Vernice and Annie have been best friends since birth. Both girls are Black, motherless and grew up in a small town in Louisiana. Vernice is raised by an unmarried aunt. She is bright and ambitious, goes to college and marries well. Annie is raised by her grandmother. Her sole ambition is to find her mother who abandoned her the week she was born. Although these girls’ lives head in completely different directions, their friendship endures.

Told in alternating narratives, Vernice and Annie’s stories are finely crafted. Some segments are humorous, others sad. I liked and appreciated Kin, but for some reason that I can’t put my finger on, I didn’t love it.

Less than a month into the pandemic, Belle Burden receives a phone call from a man who informs her that her husband is having an affair with his wife. When she confronts her husband, he tells it is true, says he is no longer happy being married to her, and immediately leaves Belle and two of their three children. Married for twenty years, Belle had always felt that her marriage was solid and filled with love and happiness. Strangers is the telling of how Belle survived.

Although my life is in many ways different from Belle’s, I could not put Strangers down. I read it in two sittings. In some ways Belle’s story is not just about the end of a marriage but also a woman’s memoir about love, disillusionment, friendship, motherhood and standing up for oneself. I believe most women can find parts of Strangers to relate to.

Tessa and Marian are sisters living in Northern Ireland. Tessa is divorced with a young son and works for the BBC. Marion is single and is a paramedic. One day Tessa learns that her sister has been involved with the IRA(Irish Republican Army) and may have been involved in a number of violent crimes. After learning the truth about Marian, Tessa’s life is never the same.

Trust Her is a sequel to Northern Spy. Northern Spy is an interesting, sometimes tense, read, but Trust Her starts off exciting and anxiety-provoking and never lets up. Although it is the least dramatic of the two, it is necessary to read Northern Spy first.

Tom Junod’s memoir centers around his father, Lou. Lou was good looking, charismatic and a womanizer. Although Lou loved his family and stayed married to his wife, Frances, he also had many affairs-some long term, some not. The author always suspected this, and after Lou’s death, he feels the urge to find out the details of his father’s life and his ancestry.

In many ways In the Days of My Youth . . .is like so many of today’s memoirs-a search for the answer to family secrets. However, unlike many other tell alls, Lou Junod truly loves his children and wants the best for them. Lou is a complicated man, and his younger sons’ well-written work leaves the reader with some answers to his life but not all.

Lately I’ve been thinking about books I read years ago that would still be enjoyable to read today. The following is a list of some of my all-time favorites in alphabetical order.

American Pastoral by Philip Roth

Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood

Cider House Rules by John Irving

The Color of Water by James McBride

Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres

Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner

The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer

The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer

Ladder of Years by Anne Tyler

The Magus by John Fowles

Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk

Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Possession by A.S. Byatt

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

Sophie’s Choice by William Styron

Stone Diaries by Carol Shields

There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz

If I’ve left out some of you’re favorites, I would love to hear from you.

On November 29, 2019, nineteen year old Zac Brettler fell from a balcony five stories above the Thames River. Zac Brettler died and the circumstances surrounding his death is the crux of London Falling. Was Zac pushed, did he fall or did he purposely jump hoping to land safely in the river. While covering Zac’s story, Patrick Radden Keefe also describes con men, London gangsters, the lives of wealthy or seemingly wealthy Russian oligarchs in London and the ineptness of the London police and Scotland Yard.

No one can write about true crime better than Patrick Radden Keefe. Although I didn’t find London Falling quite as intriguing and startling as Say Nothing and Empire of Pain, it is definitely worth reading.

Theo arrives in the city of Golden, Georgia. He is 86 years old, has lived in many places around the world, and is quite mysterious never divulging his last name or much about his life. On one of his first days in Golden, he steps into Chalice, the local coffee shop, and studies the many portraits painted by a local artist. He soon starts buying the paintings and distributing them to the appropriate individuals.

Allen Levi’s debut novel has become a national sensation. Most readers loved it and felt inspired by it. Theo, the mystery man, exemplifies unselfishness, kindness, integrity and the ability to befriend people from all walks of life. Theo of Golden is a feel good novel that leaves no unanswered questions.

Each chapter in Allegra Goodman’s new novel is a vignette having to do with a family whose matriarchs are sisters Helen, Sylvia and Jean. Each sister has been married at least once, each have children, two have grandchildren, and the two surviving sisters are no longer speaking to each other. With each vignette, the reader learns more about this east coast Jewish family.

Even if you’re not Jewish I think you would enjoy This Is Not About Us. However, if you are Jewish, I think you would thoroughly enjoy the characters, the situations and the dilemmas even more. This Is Not About Us is humorous and heart-warming. I read it in two days, and with each chapter found this somewhat stereotypical family more and more delightful.

M.L. Stedman’s second novel centers on the McBride family who own a large sheep ranch in western Australia. In 1958 the father, Phil, is riding over his vast property with his two sons. Phil swerves to avoid hitting a kangaroo. The car turns over killing Phil, his oldest son, Warren, and severely injuring his younger son, Matt. While Matt is recovering from injuries to both his body and his brain, he does something horrendous. This act will affect Matt and the remaining McBride family for decades.

I loved Stedman’s first novel, The Light Between Oceans and eagerly looked forward to her second. Although it took 14 years, I was not disappointed. It takes a while to get immersed in A Far-Flung Life, but it is definitely worth the wait.

On October 7, 2023 Hamas terrorists attacked the kibbutz where Eli Sharabi, his wife and two daughters lived. He was separated from his wife and daughters and taken hostage. Hostage is the story of his 491 days in captivity. Most of his time was spent in filthy underground rooms where he was intimidated, humiliated, practically starved and shackled. Hostage relates how he and the prisoners he lived with spent their days and survived.

Hostage is not an easy read, especially now, but it is most certainly worthwhile to know about Sharabi’s ordeal. The memoir ends days after his release, and I would have liked to have read how Eli Sharabi was doing months later. I also was curious to know what happened to the others he lived with in captivity. Were they released or killed?