Book Lovers Recommendations March 2020

Recommendations by Susan Lipstein
 
All My Mothers Lovers by Ilana Masad
The Girls With No Names by Serena Burdick
Golden Child by Claire Adam
House on Endless Waters by Emuna Elon
The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda
Late Migrations by Margaret Renkl
The Lost Book of Adana Moreau By Michael Zapata
Mr. Nobody by Catherine Steadman
The Sacrament by Olaf Olafsson
Why Meadow Died by Andrew Pollack and Max Eden
 
All My Mother’s Lovers
By Ilana Masad
 A debut novel.  When Maggie’s mother dies in a car crash, Maggie returns home, and  when she finds five envelopes addressed to five men along with her mother’s will, Maggie sets out to hand deliver the envelopes.  She discovers secrets about her mother which change Maggie’s life.
 
The Girls With No Names
By Serena Burdick
Young women who don’t conform to norms in the early part of the twentieth century in New York City might find themselves committed to the House of Mercy.  When Effie believes her parents have committed her sister there, she gets herself admitted-only to find that her sister is not there and now Effie has to figure out a way to get herself out of the House of Mercy, which is filled with unsavory secrets.
 
The Golden Child
By Claire Adam
Hard-working Clyde lives in rural Trinidad.  He has 13 year old twins, which are the lights of his life.  He has great plans for one son, Peter, whom he believes is a genius;  the “golden child,” while his other son, Paul, is a mystery.  When Paul is kidnapped and held for ransom, Clyde is forced to decide between two children-a choice no parent should ever have to make.
 
House on Endless Waters
By Emuna Elon
Israeli author Yoel Blum is asked by his publisher to go to Amsterdam, which he does, violating the promise he made to his mother never to return to his birthplace. When he sees a film clip at the Jewish Historical Museum of his family, taken during pre-war days, he realizes that he needs to find out the reasons why his mother was so secretive about the past. 
 
The Last House Guest
By Megan Miranda
The small Maine town of Littleport is a resort during the summer and a hard place to make a living for the year round residents, who rarely form friendships with the summer people.  Saide and Avery were the exceptions, and when Sadie is found dead of suicide, Avery vows to find out the truth about her death.  Lots of twists and turns
 
 
Late Migrations: a natural history of love and loss
By Margaret Renkl
Renkl, who is an opinion writer for the New York Times, has written her first book-which is really a collection of short stories and essays about her life growing up in Alabama leading into her current life as a parent in suburban Nashville.  The essays reveal a beautiful poetic and sensitive look at growing up and growing older.
 
The Lost Book of Adana Moreau
By Michael Zapata
Adana Moreau wrote a novel that was never published.  Fifty years later, a young man finds her manuscript in his deceased grandfather’s possessions and sets out to deliver it to whom is was originally addressed-Adana’s son.  The novel is a mix of science fiction and mystery, and gets its power from it genre mix and great character development.
 
Mr. Nobody
By Catherine Steadman
Neuropsychiatrist Emma Lewis is called to evaluate a man found wandering on a British beach with no ID and  who is mute.  He becomes a  media sensation, and her handling of the case could make her career.  However, to treat him, she needs to return to the town she left 14 years before, and as she treats Mr. Nobody, she discovers that not only does her know  her, but he knows the secrets she has been hiding.
 
The Sacrament
By Olaf Olafsson
The story is told in the voice of a nun from France who is asked by the Vatican to re-investigate an incident she originally investigated years before in Iceland.  The book may be slow moving as the story quietly unfolds, and you will need to concentrate on the characters to figure out the time line in the book, but it is worthwhile in the end.  A  story that will keep you thinking  emerges that will be worth the wait.
 
Why Meadow Died
By Andrew Pollack and Max Eden
Pollack’s daughter, Meadow, died in the Parkland shooting.  Pollack went out on a mission to find out what went wrong, and during his investigations, he finds lots of concerns.  The shooter fell through the cracks in the education system.  The safety protocols set into place were not followed.  So many things went wrong.  You may not agree with  all his solutions, but he wanted his voice to be heard on behalf of the young people in our country.