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Fiction

Deck the halls with drama

Feature by Barbara Clark

In two new works of popular fiction, determined characters search for answers to evergreen questions of fate and choice.

Josie Silver’s One Day in December begins and ends during holiday seasons, spanning a decade as three young people come to terms with the choices they’ve made.

While waiting to depart for holiday travel, 22-year-old Laurie stares through the window from her seat on a London bus and glimpses the face of a stranger standing outside in the crowd. Their eyes meet, but the doors swing shut and the bus pulls away. Over the next year, perhaps lured into that age-old trap of wanting the impossible, Laurie, aided and abetted by best friend Sarah, searches everywhere to try and locate her elusive “bus boy,” but to no avail.

Fast-forward to the next holiday season, when in an ironic turn of fate, Sarah introduces Laurie to her new boyfriend. This is how Jack, the bus boy, reappears in Laurie’s life, though neither Laurie nor Jack thinks the other remembers the bus encounter, and both pretend this is their first meeting. Time passes, and there’s a marriage or two, along with deceptions and revelations that alter all of their lives.

What sounds like a garden-variety romance takes shape as an impeccably written novel. The charm’s in the telling as Laurie and Jack struggle with their private thoughts and yearnings . . . and there’s that accidental late-night kiss. Each will have to decide how—or if—they’ll be able to square their dreams with reality.

The holiday greeting advanced in a yearly letter provides the title of Gretchen Anthony’s Evergreen Tidings from the Baumgartners, a rambling, funny and often poignant look at how one family disintegrates, copes and flourishes, then carries on with life.

Violet needs structure, certainty and, above all, advance plans. But what’s a deeply loving and controlling mother to do when her daughter, Cerise—happily partnered up with a woman named Barb—becomes pregnant? The father’s name is known only to Cerise and Barb, and they’re not telling.

This is hard to take for Violet, whose controlling arm is long. However, leave it to this determined lady to find a way to return order to her world. She’s used to micromanaging events at home and at the Faithful Redeemer Church holiday fair, as well as the ongoing issues in her friend Eldris’ life, so what could go wrong here? What’s a little fraud, some missing eyeglasses, an early labor, an unfinished family tree and a food fight with roast lamb, among friends?

Evergreen Tidings from the Baumgartners is a charming, often hilarious story about people whose sticky jealousies, insecurities and small joys are remarkably similar to the ones that mark our own lives. Anthony offers readers a chance to savor and appreciate the joys of the commonplace as well as that strange but remarkable pride we have in our own family bonds.

 

This article was originally published in the December 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

In two new works of popular fiction, determined characters search for answers to evergreen questions of fate and choice.

YA NonfictionYA FictionYACrafts, Hobbies & Home

The gift of less screen time

Feature by Jill Ratzan

Books are easy to use (no charging or downloading required) and will always be in vogue. For the age group that’s the most difficult to buy for, we’ve got reads for musical lovers, Hunger Games fans and DIY crafters.

The Tony Award-winning musical Dear Evan Hansen, which follows the eponymous teen’s struggle with social anxiety, has taken Broadway by storm. Now, the creators of the show offer another way for fans and newcomers alike to experience Evan’s story through Dear Evan Hansen: The Novel. Written in a light, breezy narration, the novel tells the story of how Evan, a teenage loner, takes his therapist’s advice and begins writing letters to himself each day in order to deal with his anxieties and insecurities. But when one of his private notes lands in the wrong hands, Evan accidentally becomes a social media sensation after the note resurfaces at the scene of a classmate’s suicide. Like the musical upon which it’s based, Dear Evan Hansen tackles serious themes—like isolation, mental health, friendship, love, community and the difficulty of telling the truth, even to yourself—in a sometimes serious, sometimes hilarious way that is sure to connect with today’s teens.

A WORTHY TRIBUTE
Suzanne Collins’ acclaimed Hunger Games series—perhaps one of the most popular and well-loved YA series of all time—is now available in a gift-ready new package. The Hunger Games: Special Edition Box Set celebrates the 10th anniversary of this action-packed series with new paperbacks that feature luxe foil covers and lots of great bonus material. Fans will relish the longest published interview with Collins to date, a conversation between Collins and the late author Walter Dean Myers, a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the series and a timeline of Hunger Games-related events from 2008 to the present.

GET STICHIN’
For crafty teens, there’s Australian embroidery expert Irem Yazici’s Tiny Stitches: Buttons, Badges, Patches, and Pins to Embroider. This guide lays out necessary materials and sewing techniques for needlework newbies, and there are plenty of illustrated examples and step-by-step instructions for projects like pins, patches and buttons. From outdoorsy scenes to cutesy snack items, young readers will be sure to find a pattern to love. Traceable templates allow the budding crafter to immediately deck out their best denim.

 

This article was originally published in the December 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Books are easy to use (no charging or downloading required) and will always be in vogue. For the age group that’s the most difficult to buy for, we’ve got reads for musical lovers, Hunger Games fans and DIY crafters.

Children's & YAPicture Book

Dreamers tell their stories in powerful picture books

Feature by Julie Danielson

Two of this year’s most emotionally compelling picture books tell the story of immigrants. 

Caldecott Honor-winning author and illustrator Yuyi Morales tells her own personal immigration story in Dreamers, a picture book that pays tribute to picture books themselves, as well as the libraries where they live. In Morales’ intimate, first-person narration—which unfolds from her perspective as a mother who is new to the U.S.—she addresses a baby and details in concise, eloquent language the confusion she felt in a new country and the ways in which the library opened her world. Her first library visit is described with wonder and incredulity: “Suspicious. Improbable. Unbelievable. Surprising.” She could retrieve books from a place where she didn’t need to speak—books (and here she illustrates the covers of many beloved picture books) from which she learned to read and speak English. The experience utterly changed her life forever. This place, previously “unimaginable” to her, helped her find nothing less than her own voice.

Illustrated in vivid colors, with dreamlike vistas and detailed compositions, Dreamers is a powerful, truly inspiring tale. Morales uses pen and ink, acrylics, photography from her personal collection, pages from her first handmade book and embroidery to illustrate her story, and the pictures are filled with objects in flight—bats, birds, butterflies, even a shooting star—that serve as symbols of her journey to the U.S. She paints herself wearing a backpack and in a dress of what could be flower petals or multi-colored flames with her young son in her arms or in his stroller; the two are an indelible image. A closing author’s note brings readers more details, and Morales further sings the praises of picture books and the librarians in California where she had, once upon a time, made her new home.

Former U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera’s Imagine opens memorably: We see a boy picking chamomile flowers and whispering to “their fuzzy faces.” We watch him grow, and we discover that the boy is Herrera as a child as he recounts specific, detailed childhood memories of playing in nature, leaving his home and eventually moving to a country where his native language is not spoken. The entire text is a series of conditional sentences ending with “imagine,” the word in a larger, bolder font on each spread: “If I moved to the winding city of tall, bending buildings and skipped to a new concrete school I had never seen, imagine . . . ” A young Herrera learns English in his new school and falls in love with writing, collecting “gooey and sticky ink pens” because of the way the ink flows across the page. He writes his first poem and crafts his first song on the guitar. And then, we see Herrera as U.S. Poet Laureate, speaking at the Library of Congress in front of a large crowd. If he can start as a small, unassuming boy smelling flowers in his homeland and grow into a famous poet, he asks readers on the final spread to “imagine what you could do.”

Filled with vivid imagery (the “milky light” from the moon that shines on the boy’s blanket as he sleeps outside, the “silvery bucket” he carries for fetching water) and Lauren Castillo’s highly textured, earth-toned illustrations rendered via foam monoprint, Imagine is a tender story that is brimming with hope. 

Two of this year’s most emotionally compelling picture books tell the story of immigrants. 

Caldecott Honor-winning author and illustrator Yuyi Morales tells her own personal immigration story in Dreamers, a picture book that pays tribute to picture books themselves, as well as the libraries where…

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Beyond the Tolkien-esque fantasy

Feature by Ralph Harris

Conventional fantasy settings (often Tolkien-inspired landscapes) can be useful for establishing easy-to-understand lines between good and evil, or to skip the onboarding process of learning new systems and races. However, some authors choose to step away from the industry standard, creating a separate, distinct experience.

In Elle Katharine White’s Dragonshadow, the landscape of her Austenesque fantasy world drives each conflict. Sequel to Heartstone, which was a magical retelling of Pride and Prejudice, White’s latest book finds Alistair and Aliza Daired (her Darcy and Elizabeth avatars) happily married and called upon to defeat a mysterious monster threatening the castle of a powerful lord. The core conflict in White’s world is a direct result of an ancient pact between humans, wyverns and dragons, who fight together against the other dangerous magical creatures that opposed the pact.

Upon arriving at Castle Selwyn, the Daireds find themselves embroiled in a murder mystery, complicated by ancient grudges and secret avengers. White builds out her fantasy world naturally, setting pieces into categories: bad guys, good guys, neutral guys. This seemingly simplistic scheme plays into the novel’s central mystery—without spoiling anything, the story’s twists go to interesting and surprising places.

As a whole, dragon and human (and valkyrie!) relationships keep the beat-to-beat energy going, but they are ultimately in support of White’s primary story: the relationship between the newly married Alistair and Aliza. Their relationship’s growth and conflict mirror the entire arc of the murder mystery. White carves a metaphor into the setting and plot, and allows her fictional married couple to grow naturally within the space that the story creates. Similar to Heartstone, the epic setting and heroic events in Dragonshadow play second fiddle to the romantic struggles of Aliza and Alistair.

With the dynamic setting firmly in place, chock full of independent factions with ulterior motives and rich history, White paints her power-couple romance with a vibrant brush, splashing sorrow, joy and solidarity generously across the canvas.

On the other side of the spectrum, the setting of Mirah Bolender’s City of Broken Magic is the primary engine of her story and characters. The first in a series, Bolender’s debut thrusts the reader into a world where magic can take form as a hungry hive mind, consuming everything. This infestation’s only weakness? Locked and loaded sun-bullets (and other sun-things, but the sun-bullets were my favorite).

The city of Amicae claims to have eliminated such infestations entirely, and newbie exterminator Laura is a member of the Sweepers, a team responsible for keeping that farce alive. Each facet of Bolender’s magical steampunk island is fully fleshed out, with motivations and schemes mapped onto each faction and character. This incredible attention to detail is vital to City of Broken Magic, as Laura is generally responsible for trying to micromanage, overcome or save every single character she encounters. If that sounds exhausting, being a Sweeper most certainly is, and the city’s Renaissance Italy-level intrigue makes Laura and her boss Clae’s plight entirely believable. The pair’s banter and genuinely enjoyable relationship serve as an accessible lens to view the intricate complexities of Bolender’s land (which is like if Rome invaded Japan and ruined it really badly). Laura and Clae are set up as underdogs from the start, and rooting for them to succeed comes naturally as they wage a war against the setting itself, cannily crafted by Bolender to fight them at every turn.

Both of these novels use the setting as powerful third party, both guiding the stories to their natural conclusions and acting as an instigator of adversity and hardship for the protagonists. White’s setting is a gorgeous caravan, carrying characters carefully to their conclusion, while Bolender uses her setting as a bludgeon, beating her proud, struggling characters into the ground with its oppressive constraints. Neither novel would be nearly as engaging and fun to read without the energy of its colorful, fantastic world pushing the story along.

 

P.S. I strongly advise not reading the back of the book summary for City of Broken Magic. It quite literally spoils a major plot point.

Conventional fantasy settings (often Tolkien-inspired landscapes) can be useful for establishing easy-to-understand lines between good and evil, or to skip the onboarding process of learning new systems and races. However, some authors choose to step away from the industry standard, creating a separate, distinct experience.

