Dallas’s Picks
I am so excited to be joining the staff here at Litchfield Books; and am eternally grateful to Olivia and Wendy for everything that they have seen in me and for the opportunity they have extended to me to get to come be a part of this beautiful store, and I look forward to seeing everyone as you are shopping this summer and finding that next great beach read or something to keep your mind twisting and turning. I primarily read a lot of dark psychological suspense novels and twisty mysteries; I read a lot of contemporary women’s fiction, historical fiction and even the occasional young adult novel- I like to switch it up; so, if there is something in those areas you’re curious about, please talk to me about them!
I have been a lover of books my whole life, from the time I was a little boy, I was handed a copy of Junie B. Jones by my first-grade teacher, I immediately read all 17 or 18 of those that were out already at that point, and then I never stopped reading from there. My favorite writers now are Elin Hilderbrand, Kristy Woodson Harvey, Emily Giffin, Lisa Scottoline, Megan Miranda, Shari Lapena, and Lisa Jewell; but that list could go on, and on, and on, and it would never stop. I have so many favorite books that I hold near and dear to my heart…but what I’m reading and recommending now is:
Under the Southern Sky by Kristy Woodson Harvey is still single handedly my favorite book of 2021; I cannot sing her praises high enough, I do not know how she continues to turn out such stellar work year after year, and it only gets better. It is a beautiful heartbreaking yet heartwarming tale of love, life, and loss, as Kristy examines what happens to frozen embryos once they’ve been deemed abandoned. Amelia is an investigative journalist, who uncovers that her childhood friend Parker and his late wife Greer, had a series of embryos produced and cryogenically frozen, and then Greer passes away before they can be used, and now they are going to be destroyed. Amelia must make that difficult decision of telling Parker that something must be done about the embryos before he loses this last piece of his greatest love.
Golden Girl by Elin Hilderbrand is a must read summer novel; it’s a beach book unlike any other. If you think you know where the story is going, I promise you do not. Vivi Howe is a bestselling popular Nantucket novelist who has written 13 books, and she dies on page one of the book where she ascends to the “Great Beyond” where she is assigned a Person named Martha who tells her “You know, what happened to you down there wasn’t really fair, so we’re going to give you a 90 day viewing window to look back on Earth and see what happens to your children and their lives, and you have the ability of using three nudges to change the course of the events.” Vivi uncovers her children’s deepest darkest secrets, all while they’re digging into her past and uncovering Vivi’s secrets of her own. It’s an emotional roller coaster of a book, but it will give you a sense of peace and closure if you’ve recently lost a loved one. It is a truly beautiful novel and I can’t speak more highly about it.
Last but not least, I’d love to recommend Megan Miranda’s new novel Such A Quiet Place, which JUST came out Tuesday July 13th; it is a dark psychological suspense thriller, set in a cozy quiet neighborhood called Hollow’s Edge, where one of the couples in the neighborhood has been murdered, Ruby, a fellow neighbor has been arrested, and sent to prison, and then she is released, because the police have decided they do not have sufficient evidence to hold up the charges, and she returns to Hollow’s Edge; and the novel is a slow burn mystery of everyone in the neighborhood wondering “Did she do it or did she not?” and if she didn’t, “Is someone else still living in the neighborhood a killer?” It’s a great whodunnit and fans of Megan Miranda’s twisty suspense like The Last House Guest, a Reese’s Book Club selection from 2019, should thoroughly enjoy this delicious read.
I can’t wait to see you all in the store soon!