New Book Tuesday...

It's New Books Tuesday and here are my top 5 picks from this week...

Grim Tidings by B.K. Borison… a whimsical, haunting romance. When a runaway grim reaper tries to save a life, she clashes with a skeptical Guardian, forcing them to form an unlikely partnership beyond the grave.

Darcy Moore is tired of death. Which would be fine and good ... if she wasn’t a Grim Reaper. Determined to outrun her designation as the villain, Darcy decides she won’t be dragging her next assignment to the underworld. She’ll be saving him instead.

Unfortunately for Darcy, there’s a complication in her plan. Guardian Angel Gabriel Aetos doesn’t tolerate threats to his little corner of the world, and a Grim Reaper showing up at his bar is as deadly as it gets. But when he realizes Darcy is not as she seems, Gabriel must decide if he can trust his growing feelings or hold on to his long-standing grudge.

But magic doesn’t come without consequences. And the Department of Hauntings & Spirits will eventually come calling for their missing Reaper.

A spooky yet simmering enemies-to-lovers tale to keep you warm this fall.

This is the much anticipated book 2 in B.K. Borison's Ghosted series. These books are so much fun! I pre-ordered this way back in April and should be getting this today! Published by Avon.

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Daughter of the Dark by R.J. Valldeperas… From the flesh of a fallen god, a demon slayer rises.

Supay lives under a curse of eternal death. For the greed of their god, the people are damned to live as human... and then again as muki.

For Solana, survival means staying sharp and staying alone. Armed with only a blood-forged dagger, she's carved out a life as Supay's fiercest slayer, freeing souls even as she's trapped by duty.

But when a twist of fate offers her the title of Royal Demon Hunter, Solana finally finds a path to the freedom she's always craved... but it draws her closer to the darkness threatening Supay―darkness that calls to her soul alone.

Torn between turning her back on a fight she never asked for and the pull of loyalties old and new―including an irresistible connection to a man who should be her enemy―Solana must decide...

Choose fate and freedom?

Or death, destruction... and revolution.

I'm always looking for new romantasy and found this is my search this week. This is book 1 of a "at least" 2 book series by Bramble.

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Hollow Bones by Jodi Picoult …  a riveting novel about the risks we take to protect the ones we love in a world where crisis is always just around the corner.

On September 11, 2001, when Molly Fitzgerald was only two months old, her mother went to an appointment at the World Trade Center and never came home. Her father and the stepmother who raised her couldn’t have loved her more, but she still grew up with a healthy dread of disasters.

Now an adult, she runs the Rhode Island Department for Emergency Preparedness, mapping out ways to save lives during storms, epidemics, and airplane crashes. She and her husband, Jesse—a police polygraph expert with his own history of crisis—have found a love that is a solace in a dangerous world. But then the unexpected upends their new marriage, leading them both to question everything they thought they knew.

Moving between past and present, Hollow Bones is an epic story of the lies we tell ourselves as we write the narratives of our lives, the plans we design to protect ourselves at the worst moments, and the ties that bind mothers and daughters.

No introduction is needed here-- It's Jodi Picoult, buy it! Published by Ballantine.

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Exit Party by Emily St. John Mandel… a breathtaking novel of doubles, shadow worlds, and fractured timelines as a man disappears from a glittering Los Angeles party, and a woman—a gunrunner, an art collector, an operative of the State—searches for answers.

Los Angeles, 2031: The first spring after the collapse of the United States, peacekeeping troops withdraw from the city, the Jacaranda trees blossom, and the curfew is finally lifted. Ari Waker and her roommate pass the gauntlet of bomb-sniffing dogs, the shanty towns, and the Red Cross tents as they walk across Silverlake to a party. The mood is ecstatic inside the apartment, people drink and dance, a woman wears a silver dress, pleated like tinfoil. And then: A shift. A bewildered twin, an uncanny doppelganger stumbles through the crowd and out into the night, and Kareem, the party’s host, vanishes into thin air.

As Ari Waker unravels the mystery of this inexplicable night, Emily St. John Mandel unfurls a story that takes us from a future America splintered by civil war to the seaside cliffs of Greece where weapons dealers hide in an elegant resort, and from the domed city of Paris to a colony on the moon. An unforgettable literary feat, Exit Party is a novel about the price of safety, the perils of the surveillance state, a requiem for a world not unlike our own, and a breathtaking story of resilience in the face of cataclysmic change.

I have read Emily St. John Mandel off and on thru the years. Always good stories. This one sounds intriguing! Let's read along and find our missing host... Published by Knopf.

