"VIRGIL WANDER" by Leif Enger
If you have a heart for small Midwestern towns (like Bluffton) you'll recognize life in fictional Greenstone, Minnesota. Although set in a colder climate than Ohio, much of life goes on similarly - life-long friendships, family histories, neighbors just being neighbors, a few love interests. The author, a life-long Minnesotan, has a masterful way with words while conjuring up some intriguing plots. Be sure to keep track of the interesting town characters - you'll find them popping up every now and then throughout.
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"THE THORNE MAZE" by Karen Harper
A murder mystery in Elizabethan England with the Queen herself the crime-stopper. Published in 2003, this is the fifth in Harper's Elizabeth I series. It's full of factual characters, but to have the Queen as the main detective is a bit beyond belief for this reader. But then, I'm not a big fan of mysteries so you'll have to take my words with a grain or two of salt. Enjoy the ups and downs while picking up some true facts of history as well. In the "author note" at the end, Harper fills you in a bit more on Tudor history.
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"THE DRESSMAKER'S GIFT by Fiona Valpy
The high-fashion district of Paris is the stage for this novel that spans three generations - from 1940 and the Nazi occupation to modern-day Paris in 2017. A young English seamstress comes to Paris to intern for a year and discovers that her roommate's grandmother and her grandmother were, similarly, rooming there together during World War II. Slowly, stories that had been repressed were revealed, all the while bringing healing to a family torn with bitter memories.
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"THE WATER KEEPER" by Charles Martin
Good guys and bad guys, cops and robbers have been subjects of multiple novels over generations of writers. But contemporary action novels hit harder with tougher punches. "The Water Keeper" takes us to the Florida coast where top-of-the-line speed boats, luxury liners and sex slavery are a deadly mix. Although this book is not my regular cup of tea, I stayed with it until the very end (even though the intro was tough enough for me). If you're young and like action, there's plenty for you here, along with enough redeeming qualities to make it a good read.
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DARK TIDES by Philippa Gregory
Another well-researched saga by prolific English author Philippa Gregory. The year is 1670. This time we are not only in England but Venice and the Americas. Three intertwined stories: a struggling dock-side family on the Thames, an exotic Italian widow, and an early settler to the New World torn between his English and American Indian friends. Our author did her homework on early American history, mixing that with her own English history and a little bit of Italy to spice things up. All in all, quite a read.
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MY OWN WORDS - by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, with Mary Harnett and Wendy W. Williams
This book, published in 2016, is not a biography of the recently deceased U.S. Supreme Court Justice, but a compilation of speeches and interviews she gave during her long tenure on the Court. Her biography, to be written by the same two authors, is still to be completed. But this glimpse into the life and thinking of Ginsburg gives us a good start. Although the book may look formidably armed with dull speeches, there is much to be gleaned from her writings and her manner of speaking. I came away with a deep respect for both the heart and mind of this remarkable woman.
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LIKES by Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum
You'll find no masterful plots, no hair-raising tales or sexy encounters in this thin volume. Just small vignettes of modern life and dreamlike tales, doled out in spoon-sized doses. The author captures the moment, and in miniature. No easy feat. Contemporary fiction like this is not my favorite genre, but it may be yours. So try it out.
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THE RAGGED EDGE OF NIGHT by Olivia Hawker
Another book set in World War II, this time centered in one small German village. Anton, a Franciscan music teacher, loses his position and home when the Nazis take over the school. Without a home or job, he answers an appeal from Elizabeth, a widow, to marry her and help raise her three children. Struggling to adapt to an entirely different life in a new village, he finds ways to bring music to the village's children, and to save the village church bells. Based on true stories from the life of the author's husband's grandfather.
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