Spring Reads

I am admittedly a big fan of NY Times bestselling author Kim Michele Richardson and her Troublesome Creek books. Her children’s book, Junia: The Book Mule of Troublesome Creek – with illustrations by David C. Gardner – is out now and it is a delight. Set in 1936, it is Junia’s job to carry the Book Woman into the hills of East Kentucky to deliver reading materials to those with little access. It is hard work but neither sleet nor snow nor unpaved paths will deter Junia. A heartwarming, sweet book about the importance of these once traveling librarians delivering hope.

Timothy Schaffert is a sensual, emotive, and poetic writer. His latest, Titanic Survivors Book Club introduces us to three unforgettable characters, all survivors, of a sort – Yorick, a bookshop owner in Paris; Zinnia, daughter of a confectioner; and the handsome Haze, a photographer that spellbinds them both. Haunted by their good fortune, the three form a book club. A lush story of love and longing and loss and surviving, Schaffert’s prose is captivating. Rich in detail, you will feel transported to pre-WWI Paris and all its sensual delights.

Foster girls in the care of one scary woman are the stars in Sally Hepworth’s Darling Girls. It has been years since Jessica, Norah, and Alicia suffered under the roof of Miss Fairchild. They bonded together as sisters to survive. Now bones have been discovered under the home and the police come calling, unearthing secrets and past traumas they wish would stay buried. Hepworth writes a twisty, page-turning tale that is poignant, yet darkly funny.

It is 1885 when nine-year-old Aubry is struck with a life-threatening disorder. The doctors are stumped. Aubry discovers if she keeps moving, she will keep death at bay, which begins an epic journey around the globe, outwitting bandits, killing her own food, and never looking back – and never returning to a place she has already been. A Short Walk Through a Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke is an epic journey, reminding us that it’s not the destination that counts, but the journey that makes us who we are. Aubrey will form brief but deep bonds with those she meets and falls in love with, only to have to leave as death continually reaches for her.

Carys Davies is spare with her elegant prose in Clear, a novel slight in pages and big on ideas. Set on a fictionalized remote island off Scotland during the infamous Scottish Clearances (where rural communities were forced off their land). John is a minister, financially strapped, who takes a job where he must evict the last remaining resident on the island. After an accident occurs, Ivar, the man he has come to oust, nurses John back to health. While neither speaks a common language, over the following months they learn to understand each other, except for the secret John is holding. Back home, John’s wife Mary is worried when she hasn’t heard from John. Taking matters into her own hands she receives a shock when she arrives on the island to rescue her husband. But does he want rescuing?

In Peter Nichols’ thriller Granite Harbor, Alex is a failed novelist turned small town detective hunting for a killer after a grisly discovery is made at his town’s historical site. As a single father, Alex does his best to raise a teenage daughter and keep her safe from a possible serial killer. Isabel is a loner, working at the historical site where the body is discovered. It turns out her teen son was friends with the victim, bringing the murder too close to home. When another dead teen is discovered, Alex and Isabel join forces before it is one of their own that falls victim. Fast-paced, Nichols captures the small-town vibe with fully developed, quirky characters.