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The Thoroughbreds by Elin Hilderbrand… Class is back in session! New York Times bestselling authors of The Academy Elin Hilderbrand and Shelby Cunningham return with The Thoroughbreds: what has more high-stakes drama, tension, and intrigue than senior year at a New England boarding school?

September at Tiffin Academy is always a heady time, especially for the senior class—“sixth formers,” in Tiffin-speak—a season of college applications and intense pressure, of partying hard and last hurrahs. As the chapel bells ring in students and staff, everyone has something to look forward to—but in the midst of the anticipation and excitement, nagging questions and dark secrets lurk beneath the surface…

Are Tiffin’s It Couple, Charley and East, on the rocks? What sparked the rift between football star Dub and his best friend Hakeem? Will Pippa Sacks, posh day student, topple the delicate social hierarchy—or wreak even worse havoc? Can Head of School Audre Robinson save her job—and the school—after a disastrous financial mistake? And what was in that email attachment Cinnamon Peters sent to Dub before she died?

Elin Hilderbrand and her daughter Shelby Cunningham answer these questions and more in The Thoroughbreds, a page-turning story about friendship, treachery, ambition, and growing up, at any age.

Mother Daughter duo writing book 2 of the academy series and it definitely sparks my interest! Let's go back to school with Elin and her Daugher. Published by Little, Brown and Company. 

Which books will you be adding to your TBR list?

Memoir Monday... This One is for All You Book Lovers!

 

The Bookshop Woman by Nanako Hanada... This international bestseller is the true story of a devoted book lover who finds connection in the vast sea of Tokyo by recommending to strangers the book that will change their lives.

“I'm the manager of a very unusual bookshop. I have over ten thousand books in my vast memory bank, and I'll recommend the perfect one for you.”

Nanako Hanada is a passionate book lover who manages the Village Vanguard, an iconically eccentric bookstore in Tokyo. But her story takes a turn with the breakdown of her marriage. Spending her nights alone in Tokyo's four-hour capsules, she’s finding herself rather isolated. That's until Nanako finds the meet-up site Perfect Strangers.

Perfect Strangers isn’t a dating site—it’s where people meet for thirty-minute bursts to find friendship or romance, build a network, or just share ideas. She sets up her profile promising to recommend people “the book that will change their life.” In the ensuing year, Nanako meets hundreds of people, a ragtag range of strangers who happen to believe in the power of a great book. Soon she discovers that she can connect with just about anyone, and bustling Tokyo begins to feel like a welcoming—if a bit quirky—small town.

Written with comforting humor and populated by a delightful cast of Tokyo-ites, The Bookshop Woman is a soul-stirring book about a bookseller's self-discovery. Here she shares what every bookseller knows: Books can be joyful paths toward meaningful connections.

As a book lover, I love to recommend books to people. I just think this book sounds wonderful! I want to read about the people Nanako meets and the books she recommends! Do I feel a hint of Theo of Golden, with Nanako meeting hundreds of people with a common connection? A slim book of 224 pages, this is on my wishlist! P.S. The book is about 6 x 9 in size, which sounds like a great book to gift to a fellow book lover. 

The Bookshop Woman by Nanako Hanada will be published by Tiny Reparations Books this Tuesday, Sept. 15th!

New Book Tuesday... and These are Killers!

 

If Books Could Kill by Kate Eberle... 
A NOVEL LOVE STORY meets LOVE IN THE TIME OF SERIAL KILLERS in this rom-com following Roxie Mitchell, an adventure-loving romance reader who finds herself trapped in a meet-cute turned murderous

When Roxie makes a tongue-in-cheek wish to live out the plot of her favorite author’s next novel, she has romance in mind—namely, the sweet, safe, swoon-worthy storylines Anna Matthews is known for. It should be a dream come true when her wish is granted and she finds herself swept into a first date with a handsome stranger who seems designed to take her breath away.

Except for one little hiccup: That handsome stranger tries to take her breath away. Literally. With a knife. The thing is, Roxie may be the new Anna Matthews protagonist—but this time, Anna is writing a crime thriller.

Thrown into a perilous genre she’s never read, Roxie is desperate for help. So when her escape takes her straight into the path of Grant Hoffman, an anxious English professor with a convenient love of crime novels, she decides that kidnapping a grown man is a small price to pay for her own survival. Together, Roxie and Grant navigate a madcap story in which the lines between fiction and reality blur. They’ll find out if they have what it takes to make it to The End—or maybe even Happily Ever After.

