Sandy’s Selections: Best New Books for Holiday Reading
Every month, Sandy Dominy presents us with an assortment of the best new books, and suggests similar reading you might enjoy. Let’s take a look at the novels, biographeis and non-fiction selections that can take you through any holiday downtime.
The Reckoning is about a murder that takes place in the first chapter with the question of motive as the very suspenseful driving force for the balance of the book. As a master storyteller, Grisham mixes up the mystery of the murder and the challenges of the court room in great style and the book is unlike anything he has written before. Buy it here.
The Husband Hunters is the story beginning in 1874, the year Jennie Jerome, the first known “Dollar Princess,” married Randolph Churchill, to 1914, when over a hundred young American heiresses married into the British aristocracy. They brought with them fabulous riches, glamour and sophistication in exchange for titles and prestige. The inspiration for Downton Abbey. Buy it here.
The first comprehensive biography – private, public, legal, and philosophical – of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second woman appointed to the Supreme Court. A tremendous number of new, fascinating details are included about this tiny, titanic, 85-year-old that has been dubbed the “Notorious RBG,” make it a must read for all her fans. Buy it here.
Masterfully written and well documented, this is a richly detailed examination of Ronald Reagan from cradle to grave. Spitz’s writing style makes this an enjoyable read. The portrayal of the first lady, Nancy Davis Reagan, is particularly sophisticated. Her political judgment proved to be shrewd as she insisted on making “world peace” the legacy of the Reagan presidency. Buy it here.
The main character of Unsheltered is a house, where two families lived, one in modern 2017 and one in the 1870’s. The old house is literally falling down, leaving them “unsheltered”. In both stories the characters are left exposed in broader ways, too, as their dreams and expectations about the lives they long assumed they’d lead are stripped away. Both stories end hopefully after the families are forced to conclude that they will have to find new ways to live. Buy it here.
Washington Black is part adventure, part travelogue, part historical fiction, a story about a boy who rises from the ashes of slavery to become a freeman of the world. The book talks about history and human nature in the form of a very imaginative allegory. Read this book for a good story, for a bit of wonder, or a good dose of thought provoking narrative! Great writing style! Buy it here.
Thirst is the story of redemption, compassion and a mission to bring clean water to everyone on the planet in our lifetime. This is an open, honest accounting of all it has taken to establish “charity: water” as a worldwide organization that has raised over $300 million. This book is a feel good, inspirational read with proceeds from the book going to “charity: water”. Buy it here.