Apr 14 2024

Big lies in a small town – Diane Chamberlain

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Well written, gripping mystery that takes the reader back and forth from 1940 to 2018, a large mural linking two women, to reveal their connection. Unexpected twists elevate the story beyond the expected and keep one turning the pages.

The only complaint I have is that parts of the book, particularly in the 2018 section were repetitive and too “romance novelly” for my liking, but that did not deter me from thoroughly enjoying this novel.

North Carolina, 2018:
Morgan Christopher’s life has been derailed. Taking the fall for a crime she did not commit, her dream of a career in art is put on hold―until a mysterious visitor makes her an offer that will get her released from prison immediately. Her assignment: restore an old post office mural in a sleepy southern town. Morgan knows nothing about art restoration, but desperate to be free, she accepts. What she finds under the layers of grime is a painting that tells the story of madness, violence, and a conspiracy of small town secrets.

North Carolina, 1940:
Anna Dale, an artist from New Jersey, wins a national contest to paint a mural for the post office in Edenton, North Carolina. Alone in the world and in great need of work, she accepts. But what she doesn’t expect is to find herself immersed in a town where prejudices run deep, where people are hiding secrets behind closed doors, and where the price of being different might just end in murder.

What happened to Anna Dale? Are the clues hidden in the decrepit mural? Can Morgan overcome her own demons to discover what exists beneath the layers of lies?

Mar 18 2026

The War Pianist – Mandy Tobotham

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An interesting look at WWII–theBlitz in Britian and the occupation of Holland–both countries attempting to launch resistant groups in their respective countries.

Robotham has done a good job of creating characters we care about and are rooting for. A couple of flaws though, are areas where the pacing could have been faster and hints of the truth about one character are given away too early in the story. However, I did enjoy the book and never considered a “do not finish” because of this.

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July, 1940
Blitz-ridden London: Marnie Fern’s life is torn apart when her grandfather is killed in an air raid. But once she discovers that he’d been working undercover as a radio operative – or pianist – for the Dutch resistance, Marnie knows she must complete his mission – no matter the cost…

Nazi-occupied Amsterdam: At the other end of the wireless, fellow pianist Corrie Bakker is caught in a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse as she desperately tries to keep her loved ones out of the line of fire – even if it means sacrificing herself…

Bound together by the invisible wires of their radios, the two women lead parallel lives in their home cities, as both are betrayed by those they trust the most. But when the Nazis close in on one of them, only the other can save her…

Mar 1 2026

The Temple of the Muses – Jane Davis

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The Temple of the Muses – Jane Davis

I’ve read a number of Davis’s books, Smash All the Windows being the first and remaining my favorite. But I have to be honest and say that all of her novels are captivating—each in its own way.

Her latest, The Temple of the Muses, lives up to the others. Davis takes a slice of history bringing it to life in a way that allows us to fully enter the world that she has created so vividly.

James is a daring visionary willing to take chances even though the obstacles appear to be insurmountable. But, don’t forget the old adage. “Behind every great man, there is a woman.” Dorcas is that woman. She tempers James’ impetuous decisions with logic and reason that keeps them afloat financially and socially.

The story of James and Dorcas Lackington takes several surprising twists and turns, some of which are frustrating as we’d like to jump in and yell, “no!” Others lead us to respect and admiration—for Dorcas in particular.  

Their admirable courage and perseverance prove their commitment to their beliefs is real and their success well-deserved.  

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Volume 2 of the Chiswell Street Chronicles
The story continues…

London, 1780. As the city smoulders in the aftermath of the Gordon Riots, booksellers James and Dorcas Lackington refuse to answer despair with charity. Instead, they place their faith in something far more radical: books.

Convinced that reading offers the surest escape from poverty, the Lackingtons launch a daring experiment—pricing books so cheaply that even apprentices and servant girls can afford them. It is a bold challenge to the rigid social order of Georgian England, and one that places them squarely in danger.

