Corinne Demas

He hears laughter. Laughter that he remembers. Laughter that he hasn’t heard for a long time.

Her name is Cassandra Joyce.
She was an entomologist.
His name is Noah Shilling.
He was an English professor emeritus.
Residents of Clarion Court, an independent living community.
She has a dog named Melville.
He has a cat without a name, in other words, simply Cat.
He loves music.
She does not.
They both love the pool.

They could escape the renovations that will close “The Terrace” dining room and pool show more if Cassandra accepts Noah’s invitation to stay with him as friends at his cottage on Cape Cod. Can 2 independent individuals, different yet the same, forge ahead together?

I loved this novel, from the meaningful epigraph to the last sentence. It captures the essence of aging in a heartwarming way, from the differences in how each person has moved forward in their lives after experiencing love and loss, after retirement, after downsizing a family home to reactions to rules in a community, and when long-held emotional baggage is noted and called out by another. The writing is intelligent, witty, and oh-so-real. It showers the reader with the beauty of love at a certain age, miraculously breathtaking from discovery to the unknown time it will be shared.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the opportunity to read an eARC of this novel. show less

4.5 stars. Although it isn't marketed as such (no cute, cartoony cover), The Road Towards Home is a delightful contemporary romance, distinct in its septuagenarian MCs. Some of the challenges they face are related to their age, but others are part of any new relationship: how much to trust, how much to let the other person in, how much to consider changes. Cassandra is a little too pushy and self-righteous, while Noah is too closed off and stubborn, but they are eminently likeable in their show more imperfections. Plus there is a lovable Newfoundland named Melville, a tarantula or two, and a terrarium full of stick insects.

I'm much closer to Noah and Cassandra's age than I am to the 20- and 30-something MCs in most of the romances I read, and it was an unexpected pleasure to find a novel that takes love between two Medicare-eligible adults seriously.

An Amazon First-Reads book, May 2023. show less

"Pirates are unruly / and pirates love to fight, / but pirates still say "please and "thanks" / 'cause pirates are polite." And so begins co-authors Corinne Demas and Artemis Roehrig's amusing guide to good manners, with its rollicking rhythm and entertaining rhymes. Twelve important lessons about courtesy, from using one's inside voice to waiting in line, are profiled here, and paired with quirky illustrations from David Catrow.

Featuring an unlikely thematic pairing, Are Pirates Polite? show more offers an entertaining introduction to a topic - good manners - that some children might find rather tiresome, but which is necessary for their social development. The text is just made to read aloud, while the colorful artwork, which depicts various scruffy-looking pirates being rambunctious, but also scrupulously polite, will keep young readers and listeners riveted. Recommended to anyone looking for children's stories about pirates and/or good manners. show less

This book discusses a lot of interesting insects in a clever way: Each page spread asks a question that is a play on words based on the insect's name, such as the titular 'do doodlebugs doodle?' The following page then answers that question (usually in the negative) and explains what that insect *does* do. By posing questions to interact with before discovering the true fact about each insect, this book makes learning fun. It works particularly well as a readaloud for elementary school-age show more children. Curious children (and adults) are sure to learn a lot by reading this title. And, of course, it's perfect for nature lovers! show less