Heartwood gripped me from its first page and I was spellbound until the end. I didn’t want to stop reading even to sleep at night.  I’ve been recommending it to everyone and now recommend it to you our L&L readers!

Eddie Winston is 90 years old and volunteers at a second-hand store, sorting through donations, assigning prices and occasionally pilfering items for himself that he finds particularly touching or tender.  One day, he accepts a donation from Bella, a 20-something woman, who has suffered the loss of her boyfriend. 

Although my daughter Charlotte has become a voracious reader in her own right, I am holding on tight to our read-aloud bedtime routine that we established when she was a baby. Our book choices vary widely from classics like Mr. Popper’s Penguins and The Little Princess to newer books that we get to experience for the first time together. Polly Horvath’s Library Girl jumped off the shelf at our local bookstore, and Charlotte and I agree that it is one of our favorite stories we’ve ever read together.

At 1152 pages, London is easily one of the longest books I have ever read. And although it took me almost a month to finish, I think it was worth the time and effort. London takes an in-depth look at the geographical, cultural and societal developments in and around London, England starting in the 4th century and continuing to the present day.

Eve Chase sets The Daughters of Foxcote Manor in England in two time periods. She tells the story of the Harrington family who leave their London home in the early 1970s after it sustains a fire. They relocate to their deteriorating country manor for the summer. 

Over the past several months, I repeatedly heard All the Colors of the Dark praised highly.  I don’t know why it took me so long to read it.  Let me spare you from making the same mistake: Read it as soon as you can.  This book is a masterpiece.  An unforgettable love story that spans 25 years, it is also a mystery that crosses over into a psychological thriller. Chris Whitaker drew me in immediately and kept me turning the pages late into the night.