I'M BACK!

 After a five-year hiatus (almost to the day), I am trying this thing once again. You can read my updated "About" for more on what's been going on since I last posted in 2019, but I'm officially trying to get focused back on reading and blogging again! 

I got the idea last week to get the blog up and running again, and a couple of days later I was working on it when I realized that my last post had been five years to the day when I got it in me to pick it up again.

Given the time of year, I thought it fitting that my blogging be reborn on the first day of Spring, and that I would share a few books I came across that made me think of Spring. And today also would have been my father's birthday, if he were still alive, so it sort of feels like my comeback has his blessing!

First, let's start with a book that represents what we're leaving behind as Spring is sprung...

The Frozen River 

by Ariel Lawhon

Format 432 pages, Hardcover

Published December 5, 2023 by Doubleday

ISBN 9780385546874 (ISBN10: 0385546874)

A gripping historical mystery inspired by the life and diary of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into American history.

Maine, 1789: When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As a midwife and healer, she is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in Hallowell. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle that unfolds in the close-knit community. Months earlier, Martha documented the details of an alleged rape committed by two of the town’s most respected gentlemen—one of whom has now been found dead in the ice. But when a local physician undermines her conclusion, declaring the death to be an accident, Martha is forced to investigate the shocking murder on her own.

Over the course of one winter, as the trial nears, and whispers and prejudices mount, Martha doggedly pursues the truth. Her diary soon lands at the center of the scandal, implicating those she loves, and compelling Martha to decide where her own loyalties lie.

Clever, layered, and subversive, Ariel Lawhon’s newest offering introduces an unsung heroine who refused to accept anything less than justice at a time when women were considered best seen and not heard. The Frozen River is a thrilling, tense, and tender story about a remarkable woman who left an unparalleled legacy yet remains nearly forgotten to this day.

And what are Spring flowers without bees and honey?

Mad Honey

by Jodi Picoult

Format 464 pages, Hardcover

Published October 4, 2022 by Ballantine

ISBN 9781984818386 (ISBN10: 1984818384)

A soul-stirring novel about what we choose to keep from our past, and what we choose to leave behind.

Olivia McAfee knows what it feels like to start over. Her picture-perfect life—living in Boston, married to a brilliant cardiothoracic surgeon, raising a beautiful son, Asher—was upended when her husband revealed a darker side. She never imagined she would end up back in her sleepy New Hampshire hometown, living in the house she grew up in, and taking over her father's beekeeping business.

Lily Campanello is familiar with do-overs, too. When she and her mom relocate to Adams, New Hampshire, for her final year of high school, they both hope it will be a fresh start.

And for just a short while, these new beginnings are exactly what Olivia and Lily need. Their paths cross when Asher falls for the new girl in school, and Lily can’t help but fall for him, too. With Ash, she feels happy for the first time. Yet at times, she wonders if she can she trust him completely . . .

Then one day, Olivia receives a phone call: Lily is dead, and Asher is being questioned by the police. Olivia is adamant that her son is innocent. But she would be lying if she didn’t acknowledge the flashes of his father’s temper in him, and as the case against him unfolds, she realizes he’s hidden more than he’s shared with her.

Mad Honey is a riveting novel of suspense, an unforgettable love story, and a moving and powerful exploration of the secrets we keep and the risks we take in order to become ourselves.

This book cover had a popping Spring feel to it, even if the context isn't especially Spring-like!

The Great Divide 

by Cristina Henriquez

Format 321 pages, Hardcover
Published March 5, 2024 by Ecco
ISBN 9780063291324 (ISBN10: 0063291320)

A TODAY Show Read with Jenna Book Club Pick!

An epic novel of the construction of the Panama Canal, casting light on the unsung people who lived, loved, and labored there, by Cristina Henríquez, acclaimed author of The Book of Unknown Americans.

It is said that the canal will be the greatest feat of engineering in history. But first, it must be built. For Francisco, a local fisherman who resents the foreign powers clamoring for a slice of his country, nothing is more upsetting than the decision of his son, Omar, to work as a digger in the excavation zone. But for Omar, whose upbringing was quiet and lonely, this job offers a chance to finally find connection.

Ada Bunting is a bold sixteen-year-old from Barbados who arrives in Panama as a stowaway alongside thousands of other West Indians seeking work. Alone and with no resources, she is determined to find a job that will earn enough money for her ailing sister’s surgery. When she sees a young man—Omar—who has collapsed after a grueling shift, she is the only one who rushes to his aid.

John Oswald has dedicated his life to scientific research and has journeyed to Panama in single-minded pursuit of one goal: eliminating malaria. But now, his wife, Marian, has fallen ill herself, and when he witnesses Ada’s bravery and compassion, he hires her on the spot as a caregiver. This fateful decision sets in motion a sweeping tale of ambition, loyalty, and sacrifice.

Searing and empathetic, The Great Divide explores the intersecting lives of activists, fishmongers, laborers, journalists, neighbors, doctors, and soothsayers—those rarely acknowledged by history even as they carved out its course.

Speaking of Spring covers, has a book cover ever given more of a feeling of Spring? And quirky characters with names like Herself and Donkey, a fantastical feel. This might make an interesting intro to Spring!

The Waters

by Bonnie Joe Campbell

Format 400 pages, Hardcover

Published January 9, 2024 by W. W. Norton & Company

ISBN 9780393248432 (ISBN10: 0393248437)

A master of rural noir returns with a fierce, mesmerizing novel about exceptional women and the soul of a small town.

