When I sat down to look at my reading options at the start of the month I was almost dizzied by the possibilities! After tackling my summer reading project I’d almost forgotten how many other options I had (and of course how many new books were at the library). I have also now signed up for a second book club so two of my monthly reads were not chosen by me, but as usual they still offered plenty on their pages. 

Varina Palladino’s Jersey Italian Love Story by Terri-Lynne DeFino is a lovely read about a New Jersey family (first, second, and third generation Italian immigrants) just trying to make their relationships and businesses work and maybe, just maybe, find a bit of happiness. The novel is sold as a family trying to find love for their widowed mother but the reality is this is a book about the whole family trying to find love. It does a great job building up all of the characters so by the end of the novel it feels like a real, messy, imperfect family doing their best with what they have. Each character makes a mistake, makes a sacrifice, and learns a lesson all while eating really well (by the end of the book I was so jealous of the food I did have to go to my own local shop and get some fresh pasta and homemade sauce.) DeFino also offers plenty of insight into the language of her own Italian immigrant family for a dash of mini-memoir in between each chapter. 

Foster by Claire Keegan was originally published as a short story so it’s no surprise I finished it in one sitting. Keegan’s work is so powerful because she uses every word, every piece of punctuation carefully. And she trusts her readers to follow her rather than over-explaining her characters and their feelings via intense monologue or long descriptions. It’s a simple story full of deep emotions and I loved it.

My Antonia by Willa Cather was our classic choice for book club and we all loved it. It follows the life of a young boy and his community in late nineteenth – early twentieth century middle America. One description from our book club discussion summed it up perfectly: a slice of life novel. You spend time with Jim and his friends as children and learn over the years the trials and tribulations faced by both our main character and his childhood friend, an immigrant from Eastern Europe, Antonia (Tony) and both of their families. When it was published, Cather’s focus on the lives and work of several young immigrant women was highlighted and it’s easy to see why; they have varied backgrounds and all take different paths to show just how mixed the immigrant experience was in America. There’s drama and cruelty but balanced with community support so it never tips too far in either direction. The strong core of the book is the lifelong friendship of Jim and Tony, even as their lives grow miles apart and they go years without seeing each other, they never really forget each other. 

Fire in the Blood by Perry O’Brien is a short, intense novel about a soldier investigating the death of his estranged wife. It is set in the early 2000’s, following 9/11 and the US invasion of Afghanistan and there is a lot to the novel; feelings about the war and its impact, storylines about the drug problems in America, police corruption, lack of support for soldiers and veterans. However, trying to cover so much in such a short novel did make it a bit disjointed. I liked the fact that these issues were set in line with a more recent war, to show the harm continues rather than lives in the past, but it’s definitely dark and violent so keep that in mind if you pick it up. 

Two Wings to Fly Away by Penny Mickelbury was another book club choice and I struggled to connect a bit with the characters because they felt a bit out of the time of the novel. It is 1856 and our main character, Genie, escaped slavery years ago and has set up a new life in Philadelphia rescuing others and looking after those who make it out. She is so strong and well rounded at the start there isn’t much growth to her but she inspires plenty of other characters to develop. Mickelbury provides a large cast of characters in the novel of those on the side of slavery, those fighting to end it, and everyone in between. Genie is a fighter and her strength is the real core of the work. Mickelbury is a playwright as well as a novelist and sometimes the book does feel a bit more like a script so it’s definitely a unique work. There were some issues with the setting (mistakes in descriptions of famous landmarks of the city an author has chosen as their setting often irks me, maybe more than it should, but it can be hard to overlook) however, when someone in my book club mentioned feeling like it was a book about modern issues set in an earlier time to show how long they have gone unsolved and inadequately addressed really sharpened the book and made me appreciate it more. 

The Cloisters by Katy Hays is a quick, dramatic read about murder in the museum. Ann arrives in New York for a prestigious internship at the Met museum only to end up in the smaller and more isolated medieval Cloisters museum. There’s plenty of intrigue and scandalous reveals, and a slight hint of mysticism, but I will say I was able to guess just about every twist and turn which is saying something since I am not normally a plot-twist-Sherlock. The real highlight is the strange relationship at the core of the book between Ann and Rachel, another young woman trying to make it in the world of dark academia… 

Now that the weather is turning cooler and the sun is going down earlier I’m still enjoying the last few weeks of outdoor, fresh air reading. But the next season, full of warm drinks, candles, and cozy blankets is on its way and I’m pretty excited for it. What’s on your fall reading list friends?