Meet Me in the Margins

Finished December 7

Meet Me in the Margins by Melissa Ferguson

This novel, set in the publishing world follows assistant editor Savannah Cade as she works to survive the changes at the firm she works for and (hopefully) launch a new career as an author. A chance meeting with one of the biggest editors in the romance world, Claire Donovan has gained Savannah an in to get someone to look at her manuscript. But Claire is soon to retire and Savannah hasn't quite finished her book, so with a deadline and a writing demands, Savannah finds herself stretched thin. Add to this, the son of her present CEO coming on board as a problem solver to save her niche firm from going under, and one can sense the stress right away. William Pennington has moved back to Nashville from New York City to take this on, and Savannah finds that she isn't as intimidated by him as she expects, partly because he actually seems interested in her opinions.

Some time ago Savannah found a secret room leading off the book room of her firm, one accessed through a filing cabinet. She goes there when she can to relax and think. When she leaves her manuscript there, she returns to find the first few pages marked up with critical advice. When Claire's response to it echoes some of what those mark-ups said, she finds herself returning to her anonymous editor for help.

As Savannah finds herself conversing on paper with this person, she also finds herself increasingly drawn to William, and is confused by her feelings. 

As always, any book about writing or reading is one that intrigues me, and I found myself hoping Savannah would find both love and a publisher for her book, but I was a bit surprised by how things happened. I found the characters interesting, even the secondary ones like Savannah's cover designer, country song singing friend. Touches of humour only added to the experience. 

Super Bloom

Finished December 3

Super Bloom by Megan Tady

This debut novel has a lot going for it, from an interesting main character and plotline to touches of humour and hope. The main character is massage therapist Joan Johnston, who works at a luxury hotel spa in Vermont. She chose massage therapy because a good friend of hers did, and began a relationship with another massage therapist, Samuel. Unfortunately, Samuel died in an accident several months ago, and Joan is still grieving him. 

Joan is on thin ice in her job, and her manager assigning a problematic customer to her as a last test goes in a different direction than Joan expects. The customer, bestselling romance author Carmen Bronze has a writing block, and wants Joan to dish inside spa secrets and stories for a fee, and a great review. Joan agrees, and finds herself coming up with lots of ideas, until she realizes that she wants to write them herself, not share them for Carmen to use. 

As Joan works through her grief, makes new connections with her coworkers, and learns to stand up for herself with her friends and in her job, she also deals with a mother who seems to be going through a Swedish death cleaning phase, a stalker in a van, and hope for a more promising future. 

I really enjoyed this read, and the way that Joan found this opportunity to be a way forward for herself.

Lady with Chains

Finished December 1

Lady with Chains by Roch Carrier, translated by Sheila Fischman

This is a novel that is a combination of two stories. One is the story of the unnamed lady of the title. It is not said in so many words, but my impression was that the lady was one of the nobility imprisoned during the French Revolution, that then found herself on the docks and brought onto a ship to the new world. She does seem to be a lady that was imprisoned and mistreated, and then unexpectedly freed and placed on a ship to Quebec. 

The second story is of Virginie, a young woman of Quebec who meets Victor, a soldier, at a dance. He plans to claim a piece of land and build a house on it, to marry and have children, and to live a good life. Virginie agrees to marry him, and finds herself making her way through a blizzard to the cabin he's built, and things go horribly wrong on the journey. Virginie finds herself plotting revenge against Victor, intending to poison him. She waits through the winter and intentionally doesn't speak to her husband at all, but keeps her plan in her mind. She finds herself strengthened by the idea of the Lady with Chains, who persevered despite the terrible things that happened to her. 

It is a strange novel, with a flavour of the wilderness of Canada, as well as some of the bureaucracy, and there are surprises along the way. 

