The Books I'm Reading Now
I'm listening to a story about redemption, forgiveness, and books, which is set in Maine, How to Read a Book; I'm listening to Alison Espach's playful and poignant novel about second chances, The Wedding People; and I'm reading Bonnie Blaylock's Appalachian-set 1930s historical fiction about a traveling packhorse librarian and the family she becomes connected to in the mountains of Kentucky, Light to the Hills.
What are you reading these days, bookworms?
01 How to Read a Book by Monica Wood
The cover art and title of How to Read a Book gave me the impression that Wood's novel was likely going to be cute, sweet, and neatly wrapped up.
But the book opens in a prison, with female inmates participating in their weekly book club in rural Abbott Falls, Maine. Main protagonist Violet Powell is being released after 22 months' imprisonment for the drunk-driving accident in which she killed an older woman.
Harriet Larson is a retired English teacher who leads the prison book club, and her forays into the local bookstore catch the eye of handyman Frank Daigle, who is still coming to terms with the loss of his wife in a car accident (caused by Violet).
When the three cross paths out in the messy, unexpected, heartbreaking world, their encounters seem destined to change them all forever.
I'm listening to How to Read a Book as an audiobook.
02 The Wedding People by Alison Espach
Phoebe arrives at the decadent Cornwall Inn in Newport, Rhode Island, wearing a green dress and heels, and she's quickly mistaken for one of the "wedding people." But Phoebe is having a crisis, and she's latched onto being at the site of her former dream vacation--which she'd envisioned visiting with her now-ex-husband--as the answer to her problems.
Lila has planned her million-dollar wedding down to the last detail, and Phoebe's depression and her very presence are throwing her for a loop--only the wedding people were meant to have rooms at the inn, and Lila isn't used to having her plans go awry.
Phoebe and Lila are unlikely confidantes and even more unlikely friends. But as the wedding week goes on, each woman is surprised by what she discovers about herself and the truths she is forced to confront.
I'm listening to The Wedding People as an audiobook.
Alison Espach is also the author of The Adults and Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance.
03 Light to the Hills by Bonnie Blaylock
I love a historical fiction story set in Appalachia, and I also love to read books about books. In Bonnie Blaylock's Light to the Hills, it's 1930 in the Kentucky Appalachians, and Amanda Rye is a traveling packhorse librarian, a recently widowed young mother, and somewhat of a local to the region.
She makes a special connection with a mountain family facing tough times despite their double work at the coal mine and their small farm. The MacInteers--tough yet tender mother Rai, her clever daughter Sass, playful older son Finn, and a hardworking father as well as the family's younger children--are hesitant to accept help. But Amanda brings them reading materials, apples for treasured pies, and some joyful company.
The bond between Amanda and the family tempts her to share a dark secret from her past, and secrets have a way of revealing themselves. Amanda's history may not only shake up her future, but affect the MacInteers as well.
Comments