June 26, 2026
My Friends by Fredrik Backman
Four friends spend the last summer of their childhood together, taking refuge from their brutal home lives, giving each other a reason to dream, to love, to go on. One of the teens paints a picture that turns out to be a true work of art. Twenty-five years later, another teenager with a desperate background is determined to discover the story behind the painting.
An old ocean pier, a place to make memories
November 16, 2023
Picasso's Lovers by Jeanne Mackin
Pablo Picasso changed women like some men change their clothes. Nobody was off limits, and he didn't care if he hurt his wife Olga or whoever was his current mistress. He looked upon these women as his muses, his inspiration, and if he was going to paint a woman, he was also going to have sex with her. When aspiring journalist Alan Olsen receives an assignment from an art magazine to write something new about Picasso, she gets more than she bargained for.
I really liked Mackin's previous book The Last Collection, about Elsa Schiaparelli and Coco Chanel. I didn't find this one quite so compelling, probably because I'm not a huge Picasso fan. I found the last third of the book to be predictable, no surprises here, and I found myself doing a lot of skimming. If you're a big Picasso fan or read only historical fiction, you'll probably enjoy this one. If you're a woman, you'll probably think Picasso was a real jerk who used women and then tossed them aside. Just saying.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.
Irene Lagut, an artist who was a contemporary of Picasso and also one of his lovers
November 2, 2022
Now is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson
Two misfit kids, Frankie and Zeke, are 16 and living in the small town of Coalfield. Their families are falling apart, since both fathers ran off with other women. It's summer, they're bored, so they decide to spend their summer break making art. They design a poster with a variety of images and a couple of nonsense sentences, make hundreds of copies, and hang up the posters all over town, just to see what kind of reaction they get. Everyone in town has an opinion, from cults to heavy metal bands. Then the poster spreads beyond their town, like it's taken on a life of its own. Twenty years later, a journalists unearths the truth about the poster and advises Frankie that she is planning to publish an article.
I read and enjoyed the author's previous book Nothing to See Here. I live in Chicago and I've seen similar art installations, hundreds of copies of a poster stapled to the wooden barrier around a construction site or on boarded up store windows, and wondered about the artist's intentions. The story is sweet without being cloying, and it starts out with a YA feeling but quickly evolves into so much more. The two main characters are so young, so lovingly created and so stunned at the consequences of what was basically the way to pass the summer months. Frankie's mom and brothers are wonderful characters, too. The ending was a little disappointing since the reader doesn't get to find out what happens when the article is published, but we know that Frankie and Zeke are all right. Be sure to read the author's note at the beginning about his inspiration for the story.
Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC.
July 15, 2022
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Hello - I've been missing in action for a while. I retired, I had a hip replacement, my sweet rescue dog Asia went to the Rainbow Bridge, etc. Life happened. All along, I've been reading, so I'm planning to reactivate my reading blog so I can inflict my reading taste on even more people (I already share them on GoodReads and NetGalley).
Sam and Sadie were childhood friends who bonded over illness and a love of games. After being estranged for many years, they meet again in college and decide to collaborate on a video game. With their friend Marx, they design and create several popular games. Over the course of two decades, they experience friendship, love, and loss.
I've read several of Zevin's books and I really enjoyed this one - so far, it's one of the best books that I've read this year. The main characters in this novel are young adults but it's not a YA book. It's also about gaming but you don't have to play games to enjoy it or connect with the characters. Even though I'm over 60, I play games online like many people do, so I understood the definitions about the different types of games and the abbreviations, although the terms are explained well enough for non-gamers to understand. (While I don't care for shooter or racing games, I do enjoy world-building games and puzzles - there is something out there for everyone.)
I highly recommend this title to anyone who enjoys contemporary fiction, well-developed characters, and a good storyline.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC.
