As usual, most of what I read the past 6 weeks have been ARCs — there are so many wonderful books coming out this year that I am looking forward to sharing with you! Here's just a few current treasures - and an early Feburary release - I've been wanting to share with you. Enjoy!
Northeast Corner - Colby Halloran
Colby Halloran's memoir of growing up in Ann Arbor was a delightful discovery. Halloran is not writing as an adult looking back at her life, rather, she writes in the first person from an 8-18 year-old child's point of view, her voice maturing as she gets older. This is part of what makes the book so intriguing. Besides following her walks and drives around town in my imagination, her childhood obsession with Ann Arbor's potential for being struck by a tornado is very amusing - and the explanation for her book's title. I found it incredible how much...and how clearly...she remembered her childhood, in minute detail. For readers who who grew up in or have lived here since the 60s/70s, this is a look back to simpler times and places long forgotten in A2. For readers who may have witnessed the death of a parent, this is a bittersweet reminder of the people who loved and raised us, the good and the bad/sad.
note: available at the ann arbor district library and schulers books
Frozen River - Ariel Lawhorn
Inspired by a renowned 18th-century midwife in rural Maine, Martha Ballard, this gripping historical novel is both a murder mystery and an unveiling of what women went through to give birth in the hardest of times and least hygienic of situations. Author Ariel Lawhorn used Ballard's actual diary entries to extrapolate on and create a story around a heroine who didn't allow patriarchal society and misogyny to get in her way as she handled the doctoring and birthing of her neighbors, despite their mistrust of her and the law of the land. An extremely well-written eye-opener to a time in early American history.
The Americans - Robert Frank
Robert Frank’s most significant book of photography, originally published in 1958 in France and taken out of publication at some point, was highly influential in post-war American photography. The photographs were recognized for their view of both the wealthy and the poor classes of American society. What might be seen as simple photos, Frank’s images of ordinary people still speak to this day to the viewer and the importance of his work. Now in it's third publication since the 2008 50th anniversary Steidl release, "The Americans” is a classic book of photography.
I Dream of Joni - Henry Alford
Of the dozen books published about Joni Mitchell, "I Dream of Joni" is, to me, the most delightful portrait of the beloved musician. Humorist Henry Alford has dug up details of her Saskatoon, Canada childhood and nearly everything beyond her departure from home, when she left to follow her initial dream of being a painter. Alford takes the reader through much of her life's experiences using lyrics from her songs, the vast array of articles about and interviews with Joni, as well as quotes from friends and lovers and her daughter Kilauren. This isn't an intellectualization of Joni Mitchell, rather it's a light-hearted look at the talented and fascinating woman whose music has touched so many since she began creating her iconic music in the 60s. Big endorsement if you're a Joni fan.
note: late january publication
Last Twilight in Paris - Pam Jenoff
The high-end Parisian department store, the Levitan, that was converted into a Nazi prison camp is the inspiration for this intriguing WWII story where trusting one's instincts is at the core of the novel. An old necklace that turns up in a second-hand store in a box marked "the Levitan" is at the crux of Pam Jenoff's historical novel. Jumping from post-war London to the thick of the war at a German POW camp, Louise, a Red Cross worker, seeks to identify the ownership of the necklace and it's connection to her co-worker friend Franny, whose mysterious death leads Louise to the culprit . . . and a surprise to all.
note: early february publication
Black Woods, Blue Sky - Eowyn Ivey
From the author of the deeply moving and sad "The Snow Child" is this suspenseful story that takes place, as in her debut novel, in the Alaskan wilderness. Birdie is a young daughter who loses faith in her single mother who parties a bit too much while working at the backwoods lodge in their tiny run-down community. Against warnings from her mother and all the adults around her, Birdie thinks she has found safety in the friendship of a mute, mysterious and physically scarred recluse, a bear-like man in his size and mannerisms, who rescues her when she gets lost in the woods. Not knowing him at all, yet lured by the remote wilderness, she chooses to move into his isolated cabin on the far side of the town's mountain. Looking for forgiveness, Birdie's mother eventually joins her at the cabin, which is where the two women discover with jaw-dropping shock the reality of who and what he really is, in this reimagining of "Beauty and the Beast."
note: early february publication
Three Days in June - Anne Tyler
This little treasure of a novel is short and sweet, with an ending that brought a big smile to my face. The three days of the story are spent with a socially inept mother whose daughter is being wed on the story's third day. The bride's father and her mother's ex-husband appears, unannounced, from out of town at his former wife's doorstep, needing a place to crash those the three days . . . otherwise he would be put up, awkwardly, at the bride and grooms home. Dramas unfold, memories are brought up, and awkwardness reigns supreme in this surprising gem.
note: releases mid-february
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