Dorcas knows that life alongside James and his unshakable optimism will never be smooth. But she is no mere helpmeet. She is his compass, his conscience, and often the sharper mind. In a modest corner of Moorfields, their bookshop ignites a quiet revolution as ordinary people encounter philosophy, liberty, reason, and love for the first time.

Not everyone welcomes this awakening. The Junto, a powerful circle of men who believe that books breed dangerous ideas in the minds of the poor, move swiftly to crush the Lackingtons’ venture. As threats and intimidation escalate, Dorcas realises that survival will not come from retreat—but from becoming too large to silence.

Her answer is audacious: to build a cathedral to literature, not for kings or scholars, but for every woman and man who has ever been told that knowledge is not theirs to claim—The Temple of the Muses.

Feb 15 2026

Hamnet – Maggie O’Farrell

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Hamnet has received a lot of hype for some time now, so I finally decided to read it. This well-written novel carries us back to the life of young Shakespeare life–his marriage, his children and the beginnings of his writing career. Driven by the death of one of his children he writes what is considered to be his best work.

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England, 1580. A young Latin tutor—penniless, bullied by a violent father—falls in love with an eccentric young woman: a wild creature who walks her family’s estate with a falcon on her shoulder and is known throughout the countryside for her unusual gifts as a healer. Agnes understands plants and potions better than she does people, but once she settles on the Henley Street in Stratford she becomes a fiercely protective mother and a steadfast, centrifugal force in the life of her young husband. His gifts as a writer are just beginning to awaken when their beloved twins, Hamnet and Judith, are afflicted with the bubonic plague, and, devastatingly, one of them succumbs to the illness.

A luminous portrait of a marriage, a shattering evocation of a family ravaged by grief and loss, and a hypnotic recreation of the story that inspired one of the greatest literary masterpieces of all time, Hamnet is mesmerizing and seductive, an impossible-to-put-down novel from one of our most gifted writers.

Feb 4 2026

The Correspondent – Virginia Evans

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I’m left with mixed feelinggs after finishing “The Correspondent.”

I enjoyed the letter format used by Evans to tell the tale. The writing is excellent and the characters relatable. And yet, for me, something was missing. I’m hard pressed to pin it down.

The bottom line is that I never achieved that connection to any of the characters that leaves a reader feeling as though they are fully involved with the characters and are emotionally connected to the extent that this story will play in their minds for a long time to come.

That said, I do reccomend the book to others who will undoubtedly have their own perspective. Afterall, reading tastes are so personal.

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“Imagine, the letters one has sent out into the world, the letters received back in turn, are like the pieces of a magnificent puzzle. . . . Isn’t there something wonderful in that, to think that a story of one’s life is preserved in some way, that this very letter may one day mean something, even if it is a very small thing, to someone?”

Filled with knowledge that only comes from a life fully lived, The Correspondent is a gem of a novel about the power of finding solace in literature and connection with people we might never meet in person. It is about the hubris of youth and the wisdom of old age, and the mistakes and acts of kindness that occur during a lifetime.

Sybil Van Antwerp has throughout her life used letters to make sense of the world and her place in it. Most mornings, around half past ten, Sybil sits down to write letters—to her brother, to her best friend, to the president of the university who will not allow her to audit a class she desperately wants to take, to Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry to tell them what she thinks of their latest books, and to one person to whom she writes often yet never sends the letter.

Sybil expects her world to go on as it always has—a mother, grandmother, wife, divorcee, distinguished lawyer, she has lived a very full life. But when letters from someone in her past force her to examine one of the most painful periods of her life, she realizes that the letter she has been writing over the years needs to be read and that she cannot move forward until she finds it in her heart to offer forgiveness.

Sybil Van Antwerp’s life of letters might be “a very small thing,” but she also might be one of the most memorable characters you will ever read.

Jan 11 2026

How to Read a Book – Monica Wood

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Kudos to Monica Wood for this “wonderful in so many ways” novel. She has woven a story around strong characters (though not all are perfect, by any means), a prison reading group, a scientific study of parrots, and the ways people’s interactions can transform their lives.

