For me, a day that I don’t read is a cryin’ shame of a day! It’s as necessary as breathing for me. And since I’m curious about nearly everything, the daily quest for the newest, next beauty is always dangling as a shiny promise just around the corner. Currently I’m excited about “big fiction”--grand, overarching novels, science books about virology and disease, biographies, and kids books for all ages.
This heart lofting, expansive memoir of Kendra Atleework is stunning, cinematic and beautifully told. Her roots are in the arid mountains above Bishop, Ca. Her town is small and the rugged country dwarfs everything. Growing up are bittersweet times and she resolves to expand her life outside of home, ultimately leaving and returning to Bishop. Her personal story is woven into the long history of water rights, belonging and otherness in the impossible raw beauty of high desert. --Marilyn
If you love beautiful writing and who doesn't, get this right now. The Beadworkers is a deceptively slim little book but don't be fooled by page count. It's a superb collection of Native American stories that are contemplative, contemporary and glittering with empathy. I love it. Slow down and travel throgh these pages. --Marilyn
Patricia lives the successful southern lady's life until she's exposed at her bookclub for faking her book presentation. It turns out nearly all the club members can't stand their pretentious, perfect club and set up their own club and the fun begins.This story gallops along with hilarious plot twists, misguided assumptions, while honing their true grit as modern southern women. Not to be missed. - Marilyn
Welcome to Keena’s rich life from birth to early 20s.
Keena & family live In Africa 98% of each year -
Transitioning to Suburban Philly 2% of each year -
A fierce, smart, wildly adventurous grand memoir.
You’ve got to read this. --Marilyn
Sometimes a story just wraps itself around you. This is one of those stories. Four orphans on the run from dire conditions at their boarding school take off in a canoe hoping for St. Louis. Krueger's finely told story shines light on desperate times during the depression and redemption that can bloom. Just excellent. --Marilyn
Don’t let Meloy’s slim volume fool you. It’s PACKED with wonderful, witty, razor sharp musings and observations in small essays about her life in the Utah desert always informing her experiences.
You won’t zip right through but meander, ponder and slow down.
It’s grand. --Marilyn
A story that’s spools out seamlessly. Anna, whose father was a CIA operative, starts to unravel the man behind the man who is her father. Expansive in reach and truth while subtly tightening its grip on experience as revealed by a fellow CIA operative of Anna’s father. --Marilyn
It's safe to say that honey bees did save Meredith May's life. In idyllic Carmel Valley,Meredith longed to work with her beekeeper grandfather tending his hives and helping in the bee bus. First though, Meredith had to learn the ways of bees as a patient attentive helper. Meredith was immersed in the wonder of nature and nurture as she navigated rough times with her mother. This is a rich tapestry, deep in wisdom and beauty. --Marilyn
Oksana, an impressionable little girl, doesn’t buy all the happy stories about their soon-to-be new life in America.
Wildly funny starting with their unexpected adventures in steamy Florida landscape as Oksana navigates life in the U.S.
So good! --Marilyn
This is Tom Patterson’s battle against a certain death sentence.
Patterson is overwhelmed by a superbug, resistant to ALL antibiotics.
An extraordinary biologic battle of virus VS. bacterium involving teams of doctors, researchers, US Navy and the FDA. A fearsome, amazing story. --Marilyn
Marie-Madeleine Fourcade,was the youngest woman to run a major spy network in France called Alliance during WWII. Germany's occupation of France galvanized her war work where she built & expanded Alliance’s network, keeping spies, couriers and supply lines functioning just one step ahead of the Gestapo. She established a partnership with Britain's MI6, who was desperate for information about Germany's naval buildup and secret rocket development.
Fourcade's life story is riveting and fraught with danger. --Marilyn
Kagge explores the idea of being in silence through experience, wonder, travel, and deep thought. Some of his silence quests seem to open a new dimension. A wonderful read. - Marilyn
1963:Kennedy has been killed & there's doubt about who pulled the trigger. Frank Guidry is a link in that chain, now on the run from his mob boss.
All hell breaks loose when Guidry changes the plans he was meant to follow. Though Guidry is wily, he's not prepared for the major diversion to his plan.
It's a cat and mouse chase across the country. quite a read. - Marilyn
-Marilyn