Children's & YAPicture Book

Two new picture books for little explorers

Feature by Julie Danielson

Children are natural explorers, traversing their world with wide eyes and delving into their own imaginations with curiosity and gusto. Two new picture books put adventures on the map for eager preschool and elementary-age readers.

Before we even get to the title page of author and illustrator Deborah Marcero’s My Heart Is a Compass, readers are treated to a spread showing a group of children in an elementary school classroom, reading silently on their own. And we see that our blue-haired, brown-skinned protagonist has chosen to read an atlas with a map at the ready. Her name is Rose, and she longs to be “an explorer, a pioneer, a trailblazer.” Show-and-tell is tomorrow, and Rose is determined to discover something new to share with her class. Since she doesn’t know precisely where that thing might be, she draws her own maps before setting out: “Her imagination became a blueprint, with her heart a compass.”

Rose’s journey includes the intricate, imaginative maps she so carefully draws—a road map, a sky map, an ocean map and a map of the mountains—but she returns home with no exciting or unusual discovery. However, she realizes that the four lovingly rendered and hand-drawn maps clutched to her chest are treasures themselves, and she shares them with her inquisitive classmates.

Rose’s maps are visual delights, filled with both geographical information (the sky map includes “thermosphere,” “exosphere,” etc.),  map vocabulary and plenty of her imaginative musings. (The mountain map includes a secret lair and “Blue Dragon Smoky Mountains.”) Marcero’s textured mixed-media illustrations are filled with inviting patterns that make up features like sandy beaches, bumpy mountains and waves in the water. My Heart Is a Compass is a tribute to the exciting adventures a child’s imagination can launch.

Joyce Hesselberth’s Mapping Sam shares Marcero’s sense of adventure, but it features a furry, four-legged and whiskered protagonist. Sam is a cat, and once she puts her family to bed, she slips out of the house to explore at night, and readers are privy to the adventures that unfold in Hesselberth’s sleek illustrations with rich, nighttime colors and crisp, clean lines.

Hesselberth illustrates Sam’s journey for readers with a simple map of the cat’s neighborhood that includes a compass and scale. But things take a surprising turn when Hesselberth lays out an altogether different type of map—a diagram of Sam’s inner workings as she strolls through the grass. This is followed by a transportation map; the diagram of a flower and its parts; a cutaway map showing the depth of a pond; a diagram of a water molecule; a world map; a diagram of our solar system; a constellation chart and a blueprint. All of these different maps and diagrams are seamlessly woven into Sam’s journey as she explores nature and ponders the starlit sky. Information about each type of map is appended. “Can you map a dream?” the author asks, as Sam arrives home to see one of her humans snuggled comfortably in bed. “You might try.” Readers may be eager to do so, as well as explore a variety of other types of maps, after reading both of these informative stories. Bon voyage!

Two new picture books—Deborah Marcer's My Heart Is a Compass and Joyce Hesselberth's Mapping Sam—help young readers learn about maps.
Romance

Simmering suspense for cold winter nights

Feature by Dolly R. Sickles

What better time than the holidays to set aside a little “me time” with a good book? Romances are always good for your heart, but if you want some added adrenaline, try one of these suspenseful romances.

SCAPEGOAT
Jannine Gallant kicks off the appetizer course with Hidden Secrets, the third installment of her Siren Cove series. This cozy mystery is as comfortable as the lifelong friendship between restaurateur Quentin Radcliff and antiques shop owner Paige Shephard. It starts off with a simmer, after Quentin moves back home to open his latest restaurant, and kisses Paige on a whim. The slow burn kicks in when they decide to push the boundaries of their relationship and take a chance on love. After all, they’ve loved each other forever—they have to decide if they “can figure out how to be in love.”

But sometimes love isn’t the only answer, particularly when it’s been in front of you for a lifetime. Love and attraction and chemistry are the easy parts—trust is the challenge. Quentin’s last two girlfriends have turned up dead or missing, and he’s the scapegoat. Were it not for Paige’s unwavering trust in him, the investigation might not have turned its attention to an old, unsolved crime. And when Paige attracts the killer’s attention through her most recent antiques acquisition, she comes between him and the cover-up that’s been going on for years.

GUILTY CONSCIENCE
Marie Force is 13 books into her Fatal series and doesn’t see herself slowing down any time soon, thank goodness. Her most recent installment, Fatal Invasion, is a meaty main course, full of love and heartbreak, insider trading and organized crime, and a race to the finish line that’ll leave you breathless.

Fans of “it couple” police Lieutenant Sam Holland and Vice President Nick Cappuano will rejoice. They’re back and as likable as ever. One of the best hallmarks of this series is that although Sam is involved in every book of the series, each installment focuses on a different member of her investigative team. Invasion focuses on Sergeant Tommy “Gonzo” Gonzales, and his battle with an opioid addiction caused by debilitating guilt over the death of his partner nine months ago. Like most functional addicts, Gonzo is able to mask his illness from his fiancé and his colleagues. But hiding the truth and living with his addiction is bleeding over into every facet of his life. His police work is failing, his love life is failing, and his will to care is failing. So on top of the team’s main investigation—the murder of a wealthy couple whose two young children come to live with Sam and Nick—they have to circle the wagons to help one of their own heal. This is an excellent series that hits every emotional, psychological and romantic note.

What better time than the holidays to set aside a little “me time” with a good book? Romances are always good for your heart, but if you want some added adrenaline, try one of these suspenseful romances.

Romance

December’s best nonholiday romances: contemporary edition

Feature by Elizabeth Mazer

Tired of holly and mistletoe? Sick of eggnog? Ready to punch the next person who gets “Santa Baby” stuck in your head? Have no fear, these lovely stories are here for your fix of red-hot contemporary romance to warm you head to toe this December—without Christmas playing into the plots at all. These stories don’t feature nativity scenes, Christmas trees or twinkling lights, but each one delivers a strong dose of family love, a hefty helping of communities coming together and a generous display of hearts opening to the idea of real and lasting love.

