The Lost and Found Bookshop by Susan Wiggs

I’m always a sucker for books about libraries and bookshops, and this one did not disappoint. The Lost and Found Bookshop by Susan Wiggs is about Natalie Harper who lost both her mother and her boyfriend on the same day in a plane crash. Natalie, who is not happy with her inventory specialist job at a winery in the Napa Valley, is suddenly the proprietor of her mother’s San Francisco bookstore, a venture heavily in debt and in much need of repair.

The most immediate repairs are handled by a local contractor Peach Gallagher, who just happens to be a very nice man and the father of one of the store’s best patrons, Dorothy Gail. Besides running the bookstore, Natalie is also assisting her ailing grandfather who grew up in the store’s living quarters and had a typewriter repair shop there before the age of computers.

When little Dorothy realizes the bookshop is in trouble, she writes to a famous children’s author, who takes an interest in the bookshop and its manager. A sold-out event with the author infuses the bookstore with some much-needed cash but it’s not nearly enough to pay off all the debt Natalie’s mother had accumulated. Will The Lost and Found Bookshop be just one more independent bookstore to close?

I haven’t read much of Susan Wiggs but I would classify her as a writer of women’s fiction. Her fans will surely love this tale of the trials and tribulations facing bookstores today.

What You Wish For by Katherine Center

What You Wish For by Katherine Center intrigued me because the description said: “Samantha Casey loves everything about her job as an elementary school librarian…” I was a school librarian myself for 14 years, and it was probably the best, most fun, most demanding job I ever had.

Sam worked in a private school on Galveston Island in Texas. The founder and beloved principal died recently. He was replaced by someone Sam taught with in another school who she knew would be absolutely amazing although she had some trepidation about him coming to her school as she had been secretly in love with him.

But the clever, funny guy she remembered Duncan Carpenter to be had disappeared inside a gray suit wearing, militant type who basically wants to turn the school into a prison with gray walls covering everything, including a butterfly mural. He planned on having students and staff wear gray uniforms. He cancelled all field trips. His goal: make this the safest school ever.

The staff soon was rebelling. The teachers wanted their new principal fired. Before giving up on him, Sam and two of her colleagues came up with a plan to try to redeem this once funny, carefree, playful guy who had turned hard-core radical in the name of school safety. Can they turn this stern-faced principal back into the juggling, dancing, goofy guy who Sam remembered?

My first experience with Katherine Center was earlier this year with her book Things You Save in a Fire. Her writing is lighthearted and uplifting. Based on the two books I’ve read by her now, I would describe her as a new voice in women’s fiction or chick-lit.

A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabell Allende

Isabel Allende’s latest, A Long Petal of the Sea, takes its name from a term the poet Pablo Neruda gave to his long and narrow coastal birthplace. In this novel, Chile becomes the place of exile for a young couple with a child who have fled the devastation of the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s.

Victor Dalmau served as a medical assistant during the war, and his brother Guillem fought in the war. Roser Bruguera was taking music lessons from their father and eventually came to live with them. She fell in love with Guillem, becoming pregnant by him, and the two planned to marry after the war. Instead, life intervened, and Roser entered a marriage of convenience with Victor and fled the atrocities of Spain with him and her baby Marcel to Chile.

A fictional Pablo Neruda sponsors many Spanish exiles to travel to Chile to start a new life in 1939 just as Europe is ready to break out into World War II.

The Dalmaus make a life for themselves in Chile. Victor finishes his education to become a doctor, and Roser plays piano and eventually becomes a professor of music. Marcel grows up in a loving home. Roser and Victor pose for many years as a married couple but they are strictly platonic friends. Victor is distracted by a young Chilean woman, and Roser has her own affair.

For many years, they thrive in Chile, until a military coup overthrows the government, and for some reason, Victor is treated as an enemy. The couple find themselves repeating their experience in Spain and soon enter exile again.

Isabel Allende, bestselling author of The House of the Spirits, has been called "the world's most widely read Spanish-language author.” An exile from Chile herself, Allende infuses the story of Victor and Roser with realism.

Been There Married That by Gigi Levangie

Sometimes you just need a funny, escapist book, and Been There, Married That by Gigi Levangie is just the one that can deliver although watch out for the raunchy factor. Still mining her former marriage to producer Brian Grazer, screenwriter Levangie (Step Mom) has produced another ode to Hollywood wives and ex-wives. As a non-Hollywood insider, a lot of the one liners and name drops went over my head, but for those Kardashian and Real Housewives fans, there will be much here to savor.

Agnes Murphy Nash is a book author married to Trevor Nash, big shot Hollywood producer and narcissist. He has decided he doesn’t want to do marriage anymore. With lots of dirty tricks -- locking her out, cancelling the credit cards, having her sister locked up, sending her off to rehab for her almond addiction – Trevor wants full custody of their daughter Pep and to win in the divorce proceedings.

