The Best Minds-nonfiction by Jonathan Rosen

The Coast Road-fiction-by Alan Murrin

Don’t Be A Stranger-fiction by Susan Minot

Familiaris-fiction by David Wroblewski

Friday Afternoon Club-nonfiction by Griffin Dunn

Kent State-nonfiction by Brian Vandemark

Lazarus Man-fiction by Richard Price

Long Island -fiction by Colm Toibin

Playground -fiction by Richard Powers

Tell Me Everything-fiction by Elizabeth Strout

Time of the Child-fiction by Niall Williams

What I Ate in One Year-nonfiction by Stanley Tucci

In the dead of winter in Maine in 1789 a man is found frozen in the Kennebec River. Martha Ballard, a midwife in her 50’s, is asked to examine the body and concludes that he has been murdered. Martha’s pronouncement and her job as a midwife leads her to learn details of the rape of a woman by two townsmen, one a judge and the other the murdered man found in the river. While Martha tries to uncover the truth about the rape and murder, she encounters many obstacles and discovers a number of well kept secrets.

The Frozen River is a good work of historical fiction. Martha Ballard, who really was a midwife in Maine, is a strong, compassionate, intelligent character. The one drawback to the novel, for me, is that there are a lot of minor but important characters in The Frozen River and I had a hard time remembering who was who.

Susan Rieger’s third novel is divided into three sections. Each focuses on one of three generations of Pereira women. Zelda Pereira is married to Aldo, a Sephardic Jew who is verbally and physically abusive to his wife and children. Aldo commits Zelda to a mental institution and tells his children that she died there. His family is not sure he is telling the truth. Lila is the youngest of Zelda and Aldo’s three children. She was the recipient of most of Aldo’s abuse. She marries into a wealthy Jewish family, has a loving husband and becomes a successful editor of a DC newspaper. Her youngest daughter, Grace, has a love/hate relationship with her mother, and feels obligated to find out what really happened to Zelda.

For me, Like Mother, Like Mother is the perfect airplane read. It has interesting characters, an engaging plot, some clever dialogue without a lot to discuss or think about. It is what it is.

The reader once again visits Faha, a small Irish village where This Is Happiness took place. Jack Troy is the town doctor; he is a good doctor and thoroughly professional. He lives in Faha with his oldest daughter, Ronnie, who assists him in almost everything. In December of 1962 a baby girl is found near the local church, and Jack Troy is asked if he can “bring her back to life.” The infant changes Jack and Ronnie’s lives in ways they never expected.

Reading Time of the Child is like listening to an Irish story teller. Niall Williams cannot stick to the stories main plot, instead veering off track to discuss another villager or a Faha tale from the past. The girl child of the title doesn’t even appear until almost halfway into the novel. If you want a quick read with a straight plot, DON’T read Time of the Child. However, if you enjoy all things Irish and like a good cry at the end of a tale, this book is for you.

A building explodes in Harlem in 2006, and a cast of characters are affected either directly or indirectly by the blast. Anthony Carter survives being buried under the rubble. Felix Pearl takes photographs of the event. Royal Davis owns a failing funeral home very close to the disaster. Mary Roe, a New York City policewoman, is obsessed with finding a man whose wife died in the explosion. Each of these characters have a history that influences how they react to the disastrous event.

I have been waiting for Richard Price to come out with a new novel for quite some time. It was worth the wait. Lazarus Man does take sometime to get into and understand the characters, but it eventually all comes together.

If you’re a foodie, especially interested in Italian foods, and like to hear about celebrities, pick up a copy of What I Ate in One Year. Tucci describes what he ate, who he saw, and how he feels about everything in 2023. He includes some interesting recipes as well as critiques about restaurants and hotels, and family and friends he dined with. What I Ate in One Year is a delightful, delicious, easy, fun read.

Louise Erdrich packs a lot into this novel. The Mighty Red is about Kismet Poe and the boy she marries and another boy she loves. It is about Kismet’s mother, Crystal, and her constant efforts to keep her family healthy and debt free. It is about sugar beet farming, and how it is ruining the soil, and how it can be prevented. The Mighty Red is also about family secrets, guilt, love and honor.

I run hot and cold with Louise Erdrich. I appreciate and enjoy some of her novels while others I find mediocre and didactic. The Mighty River is a winner! I could relate to the characters, empathize with their problems and easily followed the plot.

I usually don’t read or recommend children’s books, but I was asked to read When We Flew Away and I’m glad I did. It is a fictionalized rendering of Anne Frank from 1940-1942. It is her story as well as her family’s up until the time they are sequestered above her father’s office where she begins her famous diary. Along with the tale of the Franks, Hoffman deftly describes how little by little Anne, her friends and her family’s lives and freedoms are subjected to demonic Nazi laws and regulations.

When We Flew Away is suggested for ages 9 to 12, but I am much, much older and I certainly enjoyed and appreciated it.

Ivy Cooper is a 53 year old divorced woman living in New York City with her son, Nicky, who is about nine years old. She is a writer, has many friends, loves Nicky, but her life is not satisfying. Then one night at a dinner party she meets Ansel Fleming. He is a 35 year old musician and has spent seven years in prison for a nonviolent drug charge. What begins a good sex for both of them, slowly evolves into an obsession for Ivy.

Susan Minot is a gifted author who is not duly recognized. Don’t Be A Stranger has wonderful prose, complex characters and there is a descriptive scene of Ivy in the hospital with Nicky that is unforgettable. I could truly feel Ivy’s fear and anxiety.

Short-listed for The Man Booker Prize this year, The Safekeep is a debut novel that takes place in The Netherlands in 1961. The main character, Isabel, takes care of the family home after her mother dies. She leads a solitary life and things, not people, are important to her. However, the deed to the house belongs to her brother, Louis, and he can take all Isabel has away from her whenever he wants. One day Louis brings his girlfriend, Eva, over to the house. He informs Isabel that he has been called away on business and that Eva will be staying at the house until he returns. Needless to say, Isabel is not happy about this.

There are several interesting themes going on in The Safekeep-some are not evident until the last third of the book. It is a very good read that brings up issues I have never thought about.

I rarely read children’s books and when I do, I seldom put them in my blog. I have asked two of my grandchildren to recommend several books .

Benji age 7 thoroughly enjoyed the picture book Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen and is just getting into the Ballpark Mystery series.

Maisie age 4 and a half is heavily into the Fancy Nancy books by Jane O’Connor. She loves the main character and has learned a lot of new “fancy” words.