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PrintJuly/August 2019 Local Authors
A debut novel that reveals the depth and fragility of family relationships
The Most Fun We Ever Had
by Claire Lombardo, formerly of Oak Park
Set against the quintessential American backdrop of Chicago’s affluent suburbs, The Most Fun We Ever Had is a multigenerational story that follows the lives of the Sorensons and their four daughters.
The novel opens in the 1970s, when Marilyn Connelly and David Sorensen first meet and fall head-over-heels in love. As the relationship endures and remains passionate, the couple, engaged with their own happiness, are blithely unaware of all that goes on in the lives of their growing daughters. By 2016, all four women wrestle as adults with anxieties and unresolved issues that intrude upon their lives — and a long-buried secret threatens to ignite old rivalries and resentments.
Lombardo’s debut novel explores the triumphs and burdens of love and the curious mix of acrimony, jealousies, loyalty and affection that holds families together.
Claire Lombardo, who was born and raised in Oak Park, earned her MFA in fiction at Iowa Writers’ Workshop. A former social worker, she now lives in Iowa City where she teaches fiction writing and is at work on her second novel.
The Never Game
by Jeffery Deaver, formerly of Glen Ellyn
In his latest book, Deaver, an award-winning master of suspense and author of multiple best sellers, follows expert tracker, Colter Shaw, who is hired by a Silicon Valley magnate to find his missing daughter. Soon, the investigation thrusts Shaw into the dark heart of America’s tech hub and the cutthroat billion-dollar video-gaming industry. Thisfast-and-furious game of cat-and-mouse is Deaver in his element as a leading crime writer.
The Devil’s Equinox
by John Everson of Naperville
Dark and at times macabre, his suspense novel starts out with an unhappy marriage, a sultry stranger and too much booze in a late-night bar.
In rapid succession, Austin’s wife is found dead, and the stranger, Regina, lures Austin into a world of rituals, black magic and bloodletting. With evil in the air and as the planets align for the equinox, the plot twists and turns, forcing Austin to risk all to save his daughter — and his own soul.
NOSE OVER TOES
by Janet Sutherland-Madden of Glen Ellyn
In 2004, Chicago radio reporter Janet Sutherland-Madden suffered a brain aneurysm that left her blind and paralyzed. Now fully recovered, her book is the story of a survivor who turned a devastating medical trauma into an opportunity to lobby and fundraise for the Brain Aneurysm Foundation. Written with grace and humor, the book provides inspiration and resources to help others surmount life-changing events.
108 Yoga and Self-Care Practices for Busy Mamas
by Julie Gentile of Bloomingdale
Written by a certified yoga instructor, health and wellness journalist and busy mother of two, this dip-in guide provides 108 prompts that inspire and coach readers in easy yoga techniques. In addition to simple breathing exercises and dozens of yoga poses, there are meditation techniques that can be built into a busy daily schedule. The goal is to begin and maintain effective, daily self-care routines.