When Agnes finally digs in and fights back, Trevor doubles down by bugging the house and gluing her keyboard, but with the support of her father and sister, Agnes intends to prevail.

Gigi Levangie books are for those who enjoy the exploits of the Hollywood crowd. I have enjoyed her earlier books although she continues to tell the same basic story of being the starter wife of a Hollywood mogul. Fans of Lauren Weisberger and Candace Bushnell will enjoy this author’s snarky insight into Tinseltown.

Dead Land by Sara Paretsky

Sara Paretsky characterizes her newest book Dead Land as the first book she has written without her beloved husband who died in 2018. V.I. Warshawski tackles city hall as she gets involved in a fight about land use on Chicago’s lake front thanks to her goddaughter’s interest in the project.

Before long people are dead and a once-popular singer-songwriter, Lydia Zamir, is missing. Zamir’s boyfriend was killed four years earlier, and she has never recovered. Before he was killed, Hector traveled to South America in search of his roots, stirring up a hornet’s nest.

V.I.’s involvement brings her another dog, Bear, left to her by mystery man Coop, who is involved not only with protesting plans for land use but who is also a self-appointed guardian of the singer-songwriter Lydia Zamir.

V.I.’s search for Zamir and Coop takes her to Kansas where she is shot at not once but twice. Before she can untangle this web, reporter Murray Ryerson will also be injured as someone tries to put him out of commission before he can finish his story about the problems on the waterfront.

I never miss a Sara Paretsky book as she is an amazing writer, and her V.I. Warshawski is one smart cookie. Mystery fans will love the latest from this Chicago-based writer.

Nothing More Dangerous by Allen Eskens

Nothing More Dangerous is a compelling novel by Allen Eskens in which he takes a character, Boady Sanden, from two previous books, and goes back to 1976 to take a look at a moment in time in small town Jessup, Missouri.

Eskens has said in an interview, “I like writing stories where the protagonist goes on a personal journey that changes them by the end of the novel.” Readers see that idea exemplified in each of Eskens’ novels. Boady goes from a naïve 15-year-old who has never thought much about race and using certain derogatory terms to a compassionate young man who is educated not only by his secretive neighbor but also by his encounter with a black family, and young, white supremacists.

Helping to shape Boady is Hoke, a mysterious neighbor, who asks lots of questions but gives very few answers. For as long as Boady has known Hoke, 10 years, Hoke has been keeping a running log on who knows what? Eventually Boady will have a chance to delve into these volumes which give him insight into the man who has become a father figure to him. In the meantime, Hoke gives Boady something to think about when considering his new black neighbors.

When Boady refuses to spray paint derogatory words on the side of the Elgin’s house, he marks himself as an enemy of the CORPS, a group of Klan wanna-bes. In fact, Boady soon becomes best friends with Thomas Elgin, which further infuriates the group, causing them to attempt a vicious attack on the twosome.

The plot thickens when Boady and Thomas encounter a dead body while they are exploring in the woods. It turns out to be Lida Poe, a person of interest in an embezzlement of the plant where Thomas’ father has been brought in to straighten things up. As Boady keeps putting together more clues about what is going on in his town of Jessup, he finds himself and Thomas in life-threatening danger from the CORPS.

Allen Eskens became one of my favorite contemporary writers with The Life We Bury, in which an adult Boady appears. Eskens continues to be a compassionate writer who gets to the very core of what it means to be an individual in a battle between right and wrong. He’s masterful in his crafting of young, male characters who are at the heart decent human beings called upon to step up in difficult situations.

 5 stars!

Hello Summer by Mary Kay Andrews

Hello, Summer by Mary Kay Andrews
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hello, Summer by Mary Kay Andrews is this year’s exciting beach read with a twist. Readers get both the MKA they love plus the journalist she once was as she recounts this tale of a newspaper family. Grayson Hawkins manages The Silver Bay Beacon in Silver Bay, Florida, while her younger sister Conley has left the fold and is an award-winning journalist in Atlanta, Georgia.

When Conley’s latest job offer doesn’t pan out, she finds herself heading south to her Florida hometown. While she’s only there for a visit with her grandmother who has a property on the beach, she finds her reporting skills are needed for the family newspaper when a big-shot politician is found dead in a one-car accident at 3 a.m.

Since she happened to stumble across the accident on her way home from an outing with a life-long friend, she is in the perfect position to cover the accident which leads into covering a small-town scandal. Soon she is not only reporting for her family newspaper, she’s stringing for bigger markets in both newspaper and broadcast arenas.

The whole accident story turns into a mystery. What caused the one-car accident? Why did the politician deed his 800-acre farm back to his first wife? Why was his second wife holding him prisoner in his own home? Why was Conley getting a death threat?

