Quick Lit November 2019 Archives

Ordinary Grace

by William Kent Krueger

William Kent Krueger is a fairly new addition to my literary radar; this backlist title was ardently recommended by readers with great taste. In small town Minnesota, 1961, a 13-year-old boy is suddenly brought face to face with death, and it ushers him into a very adult world of love and loss and all their complications. Five people in his community die that year, Frank tells us in the opening pages, and this is his account of what happens, what it meant then, and what it means to him now. Recommended for Louise Penny fans, yes, and also those who enjoyed Snow Falling on Cedars and Summer Reading Guide pick The Current.

The Family Upstairs

by Lisa Jewell

Lisa Jewell has a gift for coming up with intriguing premises, and her new novel is no exception. Shortly after Libby turns 25, she gets a letter from the trust attorneys. She’s been expecting the letter her whole life; her biological parents died when she was young, and she knew about the trust. But the contents of the letter shock her: Libby didn’t expect to inherit much, but she’s suddenly the owner of a mansion on the finest street in Chelsea. She soon discovers the house has a tragic past, and she is intimately tied to the tragedy. And what’s more, she learns she has a family out there somewhere—one she hasn’t seen in 25 years. A spine-tingling mystery.

The Bookman’s Tale: A Novel of Obsession

by Charlie Lovett

If you love a good literary mystery (and I do) this is for you. Robin Sloan says, "With The Bookman's Tale, Charlie Lovett tells us a terrific story—there's mystery and suspense, murder and seduction—but more important, he shows us how it's all connected, all of this: the reading and the keeping and the sharing of books. It forms a chain long and strange enough to tie a heartbroken young scholar from North Carolina back to the Bard himself, who might or might not have been William Shakespeare."

The Dutch House: A Novel

by Ann Patchett

I love sibling stories and meaty family sagas, as well as stories told with a reflective, wistful tone. This one delivers on all counts. Cyril Conroy means to surprise his wife with the Dutch House, a grand old mansion outside of Philadelphia. But a symbol of wealth and success for some is a symbol of greed and excess to others—including, crucially, Cyril's wife—and the family falls apart over the purchase. In alternating timelines, we get the whole story, over five decades, from Cyril's son Danny. The audiobook is narrated by Tom Hanks.

Miracles and Other Reasonable Things

by Sarah Bessey

From the publisher: "In the brief instant Sarah Bessey realized that her minivan was, inevitably, going to hit the car on the highway on the bright, clear day of the crash, she knew intuitively that it would have life-changing consequences. Weaving together theology and memoir in her trademark narrative style, Sarah tells us the story of the moment that changed her body and how it ultimately changed her life. She invites us to a path of knowing God that is filled with ordinary miracles, hope in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, and other completely reasonable things."

Quick Lit November 2019

Ordinary Grace

The Family Upstairs

The Bookman’s Tale: A Novel of Obsession

The Dutch House: A Novel

Miracles and Other Reasonable Things

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