September at Maplehurst is for birthdays and books.
And birthday apple pie.
Both of my daughters were born in September. This year, only four days apart, my big girl turns fourteen and my little girl turns five.
September at Maplehurst is also for full hearts and grateful tears.
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My favorite gifts to give are books, and this month I have a stack of new favorites to give family and friends.
Shawn Smucker’s beautiful new novel The Day the Angels Fell would be perfect for the fourteen-year-old in your life. It would also make a great family read aloud with younger kids, and, honestly? I’m also telling the adult readers I know all about this winsome fantasy. If you’re a fan of Madeleine L’Engle, Neil Gaiman, or even Wendell Berry, then you’ll appreciate this beautifully written, spiritually rich story. This is a gorgeous, gift-worthy hardback edition, too.
You might worry that your child is too young or too sensitive for a book about death, but I can think of few better ways to introduce the topic than through the work of a gifted storyteller like Shawn. Local friends, I’ll be hosting a reading and book signing by Shawn at my home some time in October. Please do reach out to me for more details!
My friend Sara Hagerty has just released Unseen: The Gift of Being Hidden in a World That Loves To Be Noticed. This is also a beautiful, hardback edition with a cover design I love, but, of course, the real treasure is inside.
Sara’s quietly powerful story will transform how you think about success. I am personally grateful to her for giving me a fresh, new perspective on what it might mean to change the world.
GraceLaced: Discovering Timeless Truths Through Seasons of the Heart, by my talented friend Ruth Chou Simons, may be the ideal book for gift-giving. Ruth is a devotional writer and visual artist, and her book is the most exquisite thing on any of my over-stuffed bookshelves. Featuring her own watercolor floral art, luminous photography, and special touches like pretty endpapers and a cover begging you to touch it, this is a book lover’s book.
The seasonal meditations are written in a classic, not at all sentimental devotional style and include beautiful spaces for personal responses and notes. I’m convinced we all know someone who would love to receive this book for an autumn birthday or Christmas gift, or, goodness, maybe just because?
One of my favorite mystery writers, Louise Penny, has just released Glass Houses, the 13th installment in her Chief Inspector Gamache series, set in the quaint Quebec village of Three Pines. You could read Glass Houses on its own, but I highly recommend beginning with the first. The story builds from book to book, and you’ll appreciate the slow unfolding of these characters’ lives.
Louise Penny isn’t the most literary or polished of the mystery writers I appreciate, and yet there is something about her cozy village and philosophical Inspector that has earned this series a very special place on my bookshelf. Penny’s authorial presence can be a little heavy-handed. In writing-workshop speak she is more likely to tell than to show, but that style suits her material. I, for one, want to hear everything Penny has to say. In the character of kindly Armand Gamache and the evocative Quebec setting (not to mention the delicious details of food and drink!), Penny offers serious but cozy reflections on the human heart, relationships, and the nature of evil. There aren’t many mysteries with the heart and soul of these.
If you are a book lover then you probably already know Anne Bogel’s fabulous podcast What Should I Read Next. If not, well, you’re welcome. Anne’s first book (with its own beautiful cover) releases very soon. Reading People: How Seeing the World through the Lens of Personality Changes Everything is the book many of us have been waiting for.
In it, Anne uses personal storytelling to distill the wisdom of various personality tests and templates. If you’ve ever wanted to understand yourself and others better but found the big books on the Enneagram or Myers-Briggs or the Five Love Languages to be too technical or time-consuming, then Anne’s book is for you. Or if, like me, you already love the discoveries these personality frameworks make available, you’ll appreciate this fresh, enjoyable, and personal perspective.
That’s all for now. I’m off to make a little girl’s birthday cake.
But first, which new books do you have your eye on? I’d love to hear.
P.S. I’m giving away a calendar of my flower photography on instagram this week.
Thank you for these, Christie. I’d already had my eye on Reading People, and now I’ll have to add it to my shelves. A stop at my public library this week turned up a new title by Mary Hood, Morningstar: Growing Up with Books. Dani Shapiro calls it “a love letter to the very act of reading and the power of books to light the way.” Sounds so good, but first I’m reading one of Mary’s novels, The Book That Matters Most. A little edgy, but so far so good. On a totally different note, I pre-ordered Becca Stevens’ Love Heals. Beautiful and profound.
Such great suggestions! And all new to me. If Dani Shapiro liked it, I’m sure I will too.
I cannot wait to read my book at Maplehurst! What an honor. Thank you, Christie.
And what an honor it is to host you. Can’t wait!
I checked out the book on Amazon by Ruth Chou Simons on Gracelaced. It looks like a book I could use for devotional time or for a gift to my sister. All the books you mentioned piqued my interest but the first one I thought of was Ruth’s as it has interactive use of entering comments. Thanks for such a lovely format and your personal touch of how you celebrate your daughters’ birthdays. I enjoy reading your books as well.
I’m sure you’ll both love Ruth’s book. It’s exquisite.
I am interested in “Unseen” and of course, “Glass Houses.” 😉
I am enjoying all two novels written by Helen Simonson . . . and wishing there were more!
Also, I’m pretty sure I lusted after those candle sticks at Terrain during my last visit. 😉
Aren’t they beautiful? I’ve admired the color on every visit to that shop, and this week my mom bought them for me as my (early) Christmas present. 🙂
Totally out of context, but are those incredible apple pies from Apple trees you planted five years ago that you wrote about in Roots and Sky? A hoped for harvest fulfilled.
Oh, I love this question! Thank you, Maria. The truth is that these pies came from a local pie shop. The baker there is amazing, and I love supporting her. However, our apple harvest this year has been wonderful! We have been munching and munching and saying thank you with every bite.
Thank you for this list, Christie. I’m always interested to see your recommendations.
Not a book suggestion from me this time, but a book conversation podcast you might enjoy – from Canada’s National Broadcaster (CBC). It is called “Writers and Company” and the interviewer, Eleanor Wachtel is wonderful.
Here’s the link: http://www.cbc.ca/radio/writersandcompany
Also, re your previous comment – I love that your pies come from a local bakery. I always like to bless a small store that does something well, with my business. It helps build community, and if it involves food, it gifts me with the leisure to enjoy the occasion too!!
I love GraceLaced and I’d like to read Reading People!!