THE BLACK SHEEP RETURNS
Bryson Wells, the hero of Elle Wright’s Pleasured by You, may joke that his hometown of Wellspring, Michigan, is an African-American version of the quaint, folksy setting of “The Andy Griffith Show,” but his childhood there was certainly no sitcom. Raised by an abusive father, he fled as soon as he could, cutting all ties and vowing to never return. And yet when the fates conspire to bring him home—and the terms of a will require him to stay there for a year—he learns that the only way to overcome his past is to build a better future for himself, for the girl-next-door he’s always secretly loved and for the child they discover they’re having together.

Pleasured by You is loaded with familiar romance tropes: a black-sheep homecoming, a reunion romance with an old crush, a steamy one-night stand leading to a surprise baby. What sets Wright’s novel apart is the strong sense of connection and community underscoring it all. Balancing the hero’s and heroine’s childhood scars—Bryson from his cruel, manipulative father and the heroine, Jordan Clark, from the abandonment of her mother—are their sweet, positive relationships with others. Bryson draws strength and encouragement from his loving relationship with his siblings. Jordan’s devotion to her grandparents proves her capacity for support and commitment despite her self-doubts. And both have friends they can rely on for anything and everything: a shoulder to cry on, a reality check, a wise word of advice, even emergency hair care. As perfectly as Jordan and Bryson fit together, there’s still a sense that the weight of maintaining their happily ever after doesn’t rest solely on their shoulders. They have a wonderful support network to help guide them through whatever obstacles the future brings.

LET THE LIGHT IN
Family and community support are abundant throughout the Latinx neighborhood of Their Perfect Melody, even if the heroine, victim’s advocate Lilí Fernandez, spends most of her time desperately trying to hide her activities from her loving-but-overbearing older sisters. Lilí leads from her heart, whether she’s cheering for her beloved Chicago Cubs, leading a self-defense class for teenage girls at the local community center or all but tackling police officer Diego Reyes to the ground when he stands in between her and a battered woman who needs Lilí’s help. She doesn’t hesitate to put herself at risk if it gives her the chance to help others, to the eternal frustration of her family and Diego. But even as they scold her (which they all do—a lot), there’s also a certain baffled admiration for the way she gives of herself so freely and believes so fervently that she can make the world a better, safer, more compassionate place.

Diego, by contrast, is more closed off, more skeptical. A bad history with an older sister who has been in and out of trouble for years has soured his optimism and given him a colder view of the world. He’s still dedicated to helping—some of the sweetest scenes occur at the community center where Diego and Lilí both volunteer, serving as chaperones, instructors, role models and homegrown heroes to kids of all ages. But Diego is reluctant to trust anyone, even the woman he comes to love. This reluctance, which he calls “protecting her” and she calls “shutting her out,” serves as the real obstacle to their relationship. It’s only when he adopts some of Lilí’s willingness to put her heart on the line that they find their way to each other and discover they truly are, as Oliveras’ series’ name suggests, Matched to Perfection.

CALIFORNIA CATFISHING
Millie Morris of My Favorite Half-Night Stand laughs it off (mostly) when an online dating program tells her she’s a 98 percent match with her best friend, Reid Campbell. But she lets the program “connect” them as a joke, using her middle name and a shadowy profile pic for her account, and is stunned to find herself opening up to him on a level she’s never managed before. Reid’s the person she values and trusts most in the world, but she’s always kept her deepest thoughts, feelings, stories and experiences entirely to herself. Millie doesn’t know how to open up, not even to Reid. But her digital alter ego “Catherine” does. As time passes, Catherine grows closer to Reid emotionally and Millie grows closer to him physically when they start sleeping together (one of the “web lingo” terms they learn is the concept of a half-night stand: when you hook up but leave as soon as the sex is over). Meanwhile, Millie finds herself increasingly torn over what she wants, what she has to offer and what she could possibly tell Reid to make him forgive the snowballing deception.

The writing duo that makes up Christina Lauren manage comedy so well that the emotional depth can sneak up on you like a sucker punch. It’s not an exaggeration to say I laughed and I cried—sometimes simultaneously, such as during a story Catherine tells about her experiences with a childhood bully. The romance is complicated by the moral ambiguity of Millie’s choices, but the writers develop the character so carefully and deliberately, with such compassion for her experiences, that her behavior becomes something that can be understood, even if it can’t really be excused. And the Greek chorus of Millie and Reid’s tightly knit and utterly hilarious group of friends adds to the drama, the comedy and the sweetness of the conclusion by showing the different kind of community that like-minded, loving people can build together.

Tired of holly and mistletoe? Sick of eggnog? Ready to punch the next person who gets “Santa Baby” stuck in your head? Have no fear, these lovely stories are here for your fix of red-hot contemporary romance to warm you head to toe this December—without Christmas playing into the plots at all. These stories don’t feature nativity scenes, Christmas trees or twinkling lights, but each one delivers a strong dose of family love, a hefty helping of communities coming together and a generous display of hearts opening to the idea of real and lasting love.

Romance

December’s best nonholiday romances: historical edition

Feature by Lily McGhee

The holidays are a time to celebrate the future and to think back on the past. What more delicious way to honor the Ghost of Christmas Past than with a trio of romances set in days gone by?

RENOVATION ROMANCE
It takes a strong woman to hold on to what belongs to her. No one knows this better than Thomasina Thorne, steward of Enderley and heroine of A Duke Changes Everything, the latest title from Christy Carlyle. Miss Thorne has a comfortable life at the estate she loves—unless a certain handsome scoundrel can snatch it away from her.

Mina Thorne is proud of the role she’s played as protector and caretaker of her beloved Enderley estate. However, in the eyes of the men around her, Mina’s bravery and discipline count for nothing given her gender. So when she receives word that the new Duke of Tremayne is coming to take over the estate, signaling her imminent dismissal, she is bound and determined to keep things the way they always have been, with her trusted staff close to her and the duke far away. Unfortunately, the newly christened Tremayne may find a way to get closer than Mina ever imagined.

