Now Is Not The Time To Panic

 Now Is Not The Time To Panic was written by Kevin Wilson. The story starts off with Franky meeting a guy named Zeke when he asks her to help him catch the greased watermelon in the public swimming pool. Franky sends her 3 brothers to help by promising them twenty dollars. After that, Franky and Zeke, both 16 years old are friends. They hang out at Franky's house. They find an old copy machine in the garage. Zeke fixes it. They design a poster with an image of their two faces with an enigmatic phrase. They post 100 copies throughout their small town in Tennessee. The talk of the town is abuzz with speculation on who put out these posters. Some panic ensues. Neither Franky nor Zeke ever take credit for the posters. Now, twenty years later, a reporter calls Franky and starts asking questions. Franky decides to talk to Zeke after all these years of not speaking. I enjoyed this coming of age novel.

 

 

 

 

Leave The World Behind

 Rumaan Alam is the author of Leave The World Behind, a novel that has also been made into a movie. A loving couple and their two kids leave their home in the Bronx to rent an AirBnb on Long Island. On their 3rd night there someone knocks on the door at 9:30 at night. Turns out the owner of the AirBnb were attending an opera in New York City when the electricity went out everywhere. Their AirBnb still has electricity but the televisions don't work and the internet is down. The owners ask if they can move in with the family until things get figured out. The next day the daughter spots hundreds of deer in the backyard. The daughter and the son go running off into the woods. The son gets a tick bite. The next day the son falls ill. He is vomiting and his teeth start to fall out. The owners will lead the way to the hospital. And then the novel ends and I didn't know if the world had ended or what was going on.

 

 

By Any Other Name

 This is an unusual book for Jodi Picoult. By Any Other Name is a novel with two threads. In the 1500's Emilia Bassano is educated and witty. She writes plays. But women are not allowed to write plays. Instead, in order to support her family, she gives her plays to William Shakespeare and he prints them under his name. The performances are widely attended. In the current time, Melinda Green researches her ancestor Emilia Bassano. Melina is also a playwright. In college her work is disparaged. Ten years later, her play about Emilia, is turned into a contest with the name Mel Green. Melina has to get around the misogyny of the judges. Her play wins the award so the convinces her male roommate and friend to pose as Mel. I loved this story about how women can do beautiful work despite the prejudices of culture.

 

 

Full Moon Near Sugar Loaf Cove

 

Solito

 The author of Solito, Javier Zamora, was born in El Savador in 1990. His father fled to the United States when Javier was one year old. His mother left when he was five years old. He migrated to the United States, unaccompanied, when he was nine years old. This book is a memoir about his journey. The 3,000 mile journey was supposed to take two weeks. He was headed north through Guatemala and Mexico. His journey was much longer. Another man took Javier under his wing. Together with a mother and her daughter they pretended to be a family. When they finally made it into the USA they were caught by border agents and deported back into Mexico. This was a harrowing and emotional story to read. 

 

 

Fox Creek

The acclaimed author from Saint Paul, MN wrote Fox Creek. This is one of William Kent Kruger's series of tales about Cork O'Connor who lives near the Canadian border. Cork used to be a police officer but now he runs a burger joint. Less stress for him and his family selling burgers. One day a man comes in looking for help to find his wife. He knows Cork does some private investigation work. He claims his wife is having an affair with Henry. Cork knows Henry. Henry is 105 years old and a spiritual leader in the local tribe. Henry is also an uncle to Cork's wife. Cork goes to visit Henry where he also finds his wife and the missing wife.  When Cork shows the wife a picture of her husband on his phone she says that is not him. This starts an ordeal as 4 people come hunting for the wife. Henry leads the two women out into the wilderness for their own safety. Cork and other tribal police follow the hunters to assure the safety of Henry and the two women. This was a fascinating tale about survival in the wilderness.

 

 

Tom Lake

I listened to an audio version of Tom Lake by Ann Patchett. As a special treat the book was read by Meryl Streep who is a very good reader. In 2020 the 3 daughters of Lara come home to the Michigan cherry orchard to help with cherry picking. The three daughters ask Lara to tell the story of dating a now famous actor. When Lara was in high school a talent scout flew her from her east coast home in Maine to Hollywood for an audition. Lara ended up getting the part. After a couple years in Hollywood she flew to northern Michigan to work in a summer theater. This is where she met the actor and his brother and also her husband. After the summer theater Lara married the cherry orchard keeper and settled down to lead a happy life. The actor always remembered the cherry farm. He actually tried to buy it on a few occasions. Eventually his brother settled his ashes on the cherry farm.  Ann Patchett is  fine writer.