After many months of trying to get a reservation at the Rose Garden Tea Room at The Huntington, we finally scored! Was the wait worth it? Let me tell you about our experience…

James McBride’s newest novel, The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store tells the story of the community of Chicken Hill in the 1920s and 1930s. A town of immigrant Jews and African Americans, it focuses on overlapping character stories which ultimately demonstrate the strength, resolution, determination and love of community that these individuals share.

Undoubtedly you have been seeing a lot of media attention for Killers of the Flower Moon. The Scorsese movie has been getting so much critical acclaim that it seems like a “must see” But Harriet and I also read the David Grann book (the film is based on the book) so the question is to see the film, read the book or do both?

One of the most compelling works of historical fiction that Harriet and I have read this year, Properties of Thirst by Marianne Wiggins is set during World War II in the Owens Valley California. Focusing on this period of time, Wiggins interweaves the story of the Rhodes family with events that shaped both California and the U.S.