Summer may be over, but there are still plenty of new books coming out for you to cozy up with as the evenings grow chilly...and don't miss author Marta McDowell at the Headquarters Library on Saturday November 4th at 2 pm.
The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Frontier Landscapes that Inspired the Little House Books by Marta McDowell
Several generations have grown up with Laura Ingalls Wilder’s fictionalized accounts of her life as a 19th century pioneer girl moving from Wisconsin to Kansas and finally to South Dakota, settling in Missouri as a married woman, with yet a short time in Florida. As an adult, Wilder kept journals and wrote many pieces for local papers and newsletters along with her much beloved books, always spending a great deal of time detailing the plants that were so vital for their existence and the often harsh environments that made life, at times, a struggle, and were often time play things…who can forget Mary and Laura blowing bubbles in the creek with reeds? In this book, McDowell, whose interest is authors and their gardens gathers illustrations from Wilder’s series by both the original illustrator Helen Sewell and the later illustrated, Garth Williams, and pairs them with photographs, modern and old, etchings and sketches to bring to life the woods, prairies and Ozarks of the Ingalls and Wilder families. The chapters are arranged in chronological order and follows the series, including Farmer Boy, the story of Wilder’s husband’s boyhood in New York State. A compendium enumerates the myriad of plants, their botanical names, where among Wilder’s writings they are referenced and whether they were grown at Wilder’s final home, Rocky Ridge Farm. An extensive bibliography has a detailed list of Wilder’s writings, writings about her and her journalist daughter Rose, as well as books on American gardening and landscaping, the history of plants, pollinators and the people who brought plants with them as they migrated west. A must for any Laura Ingalls Wilder fan and anyone with an interest in the botanical history of the United States, especially the Mid-West.
Caroline: Little House Revisited by Sarah Miller
Caroline Ingalls is one of the most beloved mothers in
American fiction. This novel, authorized
by the Little House on the Prairie estate retells the Ingalls family travels
from their Wisconsin home to the unsettled prairie, originally chronicled in Little House on the Prairie, from Ma’s
point of view. Pregnant with two young
daughters, Ma must pack all her family’s possessions into a covered wagon in
such a way that the wagon can be used to sustain her family until a permanent
home is established. Caroline,
portrayed by her second daughter Laura in the Little House series is remembered
as being kind, resourceful, and gentle; here she is also a woman in love,
sometimes impatient with her daughters, and a daughter who desperately misses
her family. Above all, Caroline is
strong and a hard, resourceful worker, fiercely devoted to her husband,
daughters, and unborn child. This new novel
adds depth to the revered Caroline, sheds some light on the politics around
their new home in the untamed land, and will have readers wishing that each of
the succeeding Little House books be retold from Ma’s point of view. A pure delight for fans.
George and Lizzie by Nancy Pearl
Lizzie is the only daughter from a decidedly untraditional
family. Both her parents are lauded
psychology professors and researchers in Ann Arbor and have been at a loss with
what to do with Lizzie from the day she was born other than observe her and use
her experiences for their research. Growing
up in an environment lacking parental guidance and love, Lizzie makes her way
through her school years the best she can, learning from her babysitter Sheila,
and several friends, most as misfit as she.
In high school, she and her best friend devise the “Great Game” in which
the two plan to sleep through the varsity football team; when her best friend
backs out of the challenge, Lizzie perseveres on her own, sleeping with
twenty-two starters in as many weeks.
The Great Game haunts Lizzie during her college years, and she blames it
on her inability to maintain a relationship, especially with Jack, who she
thought was “the one”. Meeting George in
the unlikely setting of a bowling alley starts Lizzie on a road to a
relationship that has a semblance of “normalcy” yet one to which she cannot
fully commit with the Great Game and Jack weighing heavily on her mind. George is everything Lizzie is not:
easy-going, certain of himself, and from a loving, doting family. Lizzie agrees to marry George, even with her
misgivings, fitting awkwardly into his family, but finding love with them
nonetheless. Lizzie and George’s
relationship is not as solid as George perceives it to be, yet overtime, the
two come to a place of agreement in this novel about self and relationships
written by America’s Librarian.
Lies She Told by Cate Holahan
Best-selling novelist Liza Cole has exactly thirty days to
deliver her new novel to her agent Trevor.
