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Gayle Forman is best known for her young adult books, especially her biggest best seller, If I Stay, which was made into a film. Leave Me is her first foray into the adult market, and I, and anyone else who reads it, will be very glad indeed.

Maribeth Klein is, I’m sorry to say, what we often think about when we think about 44-year-old working mothers. You know, the ones who have good jobs that force them to work more than 40 hours a week, and still keep up with all the household stuff like bills and shopping, and all the child care stuff. Not to disparage all those amazing husbands out there, my own included, who do half the parenting, we all know there are those who do not. And such is the case here.

Jason is a good husband and he helps out as best as he can. He’ll do whatever Maribeth asks of him, but she has to ask, and sometimes it is just easier to do it yourself. With pre-school age twins, it is particularly daunting. It is during a particularly stressful day that Maribeth suffers a heart attack; but she is so busy, and the symptoms for women are so different than they are for men, that it takes her about 24 hours to even notice. And even then, the only reason she ends up in the emergency room is because at her annual ob-gyn appointment, her blood pressure is really low, and they send her.

Under observation at the hospital, she learns she needs a stent, but due to complications ends up with a double bypass. We travel with Maribeth through this whole process, and it is engaging and emotional, especially for me. My husband had bypass surgery when he was 48 years old, so I was fascinated by this storyline plus it brought back a very painful time in my life.

After a week in the hospital, and a week at home, Maribeth’s family figures she is ready to take on everything again. And she tries, but she is exhausted. Truly exhausted down to the bone. Finally, she just snaps. She goes to the bank, withdraws a ton of cash, leaves her laptop and cellphone at home and takes off.

She ends up in Pittsburgh, where she was born. Maribeth was adopted and never really cared to find her birth mother. But the health issues changed that. She rents a small apartment, finds a local cardiologist who will take cash, and truly starts her recovery, part of which is finding her health history through her birth mother. And her relationship with her husband needs serious work, which in this case, is best done at a distance.

Forman has a real knack for creating characters that leap off the page and into life. This look at the leading killer of women, yes, more than breast cancer, is important. The exploration of a marriage is always interesting, and Forman does a really credible job here. This was a one night read for me, I couldn’t put it down. Don’t miss it.

Learn more about heart disease in women from Go Red for Women: “Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, causing 1 in 3 deaths each year. That’s approximately one woman every minute!”

9/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

LEAVE ME by Gayle Forman. Algonquin Books (September 6, 2016).  ISBN 978-1616206178. 352p.

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Olivia Rawlings is not having a good day. She’s an award winning pastry chef at an exclusive private club in Boston and is having an affair with her married, much older boss. As she presents a flaming Baked Alaska to the crowded dining room, she sees her boss with his wife and somehow manages to drop the flaming dessert and sets the place on fire.

Refusing to hang around to be fired, she escapes to the small Vermont town of Guthrie, where her best friend Hannah lives. Hannah is thrilled to see her, and finagles her into taking a job at the small B&B. The job comes with a place to stay, and Olivia decides to try it.

Margaret Hurley is her new boss, and she is a cantankerous old lady. Olivia can’t understand why this woman who obviously doesn’t care for her has given her a job. Then she finds out it’s to win the blue ribbon for apple pie at the county fair.

Just down the hill from Livvy’s small cottage is a working farm, and she meets Martin McCracken, the son of the owner who is dying of cancer. Livvy becomes enamored of Martin, but he keeps his distance. Meanwhile she is fitting in just fine to the slow and nosy ways of small town life. Orphaned in high school, Livvy finds herself dredging up her early banjo lessons with her father and playing in a local band. Martin plays the fiddle beautifully, and together – dare I say it? They make beautiful music.

When Martin’s fiancee shows up for his father’s funeral, the day after she finally sleeps with him, Livvy runs away yet again; this time she takes off for Boston. But life catches up with her, and she finds herself returning to Guthrie once more.

This is one of those charming novels that are so hard to come by.  I just adored this book and it was a one night read for me. There’s even a recipe for apple pie at the end. I’ll let you know if I make it.

NOTE: This book is from the Pamela Dorman imprint and let me tell you, I will read anything that woman publishes – Jojo Moyes, Nicci French, J. Ryan Stradal, Beth Hoffman, and Laura Lane McNeal. She also publishes Luanne Rice but I haven’t read her yet. Guess I’ll have to add her to the list.

8/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE CITY BAKER’S GUIDE TO COUNTRY LIVING by Louise Miller. Pamela Dorman Books (August 9, 2016).  ISBN 978-1101981207. 384p.

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Lily grew up in an abusive home; she wasn’t abused, but her father beat her mother on a regular basis and Lily grew to hate him for it. Her escape was watching the Ellen Degeneres show each afternoon, and her way of venting was her journal, but instead of “dear diary” she wrote her journal entries as letters to Ellen instead. She never sent them, of course, but she kept all her journals and considered Ellen a friend, one that basically saved her sanity.

