Still catching up from a fast-ending summer…In August I read two middle-grade novels and two adult novels. Ashes to Asheville by Sarah Dooley is a book I picked off the shelf at a bookshop/toy store in Waynesville, North Carolina, while on vacation, and I’m so glad I did. The story takes place in about 24 hours time during which two sisters drive across multiple states to bring their mother’s ashes back to Asheville where they used to live. Like other journey-stories they meet people who help and people who don’t. The pacing and characterization make this an excellent read. Lauren Wolk is new on my list of favorite middle-grade authors, and Wolf Hollow is new to my list of favorite MG novels. An updated Anne of Green Gables and Little House on the Prairie combo with much more added to it, this story pulls the reader into the protagonist’s struggles with bullies, creepy people, and small-town gossip.
Greetings from Asbury Park is written by writer and friend Luigina Vecchione. It is a beautifully written love story inspired by her own parents’ meeting in Rome during WW2, her mother a young Italian woman, and her father a young American soldier. Fans of WW2 fiction who want a new perspective will enjoy this book. Loving Frank by Nancy Horan was about the love affair between Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Cheney, a scandal in its time. Fans of Wright will enjoy the story of his career unfolding, and while I am a fan of Wright’s work, seeing him in this light has me thinking differently of him. This would be a great book club choice, as the ethics involved raise questions about happiness, divorce, women’s rights, and parenting. What did you read in August?
