Books new to my TBR – To Be Read – pile teeter on the brink of toppling over at just one month into the new year. Genres from the latest James Patterson thriller “Raised by Wolves”, to “The Pumpkin Spice Cafe” romance by Laurie Gilmore to timely non-fiction “How We Learn to Be Brave” by Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde wait for me to turn the first pages. I’ve got to get busy reading before Pam Jenoff’s latest WWII historical fiction tale “Last Twilight in Paris” releases this month!
Over the coming months I’ll discuss many of these books in my new blog “Off My Shelf”, talking about titles from my shelf at home and on Goodreads.
Canada is home to so many incredibly talented authors. “The Spoon Stealer” by Leslie Crewe sweetly entertained while leaving a tad bitter bit of sorrow behind. “February” by Lisa Moore left me in a book coma for days as did “All The Devils Are Here” by my favourite Canadian author Louise Penny. I read suspense both because I enjoy it and I write it. This author sets and raises the bar higher with each novel, astonishing me as a reader and challenging me as a writer. Louise Penny owns the genre with a believable hero and characters to care about in one great series. The craft of superb storytelling doesn’t get better than this. My two-word description ‘flawless perfection’ says it all. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49127539-all-the-devils-are-here
“Eddie Winston is Looking for Love” by Marianne Cronin arrived in my mailbox last week. The novel’s promised tale of friendship and hope between a 90-year-old man who has loved but never been kissed and a 24-year-old woman who has just lost the love of her life sold me on the book before I finished reading the cover description.https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/203680931-eddie-winston-is-looking-for-love?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=lEg3lClPNr&rank=1
February is of course the month of love for and about lovers. In my first romance novel “Reservations”, Chef Darien proposes to Ali on Valentine’s Day and she turns him down! The turn around in their love is ageless when it’s meant to be story is reminiscent of a similar scene in a film the love of my life and I enjoyed watching together more times than I can remember. Read “Reservations”, find the scene and see if you can name what I humbly consider to be the most romantic movie of all time.https://storyteller30.com/books/reservations/
Love to you all from this ever hopeful romantic!
