Anne M's Staff Picks

I read and enjoyed Alice McDermott's other books, but I found myself captivated by this one. One summer, fifteen-year-old Theresa is babysitting in her neighborhood on Long Island. With poise and emotional intelligence beyond her years, Theresa navigates the idiosyncrasies of the families she interacts with, who are very complex, a bit flawed, and drawn, each in their own way, to Theresa and her young charges. Each character, whether it's the toddler Flora or the repressive father of the children next door, is revealed so as to make the reader feel truly connected to and invested in their story.
Anne M.

This novel picks up where Castellani's first book, A Kiss from Maddalena, left us. Maddalena and her husband Antonio left their small Italian village after World War II and settled in Wilmington, DE with other members of their extended families. Nonetheless, Maddalena feels isolated in this new country where so much is unfamiliar. Although this is a work of fiction, the reader gets the sense of the themes that ran through the lives of many immigrants to this country--loss, sadness, racism, hard work, and a strong desire for a good and happy life in their new world.

The range of subjects covered by Rakoff in these essays runs the gamut from a "Midnight Madness" scavenger hunt in Lower Manhattan to an "Extreme Life Extension" conference in California. What they all have in common is that they are hilarious, intelligent, and full of enough metaphors so precise and clever that I had to write them down. Rakoff writes in the vein of Anne Lamott or Barbara Kingsolver, just with a bit more bite.

A perennial favorite of mine and a book that I have read many times over the last twenty years or so. Anne Linbergh was an adventurer, a pioneer aviator and navigator, and the author of many books over her 94 years of life. This book offers reflections for any season of the year or any season of life and is wonderful in its simplicity and its imagery. I have the 50th anniversary edition and fully expect that this book will resonate with people for the next 50 years as well. A true gift.
Anne M.

Chang-rae Lee does a masterful job telling the story of 59 year-old semi-retired Jerry Battle whose extended family is in transition and upheaval. His elderly father is miserable and planning an escape from Ivy Acres nursing home, his son has borrowed heavily against the long established family landscaping business to build himself a McMansion, and his daughter is newly pregnant and quite ill. Jerry attempts to remain emotionally and physically removed from the family issues as he pilots his small plane over the Long Island countryside. This book is full of humorous and keen observations of characters and landscape and I highly recommend it.

This is the most enjoyable food memoir I've read since Ruth Reichl's Tender at the Bone. Slater is now a food columnist in England and in this book he weaves the story of his childhood around hilarious descriptions of food preparation and mealtimes in his home. Slater's father was quite tempermental and his mother was ill with asthma much of the time, but Slater's reflections on his upbringing are engaging and entertaining. Fix a cup of English tea and enjoy reading Toast!

An intense and thoughtful novel dealing with the process of grief endured by Sarah Vaughn and her eight-year old son Harry after they witness the shooting death of their husband/father Macolm. Set in Cambridge, McFarland deftly tells the story through the voice of Sarah, but also through the eyes of Malcolm's best friend Deckard Jones who is a Vietnam veteran and a recovering addict. McFarland writes in such a way that the reader really inhabits the story which never feels predictable or trite. Singing Boy would be an excellent choice for a book group discussion.
Anne M.