After the challenges of 2020, now is all the more reason you should take some time for yourself to relax and enjoy a good book. Fortunately, you have a great selection to choose from this month. 

From Queen Elizabeth’s 23 healthy lifestyle choices, historical fiction about Agatha Christie, a memoir by Jacqueline Winspear, a legal thriller by Michael Connelly, new short fiction by Nicole Kraus, and the humor of David Sedaris in “The Best of Me,” there is something for every reading taste.   

Pick up one of these delightful new books, put your feet up with a beverage of your choice, and savor the escape that only a good book can offer. You can also simplify your shopping and send one as the perfect gift to friends or family.  Happy holidays and happy reading!

NEW BOOKS TO READ FOR DECEMBER 2020       

Long Live the Queen by Bryan Kowlawski | Nonfiction

Long Live the Queen takes a fresh and fascinating look at how Queen Elizabeth II has stayed healthy and vital over her nearly 70 years on the throne. The author identifies 23 lifestyle choices that contribute to her longevity, and each chapter digs into why the “rules” work.

This book will be embraced by her majesty’s admirers, as well as by readers hoping to pick up  some tips for living a long and rewarding life.

Readers Recommend:

• Jane Austen Diet by Bryan Kowlawski
• What the Dickens?! by Bryan Kowlawsk
• Celebrations of Her Majesty’s 90^th Birthday by Tim Ewart

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict | Historical Fiction

Mrs. Agatha Christie was in the midst of a divorce when she disappeared for 11 days in 1926 and no one knows what really happened. The premise in The Mystery of Mrs. Christie is that she deliberately vanishes to ensnare her husband in a trap as payback for his infidelities.  Agatha forces the husband to follow her instructions to the letter in order to escape prosecution.

Readers Recommend:

• Murder On the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
• Then There Was One by Agatha Christie
• Lady Clementine by Marie Benedict

This Time Next Year We’ll Be Laughing by Jacqueline Winspear | Memoir

This Time Next Year We’ll Be Laughing is the story of a childhood in the English countryside, of a working class family with family secrets, of artistic inspirations and the price of memory. Winspear has written 16 mysteries, and for the first time, this book reveals the hardships and joys of her family history. The memoir captures her ties to the land and her dream of being a writer. The writing is lovely and elegant, rich in character, detail and history.

Readers Recommend:

• Masie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear
• In This Grave Hour by Jacqueline Winspear
• Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear

The Law of Innocence by Michael Connelly | NYT Best Seller | Crime Fiction

The Law of Innocence is a twisty legal thriller with an attorney who must defend himself against murder charges. Somebody framed him, plotting to destroy his life. He must figure out who really committed the murder and why to be completely exonerated. Then he has to go before a judge and jury and prove his innocence. This author has the remarkable ability to write courtroom scenes, looking at the personal motives driving all the players, (including the judge), making him a master storyteller.

Readers Recommend

• The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly
• A Time For Mercy by John Grisham
• The Sentinel by Lee Child

To Be a Man by Nicole Kraus | Short Fiction

The stories in To Be A Man feature male characters as fathers, lovers, friends, children, seducers, and husbands. This is a collection of ten globetrotting stories, each one a powerful dissection of the thorny connections between men and women. Each story struggles to understand what it is to be a man, what it is to be a woman and the arising tensions that have existed from the beginning of time. Every story is carefully crafted and deeply contemplative, leaving the reader with questions that linger long after the final pages.

Readers Recommend

• The History of Love by Nicole Kraus
• Man Walks Into a Room by Nicole Kraus
• Dark Forest by Nicole Kraus

The Best of Me by David Sedaris | NYT Bestseller | Humor

The Best Of Me offers a chance to view the development of David Sedaris into one of the great American humorists. It is a retrospective over the last 25 years, of 46 previously published essays in the New Yorker, beginning in 1995, and stories from nine earlier books. Several stories highlight how much his family means to him. Sedaris also expresses surprise and gratitude for his good fortune and his extraordinary accomplishments in his more serious moments.

Readers Recommend

• Calypso by David Sedaris
• Me Talk Pretty Someday by David Sedaris
• Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris