The Radcliffe Ladies' Reading Club: A Novel by Julia Bryan Thomas

 

 The Radcliffe Ladies' Reading Club: A Novel by Julia Bryan Thomas. Sourcebooks Landmark, 2023. Adult fiction. 

    Four freshman year students at Radcliffe are brought together for monthly book groups at a newly founded local bookshop. It's the 1950's and women are often overlooked for careers except as wives, teachers, or nurses. Tess, strong willed and smart, and her roommate the beautiful and wealthy Caroline, as well as Evie who grew up on a farm, and Merritt from California whose mother is dead and whose artist father is remote, all live in the same dorm, but are very different. The young woman who owns The Cambridge Bookshop, Alice, provides a safe haven during rocky times for those who need it.  Friendship, books, jealousy, and trauma blend in this well written novel of their first year away from home and in college.

Bernie's Mitten Maker by Jen Ellis

 

 

 

 Bernie's Mitten Maker: A Memoir by Jen Ellis. Green Writers Press, Brattleboro, Vermont, 2023. Adult memoir.

At Inauguration Day, 2021, the world watched as Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont wrapped his coat firmly around himself. On his hands were striped mittens and he wore a mask. The image went viral on the Internet and memes appeared of Bernie in grocery stores, parks, and just everywhere.

This book is the story of the school teacher who made the mittens. Jen Ellis is incredibly honest about her childhood, her marriage to Liz Fenton, and her quest to make a meaningful life. The two go to extraordinary lengths to have a child. All the while, Jen is doing crafts and making things to sell while she is making her friends and building a community. The parts about teaching during the pandemic are especially true to life. This is a memoir from a woman who loves her family and her life. 

The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joanna Gaines

 

 The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joanna Gaines with Mark Dagostino. W Publishing, an imprint of Thomas Nelson, 2016. Memoir.

  Millions of people recognize this married couple from Waco who have turned rehabbing houses into careers. In alternating narratives, sort of like having a conversation with them, each tells how they met, about their own families, and about starting their businesses. Now known for The Silos and its home living shops, bakery, restaurant, and hotel in Waco, Texas, their tv show has spawned an entire network and a magazine and several cookbooks.

 

 The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel. Random House in association with Alfred A. Knopf, 2023. Adult nonfiction.

    Most of us who admire paintings go to museums to enjoy and study them. Master thief Stephane Breitwieser stole over two hundred works of art over ten years and displayed them in secret rooms where he could admire them. With his girl friend as a lookout, he took more and more chances until he was finally caught. 

     The author cultivated a long relationship with Breitwieser in order to learn first hand just how the thefts took place and more about the motivation of the man. He had grown up with money, but by 1997, he and his mother were living on government aid.  Finkel has put together a fascinating book not only about this one thief, but that also touches on other art crimes.  There are no color photographs of the art, but some black-and-white ones are included. A timeline would have been helpful, but it is probably impossible to have a list of all the items he stole. Between his former girl friend, his mother, and other people, many stories about Breitwieser, arrested in 2019, have yet to be told. 

 

 The Heiress: A Novel by Rachel Hawkins. St. Martin's Press, 2023. Adult fiction. Mystery.

     Camden and his wife, Jules, live and work in Colorado until they must go to North Carolina to face Cam's family and the mysteries of his family. Cam was adopted by Ruby McTavish, a four times married heiress who is notorious for her wealth, her mansion, Ashby House, and for the time she disappeared for a year when she was four years old. The child was found living with the Darnell family, assumed to be Ruby, and returned to the McTavishes. 

      Fast forward again, Ruby has been dead for ten years. Cam has inherited everything, but wants nothing to do with it. His aunt and cousins are living in Ashby House. In letters from Ruby, fake articles from Southern Living, newspapers, hiking guides, and such, readers learn more about the history of the family and the area near Biltmore. Nothing is as it seems and the author manages to put together a twisty tale of people who really do not know each other. Questions abound. Who really is Cam? Why does Jules know so much? Are the cousins for them or against them? Did Ruby actually earn the nickname "Mrs. Killmore?"  Why does everyone in this book swear so much? Hollywood will certainly come calling to make a movie! 

The Berry Pickers: A Novel by Amanda Peters

 

 The Berry Pickers: A Novel by Amanda Peters. Catapult, 2023.

   In 1962, a Mi'kmaq family arrives in Maine on their annual stay to pick blueberries. Ruthie, age four, and her brother, Joe, age six, spend days in the sun. When Ruthie disappears, no one can find her and the family never gets over the tragedy. Joe, especially, misses his sister and, as an old man, still thinks of her.

   Alternating chapters tell of a brown skinned little girl named Norma who grows up an only child in a wealthy family. She has disturbing dreams and knows there is a mystery in her family. As the narrative continues, Norma is grown and the pieces of the puzzle are finally put into place.

   Beautifully written, this debut novel unspools slowly and with care. The descriptions of the places are lovely. While readers may suspect what happened, the way the story is written is realistic and the characters move forward in their lives, always remembering the past, and searching for answers. 

Hello, Beautiful: A Novel by Ann Napolitano

 

 Beautiful: A Novel by Ann Napolitano. The Dial Press, 2023. Adult fiction.

   The four Padavano sisters often compare themselves to the sisters in Little Women. Their lives in America are very different from those of the book characters though. Julia, the oldest, could run an army and finds her husband, William, at college. Sylvie is quieter and a reader. Twins Cecelia, an artist, and Emeline, a caretaker of both young and old, are very different, too. The  novel is so well written that it is a pleasure to follow the girls and they grow up. Just as you think you know where the author is going, unexpected detours find the characters. Sit back and enjoy this journey!