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| OHCC LIVING | AUGUST 2026 | 13 It is August Once More "August is the slow, gentle month that stretches out the longest across the span of a year. It yawns and lingers on with the light in its palms." - Victoria Erickson Recently, I was looking through the list of books that had been purchased by our library and available for our community to enjoy. e Correspondent by Virginia Evans caught my attention. Perhaps it was that I had recently discovered some old letters written between my husband and me during Vietnam. I had come across them in an old box. The box smelled of old, faded paper sheets and envelopes. My name was barely visible. The post marks read 1970. A pink ribbon was still tied around each bundle. I was drawn to read them. How long had it been since I had seen a handwritten letter. My life was made up of emails and texts. It is easy to look deeper into the e Correspondent. Goodreads summarized the book immediately as "filled with knowledge that only comes from a life fully lived. It is about finding solace through literature and a connection with people that we might never meet in person." Inside its pages we meet Sybil Van Antwerp, who has just turned 73. She has lived a long life and has so much more to live for. She has loved and been loved by many and has lost more than one woman can bear. She has written letters most of her life. It is how she makes sense of the world around her. Often, she is required to send and receive email messages, but her preference is to 'pen longhand letters' that she writes every day to those she loves, and those she doesn't. There is one mystery, a letter that Sybil continues to write but does not send. Only in the end of her book do we fully understand who these letters are meant to reach. As she ages, her sight begins to dim, she must confront one of her deepest held and tightly locked secrets. Maybe, just maybe, she can find peace in time. e Correspondent is a gift, and it could not be more timely for all of us who struggle to communicate in this fast paced, electronically controlled era, when AI so often steps between us and the people we so desperately need. Through the character of Sybil and her handwritten letters, we journey back to a time when communication was simple, honest and beautiful. One reviewer put it best: I finished this book wishing I were one of her correspondents because letter writing is a dying art and when it's done right, is a special thing." As Sybil states: "Remember: words, especially those written, are immortal." First published in April 2025, this book has been on the New York Times Best Seller List for 35 weeks. e Correspondent is truly a brilliant debut for this author. It has been hailed as "a cause for celebration." (Ann Patchett: New York Times) "The first week of August hangs at the very top of summer… like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning." - Natalie Babbit Written by Sally Benton and submitted by the Library Association Library Association AUGUST BOOK BUYS Back Track ..............................................................Marc Cameron Clive Cussler Cold Fire........................................... Graham Brown Cool Machine .................................................... Colson Whitehead Country Road Murders ............... James Patterson & Mike Lupica Dead Men Don't Play Fetch .................................. David Rosenfelt How e Story Goes............................................ Andrew Forrester John Of John............................................................Douglas Stuart is Kingdom Will Not Kill Me .............................. Ilona Andrews Last Branch Standing ...................................................Sarah Isgur Life: A Love Story.....................................................Elizabeth Berg e Loneliness Of Sonia And Sunny ........................... Kiran Desai Mad Mabel............................................................. Sally Hepworth Meet Me In Paris.....................................................Kristin Harmel Mother-Daughter Book Club .James Patterson & Susan Patterson Our Perfect Storm ...................................................Carley Fortune Purple State................................................................ Dana Perino Ransom ....................................................................... Daniel Silva A River Red With Blood .......................................... John Connolly Robert B. Parker's Booked ........................................ Alison Gaylin Rocket's Red Glare.................James Patterson & Matt Eversmann Written By: Jean Heer

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