Ingrained: The Making of a Craftsman by Callum Robinson

 

The tools of the trade for Callum Robinson might be the predictable ones, but it’s true grit and the ability to look outside the box that end up rescuing the author’s fragile business. When a significant client bails, the bottom caves under and Robinson and his enterprise and ever-resourceful architect wife, Marisa, learn how to pivot. They decide to sell directly to consumers and slowly build their failing business back up. The descriptions of woodworking are entrancing but they’re not as abundant as I hoped they would be. Part memoir, part business how-to, the book nevertheless is an engaging read.

Bug Hollow by Michelle Huneven

When teenage Ellis Samuelson decides to just up and stay in Bug Hollow one summer, the events that unfold will affect him and his family forever. Spanning the 70s through contemporary times, Huneven gives the Samuelson family story a touching and simultaneously vivacious arc. The smallest moments of tenderness and joy permeate practically everything, including a deeply touching deathbed scene. The family packs into the old beatup sedan to rescue one of their own and have the battle scars to prove it. Through it all they share life’s vicissitudes, accommodating each person’s foibles as they go. Profound and simultaneously propulsive. 

Perspective(s) by Laurent Binet

Set in the time of the wealthy Medicis in 16th century Italy, this raucous epistolary novel is a murder whodunnit at its heart. Who killed the artist Pimponael found dead in Florence’s holy chapel, his frescoes unfinished. A chorus of characters adds drama to engaging, if sometimes dizzying effect. The real treat is in uncovering the larger undercurrents: the increasingly conservative social mores of the time; the geopolitical maneuvering between the Italians, French and the Spaniards; the stirrings of revolution; and the manipulation of women as mere property to be used for strategic gain. A thoroughly enjoyable if manic romp.