A Book for February

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

I hope you are enjoying your day in the way you most enjoy.

We exchanged our Valentine's this morning before I headed out to school. I spent my morning sugaring-up my children before returning them to their mamas. Valentine's Day is always a fun day in the classroom.

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I have been wanting to share my favorite read of 2019, and today seems like the perfect day to share this beautiful love story.

"Dearly Beloved, he began. They were the words that started weddings, not baptisms, but the people in the Church were his beloved, so dear that as he spoke, his heart and throat grew tight."

Cara Wall's debut novel is a character-driven story of four individuals, two couples, as they navigate the challenges of life, love and marriage.

Charles always believed he was destined to be a Harvard academic until he attends a seminar on faith and discovers a desire to study theology. He meets and falls in love with independent Lily, a devout atheist with no desire to play the part of a minister's wife.

James, an activist wanting to create social change, falls deeply in love with sweet Nan, the daughter of a southern minister, who will change the course of his life. Though he cannot buy into the full philosophy of faith, he believes the ministry is a way to remedy the ills of the world.

These two couples are thrown together for better or worse when Charles and James are called to co-minister a church in Greenwich Village, in the early sixties. Neither man is the whole package the church leaders desire, however, one has what the other lacks. Nan is happy living in the parsonage and leading the children's choir. Lily wants nothing to do with the church community or Nan.

This was one of those books that stayed with me long after I turned the last page. "The Dearly Beloved" simply took my breath away. Through the slow building of her characters, first as individuals then as couples, Cara Wall writes a meditative first novel exposing the fragility and strength of both love and faith. This is not your typical love story, but it may be the perfect book to read as we finish out the month when we celebrate love.

What is your favorite love story?

Happy Reading!

Book Talk Wednesday - The Dinner List

"WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR AN HOUR."

That's what Audrey says.  She states it with a little bit of an edge, her words just 

bordering on cursive."

                                                                                                      The Dinner List

There is a section in the Sunday edition of our local newspaper titled High Profile.   The front page is taken up with the picture and biography of someone who has accomplished good things, usually as a philanthropist, a politician or in their career.  Though the article can be a little lengthy at times, there is a small insert on the second page where the guest is ask several questions.   Almost always one of the questions is  "who would you like to invite to dinner?"  Do you know who you would invite?

Sabrina is urged, by her roommate, to put together a list of five people, living or dead, she would invite to a fantasy dinner.  The list is made and put away.  Fast forward ten years.  Sabrina shows up to her 30th birthday celebration to find the table filled with those from her list: a favorite professor, her dad, her boyfriend, her best friend and Audrey Hepburn.  Sabrina is confused, but as the night evolves the reason this dinner is taking place on this night becomes apparent.

The Dinner List is a bittersweet character and dialogue driven story of betrayal, abandonment, redemption and learning to let go.  Once the layers begin to peel away we discover the true reason this group is brought together.  I promise, Audrey does have a role at this dinner party.  Oh, there is a big OMG moment I did not see coming.

   Structuring a chapter, let alone a complete book around food can be a bit risky.  The story can stall and become a bit boring.  Rebecca Serle successfully keeps the story moving by alternating dinner conversation and events of the last ten years.

I received an early copy of The Dinner List from Flatiron Books and Goodreads for an honest review.  When I first began this book, I was a bit concerned, but soon became engrossed.   It may not make my top five list... it is a good read.

Have you made your dinner list?
Please share!

The Dinner List hits the bookstores September 11th.

Happy Reading Friends!

Oh, my list? 

My mother, my seventh

grade English teacher, Laura Bush,

Ann Lamont and my daughter.
(readers and writers)