On an island in the Great Massasauga Swamp—an area known as “The Waters” to the residents of nearby Whiteheart, Michigan—herbalist Hermine “Herself” Zook has healed the local women of their ailments for generations. As stubborn as her tonics are powerful, Herself inspires reverence and fear in the people of Whiteheart, and even in her own three daughters. The youngest, beautiful and inscrutable Rose Thorn, has left her own daughter, eleven-year-old Dorothy “Donkey” Zook, to grow up wild.

Donkey spends her days searching for truths in the lush landscape and in her math books, waiting for her wayward mother and longing for a father, unaware that family secrets, passionate love, and violent men will flood through the swamp and upend her idyllic childhood.

With a “ruthless and precise eye for the details of the physical world” (New York Times Book Review), Bonnie Jo Campbell presents an elegant antidote to the dark side of masculinity, celebrating the resilience of nature and the brutality and sweetness of rural life.

And this cookbook just screamed Spring to me!

The Forest Feast Road Trip

by Erin Gleesen

Format 256 pages, Hardcover

Published March 22, 2022 by Harry N. Abrams

ISBN 9781419744259 (ISBN10: 1419744259)

Erin Gleeson, the New York Times bestselling author of the beloved Forest Feast, presents a love letter to travel and delicious vegetarian food from her home state of California.

For years, Forest Feast fans have loved Erin Gleeson’s effortless California-style vegetarian cooking, made in her beautiful cabin in the woods. Now, Gleeson takes an extended road trip around California, staying in unique cabin dwellings along the way and showing readers the beauty and incredible food of the Golden State she knows so well. From the grapes of the wine country where Gleeson grew up to the avocados of San Diego, California is known for its rich agriculture.

The Forest Feast Road Trip showcases 100 vegetarian recipes, all inspired by her family’s journey by car through a stunningly geographically diverse setting. Each chapter focuses on a different region of California, depicted in Gleeson’s signature aesthetic of atmospheric photography, charming watercolor illustrations, and mouthwatering recipes drawn from the fresh, local produce found in each location. Gleeson visits the giant redwoods on the coast of Mendocino, the desert of Joshua Tree, the mountains of Lake Tahoe, the tropical beaches of Santa Barbara, the cliffs of Yosemite National Park, and everywhere in between. In each location, Gleeson and her family stay in design-forward cabins, host dinner parties, and explore local attractions, providing tips for readers who may want to take a California road trip of their own.

With its sense of wanderlust and its fresh take on the vegetarian cookbook, The Forest Feast Road Trip is an essential addition to this bestselling series.

Okay, so I thought that this was a beautiful representation of the start of Spring. Unfortunately, I have no idea what is going on with the publisher's synopsis. I don't know whether it is a matter of poor translation, or if it is written by AI.

A Garden Eden. Masterpieces of Botanical Illustration

by H. Walter Lack

Format 728 pages, Hardcover

Published June 10, 2016 by TASCHEN

ISBN 9783836559423 (ISBN10: 3836559420)

"Heaven on earth: Botanical masterworks from the National Library of Vienna In the pursuit of knowledge of pleasure, the art of botanical illustration has always required not only meticulous draughtsmanship, but also a rigorous scientific understanding. To record the form, color, and details of different plant species requires both accuracy and aesthetic skill. From Byzantine manuscripts to 19th century masterworks, this Bibliotheca Universalis edition traces the botanical tradition with the finest botanical manuscripts from the National Library of Vienna. In exquisite color reproductions, it showcases the skill involved in portraying plants for scientific purposes, for the historical record of vanishing species, or for the simple celebration of the beauty and variety of the natural world. About the series: Bibliotheca Universalis Compact cultural companions celebrating the eclectic TASCHEN universe at an unbeatable, democratic price! Since we started our work as cultural archaeologists in 1980, the name TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible, open-minded publishing. Bibliotheca Universalis brings together nearly 100 of our all-time favorite titles in a neat new format so you can curate your own affordable library of art, anthropology, and aphrodisia. Bookworms delight never bore, always excite! Text in English, French, and German "

Well, make of it what you will, the book is a beautiful Spring book despite the horrible synopsis!

Okay...I think I'm in love with this last book! This is going on my Wish List! And is there anything cuter than an axolotl??

World of Wonders 

by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Format 165 pages, Hardcover

Published August 3, 2020 by Milkweed Editions

ISBN 9781571313652 (ISBN10: 1571313656)

From beloved, award-winning poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil comes a debut work of nonfiction--a collection of essays about the natural world, and the way its inhabitants can teach, support, and inspire us.

As a child, Nezhukumatathil called many places home: the grounds of a Kansas mental institution, where her Filipina mother was a doctor; the open skies and tall mountains of Arizona, where she hiked with her Indian father; and the chillier climes of western New York and Ohio. But no matter where she was transplanted--no matter how awkward the fit or forbidding the landscape--she was able to turn to our world's fierce and funny creatures for guidance.

"What the peacock can do," she tells us, "is remind you of a home you will run away from and run back to all your life." The axolotl teaches us to smile, even in the face of unkindness; the touch-me-not plant shows us how to shake off unwanted advances; the narwhal demonstrates how to survive in hostile environments. Even in the strange and the unlovely, Nezhukumatathil finds beauty and kinship. For it is this way with wonder: it requires that we are curious enough to look past the distractions in order to fully appreciate the world's gifts.

Warm, lyrical, and gorgeously illustrated by Fumi Nakamura, World of Wonders is a book of sustenance and joy.

Happy Spring, happy reading, and have patience while I get back into the flow of things! It's good to be back!