Tag: contemporary

The Restoration of Celia Fairchild

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Plot:

Celia is better known by her pen name, Calpurnia. She’s the author of the advice column Dear Calpurnia, and she makes sure to send a personalized answer to each letter written to her. When she finally gets an answer to a “Dear Birthmother” letter she sent out a while back, Celia is beyond thrilled about the potential to become a mom. One issue: she just got fired from her job, and can’t afford to live in her swanky New York apartment anymore. When she receives notification that she inherited a house in her hometown of Charleston, it seems like kismet. However, she hadn’t realized that the house would be in such poor condition. The Restoration of Celia Fairchild is a simply beautiful book about chosen families, letting go of the past, and making your own future.

What I loved most:

Oh, this book was just so sweet. Celia definitely has some trauma in her past that she has to figure out, but this isn’t a heavy book by any means. We get to walk along on this journey toward healing with her, and with the lovely people that she finds in her life. It’s a good reminder that while life may not always look like we planned, we can make our lives beautiful.

Read this book if you like:

Contemporary fiction, mid-life coming of age stories, small towns

Book details:

  • Author: Marie Bostwick
  • Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
  • Date of Publication: March 2, 2021
  • Interest Level: Adult

Revenge of the Red Club

~ rachelbenzine ~ Leave a comment

Plot:

At Hawking Middle School, after you get your period for the first time, you’re invited to join the Red Club. It’s an after school club that serves as a safe space for girls to support each other through having their periods, and also through all the complexities entailed in the lives of middle school girls. Riley has loved being a member of the club; however, when a parent complains to the school, the club is no longer allowed to meet. Riley and her friends decide to fight for their beloved club to remain open, and try to create a more positive environment in their school while they’re at it.

What I loved most:

Man, at the age these characters are at, having your period is just such a big deal. In our current culture, it’s also so stigmatized. Every woman has hidden a tampon in their sleeve for a walk to the bathroom at one point in their life. Yet periods are a natural thing, and literally half of the world’s population gets periods. I love the concept of girls these age coming together to support one another through this process, and to remove the stigma from this natural bodily process. Also, I’m HERE for teaching kids to advocate for themselves, and to fight for what they think is right. Middle school girls are going to love this book.

Read this book if you like:

Activism, social justice, being proud to be a girl, contemporary fiction

Book details:

  • Author: Kim Harrington
  • Publisher: Aladdin
  • Date of Publication: October 22, 2019
  • Interest Level: 5th – 8th graders

A Spy in the Struggle

A Spy in the Struggle cover
~ rachelbenzine ~ 1 Comment

Plot:

Yolanda Vance wasn’t planning on becoming an FBI agent. She’s a lawyer by training, and ended up at the FBI after her huge corporate employer got busted for being shady. When the Bureau assigns her to infiltrate an extremist group near the college she attended, saying no isn’t an option. Yet when she meets the group of teenagers that have been labeled extremists by the Bureau, and starts to fall in love with one of their adult mentors, she quickly realizes that not everything the Bureau had told her was true. But y’all, we all know that the Bureau wants their employees to stick to the party line… and when Yolanda starts questioning what she’s been told, she isn’t going to be safe for long.

What I loved most:

Sometimes, you just need to read a book with spies and double crossing and dirty government agencies. I generally don’t read many mysteries or thrillers anymore, because I 50000% get nightmares when I read things that are too dark. This was an engaging, well-written novel that satisfied my desire to read suspense without going way too far off the deep end.

Read this book if you like:

Suspense, spies, trying to figure out how you would handle a tough situation, social justice, activism

Things to be aware of:

There is explicit sexual content in this book. And while it’s not at a nightmare level, there’s definitely violence.

Book details:

  • Author: Aya de Leon
  • Publisher: Kensington Books
  • Date of Publication: December 29, 2020
  • Interest Level: Adult