Book talk: spring, 2014

For the past five years or so I have given a book talk for the Women's Club of Our Lady of Humility , the Roman Catholic church in our community.  At first I look forward to it, then I groan as I read-with-a-purpose (that purpose being reading books that will be suitable for booktalking), then I'm frantic ("what am I going to say?").   Then it's the first Thursday of April and time for my presentation.  Invariably all goes well!  In fact, I'm very flattered when club members say how much they look forward to the program.  One woman commented, "You know, we own a tax service so this is our busy season.  I left a dozen returns on my desk and told my husband I'm taking the night off to hear your book talk."

Here are the books on my spring list.  I hope some of them appeal to you, too!
Fiction
A Wilder Rose, by Susan Witting Albert. (Reviewed in this post)  The story of Rose Wilder Lane and her mother, Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Parlor Games, by Maryka Biaggio.  The Pinkerton Agency considered May Dugas "the most dangerous woman in the world." As she tells her story she tries to gain your sympathy, too. 

On the Rocks, by Sue Hallgarth. (Reviewed in this post)  Willa Cather and Edith Lewis solve a murder on Grand Manan Island.

Under the Wide and Starry Sky, by Nancy Horan.  The story of Fanny Osbourne and Robert Louis Stevenson, by the author of Loving Frank.

The Invention of Wings, by Sue Monk Kidd.  Abolitionist Sarah Grimke and her servant (slave) Hetty.

A Circle of Wives, by Alice LaPlante.   When a prominent surgeon dies in mysterious circumstances, his three wives find out about the existence of one another.

The Impersonator, by Mary Miley.  (Reviewed in this post )  Jessie Carr takes on the role of a lifetime to keep family fortune from being distributed.

The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry, by Gabrielle Zevin.  "Books can change your life" is true indeed for a bookseller in a small island town.

and nonfiction

The Girls of Atomic City, by Denise Kiernan. The women who worked on the Manhattan project at the top-secret plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
This is the Story of a Happy Marriage, by Ann Patchett.  Essays by the acclaimed novelist (and bookstore owner).

Fifty Children, by Stephen Pressman.  In 1939 Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus went to Vienna and rescued 50 Jewish children from the Nazis.