Books I read in the winter 2025

A Widow for One Year- by John Irving 11/10

I really love this book and I’m not sure why. The title is misleading in that the main character Ruth is only 4 years old and the title of the book doesn’t come into play until about 3/4 of the way through the book. In the beginning it’s about Ruth’s Dad, babysitter, and what happens to her mother in the aftermath of her brother’s death years before. The character development is what I think I loved most about this book. That and everyone in the book is a writer and I found it very interesting.

Alice I Have Been– by Melanie Benjamin 11/10

I LOVED this book. It’s the author’s take on how Alice in Wonderland came to be and it is just such a great story. The story goes back and forth between Alice at age 80 and reminiscing about her life and how when she was 10 years old she convinced a grown up friend to write a story he made up about her. The grown up friend makes Alice his muse and there are ramifications that affect Alice for the rest of her life. The whole book is so brilliant, engrossing, and heartbreaking.

The Fourth Hand– John Irving 9/10

I bought this book at a used book sale because I was having a John Irving moment after reading A Widow for One Year. The book is a little bit bizarre but I actually really liked it. The main character is television journalist that loses his hand after a lion attack. It interwaeves with the story of the surgeon who wants to perform the hand transplant and a wife in another state who wants to give her husbands hand to the journalist. It sounds a little crazy but was a really good book.

The Orchardist– by Amanda Coplin 11/10

This book was published in 2012 and unfortunately I cannot find anything else by this author because this book was so damn good. My Mom gave it a 10+ and has read it like 2 or 3 thmes. My Dad even read it and gave it a 10. It’s set in the Pacific Northwest at the turn of the century. This story is about a man who owns a small orchard and comes across 2 very scared pregnant teenage girls who are on the run. When people show up looking for them it sets the course for tragedy and irrevocable actions that change everyboies lives forever.

Baker Towers– by Jennifer Haigh 10/10

This is one of my favorite authors. This book is set in a western Pennsylvania mining town in the years during and after WW2. It is the same town from her book Heat and Light about the Marcellus Shale gas wells but many years before. It’s a family saga about the 5 Novak children who were born and raised in the mining town. It is such a great book and I think I liked it even more because I grew up in a mining town in Southwestern PA.