Since yesterday was the first Tuesday of September, dear readers, it is time once again to turn our attention to the books recommended by the voracious readers who attend the West Branch’s monthly Literatea event.
September is, of course, the Peabody Library’s Big Read, focusing on Julia Alvarez’s novel In the Time of the Butterflies. We have an exciting line up of literary and cultural events planned to celebrate Ms. Alvarez’s novel, so if you haven’t yet checked out the September calendar of events, make that your first stop of the day.
In honor of In the Time of the Butterflies, the tea for the month was a hibiscus blend. Hibiscus tea is popular in the Dominican Republic, the setting for our Big Read novel. Also in honor the Latin American roots of our community read selection, we highlighted some wonderful literature with Latin American ties, including The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros, The Farming of Bones by Edwidge Danticat and Saving the World by Julia Alvarez. For the complete list of books recommended by West Branch staff at this month’s Literatea, check out our September Newsletter.
As for what our Literatea ladies have been reading and enjoying since we heard from them last, here it is…
The books of Geraldine Brooks, especially Year of Wonders: a novel of the plague. There is also much anticipation for her forthcoming, The Secret Chord
(due out October 6th).
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier. This is a suggestion that I enthusiastically second!
N
ear universal love continues for The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows continues.
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
How to Lose Your Ass and Regain Your Life by Kristie Alley
The English Girl and The English Spy by Daniel Silva
The works of the prolific Alexander McCall Smith, who is admired for his humor and his books ability to create a sense of calm in readers.
Make Me by Lee Child. The latest Jack Reacher novel.
A few suggestions also came up from the world of YA fiction: Terrible Typhoid Mary: a true story of the deadliest cook in America by Susan Campbell Bartoletti, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han, Where the Stars Still Shine by Trish Doller, This Side of Home by Renee Wilson
Courage in the Little Suitcase by Andrea Angell Herzig
The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson
Miss Dreamsville and the Collier County Women’s Literary Society by Amy Hill Hearth
Euphoria by Lily King