Distracted by her inability to conceive a child with her husband David,
as well as the recent disappearance of her husband’s law partner and best
friend Nick. As Liza begins to write her
novel, unfolding in parallel chapters to her own life, she realizes there are
certain similarities in her novel to her own life: her protagonist Beth witnesses
her husband, a prosecutor, with another woman; Beth has a six-month old baby,
and is seeing a psychologist with whom she has an affair. The deeper Liza delves into Beth’s narrative,
the more she sees her own life reflected, and realizes she may have more
answers than anyone, herself included, realizes. The persistent nature of the plot propels the
story along, though most readers will guess the outcome early on.
Best Day Ever by Kaira Rouda
Paul and Mia Strom appear to have the perfect life: Paul is
a high-powered ad exec; Mia is a beautiful stay-at-home mom, taking care of
their two young sons in a gorgeous house in a desirable suburb of Columbus,
Ohio. Paul has planned a romantic
getaway for the couple at their lake house and promises Mia her Best Day
Ever. Mia has been ill for some time and
on the ride to Lake Erie things slowly begin to surface, dispelling the notion
that everything is perfect in the Strom’s lives. As the day wears on, it becomes apparent that
Paul has been hiding more than a few things from Mia. Though many usual tropes are used in this
novel, there is an urgency to the writing and an unsettling ending that will
hold readers’ interest long after the last page is turned.
Good Me Bad Me by Ali Land
Fifteen-year-old Annie Thompson has just turned her mother
in for the serial killing of nine young boys. While waiting to testify at
Ruth’s trial, Annie is placed in foster care in the home of psychologist Mike
Dawson. Annie is now known as Milly, and
only Mike and his wife Saskia know her identity. Mike and Saskia’s teen-aged daughter Phoebe sees
Milly as another needy foster child taking up her parents’ time and attention,
especially Mike’s, and begins a bullying campaign at school. Milly tries her best to ignore Phoebe and her
friends, but there is a side to Milly that she doesn’t even admit to herself is
there, especially when she hears Ruth’s taunting voice inside her head. As Ruth’s trial draws closer, Milly’s psyche
becomes more fragile, putting Milly more on edge and wondering if she really is
like her mother...unless she is really in control of everything. This tightly written, character driven,
psychological thriller is one readers will not easily put down as they delve
into Milly’s mind to try and decide if she is Good Me or Bad Me and does she
know the difference.
The Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittall
George Woodbury is a beloved science teacher at an elite
private school in Avalon Hills, Connecticut, who once stopped a school shooter;
his wife Joan is a popular ER nurse, his son Andrews is an attorney in Manhattan,
his daughter Sadie, a senior at the school where he teaches. The community is shocked when George is
arrest, accused of sexual misconduct with several of his students while on a
school ski trip. Overnight, Joan and
Sadie’s idyllic worlds are overturned and each finds herself questioning what
she has always thought to be the truth about George. Andrew returns to Avalon Hills to stand by
his family, memories of being bullied while in school and having a gay relationship
with a coach when he was seventeen dredged back up. Once George is arrested, much of the plot
turns to how each of his family members deals with the perceived betrayal. The narrative shifts from Joan to Sadie to
Andrew, exploring the feelings each deals with, their reaction to George, and
their reaction to the way each other is dealing with these events. An unexpected conclusion to George’s trial is
in one way unsatisfying, but in another feels exactly the way the story should
end, for it will never really be over for any of the Woodburys.
Dead in the Water by Denise Swanson
School psychologist Skye Denison is nesting in her Southern,
Illinois home with her new husband, police Chief Wally Boyd awaiting the birth
of their first child. When a tornado
sweeps through their small town of Scumble River their lives are thrown into
chaos, especially with the complete destruction of their home. In try Skye and Wally fashion, they put the
needs of their friends and family ahead of their own. Wally, who unbeknownst to the residents of
his town, is the son of a multimillionaire who is very excited about the birth
of his first grandchild and send a motor home for Skye and Wally. Wally does not get to spend too much time in
it, however, as he tries to get the town back into some sort of order; the only
fatality of the tornado appears to be that of town council member Zeke Lyons,
but upon closer inspection, Wally determines Zeke was murdered, not killed
during the tornado. Skye is settled, the
baby is okay and then Wally disappears during his investigation. With the help of her former students now
friends Frannie and Justin, and her mother, Skye throws herself into finding
her husband, alive and well, so they can begin to rebuild their life before the
baby arrives. Longtime fans of the
Scumble River series will be delighted to be back among Skye and her friends;
Scumble River is a warm and welcoming place and Skye and her family are among
the best people to have on your side. A
thoughtful mystery is engaging and a cliff-hanger will leave readers eager for
the next installment of the “Welcome Back to Scumble River” series.
