Five picks for October

Buzz Reads is a column about books by reviewer Cindy Burnett. Each month, Cindy recommends five recently or soon-to-be released titles.

The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife by Anna Johnston (contemporary fiction) – 82-year-old Frederick Fife is on the brink of homelessness due to medical debt incurred from his wife’s cancer treatments. While contemplating his next steps, he encounters a deceased man in a wheelchair who he attempts to assist, but instead Frederick stumbles, causing the man and Frederick’s wallet to wash away in the river. Bernard Greer, the deceased man, was suffering from dementia, and so despite Frederick’s objections, the group whisks him back to the nursing home, thinking he is Bernard. This utterly delightful book demonstrates what a difference a kind person makes in the lives of others, and readers will be wanting a Frederick in their lives. The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife hits all the right notes; it is funny, hopeful, poignant, touching, and engaging. It will appeal to fans of stories about found family and older protagonists.

Empresses of Seventh Avenue: World War II, New York City, and the Birth of American Fashion by Nancy MacDonell (nonfiction) – Empresses of Seventh Avenue is an engrossing look at the emergence of America’s fashion industry with an emphasis on the various women who made it happen. The book begins with a brief explanation of how Paris became the epicenter of fashion and then explains how fashion changed in the United States when Paris fell under Nazi control during the Second World War. In addition to exploring the trajectory of fashion as trends pivoted from haute couture to a more off-the-rack aesthetic, MacDonell focuses on these lost-to-history feminist figures and what each woman contributed. This deep dive into how the “American Look” came to exist is a must read for anyone interested in fashion or pop culture.

The Fabled Earth by Kimberly Brock (historical fiction) – The Fabled Earth is a beautifully-crafted, character-driven tale of friendship, family drama, mystery, and folklore, set in and around Cumberland Island, Georgia (the remote island where John F. Kennedy, Jr. and Carolyn Bessette married). In the first half of the 1900s, the Carnegie family built several mansions on Cumberland as retreats which they subsequently abandoned after several decades. This dual-timeline story toggles between 1932 and the opulence of the Carnegie family’s time spent at these grand mansions, and 1959 in a small coastal Georgia town near Cumberland, when people were grappling with integration, the Korean War, and misogyny. Both time periods are well-crafted and engaging, and Brock does a wonderful job of transporting the reader to another time and place; the marsh and the island come alive with her descriptions. Readers who enjoy learning about new places and earlier time periods will love this slow-burn gem.

The Lightning Bottles by Marissa Stapley (contemporary fiction) – This unique and compelling book follows Jane Pyre, the former lead singer of The Lightning Bottles, one of the most popular rock ‘n’ roll duos of the 1990s, as she seeks to discover what happened to Elijah, her husband and the other half of The Lightning Bottles, who disappeared years before. Jane and Elijah shared a deep bond and were both extremely talented, but the pressures of stardom and the music industry caused them to crash spectacularly. When Jane rents a house in rural Germany, she encounters a teenage mega fan who believes that Elijah is alive, and the pair set out to find him. In a cleverly crafted manner, the pair follow clues left in artwork in an attempt to locate Elijah. Readers who grew up in this era will revel in nostalgia as they read this book, which references maps, call-in shows and countdowns, Walkmans, and music trivia and details from the time period. The Lightning Bottles takes readers on a memorable journey, connecting the past and present through flashbacks explaining how Jane and Elijah met, describing their highs and lows, and what led to both their meteoric rise to fame and subsequent crash. This book is a good fit for music lovers, mystery readers, and those who enjoy a walk down memory lane.

The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman (historical fiction with a touch of magical realism) – This heartwarming, humorous, and touching tale is set in two time periods, 1920s Brooklyn and 1980s Florida, and is a story of first love, loss, family, memories, forgiveness, and the possibility of rekindling old flames. As her 80th birthday approaches, newly retired pharmacist Augusta Stern is unsure what to do next. When she moves from Brooklyn, New York to Rallentando Springs – an active senior community in southern Florida – she is surprised to learn that Irving Rivkin, the delivery boy from her father’s old pharmacy and the man who broke her heart decades earlier lives in the same senior community. As the story toggles back and forth in time, the major events in Augusta’s life are revealed as well as the choices she makes and how she is still haunted by some of the decisions she made years before. The authentic characters are skillfully created, the prose is lyrical and entertaining, humor is woven throughout the story, and there is a touch of magical realism. Fans of uplifting tales with realistic characters will love this one.

Editor’s note: Book reviewer Cindy Burnett also writes our weekly Page Turners column. She hosts an award-winning book podcast entitled Thoughts from a Page Podcast www.thoughtsfromapage.com, runs the Instagram account @thoughtsfrompage, and regularly speaks to groups about books