Marilyn Recommends...

A woman finds a plastic bag containing a diary, composition book, watch and letters washed up on the shore of British Columbia. Every other chapter is an entry from the diary of a Japanese girl raised in California but back in Japan and the woman's reaction to it. How did it arrive - did she toss it like a bottle or was it the tsunami? Just one of the questions in this exquisitely crafted novel. I "enjoyed" it in spite of the sensitive nature of the events depicted.

Lunch with Buddha is a must-read if you enjoyed "Breakfast with Buddha"! Otto is on another road trip with the Buddhist monk who is now his brother-in-law of six years. The trip is more than physical as Otto grapples with his family's upheaval. In spite of difficult issues there is still plenty of humor mixed in with spiritual and intelligent ponderings.

I am very excited by this new cookbook. It is visually compelling with paper cutout titles and great photos. There is a picture for each relatively easy but delicious recipe and I love -- and want -- the plates featured! 

For fans of the Downton Abbey time period and "of the manor born" style, this is a quirky, fun read. We are invited to a birthday party that has many twists and delightful turns. Some of us are invited - but what to do with the uninvited guests?

Whose body did the government man find in the well?  We find out in this beautifully written story told by Laurel, a young woman living in a dark cove in South Carolina with her brother, their family scorned by the town because of superstitions during WWI.  The author's poetic language appeals so much to me as in "dewdrops on a spider's web held whole rainbows inside them."

Told with great energy, passion and clarity. He's accomplished so much in such a short period of time in spite of his youth, personal difficulties and not just illness, but devastating illness. He has talent, vision, drive, and a great partnership with Nick.

The descriptions of his dishes are so well done that as much as I'd like to eat at Alinea some day, in some ways I feel satisfied having read it, as though I have already eaten there.

I realize I'd read about the meal at Alinea in another favorite food memoir, It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time by Moira Hodgson. Rereading the description after reading the Chef's story was an additional delight.

I usually only like a cookbook if it has pictures of each recipe but not only are these recipes great, the stories about the recipes are entertaining and just plain good reading.

The wisdom of an older woman is imparted to a young newcomer through stories of life in the gold mines of Colorado. A must read for quilters - thoroughly enjoyable.

Here's a favorite line that gives a wonderful taste of this memoir - "How then does the written word work? What part of a reader absorbs it - or should that be a double question?" Intelligent and absorbing!

I am always excited to read the next in the Maisie Dobb's series. This one felt a bit darker than the previous books as she explores the world of mental illness and the institutions that existed in the 1920's for that care. It reminded me a bit of the bestseller The Professor and the Madman.

I love this book so much, I would like the entire town of Wellesley to read it and talk about it with me. An epic tale about logging as the National Park Developers vs. North Carolina after the stock market crash of 1929. We follow Serena, the new wife of the logging owner -- and what an adventure it is!

Two families meet at the airport on the arrival day of their adopted babies. We follow these entwined lives with very different ideas about raising their children. Very thoughtful, at times funny and at times moving - rather light and straightforward for Anne Tyler. More like Back When We Were Grownups than Accidental Tourist.

Very simply told, but many a-ha moments as a psychiatrist travels the world to find what makes people happy.