The Book of Lost Hours by Hayley Gelfuso
The Book of Lost Hours is the imaginative debut novel of Hayley Gelfuso. I am quite impressed by this debut and will definitely be keeping an eye out for what Gelfuso writes next.
…Isola by Allegra Goodman
What drew me to Isola is its basis in historical record of a sixteenth-century French noblewoman who survived being marooned on an uninhabited island in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence for two years before she was rescued and returned to France. Like the author, I wondered how the heck this woman survived two Canadian winters mostly on her own in the sixteenth-century. Unfortunately, we will never know the true account of Marguerite de la Rocque de Roberval’s survival, but I found Goodman’s fictional account of Marguerite’s story compelling.
…Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab
V. E. Schwab’s Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil seems to be marketed to readers of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue rather than readers of her YA novels. I am not a fan of Schwab’s YA novels, and I loved The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, so my expectation was that Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil would be a slam dunk for me, but as interesting as I found the novel’s setting, the story ended up falling flat.
…The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden
The Safekeep is Yael van der Wouden’s debut novel. It was shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize and recently won the Women’s Prize for Fiction, and I can understand why. It is an exquisite study in character, women’s desire and love.
…The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Kristin Hannah’s novels get a lot of love online, so I have been thinking about reading one for awhile but have been hesitant to because I find over-hyped books do not live up to my expectations. Then I found this beautiful 10th anniversary edition of The Nightingale with sprayed edges in Costco and had to buy it. Damn, this book is good. It actually made me cry, which does not happen very often when I read books.
…The Bookbinder by Pip Williams
Like Pip Williams’s first novel, The Dictionary of Lost Words, The Bookbinder is great for fans of historical fiction. You should definitely read it if you have read The Dictionary of Lost Words. The Bookbinder is also set in Oxford during the early twentieth century and focuses on the suffrage movement in England and WWI. Some characters from The Dictionary of Lost Words make an appearance in this novel.
…The Cure for Drowning by Loghan Paylor
Loghan Paylor is a queer and trans Canadian author who has written a pleasant albeit predictable story about queer love set during the World War II era. The Cure for Drowning is a good novel and worth reading, but I can’t say that this novel really excites me.
…Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
George Saunders’ Lincoln in the Bardo is a well-received, Man Booker Prize winning novel about the death of Abraham Lincoln’s beloved eleven-year-old son, Willie, and how Willie ends up in the bardo between life and death. It sounds like an interesting read, but I wish I had taken a moment to flip through the pages before buying this book because I do not like how it was written.
…The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
I probably never would have read Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible if I had not read Demon Copperhead first, and I am so glad I did not miss out on this incredible story of family, religion and race. I completely understand now why The Poisonwood Bible is such a well-regarded novel, and I highly recommend it, just do not let its thickness deter you.
…The Shadow Key by Susan Stokes-Chapman
I wanted to read The Shadow Key for a few reasons: 1) It is historical fiction 2) It is a gothic story 3) It is also a mystery 4) It is set in Wales. I ended up really enjoying it. It is predictable, but it still managed to surprise me. It straddles the line between realism and the supernatural without tipping over definitively into either side. I think readers who typically avoid reading supernatural stories may enjoy this one.
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