Every
Note Played
Lisa Genova 321 pages published March 2018
An
accomplished concert pianist, Richard received standing ovations from
audiences all over the world in awe of his rare combination of
emotional resonance and flawless technique. Every finger of his hands
was a finely calibrated instrument, dancing across the keys and
striking each note with exacting precision. That was eight months
ago.
Richard now has ALS, and his entire right arm is paralyzed. His fingers are impotent, still, devoid of possibility. The loss of his hand feels like a death, a loss of true love, a divorce—his divorce.
He knows his left arm will go next.
Three years ago, Karina removed their framed wedding picture from the living room wall and hung a mirror there instead. But she still hasn’t moved on. Karina is paralyzed by excuses and fear, stuck in an unfulfilling life as a piano teacher, afraid to pursue the path she abandoned as a young woman, blaming Richard and their failed marriage for all of it.
When Richard becomes increasingly paralyzed and is no longer able to live on his own, Karina becomes his reluctant caretaker. As Richard’s muscles, voice, and breath fade, both he and Karina try to reconcile their past before it’s too late.
Poignant and powerful, Every Note Played is a masterful exploration of redemption and what it means to find peace inside of forgiveness.
Richard now has ALS, and his entire right arm is paralyzed. His fingers are impotent, still, devoid of possibility. The loss of his hand feels like a death, a loss of true love, a divorce—his divorce.
He knows his left arm will go next.
Three years ago, Karina removed their framed wedding picture from the living room wall and hung a mirror there instead. But she still hasn’t moved on. Karina is paralyzed by excuses and fear, stuck in an unfulfilling life as a piano teacher, afraid to pursue the path she abandoned as a young woman, blaming Richard and their failed marriage for all of it.
When Richard becomes increasingly paralyzed and is no longer able to live on his own, Karina becomes his reluctant caretaker. As Richard’s muscles, voice, and breath fade, both he and Karina try to reconcile their past before it’s too late.
Poignant and powerful, Every Note Played is a masterful exploration of redemption and what it means to find peace inside of forgiveness.
The
Great Alone
Kristin Hannah 450 pages Published February 2018
Alaska,
1974. Ernt Allbright came home from the Vietnam War a changed and
volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes the impulsive
decision to move his wife and daughter north where they will live off
the grid in America’s last true frontier.
Cora
will do anything for the man she loves, even if means following him
into the unknown. Thirteen-year-old Leni, caught in the riptide of
her parents’ passionate, stormy relationship, has little choice but
to go along, daring to hope this new land promises her family a
better future.
In
a wild, remote corner of Alaska, the Allbrights find a fiercely
independent community of strong men and even stronger women. The
long, sunlit days and the generosity of the locals make up for the
newcomers’ lack of preparation and dwindling resources.
But
as winter approaches and darkness descends, Ernt’s fragile mental
state deteriorates. Soon the perils outside pale in comparison to
threats from within. In their small cabin, covered in snow, blanketed
in eighteen hours of night, Leni and her mother learn the terrible
truth: they are on their own.
An
American Marriage
Tayari Jones 321 pages Published February 2018
Newlyweds
Celestial and Roy are the embodiment of both the American Dream and
the New South. He is a young executive, and she is an artist on the
brink of an exciting career. But as they settle into the routine of
their life together, they are ripped apart by circumstances neither
could have imagined. Roy is arrested and sentenced to twelve years
for a crime Celestial knows he didn’t commit. Though fiercely
independent, Celestial finds herself bereft and unmoored, taking
comfort in Andre, her childhood friend, and best man at their
wedding. As Roy’s time in prison passes, she is unable to hold on
to the love that has been her center. After five years, Roy’s
conviction is suddenly overturned, and he returns to Atlanta ready to
resume their life together.
This stirring love story is a profoundly insightful look into the hearts and minds of three people who are at once bound and separated by forces beyond their control. An American Marriage is a masterpiece of storytelling, an intimate look deep into the souls of people who must reckon with the past while moving forward—with hope and pain—into the future.
This stirring love story is a profoundly insightful look into the hearts and minds of three people who are at once bound and separated by forces beyond their control. An American Marriage is a masterpiece of storytelling, an intimate look deep into the souls of people who must reckon with the past while moving forward—with hope and pain—into the future.
Olive
Again,
Elizabeth Strout 293 pages, Oct 2019
Book
2 of Olive Kitteridge
Prickly,
wry, resistant to change yet ruthlessly honest and deeply empathetic,
Olive Kitteridge is “a compelling life force” (San
Francisco Chronicle). The New
Yorker has
said that Elizabeth Strout “animates the ordinary with an
astonishing force,” and she has never done so more clearly than in
these pages, where the iconic Olive struggles to understand not only
herself and her own life but the lives of those around her in the
town of Crosby, Maine. Whether with a teenager coming to terms with
the loss of her father, a young woman about to give birth during a
hilariously inopportune moment, a nurse who confesses a secret high
school crush, or a lawyer who struggles with an inheritance she does
not want to accept, the unforgettable Olive will continue to startle
us, to move us, and to inspire us—in Strout’s words—“to
bear the burden of the mystery with as much grace as we can.”
The
Book Woman of Troublesome Creek Kim
Michele Richardson 322 pages Published May 2019
The
hardscrabble folks of Troublesome Creek have to scrap for
everything—everything except books, that is. Thanks to Roosevelt's
Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project, Troublesome's got its very own
traveling librarian, Cussy Mary Carter.
Cussy's
not only a book woman, however, she's also the last of her kind, her
skin a shade of blue unlike most anyone else. Not everyone is keen on
Cussy's family or the Library Project, and a Blue is often blamed for
any whiff of trouble. If Cussy wants to bring the joy of books to the
hill folks, she's going to have to confront prejudice as old as the
Appalachias and suspicion as deep as the holler
Inspired
by the true blue-skinned people of Kentucky and the brave and
dedicated Kentucky Pack Horse library service of the 1930s, The
Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
is a story of raw courage, fierce strength, and one woman's belief
that books can carry us anywhere—even back home.
