THREE GREAT JUNE RELEASES - posted 6.6.26

I've so been looking forward to sharing these three titles with you! I read them months ago as ARCs and had to wait patiently for them to hit bookstores and the press. I'm sure you too will be grateful for the lovely stories and writing in all three of the books! Enjoy!

Whistler - Ann Patchett

At first I wanted to find fault in this book because the tale is so precious, the characters too perfect to be believed. But, instead, with a change of heart, I give it a gold star! Why not tell a story about kind, accomplished, positive and whole people, people who move through the world with a grace one could only wish to be bestowed with? "Whistler" is not sugary sweet, though it's sweetness radiates the possibility of what a life of happiness and fullness can look like, especially when going down memory lane can unearth secrets that deserve to be shared. To be sure, Ann Patchett's latest novel will be a joy to her readers.

A Year of Marvelous Ways - Sarah Winman

Sarah Winman, the author of one of my all-time favorite books, "Still Life," has written another post WW II novel about deep connections, being true to hard-to-keep promises, and developing unlikely friendships. Marvelous Ways is a lonely elderly woman living on the hard coast of Cornwall. Francis Drake, a wandering lonely, battle-worn soldier who has made a promise to a friend who died in the war, wends his way to Cornwall where he is to keep that promise. Marvelous and Francis' meeting turns into a serendipitous friendship, full of all the sweetness - and anguish - Sarah Winman is so adept at bringing out in her characters.

Rufous and Calliope - Sarah Louise Butler

Rufous is the youngest brother of a family from British Columbia that lost their father and, later, their mother. After their mother's death, the children's home is taken over by a cruel aunt they can't bear to live with. In the middle of the night, the oldest brother gathers food and a few items for bedding, wakes his young siblings, and they flee their home for points unknown. They spend that summer in a wooded hideaway in the mountains, evading capture and living on the run in the rugged British Columbia interior. When young Rufous becomes deathly ill, his older siblings miraculously find a safe home for him, planning to return for Rufous when he's healed. But circumstances got in the way of those plans and, when we meet a much older Rufous, he is determined to find his entire family, after having had a brief encounter with one of his siblings. He remembers Calliope and the wooded spot where the children found refuge where they foraged for food that summer. The story turns into Rufous' journey back into the woods, relying on fading memories to find the spot where his family found refuge and where he can finally reconnect with them.