HAPPY BOOKERS

This week’s book

The Forgotten Garden

by Kate Morton

A small-but-mighty March gathering, a new April pick, and a whole stack of titles to browse

About this month’s book

Kate Morton's The Forgotten Garden follows a woman searching for the truth behind her abandonment as a small child on an Australian wharf in 1913, a mystery that unspools across generations between Queensland and the Cornish coast. Expect an atmospheric, fairy-tale-tinged family mystery built around a decaying estate and its secret walled garden.

March Recap

Greetings Happy Bookers!

We had a small, intimate meeting last night because so many of you are abroad. We missed each one of you and talked about every one of you. If your ears were burning you now know why.

Club Business

One Pick Shelved, Old Friends Revisited

Grace and Henry's book is not available at any library. It must be too new. So Mary Fran, Jennifer, Crystal and I made an executive decision to shelve that choice for when it's easier to get.

We went through old books that we also shelved but haven't come back to yet.

Next Meeting

April at Vinzo's

Date
Thursday, April 23
Time
6:30pm
Location
Vinzo's in Casselberry
Book
The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict

Author Spotlight

A Author We Already Love

Marie wrote The Only Woman in the Room about Hedy Lamarr that we all loved. (Has anyone been out to see the plaque for Hedy in Casselberry yet?)

A story scene inspired by The Forgotten Garden featuring Happy Bookers members.
The Bookers imagined in the novelThe pleasure of a tale well told — an author we already love, in her element.

Coming in May

Our May Book

01

Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom

by Ilyon Woo

This is a true story and a Goodreads Choice Award Winner.

Current Read

The Forgotten Garden: Where We All Stand

Mary Fran is still in line at the library for The Forgotten Garden. I still have six hours left in the audiobook. Jennifer and Crystal did read the book.

Liz and Nancy loved the book but were unable to attend last night. We read Nancy's questions and Jennifer and Crystal had some discussion about the answers, but we will talk about the book again next month.

Restaurant Recon

A Tough Job, But Someone's Got to Do It

I'm going to do some reconnaissance at Napoli's in Winter Springs to see if it's big and quiet enough for us to add to our list of possible restaurants. Tough job, but I think I'm up to the task.

A story scene inspired by The Forgotten Garden featuring Happy Bookers members.
The Bookers imagined in the novelReconnaissance at its finest: following a paper trail where the bravest book club members lead.

Around the Table

Some of the Books We Also Discussed

  • Theo of Golden by Allen Levi Visit link
  • The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna Visit link
  • Sourdough by Robin Sloan Visit link
  • Gone Before Goodbye by Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben We like a lot of Reese's book club picks. We also like Harlan's writing. She was an English Lit major at Stanford University but left before graduating for her acting career. Visit link
  • Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor Visit link
  • From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg We were trying to remember the childhood book about two children who live in a museum. I think it's this one. I remember loving this book as a young reader. Visit link

Author Chatter

All About Patterson

We talked about Patterson's collabs with Clinton and now Viola Davis. Mary Fran enjoyed the Clinton collabs. We look forward to the Viola collab coming out.

Patterson also has a lot of wonderful children's books in addition to the thrillers we're all familiar with.

  • Emma on Fire Another Patterson book that I did not write any notes on. I think Mary Fran liked it. Visit link

On Our Radar

Fiona Davis, Sometime Soon

Author Fiona Davis is one we would like to read sometime. Her historical fiction novels take place in iconic NYC buildings.

01

Fiona Davis

02

The Lions of Fifth Avenue

03

The Spectacular

Advance Warning

Nancy's Next Campaign

Warning! Nancy is going to be advocating for My Friends by Fredrik Backman next month to be our next pick. She love, Love, LOVED the book!

A story scene inspired by The Forgotten Garden featuring Happy Bookers members.
The Bookers imagined in the novelEvery good campaign ends at a gate someone was brave enough to open.

Mystery Corner

The Gardner Museum Heist

I don't remember how we got onto the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist, but it was recently claimed that two of the stolen art pieces are mentioned in the Epstein Files. I looked into this a little and it appears that the person making the claim is incorrect, which is a bummer. It sure would be nice to have clues to solve this decades-long mystery.

  • Visit link
  • Whitney Webb An investigative journalist who has written extensively about the Epstein files. Visit link

Fun Outing Idea

Play Playground

Play Playground is the adult-sized entertainment venue my brother helped build sets and games for. Google describes it as: These 15,000+ sq ft venues feature nostalgic, large-scale physical games, interactive challenges, themed cocktails, and vibrant neon decor aimed at adults and "kidults".

Get Well Soon

Thinking of Liz

Liz, we're hoping for a speedy recovery for you and your knee!

Until Next Month

Kindest, Sonya

I think that's everything. As usual, if anyone wants to chime in or add something of note please feel free to do so.

Looking forward to seeing everyone next month!

Up next

The Personal Librarian

by Marie Benedict

WhenThursday, April 23 at 6:30pm

WhereVinzo's, Casselberry