Hi Reading Friends– Do you have a stack of books waiting for time you can snatch for summer reading?? Here’s a few recent reads that I really enjoyed, memoirs, fiction and an amazing story of WWII. What are you reading this summer?? Would love to have your suggestions!!
The Middle Place — by Kelly Corrigan
A memoir of Kelly’s growing up in her close knit family, alternating with chapters about her cancer treatments as a young mom and her father’s battle with cancer at the same time. Sounds grim, but Kelly’s honesty, humor and love of family make it a book you won’t want to put down. Love all her relatable books.
The Dirty Life, On Farming, Food, and Love by Kristen Kimball
Memoir of the author’s falling in love with her husband Mark and falling in love with organic farming. It follows the first year they spend developing their farm in upstate New York–so many informative stories about crops and cooking, about animals and how to care for them. Makes me appreciate all that goes into the food we eat!
Devour by Sophie Egan
Egan goes in to detail about how and why American’s eat the way they do. Topics: How work affects our eating, Diets, the rise of wine consumption, how Italian food became so mainstream, fast food marketing, the popularity of brunch, organic, gluten free, non-fat options, family meals… Fascinating and sometimes surprising. Loved it.
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Riveting from the first page, the story of the bright and prosperous Richardson family and their renters, artist Mia and her smart daughter. Their lives intertwine to the breaking point and divisions over the adoption of a baby, personal choices provide all the plot twists and turns.
The Song of Hartgrove Hall by Natasha Solomons
The story alternates between 3 brothers returning to their dilapidated manner house after WWII and an enchanting young singer who helps bring it back to life– and then the story of one of those brothers 50 years later, training his grandson, the piano prodigy and reliving the turmoil of his life. British family drama wrapped in music.
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
A small girl is found alone on a ship arriving from England to Australia in 1910. She is taken in by the harbor master and his wife. But her story is a mystery. It takes 500 pages and 3 generations of women to tell the true story. Sort of a mix of Charles Dickens meets Downton Abbey. Very readable and graced with likable characters and an involving plot line.
A Higher Call: an incredible true story of combat and chivalry — by Adam Makos
The true story of an American pilot in WWII who was flying a battered bomber out of Germany, when a German fighter pilot, Franz Stigler flew along beside him and escorted him out of danger. The book gives the two men’s backgrounds and stories through the war and their meeting finally many years after the war. Interesting to have an anti-Nazi German pilot’s point of view.
Illustration at the top by Andre Pecoud.
“Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing yet had been done.”
Hello friends– I wonder if you are celebrating Easter this year. We are. I have the ham in the fridge, the table pulled large and to set for family. And Easter eggs waiting to be hidden for the grand-girls.
Hi friends– This week Larry and I marked anniversary #43! It is one of those “how can that be?” kind of numbers. But then again, I can barely remember when we haven’t been married.
Hi friends– I love this month, when many people turn their hearts to thanksgiving. Not just the turkey and pie Thanksgiving, but the opening of hearts to number all the reasons we have to give thanks.
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Set in WWII, We Were The Lucky Ones, spills out the stories of the the Kurcs, a prosperous Jewish family from the Polish town of Radom. In the course of the war they are scattered– to a Siberian work camp, the beaches of North Africa, a ghetto in Warsaw, the Italian front, taking refuge in Rio de Janeiro, and hidden away on a farm in the countryside The author, Georgia Hunter, is the grand daughter of Addy Kurc, escaped Europe on one of the last ships to carry immigrant during the war. She brought to life the resourceful, determined Kurcs, telling their stories with her well researched details and a great heart for the the people of her family– harrowing escapes, loyal love, imprisonment, torture, amazing bravery and the beloved traditions of a family tied together even as they were torn apart.
Anne Morrow was a college girl, daughter of the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, when she met Charles Lindbergh, now a celebrity since his 1927 flight in the Spirit of Saint Louis across the Atlantic. They wed and Anne becomes famous as the Aviator’s wife, living in the shadow of her famous husband. She weathers the kidnapping of her 18 month old son, raises a house full of children and eventually comes into her own, as an aviator and author. Melanie Benjamin gives us a picture of a troubled marriage, reflecting the times and the price of fame– a fascinating look at a complicated woman and her bigger than life husband.
Hey all–It’s been a week. So much Christmas. We’ve been out to eat with friends every night but one this past week–Pub dinner with close friends, a quiet dinner out with J & L, who always make you feel a little wiser just listening to them, a winery dinner and performance of the Messiah with old friends… It’s been grand to sit and talk and laugh and hear Christmas plans… Last night it was a potluck at Caroline’s. I brought along this cake (in fact I’m eating a leftover slice right now).
The Thankful Heart 