FICTION “ THE DAYS OF ABANDONMENT ” BY ELENA FERRANTE
AUTOBIOGRAPHY “ BURL & THE GHOST : THE RECOLLECTIONS , RAMBLINGS AND TALL TALES OF A TEXAS MUSICIAN ” BY BUD WILKERSON AND THE GHOST
FICTION “ THE BEST WAY TO BURY YOUR HUSBAND ” BY ALEXIA CASALE
Lose yourself in a nook with a book
Spring is in the air ! The flowers are blooming and warm weather is lending to perfect reading in a hammock weather . Let us help you find some new books to dive into ! Here then are several must read suggestions from the Times-Review staff to help you get started .
FICTION “ THE DAYS OF ABANDONMENT ” BY ELENA FERRANTE
Raw , biting and darkly humous , if a bit too close for comfort at times too , “ The Days of Abandonment ” begins with a bang and rarely lets up .
Without pretense , 40-something Olga ’ s husband announces that he wants to leave her — in the first sentence no less — then does just that , leaving Olga to fend for herself and the couple ’ s two children .
What follows is the stark , unvarnished and realistic portrayal of the aftermath of betrayal , something pretty much everyone encounters in some form or fashion at some point in life .
Things get messy , no frothy Hallmark movie tale this book . Throughout , Ferrante ’ s beautiful prose soars realistic in pitch perfectly capturing the hurt , confusion and Monday quarterbacking of an unexpected breakup . The story grows dark though moments of light and humor creep in saving the going ons from becoming totally unrelenting . Through the stages of grief Olga journeys until she finally reaches a hard-earned sense of hope and acceptance .
An engaging , uncomfortable masterpiece of sorts from the same author who penned “ My Brilliant Friend ,” which was subsequently adapted into an HBO series .
AUTOBIOGRAPHY “ BURL & THE GHOST : THE RECOLLECTIONS , RAMBLINGS AND TALL TALES OF A TEXAS MUSICIAN ” BY BUD WILKERSON AND THE GHOST
Texas musician Wilkerson ’ s name may not ring out well known , but he certainly ran , and played with , the well knowns . Or a lot of them at least , from Willie Nelson to Roky Erickson , Johnny Carroll , David Cassidy and more .
Courted by Nashville , Capitol and other major labels and befriended by countless music insiders and major players , Wilkerson is one of those super talented could ’ ve , should ’ ve hit big musicians who for various reasons got close but never quite there stardom wise . Don ’ t let that unfamiliarity put you off , especially if you hale from Fort Worth or Texas in general .
Alongside Wilkerson ’ s tales of musical adventures appearances by Cullen Davis , Icky Twerp , Hunter S . Thompson , Fort Worth gangster Tincy Eggleston ( buried in Cleburne ) former Texas House speakers and others play in . Not to mention memories of Fort Worth , North Texas and Austin landmarks long gone .
“ Burl ” reads funny as all get out yet deep in wisdom too . Although most never heard of Wilkerson going in , anyone who picks up this highly recommended tome will , two or three pages in , be delighted to have made his acquaintance .
A dark comedy about four women coming together to heal the damage their husbands have done — and hide their bodies once they ’ ve killed them .
When Sally kills her husband with a cast-iron skillet ,
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FICTION “ THE BEST WAY TO BURY YOUR HUSBAND ” BY ALEXIA CASALE
she ’ s more fearful of losing her kids than of disposing of a fresh corpse . That just wouldn ’ t be fair — not after 20 years of marriage to a truly terrible man .
But Sally isn ’ t the only woman in town reaching the brink .
Soon , Sally finds herself leading an extremely unusual self-help group , and among them , there are four bodies to hide .
Can they all figure out the perfect way to bury their husbands ... and get away with it ?
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