Violet Powell, a twenty-two-year-old from Abbott Falls, Maine, is being released from prison after serving twenty-two months for a drunk-driving crash that killed a local kindergarten teacher.

Harriet Larson, a retired English teacher who runs the prison book club, is facing the unsettling prospect of an empty nest.

Frank Daigle, a retired machinist, hasn’t yet come to grips with the complications of his marriage to the woman Violet killed.

When the three encounter each other one morning in a bookstore in Portland—Violet to buy the novel she was reading in the prison book club before her release, Harriet to choose the next title for the women who remain, and Frank to dispatch his duties as the store handyman—their lives begin to intersect in transformative ways.

How to Read a Book is an unsparingly honest and profoundly hopeful story about letting go of guilt, seizing second chances, and the power of books to change our lives. With the heart, wit, grace, and depth of understanding that has characterized her work, Monica Wood illuminates the decisions that define a life and the kindnesses that make life worth living.

Dec 27 2025

The Faculty Lounge – Jennifer Mathieu

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Having been a teacher, principal, consultant and personnel officer for a large school district over a number of years, I can attest to Mathieu’s authenticity in presenting the school situation–she nails it. A thoroughly delightful read even if you’re not a teacher.

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With its ensemble of warm and unforgettablecharacters, The Faculty Lounge shows readers a different side of school life. It all starts when an elderly substitute teacher at Baldwin High School is found dead in the faculty lounge. After a bit of a stir, life quickly returns to normal—it’s not like it’s the worst (or even most interesting) thing that has happened within the building’s walls. But when, a week later, the spontaneous scattering of his ashes on the school grounds catches the attention of some busybody parents, it sets in motion a year that can only be described as wild, bizarre, tragic, mundane, beautiful, and humorous all at once.

In the midst of the ensuing hysteria and threats of disciplinary action, the novel peeks into the lives of the implicated adults who, it turns out, actually have first names and continue to exist when the school day is done. We meet: a former punk band front man, now a middle-aged principal who must battle it out with the schoolboard to keep his job; a no-nonsense school nurse willing to break the rules, despite the close watch on their campus, when a student arrives at her office with a dilemma; and a disgruntled English instructor who finds himself embroiled in even more controversy when he misfires a snarky email. Oh, and there’s also a teacher make-out session in a supply closet during a lockdown.

As these people continue to manage the messiness of this school year, there is the looming threat of what will become of their beloved Baldwin High. Ultimately, at the heart of this unconventional workplace novel is a story of the power of human connection and of the joy of finding purpose in what it is we do every day.

Nov 18 2025

Mrs Mike – Benedict and Nancy Freeman

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In 1907, 16-year-old Katherine Mary Flannigan, travels from Boston to Calgary to live with her uncle hoping that the dry air will cure her pleurisy. She meets and marries Mike Flannigan, a sergeant with the Royal North-West Mounted Police.

While, the novel, written in 1947 after interviews with Katherine, is based on the lives of the couple, various aspects are fictionalized. This does not necessarily detract from the images portrayed of the harshness of life in the wilderness of northern regions of Canada at the time.

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Recently arrived in Calgary, Alberta after a long, hard journey from Boston, sixteen-year-old Katherine Mary O’Fallon never imagined that she could lose her heart so easily—or so completely. Standing over six feet tall, with “eyes so blue you could swim in them,” Mike Flannigan is a well-respected sergeant in the Canadian Mounted Police—and a man of great courage, kindness, and humor. Together, he and his beloved Kathy manage to live a good, honest life in this harsh, unforgiving land—and find strength in a love as beautiful and compelling as the wilderness around them…

By Darlene Jones • Posted in Books
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Nov 13 2025

Brother – David Chariandy

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Brother is one of those novels that takes the reader into another world even though it is set in ours. Immigrants, we learn, do not live our ordinary lives. In fact, it would seem impossible for them ever to do so. Drowning in poverty, facing racism, and stimatized by authorities, they have little, if any, chance of attaining their goals. Those that do, deserve every ounce of our admiration and respect.

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With shimmering prose and mesmerizing precision, David Chariandy takes us inside the lives of Michael and Francis. They are the sons of Trinidadian immigrants, their father has disappeared and their mother works double, sometimes triple shifts so her boys might fulfill the elusive promise of their adopted home.

Coming of age in The Park, a cluster of town houses and leaning concrete towers in the disparaged outskirts of a sprawling city, Michael and Francis battle against the careless prejudices and low expectations that confront them as young men of black and brown ancestry–teachers stream them into general classes; shopkeepers see them only as thieves; and strangers quicken their pace when the brothers are behind them. Always Michael and Francis escape into the cool air of the Rouge Valley, a scar of green wilderness that cuts through their neighbourhood, where they are free to imagine better lives for themselves.

Propelled by the pulsing beats and styles of hip hop, Francis, the older of the two brothers, dreams of a future in music. Michael’s dreams are of Aisha, the smartest girl in their high school whose own eyes are firmly set on a life elsewhere. But the bright hopes of all three are violently, irrevocably thwarted by a tragic shooting, and the police crackdown and suffocating suspicion that follow.

With devastating emotional force David Chariandy, a unique and exciting voice in Canadian literature, crafts a heartbreaking and timely story about the profound love that exists between brothers and the senseless loss of lives cut short with the shot of a gun.

Nov 3 2025

The Round House – Louise Erdrich

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A sad, but captivating story that takes us into the lives and culture of the characters. This is a book that is not limited to YA as the phrase “coming-of-age” would suggest.

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One Sunday in the spring of 1988, a woman living on a reservation in North Dakota is attacked. The details of the crime are slow to surface because Geraldine Coutts is traumatized and reluctant to relive or reveal what happened, either to the police or to her husband, Bazil, and thirteen-year-old son, Joe. In one day, Joe’s life is irrevocably transformed. He tries to heal his mother, but she will not leave her bed and slips into an abyss of solitude. Increasingly alone, Joe finds himself thrust prematurely into an adult world for which he is ill prepared.

While his father, a tribal judge, endeavors to wrest justice from a situation that defies his efforts, Joe becomes frustrated with the official investigation and sets out with his trusted friends, Cappy, Zack, and Angus, to get some answers of his own. Their quest takes them first to the Round House, a sacred space and place of worship for the Ojibwe. And this is only the beginning.

The Round House is a page-turning masterpiece—at once a powerful coming-of-age story, a mystery, and a tender, moving novel of family, history, and culture.

Oct 19 2025

All We Leave Behind – Carol Off

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Reading this book will leave you seething with anger over and over again. But, as harsh as it is to read, this is a book you should not miss. Carol Off writes of Afghanistan, the war, the refugees, Canada’s failures to assist, the incredible inefficiency of the bureaucracy from various governments to the UN.

Carol Off is more than a reporter, more than a voice on CBC’s As It Happens. She is a hero.

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A remarkable work of non-fiction that reads like a thriller, All We Leave Behind is the story of an Afghan family’s frightening escape from a murderous warlord, written by a journalist who broke all her own rules to get them to safety.

     In 2002, Carol Off and a CBC TV crew encountered an Afghan man with a story to tell. Asad Aryubwal wanted to expose the tyranny of his country’s warlords and reveal their deep involvement with Americans and NATO troops. He took a calculated risk when he agreed to be a key figure in a documentary. But his courage and candour set off a chain of events from which there was no turning back. Asad, his wife, Mobina, and their five children had to flee their home.
     In exile, the family was still in danger and facing an uncertain future. Their dilemma compelled a journalist to cross the lines of disinterested reporting and become deeply involved. Together, they navigated the Byzantine international bureaucracy and the Canadian government’s intransigence until the family finally found a new home. 
    Carol Off’s powerful account traces not only one family’s journey and fraught attempts to immigrate to a safe place, it also illustrates what happens when a journalist becomes irrevocably caught up in the lives of the people in her story and finds herself unable to leave them behind.