Gentle Reads
These titles are perfect for readers looking for a good nonviolent story with characters who have positive values.
Arsenic and Adobo : A Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery.
Manansala, Mia P.
2021
When Lila Macapagal moves back home to recover from a horrible breakup, a notoriously nasty food critic (who happens to be her ex-boyfriend) drops dead moments after a confrontation with Lila, her life quickly swerves from a Nora Ephron romp to an Agatha Christie case. With the cops treating her like she's the one and only suspect, Lila's left with no choice but to conduct her own investigation. Armed with the nosy auntie network, her barista best bud, and her trusted Dachshund, Longanisa, Lila takes on this tasty, twisted case and soon finds her own neck on the chopping block. Print run 35,000.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Shaffer, Mary Ann, author
2008
As London is emerging from the shadow of World War II, writer Juliet Ashton discovers her next subject in a book club on Guernsey--a club born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi after its members are discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island.
The lace makers of Glenmara : a novel
Barbieri, Heather Doran, 1963-
2009
Fleeing for Ireland in the wake of a failed relationship, fashion designer Kate Robinson finds herself in a coastal Gaelic village and bonds with the members of a lace-making society, through whom she finds healing by listening to their stories of loss and suffering.
The love story of Missy Carmichael
Morrey, Beth, author
2020
The world has changed around Missy Carmichael. At seventy-nine, she's estranged from her daughter, her son and only grandson live across the world in Australia, and her great love is gone. Missy spends her days with a sip of sherry, scrubbing the kitchen in her big empty house and reliving her past - though it's her mistakes, and secrets, that she allows to shine brightest. The last thing Missy expects is for two perfect strangers and one spirited dog to break through her prickly exterior and show Missy just how much love she still has to give.
Major Pettigrew's last stand : a novel
Simonson, Helen
2010
Forced to confront the realities of life in the twenty-first century when he falls in love with Pakistani widow Mrs. Ali, Major Pettigrew finds the relationship challenged by local prejudices that view Mrs. Ali, a Cambridge native, as a perpetual foreigner.
Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe
Webber, Heather S., author
2019
Nestled in the mountain shadows of Alabama lies the little town of Wicklow. It is here that Anna Kate has returned to bury her beloved Granny Zee, owner of the Blackbird Cafe . It was supposed to be a quick trip to close the cafe and settle her grandmother's estate, but despite her best intentions to avoid forming ties or even getting to know her father's side of the family, Anna Kate finds herself inexplicably drawn to the quirky Southern town her mother ran away from so many years ago, and the mysterious blackbird pie everybody can't stop talking about. As the truth about her past slowly becomes clear, Anna Kate will need to decide if this lone blackbird will finally be able to take her broken wings and fly.
Oh my stars : a novel
Landvik, Lorna, 1954-
2005
A road novel, a cultural history, and a love story, this extremely compelling novel is, above all, a celebration of an unusual woman who finds the courage to finally be herself.
The Seaside Café
Alers, Rochelle
2020
"For three decades, the Seaside Café has served delicious meals to locals and island tourists alike. Kayana Johnson has moved home to help her brother run the café - and to nurse her wounds following a deep betrayal. Between cooking favorite recipes - creole chicken with buttermilk waffles, her grandmother's famous mac and cheese - and spending time reading, Kayana is trying to embrace a life free of entanglements, while staying open to new connections . . .After striking up conversation with two customers, Kayana suggests a summer book club. Each week, they'll meet on the patio to talk about their favorite novels. But there are plot twists awaiting them in real life too. For schoolteacher Leah, this two-month sojourn is the first taste of freedom she's had in her unhappy marriage. Cherie, filled with regret about her long-term affair with a married politician, discovers a powerful new passion. And Kayana finds a kindred spirit in a reclusive visitor who's ready to make his true identity known, and fill this summer with new possibilities . . ."--Publisher.
The single ladies of Jacaranda Retirement Village
Nell, Joanna
2019
The life of 79-year-old pensioner Peggy Smart is as beige as the décor in her retirement village. Her week revolves around aqua aerobics and appointments with her doctor. Following a very minor traffic accident, things have turned frosty with her grown-up children and she is afraid they are trying to take away her independence. Noticing her memory isn't what it used to be, Peggy is taking ever more inventive steps to cover up her dwindling faculties. The highlight of Peggy's day is watching her neighbour Brian head out for his morning swim. She dreams of inviting the handsome widower - treasurer of the Residents' Committee and one of the few eligible men in the village - to an intimate dinner. But why would an educated man like Brian, a chartered accountant no less, look twice at Peggy? As a woman of a certain age, she fears she has become invisible, even to men in their eighties. But a chance encounter with an old school friend she hasn't seen in five decades - the glamorous fashionista Angie Valentine - sets Peggy on an unexpected journey of self-discovery.
