October Staff Picks

Oct 2, 2020 | Staff Picks

Sudie:

Recipe for a Perfect Wife by Karma Brown

Spice up October with this slightly sinister novel featuring two wives living in the same house, but 60 years apart.  Both women, one in the 1950s, the other in 2018, learn how to navigate life, love, marriage, secrets and society’s expectations for women as they take control of their lives.  Recipes—especially one—play a critical role in the plot. I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish this page-turner…

 

Bridget:

Fashionopolis by Dana Thomas
Gives an in-depth (global)synopsis of the textile industry and its impact on the planet.  Dana has included some positive developments here and abroad.

Barb:

The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey 

Not a light read – perfect for Halloween season.  An intense book of a genre way outside my norm that I ended up highly rating.

 

Katie:

Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett

A lighter read for the Halloween season. The Auditors of Reality conduct an audit of Death’s essential job functions, and unanimously determine that Death just doesn’t measure up. Forced into early retirement, Death has some much deserved time off. Find out what happens when Death DOESN’T come for you…or anyone else. 

Jeanine

Afterlife by Julia Alverez 

A recently retired professor is trying to figure out who she is after the sudden death of her husband and dealing with family community issues. Best quote from the book, “if I try to be more like you, who will be me?” 

Kathleen

Dissolution by CJ Sansom.

Sansom recreates the dark political  intrigues that were part of Henry VIII’s rule. Matthew has been charged by Cromwell to close monasteries, closed communities that also hide murderous secrets.

Michele

Dutch House by Ann Patchett

Sophie

Nobody Will Tell You This But Me by Bess Kalb

This is a moving story of a woman’s relationship with her grandmother, who has recently passed away. Kalb writes the story in her grandmother’s voice, with photos and voicemails and verbatim conversations peppering the prose. It’s not a happy story, it has all the complications of real life–the struggle, the suffering, the love, the humor, and ultimately the bond that those in a family can feel.

All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung
I first began reading Chung’s writing in her work for the website The Toast, and I was excited to read her memoir. As she entered into her journey into motherhood she decided to find out more about her birth family, who she had been completely removed from since birth. Raised in a white “colorblind” household, she never knew her Korean heritage, and while learning about her birth family opened up a set of complicated relationships, it forms her identity going forward and gained her a sister in the process.