The Florist's Daughter by Patricia Hampl. Memoirist Patricia Hampl tells the very personal story of growing up in St. Paul, Minnesota, the dutiful daughter of a Czech florist and a wary, tale-telling Irish mother who imbues Hampl with her passion for words. In transcendent prose, Hampl speculates on why she never left home in spite of her black sheep tendencies: "nothing is harder to grasp," she writes, "than a relentlessly modest life."
A Journal for Jordan by Dana Canedy. Killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2006, First Sergeant Charles Monroe King left behind a 200 page manuscript for his infant son Jordan that forms the basis of A Journal for Jordan. Part memoir, part love story, A Journal for Jordan tells of King's relationship with his wife Dana, his love for the son he never knew, and Dana's fiercely honest account of her quest to find answers about her husband's death.
Julie and Julia by Julie Powell. Trapped in a go-nowhere job and yearning for more in her life, Julie Powell challenges herself to cook every recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking—all in the space of a single year. The result is a hilarious culinary memoir, true to Julia Child's indomitable spirit, about finding fulfillment—and a new life—through food.
The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry. Descended from a long line of Salem fortune tellers, self-proclaimed unreliable narrator Towner Whitney returns to Salem after a lengthy exile only to find herself drawn into investigating the mysterious disappearance of two women, a mystery that threatens to reprise shocking secrets from Towner's childhood.
Prayers for Sale by Sandra Dallas. Dallas brings readers to her home state of Colorado during the Great Depression, where 17 year-old Nit Spindle meets 86 year-old Hennie Comfort, whose front door boasts the sign "Prayers for Sale," something Nit desperately needs. The two create an instant bond and their friendship offers surprising twists and turns in Dallas' unforgettable tale.
A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick. Calling herself a simple, honest woman, enterprising Catherine Lord answers an ad for a reliable wife, planning all along to slowly poison her husband, leaving herself a wealthy widow. Soon we find that her new husband is not what he claims to be either, in this suspenseful and surprising gothic thriller set in 1907 Wisconsin.
Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall & Denver Moore. In this inspirational and gripping true story a modern-day slave and an international art dealer are bound together by a dying woman's faith.
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