Book Themed Travel Itineraries

October 2024

Epic, character driven thriller set in 1975 Missouri.  Poor teenager Patch heroically saves the only daughter of a wealthy family and sets in motion a series of events spanning decades and impacting the lives of everyone around him.  I loved the characters, especially Patch and Saint, and all of the plot twists, but be warned...this book is looong, coming in jsut under 600 pages.  The ending is worth the wait!

Purchase All the Colors of the Dark from Bookshop.org

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September 2024

This is in my top 5 books of the year!  Brilliant retelling of Twain's Huck Finn through the eyes of James, the enslaved runaway "Jim."  James can be read as a stand alone novel; no need to read Huck Finn first, however, I immediately went out and bought a new copy of Huck after finishing James and can't wait to reread it.  In this novel, Everett captures the essence of Huck's adventures while creating something so completely new and original.  Funny, nail biting and utterly heart wrenching, James is as unputdownable as any thriller I have read.  Read this book now!

Purchase James from Bookshop.org

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August 2024

Full disclosure, I absolutely adore James McBride and would probably love anything he writes.  If you haven't read him before, I highly recommend Deacon King Kong and The Good Lord Bird, for which he won the National Book Award.  In, The H&EGS McBride's trademark humor and humanity are on full display.  Set in Pottstown, PA in 1972 and the 1930's,  the story centers around the Black, Jewish and immigrant residents of the dilapidated Chicken Hill neighborhood where the titular store is located.  McBride's characters and their whimsical names (Fatty, Big Soap, Monkey Pants)  are as unforgettable as  the relationships they create and the hardships and injustices over which they prevail.   

Purchase The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store from Bookshop.org

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August 2024

The God of the Woods by Philadelphia author Liz Moore is a fast paced literary thriller set at a summer camp  where a teenager mysteriously goes missing in the Adirondacks in 1975 .  Told in short chapters alternating between characters, this book is hard to put down.  I kept telling myself "one more chapter and then I will go to bed..." I loved Moore's previous book Long Bright River, set in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia amidst the opioid crisis,  and I was reminded  with TGOTW what a great suspense writer Moore is while developing complex characters and a gripping plot.  Add both to your list if you haven't already!

Purchase The God of the Woods from Bookshop.org

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August 2024

The Unwedding is a recent Reese's Book Club pick.  I tend to like her picks which usually feature strong female protagonists and this one is on brand.  Recently divorced Ellery was supposed to spend her 20th wedding anniversary at a luxury resort in Big Sur, CA. with her husband, but decides to go alone since the trip is nonrefundable.  To make matters worse, there is a wedding at the resort the weekend Ellery arrives, and she finds herself at the center of a locked room mystery a la Agatha Christie when guests start dying and a mudslide prevents anyone from getting in or out.  

Good twisty page turner!

Purchase The Unwedding from Bookshop.org

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July 2024

Time travel, romance, spy thriller-this  fantastic genre bending debut novel has it all!  Coincidentally, this is the second time travel novel I have read in a row-just finished and loved This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub and then happened to pick up Before the Coffee gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi.   Clearly I am on a theme here!  This novel has some good twists and turns and manages to be funny and hopeful while exploromg some serious topics-race, colonialism, climate crisis.  

Purchase Ministry of Time from Bookshop.org

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June 2024

Wandering Stars is Tommy Orange's follow up/prequel to his incredible award winning novel, There, There.  The subject matter is heartbreaking  (the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 and the Carlisle Industrial School for Indians) but you will want to keep reading because his writing is beautiful and the characters are so compelling that he instills hope and light into these horrific circumstances. 

Purchase Wandering Stars from Bookshop.org

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June 2024

I have always enjoyed reading Tana French's literary police procedural novels.  She writes beautifully about the Irish countryside and her characters have more depth than a formulaic crime novel or thriller.  This one is a follow up to The Searcher featuring retired detective Cal Hooper  but it can act as a standalone novel.  Still, I am finding myself wanting to go back and review The Searcher for the full context.  If you like an atmospheric slow burn of a suspense novel, try Tana French.  

Purchase The Hunter from Bookshop.org

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May 2024

Picked up this interesting little book at the Book Club bar in NYC over Memorial Day weekend and I am loving it.  Not only does it give me lots of ideas for future bibliotravels destinations, but it provides real action steps for how we can continue to support booksellers and libraries.  Each chapter profiles an independent US bookstore and how they are using innovation and creativity to thrive and serve their communities.

Purchase How to Protect Bookstores and Why from Bookshop.org

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May 2024

Just got this (and 3 other books!) from the library and can't wait to dig in!  I have never read Irish novelist Paul Murray before, but this "tragicomic family saga" looks like a good place to start.  This book received tons of accolades in 2023 including being shortlisted for the Booker prize.  Called "exuberantly entertaining," this hefty tome at 650 pages sounds worth the investment.  I will be sure to report back! 

Update:  I finished this book and it is easily one of the best books I have read all year.  Often I forget the details of a book shortly after reading, but these  characters and their stores have stayed with me all summer. Put this one on your list!

Purchase The Bee Sting from Bookshop.org

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April 2024

I always love a good psychological thriller as a brain sorbet after reading something more serious.  This fit the bill perfectly!  Although as always with this genre, I got annoyed with the preposterous motivation for the crime and the excessive exposition as it was confessed, I stayed up late in the night turning the pages to see how it would resolve.  Read all the way through to the epilogue for a BIG twist you will not see coming!

Purchase The Inmate from Bookshop.org

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