In truth, the new duke, Nicholas Lyon, isn’t any happier with his new post than Mina is. All Nick really wants is to run his already-successful gentlemen’s club and see it grow. He’d also like to keep his past where it belongs, in the past. But when his brother dies and burdens him with a dukedom he never wanted, Nick’s demons aren’t the only surprise waiting for him at Enderley. Entering Mina’s home means surrendering to her world. When all is said and done, it may not be his only surrender.

Christy Carlyle, it seems, was born to write historical romance. In a former life, she studied and taught history herself, and professes that she’s happiest when imagining the worlds of her stories. She pens lush, delicious stories about love amongst the Victorians, and Nick and Mina are a stunning pair. Writing strong characters comes with the risk of making them too strong and ending up with one character being off balance. Not so in A Duke Changes Everything. Nick and Mina hold their own when they must, but they bend, too. Mina treats Nick’s painful family memories with compassion and understanding, and Nick strives always to be Mina’s equal, never dominating or submitting to her strong personality more than he should.

Think you know every story Victorian romance has to offer? Pick up A Duke Changes Everything this winter. I promise, you’ll never be happier to be wrong.

AN ACCIDENTAL KIDNAPPING
At first glance, being kidnapped by pirates does not exactly sound like a dream come true. In fact, for Poppy Bridgerton—the brash, beautiful captive in question—it is a nightmare. Can she survive two weeks aboard a ship sailing far from home? For another matter, can she manage not to strangle the handsome, infuriating ship’s captain who kidnapped her?

Poppy, the heroine of Julia Quinn’s newest novel The Other Miss Bridgerton, is headstrong, sharp-tongued and trapped aboard a privateer’s ship after wandering into the wrong cave during an afternoon walk. She misses her family, there is constant bickering between herself and the captain, the voyage itself is dangerous and the goal is high-stakes. Will Poppy ever see her home again?

Captain Andrew James Rokesby, is, if possible, in an even worse predicament than his beautiful prisoner. For starters, she is a Bridgerton, daughter of a high and prestigious family (not to mention a family his own noble house is closely connected to). Add to this that he must now bring her home safely from a secret mission he’s not even sure that he’ll survive, and it’s a (ship) wreck of a situation. Besides, he’s not sure why, but he is more and more drawn to Poppy by the day.

Julia Quinn’s novels are a staple of the historical romance genre. She has written dozens of lush, heart-warming stories, all with her unique brand of humor and whip-smart writing. It’s appropriate, seeing as how Quinn’s mission as an author is to prove that smart women can both read and write romance—a philosophy that’s evident in every quip and tightly paced chapter.

Speaking of smart women, Poppy is an utter delight. She is witty, headstrong (not simply in a cute, rescue-me sort of way), and fiercely protective of the weak around her and her loved ones. Andrew falls for her exactly as she is, flaws and all, and it’s clear that their relationship is built on mutual admiration rather than simply desire. However, do you want some sexual tension? Julia Quinn will give you tension. It’s a relationship as thoughtfully crafted as the book’s impeccable plot and pacing. If winter has you longing for warm days at the beach, immerse yourself in The Other Miss Bridgerton for the most delicious pirate (er, privateer) story on the shelves.

AN AMERICAN IN LONDON
What do you get when you combine a happily single young heiress, her handsome partner-in-matchmaking and a duke with the absolute worst intentions? Well, this winter you get The Girl with the Sweetest Secret, Betina Krahn’s newest romance.

Frankie Bumgarten has had it with the men of London. As a sensible American girl, Frankie loathes the idea of marrying a stuck-up nobleman, much to the dismay of her mother. She’ll settle for finding her younger sister a match, with the help of a young English nobleman known as the Fox. Soon, however, Frankie finds herself caught between her growing attraction to the Fox and the attention of an ominous foreign duke who’ll do anything to have her. There’s more to her dilemma than meets the eye, and she’s determined to find out exactly what.

Reynard Boulton earned the nickname “the Fox” because of his sharp mind, talent for collecting secrets and shady dealings in the underworld of London. Reynard has sworn to his best friend that he will protect the Bumgarten girls, and that means keeping Frankie out of the grasping hands of a certain Prussian duke. Although he swears indifference to eligible young women and their charms, he must admit that Frankie’s strong will and stunning beauty have begun to catch his eye.

The words you could use to describe Krahn’s books are the same words you would use to talk about a sunbeam. Her stories glow with charm, sweetness and warmth. It should also be noted that the bright quality of her stories never comes at the expense of their excitement, suspense and rich characters. She continues to rise above the rest of her genre (historical and otherwise) with the sparkling, optimistic novels we all deserve.

There’s nothing I love better than a fabulous romance that has more on its mind than just the central relationship. Those that deliver a sumptuous love story alongside real suspense and intrigue are the pride and joy of their genre. And oh boy, does this one deliver. Sweetest Secret gives readers true villains, complex issues to solve and two lead characters who really do keep you wondering if they will ever manage to end up together. It’s a richly dimensional story that will, I’m sure, stand the test of time.

As Christmas approaches, it’s good to take a break from the hustle and the grey skies that surround our favorite holiday. You’ll find no better shelter than the pages of The Girl with the Sweetest Secret.

 

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read our Q&A with Christy Carlyle about A Duke Changes Everything.

The holidays are a time to celebrate the future and to think back on the past. What more delicious way to honor the Ghost of Christmas Past than with a trio of romances set in days gone by?

Children's & YAPicture Book

Tips for teachers: Christmas in England

Feature by Emmie Stuart

Lapland, crackers, Christmas pudding, Crimble, mince pies, Father Christmas—if these words and expressions are familiar to you, then you’re likely from England, or you’ve celebrated Christmas across the pond. British holiday traditions look similar to those found in the United States, but there are some key differences: Presents are delivered by Father Christmas (who hails from Lapland), pantomimes pop up on every street corner, and a Christmas dinner is not complete without Christmas pudding and the pulling of Christmas crackers. The following three festive picture books are brimming with British traditions, magic and cheer.

