Reader, I Married Him

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld

First of all, author Curtis Sittenfeld is a woman—so we cannot comment on the marvel of a male author getting inside the head of the female protagonist. However, we can marvel at the intriguing and believable character the author has created, and the fact that this character, Alice, is closely modeled on First Lady Laura Bush. This is an enticingly addictive book— it reminds me of reading a fairy tale re-telling: the story is familiar, but there are some surprises along the way. (And one wonders what’s based on fact and what’s entirely fictional.) For the first time, I could begin to see why the Bush marriage seems to work. That was a major achievement of this novel. Also, for the first time, I am intrigued by Laura Bush, who—other than her history as a librarian—had not captured my imagination until I read this book. The thing I wonder about most is this: I wonder if Laura Bush feels as conflicted as the fictional Alice does about her husband’s political views and decisions. Another lovely little part of this novel: Alice and her grandmother are huge readers, and it is clear that the joy of losing oneself in a story is vital to Alice. There’s a mention of curling up with a book in the White House, and it just sounded so darn cozy. In addition to the well-drawn characters, there’s a nice arc to the story, which kept me turning the pages. Almost compulsively.

Those Quilt Shops Can Be Just Deadly

The Lover’s Knot by Clare O’Donohue

A cozy mystery that doubles as a romance novel. I don’t mean this in a bad way. The book opens with Nell, newly stricken by her fiancé Ryan’s decision to postpone their wedding, decamping for her grandmother’s house in a small town where everybody knows everything about everybody. So naturally everybody already knows her business when she shows up on the scene. Humiliating? Yeah, just a bit. But when her quilt-shop-owning grandmother falls on the stairs and breaks her leg, Nell decides to stay in this small town, at least for a while. She takes a leave of absence from her job and tries to figure out whether she wants to reconcile with Ryan— who is making noises about getting married after all. Then it turns out her grandmother’s fall was no accident, and before long, someone ends up murdered right there in the quilt shop. And the police chief is a handsome, brooding young widower… A fine debut in the Someday Quilts mystery series.

Fire Up That Oven

Baking: From My Kitchen to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

A friendly, wonderful cookbook full of desserts. All I can say is: Hallelujah! Greenspan provides the perfect amount of detail in her recipes, so for the first time in my life I was able to make biscuits and shortcakes that were actually flaky. I’ve been working my way through the cookbook and hope to try many of the recipes eventually. (I’m still shying away from the pies and the fancy celebration cakes. A gal has to gain some confidence first!) My favorites from this cookbook: Gooey Chocolate Cakes (a recipe people keep requesting), Thumbprints for Us Big Guys, Swedish Visiting Cake, and Mixed Berry Cobbler. Kudos to the colleague who introduced this book to me; my sweet tooth is grateful.

Love Is All Around

Beginner’s Greek by James Collins

Beginner’s Greek is just the book I needed right now. It’s a big, blustery, old-fashioned yet modern, romantic comedy— and who wouldn’t feel gratified by that? Here we’ve got star-crossed lovers who are polite enough that they keep their love for one another under wraps—which initially is a darn good thing, because she (Holly) has married his (Peter’s) best friend Jonathan. Years before, Peter and Holly met on an airplane, and she gave him her phone number— which he promptly lost. (Argh!) Fast-forward a few years, and Holly has met Jonathan and fallen in love— and they marry. Poor Peter eventually becomes resigned that this is the way it’s going to be, and he meets and marries Charlotte. But then at their wedding, something happens and everything is turned upside down. Sort of. While it seems inevitable that Peter and Holly will end up together, it seems darned difficult during most of the book, which I’d argue is a good thing. (Otherwise, no story!) In the meantime, we meet a nice big cast of characters— stepmothers and sisters and colleagues— most of whom interconnect by the book’s end. Simply put: This book is set in a world where there’s enough love to go around.

What We Leave Behind

Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper by Harriet Scott Chessman

Poignant. This novel is poignant. It’s a tiny book, about a short period in the life of Lydia Cassatt, sister of the artist Mary Cassatt. Lydia, who knows she is dying (of Bright’s disease), reflects on her life and seems to believe it has lacked the importance of her sister’s life and work. But even from Lydia’s point of view, we can see how much she means to her sister, as well as her treasured role in the family. She is a doting aunt, and in one vignette, we see her crocheting a shawl for her niece’s cherished doll (depicted in the painting Lydia Crocheting in the Garden). Each of the five sections of the book revolves around a painting of Lydia by her sister (here called “May,” her family nickname), and an image of each painting is included in the book. Lydia’s world may have been small, but it was rich— and the novel left me feeling the same awareness of the dearness of life that I felt at the end of Our Town. The characters here are lovely, and the book evokes a sense of the love within a family.