Lake Season

Finished February 15
Lake Season by Denise Hunter

This novel is the first book in a series at Bluebell Inn, in the town of Bluebell, North Carolina. Molly, Levi, and Grace Bennett are stunned whenever their parents are killed in a car accident. Their parents had been in the midst of plans to renovate their family home back to its early use as an inn. Grace was in her junior year in high school. Levi worked as a project manager for a construction company in San Francisco, and Molly was going into her final year of a hospitality degree, looking forward to a placement in Italy, something she'd worked hard towards, even learning Italian.
But Grace is determined to stay in Bluebell to finish high school, and so the siblings agree to take on their parents' project, finish the renovations of the inn over the winter to be ready to open for the season, and build the inn over a couple of years to make it a more appealing property for buyers.
The book then jumps ahead to near their opening time, with a young man, Adam Bradford showing up hoping for a room on the Memorial Day weekend, just in time to help Molly with the translation of some furniture kit instructions.
Adam is a writer, successful but not confident. He has chosen to write under a pseudonym to both protect his privacy and to create a safe space for his image of himself. He has chosen Bluebell as a spot for his new novel, on the advice of his mother, but is having an episode of writer's block, something he's never had until now. He only identifies himself as a researcher to Molly and her family.
At one time, the inn was used as a post office, and Molly discovers an unsent letter within the wall by the old mail slot. This sets her on a hunt for the sender and recipient, and she involves Adam as a research guide.
This had an interesting plot and I liked the characters of all three Bennett family members, and of Adam. There is a small town intimacy here, as well as a strong closeness between the siblings despite their differences.

The Elephant

Finished February 15
The Elephant by Peter Carnavas

This lovely little book is a great addition to any library with a children's section. It tells the story of a young girl, Olive, who lives with her dad and her granddad. Her mom died when she was very young, and she really only knows her through pictures. Olive can see that her dad isn't happy. He has a routine when he gets home, but he's really just going through the motions. When Olive looks at him, she sees a large grey elephant beside him, one whose shadow darkens everything around it. She knows that until the elephant goes away, he won't get better.
Olive's been thinking about this for a while, and she finally shares it with her friend Arthur who reads a lot and who knows how to listen. Arthur offers her some good advice, and begins his own reading about elephants to see if he can learn things to help her.
At school they are celebrating the school's 100th anniversary at the end of term, and all the children are asked to bring something old to show the others and share the story of. Olive wants to bring her bicycle, but her father has taken it to mend and still hasn't fixed it. Her granddad offers some options to her: a typewriter, and a record player, but while Olive enjoys them, they don't hold the same meaning for her.
Olive loves getting met after school by granddad, especially on the days he is wearing his purple backpack. On those days, she knows they will have some sort of adventure. But there are times when her granddad is sad too, and has his own grey creature by his side.
As Olive and Arthur work together to find a way to make the elephant go away, Olive also wants to help her granddad and thank him for providing the colour in her own life.
This is a great book to help kids understand when someone in their lives is struggling with depression. The use of the various animals brings the idea of depression to life in a physical way, and the way people work together to make things better for everyone shows that there is often a way forward past the depression.
The illustrations for this book are simple, yet show so much. From the jacaranda tree that Olive loves to sit in to think, to Olive, Arthur, her teacher, her dad, and her granddad, to the grey animals (especially the elephant with its tiny black top hat) and the various objects that play a role, the line drawings bring the story to life for young readers.
I loved it.

Secrets at Cedar Cabin

Finished February 14
Secrets at Cedar Cabin by Colleen Coble, read by Devon O'Day

This is the third book in a series, but the first that I've read. Bailey Fleming is working as a geriatric nurse in a seniors home in Michigan. She is still reeling from discovering her husband was already married, and then she gets the news that her mother has been murdered.
Bailey is mourning the sudden death of her mother, trying to figure out who would have killed her, and processing the aftermath of her fake marriage when she discovers that her mother had a big secret, and that someone is now after her with murder intended as well.
Bailey runs with only the bare minimum: the secret stash her mother left her, her handbag, and her cat. She is smart enough to hide her trail, and she runs to the cabin that her duplicitous husband gave her as a settlement to try to get her to keep her mouth shut about their relationship. It is several states away, in Washington, and when she gets there, the place has had the utilities shut off and is a mess.
She also discovers that she has an unexpected connection to the town of Lavender Tides, and as she begins to research her past, she also finds that the FBI are looking at her and her property as well.
This is a book with lots of secrets that need to be uncovered, with women being trafficked to high bidding renters and buyers, and with people who have faith that things will work out.
With a fast-moving plot, and interesting characters, I enjoyed the book, especially Bailey's cat Sheba, who is attached strongly to her.

