First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen

Fiction - 3.5 stars

Sarah Addison Allen is the master of the light, feel-good read. I love her stories of women finding themselves in small-town Southern towns. This story started in Garden Spells, the story of Claire and Sydney Waverly and their struggles with the Waverly heritage. 

In First Frost, the story of the Waverly brood continues. Claire has transformed her catering business into a candy business, but she is not completely happy. Meanwhile, Sydney struggles with her daughter Bay's interest in a forbidden friendship and her own inability to have another child. The best thing about a Sarah Addison Allen book is that all of these problems are resolved and it ends with hope. I recommend it as a bedtime or beach read.

The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult

Fiction - 3.5 stars

Sage Singer is a baker for a reason. She works at night to escape people, her own loneliness, the guilt from a hidden relationship, and the memory of her mother’s death.Her constant reminder, a significant facial scar, is her constant companion. Sage meets Josef Weber, an elderly man in Sage’s grief support group, and they strike up an unlikely friendship. They see past each others' scars, and they grow comfortable together.

Everything changes when Josef asks Sage for an unimaginable favor. The request begins a story of horror and heartbreak, and through it, Sage begins a journey of self-discovery that will make her realize who she really is. 

I really liked this book. Though the subject matter is tough (the Holocaust), it is an interesting and easy read. I would recommend it for a book cub read. 

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Fiction - 3.5 stars

As part of my quest to read the classics assigned in high school with an adult perspective, I re-read this classic to see if I enjoyed it more than my 11th-grade self did. While I did understand the themes and context much more, I will say that I did not find it an enjoyable read. Hawthorne's language is unnecessarily complicated and flowery, and it tends to make the read very slow and dry. I am not a fan of over-description, and he is definitely guilty of that.  

That being said, the subject matter of the book is more modern than most of that time. It is set in 17th century Puritanical New England, and it tells the story of Hester Prynne who has a daughter through an adulterous affair and is forced to wear a scarlet "A" on her breast for all to see. The purpose of her penance is for her to create a new life of repentance and dignity, but it eventually becomes a part of her for which she is nearly unapologetic. I recommend the book as a reminder of how the founders of our country behaved and treated citizens.