Best Reads: Books That Grab You

By Chris Weber

Occasionally, and not often, a book will grab you from the first page and not let you go until you have finished reading it. I was most fortunate to have not one, but two books hold me captive over the past week. I sat down to read them and finished within twenty-four hours. On one of these days, my husband went off to do errands, and upon his return, he commented that I hadn’t moved since he left. He was right! The two books could not be more different, and yet they both embraced me. I hope they will do the same for you!

Vigil by George Saunders:

This book opens with a woman falling from the sky headfirst into the ground. With only her feet sticking out, she rights herself, straightens her skirt, and looks around, evaluating what she sees. An ornate mansion sits before her, while she hears a wedding going on next door. And the reader thinks, “Wow, what just happened!” This spirit, Jill Blaine, is on her newest mission, yet another soul, K. J. Boone, an oil magnet, must be ushered into the afterlife.  The souls that she comforts are often happy to have their sins forgiven, but this man believes that he has nothing to regret. He did it all, and the world is better off because of him. Or is it? As the novel moves forward, we meet an array of characters, both living and dead, discover what happened to our main character’s spirit while she was alive, and find out the many sins of K. J. Boone. You have to explore what happens! And quickly!

Skylark by Paula McLain:

This novel is the most captivating book I have read by the author, and I have read most of her books! We travel back to Paris, une ville que j’adore! This mesmerizing tale of Paris is the story of one woman’s quest for artistic freedom in 1664, intertwining with a doctor’s dangerous mission during the German occupation in the 1940s. Both stories are captivating! The novel starts with a brief introduction of the fire at Notre Dame in 2019, setting the stage for what happens in 1664. The novelist weaves the two back stories: that of a young man working in the quarry, where the stones for Notre Dame are being prepared, and a young woman who discovers the dyes that will someday be instrumental in the creation of the blue color used in the glass at Sainte-Chapelle. The Bièvre River is at the heart of the story, as it plays an equal role in both time periods. The Paris of 1940 is set at the beginning of the occupation by the Nazis. The characters that you meet, a young Jewish girl seeking to memorize the Greek texts, a young psychiatrist working at a hospital where they are trying electro conversion therapy on the insane, and a charming young architect studying the under layers of the city. Together, these three characters eventually try to escape the Nazi occupation. I read this book in eight hours!

Up next is Richard Russo’s new book, Under the Falls, which will be released in August 2026. Another one that I can’t put down.  

Chris Weber is a partner of The Bookshelf, Madeira’s only small, independent bookstore, where every book is carefully selected to meet both contemporary literary trends and bestsellers.

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