I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was very quiet this year.  Mom took a bad fall in early September and broke her hip so we dispensed with the traditional celebration and stayed home. I made all our favorite dishes, with Jake “helping” as only a golden retriever can–and we rested and watched football and caught up on our reading. Which brings me to

Books Read: The End of the Point by Elizabeth Graver is an absorbing WW2 era novel set in Massachusetts. I’ve always wanted a cottage on some rocky, windswept seacoast and I got to go there in the pages of this family drama.

Family Pictures by Jane Green is a tale of two families who discover their husband and father has been leading a double life. I read mostly historical fiction but I very much enjoyed this tale by the author of Dune Road and The Beach House among others.

The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant is a wonderful historical novel about a determined daughter of immigrants, set in turn of the century Boston. Addie Baum is a fully-realized character and the historical details add to the believability  of this lovely novel. My favorite of the three.

Meals consumed:Isn’t it  funny how our childhood preferences and prejudices about food follow us into adulthood? I remember when then-President Bush said he hated broccoli,  he was President of the Untied States and he was not going to eat broccoli. I feel the same way about beets—or I did until I tried them at a local eatery called Cured. The beets I remembered from my childhood were soggy purple things that tasted like dirt. But the ones at Cured were small and firm and just a bit briny. I loved them. Emboldened by my beet experience I tried kale. I’m still not a fan but the kale at Napa Flats, one of our favorite local hangouts was better than I expected.

Which goes to show we should always embrace the new even when it seems unpalatable.

Book News:  This month I finished the line edits for MRS LEE AND MRS GRAY, my new biographical novel to be published next May. I’m very excited to bring readers a never-before told story of a remarkable friendship between Mrs Robert E Lee and her servant, Selina Gray. I’ve seen the cover and can’t wait to share it.

I’m taking December to finish some other writing projects and of course to celebrate the Christmas season so my next post will be in 2016! This year has flown by.  I’m  deeply grateful that I get to do the work I love and grateful for so many readers who have become cherished friends.To all of you near and far, thank you for supporting my books, and may you have a lovely December, wherever you go and whichever holidays you celebrate.

See you next year.