Friday, June 30, 2017

The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel

Lane Roanoke is only fifteen years old when her mother commits suicide. With nowhere else to go, Lane moves in with her maternal grandparents and cousin Allegra on their farm in rural Kansas. Knowing little about her extended family, Lane is excited at the prospects of having a family to care for her. Lane quickly embraces life as a Roanoke, but it isn't long before Lane realizes that the Roanoke family has a dark secret to keep; one that sends her running far away from the small farming town in Kansas.

Years later, Lane still figuring out her life, receives a phone call from her grandfather telling Lane that her cousin Allegra has gone missing. Has Allegra run away like the Roanoke girls before her or is it something more sinister? Unable to get Allegra out of her mind, Lane returns to help ease the guilt she feels after having left Allegra behind. While Lane's homecoming means a chance for second chances, it also means that she must face the Roanoke secret that made her run.

Weaving between now and then, The Roanoke Girls is filled with twists and turns, exploring the lengths at which families will go to keep their deep, dark secrets and the love that they share.

Friday, June 23, 2017

Open Heart by Elie Wiesel


Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel is best known for his reflections on life in Auschwitz in his best-seller Night. Open Heart, though also a reflection, doesn't focus solely on the Holocaust; rather it's Wiesel's thoughts when at eighty-two years old, the writer and scholar was faced with emergency heart surgery and quite possibly his own mortality.

Though this is a brief book at only seventy-some pages, it is one filled with sincerity and honesty. Open Heart (so aptly named), focuses on Wiesel's family, many of whom perished during the Holocaust. The Nobel Peace Prize winning author questions whether or not he did his family justice by keeping their memory alive. He argues that the measure of a man can be determined by the love he has for his wife, children, and grandchildren. And most importantly he writes of the hopes he has for mankind, in a world that is often cruel and unjust.

Though Elie Wiesel has since passed away, the words of the most eloquent Holocaust spokesperson live on in this book and his other works.

Friday, June 16, 2017

LaRose by Louise Erdrich



National Book Award Winner Louise Erdrich begins her new novel, LaRose, with a punch to the gut: a hunting accident involving Landreaux Iron results in the death of his neighbor’s five-year-old son Dusty Ravich.  The two families had been close; the mothers were half-sisters, the five-year-old sons best friends.  Grief works in different ways on the two families and soon the Irons decide to honor an ancient tradition in order to make up for the Ravichs’ loss.  The Iron’s give their five-year-old son LaRose to the Ravich family.  Between a sweeping history of the four previous generations of LaRoses, and the story of Landreaux Iron’s past, Erdrich weaves a tale of loss and love.  LaRose grows to be a bond between the two families, helping them process their grief.  This deeply emotional read is another powerful novel from a talented award-winning author.

Friday, June 9, 2017

Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley


Lucy Knisley was born the daughter of a chef and a gourmet food connoisseur, so it should come as no surprise that this talented cartoonist and author of several graphic novelist would write and illustrate a memoir of her obsession with food. As hilarious as her other work, Lucy uses this book to frame many important life events around what delicious food she was eating, learning to cook alongside her mother, and what it means to thoroughly enjoy a meal with those one loves.

Each frame of Relish: My Life in the Kitchen is adorned with adorable illustrations, including the recipes Knisley shares at the end of each chapter, many of them for well-loved family dishes. For Knisley food is more than just survival, it's a large part of who she is and where she's come from.

Friday, June 2, 2017

All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda


It's been ten years since Nicolette Farell left her rural hometown of Cooley Ridge, PA after her best friend Corinne disappeared. Leaving her sleepy hometown after Corinne's disappearance, Nic reinvented herself--she has a successful career, a high powered attorney finace, and a place of her own in Philadelphia. But now that Nic is forced to come back to tie up loose ends as her father moves into an assisted living facility, it's as if nothing has changed. With Nic back in town, old feelings and drama are stirred up...and it doesn't help that another young woman, Annaleise, Nic's childhood neighbor and alibi the night Corinne disappear, has now gone missing, too.

Told in reverse order from day 15 to 1, Nic starts to unravel the mystery behind the disappearance of Annaleise and with that the mystery of Corinne. Just like ten years ago, the investigation is once again focused on Nic, her brother Daniel, and Tyler, Nic's former boyfriend.

With twists, turns, and shocks you won't believe, All the Missing Girls has been compared to The Girl on the Train and The Luckiest Girl Alive.