BookBrowse Highlights

Hello Readers!

For our Editor's Choice feature this week, we bring you coverage of Ariel Lawhon's The Frozen River, a fictionalized version of midwife Martha Ballard's life and this year's Fiction Award Winner — as well as an upcoming book club pick.

Ever had "grog"? It may be more appealing than you think! Check out our "beyond the book" article (accompanying our review of Hampton Sides' The Wide Wide Sea, a Top 20 book of the year) for a history of this weird-sounding nautical drink, along with a recipe for those open to non-traditional New Year's Eve beverages.

You can also enjoy more articles in our Cultural Curiosities category, see what January books we're excited about, and view all the titles we'll discuss in our community forum soon.

With best wishes,

The BookBrowse Team

Thank You!

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If you haven't already, we invite you to enjoy the Best of Year issue of our digital magazine The BookBrowse Review, which we've made available for free as a token of our appreciation. We look forward to bringing you more coverage of great books in 2025.

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Editor's Choice

The Frozen River

by Ariel Lawhon

"I cannot say why it is so important that I make this daily record. Perhaps because I have been doing so for years on end? Or maybe — if I am being honest — it is because these markings of ink and paper will one day be the only proof that I have existed in this world. That I lived and breathed."

So run the thoughts of one Martha Moore Ballard after finishing her daily log in the small journal that is her constant companion throughout The Frozen River. Beyond the incredibly important role the diary plays in the novel — several keys to the mysteries that unfold throughout the story are held within its pages — Martha's notebook outlived her, and remains a key source for learning about early American history. Although The Frozen River is a novel, the protagonist is a fictionalized version of the real-life Martha Ballard whose diary informs the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography A Midwife's Tale by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich (1990). Ariel Lawhon weaves together elements of the historical record with strands of her own incredible storytelling to tell a tale worthy of its heroine.

It opens with a shocking discovery: a corpse beneath the ice of the frozen-solid Kennebec River, running beside the small town of Hallowell, Maine, in November 1789. ... continued

Review by Maria Katsulos

The History of Grog

Hampton Sides' book The Wide Wide Sea records the third and final voyage of Captain James Cook and relays some of the exploits of his crew aboard the HMS Resolution. One of Cook's key decisions concerned an alcoholic drink known as "grog."

During the Age of Exploration—the 15th to 18th centuries—Royal Navy ships would leave English harbors to sail to unknown lands. Originally regular water was stocked, but it became apparent that this wouldn't work for longer voyages, as over time algae made the beverage slimy and unpalatable. Cutting the water with a bit of weak beer didn't work much better because the concoction went sour. They eventually settled on combining the water with brandy or wine.

All this changed in 1655, when William Penn Sr. (father of the William Penn who founded Philadelphia) captured Jamaica from the Spanish. The island's alcohol was rum (fermented sugarcane); with no brandy or other spirit available, Penn's crew used rum to supplement the ship's stores. ... continued

Article by Kim Kovacs

beyond-the-book-cultural-curiosities image

Pick up fascinating, surprising, and strangely specific cultural tidbits you didn't even know you wanted to know from the "beyond the book" articles in our Cultural Curiosities category, like the one on grog above.

Other articles in this category include:

The Case for Rats as Pets (relating to Blood Test)
The History of Antler and Horn Décor (relating to I'm the Girl)
The Birkin Bag (relating to The Coin)
Hungry Ghosts in Art and Culture (relating to Hungry Ghosts)

Members can view all articles, while non-members have access to a limited number.

See Articles

January Books We're Looking Forward To

January is a notoriously dismal month, but it's also an exciting time for books, when the new year's first great releases begin to tumble forth. Here are a few of the titles we're most looking forward to in the early weeks of 2025. ... continued

Discussions are open to all, so please join us! If you would like to receive a message when a particular discussion opens, you can sign up for a one-time notification. You can also find inspiration for your book club among our more than 200 past discussions.

Currently, our members are discussing Amanda Peters' The Berry Pickers and Nancy Jensen's In Our Midst. In January, we feature Kate Storey's The Memory Library and Costanza Casati's Babylonia, among other books.

See All Discussions

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