Happiness Falls, by Angie Kim (Hogarth, 387 pages)
What if a father went missing, and the only person with information about what happened was a disabled teenager who was unable to talk?
That’s the disturbing premise at the heart of Happiness Falls, the second novel by the author of Continue reading “Happiness Falls, by Angie Kim”
Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge, by Spencer Quinn (Forge Books, 291 pages)
Spencer Quinn is the pen name for Peter Abrahams, the Cape Cod resident who is the genius behind the “Chet & Bernie” books. They’re a collection of whimsical mysteries narrated by a dog who solves crimes with his human companion. Continue reading “Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge”
The Breakaway, by Jennifer Weiner (Atria, 387 pages)
Not many novels get reviewed by Bicycling magazine, especially not ones by Jennifer Weiner. But the author of books such as Good in Bed and The Guy Not Taken has written what she calls “a love letter to cycling, and to traveling,” Continue reading “Wifedom, by Anna Funder”
Wifedom, by Anna Funder (Knopf, 464 pages)
Never meet your heroes, goes the old adage. A corollary should be “Never read the letters written by their wives about them.”
Unfortunately, for fans of George Orwell, nee Eric Blair, in 2005 a series of letters was discovered, written by his Continue reading “Wifedom, by Anna Funder”
Slow AF Run Club, by Martinus Evans (Avery, 239 pages)
Desir must not get to the library much, because there’s actually no shortage of books in this genre, from 2007’s elegant Strides by Benjamin Cheever (John Cheever’s son) to A Beautiful Work in Progress by Mirna Valeria, published in Continue reading “Slow AF Run Club, by Martinus Evans”
Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett (Harper, 309 pages)
The celebrated novelist Ann Patchett says that Thornton Wilder’s Our Town has been a “comfort, guide and inspiration” throughout her life, and that in her new novel, Tom Lake, she’s trying to draw attention to the play and to all Continue reading “Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett”
Ultra-Processed People, by Chris van Tulleken (W.W. Norton & Co., 313 pages)
Is there anyone on the planet who doesn’t know processed food is bad for you? Probably not, but as it turns out, there’s something even worse — ultra-processed food, which Chris van Tulleken eviscerates, along with Continue reading “Ultra-Processed People, by Chris van Tulleken”
Save What’s Left, by Elizabeth Castellano (Anchor, 304 pages)
When Kathleen Deane’s cardiologist husband of 30 years decides to move out because of a “paradigm shift,” she experiences her own.
She decides to move from the suburbs of Kansas City to a New York beach town where a childhood Continue reading “Save What’s Left, by Elizabeth Castellano”
The Heat Will Kill You First, by Jeff Goodell (Little, Brown and Co., 385 pages )
The effects of a warming planet seem less obvious in New England than in, say, Phoenix, Arizona, where it is 115 degrees Fahrenheit as I write. Except, of course, for the recently flooded Continue reading “The Heat Will Kill You First, by Jeff Goodell”
The Last Ranger, by Peter Heller (Knopf, 304 pages)
Yellowstone National Park is having a moment. An hour, really.
The first national park in the U.S., it was established in 1872 and straddles Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. It is one of the nation’s most popular tourist destinations and a plot Continue reading “The Last Ranger, by Peter Heller”
