Well-Read: The Last 5 Books I’ve Loved

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Robin Kall, GoLocalProv Books Columnist

Believe it or not, now is the time that I’m getting in some of my favorite summer reading. The beaches have quieted down, the sun is not as strong and armed with my bright pink sand chair and an iced coffee I have been enjoying these end-of-the-summer books—most of them were same-day reads. Same day because I couldn’t put them down…

Close Your Eyes - Amanda Eyre Ward

I have been a fan of Amanda’s ever since reading How To Be Lost many years ago and then Forgive Me as well as her collection of short stories - Love Stories in This Town. When I heard that her latest, Close Your Eyes, was available I put down what I was reading so I could get right to it! Ward is such a gifted storyteller I was immediately drawn into her latest novel, which is based on a true story. On the night their mother is murdered, Alex and Lauren are asleep in their backyard tree house. Their father is sentenced to life for the murder although Alex has always maintained his father’s innocence. We meet up with the siblings years later as they are trying to make sense of their lives and what really happened on that fateful night.

The Winters in Bloom - Lisa Tucker

When we first meet Kyra and David Winter, they are a loving couple with an adorable six-year-old son. Each for their own reasons, the Winters, have always had the feeling that this happiness would never last forever.

Secrets, former lives and their son’s safety intersect in this dramatic and page-turning thriller when their son, Michael, disappears from their backyard one afternoon. Who has taken their son is the question and as the suspense builds and the questions pile up, you will keep on guessing. The Winters will come away with more than they had hoped for as this crisis forces them to open up to each other in ways that they hadn’t.

The Reading Promise – My Father and the Books We Shared - Alice Ozma

When Alice was in fourth grade, she and her father – a beloved elementary school librarian – made a promise to read aloud together for 100 consecutive nights. When the challenge was over, neither wanted to give up what had become a meaningful ritual. They decided to continue what they called “The Streak” for as long as possible. They continued until Alice left for college –over 3200 nights of reading together. This book is a tribute

to the indisputable value in reading aloud with our children and the importance of helping children become lifelong readers (Alice and her dad, James Brozina, will team up to read passages from her book and share their thoughts on their Reading Streak at the Providence Public Library –main branch – Saturday, September 17th at 2pm).

This Beautiful Life - Helen Schulman

The latest by the author who brought us A Day At the Beach, especially timely with the 10th anniversary of September 11th, This Beautiful Life is another riveting story told by Schulman. The premise behind this story is a topic that is one of a parent’s worst nightmares. (No need to list them all here.) The novel is set against the backdrop of a New York City private school but what transpires could happen at any school. At its core, Schulman’s novel is about a good family, which finds itself in crisis. The Bergamots have moved to the City from a small town Upstate. Their fifteen year old son, Jake, has been taken in by a group of kids at his school who are more socially advanced than he is. When Jake finds himself at a party with the (much younger) hostess putting the moves on him, Jake rebuffs her advances. Not wanting to be seen as a young girl, she makes a huge error and sends Jake a video to get him to see her in another light. The video, of course, goes viral as motive and morality are called to task.

The Little Bride - Anna Solomon

New to Rhode Island, Providence resident Anna Solomon has just released her first novel and lovers of historical fiction will not want to miss this debut! Set in the late 1800’s, 16-year-old Minna Losk, leaves her home in Odessa and travels to America as a mail-order bride in order to better her life. She dreams of a handsome husband, big house and all that America has to offer but what she finds is the complete opposite. Her husband, Max, is more than twice her age and has children of his own. The house is little more than a cave built into the side of a mountain and life in South Dakota is desolate and harsh. Minna finds herself attracted to her older stepson, which adds drama and suspense to an otherwise dreary and labor-intensive existence. Not exactly what Minna had expected. (The Little Bride was chosen as the One Book, One Community pick by the Greater Jewish Alliance of Rhode Island. See Solomon’s site for event details.)

Reading enthusiast and all around "book-pusher" Robin Kall can be heard live Saturday mornings from 7-8am on Reading With Robin WHJJ 920AM. Also streaming live at www.920whjj.com. Follow on Twitter @robinkall, and Facebook - Reading With Robin.