Midwinter Reads

Train Dreams by Denis Johnson—This novella follows Robert Grainer, a logger and railroad worker with a life that follows the story of America. It’s beautifully told with the tragedy and beauty of a life worth living. I enjoyed learning about the people he’d met and narratives of his life. But it is the writing that I fell in love with, making Grainer’s life come alive.

If you’re interested, watch the movie, which just came out in November, 2025 and is now streaming on Netflix.

The Tell: A Memoir by Amy Griffin—To look at Amy Griffin, she appeared to have led a perfect life. She grew up in Amarillo Texas, in a loving family. But throughout her life, even when she met her husband John Griffin, got married and had four children, there was something missing. One of her daughters actually said to her, “Mom you’re here but you’re not here. Where are you?”

It was only when she took part in MDMA-assisted psychotherapy that memories floated to the surface about continued sexual abuse at the hands of a teacher when she was in middle school. And the more she was involved in therapy and MDMA, the more she remembered. No one else had known about this, including her parents and sisters. She hired an investigator even though the time had passed for her to press charges.

As I have read this memoir, I see how Amy has changed her life, how perfectionism isn’t paramount anymore, but honesty with her family is important. She journeys to Texas but is unable to find anyone to collaborate her story. At the end of her memoir, she understands that she can never bring this man to justice, and she is ready to live with that.

She published this book in March 2025 and it became part of the Oprah Winfrey Book Club. But because no one could actually collaborate her story, and was helped by MDMA, there has been some doubt about her story.

If you are looking for an account of sexual abuse, this is certainly an interesting tale. Believe it or don’t . It wasn’t my favorite, but it was an interesting story.

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans—Epistolary novels are one of my favorite forms of literature. Reading a letter can open a channel to someone whether it was the letter writer or the receiver. Characters show who they are with just a few targeted words.

Sybil Van Antwerp had been writing letters all her life. She thinks it may have started with the letter that Sybil’s birth mother wrote her before she left her with the woman who adopted her.  The reader finds out about Sybil’s life in small increments. You think you’ve missed something, but you haven’t. You just haven’t found the full story yet. I so enjoyed this novel.

The Third Gilmore Girl by Kelly Bishop—This book sounds like a one of those tell all Hollywood memoirs. But I don’t care what it sounds like. I’m a Kelly Bishop fan dating from way before the Gilmore Girls. “A Chorus Line”, the Broadway musical sensation in 1975 was Kelly Bishop’s portal into Broadway where she won the Tony Award for her portrayal of Sheila.

 I was captured from the first line of her memoir. Bishop herself narrated the audio version and talked about her life so naturally, including the The Gilmore Girls era and what it was like in that iconic show and that iconic role. If you are a musical fan or a Gilmore Girls fan, or even if you’re not, read it or listen to it and enjoy Bishop’s odyssey.  

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi—Theo, an 87-year-old man moves to Golden, Georgia for a short stay and becomes an intricate part of this small town. He walks into the local coffee shop and notices many portraits of local people on the wall and wonders who these people are and why their portraits are there. He decides to find out and buys the drawings, only to give them to the people whose faces are on the wall. We meet Minnette, Asher, Basil, Ellen and many others.  But who is Theo and why is he there?

This novel probably needed some editing, but it was written with love, and you will fall in love with the townspeople of Golden as well as Theo. And I dare you to finish this book with dry eyes.

I think we’ve gotten through the worst part of winter. Relax with your own captivating book and we’ll get together for more engrossing reads.