September and apples always go together, and new books and the fall season have become intertwined, too. Publishers begin their holiday push with a bushel of new titles from September through December. Check the shelves for new titles from your favorite authors and you might discover great reads from new authors, too.
Did you know that the Beefeaters and other assorted staff and their families actually live in the Tower of London? The Tower, the Zoo and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart brings Balthazar and Hebe Jones to you, as well as their nearly 180 year old tortoise, named Mrs. Cook. Balthazar has been charged with caring for the various animals given to the queen, but his real passion is collecting rain in perfume bottles. Hebe, his wife works in the Underground Lost Property Office. They also must exist with the other residents of the tower and their peculiarities. The story is wonderfully written and the characters give you the gift of every human emotion.
Simply from Scratch by Alicia Bessette is a finely baked treat of a story. Zell, a young widow for over a year, can’t seem to accept her husband’s death and begin the recovery part of her grief. Her 9-year old neighbor, Ingrid, pushes her into a baking contest just to meet the star of a television cooking show, Polly Pinch. Small town characters spice up this tale and healing through purpose adds just the right amount of crust to hold this story together. This is a case where a book can provide sustenance for its readers.
For those readers who have enjoyed the Maisie Dobbs series from Jacqueline Winspeare, author Charles Todd has created An Impartial Witness: A Bess Crawford Mystery. Bess is a nurse during World War I, but in caring for her patients, she is often sent from France to England to aid in transporting the gravely ill. One such trip with a badly burned pilot creates the opportunity to see his wife with another man. The pilot dies and then, the wife is murdered. Bess is caught up in the investigation because her curiosity can’t be contained. Now the question becomes, can your curiosity be contained in this atmospheric mystery? The author is a mother-son duo.
Enjoy these titles a bushel and a peck.
Janet
|
