Staff Recommendations, Week of January 25, 2022

 

Is it that time once again? 

It is that time once again! Your favorite Boswellians return with their staff recommendations for books coming out this week. We loved 'em, and we hope you will, too. Let's get to it.

We begin with Daniel Goldin, who has a new write up for the new version of former Boswellians Sharon Nagel and Jocelyn Cole's novel Shady Hollow, written under the penname Juneau Black. Daniel says: "What is Shady Hollow? It’s Watership Down meets Jane Marple, where the investigative reporter is a fox, the bookstore owner is a raven, the bears run the police, and the restauranteurs include a moose and a panda. In this first installment, a cranky toad is found in a nearby pond, stabbed in the back. Who would want to see him dead, besides just about everybody? I’ve been championing this book since its original limited publication, and I’m thrilled to see it released by Vintage Crime. It’s got everything a cozy mystery series should have except the recipes - a engaging cast of characters, sparkling wit, a clever story, and a hint of romance. And honestly, I wouldn’t mind getting the lowdown on those delicious blueberry muffins."

Kay Wosewick has a YA recommendation for us: At the End of Everything, by Marieke Nijkamp. Kay says: "When a deadly pandemic spreads rapidly through the US, who cares about troubled teens in a remote treatment center? Not the warden, the guards, or the mental health specialists; not a single employee. Left alone, the teens quickly divide into two camps: those who head out to escape their Arkansas ‘prison,’ and those feel safer staying at the center. Nijkamp has crafted a suspenseful story of teens who rise to new challenges and others who sink to new lows."

And our recommendations for a book getting its paperback release this week:

Daniel Goldin returns with his recommendation of The Five Wounds by Kirstin Valdez Quade, one of our favorite books of last year, now in trade paper. Daniel says: "The story opens with Amadeo, a struggling, chronically unemployed man being chosen for the part of Jesus in the Penitente ritual during Holy Week in a small New Mexico town. It doesn’t go well. And over the course of the year, the Padilla family confronts one setback after another - matriarch Yolanda’s cancer, Amadeo’s daughter Angel’s struggles at the education center for teenage moms, and any number of slights over the years that have divided husband from wife, parent from child, and brother from sister. The slights and betrayals keep coming, leaving no time for Yolanda to reveal her diagnosis. The thing about Kirstin Valdez Quade’s debut novel, though, is that the characters are suffused with such grace (and the writing is so beautiful) that it’s impossible not to keep going, as I hoped that somehow the characters would break through the barriers not just of misunderstanding, but of everything stacked against them. Like maybe that window repair kit would actually work. It’s hard to conceive that The Five Wounds won’t be one of my favorite books of 2021." (Editors note: it was one of his favorites!)

This one also gets the Jen Steele treatment. Here's her rec: "A poignant novel set in New Mexico, The Five Wounds follows the lives of the Padilla family: 33 yr. old Amadeo, his pregnant 15 yr. old daughter, Angel, the family matriarch Yolanda, and Tio Tive, who has initiated Amadeo into the hermandad and casted him to portray Jesus in their reenactment of the crucifixion. Jobless, living with his mother, and estranged from his teenage daughter, Amadeo searches for purpose and perhaps redemption. His daughter Angel has shown up unannounced and eight months pregnant, and Yolanda returns home with a life-altering secret. Amadeo and Angel’s fragile relationship starts to mend as they navigate through daily life and welcome the newest member into the family. Kirstin Valdez Quade tells a captivating story about family, loss, redemption and the power of faith. I could not put this book down! You will laugh, cry, get angry, and want to hug these characters. Masterful storytelling! 

And if you'd like something to occupy an hour while you hide inside from the snow and cold, check out The Five Wounds author Kirstin Valdez Quade's virtual visit to Boswell from last year - it's great!