As we stow away the tank tops and shorts, exchanging them for the warmer cardigans and jackets, we look ahead to the vibrant nature of Autumn, a time to return to the hallowed halls of learning. This month we shed light on adult education in all its manifestations as it becomes a turning point.
My Boring Life by Kerry Chaput
My Boring Life (French Press Publishing LLC, 2021)
by Kerry Chaput
It’s 1969. The world is in upheaval, and Gavenia is consumed by her disastrous first year of college in New York.
Gavenia is not your typical 19-year-old: She’s a ginger-haired book nerd with her own chair at the library, whose best friends are a group of hip grannies. She’s the outcast of her outrageous British family who swallows emotions with a stiff drink and views mocking as a family sport. When her big brother returns from Vietnam with a crippling case of PTSD, Gavenia returns to her hometown of Boring, OR, where she’s exposed to ridicule and disappointment.
Gavenia discovers that she might be the only one who can save her brother from devastation, but first, she must save herself. In order to earn her way back to college, she must train under an eccentric artist and face the aftermath of being plagiarized to break a crushing case of writer’s block.
No Longer Yours by Sara LaFontain
No Longer Yours (26 Trees Press, 2018)
by Sara LaFontain
Cherry Waites never thought her idyllic marriage of 10 years would end with divorce papers. Humiliated to finally discover her husband’s year-long affair, she accepts a teaching position on a secluded island and hopes for a better life. But her new beginning hits a rocky start when she trips over a grump’s beloved dog.
Matteo Capen prefers the company of canines to people. Paranoid his isolated haven will become overcrowded, the self-proclaimed bachelor shares some choice words with the clumsy new schoolteacher he mistakes for a tourist. But when his dogs take a liking to her, the ice in his heart begins to melt.
Though Cherry’s eternal optimism rubs Matteo the wrong way, he gallantly steps in when her online dating attempts end in disaster. And as the winter storm season approaches, Cherry wonders if her future might offer another chance.
A Different Kind of Fire by Suanne Schafer
A Different Kind of Fire (Waldorf Publishing, 2018)
by Suanne Schafer
Ruby Schmidt has the talent, the drive, even the guts to enroll in art school, leaving behind her childhood home and the beau she always expected to marry. Her life at the Academy seems heavenly at first, but she soon learns that societal norms in the East are as restrictive as those back home in West Texas.
Rebelling against the insipid imagery women are expected to produce, Ruby embraces bohemian life. Her burgeoning sexuality drives her into a life-long love affair with another woman and into the arms of an Italian baron. With the Panic of 1893, the nation spirals into a depression, and Ruby’s career takes a similar downward trajectory. After thinking she could have it all, Ruby, now pregnant and broke, returns to Texas rather than join the queues at the neighborhood soup kitchen.
Set against the Gilded Age of America, a time when women are fighting for reproductive rights and suffrage, A Different Kind of Fire depicts one woman’s battle to balance husband, family, career and ambition. Ruby’s choices mold her in ways she could never have foreseen.
Forks, Knives, and Spoons by Leah DeCesare
Forks, Knives, and Spoons (SparkPress, 2017)
by Leah DeCesare
There are three kinds of guys: forks, knives and spoons. That is the final lesson that Amy York’s father sends her off to college with, never suspecting just how far his daughter will take it.
Clinging to the Utensil Classification System as her guide, Amy tries to convince her skeptical roommate, Veronica Warren, of its usefulness as they navigate the heartbreaks and soul mates of college and beyond. Beginning in 1988 during their freshman year at Syracuse University, Amy and Veronica meet an assortment of guys from slotted spoons and shrimp forks to butter knives and sporks, all while trying to learn if the UCS holds true.
On the quest to find their perfect steak knives, they learn to believe in themselves and not to settle in love or life.
The Goddess Workshop by Margaret K. Johnson
The Goddess Workshop (Earthly Works, 2014)
by Margaret K. Johnson
When Janet, Kate, Estelle and Reenie sign up for a workshop at the village hall, promising women a “garden of earthly delights,” not all of them know what they’ve signed up for. And when they find that a giant reproduction from the Kama Sutra has replaced the usual portrait of the Queen, more than one of them contemplates doing a runner before it’s too late.
Their mysterious and charismatic workshop leader Jade wants to sweep them into the adventure of their lives. But as she speaks to them about erotica and the best way to find pleasure, can they trust her? And can they overcome their in-fighting and personal struggles long enough to become the happy, sensual beings they deserve to be?
