The Adults ~ Alison Espach At the beginning of The Adults, we meet Emily Vidal, a teenaged girl from a wealthy Connecticut suburb. The setting is a 50th birthday party for Emily’s father, Victor, and the entire neighborhood is there. Emily is a wry sort, making all sorts of internal observations about how absolutely dull it must be to be an adult. Then she and her best friend Mark spy her father embracing Mark’s mother, Mrs. Resnick. Later that night, Emily’s parents tell her that they are divorcing, as Mr. Vidal’s job is taking him to Prague, and Mrs. Vidal doesn’t want to go. Also, the affair. A few weeks…

These Silent Woods ~ Kimi Cunningham Grant Cooper and his daughter, Finch, live in a remote cabin in the woods. Their only human contact is an annual visit from Cooper’s friend, Jake, who brings them supplies, and a nosy neighbor, Scotland, who spies on them with his binoculars. When Jake doesn’t arrive and supplies are low, Cooper is forced to go into town. He worries that he and Finch will be recognized, an occurrence that would bring devastating consequences for their secretive way of life. Why did Jake not come? Why is Cooper so afraid that they might be discovered? Why does Scotland keep such a close eye on them?…

The Bright Years ~ Sarah Damoff Ryan Brighton is a child from a broken home. His mother takes him away from his abusive, alcoholic father, and raises him on her own. Ryan vows that he will not be like his father, starting with abstaining from alcohol. Lillian Wright was orphaned young, one parent killed by a drunk driver, the other from cancer. When she learns she is pregnant as a young adult, she decides that she isn’t ready to become a parent, and gives her baby boy up for adoption, a decision that she hopes was the right one, even as she aches with the loss. Ryan and Lillian meet,…

Abide With Me ~ Elizabeth Strout Tyler Caskey, a young minister in West Annett, Maine, is mourning the loss of his wife. He has two daughters, Katherine and Jeannie. Katherine is in Kindergarten, and is acting up at school and church. Jeannie lives with Tyler’s mother while he figures things out. Connie Hatch works as a housekeeper and helps with Katherine as well. It’s late 1959, and Tyler is struggling to make sense of his loss, to help his daughter through her grief, to guide his congregation, even as the gossip around town turns mean. Charlie and Doris Austin are congregants in the church, and Doris is the organist during…

Pictures from the Little Free Libraries that I pass on my walks. The picture at the top of the post is of the children’s garden in a nearby park, which is right next to one of the LFL. I am enjoying using them for part of my decluttering project, though I will donate some to our library as well. Do you have many Little Free Libraries near you? Do you enjoy straightening them out and making them look better? Do you make deposits and withdrawals?

Orbital ~ Samantha Harvey YOU GUYS – I LOVED THIS BOOK. 6 astronauts/cosmonauts from various countries and continents are floating 250 miles above the earth, scientists on the International Space Station. The Space Station orbits Earth 16 times in 24 hours, and Orbital is a one day, 16 orbit slice of life. Is there a plot? Eh. There is shit going on down on Earth and there are astronauts heading to the Moon, but none if it affects them directly in the here and now. Does a lot happen? A couple of things. Is this a gorgeous, quiet, beautifully written love letter to our planet? Absolutely. The inhabitants of the…