Shelf Indulgence Book Club

  About the book:   Everything changes in a single moment for Dawn Edelstein. She’s on a plane when the flight attendant makes an announcement: prepare for a crash landing. She braces herself as thoughts flash through her mind. The shocking thing is, the thoughts are not of her husband, but a man she last saw fifteen years ago: Wyatt Armstrong.  Dawn, miraculously, survives the crash, but so do all the doubts that have suddenly been raised. She has led a good life. Back in Boston, there is her husband, Brian, her beloved daughter, and her work as a death doula, where she helps ease the transition between life and death for her clients .  But somewhere in Egypt is Wyatt Armstrong, who works as an archaeologist unearthing ancient burial sites, a job she once studied for, but was forced to abandon when life suddenly intervened. And now, when it seems that fate is offering her second chances, she is not as sure of the choice she once made.  After the crash landing, the airline ensures the

What are some of your favorite novels? We Have Always Lived in the Castle  by Shirley Jackson,  Station Eleven  by Emily St. John Mandel,  Rebecca  by Daphne du Maurier,  We Need to Talk About Kevin  by Lionel Shriver,  Security  by Gina Wohlsdorf   When did you know you wanted to become an author? I can't remember ever  not  wanting to be an author, to be honest. I started writing stories when I was a kid before I had even conceptualized what an author is. It was during a period of unemployment in 2015 that I decided to go for it and actually write my first novel.   What do you think are some of the key elements required in a well-written novel?  A unique voice, deeply developed characters, tight plotting, and crisp sentences. You can tell when an author loves the craft of stringing words together, and those are my favorite works. What inspired you to write “Darling Rose Gold”?  I learned about Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSBP) from my best friend, who is a school psychologist.

Questions & Answers With Jodi Picoult and The  Book  Of Two Ways:  1. Is there a defining moment when the two timelines intersect?  Yes.  The end of Boston bleeds directly into the beginning of Egypt.  The plane crash occurs at the end of Egypt, before Wyatt and Dawn return to Boston together.  2. If you were Dawn, who would you choose? Brian or Wyatt? How does Merit play into that for you? We wanted to know where your heart is on this…  Not answering this one!  There’s no wrong choice, here.  :) 3. Assuming Dawn and Wyatt stay together, how did you envision they make their coparenting relationship work?  I think we see glimpses of Brian being accepting of having Wyatt in Meret’s life (i.e the tennis match).   4. Do you think Dawn make the right choice, by not giving Thane the letter? Do you think Win ever told Felix about it?  That’s tricky.  From an ethical standpoint it wasn’t her right to interrupt someone else’s life — it’s Win’s unfinished story.  Honestly, as a death doula,

T he Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult delivered an original story line I had never read before.    The main character, Dawn, was once a PH-D candidate for Yale Egyptology program.    Years of loss, love and life pass her by and she finds herself married with a teenage daughter. Dawn has a seemingly fulfilling life until she’s involved in a plane crash, causing her to re-think choices. The story switches from past to present until beautifully coming together. With interesting Egyptian lingo, Picoult fulfills another great book.  I give The Book of Two Ways  5/5 stars. From the moment I received  this book I simply could not but it down. Interesting, relatable and delivered all of the “good book feels”. I would recommend this book to friends and recently lent it to my father to read. Jodi Picoult has been a favorite author for years, but this is my new favorite.  Reviewed by book lover:  Bailey D.

Tonight I had the privilege to join the Cuyahoga County Public Library's event: "A Conversation with Christina McDonald, Wendy Walker and J.T. Ellison." It was such a captivating thriller panel event tonight to meet these three authors and hear about their new books released this year. Our Book Club Shelf Indulgence will be reading each of these, this year and next. And some of these authors such as Christina and J.T. will be joining our club discussion as well. I always love hearing the back stories of what motivated the authors to write these captivating page turners, and their process behind each one of these books they publish. They are so unique and incredible as is their work.   Today is Christina McDonald's pub release date for Do No Harm, and I'm so excited.  My favorite quote from the event, "We all see murder in all these different ways." I couldn't help but giggle and agree.  The burning question or thought is, what is your ghost? The one

We were so lucky today to have Evie Green (Emily Barr) join us for our discussion of We Hear Voices. We wanted to share the discussion with those that couldn't make it but may have loved the book as much as we did:  Play Video   Enjoy!

About the Book: An eerie horror debut about a little boy who recovers from a mysterious pandemic and inherits an imaginary friend who makes him do violent things... Kids have imaginary friends. Rachel knows this. So when her young son, Billy, miraculously recovers from a horrible flu that has proven fatal for many, she thinks nothing of Delfy, his new invisible friend. After all, her family is healthy and that's all that matters. But soon Delfy is telling Billy what to do, and the boy is acting up and lashing out in ways he never has before. As Delfy's influence is growing stranger and more sinister by the day, and rising tensions threaten to tear Rachel's family apart, she clings to one purpose: to protect her children at any cost--even from themselves. We Hear Voices  is a mischievously gripping near-future horror novel that tests the fragility of family and the terrifying gray area between fear and love.   Want to hear a sample from the mouth of the author herself, check