Olivia’s Picks
Transitioning into the new owners of Litchfield Books has already been so much fun, my mom and I are absolutely loving it! I am so thrilled to have this bookstore as my forever career. Owning a family business is so important to my family and I, that’s why you’ll always see my mom, my dad, and sometimes even my husband in the store!
I have been quite busy at the store, and busy with author events, so I haven’t had as much time to read as I normally do. However, here are a few suggestions of what I have been reading lately:
NEW out today (May 4th)!
The Hour of the Witch, by Chris Bohjalian
This is a historical fiction novel that takes place around the time of the Salem Witch Trials, but in Boston 1662. Although the Witch Trials are happening in Salem, they haven’t quite started happening in this Puritan Village…yet. Mary Deerfield is married to an awful man, he is abusive, but living in a puritan village at that time there is nothing she can do. He is wealthy and gives her a status in the town, so she is in a better position than she would have been, had her family stayed in England. Forks and silverware are very new items in America. The people in her town view them as the devil’s spikes, but Mary knows they are just new utensils being used over in England. Things start to escalate quickly, she finds some of the forks spiked into her yard and her maid sees her taking them out of the ground accidentally assuming she was the one putting them into the ground as in some satanic ritual practice. Mary tells her maid of her innocence but the woman Is too caught up in the stories of witchcraft that she does not believe her and tells the townspeople. Mary finds herself on trial for witchcraft and she finds that her husband is doing everything he can to get rid of her. Mary’s fate is literally hanging in front of her, and she has to devise a plan to prove her innocence. This is my kind of book. Anything witchy, and anything set back in the 1600’s is my kind of read. Grab it off our favorites table to find out what happens to Mary!
Libertie, by Kaitlyn Greenidge
I am really enjoying this novel. It takes place in Reconstruction Era Brooklyn where a young girl Libertie, lives with her mother at their medical practice in a small all colored community. Libertie’s mother is a doctor, one of the very few African American female doctors. She uses her medical practice to heal the wounded and the men and women fleeing slavery. She uses her practice as a safe haven for African Americans escaping to the north in search of freedom, and most come in sealed coffins under the cover of the night. Libertie is young and wants to practice medicine like her mother, but her skin is too dark, and she knows this even at a young age, even with her mother (who has light enough skin to pass as a white woman) encourages her that things will be different. Libertie is slowly learning the ways of the world and the privileges she has of being free, but the dangers she faces for having dark skin. She wants to live a different life, she wants to fall in love and leave Brooklyn someday. Her journey will end up taking her to Haiti, and her story will start to come alive.
The Windsor Diaries, by Alathea Fitzalan Howard
This is a beautifully put together book of the diary entries of Alathea Fitzalan Howard, a close friend and confidant of Princess Margaret and Queen Elizabeth II. These entries start when Alathea is only 16 years old and she diaries about the fun times she has with the princesses skating on the lake at Frogmore, staying in the Royal Lodge, and what it was like to grow up with the princesses during WWII. She kept journaling up until her death in 2001. These entries give an inside look into the life and personalities of the Royal family. I felt like I was there, growing up with them. A wonderful book for the person obsessed with the Royal family, like me!
The Lost Village, by Camilla Sten
This book is not for the light readers. This is a fiction suspense novel that I would recommend to lovers of the eerie and lovers of Stephen King books. In the 1950’s an entire village in Sweden just disappeared. The only thing left of the people were there abandoned houses, a crying baby, and a woman stoned to death in the center of town. Present day Alice wants to discover the truth behind a 900 person disappearance. She grew up hearing tales of the town and the occupants from her grandmother who used to live in the town. Her grandmother’s mother and father and little sister were a few of those who disappeared. Alice is a filmmaker and takes her crew there to start filming a documentary and finally find out what happened to her family and the other people of the town. But when Alice and her crew arrive, things start to get out of control. There is a sinister presence there, and Alice is very unwelcome. This book will give you goosebumps, and you will want to keep reading until the end!
The Haunting of Ashburn House, by Darcy Coates
Another creepy, thrilling, spooky story. Adrienne is down in bad times, she is in severe debt from paying off her late mother’s medical bills, and her college tuition. She is a freelance writer with no place to live, so the letter she gets comes at the perfect time. Her Aunt Edith (who she doesn’t even remember) has left her home, Ashburn House, to Adrienne in her will. Adrienne jumps at the chance, assuming she lived in a quaint little house in the center of a friendly town. However, when she gets there she realizes things are not quite what they seem. They drive through the quaint friendly town, all the way past it about 20 minutes outside of the town to a large ancient home in the woods. She hears that the town thinks the house is haunted, and her Aunt was not very welcoming or friendly to the townspeople. As Adrienne settles in, she starts to realize there is something wrong. Everywhere a mirror should be in the house there is the sign “NO MIRRORS” carved into the wall. On the dining room table another message is carved into the wood, “IS IT FRIDAY LIGHT THE CANDLE”. Adrienne starts to wonder what happened in this house, and what made Aunt Edith so paranoid? She will soon find out…
Recipe for a Perfect Wife, by Karma Brown
I first read this book last year when it released in hardcover. I am a sucker for books with recipes inside, or books that have a plot centered around baking (see my last blog featuring The Kitchen Front). This book not only has that, but also has a suspenseful twist as well. Alice and her new husband move into a sweet brick home in the suburbs of New York. Soon they learn the house was built in the 50’s as were most of the surrounding homes, however their house looks like it hasn’t been updated SINCE the 1950’s; complete with the furniture, old fashioned fridge and stove. Alice isn’t sure she loves the old fashioned look, but her husband is so excited to be living the suburban family lifestyle she agrees on the home. Soon after moving in she finds an old cookbook in the basement with notes and recipes scribbled inside. Alice starts to try the recipes and become obsessed with the woman who once owned the cookbook. She finds out that it belongs to Nellie, the last owner of the home. But not only does it contain recipes, it also contains secrets, and reading into the recipes and adopting Nellie’s lifestyle is the only way Alice believes she can find out what actually happened to Nellie. With alternating point of views from Nellie in the 1950’s and Alice in present day, you will start to put the pieces together. I loved this book and I really enjoyed reading it.
Check out more of my suggestions and more on the store favorites by listening to our podcast, Litchfield Books THE PODCAST, accessible on the home page of our website!
Pub Date May 11th 2021
Mary Jane, by Jessica Anya Blau- A hilarious heartfelt novel about a naïve young 14 year old girl named Mary Jane who lives in a wealthy suburb in Maryland in 1975. She takes a job as the summer nanny for the daughter of the Cones family, a family who behaves differently than what Mary Jane would have thought. Mary Jane was raised in a proper and tight mannered household. The Cones are messy, they yell, they don’t wear bras, they walk around naked, and listen to music while belting it to the rooftops. Mary Jane loves the free and wild lifestyle that the Cones live, and is struggling to find her true self, all while hiding the true personality of her employers from her mother and father. When the Cones have famous movie stars come to stay with them for the summer while undercover, things start to go awry. I laughed and cried along with the characters while reading this novel! I only have 50 pages left and I don’t want it to end. From the music down to the shag carpets, I felt as if I was transported back to the 70’s. Absolutely fantastic, keep your eye out for this one!