MADreads

It’s the thing

January 20th, 2009 Molly - Central

It really is.  I’m talking about LibraryThing.  Have you ever used LibraryThing recommendations?  Praise be.  I cannot even begin to describe the reading miracle that occurred last summer when I searched recommendations for The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, which had been ruling my best read charts for 2008 (and all-time favorites for that matter) until it got edged out at the very last second by my new favorite book of the year, The Hunger Games (so heart wrenching! so surprising! so best of the year!).  But I digress. I have been reading books from that little list all year long and loving them: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski, The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry and The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett to name a few.  Then I clicked on The Lace Reader, and got a new list including Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen.  And the miracle continues.  What a good choice!

Garden Spells is primarily a family story about trust and accepting who you are and where you come from. And where Claire Waverley comes from is Bascomb, North Carolina.  And who she is is a Waverley.  And the Waverley women all have special talents.  In a genteel, southern hospitality kind of way.  Claire’s special talent is cooking up magical concoctions with the flowers and herbs that grow in the garden outside the family’s Queen Anne estate.  Violet white cake.  Rose petal scones.  Lavender bread.  You get the idea.  This book is sweet and hopeful and filled with magic: actual spells and the wonders of life variety.  Mary K. reviewed this title on MADreads in 2007 with some hesitations about the predictable ending, so I will spill the beans here: it has a happy ending.  And that is exactly what I like and expect (I actually feel cheated if I don’t get one).

From the Garden Spells recommendations list, I placed a hold on Allen’s new book, Sugar Queen and noticed a repeat of another favorite book read in 2008, The Thirteenth Tale.  And the web grows and grows.  A couple of titles were repeated on multiple lists, so I know I really need to read American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld next.  If you haven’t tried LibraryThing, it’s a fun way to keep track of what you’re reading and connect you with people who read the same things.  You can also get great suggestions from your librarian friends (I know I do on an almost daily basis) with Book-Alikes.  This service lets you list authors and books that you like or don’t like and a librarian will respond with some suggestions based on your criteria.  So many good things!

Entry Filed under: Literary Fiction, Romance