You Love a Series, Part 3
Some of my faves have new books out
Hi friends,
Hope you are surviving this Monday morning. As expected, I had a fabulous time at Steamy Lit Con, where I was able to chat with Jasmine Guillory, caught a panel on pop culture references in romance novels moderated by Ali Hazelwood and watched Nikki Payne emcee a costume contest. Oh, and I came home with a suitcase filled with books.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been catching up on the latest books in some of my favorite series, so I thought I’d spotlight their first installments again to provide some more (gentle) encouragement to check them out.
And, now, what to read if…
You’re Looking for Your Next Family Read
Nic Blake and the Remarkables by Angie Thomas
If it’s time for another family book club read in you house, grab Nic Blake and the Remarkables. It’s the perfect book for grown-up Harry Potter fans and their kids.
Twelve-year-old Nic Blake is a Remarkable — a person with magical powers — living in the human world. Her dad, another Remarkable, teaches her the history of magic, but hasn’t yet shown her how to use her abilities. When Nic sneaks out to see her favorite author at a book signing, she accidentally sets off a chain of events that leads to her dad’s arrest, the discovery of a twin brother she didn’t know existed and a quest to find a mysterious magical tool.
Thomas uses her magical world to bring to life aspects of American history and African-American folklore in a way that appealed to my inner history nerd. What I really loved about Nic Blake and the Remarkables, though, is that it’s clearly in conversation with Harry Potter, a series that defined my childhood. Thomas establishes tropes, such as The Chosen One, and then carefully subverts them. I told my then-boss (Hi John!) to buy this for his Harry-Potter-obsessed son as soon as I finished it.
Book two, The Book of Anansi, came out in September and continues to build out a delightful magical world — complete with magic basketball league starring giants.
You Want Something Cozy
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
There’s something about fall that makes makes me want to curl up with a mystery, a cup of tea and a blanket. Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club an similarly oddball cast of characters working together to solve a murder (one of my favorite genres!). Each week, four residents of an upscale retirement village in the U.K. — a former nurse, a retired intelligence officer, an erstwhile psychiatrist and an ex-labor organizer — meet in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes. When a local developer is found dead under mysterious circumstances, they set out to aid the rookie detective assigned to the case, whether she wants their help or not.
Much like “Only Murders in the Building,” the joy of The Thursday Murder Club is less about solving the crime and more about spending time with a group of quirky, fun characters. Sarah Weinman, a mystery reviewer and true crime author, wrote in The New York Times, “In tough times of the past, many mystery buffs sought comfort more than darkness — Agatha Christie’s greatest sales, for example, began during World War II. It’s an understandable urge: As readers, sometimes we want our escapism to be a little gentler, a little less violent, unmarred by quite so much blood and gore.” If that’s you right now, check out The Thursday Murder Club.
Even if you watched the recent Netflix adaptation, it’s worth checking out the series. The fifth book just came out, and, like the previous four, it made me laugh and cry.
You’re Watching a Lot of Hockey
Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday
A few weeks ago, I walked past the Capital One Arena, where the Caps play, as the team’s Eagle mascot, named Slapshot, danced to LMFAO while on top of a truck. If you love hockey as much as Slapshot, check out Jenny Holiday’s Canadian Boyfriend, a romance starring a pro hockey player, Mike Martin, and his daughter’s dance instructor, Aurora Evans.
The title comes from a chance meeting Mike and Aurora had when they were teens. She worked at the Mall of America — in between a demanding ballet schedule — and he was in town from, yes, Canada for a hockey tournament. From there, Aurora began using Mike, her “boyfriend from Canada,” as an excuse to skip prom and other events. Their “relationship” allowed her to hide her intense social anxiety.
Years later, the pair meet again, as Aurora struggles with an eating disorder and Mike adjusts to life as a single dad after his wife’s death. As their relationship deepens, Aurora knows she should confess her secret, but the longer she waits, the harder it becomes.
The premise of this book made me nervous, but Holiday sticks the landing. The fake relationship takes a backseat to the real one Mike and Aurora attempt to develop while addressing some very serious baggage. I highly recommend the audiobook, which is narrated by Emily Ellet and Joshua Jackson (of “Dawson’s Creek” fame). I listened to it in a single weekend.
I recently finished the second book in this series, Into the Woods, which follows Aurora’s best friend Gretchen, whose plan to embrace singledom goes off the rails when she meets ex-rockstar Teddy Knight. It’s probably more accurate to call this a companion novel, since it can be read on its on own, but having the background from the first book gave it a little extra oomph.
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