The Queen and the First Christmas Tree by Nancy Churnin and Luisa Uribe

When she is 17 years old, Princess Charlotte leaves her home in Germany and moves to England so she can marry King George III. She brings a yew branch with her and it brings her immense comfort during her first Christmas away from home. Forty years later, Charlotte throws a Christmas party in Windsor Castle and invites 100 local children. At the party, she delights the children by decorating a giant fir with nuts, fruits, string, toys and candles. The tradition soon spreads beyond the walls of the castle to the people of England. Appealing to history- and princess-lovers alike, this nonfiction narrative tells the interesting and little-known backstory behind a familiar holiday tradition.

• History of the Christmas tree—After reading The Queen and the First Christmas Tree, ask students what questions they still have about Charlotte or the Christmas tree tradition. Write the questions on the board or a piece of chart paper. Read aloud the History Today article, “The First Christmas Tree,” by Allison Barnes. For younger children, discuss the article and if it answers any of their questions. Write the answers under the questions. For older children, provide each child with a copy of the article and a highlighter. Give them time to read the article, highlighting the parts which provide answers to the class questions. This activity gives children the opportunity to read for knowledge and helps equip them with research and information-gathering skills. For a short video on the topic, watch the History Channel’s History of Christmas Trees. Be sure to watch a time lapse of this year’s Windsor Castle’s Christmas Tree.

• Diary entry—Queen Charlotte invited 100 children to her first Christmas party. Read the pages that discuss the party aloud as well as the back matter. Discuss how these children (who had never seen a Christmas tree) might have felt at the party. As a class, brainstorm and list some adjectives and phrases that might describe the feelings of the children at Charlotte’s party. Give students time to write a first-person diary entry from the perspective of one of the children. Afterward, let the children copy their entries onto old-fashioned looking paper and provide materials for them to illustrate their entry.

• Make a yew branch—Visit a local Christmas tree stand and ask them if you can gather the branches and remnants of tree trimmings. Ask the tree trimmers to help you cut the branches so that they about 12”-18” each. Discuss Charlotte’s yew branch with your students. Queen Charlotte decorated her yew branch with colored paper, nuts, fruits and candles. Brainstorm other items that can be used to decorate yew branches. If the weather is nice, take a walk outside and let children collect acorns, leaves and other natural elements. Invite them to bring items from home as well. Provide ribbon or string and let children decorate their yew branches with their collected items. My students’ creativity amazed me. Each yew branch reflected the decorator’s personality and creative sensibilities.

The Village of Lights by Mitchell Stevens and Emily Pritchett

“A long time ago, on top of a hill overlooking a village in far-off England there lived a lonely old farmer,” writes author Mitchell Stevens. The farmer’s wife has died and his children have grown and moved away. To ease his loneliness, the old man would watch the lights of the village come on in the evening and then watch them as they were extinguished one by one. When World War II brings aerial bombers to England, the villagers take all of the lights out of their street lights, businesses and homes. The village is blanketed in darkness. As Christmas approaches, the old farmer figures out a way to bring light and hope to the people in the village. A simple yet powerful story, The Village of Lights shows how a single person’s small act can renew the spirit of an entire community.

• Life on the English home front—Briefly discuss life on the home front during World War II. For older students, read the opening few pages or watch the opening scene of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In The Village of Lights, the farmer hears that England is at war with Germany over the radio. Listen to recordings of Winston Churchill addressing his country over the radio.

• Letters for the lonely—Discuss why the farmer is lonely and looking at the village lights makes him remember his family and their happy holidays together. Ask students why the holiday season can make deepen feelings of loneliness for those who have lost their families. Ask students to think about people in the community who might be lonely. Write their ideas on the board and then let them brainstorm ideas for helping these people feel less alone. Provide time for children to write letters or make cards for the elderly, soldiers serving overseas or other people who might suffer from loneliness during the holiday season.

• FDR and Winston Churchill—Franklin and Winston: A Christmas That Changed the World (Douglas Wood) and In the Dark Streets Shineth: A 1941 Christmas Eve Story (David McCullough) are excellent read-alouds to pair with Village of Lights. Both books tell the story of Churchill’s visit to the White House just days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. In the Dark Streets Shineth addresses an aspect of the British blackout that brings tears to my eyes each time I read it. Watch this accompanying video to hear the story and song. The video also has excellent photographs of Roosevelt, Churchill and the British blackouts.

• Blackout posters—Discuss blackouts and ask children why it was important for all of the villages in England to be dark at night. Show students examples of the blackout posters from World War II. Invite them to design their own blackout poster.

One Christmas Wish by Katherine Rundell and Emily Sutton

Feeling annoyed at being left at home alone on Christmas Eve, Theo unwraps a cardboard box and discovers four old ornaments: a tin soldier, an angel, a rocking horse and a robin. Looking out the window, he sees a shooting star and wishes, “to be un-alone.” Instantly, the four ornaments come to life. The rocking horse eats everything in sight, the robins longs to sing, the angel desires real feathers and the solider wants to find true love. Theo and the ornaments venture out into the night and have experiences that can only happen on Christmas Eve. Katherine Rundell’s prose is delightfully British (“That might be rather difficult. I don’t know many tin people that I can introduce you to. Are you sure you wouldn’t rather have a furry hat?”), and Emily Sutton’s 1950s retro and atmospheric illustrations add more British goodness. Though it is a new story, One Christmas Wish feels magical and timeless—just the type of story one longs to read during the holiday season. At 60 pages, it’s an ideal holiday class read-aloud.

• Christmas in England—Before reading it aloud, tell your students that One Christmas Wish takes place in England. Ask them to keep their ears and eyes open for phrases, words, traditions and illustration details that are distinctly British. As a class, compile a list of included details like Christmas pudding, fruitcake, baubles, tinsel, old cathedrals and trains. Take some time to read other Christmas books that have distinctly British settings like The Snowman (Raymond Briggs), The Story of Holly and Ivy (Rumer Godden), Alfie’s Christmas (Shirley Hughes) and an adaption of Charles Dickens’ The Christmas Carol.