The Memory Library

Finished November 30

The Memory Library by Kate Story

Year before this story started Ella had a falling out with her mother, of which we gradually learn the details as the story unfolds. She went to college and then emigrated to Australia, and as the book opens, she learns that her mother has suffered a fall, and there has been a bathroom flood at her mother's home. Reluctantly she returns to London, intending to stay for the duration of her mother's convalescence, but she finds the situation somewhat different than she expected. Her mother seems frailer and less independent than she thought. 

She also finds the room that has borne the brunt of the damage is one that her mother had curated carefully for years. As Ella renews old friendships and digs into the past, she finds that her younger self had been quick to pass judgement. She also finds herself looking at the city with fresh eyes.

This is a story of books, books carefully chosen, for specific insights into life. It is books that offer a path forward to a possible reconciliation and to a better understanding of her own situation as well. This is also a book about community and the lives we touch as we live our own life. 

I enjoyed this book, for the growth that we see Ella take, for the books that are important to her, and to the community that she becomes a part of. 

Perfume River

Finished November 29

Perfume River by Robert Olen Butler

This novel is, like all Butler novels I've read, beautifully written. The main character here is Robert Quinlan, a seventy-year-old history professor at Florida State University. His wife Darla is also a professor at FSU, she teaches art theory and is working on a paper about Daughters of the Confederacy Monuments. They live in a Craftsman house that they built with an inheritance from Darla's parents years ago.

As the novel opens, they cross paths with a homeless man while eating a buffet dinner, and Robert buys him the meal and has a short conversation. The man, also named Bob, decides that the cold weather warrants a long walk to a shed behind a church, a place he knows is always left open to those who might need it. 

Robert had mistaken Bob for a Vietnam veteran, forgetting just how long ago that war was, and this error takes him back to his own youth, and his time in Vietnam and he considers why he went and what he did, particularly on one particular night. 

Robert has a brother Jimmy that chose a different path. Jimmy went to Canada, and their father William disowned him. Now their father is close to death and choosing to give unasked-for opinions. And their mother Peggy has somehow got hold of Jimmy's phone number and wants Robert to talk to him.

This is a story of family, of fathers and sons, of expectations and resentments, There is also a theme of war that arises. A book that made me sit and think for a while. 

Second Chance at Sunshine Inn

Finished November 29

Second Chance at Sunshine Inn by Amy Clipston

This small town novel starts with a loss. Alana McFadden, Everleigh Hartnett's godmother has died, and she chose not to let Everleigh or her family know how ill she was. Everleigh discovers that Alana left her half of the assets, which include her bed and breakfast, the Sunshine Inn, and the accounts associated with it. The other half was left to Cade Witherspoon, the young man who worked for her. Cade is ex-military and has been through some tough times lately as well, as we gradually discover.

Everleigh hasn't been home for the last few years, going from one contract to another as a NICU nurse, so she hasn't even met Cade before, and Alana hadn't mentioned him when they talked. But Everleigh spent a lot of her growing up years at the inn, helping out or just spending time there. She also talked a lot with Alana about a nonprofit she wanted to start to help parents with the costs associated with having a baby in intensive care. 

Cade helped Alana for the last few years with everything to do with the inn, from bookings to maintenance to cooking. For him, running the inn and expanding it to include dinners as well was a dream that he and Alana had drawn up plans for.

With different dreams, the two new owners clash, Everleigh wanting to sell to start her nonprofit and Cade wanted to grow the inn as he and Alana discussed. Everleigh moves in to Alana's suite at the inn to help run it until they figure out what they will do and as the two interact, the begin to get to know each other. 

Both main characters are genuinely nice people. Cade has some issues from his past, and Everleigh has to decide whether she is interested in giving up her nomadic life. They both have some family situations that they have to find their way through as well.

I enjoyed this novel, even though some storylines seemed unnecessary. 

December Reviews for the 19th Annual Canadian Reading Challenge

This is where you add links to your book reviews that meet the requirements of this challenge.

We're in our sixth month and I'm enjoying seeing what people have been reading.