Daisy Jones and The Six: A Novel

  Daisy Jones and The Six: A Novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid. 2019, Rabbit Read, Inc. Ballantine Books. Adult historical fiction.

Daisy Jones has grown up a child of privilege, but not much love. Billy Dunne and his brother Graham are close and form a band. It takes a producer, Teddy, to really put them together. The Six becomes a rock and roll mega group. Amidst drugs, drink, and personal problems, life goes on. The novel takes the form of interviews with all of them and showcases 1965 until the group's final concert in 1979. Keep reading though and you'll find out what happens to all of them. The voices are strong, but several of them make the same grammatical error mixing up I and me pronouns. It might have been authentic for one character, but when several do it, that comes across as sloppy editing. 

If you have seen the new streaming series with this title, you may have wanted to read the book. The author has also written MALIBU RISING, another rock era fictional title. When Daisy Jones mentions Mick Riva, he is the same guy as in that book. And, look for him in THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO.  It's interesting that the show leaves out a band member which might have made it Daisy Jones and The Five. It would be interesting to compare the song lyrics included in the book to the songs in the series and see if they really used Reid's work.

Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson

 

 Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson. Little Brown, 2022. Children's historical fiction chapter book. Winner of the John Newbery Award and the Coretta Scott King Book Award.

When Homer, age 12, and little sister Ada, and Mama plan to leave Southerland Plantation to search for freedom, Mama gets left behind. Overseer Stokes and Master Crumb try to find the children. But, the children find help in the strange Suleman and a home they never imagined. Courage, friendship, and community have never been as important.

Beautifully written debut novel! Having maps of the Great Dismal Swamp and the southern United States available will aid student reading. While slavery, the Underground Railroad, and reconstruction are sometimes still taught in schools, some students may need reminders of this part of history. This novel includes a unique perspective of time and place and is based on facts.  

The Woman in the Library : A Novel by Sulari Gentill

 

 The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill. Poisoned Pen Press, 2022. Adult mystery.

The delicious premise for this book is that four people share space in the reading room of the Boston Public Library when a scream is heard. One of the four is a murderer. 

The book is twisty with the four becoming friends and trying to solve the library murder and others. Who is not telling the truth or twisting the truth for their own benefit? Two are writers and while books and writing are central to the story, the novel is not about either. The book begins with a letter and main chapters are concluded with letters to Hannah from Leo and readers find out more about both of them. Boston is almost a character itself with places described and used as settings. Romance, intrigue, murder most foul, and you will probably NOT guess the ending!

Such Good Friends: A Novel of Truman Capote and Lee Radziwill by Stephen Greco

 

  Such Good Friends: a Novel of Truman Capote and Lee Radziwill

by Stephen Greco. John Scognamiglio Books (Kensington Books), 2023. Historical fiction.

Everyone knows that author Truman Capote loved the New York society life. Lee Radziwill was, of course, Jackie Kennedy's sister. The two were real friends from the 1950's until late in Capote's life (He died in August, 1984, at age 59.) when his indiscretions and his friends' secrets showed up in not only gossip columns, but the news.

Most of the characters are based on real people, but others have been created for the book's purposes. One of the main characters in this novel is Radziwill's housekeeper, maid, and friend, Marlene. Another is Lila North who writes a column and scrambles for newsy items about people to publish. Reading this novel is like sitting beside a friend who tells the juiciest gossip. 

The Lady of the Ravens by Joanna Hickson

 

 The Lady of the Ravens by Joanna Hickson. HarperCollins, 2020. Historical fiction.

Joan Vaux has grown up near royalty and now serves the queen, the former Elizabeth of York. King Henry VII holds the throne amid intrigues and treachery. Their young family including Arthur, Henry, and daughters are central to Joan's life. Joan marries Sir John Guilford and her story at court and in London is told with detail and compassion. 

If you enjoy this title, look for more books by Joanna Hickson about the Tudors. 

The Cloisters: A Novel by Katy Hays

 

 The Cloisters: A Novel by Katy Hays. Blackstone Publishing, 2022. Large Print edition(not edition shown). Adult fiction.

When Ann Stilwell moves to New York City from Walla Walla, Washington, she does a summer internship at The Cloisters, the medieval museum of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her boss, Patrick, and Rachel, another young researcher who works there, become major influences on Ann's life and work. Rachel is wealthy and seems too good a friend to be true. Leo, a gardener there, is handsome and mysterious. Ann is not sure she believes some of the new theories she is learning about tarot cards and determining fate in pre Renaissance times. 

The descriptions are marvelous. This will probably be a terrific movie. But, it reads as a cautionary tale of a young adult who is trying to decide who deserves one's trust and how to leave the past behind and find a future. 

The Wise Women: A Novel by Gina Sorell

 

 The Wise Women: A Novel by Gina Sorell. Harper, 2022. Adult fiction.

The Wise family women: mother and long time advice columnist Wendy; daughter Barb, an architect who has ventured too much in her business and whose partner Jill is cheating on her; and daughter Clementine, mother of six-year-old Jonah, and in desperate straits since her husband, Steve, did not invest Barb and Clementine's money in a home as they thought, but in his risky AquaVeg flavored water business. The girls have long been estranged from their mom in Boca, but Wendy thinks she can help now.  The Wise women come together at last and find that they all have hidden talents and can pull together for new beginnings and a future maybe better than the ones they had dreamed.