Hi all! Hope you’ve been finding creative and enjoyable ways to spend your summer. It’s definitely different with social distancing, mask wearing, and activities cancelled, and yet there is so much to be thankful for. Enjoy family. Enjoy nature. Enjoy a good book. Speaking of good books . . . .
Did you like how I transitioned right there? I’ve read two good books since my last blog and wanted to share about them in case you’re looking for something new to read.
The Heirloom Garden by Viola Shipman was so good. I loved the story of Iris who is a recluse in Grand Haven, Michigan. She lost her husband in WWII and then her only child at a young age. After Iris is misunderstood by the townspeople during another unsettled time, this botanist puts up a ten foot fence to block everyone out of her life. She finds joy only in her gardening. Iris hybridizes daylilies as well as masters growing a variety of other flowers in her garden. She also owns the house next door and rents it out to a new family. Cory, the father, is struggling with PTSD after serving in the Iraq War. Abby, hIs wife, and Lily, his daughter, are negatively affected by his disconnect to life at home. Gradually Cory connects with Iris since her husband died fighting in the military, but it bothers him that she never got closure since her husband’s body was never brought home. Iris connects with the couple’s daughter because Lily brings love and joy into Iris’s life that she’s been missing since the death of her daughter. Iris and the new family next door help each other heal.
The best way to describe The Heirloom Garden is as a lovely story. The author is able to balance difficult topics so that they never become too heavy to interfere with the sweetness of the storyline. I truly enjoyed the story.
I also recently enjoyed reading Girls of Summer by Nancy Thayer. Although I felt the first few chapters delayed the real story from starting, I really liked this book. Lisa is a divorced middle aged woman with two adult children, Juliet and Theo. After raising the children alone and putting her own life on hold, Lisa finally discovers she has interest in a man in town. Just about the same time, her daughter comes home to Nantucket for the summer. On the boat to the island, she meets a new guy she’s interested in. Then Lisa’s son comes home and starts up a relationship with a girl he liked back in high school. Privacy becomes an issue for everyone since no one knows when someone else might pop in at the house, especially when they want to bring dates home. Add the complication that the girl Theo wants to date is the daughter of mom’s new boyfriend and you get an interesting story. This was a good, light, beach read.
I have read some other books over the last few months, but not all of them were ones I would recommend. Instead of writing a bad review, I have chosen to simply not mention them. I like to keep things on the positive side. Besides, as an author myself, I know how difficult it is to write a novel so I don’t like to talk badly about someone else’s hard work. I’ll just focus on books I liked and hope you find some enjoyable books mentioned in my blogs. When you need a break from life, escape into someone else’s world for a little while.
Happy reading!