Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel

By Lucy Foley

Lucy Foley picks up the pen for Agatha Christie in this snowy Miss Marple mystery set in 1950 in a Swiss mountain hotel. The hotel’s guest are diverse--  a politician, his wife, a movie star, a doctor, Miss Marple and her friends, and others.  They are hoping to ski and/or take in the mountain air.  However, someone is murdered, a snowstorm cuts off the hotel, and all their plans go off-piste. Settle in with a cup of hot chocolate and enjoy a fun, twisty, old-style murder mystery.

Pardon Our French

By Alex Durand and Tom Carles (aka AT Frenchies)

Alex and Tom, two young Frenchmen, come to the US on college soccer scholarships.  They love America but realize there is much to value in their French upbringing.  This book tries to distill the best of French culture for time-pressed, striving Americans.  It’s  light and fluffy--like the heart of a good croissant. The best section deals with purchasing, preparing and enjoying food. 

Rejection

By Tony Tulathimutte

This book was not for me. It consists of a series of graphic, lightly linked, multi-layered tales of social, sexual, and personal rejection. “Degradation” might be more apt than “rejection.” The book is set in the present and there is an emphasis on social media and the web. Tulathimutte is a gifted writer who is quick with a witty turn of phrase.  However, his wit was not enough to make this an enjoyable read.

Etna

By Paul Yoon

Etna, a dog picked as a pup to be trained for combat, excels in and survives a modern, unnamed war.  As the war ends, Etna sneaks off base and begins an homeward odyssey.  The tale, told by Etna, never falls into anthropomorphic cuteness, as Yoon has found a believable way to explain communication between Etna and animals and humans.  This canine perspective on war and relationships with humans and other creatures is plausible and poetic.  This is an affecting novel with a simple but rich theme. I greatly enjoyed it.

Winds of Maracaibo

By Maria Elena Moran

With Venezuela collapsing under the corruption and incompetence of the Chavista revolution, Nina leaves her daughter and mother behind in Maracaibo and heads to Brazil with the goal of rebuilding her life and eventually reuniting her family. Back in Maracaibo, Camilo, her ex, reappears and, disillusioned with the revolution to which he has dedicated his life, hatches a plan to take his and Nina’s 12-year-old daughter to the US.  He unleashes an epic battle between the once-married couple.  Written in Spanish by a Venezuelan novelist and translated to English, the book exposes the many ordeals of migration and the extraordinary bitterness of a failed marriage with a dollop of Latin American magical realism.

I See You Called in Dead

By John Kenney
 

Bud Stanley, obituary writer, publishes his own outrageous obituary on the web.  Facing the loss of his job and reeling from a failed marriage and childhood  trauma, Bud is dealing with a lot.  The book, which explores the importance of friendship, how we live each day, and what we want our lives to be, is infused with Kenney’s trademark humor.  A very enriching and highly enjoyable read.

Man Overboard

By Kathleen Rooney

Kick, buff bro and former Division 1 collegiate swimmer, falls overboard while on a family cruise.  While treading water, and hoping to be rescued, he revisits past slights, traumas, and bad decisions. How, exactly, did Kick end up in the drink? What happens next?

The Hounding

By Kenobe Purvis

It’s a hot and very dry summer in a 18^th century English village.  Five sisters are suspected by villagers of turning into dogs—barking at night and running amok. Characterized by a sense of foreboding, this novel calls to mind Shirley Jackson’s classic short story, The Lottery.

84, Charing Cross Road

By Helene Hanff

A brash NYC author writes to a bookshop in London to purchase rare books. The bookstore buyer, the model of decorum, writes back. A relationship based on the written word develops. Over the course of 20 years, what starts as a business relationship between two wildly different individuals evolves into a series of deep personal connections.  The book is a compilation of the letters actually exchanged between NYC and London. A slim, moving gem.

Man Overboard

By Kathleen Rooney

Kick, buff bro and former Division 1 collegiate swimmer, falls overboard while on a family cruise.  While treading water and hoping to be rescued, he revisits past slights, traumas, and bad decisions.  

Today We’ll be Eaten

By Alan Barillaro

Dragonfly and Ladybug are caught in a storm and land in a stream.  They fear the worst but something else happens.  This is a delightful take on anxiety and the value and importance of living in the moment.  Dreamy, sweet illustrations in this children’s book expertly complement the simple text.

The Tenant

By Freida McFadden

A financial setback requires Blake and his fiancée to take a tenant into their Manhattan brownstone.  After she moves in, all hell breaks loose. Life in the brownstone becomes unsupportable for Blake and things spiral downwards from there.  Who is responsible for this turn of events?   That is the central question in this fun, pacey, and twisty read from McFadden.

The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny

By Kiran Desai

How do family, past loves, the places we are from, and the places we land, haunt us and complicate our ability to find and accept love? Shortlisted for the Booker Prize, The Loneliness chronicles the journeys of Sonia and Sunny, two Indians who study in the US but meet back in India.  It provides a vivid rendering of life in India and insights into the immigrant experience in the US.

The Shriek I Do Remember

By Brian Sluga

Pekin native Brian Sluga chronicles his battle with testicular cancer in this honest, straightforward, and ultimately hopeful memoir that also reads as a coming-of-age story.

We Burned So Bright

By TJ Kline

Husbands Don and Rodney face the end of the world (literally) and embark on a cross-country journey to complete one final task rooted in their shared family life. Kline’s  evocative imagining of the impending apocalypse is truly disturbing.  Don and Rodney’s relationship is layered and loving but they project an underlying anger, understandable, towards past injustices.