Book Report: Thanksgiving Reads

On a long weekend, I want a book that sucks me in so completely that I can justify staying up until 3 am with the misbegotten idea that I can sleep in the next morning (never happens). Because I can’t resist a good theme, here are my favorite page turners featuring the Thanksgiving trio of crazy family, delicious food, and superstitious pilgrims.

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
Want to feel like your family is really normal? Pick up Jeanette Walls’ The Glass Castle. A memoir that reads like a novel, it chronicles the author’s chaotic childhood as the daughter of two bohemian artists whose abhorrence of traditional society leads down a dark path. But before you decide it all sounds too depressing for a holiday weekend, this is more a story of redemption and resiliency than dysfunction.

 The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
I know, the movie version stars Nick Nolte. But the lush language and the heart-wrenching story more than make up for that. No one paints a landscape like Pat Conroy describing the Carolina low country, which serves as the backdrop for a story of family secrets--from mental illness to abuse to infidelity. I could not put it down.

Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl
I have an obsession with the now-out-of-print Gourmet magazine (why, Conde Nast, why?), so when my mother-in-law told me that the mag’s former editor-in-chief Ruth Reichl wrote a memoir about her time as the New York Times restaurant critic (how does one person get all my dream jobs?), I had to give it try. In a warm, genuine style, Reichl recounts her years spent visiting New York’s best restaurants in disguise and shares some of her favorite recipes (the roasted rhubarb is killer over ice cream).

 Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris

“Food was her nostalgia, her celebration, its nurture and preparation the sole outlet for her creativity.” So begins the lesser-known work by the author of Chocolat about a girl named after raspberries living in an occupied village on the Loire. It’s an intrigue-filled story of war, family, and the haunting choices sometimes required to survive.

The Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent
Count your blessings you weren’t a pilgrim. Set during the Salem Witch Trials, The Heretic’s Daughter tells the story of Martha Carrier, among the first women accused of a dalliance with the devil during one of colonial New England’s darkest chapters. Author Kathleen Kent, a descendant of Martha, captures the bleakness and hysteria of the time while still crafting a deeply emotional story of family devotion.

Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks
Set on Martha’s Vineyard way before it became a place for presidential summer vacations, Caleb’s Crossing is based on the true story of the first Native American to graduate from Harvard. I love the strength of the two main characters and the exploration of what you give up in order to meet expectations.




What are your favorite long weekend reads?