Joyce's Choices

Joyce's Choices

by Joyce B. Wilcox

WELL, IT’S FINALLY FEBRUARY

and you’re probably ready for some chillaxing. Holiday decorations are all packed away, except for that last bauble you discovered in the family room while moving back the furniture. Or perhaps you were able to exchange that tacky, but well-intentioned sweater from great-aunt Sally; I’m sure she’ll understand that it just wasn’t the right size. And let’s not forget that the last of your mother-in-law’s fruitcake has disappeared, one way or the other. Yes, it’s definitely time to cuddle up with a good book and escape. You’ve earned it.

Consider these book recommendations an early Valentine’s Day gift, as each novel has a love story of some sort woven into the fabric of its plot. From young love to senior sweethearts and from espionage passion to long ago longings, this month’s selection has a touch of romance and fateful matchmaking for your reading pleasure. So wait no longer. Read, enjoy, and love!

The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan

This is a love story for book lovers and romantics. Nina Redmond loves her job as a librarian in the busy British city of Birmingham. Her passion is books and her specialty is as a literary matchmaker, pairing each reader with the perfect book. Suddenly nothing seems to be going right in her world. Apparently Nina is better with books than with men as she finds herself drifting through life as a hopeless romantic unable to find Mr.

Right. The men she’s met don’t compare to the heroes of her books like Mr. Darcy or Heathcliff and she hasn’t any fairy godmother to assist her in finding a prince. When massive lay-offs unexpectedly occur at work, she also finds herself without a job. Rather suddenly her quests in life now include: books, Mr. Right, and employment.

Resourceful, Nina answers an ad and purchases a van in Kirrinfief, a small village in Scotland, so that she can return to Birmingham and use the van to open a traveling bookshop. Fate steps in and her life changes yet again as Nina is forced to settle in Kirrinfief, leaving family and friends as she embarks on this next chapter of her life. There’s never a dull moment in this small Scottish village and the reader is pulled along as Nina drives her van and meets and befriends an assortment of interesting characters. She attempts to improve the lives of the townspeople through the power of books, all the while continuing her search for Mr. Right. Of course you can’t have a romance novel by Jenny Colgan without mishaps, quirky characters, and a little chaos. This is especially true with a matchmaker of books requiring a little matchmaking in her personal life.

I’m of neither British nor Scottish descent, but I’ve grown very fond of the books penned by this New York Times bestselling author. Jenny Colgan makes you feel quite at home with the turn of each page. Her accounts of the colorful countryside and use of dialect-laced dialogue enhance her well-developed plots in ways that help you to imagine each vividly painted scene. Her stories also make you want to travel abroad to discover the people and land that she so obviously loves. If you’re not quite ready to cross the pond, why not cross the room to your favorite reading chair and lose yourself in The Bookshop on the Corner? I guarantee it’s worth the trip.

The Chase by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

What do you get when you combine the talents of the bestselling author of the Stephanie Plum mystery/crime series with the gifted screenwriter and author of television’s Monk series mysteries? You get the action-packed-mysterycrime series, The Fox and O’Hare Novels, featuring special FBI agent Kate O’Hare and con artist-turned-FBI-aidede-camp, Nicholas Fox. Suspenseful, intense, and at times appropriately humorous, this novel is simultaneously clever, crisp, and romantically spicy. The Chase has the flavor of a modern day Rizzoli and Isles meets It Takes a Thief. (And for those of you outside of my age bracket, that marinating metaphor involves two very popular prime time tv shows which premiered in 2010 and 1968, respectively.)

Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg knew what they were doing when they created this dynamic duo. As part of his sentencing after his capture, renowned thief and con artist Nicholas Fox is paired with dedicated and determined special FBI agent Kate O’Hare to capture another thief. A former White House chief of staff, Carter Grove, has stolen a rare Chinese artifact from the Smithsonian and this theft, if revealed, may cause an international incident ruining the relations between the two world powers. Fox and O’Hare must go undercover to steal the artifact and put it back. The plot thickens with Grove’s hidden secret vault and his team of elite assassins. Combine this with Nicholas Fox’s former con team and Kate O’Hare’s father’s retired band of mercenaries and plot twists continue. Let’s not forget the flirtatious relationship simmering between Fox and O’Hare which adds its own excitement to this daring heist. Authors Evanovich and Goldberg have collaborated on nine novels for this series and once you read The Chase, you’ll be in pursuit of the other eight books.

Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah

Have you ever wanted to have one last conversation with a grandparent now long gone? Perhaps you wanted to listen one more time to the romantic story of how your parents met, told only as they could tell it? Or you just wanted to know the answer to the age-old question: What did you do in the war? Kristen Hannah gives her readers, as well as the two grown sisters from her WWII novel, these opportunities in Winter Garden as she weaves her insightful, romantic, and compelling tale.

The story opens with a prologue set in the state of Washington in 1972 where the reader learns that sisters, Nina and Meredith, ages 9 and 12, have a very distant relationship with their mother, Anya. Due to their Russian born mother’s secretive ways and cold demeanor, her bond with her daughters consists entirely of her fairy tale stories. Flash forward to the year 2000 in chapter one when the reader discovers the girls as adults as the pieces to their family puzzle begin to fit together. Nina is a single and successful freelance magazine photographer in a significant relationship and traveling the world for her job. Meredith, wife of a novelist and a mother with two children in college, also runs her family’s business, a thriving orchard. The girls’ personal lives grind to a halt with the unexpected death of their father and their promise to him that they’ll take care of the love of his life, their mother, and also listen to the stories behind her stories. Secrets are peeled away one-by-one as the daughters slowly learn the truth and as we, the spellbound readers, also make our own unforgettable discoveries. Kristen Hannah is a powerful writer who leaves no emotional stone unturned in Winter Garden.

Me for You by Lolly Winston

When a novelist chooses to begin her tale with the passing of the well-loved spouse of a long, happy marriage, as a reader you know that you’re in for an emotional roller coaster ride of a story. When that novelist is Lolly Winston, you also know that you’re in for an endearing story of understanding and acceptance with her sensitive prose and soothing humor. And when that novel is Winston’s Me for You,

you realize that she has the ability to talk to your heart, lead you by the hand, and open your mind to the possibility of honoring a loved one by making the most of the rest of your life.

The story begins when semi-retired Rudy awakens one morning to discover that he is a widower at the age of fifty-four. Rudy is a part-time piano player at Nordstrom, bringing joy to others but no longer able to experience joy for himself. Devastated, he finds himself going through and stalling in the hopeless spiral of the stages of grief. His life becomes mechanical and meaningless. Eventually he seeks professional help while at the same time a friendship slowly blossoms with Sasha, a clerk at the jewelry counter who is in the process of divorcing her philandering husband. Life becomes more complicated when the police discover some startling information about Rudy’s wife’s death and want to further question him. This occurs just as Sasha’s husband reappears in her life. This book is a Valentine’s Day gift of love, hope, compassion, and courage wrapped together with Winston’s delicate humor.

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

I read this book and saw it as a love story. Some may see it as historical fiction or as memoire laced with romance. In any event, Mary Ann Shaffer and her niece, Annie Barrows, are geniuses and crafted the ideal format for this novel: it consists entirely of hand-written letters. In order to convey the German occupation of the British island of Guernsey during WWII, they’ve set the story in 1946, after the war. Through a remarkable series of correspondence written during that year, these stories are also combined with WWII letters written as flashbacks. Not only does the reader sense the drama of WWII, but one is able to live each event in the slow motion of mail delivery at that time in history, a far cry from today’s instantaneous world. From the points of view of multiple letter-writing characters, the full stories behind the stories are revealed. The reader has a sense of eavesdropping on the drama, suffering, romance, and yes, even the light-hearted humor of wartime.

I have a confession to make. The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society was a New York Times bestseller long before I gave it the nod. When friends and family recommended that I read this book a few years ago, I skimmed through it and politely put it aside. I thought it was just not my cup of tea. Had it not been for my current book club selecting it recently for our monthly pick, I would have passed by this gem. It not only became my cup of tea, it came with scones and a slice of potato peel pie!

No need to pack your bags for an escape. Just cuddle up with a book. Read, enjoy, and love!

Lakeside Pizza & Grinders

ORDER ONLINE! PIZZAGRINDERSNW.COM

14”

1 Item

Pizza

$7.99

Not valid with other coupons or o ers. No cash value. Expires 3/5/22.

Canadian Lakes

231-972-1000

OPEN at 7 am EVERYDAY Order ahead and pickup at our drive thru window.