My Heart Fills With Happiness

Finished February 13
My Heart Fills with Happiness / sâkaskinêw nitêh miymêyihtamowin ohci by Monique Gray Smith, illustrations by Julie Flett, translation into Plains Cree by Mary Cardinal Collins.

This small picture book was the TD Grade One Book Giveaway for 2019. It is told in both English and Plains Cree, with both languages together on the page. The story depicts a young girl and boy as they tell of the many things that fill each of their hearts with happiness, from people to activities to food and comfort. The illustrations bring these things to life, showing job and contentment in the children, their family members,
I loved the use of colour and the depiction of the indigenous people in a positive way that allows children to see themselves in a story. A fantastic choice.

Something To Remember You By

Finished February 12
Something to Remember You By: A Perilous Romance by Gene Wilder

This novella begins with a young American army medic experiencing the frontlines during the Siege of Bastogne in late 1944. Back in London, after recovering from his injuries, he is drafted into the intelligence service due to his quick thinking and his facility with languages.
While awaiting training and deployment, he meets a young woman, a Danish refugee, who is also working for the war effort. Their feelings for each other are strong despite their limited knowledge of each other. When she inexplicably disappears, he is relentless in his search to find out what happened to her, a search that coincides with his new deployment.
This story tells of an intense romance during wartime, and the risks and plots that the two engage in as they go undercover in German-occupied France.
I found it engaging and with nice touches of humour.

The Coldwater Warm Hearts Club

Finished February 10
The Coldwater Warm Hearts Club by Lexi Eddings

Lacy Evans has returned to her home town from the big city with her life feeling broken. She made some bad judgements there, and she lost her business and her fiance. She also still has a huge debt hanging over her due to the betrayal of the man she thought she could trust.
She can't handle living with her parents, so she takes an apartment that comes with a resident cat, one that doesn't seem to like her much at first. But she finds old friends, and a job that she can enjoy, and begins to settle in. Coffee shop owner Jacob Tyler seems different from the charming but flirtatious boy she knew, maybe partly due to his military experiences. Her ex-boyfriend Daniel Scott seems friendly, but what is going on with his marriage?
Lacy begins to get to know these people from her childhood as an adult, and finds more beneath the surface than she thought. When one of the locals noticed a need and responded to it with an offer of assistance, a group was formed, the Warm Hearts Club. The members identify needs and work together to meet those needs, whether it is for the basics of life, a little respite for a tiring caregiver, or a new way forward for someone who's been stuck in a rut for far too long. Lacy joins this community and finds herself considering a future in town, but her past has a way of coming back after her, and she might be in more trouble than she realizes.
I liked how every chapter had a quote at the beginning from one of the characters in the book. It gave me more insight into some of the more minor characters in a charming way.
A nice read.

Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss

Finished February 8

Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss by Rajeev Balasubramanyam

Chandra is a professor of Economics at Cambridge University. He is a very driven man, focused tightly on his job and his research. His wife divorced him a few years ago and remarried an American psychologist and lives in Boulder, Colorado. His son Sunny has succeeded in business in his own way, but not to Chandra's expectations. Sunny lives in Hong Kong. His daughter Radha has been estranged from Chandra for years, and he doesn't know what she's doing or where she is. He's put some pressure on his ex-wife and son to divulge information about her, which they haven't given in to. His youngest daughter Jasmine is a senior in high school and lives with her mother.
As the book opens, Chandra is up for a Nobel Prize, and is considered a favourite. But he doesn't get it. Shortly after, he is hit by a bicyclist in an accident and suffers a minor heart attack. His doctor advises him to take some time off, something Chandra gives into reluctantly, and he finds himself in California.
Through the book we gradually see how Chandra got to where he is now, and how his relationships with these people have developed. He is put into a situation where he admits some of these truths to those around him, and to himself.
My book club read this, and related to some of the family dynamics and ambitions shown here. We generally agreed that Chandra has a long ways to go in terms of mending relationships with his family, and with recognizing his own role in these relationships.