The novel is interspersed with journalistic accounts of the accident and follow-up stories along with chatty gossip-type dispatches from a long-time local columnist. The reporting is top notch as it accounts for the details that unfold that include a case of elder abuse. The story becomes a page-turner as readers won’t be able to put it down until the final details are dispatched.

Add to the mix a sweet romance as Conley reunites with a local she once had major fantasies about. The two share several romantic beach walks, one which ends in a hot love scene.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting April 18, 2020.

One of my favorite summer beach-read authors is Mary Kay Andrews. I especially enjoyed this novel with its journalistic facet. I recommend this book to readers who enjoy a fast-pace mystery with a beach angle.

I’d like to thank St. Martin's Press. and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.


View all my reviews

The Saturday Supper Club by Amy Bratley

In The Saturday Supper Club by Amy Bratley, Eve and Ethan were a match made in heaven, or so she thought until he disappeared from her life in London and went to Rome three years ago with no real explanation. It took some time, but she did heal and started a new relationship with a long-time friend, Joe, a really good guy.



Imagine the tailspin her heart goes into when she opens her door to find Ethan there; he’s a guest for The Saturday Supper Club, a contest Joe encouraged her to enter. Ethan is a participant in the contest as well, which means she’ll be seeing him for three more meals as each of the four contestants take turns preparing a supper.

With her heartstrings still responding to Ethan, Eve is in a quandary as she knows Joe wants to propose marriage. She says she really only wants to know WHY Ethan disappeared from her life, but she still gets tingles from being around him.

She really doesn’t need this complication in her life right now as she is trying to renovate a building and turn it into a café.

Will they reconcile? Will Joe win out? Will Eve lose out on both of them? Will the café open? Who wins the Saturday supper club contest? These questions are answered in The Saturday Supper Club by Amy Bratley.


Amy Bratley is a new-to-me author, and I did enjoy this first experience with her. I need good ol’ chick lit in my life from time to time, and this one fit the bill.

Wuhan virus

I guess I've been reading about the Wuhan in China since January. It sounded horrible, and the photos on TV with beating people and padlocking them in their houses looked like a horror movie. I thought a disease like that would never come here surely.

I was wrong. We started hearing rumblings about the virus about mid-February. The concern started to grow. We had no reservations about going out for Tim's birthday on February 22; we went to Enrico's in Young Harris, and tried their pizza.

 

I baked him a Mary Todd Lincoln cake for dessert.

Then when my birthday rolled around March 12, we were concerned. Should we go out or shouldn't we? We went to Mesquite Grill in Blue Ridge, a favorite Mexican restaurant. That was the last time we risked eating out. We were supposed to go out the following week for a neighbors' dinner but the situation really started heating up, and both of us agreed, no to dinner out.

Since then we have been sheltering in place as much as possible, going out only for groceries. Most everything is closed anyway. More and more places closed as cases began to appear throughout our state and eventually in our county. Restaurants remain open for carry-out only to try to stem the bleeding of the mom and pop restaurants that  make up the eateries in our county but that didn't even sound safe to me. The libraries are closed so I was reading what I had and then going online for ebooks from NetGalley that I agreed to review. I was starting to think, maybe I'll stick with just ebooks while this virus is a threat...even after libraries reopen. I've always preferred a physical book but maybe this was a good purpose for ereaders.

I haven't kept track of days or weeks of confinement. We try to shop for two weeks's worth of groceries. My anxiety is high on shopping day. Putting on homemade masks and gloves to try to protect ourselves always amps up my fears about getting this virus. From what we read, we are prime candidates for not being survivors if we get this plague. Our age is against us. We both have high blood pressure and high cholesterol. I have had auto-immune issues most of my life. Interestingly, plaquenil, a drug I took when my diagnosis was lupus, may be a drug that will combat the virus, especially if given in early stages said a news report I heard earlier today. I just do not see myself making it through the ordeal that is the treatment. At 69 and 73, we are not in a good position.

I don't mind staying at home. We have plenty to do. Tim has been active with the road committee in our property owners' association. We have plenty of books to read, TV shows and movies to watch. When the weather is nice -- read 70 or above with no cold breezes -- I'm living on our screened deck, sometimes with the cat, sometimes not. He isn't as enamored with it as he was last year. He no sooner gets outside than he wants back in. In fairness to him, he had dental surgery April 7 during which two of his teeth were removed so he hasn't quite been himself of late although he's made a good recovery. He barely moved the first two days after surgery, hiding out in his cat cube behind a chair in our bedroom. He didn't even attempt to sleep with us at night as per his usual habit.

