Fall Books to Read 2021
Fall & Winter Reading
"Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination, and the journey. They are home." Anne Quindlen
I love actual hard bound books with crisp pages. I love reading. I am constantly consuming a new book with eagerness. My brother when we were young, said, "Your nose is always glued to a book." Fast forward to today, every morning, I come downstairs, with a book in hand. My husband, teases me, asking if I have enough hands to carry down the stairs, an iPad, my latest book, cups, and glasses from the previous night's reading frenzy? Well, I laughingly, can think of worse habits. Reading and writing go hand in hand.
Reading expands your mind. You learn about new places, increase your knowledge, gain wisdom, embrace new experiences, feel emotions and become aware of the human condition. The written word is powerful and memorable. Renowned and beloved authors know how to create characters larger than life, transform settings and bring us to places emotionally and physically in our minds.
Great storytellers can take you anywhere in the world. They can weave a tale of drama, love, intrigue, and mystery with language. An excellent craftsman devises richly drawn and flawed characters as they lace a web of plots and plights. We can relate or not relate but understand. We can leave our own lives temporarily and experience the world all the while from the comfort of our homes. Reading is a gift and a blessing. We know when we have read a novel that is award winning and has potential to become an unforgettable movie or series. We simply cannot forget the book and spread the word on its greatness. Some examples in recent years include, The Nightingale and The Great Alone both by Kristen Hannah.
Lastly, I am constantly being asked what I have been reading. Alas, here is my latest list. Yes, I still enjoy the feel of a book, the sound of the pages turning, crumpled pages from water spots on vacation as the story unfolds. I have tried other devices yet always go back to hard copy or paperback.
Links to Other Book Recommendations
Current Reading Selections
An intricate family tale spanning fifty years enmeshed with loves, lies and secrets. Elle, a fifty-year-old woman, happily married, to Peter, with two children has her current life decisions rocked from her past. Jonas, childhood sweetheart, also happily married, comes back into the fold of the story. A heartbreaking and tragic incident happened years ago between them that has kept them each at arm's length. The stage is set. Just how will it end? What decisions does one make at this stage in life?
The Paper Palace reminds us of our own life choices and the ones that guide us forward. The tale highlights tragedy and the struggle to move beyond a childhood secret. As we all learn, secrets consume the soul, change relationships, and always bubble up in daily life if never resolved or confronted.
The story takes place amongst decaying yet beloved cabins where Elle's family and neighbors have been vacationing during the summer for generations. Their lives are enmeshed together. Reminds me of my tennis friend who has a beach place on Long Island, NY who every summer sees her childhood friends. In this story and in real life, the houses and the pond know all the secrets. If only the walls and water could speak?
The book is a page-turner, memorable and a story of what could have been or what will be in the future. Beautifully, written with lavish details of Cape Cod, in-depth characters, and entwined with the squalls of the human condition. It is a a captivating and riveting story. You cannot go wrong with a Reese's Book Club recommendations.
Two up and coming fashion models pre-1939, Eva Harlow and her best friend, Precious Dubose set out building their careers before the Blitz. It was a time of sublime silk-laden fashion, parties, and lasting friendships. Eva falls in love with Graham St. John, an aristocrat, and Royal Air Force Pilot, and then in a flash her world is devastated by the war. The setting is filled with intrigue, secrets, and spies. Nothing is as it seems.
Flash forward to London 2019, American journalist, Maddie Warner, has been charged to visit and interview Precious Dubose about her pre-WWII life in London. Her mission is to see Dubose's noted apparel from her modeling years. Little does Warner know; she will learn of what really happened during those dark and tumultuous years that changed everything. Colin, Precious's, nephew makes an entrance, once again, in Maddie's life. Both stories parallel each other and the lessons learned helps Warner heal from a past trauma and embrace her own life's boardwalk.
The Last Night in London is terrific, flipping from past to present, filled with fashion, the horrors of the war, love, and unremembered acts of kindness. It is a book that speaks about human frailty. And, how in one swoop, outside circumstances or our own personal decisions change our lives forever. You will be on your toes trying to figure out the ending. You will not forget this book and recommend to others.
Karen White is a brilliant storyteller, and her books are always page turners. I have read most of them if not all of them. She is one of my favorite authors.
Stop the press, click on your computer, order and get ready to devour an exceptional book that will not be forgotten. The Book of Lost Names, is riveting, gut wrenching, memorable and will move you emotionally.
The story begins with Eva Traube Abrams, 85 years old, a part-time librarian, in Florida, who glances at a photograph in the newspaper. She is stunned. It is an image of a book she created sixty-five years ago known to her as The Book of Lost Names.
In 1942, as a graduate student, Abrams flees Paris, after the arrest of her father, a Polish Jew. Her mother, travels with her to a town known as the Free Zone during WWII. She begins forging identity papers for Jewish children fleeing to neutral Switzerland. She meets Remy, a handsome and brilliant forger who works in the Resistance Cell. These two collaborate, change the names of children, and with a unique code method, record their actual names in a book. They are preserving history. This is the premise of the tale, yet the story, devolves into much more than just preserving names. There is one last code put into the books. This code becomes imperative in the search for Remy who disappears. When the Germans move in the book is lost.
Abrams, at her current age, must decide if she is ready to reunite with the book, solve the puzzles and reunite those lost during the war.
The Book of Lost Names, inspired by a true story, highlights the horror of WWII, and those who went to extraordinary lengths to save children no matter the cost to themselves. These acts of kindness, feats of greatness against pure evil will leave you chilled to the bone. You will not be able to stop turning the pages. The passages, descriptions, love, hate, loss, despair, and all ills of humanity come seeping off the pages. Your mind will want good to prevail. Additionally, this book would make a powerful and memorable movie. I have no doubt about it. You will never forget this book.
There you have it. A list of books for your reading pleasure. Enjoy fall and the blustery days to come.
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