Reviewed by Whitney Lebron: What had me grab this book off the shelf was: a) it had Lowcountry in the title, and b) the line on the back saying, “Private Investigator Liz Talbot is a modern Southern belle: she blesses hearts and takes names.”. I decided right then and there to read this book. I was not disappointed in the slightest.
Reviewed by Mike Nelson | Under the Harrow {Flynn Berry) is an intriguing look at the relationship between two sisters, Nora and Rachel. Rachel is a successful nurse, living close to Oxford, an hour’s train ride from London. Her slightly younger sister, Rachel, has an ill-defined job in the city. On one of her many weekend visits, Nora arrives at Rachel’s house to find her sister brutally killed.
Reviewed by Jessica Smith | Penguin the Magpie: The Odd Little Bird Who Saved a Family is the true story of one family’s startling encounter with sudden loss and their subsequent journey to hope and healing. Cameron Bloom recounts his wife’s terrible accident, which leaves her paralyzed and feeling hopeless. As Sam – and her family – grapples with the hardships of her new life, her three sons find a severely injured magpie chick.
Reviewed by Melissa Hatch | Neil Gaiman has a knack for the creepy-crawly, and this book is no exception. He wrote one of my all-time favorites, “The Graveyard Book”, so I expected a lot. He did not disappoint. The story begins when a middle aged man returns to his childhood home for a funeral. He finds himself wandering down the lane to the home of a former friend, a girl named Lettie Hempstock. Remarkably the house is unchanged, as are the persons inhabiting it. Behind the house is a pond, which Lettie had once called an ocean. As he encounters these elements from his past, the memories come flooding back.
A mystery by Michel Bussi | On December 23, 1980, a plane flying from Istanbul to Paris crashed in the Jura Mountains on the border between France and Switzerland. All passengers and crew but one perished in the accident. A baby was miraculously thrown free of the wreckage and found by emergency crews.
A novel by Katarina Bivald
Reviewed by Whitney Lebron | Originally written in Swedish and translated into English, this debut novel by Katarina Bivald is heartwarming and endearing. Sara travels half way around the world from Sweden to Broken Wheel, Iowa, to meet her pen pal Amy, only to arrive and find out that Amy’s funeral has just ended. The townspeople of Broken Wheel take Sara under their wing, even though they find her love for books and reading a bit peculiar. Sara decides to open up a bookstore in honor of friend’s memory and to share the books she loves with the citizens of Broken Wheel.
A film review by Darryl Woods | In this overlooked indie film, Viggo Mortenson (who was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Actor for this role) plays the man who has been raising his six kids off-the-grid alone. When he discovers that his ill wife has passed, he takes his family across the country to confront his contentious in-laws.
Cary Jones: The basis of the hit television series Longmire, fans of author CJ Box should take note of the Longmire series by Johnson. Similar to the television series, the print version of Sheriff Walt Longmire is painted as a witty, charming, and brooding character.
A book by Anne Leslie Saunders
Reviewed by Andy Brack | A way to make history come alive is to visit places where it happened. If you’re into World War II history, an updated and expanded second edition of local author Anne Leslie Saunders’ guide to World War II sites in Italy and Sicily will serve you well.
Ladies, Women, and Wenches: Choice and Constraint in Antebellum Charleston and Boston
Nonfiction by Jane. H. Pease & William H. Pease
Reviewed by Marianne Cawley
This is an interesting book that compares and contrasts urban women’s lives in Charleston and Boston between 1820 and 1850. This was at a time when New York was emerging as the dominant port and financial center on the East Coast, bypassing both cities and challenging their economic survival.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina! (2019) by editor and publisher Andy Brack offers incisive commentaries on the American South, politics, the common good and interesting South Carolina leaders. Available exclusively for Kindle for $7.99. A paperback version will be ready soon. Learn more.
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