• Shooting stars—Theo makes his wish on a shooting star. What are shooting stars? Falling stars or meteor showers are other names for shooting stars. Take some time to research them with your students.

• Story of ornaments—After reading One Christmas Wish, invite children to choose a favorite ornament from home (or provide a few in the classroom). Model a creative writing exercise with the class. What if our ornaments came to life? The ornaments in One Christmas Wish have distinct personalities and desires. Remind students to include these elements in their ornament story. This exercise works well in pairs or groups of three. My students enjoyed imagining and writing ornament stories together.

• Compare and contrast—Read aloud a version of The Nutcracker. My favorite versions are illustrated by Susan Jeffers and Lisbeth Zwerger. The traditional Nutcracker story shares many of the magical elements present in One Christmas Wish. As a class, make a Venn diagram comparing the two stories. What are the similarities and differences between the two?

Lapland, crackers, Christmas pudding, Crimble, mince pies, Father Christmas—if these words and expressions are familiar to you, then you’re likely from England, or you’ve celebrated Christmas across the pond. British holiday traditions look similar to those found in the United States, but there are some key differences: Presents are delivered by Father Christmas (who hails from Lapland), pantomimes pop up on every street corner, and a Christmas dinner is not complete without Christmas pudding and the pulling of Christmas crackers. The following three festive picture books are brimming with British traditions, magic and cheer.

Cookbooks

Cooking: January 2019

Feature by Sybil Pratt

Let’s Eat France! by François-Régis Gaudry and friends is a big—as in, six pounds big—boisterously beautiful, ingeniously designed and illustrated book that answers every question you have about French cuisine and all the questions you didn’t know you needed answers to. There’s no table of contents, no chapters, no categories. Every turn of the page invites you to delight in an eclectic, serendipitous survey of France’s edible heritage. You’ll wander from an exploration of the crunchy cornichon pickle and a consideration of the great gastronome Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, to a recipe for an amazing Sardine Pâté, a family-friendly Pot-au-Feu (that’s beef stew, to you), a classic cherry-studded Clafoutis and 372 more remarkable French dishes, plus maps, charts and anecdotes. As a flâneur in the fertile fields of French gastronomy, you’ll learn about wines, hand-crafted liqueurs, cheeses, foie gras, oysters, breads, cakes, galettes, famous chefs and hors d’oeuvres. C’est merveilleux!

If “real” cooking is on your agenda for the new year, there’s a fresh cookbook about an old technique that’s a must. Searing Inspiration: Fast, Adaptable Entrées and Fresh Pan Sauces  by Susan Volland is your ticket to getting fabulous, four-star meals on the table in a flash. Using a skillet and the skills you’ll develop under Volland’s savvy tutelage, making Rib Steaks with Whiskey Béarnaise, a classic Sole Meunière or Tamarind-Glazed Chicken will be a breeze. The ingredients may vary, but the technique—sear, deglaze, embellish—is the same. You sear ingredients in a hot, oiled skillet and remove; deglaze with wine or another liquid; add the flavor-boosting aromatics you’ve chosen and prepped; re-add the seared ingredients and you’re a dinner diva.

Doug Crowell and chef Ryan Angulo, co-owners of two revered neighborhood restaurants in the restaurant-rich borough of Brooklyn, believe that the most important ingredients in any dish are kindness and salt. Their debut cookbook, appropriately titled Kindness & Salt: Recipes for the Care and Feeding of Your Friends and Neighbors, shows you how to salt early and generously to bring out the best in over 100 recipes, from Mushroom & Goat Cheese Scramble, Pommes Frites and Seared Scallops  to desserts and cocktails. Though you can’t sprinkle kindness on pasta or popovers, you can serve this superbly satisfying bistro food (Duck Meatloaf, Narragansett Mussels, Banana Foster Profiteroles) with warm, cordial confidence.

 

This article was originally published in the January 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

If “real” cooking is on your agenda for the new year, there’s a fresh cookbook about an old technique that’s a must.

FashionCrafts, Hobbies & Home

Lifestyles: January 2019

Feature by Susannah Felts

Finnish sisters Saara and Laura Huhta share the wealth of their successful indie clothing pattern brand, Named, in Breaking the Pattern: A Modern Way to Sew. The nifty thing about their designs is the focus on extreme adaptability: They are “designed to offer as many options for personal customization as possible,” the sisters write. They have included patterns for 10 different garments—from bags and blouses to classy cocktail dresses and jumpsuits—and claim that “it’s possible to sew at least 50 different variations of the projects,” should you wish to experiment. These garments are built on Scandinavian design—clean lines, minimalist elegance—and they range from drapey styles to more tailored looks. In the back of the book, you’ll find six full-size pattern sheets, which are arranged from easiest to most challenging.

A new friend recently gave me a small pilea plant from one of the “babies” her plant produced. This has quickly become my most beloved houseplant—one with a story behind it. That’s the kind of joy that Caro Langton and Rose Ray, the authors of Root, Nurture, Grow: The Essential Guide to Propagating and Sharing Houseplants, want more people to experience. If you’ve got a good knife and scissors, some old containers, potting mix and a few other simple items, you can turn one houseplant into as many as you like. Langton and Ray (find them on Instagram at @studio.roco) cover different types of cuttings for a number of common plants, and they also discuss division, grafting and other in-depth aspects of propagation. Even if you stick to plunking stems into jars of water and watching roots form, you’ll enjoy having this pretty guide at your side.

Readers of Martha Stewart Living will recognize the concept of The Martha Manual: How to Do (Almost) Everything: quick, no-nonsense instructions for home-related tasks. Here, Martha Stewart’s how-tos are organized by themes like “Organize,” “Clean,” “Craft” and “Create.” But I find this guide fascinating to flip through at random to learn things like how to sew an apron, how to hang a tire swing, how to play lawn games, how to fix and maintain showerheads and how to build a fire. On the whole, the slant of this content may seem a bit gendered, but it’s safe to say all humans could amp up their home skills with the help of this book. Light illustrations, bullet points and brisk copy—dip in, dip out, done—are the name of the game here.

