Favorites
Valley of Shadows by Rudy Ruiz (visiting Old Town Books this late summer)
“At the beginning of the pandemic, Rudy Ruiz’s son challenged him to write a horror western. The result is Valley of Shadows, which is one-part mystery, one-part historical fiction, one-part mesmerizing ghost story, and one-part good old-fashioned shoot-em-up. Laced with magical realism and populated by memorable characters, Valley of Shadows faces haunting questions: What does it mean to belong to a place? Are we ever truly alone? Can we rewrite our own history and shape our futures? Valley of Shadows is one of the best new books this season.”
–Peggy Tharpe (OTB Staff)
The Villa by Rachel Hawkins
“Remember The Wife Upstairs? Reckless Girls? Rachel Hawkins is at it again with The Villa–a twisty plot with strong women characters and a gorgeous Italian setting. Lifelong friends spend a month in an Umbrian villa, where once in the 1970s, a British rock star and his entourage spent the summer. Sex, drugs, rock and roll and a gory murder ensued, as did the creation legendary album and a brilliant novel, both produced by two young women who were there. The stories entwine as relationships break down, boundaries are crossed, and lives are changed forever.”
–Peggy Tharpe (OTB Staff)
Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult / Jennifer Finney Boylan
“It’s Jodi Picoult and for many of us that’s all we need to know! This time it’s a story of redemption and reinvention for Olivia and her son, Asher, who have returned to the town where she grew up after leaving a husband, and man with a violent temper. When Lily Campanello and her mother relocate to Adams, New Hampshire, Asher and Lily fall in love, and the future seems idyllic until Lily is dead, and Asher is in police custody. Does he harbor traces of his father’s temper? What other secrets does he hide? Mad Honey is one-part suspenseful mystery, one part love story, one part exploration of the secrets we keep and the risks we take to become ourselves.”
–Peggy Tharpe (OTB Staff)
We Are the Light by Matthew Quick
“Remember Silver Linings Playbook…quirky characters making their way through difficult circumstances, funny and touching and inspiring all at once? We Are the Light, by the same author, is another look at folks who are far from ordinary, struggling with seemingly insurmountable troubles. Lucas Goodgame is a widower who insists that his late wife visits him regularly, a local hero who insists he is anything but. Eighteen-year-old Eli has been ostracized by the community and takes up residence in Lucas’s backyard. Together these two wounded souls go to work to heal their community. We Are the Light is a tribute the daily miracle of love and proof that guardian angels are all around, though rarely in the forms we expect.”
–Peggy Tharpe (OTB Staff)
We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman
“‘For anyone who’s ever lost a friend, or had one, get ready to laugh through your tears’ So reads the cover blurb for We All Want Impossible Things. And truer words could not be spoken. Edi and Ash have been best friends for over forty years, sharing everything. Now Edi is spending her last days in a hospice near Ash, and Ash is forced to reexamine her life as she and her friend reminisce, hold on, and try to let go. The whole thing is set against the soundtrack of Fiddler on the Roof blasting from the room next door and filled out with a rotating cast of beautiful and fleetingly human hospice characters. Deeply touching, poignant, and surprisingly funny, We All Want Impossible Things is life boiled down to its essence.”
–Peggy Tharpe (OTB Staff)