ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Summer is officially winding down and like many, I spent quite a chunk of my summer reading. With that in mind, I thought it would be neat to share just some of the books I came across this summer and if anyone has any suggestions, I’ll totally welcome them. Read on!
“The View from Lake Como” by Adriana Trigiani
One of my more recent reads, this book tells the story of Jess, a recently divorced woman who flees her life in blue-collar Lake Como, New Jersey, to find herself in Carrara, Italy, where she rediscovers her artistic passion and grapples with family secrets and new relationships. I enjoyed the character growth that happened throughout the book as well as the descriptions of the places Jess visits, and I also thought it was great how the themes of family, love, loyalty, and self-discovery (which are universal for every reader) were addressed. If you’re looking for a quick and heartfelt read that also tells a visual story, this is a good one to check out.
“Cher: The Memoir, Part One” by Cher
After multiple decades in show business, Cher finally decided to put together her memoirs (with part two allegedly coming out later this year), and it was HARD for me to put this book down. Cher turns out to also be a great writer and is able to tell her stories honestly and with her trademark humor and wit, ranging from her mother’s many marriages to her first recording sessions and ending with her leaving her first husband, Sonny Bono. With how long Cher’s been in the music business, I figured she would have some ... interesting ... stories, but I had no idea I would be in for as I read her memoir. I can’t wait for Part 2 to come out. If you’re a Cher fan, this is definitely a good one to check out.
“House of Silk” by Anthony Horowitz
This book from 2011 is a recent discovery for me and follows the famous Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson as their attempt to find a missing necklace reveals first a murder and then what turns out to be a vast, absolutely horrifying conspiracy. This is the first Sherlock Holmes story authorized by the Arthur Conan Doyle estate that was not penned by Doyle, and it absolutely delivers. The writing and dialogue are sharp, the mystery elements are done really well, and it’s one of the rare books I’ve read where my jaw was on the floor for multiple hours after finishing it. Horowitz is a wonderful successor to the Sherlock Holmes legacy and does a wonderful job capturing the tone of the original stories. If you’re a fan of Horowitz and/or the original Sherlock Holmes stories, this is a great one to check out.
“The Banned Books Club” by Brenda Novak
Another rather recent discovery, this story follows Gia Rossi returning to her hometown of Wakefield, Iowa after a long absence to help her ailing mother and sister while facing some of her past demons and starting a new chapter in her life. The writing is wonderful and realistic, and it does a great job tackling the themes of family loyalty, confronting past trauma, and finding acceptance in unexpected places. There’s also a lot of character growth, and everyone sees resolution of some type by the end of the story. If you’re a fan of any of Novak’s other work, you’ll enjoy this.
“Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil” by V.E. Schwab
I discovered this book a couple weeks after it entered the New York Times bestseller list, and it tells the interconnected stories of three young women – Maria, Alice, and Charlotte – who are all turned into vampires at pivotal moments in their lives, and they ultimately end up becoming entangled at the book’s climax. While it could have used a few cuts here and there, I felt the story was really engaging and the writing well done, and Schwab also does a great job with setting the scene with each chapter. Schwab also does a great job with the whole ‘switching between narrators’ style and makes each transition pretty smooth. I also liked how Schwab dealt with themes of desire, loneliness, and how immortality maybe isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. If you’re a fan of more fantasy writing, this is a good one to check out.
“Moriarty” by Anthony Horowitz
Another novel set in the “Sherlock Holmes” universe, this book follows Pinkerton Detective Agency operative Frederick Chase and Det. Insp. Athelney Jones as they try to prevent a new criminal mastermind from taking over the streets of London after the demise of criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty. This book had so many twists and turns right up until the end, and the final chapters literally made me yell out “WHAT. THE. (expletive).” Like “House of Silk,” I thought Horowitz did a great job capturing the tone of the original Sherlock Holmes stories, and this was a great follow-up. As with “House of Silk,” if you’re a fan of Horowitz and/or the original Sherlock Holmes stories, this is a great one to check out.
“The Emperor of Gladness” by Ocean Vuong
I also discovered this book a couple weeks after it entered the New York Times bestseller list, and it tells the story of a 19-year-old boy named Hai who lives in East Gladness, Connecticut. As he attempts to commit suicide, an old woman suffering from dementia, named Grazina, urges him to reconsider and from then on, he becomes her caretaker. The two learn to rely on each other in multiple ways, and they end up changing each other for the better as the book goes along. I was admittedly left rather confused by the book’s ending but overall, I thought this was a pretty solid read. If you’re a fan of any of Vuong’s other work, you’ll enjoy this one too.
