Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May Life is full of times when events may cause us to drop out of the flow for a time. These fallow periods, often unexpected, can contribute to feeling isolated, frozen and cut off from others. Sounds a lot like 2020, doesn’t it? … Read more
Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts Before the ubiquity of DVDs and Netflix, families wishing to share a little movie magic by watching the annual rebroadcast of MGM’s The Wizard of Oz had to keep a keen eye on the TV listings. It often ran in winter, and was a must-see before the holidays. Millions tuned in to … Read more
It’s been a long and challenging year, and many of us are having trouble concentrating enough to read or just want feel-good reading. To that end, this year’s suggestions for holiday gift books have in common the theme of kindness, compassion and shared humanity. They are the type of books that are lovely to have … Read more
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Timothy Leary, Richard Nixon and the Hunt for the Fugitive King of LSD by Bill Minutaglio For those who think the past four years of the Trump era have been over-the-top outrageous, take a magic carpet ride back to the early 1970s via Bill Minutaglio and Steven L. Davis’ … Read more
Uncharted: A Couple’s Epic Empty-nest Adventure Sailing From One Life to Another by Kim Brown Seely As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the prospect of chucking it all and sailing off into the sunset has a certain appeal. A change of scenery, some fresh sea air, a chance to slow down time and escape, far from … Read more
The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue In an overcrowded hospital in the heart of Dublin during the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, Nurse Julia Power works long hours in the “fever/maternity” ward, where women who have succumbed to the flu and are also pregnant are sent. There aren’t enough doctors and nurses to … Read more
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi While Yaa Gyasi’s debut novel, Homegoing, was epic in scope, weaving together generations of voices covering 300 years of life in both Ghana and America, her recently released second novel, Transcendent Kingdom, turns to the intimate quarters of family, faith and the mother-daughter relationship. Gifty is a sixth-year doctoral student … Read more
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy Although author Charlotte McConaghy has published eight young adult books in Australia, she makes her U.S. debut with her first adult title Migrations, a haunting meditation about nature on the verge of collapse that combines McConaghy’s love of nature and her interest in stories about fierce women. Franny Stone has never … Read more
Warlight by Michael Ondaatje The minute you scan the first line of Michael Ondaatje’s graceful novel Warlight you are aware that you’re in the hands of a master storyteller. His prose is spare but specific: “In 1945 our parents went away and left us in the care of two men who may have been criminals.” … Read more
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett When writing her new novel, The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett never dreamed its subject matter would be so timely at publication. The book opens in 1968 against the backdrop of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination and the civil unrest that followed, and is a brilliant exploration of race, gender … Read more