| In our first newsletter of 2025, we coast sweetly into the new year with an Editor's Choice feature of The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman. This delicious dual-timeline literary romance made our 2024 Top 20 list as a write-in nominee.
We also share a "beyond the book" reading list — accompanying our review of Percival Everett's National Book Award-winning novel James — that covers books reimagining classic works of literature.
Want to see what other BookBrowsers are reading? Check out the Best Recent Reader Reviews for takes on older, current, and upcoming books.
Plus, browse our most anticipated books of the year, and enter our latest giveaway for a chance to win a copy of John Dufresne's My Darling Boy, a tragic but entertaining story of addiction and family ties. | | With best wishes,
The BookBrowse Team
| | | The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman
Lynda Cohen Loigman's delightful novel The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern opens in 1987. The titular heroine finds her life suddenly turned upside down: her current employer has "encouraged" her to retire (a prospect she's always dreaded), and her niece has arranged for her to move from her Brooklyn apartment into an upscale senior living community in Florida. To make matters worse, on her first morning at the facility she runs into Irving Rivkin, a man from her distant past — and the last person on Earth Augusta wants to see.
The narrative then shifts back to 1922; 15-year-old Augusta is working in her recently widowed father's pharmacy, intent on one day becoming a pharmacist herself. Her great-aunt Esther has moved into their small apartment to help look after Augusta and her older sister. It soon becomes apparent that Esther is a healer in her own right, offering powders and potions to those who can't be helped by modern medicine. Augusta becomes determined to learn all she can from both her father and her aunt, believing each type of treatment has its benefits. Irving is hired as her father's delivery boy, and the two teenagers develop a close friendship.
The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern is a lovely little confection of a novel. There's not a lot to think about, no heavy themes to contemplate, but sometimes that's a good thing. ... continued
Review by Kim Kovacs | | | Reimagining the Classics from a New Perspective
Percival Everett's James is a reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of Huck's enslaved companion Jim. This kind of reconfiguration is a common source of inspiration for authors, as one can see in the following list of books that similarly provide new points of view on classic works of literature.
Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian Cantor (2022)
This novel is a retelling of The Great Gatsby that focuses primarily on the women from the original story: Daisy Buchanan, Gatsby's former flame; Jordan Baker, Daisy's best friend; and Catherine McCoy, a suffragette who appears only briefly in the original text. In an interview with The Avid Pen, Cantor explains that she was inspired to write the novel by the relative little space given to these characters by F. Scott Fitzgerald: "I've always wanted to know more about the women in The Great Gatsby. They're such a huge part of the plot, and yet they barely speak." ... continued
Article by Lisa Butts | | | Want to review books on BookBrowse?
While members receive free books from our First Impressions program in exchange for an honest review, all visitors can leave a reader review from any book page — if it's approved, we'll publish it!
You can also check out our Best Recent Reader Reviews to see what other people are saying about books they've read. Below are a few excerpts from recent high-quality reviews. | | | My sister and I had one of the earliest Barbies, and reading about her development was fascinating — the behind-the scenes inspiration, the mechanical manufacturing as well as the marketing, the clothes and accessories — this was riveting. As Barbie's success grew, so did the Mattel company, and the story of the company's development, with its ups and downs, was also engrossing. Whether or not you had a Barbie or saw the recent movie, this is an important book that tells the story of a strong woman who is determined to follow her vision of providing more career and lifestyle options for girls and young women. I highly recommend this one! (PhyllisE) | | | A few years back I listened to a PBS interview with the author of this book and have had it on my to-be-read list for some time. It did not disappoint. Keri Blakinger had a promising career as a figure skater, but when her partner quit the team, her life spiraled out of control and she turned to drugs. She spent nearly two years in prison and after her release she became a journalist reporting on the failures of the prison system. Blakinger writes brilliantly about her life. It is easy to cheer for her the entire time and to be especially impressed at how she pulled herself together and has now become an important voice for the incarcerated and the under-privileged. (Roberta) | | | The story starts in the 1950s, when Ellie's father dies and she and her mother are forced to relocate from the wealthy suburbs to a much lower class neighborhood. There, she meets Homa and they become best friends. The story does a good job of providing a sense of Iran under the Shah. It highlights the difference in the classes and the roles of women during the changing times. The book starts slow and it did take a while before I was truly invested in the story. But I loved what it had to say about being willing to fight for human rights, and how it's the rare person who is willing to be a true activist. The book also has a lot to say about friendship and how our early friendships truly shape us. (Labmom55) | | Our Most Anticipated 2025 Books | | | Why not plan your reading alongside our most anticipated books for 2025? Our selections range from work by famous and beloved authors to promising debuts, and can give you a sneak peek of titles we may cover at BookBrowse — including some appearing in our First Impressions program or book club. We hope you discover future favorites on this list. ... continued | | | My Darling Boy by John Dufresne
From the Jacket
Known for his tragicomic voice and unforgettable characters, John Dufresne tells the story of Olney, whose beloved son, Cully, collapses into addiction and vanishes into the chaotic netherworld of southern Florida.
Aided by his terminally ill girlfriend and the colorful inhabitants of a local motel―including a doomsday prepper, an ex-nun, a pair of blind twins with an acute sense of smell, and a devoutly Catholic shelter worker―Olney sets out to save his son. Hilarious and devastating in equal measure, My Darling Boy is a hero's quest for our time, a testament to families touched by the opioid crisis, and a remarkable achievement from one of our most talented authors.
About This Sweepstakes
We have up to 30 hardcover copies of My Darling Boy by John Dufresne to give away.
This offer is open to residents of the USA, except for BookBrowse members, who are welcome to enter wherever they live. If a member not resident in the US wins, they receive an extension to their membership. | | With so many new books published every month, it's difficult to find the standouts, the ones that are really worth your time. This is why hundreds of thousands of readers rely on BookBrowse to do the hard work of sifting through the multitude of titles to find the most promising new books, with a focus on books that entertain, engage, and enlighten. | | BookBrowse Highlights is just one of our free newsletters. We also offer Publishing This Week every Sunday, and Book Club News and Librarian News monthly. We send out Genre Specific Emails occasionally. | | | | |
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