In This Edition
Pace Setter : June 2020
Books to Read After Running
by Sally Drake and Mark Mindel
All Adults Here by Emma Straub
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If you are a regular follower of my book reviews, you know that realistic domestic sagas are my favorite fiction genre. This novel is a perfect example of why. Warm, poignant, funny, perceptive and smart this story follows matriarch Astrid Strich and her three complicated adult children as they navigate family conflict, secrets and resentments inherent in sibling and parent-child relationships. Set in a recognizable, idyllic Hudson Valley town the novel also has a beautiful sense of place and community. |
Sea Wife by Amity Gaige
A suspenseful and emotional story about a family who takes a year away from their suburban life to sail around the Caribbean. The marriage is fraught, and the trip is dangerous with an impending tone of disaster from the beginning. The writing is so taut and atmospheric that I literally felt seasick as the boat navigated rough seas and claustrophobic from the tight quarters and heavy emotional weight of the story. Gaige is a brilliant writer and this psychological drama is perfectly paced and executed.
Dear Mrs. Bird by A. J. Pearce
This is a lighthearted story about a young British woman during WWII who, in pursuit of her dreams to become a war time reporter, finds herself ghost writing response to an advice column in women’s magazine. This novel was a bit like eating cotton candy, sweet but devoid of much substance. A good choice for an easy, quiet weekend read.
Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld
This fascinating and provocative novel reimagines Hillary Clinton’s life if she chose not to marry Bill. The alternative history makes for a compelling political story but even more brilliant is the insight this novel has into powerful women, women in the public sphere and the personal politics of ambition. Sittenfeld is one of the most perceptive and astute writers working today particularly when it comes to examining the inner lives of women at the intersection of the personal and political.
Courting Trouble (Rosato & Associates, #7) by Lisa Scottoline
My first peek at Rosato and Associates. New lawyer Anne Murphy has moved to Philadelphia from California to escape her past. She had been stalked and almost killed by a man, Kevin, who was finally caught and put in jail. Anne is working a harassment case, defending her client from what she feels is a false claim. It's the Fourth of July weekend and her one friend says she will babysit her cat, Mel, for the weekend while Anne prepares her case in private on the Jersey Shore. However, her friend is murdered in Anne's home in a case of mistaken identity. When Anne discovers that Kevin had escaped from prison, she assumes he came to finish her off. Through many twists and turns, Anne eventually confronts Kevin and it leads to a wild and unexpected climax. Hold on to your hats.
I picked up as many books at the library as I could before they closed a few months ago, and this one turned out to be a winner. I'll have to read the series now. Jack Swyteck is an interesting dude. A criminal defense attorney in Miami, dating an FBI agent he gets entangled in a murder case (Is his dad, the former Governor of Florida and current candidate to replace murdered VP Harry Grayson, a suspect?). A lot of interesting characters including the Greek, his former wife, the President, the Vice President's wife, daughter, and lover...all mixed up in a whodunit and what did they really do? Give it a go if you can. I'm going to track down "Intent to Kill" the follow up to this novel as well as an earlier one in the series, "Last Call." Sometimes it takes a little pandemic to find a really good author!
See How They Run by James Patterson
A good book to get you thinking during the Covid-19 pandemic. Life isn't the same for Dr. David Strauss after his grandmother Elena, brother Nick, and wife Heather are murdered apparently by a new group of neo-Nazis hell bent on re-creating the Holocaust. After all, Elena and Nick were members of a secret Jewish society out to get revenge on the Nazis. The story takes place in 1980, and changes history somewhat by having the Moscow Olympics take place without a boycott. Strauss begins to reevaluate his life and reconnects with superstar actress and model Alix Rothchild, born Rothman, a childhood friend whose parents were killed in Dachau, from where she actually escaped as a young child. Former lovers, they take up where they left off (so much for the memory of Heather!), but things get a little twisted as to who is whom with the Nazis and the Jewish underground movement, when a terrorist group attacks Moscow. Builds to a climatic ending you won't want to miss.
Bill Clinton and James Patterson Are Writing a Second Book Together:
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