 

This article was originally published in the January 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Finnish sisters Saara and Laura Huhta share the wealth of their successful indie clothing pattern brand, Named, in Breaking the Pattern: A Modern Way to Sew. The nifty thing about their designs is the focus on extreme adaptability: They are “designed to offer as many options for personal customization as possible,” the sisters write. They have included patterns for 10 different garments—from bags and blouses to classy cocktail dresses and jumpsuits—and claim that “it’s possible to sew at least 50 different variations of the projects,” should you wish to experiment.

Audio

Audio: January 2019

Feature by Sukey Howard

Six Four, Hideo Yokoyama’s U.S. debut, was a hit thriller. Seventeen, Yokoyama’s latest book, engagingly performed by Tom Lawrence, is not a thriller, but it is an extraordinarily gripping newsroom drama. It’s also an intensely personal look at a man who must deal with the ethical predicaments of journalism as well as his inner demons and perceived inadequacies. In 2003, as he’s attempting to climb a treacherous rock face, Kazumasa Yuuki, the protagonist and narrator, relives his days following the story of a catastrophic airline crash many years prior that killed almost all of the passengers. In 1985, Yuuki is a veteran reporter for the provincial newspaper in the prefecture where the plane went down, and he is made desk chief for the story. Determined to get as much information to the public and to the victims’ families as he can, he becomes embroiled in vicious office politics and power struggles that lead him to re-examine human nature. Yokoyama’s fast-paced procedural practically bristles with tension.

Lovely is not a word usually associated with Stephen King. But Elevation, his latest novella, which he narrates, is lovely. It is not a horror tale meant to provoke screaming—instead, it’s a beguiling parable with lessons our uncivil society would do well to learn. Scott Carey, a resident of Castle Rock, is losing large amounts of weight, yet his outward appearance doesn’t change, and he’s never felt better. His good friend, a retired doctor, doesn’t think there’s a medical explanation. That’s fine with Scott, who accepts his fate with grace. In the time left to him, he takes on the small-town bigotry aimed at his neighbors, a married lesbian couple. No details to spoil your fun—just know that when Scott goes into the dying of the light, he’s greeted with a rainbow of sparklers. 

Pardon the pun, but there’s a lot to reckon with in The Reckoning, John Grisham’s new thriller, including courtroom complications that of course won’t be set straight until the last few minutes of the audiobook. So settle in for a long, satisfying listen as you sift through the lives and lies, sins and secrets, grief and guilt of the proud Banning family of Clanton, Mississippi. On a fall morning in 1946, Pete Banning, husband, father, head of a prominent cotton-farming family and revered World War II hero who lived through hell, walked to town, murdered the Methodist pastor and would never say why, though his silence might mean dying in the electric chair. His reasons for the murder and its consequences for Pete’s two children unfold vividly as Michael Beck reads in a remarkable array of authentic accents.

 

This article was originally published in the January 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Lovely is not a word usually associated with Stephen King. But Elevation, his latest novella, which he narrates, is lovely. It is not a horror tale meant to provoke screaming—instead, it’s a beguiling parable with lessons our uncivil society would do well to learn.

FictionMystery

Cozies: January 2019

Feature by Heather Seggel

Jarrett Creek, Texas, exemplifies small-town living. Neighbors look out for one another, or so you’d think. When a beloved local baking wizard, Loretta Singletary, turns up missing, police Chief Samuel Craddock realizes he missed several changes in his friend’s appearance that may have been clues. A Risky Undertaking for Loretta Singletary is an old-fashioned story with a modern problem at its center. Terry Shames’ latest book finds the town divided over church involvement in a goat rodeo when Loretta goes missing. The discovery that she was considering online matchmaking services is mildly scandalous, and Craddock must explore the world of online dating in order to begin the investigation. The tension ratchets up when a body is found and linked back to the same dating sites, and the search for Loretta intensifies. The resolution to this tale is a bit offbeat, but the setting is lush and absorbing, and the tension builds perfectly along the way. 

Bryant & May: Hall of Mirrors is Christopher Fowler’s 16th tale of the Peculiar Crimes Unit, and this time we’re off to London in the swinging ’60s. Even in their youth, detectives Bryant and May had a habit of doing things their own way, and a simple assignment—keep a man alive for a weekend and get him to court to testify on Monday morning—takes several hard left turns. There’s slapstick comedy and swift wordplay (the duo’s word games are briefly upstaged by Bryant dangling upside down from a trellis during a window escape) as well as food for thought. Standout moments include exchanges between hippies in love with the idea of freedom and the elders who fought in World War II but don’t see their own definition of “freedom” in loose morals and patchouli fumes. If this is your first outing with Bryant and May, you’ll want to read them all.

It seems that Major Sir Robert and Lady Lucy Kurland need only drop in on a new city for a death to occur. Thankfully they’ve become so adept at sleuthing they can almost schedule it alongside their travel itinerary. In Death Comes to Bath, the sixth in Catherine Lloyd’s series, Robert has had a medical setback, so the pair, along with Lucy’s sister, travels to “take the waters” in England’s famed Roman baths. After befriending an older gentleman, the pair is dismayed when he drowns, and foul play is apparent. Lloyd balances period history (Robert was injured in the Battle of Waterloo), a tense romantic subplot and some extravagant vacation shopping while respecting the grave nature of the crime. Class divisions—and the way money can help one surmount them—make for a rich suspect pool. It may be cruel to hope Robert and Lucy keep visiting new cities, given what tends to happen, but watching this duo in action is a joy. 

 

This article was originally published in the January 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Jarrett Creek, Texas, exemplifies small-town living. Neighbors look out for one another, or so you’d think. When a beloved local baking wizard, Loretta Singletary, turns up missing, police Chief Samuel Craddock realizes he missed several changes in his friend’s appearance that may have been clues. A Risky Undertaking for Loretta Singletary is an old-fashioned story with a modern problem at its center.

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