Perfect fireside reading for Fall

librarianinheels@evpl — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 20:58:00 GMT

When I was a kid, I loved to prop myself up in a wing chair by the fire, stick my feet out, and read a good book. While I don't have a fireplace in my house, I have established a comfortable little reading ritual for myself when the nights are cool, and this fall I'm reading a few books that I think the casual reader might enjoy.

For those of you out there who really enjoy material that might be classified as "chick lit", but you like your fiction served up with some humor and a little bit of social criticism, try anything by Marian Keyes. Keyes is an Irish author and one of my favorites - her books are alternately entertaining and thought-provoking. Right now, I am reading Angels, an installment in her non-sequential saga of the five Walsh sisters. I have read Watermelon, Rachel's Holiday and Anybody Out There?, about Claire, Rachel and Anna - this book is about Maggie and I'm still waiting for the book about Helen, the most outrageous of the Walsh sisters. (hopefully Keyes will write one soon...it should be the best, the most hysterically funny of the bunch...maybe that is why it's taking her so long to write it?) This Charming Man is Keyes' latest novel (and for those of us old enough to remember - it's also the name of a song by the Smiths)...about the interworkings of toxic relationships between four different women and one man. The subject matter is more intense than Keyes has tackled in the past - but this one really seems like it will deliver, as hers always do. It's our November selection for our chick lit book discussion at Oaklyn.

The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent is a novel based in truth, set in 1691-1692 Massachusetts Bay Colony and centers around a family's involvement the Salem witch trials. It's engrossing reading...particularly when you realize that Kathleen Kent, the author, is a descendant of the family portryed in the novel. I am really enjoying it. Perfect fall reading...so curl up by the fire (or with a bunch of pillows, some cherry Hershey kisses, and a warm blankie - and a cat or two...) and dig in!

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Perfect fireside reading for Fall