Tyler Sinclair, a famous singer and songwriter, abruptly left his hometown of Stone Mountain when he was eighteen. He is returning for the first time years later to perform a benefit concert for his friend Doc who is a paraplegic. Tyler dreads his return to Stone Mountain as well he should. There are folks, for several reasons, who would like to see him dead.

If Richard Russo’s name was not on the cover of Under the Falls, I never would have guessed that he wrote it. No where is there Russo’s wonderful sense of humor. The warm, struggling, lovable characters that are such an important part of his novels are nowhere to be found in Under the Falls. It is not a terrible book, it’s just not up to Richard Russo standards.

The Krzelewski-Petrosian family is leaving California and moving to Vermont. Kate has accepted a teaching job at a small college. Miles plans on finally finishing his dissertation on Russian folk tales, something has always prevented him from even getting started. Olive and Wesley, their children, seem to adapting well to a life far different from their years in California. Country People is about this family and the somewhat eccentric, but heart-warming, people they meet in rural Vermont.

Daniel Mason’s most recent novel is different from any of his other novels. Country People is amusing, fun and smartly-written with a positive take on small town life. There are no heroes or villains, only ordinary, decent people trying to understand what the world is all about.

Kathryn Stockett’s second novel takes place in Mississippi in 1933 and is narrated in two alternating voices. Meg is an eleven year old girl. She is living in an orphanage that is run by a mean, puritanical director who is especially cruel to Meg. She was raised by a single mother who simply disappeared one day. Birdie is a twenty something single woman living in a small town in Mississippi with her mother and grandmother. She must travel to Oxford to beg her sister for money. What happens to Meg and Birdie in the next few months is the crux of The Calamity Club.

Anyone who enjoyed Kathryn Stockett’s first novel, The Help, will want to read The Calamity Club. Although it could have used some editing in a few places, it is touching, humorous and informative.with very engaging main characters as well as fine secondary ones.

The narrator is an American man who after graduating college takes a job as an archivist for a 92 year old baroness in Tuscany. He meets a number of interesting people during his six month stay at Villa Coco. He also learns Italian and gradually discovers much about these characters as well as about himself.

Villa Coco is a good summer read. It is sweet, charming, at times humorous and makes the reader want to visit Italy. Villa Coco is an enjoyable read but without much depth.

Contrapposto is the life of Robert (Cricket) Dibb. He is a talented artist who grows up in a small town in Indiana. His life, his artistry and his need to earn a living takes him all over the world performing various jobs. When he is a teenager in Indiana, he meets Olympia. She is two years older than Cricket, a free spirit who knows commercial talent the minute she sees it. Cricket falls in love with her almost instantly. Unfortunately for him, she appears in his life only sporadically.

I loved Contrapposto! It is well-written with wonderfully described characters. One can’t help but be drawn into Cricket’s life and the people he encounters. Eggers also, through Cricket’s journey, alludes to how difficult it is for a gifted artist to make it in a commercial world.

The authors of this inspiring book are adamant that peace is a possibility in Israel. Aziz, a Palestinian, lost a brother due to Israeli violence. Moaz, an Israeli, lost his parents on October 7th. Together they are traveling the world discussing the only way they believe peace can be achieved in the Mideast-not with tanks, guns and suicide bombers, but through discussion, learning each other’s stories, empathy and compromise. The Future Is Peace is divided into eight days where Aziz and Moaz travel through Israel. Each day the reader learns more about these two men and the history of the country they love. The Future Is Peace is interesting, at times maddening, and yet at the same time hopeful.

Daphne and Jonathan Fuller are in The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City when Jonathan notices an elderly man following them. Turns out it’s Eddie Triplette, who was Daphne’s loving-step father for two years some forty years ago. This chance meeting sparks memories for both Daphne and Eddie, mostly having to do with a car accident they were both involved in.

I thought Whistler was good, not great. It is an interesting story but for some reason that I can’t put my finger on, I didn’t get emotionally involved with any of the main characters. Whistler is an enjoyable read without much depth to it.

It is 1865 in Ireland, soon after The Great Hunger. Tomas is a cartographer working for the British. Life is harsh for Tomas, his wife and their four children. They all face individual crises which slowly unfolds. Land is a saga about Ireland, family and strife.

Maggie O”Farrell’s most recent novel is not an easy read. Throughout, Land jumps around in time and from one character to another. Also, there is little happiness in Land. Tomas and his family find life consists of one obstacle after another.Because O’Farrell is such a gifted writer, the reader struggles along with the characters. Is Land worth reading despite it’s difficulties? For me it definitely was.

Natalie Heller Mills has it made. She is a popular media influencer who expounds on the joys of being a traditional wife and mother. She portrays her life as having beautiful obedient children and a loving husband working hard on their self sustaining ranch. Is this really what life is like on Yesteryear Ranch? Why has Natalie’s life turned upside down when she wakes up one morning and finds it is 1805 and she must endure the life she has mistakenly glorified?

Caro Claire Burke’s debut novel is a page turner. One wants to find out how Natalie ended up in the year 1805. Yesteryear bounces back and forth from Natalie’s early life, to the present to 1805. Also, for readers who want an empathetic, heroic main character, that would not be Natalie!

In David Sedaris’s newest collection of essays he covers current subjects such as, walking atleast 10,000 steps a day, the problem with airlines and hip replacement surgery. He can be poignant, audacious, but always laugh out loud funny.

If you’re a fan of David Sedaris, and I am, you will want to read The Land and Its People. His essay “Enough is Enough” had me laughing so hard tears were rolling down my face. In these hard times, it feels good to laugh and commiserate about them.