time of year, this is just the thing. Also available in Large Print.

The Noel Stranger, by Richard Paul Evans. Second in Evans's Noel collection, following The Noel Diary (2017). Maggie, newly divorced and still reeling from her ex-husband's arrest for bigamy, decides to buy a Christmas tree to try and cheer herself up. She's soon swept off her feet by the charming Andrew, who delivers the tree to her home. But when Andrew proves to have some dark secrets of his own, Maggie has to decide whether to trust in the possibility of love again or run for the hills. Can love conquer all?

Reading Ahead: November 2018, part 2

Publishers have been saving some real winners for next month--new titles by some of our patrons' favorite authors, guaranteed to please!

Heads You Win, by Jeffrey Archer. After his father is assassinated by the KGB in 1968, teenager Alexander Karpenko flips a coin to decide where he and his mother should immigrate: New York or London. What follows is both versions of what might have happened depending on that flip. Sort of a Sliding Doors meets coming-of-age tale, resulting in a fun and fast-paced novel. Also available in Large Print.

Nine Perfect Strangers, by Liane Moriarty. Can ten days at a health resort really change your life? Nine strangers are about to find out. Some have come to the remote Tranquillium House to lose weight, others to reboot their lives after personal and/or professional setbacks. For a former best-selling romance novelist, the character that most intrigues her is the charismatic and eccentric owner and director of the resort. What she and the other guests will be asking before their stay is over is: should they surrender to the process or should they run while they still can? This latest by Moriarty (Big Little Lies, etc.) is perfect for readers seeking a wickedly smart page-turner.

Tony's Wife, by Adriana Trigiani. It's the 1940s and Chi Chi Donatelli and Saverio Armandonada fall in love over the course of one perfect summer at the Jersey Shore. Both dream of singing with greats like Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman, but after they marry, the question arises: which of them will put aside their dreams in order to raise a family? Trigiani is a huge reader sweetheart with past favorites like The Shoemaker's Wife and Lucia, Lucia--I highly recommend placing your request now!

Meg's Picks: October 2018, part 2

Suspense in a variety of flavors is in ready supply next month. What will you choose?

Go To My Grave, by Catriona McPherson. MacPherson, whose 2016 novel Quiet Neighbors was short-listed for an Agatha award, is back to thrill readers with a chilling Gothic stand-alone. The Breakers is an old bed and breakfast that stands along a remote stretch of beach in Galloway. Donna Weaver has put everything into restoring it and now it will house its first guests since the renovation. The group of estranged cousins soon realize that they've stayed here before, decades earlier, and that the pact they made about what happened that holiday, that they would take the secret of it to their graves, appears to have been broken. Amid the cozy surroundings, someone may end this vacation in their grave... If you like your psychological thrillers haunting and twisted, this is for you.

The Spite Game, by Anna Snoekstra. Snoekstra (Little Secrets, Only Daughter) brings readers the ultimate tale of revenge. Ava was bullied in high school, her trust turned against her most cruelly by the meanest of girls. She knows she needs to move on, and she will...just as soon as she's had her revenge. Bringing them down one by one is deeply satisfying and she saves the ringleader, Mel, for last. But Mel knows Ava's game, and she's willing to play it to the very bitter end. For fans of The Last Mrs. Parrish, I think this would be most enjoyable.

Family Trust, by Kathy Wang. Wang's debut has critics making some obvious connections to Kevin Kwan's Crazy Rich Asians, which makes sense, but Family Trust is less about the Huang family's obvious wealth and more about the family relationships. Family patriarch Stanley Huang is terminally ill. He's claimed for years that he's worth a small fortune, but as the end nears and the dysfunctional family gathers, tensions are running high. Where do loyalties lie? What will life look like after Stanley passes? And is any one of them telling the others the truth about their lives and motives? Expect your friends and neighbors to be talking about this one.

