Ho Ho Ho! To get us all in the Christmas mood, here are a few holiday reads from three prolific authors.
JoinedMarch 29, 2021
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Mary Louise Ruehr is a books columnist for The Portager. Her One for the Books column previously appeared in the Record-Courier, where she was an editor.
Family dramas make for some of the best reading. These books all tell great stories about daughters who lose their mothers, in completely different ways.
Get ready to turn the pages, because these books go quickly.
A good writer can make a bit of history read like a suspense novel. Both these books show how true this is.
Some recent family-oriented dramas pack quite an emotional punch.
These true-life stories let us escape, alongside the protagonists, from what could be described as “hell on earth.” They are accounts of almost unbelievable horror, relating the worst of what human beings will do to each other. A friendly warning: These books will affect you.
Two master storytellers have created recent works with strong characters, vivid settings, and engrossing mysteries. Each involves a uniquely American community of interesting, flawed people. These books aren’t just good; they’re great. I think both men and women will like them. And (hint, hint) they’d make great gift ideas for just about any reader.
When I was little, my mother had a big, thick book filled with gorgeous full-color plates of some of the world’s most famous paintings. Mom made me wash my hands before I handled it, and I would spend hours lost in the pictures, as if it were my own private museum.
I have three good novels for you, and they all happen to be set — at least partly — in southern Asia.
By now you know I’m a sucker for books about books, about bookstores, about libraries. Here are a few of the recent ones I enjoyed.
Who doesn’t love a good dog story? And I found some good ones!
CARE (Children Always Resisting Enemies) of Portage County is looking for donations and especially needs a bus or large (15-passenger) van for transportation.