Today Tim had to go back out after our grocery run, trying to get a light fixed on his truck. He made of total of three trips to an auto supply dealer, and in the end, had to resign himself to make an appointment to take the truck to the Chevrolet dealer as new light bulbs did not resolve the issue. So, there's going out tomorrow to do that. When we want to go out the least, something pops up, and things change. I am trying to keep track of everything so that if we do get the virus, we can document everywhere we have been.

From time to time, I ache all over, which is a symptom of the virus, but I have had this problem for years. Today, I am quite achy, and have had Advil to ease the pain. Early in the scare, I was so fatigued that I worried I had the virus. I monitored my temperature for three days, and it was always normal...or below. 

Fortunately, our county has had low numbers of infection, and at this point, only one death. But we see that starting to change. The first case came from a dance at the John Campbell Folk School. The next case was linked to the Casino. The third case was linked to Lowes's, and so many people shop there. It is the nearest thing we have in this thinly populated area of North Carolina to a department store so it is likely to generate the most spread. Tim was at Lowe's during the crucial time period but he developed no symptoms. We heard through the grapevine that the affected employee had worked in the garden department where Tim had not gone while in the store. Whew!

We will continue to do our best to limit our exposure. I'm not tired of staying home. That doesn't bother me. It's the anxiety of when this plague will come to an end -- it will, won't it? -- that is tiresome. It has definitely been a lifestyle change, and it's a shame we have to fear the possibility of death just because we have to go get groceries.

Redhead by the Side of the Road

Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler is a character-driven novel about Micah Mortimer, a real creature of habit, stuck-in-a-rut kind of a guy. He lives a small life in a Baltimore apartment where he works as the building superintendent and also employs himself as a tech guru, the Tech Hermit, which says a great deal about him.

Micah has a set pattern to his day, a firm pattern for the days of the week; for example, Monday was his day to mop floors in the kitchen and bathroom, and vacuuming day was Friday. He isn’t open to a change in his routine so he is easily frustrated by two unconnected events: his friend Cass seems to be pressuring him with her concern about being evicted from her apartment and a teen named Brink turns up announcing that he thinks Micah is his father.

At times funny, especially when the hermit is among his siblings for a family outing about which he has asked if he has to attend, at other times deeply compassionate as he comes to realize the problems other people have in their lives.

Anne Tyler has a unique way of describing everyday things such as the redhead by the side of the road (it’s NOT what you think). Her books, always witty and engaging, never disappoint.

Vacation by Jane Green

Sarah and Eddie Evans are in a slump in their marriage in the book Vacation by Jane Green, one of the great storytellers in women’s fiction.

From magazine editor to married with two young ones, Sarah has become dissatisfied with her stay-at-home mom life. Eddie used to be an exciting, dashing suiter but now he is married and the father of two who likes nothing better after work than to slump in front of the TV with a few beers. Sarah is fed up, and when Eddie gets a job transfer from New York to Chicago, she sees an exit point from the marriage.

Sarah sees this as a trial separation, a step toward divorce, while Eddie thinks of the split as a vacation. Both undergo makeovers in their lives and wonder what the future will bring…or at least what Santa will bring at Christmas.

Jane Green is one of my go-to authors for entertaining women’s fiction. She is one of the best in writing about marriage and the challenges that go with it. I would recommend this to Green’s fans and all readers who enjoy women’s fiction.

In this witty, deeply honest tale of married life, New York Times bestselling author Jane Green delves into the heart of the holidays—and...

28 Summers

Beach-read author Elin Hilderbrand pays homage to playwright Bernard Slade with her similar to Same Time Next Year plot of 28 Summers, a story of a once-a-year rendezvous for two lovers.

I was torn on this one because I am usually repulsed by illicit love affairs but I couldn’t help liking Mallory Blessing and the man-who-should-have-married-her, Jake McCloud. The beginning chapter does give away the denouement of the book, which to me was a mistake; I did not want to see that ending coming.

The setting is Nantucket, where Mallory lives and Jake visits every Labor Day Weekend. It started out as a bachelor party for her brother Cooper at the beach but it turns into a love affair that lasts for decades.

What could go wrong with this arrangement? Nothing if Jake wasn’t committed to the totally wrong woman for him and goes ahead and marries her instead of Mallory, the woman he truly loves. It is no surprise that his marriage is unfulfilling for either party, and his wife is no saint herself, having to wonder if their unborn baby is her husband’s or someone else’s.

Only could Hilderbrand’s deft hand turn this tale into the story of a relationship that “complicates and enriches their lives, and the lives of the people they love.”

I highly recommend this book for Elin Hilderbrand’s fans. This is a book that is unputdownable because even though the reader knows how it is going to end, the plot must be pursued to that final outcome. Of course, this is the classic beach read that she gives readers every year: romance, beaches, food and drink, ocean, beaches, and sand dollars. Remember the sand dollars.