The first thing you notice about “The Winners,” Fredrik Backman’s conclusion to the “Beartown” trilogy, is that it’s huge—over 650 pages. But that’s because Backman has a lot to tell us, and we are immediately immersed in the small towns of Beartown and Hed, it’s neighboring town, watching as hockey brings the townspeople together and almost destroys them. Backman excels at displaying the extremes of human emotions through his at-times visceral narrative.
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In “Never Meant to Meet You,” authors Alli Frank and Asha Youmans tell the story of two women, both of whom are single and both of whom most definitely did not want to be alone. Marjette Lewis relates the tale in first person narrative, so all we learn about her and her neighbor, Noa Abrams, is from her point of view. Marjette is still heartbroken that her marriage broke up five years previously when her husband left her and their son.
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We all know that how we present to the outside world is not how we necessarily feel about ourselves inside; in “So Long, Chester Wheeler,” veteran author Catherine Ryan Hyde explores just that concept. Lewis Madigan is a young software developer who, instead of receiving the generous raise he had been told to expect, receives a pink slip. He is shocked and dismayed. The job market is tight, and he is the breadwinner in his relationship with Tim, his boyfriend.
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Author Annie England Noblin brings us the Christmas spirit with her newest novel, “Christmas in Blue Dog Valley.” As in her other novels, she offers not only a sweet story of a woman trying to find her place in the world, but also the joy of having a companion animal by her side as she does so. In fact, right from the start we see that the main character, Goldie McKenzie, a veterinarian, has a soft heart.
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Author Claire Cook’s fourth and latest entry in her Wildwater Walking Club novel series is “Walk the Talk,” and this one is every bit as imaginative, thought-provoking, and witty as each of the previous entries. The Walking Clubs’ adventures, featuring protagonist Noreen and her club partners, Rosie and Tess, offer generous samples of Cook’s salient wit and thoughtful commentaries. It might be tempting for some to label Cook’s novels light romantic Women’s Lit – and they certainly are romantic, in more ways than one – but to do so seriously undervalues the many uniquely admirable qualities of her work. They’re also full of marvelous gems of home-spun practical wisdom, thoughtful comments – even studies – of human nature, the vagaries and problems of human relationships, romantic and otherwise, and exceedingly clever, often self-deprecating humor. And the Wildwater series offers significant travelogs, too. Quite a package, indeed.
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“Before You Knew My Name” is an unusual novel, not quite a murder mystery and certainly not a love story. Alice and Ruby, the two protagonists, are women who arrive in New York City on the same date. Alice arrives by bus from Wisconsin with a stolen camera and money she took from her former high school teacher, who offered her a place to stay when she lost her home, but took advantage of her. Ruby arrives from Australia fleeing a relationship with a man who is engaged to another woman and who has no plans to leave that woman for Ruby. Both women hope that in New York City, they will discover who they are capable of being and thus find a future.
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Louise Penny’s latest entry in her Chief Inspector Gamache series is brilliant and addictive. While it begins slowly as Penny is creating the backstory, that narrative becomes all-important later in the novel when the action and the connections are so fast and furious that it’s almost impossible to put the book down. We feel compelled to keep reading to see what clues will be uncovered next, who will die or be in danger, and what connection to the past an item or person has that we are just learning about.
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Two books published in 2022 that on the surface seem quite different, but share an important theme, are “Attack of the Black Rectangles” by Amy Sarig King and “Island of Spies” by Sheila Turnage. Both are about children who are determined to deal with problems that they are told are best left to adults. One of the books is about censorship and speaking out for what is right; the other is a WWII historical fiction in which kids are told they have nothing to contribute even as spies come ashore and ships are sunk on the east coast of the US by German submarines. In both novels, we meet kids who are strong and not afraid to speak out against wrongdoing. We see adults who want to shield the children from unpleasantness only to find that the children are determined to understand the truth and deal with it. We see girls being underestimated and adults who think only they know best. The children know otherwise. Both books are inspiring, and both definitely deserve a place in every library and classroom bookshelf.
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What do you get when you combine a wildlife researcher’s knowledge with a gripping plot and an admirable and likable protagonist? You get the books in this new series by Alice Henderson, the latest of which is “A Ghost of Caribou.” In each title, she cleverly uses the group noun for the animal that the main character, Alex Carter, is researching. In the first two books in the series, we read about “A Solitude of Wolverines” and “A Blizzard of Polar Bears” and now we learn about caribou in this novel. Personally, in addition to the fine writing and the characters I have come to care about, I love learning about the wildlife. Caribou? I had no idea that we had them in the US until I read this thrilling novel.
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