Books with Buzz: 5 New Reads You’ll Love
Here comes the sun. Lose yourself in these dishy reads, perfect for park or patio
Just in time for the birth of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s second child, Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, comes the story of a commoner (and in this case, an American!) who captures the heart of a prince while on a university exchange program at Oxford. Bex Porter, daughter of a self-made millionaire and inventor of the Coucherator — a sort of hybrid sofa and beer fridge — meets and accidentally falls in love with Nick Lyons, the heartthrob heir to the British throne. At once a romantic romp and insider look at all things Royal, the story will keep you laughing, and riveted, until the very end.
THE ROYAL WE (Grand Central Publishing) is available at Indigo and Amazon.ca
A BETTER MAN by Leah McLaren
This portrayal of a marriage in crisis presents a plethora of familiar first-world problems for Toronto couple, Maya and Nick Wakefield: the pleasures and pitfalls of giving up a high-powered career for full-time motherhood, the dissatisfied husband who feels displaced by his own children and the diminishing power of money to buy happiness. While they are, officially, a “happily married couple,” Nick privately seeks advice from an old friend, Gray, a high-powered divorce attorney — who as it turns out, has a hidden agenda for seeing the marriage fail. His advice for Nick: be more supportive of his wife and convince her to return to work in order to obtain a more financially advantageous divorce. What follows is an entertaining, and unexpected, turn of events as the ruse becomes real.
It’s a sweet, sweet life. Journey to the delicious heart of Provence in this celebration of food, family and the marvelously French joie de vie. In the follow-up to her bestselling Lunch in Paris, New Yorker Elizabeth Bard, now about to give birth to her first child, continues her love story with her adopted country and all things francaise. During a romantic getaway, she and her husband fall under the spell of a charming old house in the south of France and, on the spot, decide to make it home. From truffles to strawberries and soups to saffron, the book is filled with foodie frolics and classic Provencal fare.
A PICNIC IN PROVENCE: A MEMOIR WITH RECIPES (Little, Brown & Co.) is available at Indigo and Amazon.ca.
ENGLAND AND OTHER STORIES by Graham Swift
Anglophile alert. Graham Swift’s collection of short stories presents a diverse mosaic of life in Jolly Old England, featuring characters from a wide variety of backgrounds and time periods, ranging from the Civil War to present day.
IN THE COMPANY OF LEGENDS by Joan Kramer and David Heeley
Harking back to the Golden Age of Hollywood, the Emmy award winning documentary duo gives their insider account of working with Tinsel Town’s greatest legends, including Fred Astaire, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart, Johnny Carson, Frank Sinatra, Ronald Reagan, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Jane Fonda, Richard Dreyfuss, Audrey Hepburn and Bette Davis, among others.
IN THE COMPANY OF LEGENDS (Beaufort Books) is available at Amazon.ca