Bookclub books for all
Our Souls at Night, native son Kent Haruf’s final masterpiece, features a paean to older love in fictional Holt, Colorado. Both Addie and Louis lost their partners years before and finally work up the courage to offer one another the second chance they each deserve. Unexpected obstacles, their own histories as well as adult children, challenge them to find mutual fulfillment for their lives. Haruf’s only book written at breakneck pace to complete an elegy for the finish of his own existence.
A tale of love late in life, Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson throws a traditional, conventional Englishman into the excitement of a relationship with Jasmina, a Pakistani shopkeeper. Their shared love of literature and the loss of their respective spouses give them common ground, while village society tsks-tsks over the goings-on. You’ll laugh, cry, cheer as they struggle toward the ending they so richly deserve while enlightening their neighbors about modern society.
The Nickel Boys. Set against the unrest and violence of the 1960s civil rights movement, Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel shines a light on the systemic racism and physical abuse at a Florida “reform” school. For idealistic Elwood, sent there through no fault of his own, Nickel Academy becomes a house of horrors. Based on a true story, this is compelling, powerful writing (with an unexpected ending) from a master storyteller.
Cleo McDougal Regrets Nothing. (Allison Winn Scotch) Complicated, ambitious, and not entirely likable, Cleo has made her career top priority at the expense of a personal life. At 37, the junior senator from New York is contemplating a presidential run when an old friend rips her in an op-ed as “not a good person.” What follows is a media blitz of damage control, forcing Cleo to unearth her life’s regrets and repair old relationships. A sharp, witty look at female political power.
(Author Kathleen Duhamel writes humorous contemporary romance featuring “seasoned” characters. Her newest is Fed Up. https://www.kathleenduhamel.com/ Author Bonne McCune’s latest is Never Retreat, a suspenseful romance in Colorado’s wilderness. https:// BonnieMcCune.com)