The Fallen Architect, by Charles Belfoure. Architect and author Belfoure, author of facinating historical novels like The Paris Architect and House of Thieves, takes us to London in 1900, where at the newly opened Britannia Empire Theater, a balcony collapses during a performance, killing 14 people and injuring dozens more. The theater's architect, Douglas Layton, takes the blame, labeled The Butcher of the West End, and is sentenced to prison time. Upon his release five years later, he finds work under an assumed name, but his past dogs him at every step. Can he ever be free? Belfoure's eye for detail is uncanny. 

Meg's Picks: October 2018, part 1

Historical fiction is on tap next month, and I am so excited!

In the House in the Dark of the Woods, by Laird Hunt. I am a huge fan of Laird Hunt's work--his 2014 novel Neverhome remains one of my favorite historical novels to date. His latest, a horror tale set in colonial New England, should make for perfect reading on a chilly October night. A law-abiding Puritan woman goes missing. Has she fled her family? Been kidnapped? A story of a bewitching, a betrayal, anger and redemption, will the evil she fears turn out to be within her all along? Hunt's prose is lyrical and evocative, so this should be prime atmospheric reading.

A Well-Behaved Woman, by Therese Fowler. Fowler's last novel, 2013's Z, focused on the turbulent life of Zelda Fitzgerald to excellent effect. Her second is the fascinating story of iron-willed Alva Vanderbilt and her family as they rule in New York during the Golden Age. Alva Smith, from a Southern family left destitute by the Civil War, married into the newly wealthy but socially ostracized Vanderbilt clan. Defying convention, Alma was not only a suffragette, but also went on to build 9 mansions, hosted grand balls, and arranged for her daughter to marry a duke. Those with an interest in The Golden Age should make it a point to pick this up.

The Kennedy Debutante, by Kerri Maher. Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy seems to be the Kennedy that history forgot, but not any longer, thanks to Maher's debut. Kick Kennedy moves in swank circles in 1938 London, thanks to her father's appointment as ambassador. Eager to slip away from the drama and responsibilities of her high-powered clan, Kick is ready for a life of her own and falls for Billy Harrington, the future Duke of Devonshire. But romance is rarely easy, and their families, hers Catholic and his Protestant, would never approve the match. When war breaks out and the Kennedys retreat to America, Kick begins to hunt for a way to return to England and her love. For fans of Adriana Trigiani and Beatriz Williams, this is a natural choice.

Reading Ahead: October 2018, part 4

The bookshelves are beginning to get the holiday spirit, but if you're not ready for that just yet (I'm not!!), there are still plenty of other options!

Winter in Paradise, by Elin Hilderbrand. This kickoff to Hilderbrand's new winter series takes readers to the warm beaches of St. John. A late-night phone call shatters everything Irene Steele holds dear--her husband has been found dead, but even more perplexing, he was found on the island of St. John in the Caribbean. Leaving the cold of home behind, Irene ventures into paradise, only to be hit with further devastation: her husband had a second family. In her search for truth, Irene will be pulled into a web of secrets and lies she would never have dreamed existed. Suspenseful stuff from bestselling Hilderbrand. Also available in Large Print.

Alaskan Holiday, by Debbie Macomber. Josie accepts a summer position in the remote town of Ponder, Alaska cooking in a lakeside lodge and quickly falls in love with the close-knit, rustic charm of the community. Also of chief interest is the quiet and intense Palmer Saxon, a swordsmith, of all things. Come fall, Josie knows she must return to reality: her dream job in Seattle, her mother, and all of the responsibilities await her. No matter that she and Palmer are falling in love, she has to return to the lower 48. But fate may have other plans for the star-crossed lovers. Also available in Large Print. 

Christmas on the Island, by Jenny Colgan. On the remote Scottish isle of Mure, the holiday season is one of cold and ice, but the inhabitants are good at making it bright and cheerful, complete with cozy fires and a dram. Unless, of course, you've gotten pregnant by your ex-boss and don't quite know how to tell him, which is the position Flora has found herself in. In the season of glad tidings and good cheer, how will Joel take the news? And for another family, can they find the season's spirit with one of their own missing? Colgan is a favorite of mine, and I hope she'll be yours as well. Also available in Large Print.

The Next Person You Meet in Heaven, by Mitch Albom. In Albom's sequel to his best-selling The Five People You Meet in Heaven (2003), Eddie gets his heavenly reunion with Annie, the little girl he saved on Earth. The accident, during which Eddie gave his life to save Annie, took Annie's left hand. Injured, scarred and confused, Annie finds herself whisked away from all she's known by her guilt-stricken mother. Bullied by her peers and haunted by memories that stay just out of her grasp, Annie's life is difficult, until she is reconnected with childhood friend, Paulo. But you know that if Annie is reunited with Eddie, something else is on the horizon. Also available in Large Print.

The Collector's Apprentice, by B.A. Shapiro. Shapiro (The Art Forger, etc.) delivers another breath-taking historical thriller. When she's assumed to have stolen millions in an elaborate con for which her former fiance was responsible, 19-year-old Belgian Paulien Martens finds herself disowned, homeless and single in short order. Intent on proving her innocence, and also on getting even with George, Paulien recreates herself in Paris, styling herself as Vivienne Gregsby. Vivienne finds the perfect job, which lets her delve into the world of museums and artists. All's going according to plan, until her boss is found dead and Vivienne is arrested for his murder... Culture and intrigue, who could ask for more?

Reading Ahead: October 2018, part 2

It is staggering the sheer quantity of excellent new fiction being published next month. Get your reading muscles ready!

Every Breath, by Nicholas Sparks. A chance encounter becomes a touchstone for two very different individuals in Sparks's latest. Hope is at a personal crossroads. At thirty-six, her six year relationship with a successful surgeon shows no signs of moving toward the altar, and when her father is diagnosed with ALS, she returns to North Carolina to care for him and to reassess the direction of her life. Tru Walls, a safari guide born and raised in Zimbabwe, finds himself summoned to North Carolina by a man claiming to be his father. He chooses to go primarily in hopes of resolving some of the mysteries about his mother's past, mysteries that seemed hopelessly unsolvable following her death. When Tru and Hope meet, it will mean a personal battle for each of them, that of family duty versus personal happiness. Also available in Large Print. 

Unsheltered, by Barbara Kingsolver. Present day, out-of-work journalist Willa is trying to keep her household together, four generations living together in their falling-down house. She delves into the old home's history in hopes that recognition from the historical register will mean money for much-needed repairs and restoration. In her research, though, she finds the story of a previous owner, 1870s science teacher Thatcher, who ran into major pushback for teaching Darwinism. Kingsolver fans should put their requests in now. Also available in Large Print. 

A Spark of Light, by Jodi Picoult. When a lone gunman, seeking vengeance for his daughter's abortion, starts taking hostages at the women's reproductive clinic, police hostage-negotiator has more on the line than normal in such a high-stakes encounter: his own daughter, Wren, is inside the facility. I'm expecting demand for this to be huge.

The Fox, by Frederick Forsyth. After a brilliant English teen hacker orchestrates brutal cyberattacks on the CIA, the Pentagon, and the NSA--just for fun--it's decided that rather than prosecute him, they'll recruit him in order to undermine American enemies. This new thriller from Forsyth (The Kill List, etc.) is chillingly bleeding-edge.

The Clockmaker's Daughter, by Kate Morton. Morton (The Lake House, etc.) takes us back across the decades in her latest. In contemporary London, archivist Elodie Winslow is intrigued when she comes across the following items in her employer's collection: a satchel, an antique photograph of a woman in Victorian garb, and a sketch of a country house. The sketch in particular catches her interest: it reminds her of the magical house her late mother used to tell her stories about. When she discovers the house itself, it is only natural to start digging into its secrets, some of which have been buried for over a century. Morton is an excellent storyteller, and historical fiction fans will want to add this to their lists.