Book recommendations for readers on your list
If you are in need of the easiest gifts to wrap—books, of course—you’ve come to the right place.
“The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store,” a novel by James McBride, was just picked as Barnes & Noble Book of the Year. This August release is about small-town secrets and the people who keep them. In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Penn., were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken Hill, the dilapidated neighborhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side and shared ambitions and sorrows…When the truth is finally revealed, McBride shows that even in dark times, it is love and community—heaven and earth—that sustain us. And if it is a gift for someone in a book club, a free discussion guide is available on the Penguin Random House website.
“The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder,” nonfiction by David Grann, who was recently named Barnes & Noble’s first Author of the Year and who wrote “Killers of the Flower Moon.” About “The Wager, which came out in April: On Jan. 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were 30 emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty’s Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission. While the Wager had been chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon, it had wrecked on a desolate island. The men, after being marooned for months and facing starvation, built the flimsy craft and sailed for more than 100 days, traversing nearly 3,000 miles of storm-wracked seas. They were greeted as heroes. But then … six months later, another, even more decrepit craft landed. This boat contained just three castaways, and they told a very different story. The 30 sailors who landed in Brazil were not heroes – they were mutineers. As accusations of treachery and murder flew, the Admiralty convened a court martial to determine who was telling the truth…with life-and-death stakes.
“Project Hail Mary,” a 2021 novel by Andy Weir, who also wrote the bestselling “The Martian” and is famous for his accurate science details. In this book, a combo of fantasy and science fiction, a middle-school science teacher must help save the world in an interstellar adventure. My husband, a retired science teacher, and I both loved the audio version, fantastically narrated by Ray Porter and winner of the Audie for best audiobook of 2022. Incredibly, it has 161,555 five-star ratings. (Yes, you read that right.) If you’re not an audiobook fan, a hardback copy is on our giving list this season, too. I would say it’s a particularly a good gift for that hard-to-buy-for guy.
“Remarkably Bright Creatures,” the quirky and charming 2022 debut novel by Shelby Van Pelt, is a bestseller that could be just the thing for women readers on your list or people who love wildlife and nature. A friend received this as a gift last month, and the premise intrigued me so much that I had to check it out. After main character Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her 18-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound more than 30 years ago. At the aquarium, she becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus who knows more than anyone can imagine and forms a friendship with Tova. Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared and must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late.
Trio of Shreveport authors to sign books Dec. 7
Books by local authors also make terrific gifts and can often be personalized. Reminder: Three will sign their work from 1 to 3 p.m. today (Dec. 7) at Lewis’ Gifts in Shreveport. Among their books: Phylis Caskey has a brand-new release, “The Forbidden Courtship,” about a young woman of noble blood who navigates the intricate web of medieval politics during the reign of Eleanor of Aquitaine while her heart yearns for a love that transcends convention; Liz Talley, “Hanging by A Thread,” book three in her fun Cricket Crosby Caper series set in Shreveport ; and Scotty Comegys’ debut novel, “Cassie’s Comet.”
Or stop by Barnes and Noble Booksellers on Youree Drive for a variety of titles by local authors, including Betsy St. Amant’s new “Their Holiday Secret,” a Love Inspired clean romance about a couple who pretend to date over the holiday season. Another gift idea: “A Louisiana Christmas to Remember: Three Heartwarming Interconnected Stories of Faith, Love and Restoration,” novellas by St. Amant, former Shreveporter Lenora Worth and South Louisianan Morgan Tarpley Smith.
Columnist Judy Christie is the author of 18 books, including the nonfiction “Before and After: The Incredible Real-Life Stories of Orphans Who Survived the Tennessee Children’s Home Society,” now in its fifth printing in trade paperback. For more, see www.judychristie.com.
Nominate 2023 Book Lover of the Year
For the 10th year, we’ll honor the Book Lover of the Year. Maybe you know someone who shares books, never misses a visit to the library, is the sparkplug of a book club, writes books with love or teaches others to read. Send a brief email with the reader’s name and a bit about him or her to judy@judychristie.com. Please submit by 5 p.m. Monday, December 11, and include your contact information.
This article originally appeared on Monroe News-Star: Book recommendations for readers on your list
