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October 29, 2021

I have to admit I was dubious about whether I wanted to invest time into the co-authorship of Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny. I am a huge fan of Louise Penny and her Inspector Gamache series but I was unsure about what Clinton would bring to the table. Clinton and Penny caught my interest from page one of State of Terror. I stepped into a fast paced, detailed, and gripping narrative where new Secretary of State Ellen Adams returns from unsuccessful talks in South Korea late for the State of the Union. This is quickly followed by terrorist bombings in London, then Paris, and also Frankfurt – all within twelve hours. Ellen Adams must work with a President and team that she doesn’t really trust to find who is behind the bombings and stop the threat of more. Supporting her is long-time friend Betsey Williams who serves as her aide/counsellor and is the one person she truly trusts. Adams and Williams travel the world to meet with leaders, colleagues, foes, and family to discover who is behind these attacks and prevent further devastation. 

From page one, State of Terror caught my interest with suspense, intrigue, and interesting characters. I devoured the 512 pages in record time and learned about world politics (past and recent – you’ll see), history, terrorism, family, and friendship. It is an intense and complicated story and I admit to looking back to try to recall the titles behind acronyms and occasionally to check a plot line after an ‘ah ha’ moment. I recognized the parallels to recent history and politics in the intriguing story and narrative. A definite highlight for me was the connection to Three Pines, which the dedicated readers of Louise Penny will recognize immediately. Clinton and Penny didn’t disappoint with this fast moving, intriguing, touching, and funny treasure. I cannot wait to see what comes next as the ending hints at a second novel dealing with “every horror made by man”.

November 2021

I discovered Lisa Jewell with Then She Was Gone (2018), and was compelled to read everything that came before and after...I am definitely a fan. Jewell is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of nineteen novels, including The Family Upstairs and Girls in the Garden, as well as Invisible Girl and Watching You. Her novels have sold over five million copies internationally, and her work has been translated into twenty-nine languages. 

The Night She Disappeared is a substantial book at 416 pages, and I was hooked from page one to the conclusion. This book has all the major food groups: secrets and lies, love and hate, family, dark and twisted places, and it kept me guessing without freaking me out! I love mystery but I can’t handle horror…and Lisa Jewell is a master at keeping you on the edge of your seat without giving you nightmares.

Synopsis:

Tallulah and her boyfriend Zack disappear one night without a trace. Tallulah's mother Kim knows her daughter would never abandon her baby boy, but a year passes and the police are no closer to an answer. That changes when a new headmaster and his girlfriend Sophie, a cozy mystery writer, move into the village. When Sophie finds a sign saying 'Dig Here’ in her back garden, she does, and the first clue to what might have happened is found.

Jewell tells the tale in three timelines with multiple points of view, every chapter gives us more hints to the past, gradually giving the reader more knowledge and answers. I love how it misleads you in places and makes you think you know what’s happening or happened, then a surprise twist comes to play and you realize how wrong you were. Once the past meets with the present, questions are answered but it still leaves the reader anticipating what is going to happen next.

Jewel gives us well-drawn protagonists in grieving parent Kim and amateur detective Sophie. These characters are imbued with personal storylines as well, quite believable in their relationships, doubts, loss and more. Jewell ekes out the story of Tallulah before she disappeared and the reader can see what's coming as her narrative progresses. There are plenty of supporting characters and each seems to have trouble with the truth. It's nuanced, suspenseful, and plot-driven. Overall this was a slow-burning psychological thriller I would highly recommend.

Another five star read from the amazing Lisa Jewell!

March 2022

This book has been around for a few years already, and has been awarded many accolades, most recently being shortlisted for Canada Reads 2022.  Oftentimes novels whose covers are plastered with many awards aren't ones that I gravitate towards, fearing that they'll be too...artsy.  When asked what I like to read, my answer is 'a good story', without a specific genre that appeals to me; so long as I am entertained, and the writing style is such that I don't cringe at disingenuous dialogue and unfortunate typos, I'm usually up for giving anything a go!  I had heard from numerous patrons that this was a book worth reading, and so I decided to check it out, and to not judge it by its award-strewn cover, as the saying goes.

