4 Books in 4 Days; Or My Holiday Reading List

Happy Friday! If you're in the USA or UK, are you ready for the long holiday weekend? I am, even though we'll be celebrating by ourselves this year. No matter, because I have plans. Reading plans, that is.

I hope to read one book every day of the weekend, starting today. I'll also be queuing up a new audiobook, but I'll talk about that next week. Here's what's on my 4-day reading stack (in no particular order).


Unreconciled by W. Michael Gear (DAW, May 12): I really liked the first three books in Gear's sci-fi Donovan series, which takes place on an outpost planet. A hostile environment, strange creatures, tough women, politics, and sleazy bad guys all play a part. Gear's anthropology background colors the story about colonizing a planet that, of course, already has an indigenous population, even if those beings don't look very much like Earthlings. Lots of action, and not everyone is destined to survive. The audiobooks in the series have been wonderfully performed by Alyssa Bresnahan, who brings the characters alive and amps up the danger and action. I've both read and listened to the first three books and will probably listen to this one as a reread later in the summer.

Answer Creek by Ashley E. Sweeney (She Writes Press, May 19): I have a thing for stories about the Donner Party and about American pioneers who made the trek west for a better life. This book is about 19-year-old Ada Weeks, who is traveling to California on her own, though she is not without useful skills. The group, of course, becomes snowed in before they can cross the Sierra Nevadas and must find a way to survive the winter with no food and little resources. Sweeney doesn't sugar-coat or romanticize the journey or what it took to survive that snowy winter in the mountain pass. We've heard the stories of cannibalism, starvation, and dwindling hope and faith. Does Ada survive the winter and, if so, at what personal cost?

The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner (St. Martin's Press, May 26): This novel takes place in post-World War II England in the village of Chawton, where Austen spent her last years. When Austen's cottage is threatened by the current heirs to the estate, seven men and women form an unlikely alliance to preserve the home as a museum, honoring the author's work and life. Each member of the society harbors his or her own scars, sorrows, and burdens, but there is hope in their joint work. I'm a big Austen fan and am curious about this dual-level debut: first is Jenner's take on the author's life and books and second is following the stories of the characters who form the society. The audiobook is read by veteran narrator Richard Armitage, and I bet it's fabulous.

Beginning with Cannonballs by Jill McCroskey Coupe (She Writes Press, May 26): This novel focuses on race issues and civil rights during the last half of the twentieth century as experienced by two friends who drift apart as they become adults. Hanna's mother is the housekeeper for Gail's family, and thus the two girls grew up together in Knoxville, becoming--despite segregation--the best of friends. However, their interracial friendship doesn't survive after the girls are separated when Gail moves east. Through the years, as the two marry and raise children, Gail strives to maintain contact with Hanna and to reignite their childhood closeness, but the divide between them may be too wide to bridge. The themes of race, friendship, and possible reconciliation are what call to me here.