Here are some books we loved in 2022 and are recommending the holidays!
I could not put this down! Elizabeth Zott grabbed me and didn't let go. Her determination to make it as a female chemist in the 1960's lands her as the host of an unconventional televised cooking show. Think Julia Child plus chemical cooking processes with a fiercely feminist view. LOVED!
- Lori
Hamnet author O'Farrell has done it again! 15 year old Lucrezia de Medici, who as a child touched a tiger but has never left the rooms of her families' palazzo, is forced into a doomed marriage with a powerful duke. Like the Rennaissance paintings described in this riveting historical, O'Farrell's portrait of Lucrezia has many secret underpaintings - from a guileless girl, a dreaming artist, to a fierce woman. I was captivated!
- Nancy
I love this!! If you are interested in: books, writing, ancient history, Mary Beard, beautifully written essays, James Joyce, hieroglyphs, Borges, the role of libraries up to today, the "Google Effect", Greek myths, and everything else - this is the book for you!!
- Nancy
So So Good. Dark academia. Oxford. Translators and magic and imperialism. I couldn't put it down!
- Lori
I was immediately caught up in Olga's ambitious and complicated life! (Her creative comebacks and insults are an added bonus!) Romance, family complications, the whims of the uber rich, the foils of politicians, gentrification of the old neighborhood and the so called American Dream all come together in this funny, poignant and fast paced novel.
- Nancy
A totally addictive caper - along the ride with the two scammers (one a perfect wife, mother, and lawyer) there are some serious inquiries about the many incarnations of status and what is behind those things/titles/trophies/admissions we just have to have. It's a great read and the perfect length!
- Nancy
A beautiful memoir about amnesia, family, inherited insight, and spirits. Pair with Contrera's novel Fruit of the Drunken Tree. I loved this memoir!
- Caitlin
From the hilarious opening on a flight en route to Las Vegas, to the explanation of how a female narrator can do all the voices (yes, even the men), I loved Julia Whelan's new romance. Funny, biting, tender and definitely sexy, this was a delight from beginning to end.
- Lori
This book is like a cozy blanket and a mug of hot cocoa (or coffee) on a rainy day. Viv has decided she's done with quests and starts out on a new adventure: opening a cafe in a city that's never heard of coffee. Full of found family and baked goods!
- Becca
Now it can be told -- the unexpected rise and ignominious fall of the house that Black Flag built! As teen punks growing up in the early '80s my friends and I would swap rumors, mostly gleaned from 'zines about SST's feuds with its bands and its legal troubles. Thanks to Jim Ruland, a longtime zinester himself, we finally get the clearest picture of SST's glory and carnage.
- Brad
Just as steamy, snarky, and sweet as Beach Read, this is one of my new comfort audiobook "listens". With a nod to the small town romances so many of us love and Nora Ephron movies, I'd happily get lost in Sunshine Falls and Nora and Charlie's slow burn romance. Love Love Love.
- Lori
I LOVED THIS. The most perfect cozy witchy romance with strong The House in the Cerulean Sea vibes. You will fall in love with these characters!
- Lori
I loved this. A page-turning mystery fantastically plotted and paced. A love letter to classical music that also exposes the prejudice and racism in that world. So many twists and turns! I was totally immersed. Would be great for book clubs!
- Lori
I loved this!!! It starts out funny and bittersweet but becomes darker and more portentous as it moves backward in time to its surprising conclusion, which is also its beginning. So good!
- Brad