Favorite SFF Read in 2019

Learning made fun! For us wonks, anyway.

Art of Arranging Flowers

The Art of Arranging Flowers by Lynne Branard
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There are writers who tell a great story, and writers who put together wonderful sentences. There are my favorite writers, who do both. Lynne Branard is now on my favorite author list. With the literary talent of Alice Hoffman, the sweetness and humor of Sarah Addison Allen, and the wholesome storytelling of Debbie Maccomber, Branard still carves her own niche.

The Art of Arranging Flowers is a gentle, magical exploration of love and grief and the healing power of beauty. It's a sweet story of the smalltown flowershop owner whose appreciation of the special properties of flowers helps the love lives of all the town--who's been content to remain alone. And yet...twenty years after losing her sister, her heart starts waking up in unexpected ways, blooms in unsuspected places.

So, if you like a touch of lyricism, a smidge of mysticism, a peek into a quirky, quiet life, there's a lavish bouquet of love for you in The Art of Arranging Flowers.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to read the EARC of the book from the publisher and netgalley but it works out for them--now I have to buy the darn thing for my library. :)


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War in Ukraine!

The Winter Horses by Philip Kerr
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

More timely than the author and publisher could have known. I foresee some prize nominations. This book is magical and real, filled with love and death and hope. I was lucky to receive a review copy from the publisher, but I have just bought two copies to send as gifts. I wish I could see the author's note, for I am sure there is a personal connection for him somewhere.

At any rate: It's WWII. The Germans have invaded Russia. Young Kalinka is on the run after everyone in her village is killed by the Nazis. No one will take her in, for she is a Jew. Old Max lives in a cottage on a nature preserve (founded by a German). The horses, living history--the horses of the cave-paintings--take Kalinka under their wings, taking pity on her. Nazis come to the nature preserve.

War is a force that brings meaning to our lives--it reveals the worst and the best of the human character, and it's all on display here. Good and evil are everywhere, it's up to each of us to choose--and the natural world is caught up in  the drama, too. Story is a wonderful vehicle for not only thinking about these things, but feeling our way to what our own reactions and answers will be as we grow into our futures. There are a couple of places where the dialogue seems stilted and unreal (fictional!), but the story is meant to be mysterious and compelling, and it is. The author never plays it false with feeling.

Keeping it on my personal shelves for re-reading. Highly recommended. For middle-schoolers, I would read as a class and discuss or make sure my advanced reader had somebody to talk to about it.


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