Atlas is homeless teen and he moves into the abandoned house behind Lily’s, and she befriends him.  Eventually they fall in love, but Atlas had an uncle who was willing to take him in, so he left the small town in Maine for Boston, and then joined the Marines.

Lily moves to Boston too, starting her own floral business. Her first employee is Allysa, who wanders in and not only becomes Lily’s right hand but also her best friend. It’s only kismet that the most attractive man Lily ever met ends up being Allysa’s brother Ryle. And then Lily runs into Atlas, stirring up those old feelings, but she’s determined to make things work with Ryle.

This is a story about friendship and relationships and abuse and love. Growing up in an abusive home, Lily – like many people – judged her mother for not leaving. But as an adult, when she finds herself in a similar situation, she learns how difficult it is to leave, and why so many women stay.

This was a one night read for me, I couldn’t put it down. These characters were so well drawn that they really brought this story to life. Abuse isn’t always a black and white situation, and Hoover illustrates that beautifully.

The amount of abuse that goes on in this country is absolutely horrifying, and this book may be powerful enough to get even one person to leave, or at least to understand what may be going on in their family or with friends, and that would be a wonderful thing. Either way, the level of compassion and empathy expressed for both the abuser and the victim is refreshing, educational and inspirational.

It Ends with Us is an important and compelling read, and sure to make my best books of the year list. Don’t miss it.

8/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

IT ENDS WITH US by Colleen Hoover. Atria Books (August 2, 2016).  ISBN 978-1501110368. 384p.

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I don’t know if you’ve flown anywhere lately, but JetBlue asked me to get to the airport at least two hours early. My cab driver took a direct route, we missed the traffic on the George Washington bridge and I got to the airport a little earlier than I needed to. Of course I zipped right through TSA and got to spend all that time before my flight reading this fabulous book. Let me tell you I have never enjoyed waiting at an airport more!

It seems like once every year or so, an enchanting book falls into my lap. Books like The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin, or Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple. I am delighted to add Rosen to this list. Nine Women, One Dress is a completely compelling, utterly charming book and I loved every page.

So, the dress. The little black dress, the “it” dress that everyone (i.e. everyone important) has to have. Honestly, I kept thinking of the “blue and black or white and gold” internet sensation last year, but I digress.  This book starts with the soon to be retired Morris, the pattern maker of this year’s dress. His family sent him to America on his own from Poland when he was 13 years old, and you can fill in the rest. The model who wore the dress is a fresh face right out of the deep South, and it makes her career.

Some of the other women are Felicia, who’s been in love with her married boss for almost as long as she’s worked for him. Recently widowed, Arthur is oblivious and dating a woman his daughter’s age. Until the sales folk at Bloomingdale’s get involved. One of them, Natalie, wears the dress as the hot date for a Hollywood celebrity who’s been outed.

Each chapter is told from the point of view of a different character, and the story becomes richer and more complex as the pages turn in what is also a love letter to New York City. And Bloomingdales – I was happy to see that storyline, I’m a long time fan of the store.

If I could gift every one of you a copy of this book, I would. I was so sorry to turn the last page and spent the ride home from the airport telling my family all about it. I still can’t shut up about it – I’ve reserved it for several of my library patrons today.

I can guarantee that Nine Women, One Dress will be on my Best Books of 2016 list. Don’t miss it.

7/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

NINE WOMEN, ONE DRESS by Jane L. Rosen. Doubleday (July 12, 2016). ISBN: 978-0385541404. 272p.

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Josie and Meredith are sisters with a lifelong, contentious relationship, like a lot of sisters. Added to their stress is the fact that their brother died in a car accident when they were young women.

Meredith ends up married to her brother’s best friend, and while the marriage seems great on the surface, she is afraid that she isn’t in love with her husband. She’s a successful lawyer, but hates her job. And while she loves her young daughter fiercely, she struggles with that relationship, too.

Josie is single, a teacher, and goes into a mild panic when one of her new students is the child of her ex-boyfriend, the one that got away, and his wife – who volunteers to be room mother.

Josie has a lot of guilt about the night her brother died. She also has decided to have a child via a sperm donor. Gabe, her best friend and platonic roommate, is the only one who is privy to Josie’s guilt and is also the most supportive person in her life.

As these women try and work through their individual problems, they are also trying to get past their own relationship problems. The story moves back and forth between their perspectives, making both characters empathetic.

Giffin’s a terrific storyteller and really brings these characters, and the peripheral characters as well, to life. This is a wonderful book about sisters, exploring both the joys and the heartaches that go along with that relationship. A very enjoyable read.

6/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

FIRST COMES LOVE by Emily Giffin. Ballantine Books (June 28, 2016). ISBN: 978-0345546920. 400p.

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