Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

Dreams of Falling by Karen   White My rating: 4 of 5 stars Part mystery, part coming of age story, part "you can't go home again" (or can you?) story, Dreams of Falling had me enthralled from beginning to end. The story shuttles between 1951 and 2010 and centers on Margaret and her friends CeeCee and Bitty in 1951 and Margaret's granddaughter Larkin in 2010. Larkin left Georgetown, South Carolina, right after her high school graduation nine years earlier because of an embarrassing moment involving the school's star quarterback and her best friends, twins Mabry and Bennett. For all intents and purposes she never looked back until her mother disappeared. She finds her mother Ivy unconscious at her family's dilapidated mansion. As Larkin, CeeCee, Bitty and others wait for Ivy to regain consciousness they also revisit the past, remembering and/or discovering what brought them to where they are now. I loved or liked most of the characters -- and I'm sure no

Two author interviews: One with a living legend and perrenial best seller; the other with a first-time novelist. Listen here .

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman Eleanor is so eccentric and lovable I just want to hug her but, undoubtedly, she would not understand why. And her perceived reasoning as to why I would want to hug her would probably be hilarious. Eleanor is a loner, partly by choice, partly because of her eccentricities. But when she encounters a singer in a band she believes he's "the one" and makes a plan to make herself irresistible to him when they finally meet. The descriptions in the steps she takes to meet her goal are so funny it was hard for me not to laugh out loud. In fact, I did laugh out loud more than once. She also befriends Raymond, the IT guy at her workplace. He's just an ordinary, average-looking, normal guy who "gets" Eleanor. Most of the time. Even when he doesn't, he still comes back for more. Throughout the book we learn, bit by bit, that Eleanor endured a traumatic childhood involving a mother who abused her physically and

Chautauqua Institution is delighted to announce The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir (Flatiron Books), by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich, as the 2018 winner of The Chautauqua Prize. As author of the winning book, Marzano-Lesnevich receives $7,500 and all travel and expenses for a summer residency at Chautauqua from Aug. 1 to 6, 2018. A public reading will take place at 3:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 3, in the Hall of Philosophy on the Institution’s grounds. Marzano-Lesnevich said she was honored to receive The Chautauqua Prize, and “that the award comes from an institution with such a long history of creating space for rigorous, rewarding interdisciplinary and cross-genre dialogue makes it particularly meaningful at this moment in our national history, with our urgent need for socially engaged art.” “I very much look forward to attending the Institution this summer, and to all the rich conversations that will unfold there,” Marzano-Lesnevich said. Chautauqua Institution

I've Got My Eyes on You by Mary Higgins Clark Mary Higgins Clark's books have always been quick, easy reads for me. This one was no exception. I thought I had figured out fairly early on who killed 18-year-old Kerry Dowling, but there was just enough misdirection and redirection to keep me guessing. The part of the storyline involving Kerry's mentally challenged neighbor was interesting, especially the scenes with his mother -- but I don't want to give away too much. I'm amazed that age 90 MHC still wants to write, and thankful that she can. View all my reviews My apologies to the lovely Mrs. Clark for not posting this sooner.