Aimee Bender’s The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake is a poignant story of young Rose Edelstein’s unusual gift enabling her to taste the emotions of whoever prepares her food. Elements of magical realism and dark family secrets are revealed in this coming of age tale……….Set among the wealthy Hamptons, Karen Weinreb’s The Summer Kitchen is about drastic life changes Nora Banks experiences when her husband is arrested for a white-collar crime. Shunned by her community, she finds courage and hope from her sons’ nanny and her own efforts at opening a bakery to support her family……….Books exploring different facets of the Second World War appear frequently on bestseller lists; an extremely worthwhile story is Tatiana di Rosnay’s Sarah’s Key. Ten-year-old Sarah and her family are arrested by the French police, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard believing it will only be a few hours before she sees him again. A haunting, unforgettable story of the German occupation of France and the silence that surrounded the lives of those arrested and the survivors……….Tom Rachman’s (The Imperfectionists) clever debut uncovers the private lives of the staff of an English language newspaper; both staff and paper are having difficulty keeping afloat. Set amidst the beauty of Rome, this moving story is also about the paper’s unexpectedly rich history……….Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook It is Anthony Bourdain’s latest, funny, confessional/memoir. The author investigates controversial characters from the food world… typical fare from this chef, though his honest, tough language may offend at times……….Randy Wayne White’s seventeenth bestselling Doc Ford novel, Deep Shadow, is a fabulous, edge of your seat underwater adventure about Doc Ford and two friends trapped in a watery Florida cave. When Ford escapes while his pals remain trapped, his troubles begin ! Wonderful as an audio……….Focusing on yet another World War II era story, Alexander McCall Smith’s La’s Orchestra Saves the World finds La (Lavender) fleeing London’s bombing and memories of a failed marriage. She settles in Suffolk where she quietly does her part for the war effort and even organizes an amateur orchestra near a local RAF base…a wonderful, bittersweet story……….For thirteen years, the hero of Passing Strange: A Gilded Age Tale of Love and Deception Across the Color Line leads a highly successful and deceptive life as a black Pullman porter/ steelworker (James Todd) and a celebrated white geologist, author/ explorer (Clarence King). Martha A. Sandweiss’s book reveals a larger-than-life character that is absolutely fascinating……….Margaret Drabble fans will enjoy her latest The Pattern in the Carpet: A Personal History with Jigsaws and discover some curious, wonderful facts about the author’s childhood and the history of games, especially, jigsaws. Portrayals of Drabble’s parents, siblings, children and her wonderful Auntie Phyl are candid, and her thoughts on the importance of play, books, art, aging, and memory are witty, caustic and memorable. A challenging but rewarding read!……….Francisco X. Stork’s YA novel Marcelo in the Real World finds seventeen year-old Marcelo, a young man with Asperger’s Syndrome, facing new challenges when his attorney father forces him to work in the mail room of a law firm for the summer. Faced with new/difficult choices, some real world dilemmas and the possibility of love, Marcelo navigates this world with grace and honesty. Not to be missed!
MC
