Book review: The Path to Fernglade — by Susan Humphrey

(Woods Edge Press) Weybridge author, as well as a former teacher, bookseller and Middlebury College graduate, Susan Humphrey lost her second son, Dan, to an extremely rare form of cancer. As a means of sharing news with friends and family, Susan began writing letters, and the letters became a means of chronicling her sorrow and loss, a process to aid in coping with her reality, and a way forward to acceptance. Susan describes her intention in one passage after Dan’s passing, regarding what she would tell pe … (read more)

(Knopf Publishing Group) The premise of Lawrence Wright’s apocalyptic new thriller is eerily familiar: a mysterious new virus turned global pandemic infects untold numbers of people as scientists race to stop it. Microbiologist Henry Parsons, a smart, dri … (read more)

(Catapult) Curious readers will discover inside information about “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” but this deeply personal and intimate account of one man’s single-minded pursuit of a career as a performer is pure François Clemmons. Director of the Martin … (read more)

(Viking) Sue Monk Kidd, author of the beloved “Secret Life of Bees,” vividly portrays Ana, as the imagined wife of Jesus, in her new richly textured, historically accurate and deeply engrossing novel. Ana, born in Sepphoris as the daughter of the chief sc … (read more)

(Algonquin Books) Tsui reminds us that “as human swimmers, we can never really be the fish,” but we can experience the unique isolation of submersion. Her informative book focuses on five components of swimming: survival, well-being, community, competitio … (read more)

(William Morrow & Company) Paulette Jiles has somehow outdone herself, crafting another wholly original story, rooted in its historical time and space, directly following the end of America’s Civil War. Simon Boudlin is a fine fiddler, a skill that he par … (read more)

(Algonquin Books) At long last, the wait is over because readers who loved “In the Time of the Butterflies” and “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents” finally have a new novel by Middlebury’s own Julia Alvarez. Antonia Vega is a retired professor of li … (read more)

(Dial Press) Glennon Doyle’s new memoir may break you open. From the opening chapter’s description of her child’s reaction to a caged cheetah to the astounding moment when she first saw the love of her life, the pace is unrelenting. Doyle’s an uncompromis … (read more)

W. W. Norton & Company I was lucky enough to hear Pam Houston read when she was on a book tour for “Contents May Have Shifted,” a novel she described as, when asked how much of it was autobiographical, 90% Pam. “Deep Creek,” her new memoir about the life … (read more)

(Doubleday Books) It’s not uncommon to see the No.1 New York Times bestselling author of “Midwives” and “The Flight Attendant” cycling along Addison County roadways. A resident of Weybridge, Chris Bohjalian truly lives among us. Bohjalian’s novels are a p … (read more)

(Vintage) Hope Jahren, an award-winning geobiologist and writer, was tasked with teaching a class on climate change. Feeling like she had no business telling anybody anything about this subject, she resolutely sat down at her desk and began to research ch … (read more)

(Simon & Schuster) Prepare to enter the surreal landscape of the wildlife-crime underworld where you’ll meet notorious wild-bird trafficker and convicted egg thief Jeffrey Lendrum. You, like the author, may not have even considered that a lucrative black … (read more)

(Bellevue Literary Press) In Andrew Kirivak’s slim new novel, a father meticulously and lovingly teaches his only offspring, his wise young daughter, how to live on the land, how to mark the seasons, how to craft, how to survive. Their days are marked wit … (read more)

(Knopf Publishing Group) “Weather,” at its base, is a book about a university librarian, a mother, a wife and the sister of a brother struggling with addiction, but it soars far above that. How is it possible for Jenny Ofill, author of the critically accl … (read more)

(Scout Press) You’ll instantly fall in love with the narrator of this book, Zelda, and get completely caught up in her enthusiasm for everything Viking. She is also enthusiastic about rules and she finds a simple set of tenets to live by, like “strange pe … (read more)