The end of summer always brings mixed emotions. This year I will be glad to see the end of record high temperatures and smoke from the fires, as cool temperatures and rain are in the forecast. Good memories come from time spent with family and friends. My end of summer reading included:
Chase's memory just went out the window. Chase doesn't remember falling off the roof. He doesn't remember hitting his head. He doesn't, in fact, remember anything. He wakes up in a hospital room and suddenly has to learn his whole life all over again . . . starting with his own name. He knows he's Chase. But who is Chase? When he gets back to school, he sees that different kids have very different reactions to his return. Some kids treat him like a hero. Some kids are clearly afraid of him. One girl in particular is so angry with him that she pours her frozen yogurt on his head the first chance she gets. Pretty soon, it's not only a question of who Chase is--it's a question of who he was . . . and who he's going to be.
Chase was a bully prior to having amnesia and as he regains his memory he has new insight into the kind of person he wants to become. This was the all school summer read for my grand-daughter’s middle school. I was pleased to know that her school had such a program and wanted to know more about the book. Now I hope to learn about the reactions and discussions among her classmates.
Kingfisher Lodge, nestled in a canyon on a mile and a half of the most pristine river water on the planet, is known by locals as ”Billionaire’s Mile“ and is locked behind a heavy gate. Sandwiched between barbed wire and a meadow with a sign that reads ”Don’t Get Shot!" the resort boasts boutique fishing at its finest. Safe from viruses that have plagued America for years, Kingfisher offers a respite for wealthy clients. Now it also promises a second chance for Jack, a return to normalcy after a young life filled with loss. When he is assigned to guide a well-known singer, his only job is to rig her line, carry her gear, and steer her to the best trout he can find.
But then a human scream pierces the night, and Jack soon realizes that this idyllic fishing lodge may be merely a cover for a far more sinister operation. While The Guide is not dystopia, the book is set in our near future where variations of COVID-19 continue to plague humanity, and elements of this new world permeate the plot.
August, 1911: Mona Lisa is stolen by Vincent Peruggia. Exactly what happens in the two years before its recovery is a mystery. Many replicas of the Mona Lisa exist, and more than one historian has wondered if the painting now in the Louvre is a fake, switched in 1911.
Present day: Art professor Luke Perrone digs for the truth behind his most famous ancestor-Peruggia. His search attracts an Interpol detective with something to prove and an unfamiliar but curiously helpful woman. Soon, Luke tumbles deep into the world of art and forgery, a land of obsession and danger.
The Last Mona Lisa is a suspenseful tale that explores the 1911 theft and the present-day underbelly of the art world.
Aaron Holland Broussard was first introduced as part of The Holland Family series in The Jealous Kind, which was set in the 50’s in Houston. Now Aaron’s story moves to the 60’s on a farm outside Trinidad, Colorado.
Most of the Holland family has been haunted by ghosts of the past and Broussard is no exception. It does not take long him to find romance, shady people and troubles associated with drugs, cults and the supernatural. Joanne McDuffy is a young artist whose art features ghosts of the 1914 Ludlow Massacre; ranch owner Jude Lowry’s truck has a United Farm Workers bumper sticker; and a college professor is involved in a drug cult.
Broussard and the reader face history, ghosts and the foes of evil that Burke is the master of revealing through his captivating writing.
Meet Public defender Julia Geary who is full of resentments---at her husband who was killed in Iraq, leaving her a single mother; at her low-paying job; and at her mother-in law, whose home she shares. She longs for a breakout case but when it arrives is she really ready for the community animosity, threats and violence.
The town has never been receptive to refugees so when Sami Mohammed is accused by his high school soccer teammates of assaulting a girl in the locker room, tensions erupt. Florio captures actions and attitudes of the townspeople and especially actions of teens that sometimes go undetected by the adults around them. Here’s hoping Julia Geary returns to tackle more cases!
The “Old Woman” lives in the wild, searching for food, raising her cubs, and avoiding the two-legged creatures who come into her territory. But she is more than an animal — she is a mythic creature who haunts the lives and the dreams of men. Joseph Brandt has been captivated by the mountain lion’s legend since childhood, and one day he steps into the forest to seek her out.
The Hunter and the Old Woman creates a portrait of a non-human mind and offers reflection on modernity, urbanity, aging, ecological issues, and the duty that all living creatures have to each other in both life and death.
Enjoy the final days of summer. Stay safe!
Remember to support Independent Bookstores and your local library
No comments:
Post a Comment