In this debut novel by playwright Catherine Hernandez the spotlight is shone on the inner city centre of Scarborough, focusing on a group of people whose paths intersect at a government funded early literacy centre.  The stories of the characters are told in a variety of voices, and with the interesting use of emails between the Literacy Centre's staff member, Hina, and her management.  The three children who we get to know throughout the book are living very challenging lives, and yet somehow manage to keep showing up to the centre, for their friends, and for themselves.  The author expertly weaves their stories with a diverse tapestry of race, religion, sexuality, socio-economic status, disability and the assumptions that we make about people based on the very little we actually know about them.  There is such depth of feeling and voice in all of the characters that I found myself laughing along with them, as well as crying for them.  I flew through this book, not wanting it to end, loving the voices within it and hoping that somehow, against the odds, their lives somehow, miraculously, unrealistically, improved.  

Catherine Hernandez has written a heartbreakingly beautiful debut novel, full of hope and love, and the understanding that every single one of us has a role to play in the daily lives of others; our choices do matter, and there are always battles being waged well behind the closed doors that we will know nothing about.  Her characters remind us to choose kindness, and that even when things seem insurmountable, it's still okay to hope.  I highly recommend Scarborough to anyone who likes a good story! 

December 2021

Northern Spy is a novel that centres on the contemporary IRA (Irish Republican Army) and the loyalty between sisters.

Tessa is a new mom and a producer at the BBC, while her sister Marian is a paramedic….or so she thought. After footage reveals Marian was present at a robbery by the IRA, Tessa must face difficult facts and make some hard choices. Her identity as a sister and as a mother are challenged as she gets deeper into the truth of what is actually going on with Marian.

I really appreciated the fast pace of the writing. It’s a book that kept me saying, “Just one more chapter.” The IRA aspect can get a little bit tedious every now and then if you don’t enjoy politics in your reading material, but the faith and trust between the sisters makes up for it.

Not everything here is black and white, which makes for interesting reading. It challenges the notion of right or wrong, and how well you can ever really know a person. I enjoyed this novel enough that I will be adding Flynn Berry’s other books to my To Be Read List.

Northern Spy is a Reese's Book Club pick. (As is Where the Crawdads Sing, The Island of Missing Trees, Paper Palace, and many others available with your MLPL membership.) Wondering what Witherspoon uses as her criteria for recommending a book, I investigated her Book Club website and found this as their guiding principles for including a book into the collection:  "Each month, Reese, our founder (and book-lover-in-chief) chooses a book with a woman at the center of the story. There's not a formula to the books we spotlight, and we like it that way. We make our choices thoughtfully and look for ways to deepen our connection to books, authors and ourselves." 

The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections by Eva Jurczyk

February 2022

This debut novel by Torontonian Eva Jurczyk was a lot of fun to read.

The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections is the story of Liesl, a librarian working in the very distinguished rare books department of a large university. She spends her days making her boss look good, and doing all his menial tasks. One day however, her boss suffers a stroke, and in his absence she must take charge of the department and prepare the library’s most highly delicate and newly acquired manuscript for a huge donor event. Upon opening the safe where this elite book is kept under the watchful eyes of the university’s president, Liesl discovers it missing.

What follows is the mess that comes with questioning each of the library’s employees, trying to hide the fact that the rare item is not where it is supposed to be from curious individuals, maintaining control of her department, following the directive to keep the police out of it, and keeping the donors who made the acquiring of such a priceless artifact happy. Liesl’s job is not made any easier when one of the other librarians stops showing up at work!

The characters are interesting, the mystery of where the manuscript has gone is a good one, and the language used to depict certain images is surprising and breaks the mold of a librarian’s “quiet life.” I look forward to more books by Eva Jurczyk, as this debut was quite good.