I like these stories that "bring to life" a story. Where the characters in a book come to life. This sounds fun. On my TBR list now! Published by Michael Joseph UK.

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How to Kill a Crime Writer by Sarah Lotz...
After the untimely death of her bestselling crime novelist mother, a young woman teams up with the fictional “ghost” of the heroine from her mother’s series in order to solve her mother’s murder.

After the tragic death of bestselling crime writer Annie Morrisey, her daughter, Niamh, moves into her mother's country cottage to take care of her mother’s estate. Shut away from the world, Niamh doesn't actually have to deal with the grief of her mother's untimely passing. Until the day that two things happen: the advance copy of her mother's final book lands on the doorstep and Leah Rebecca Overton appears in the kitchen.

Having a stranger show up in your house would be concerning at the best of times, but Leah isn't a stranger—she's the ultra-competent sleuth heroine from Annie’s novels. The antithesis of Niamh in every way, she's lived in the fictitious character's shadow for years. But why (and how) has Leah turned up now? And why can only Niamh see her? Leah is the last thing Niamh wants in her house or in her head, but she can't ignore the sleuth...especially when Leah suspects there may have been more to Annie's death than first suspected.

Another character coming alive off the page story! This is on my TBR list too! Published by Berkley Publishing.

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Love You To Death by Christina Dotson... 
When two best friends’ hobby of crashing weddings takes a deadly turn, they’re forced to embark on a road trip of survival in this addictive thriller.

How well do we really know our friends?

As the only Black women at an antebellum-themed wedding, Kayla and Zorie should’ve known this heist was doomed from the start. They should never have come, but when their financial situation became dire, they agreed to hit one last wedding.

Jaded and cynical Kayla has spent the last decade trying to fix her life since an angsty teen prank led to her arrest. Now, with her housekeeping job at a subpar hotel and her disappointing, Cinderella-esque relationship with her dad and obnoxious stepsister, she hates the life she’s built. Her only bright spots are her best friend, Zorie, and their favorite weekend pastime of crashing weddings to steal the money and pawn the gifts. But what started as a lark has evolved into a greedy obsession, making each wedding haul riskier than the last.

While trying to avoid the angry bride and groom, Kayla and Zorie’s getaway takes a gruesome turn and suddenly the “Wedding Crasher Killers” are national news. The best friends are forced to hit the road to dodge the authorities, but their escape plan leaves behind a bloody trail of destruction from Georgia all the way to the bayou. As past grudges resurface, Kayla realizes that the best friend she thought she knew is more dangerous than she could ever have realized.

Sharp, unpredictable, and madcap from start to finish, Love You to Death is the most fun—and deadly—road trip you’ll ever take.

Now I am absolutely intrigued by this book! Not only is it a BFF story, but a Thelma & Louise vibe (you do know who Thelma & Louise are, right?!?) and a thriller to boot. Definitely on my TBR list now! Published by Bantam Publishing.

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Henry Tudor Must Die by Jillian Laine... 
One queen exiled. Another headed for the gallows. Both hungry for revenge. England’s most infamous queens unite in vengeance against Henry VIII.

Anne Boleyn is going to die, and neither her cleverness nor her witchery can save her. So when her late rival, Catalina de Aragón, miraculously appears in her cell at the Tower of London on the eve of her execution, very much alive and offering a daring escape plan, no one is more surprised than Anne.

Lina doesn’t have Anne’s magic—but she has just as much hate for England’s wretched king. Severed from her daughter and stripped of all her influence, Lina breathes only for the Hellebore Sisterhood, a clandestine and powerful society with a vested interest in keeping both queens alive . . . and using their particular skills to advance womankind.

Anne and Lina’s old rivalries pale in comparison to a common enemy. And they're not alone. Anna von Kleve, Kat Howard, and even Catherine Parr all have their own bones to pick with the king. One by one, they capture their pawns, infiltrating the court and eliminating the men who plotted against them. Always inching closer to their true target . . .

And they want his head.

Well, I have to say that this is giving me feeling of deja vu. I read The Beheading Game by Rebecca Lehmann back in April, where Anne Boleyn comes back from the dead seeking revenge on Henry and here we are again with Anne in prison and escaping her "real life fate" to pursue revenge along with some other famous Henry wives. It isn't exactly the same story, but... So I am intrigued and on the fence. The Beheading Game was definitely a 5 star read, so am I wishing for a repeat reading this? On my TBR list, but... Published by Berkley Publishing.

So, there you have it! My top 4 books from this weeks New Book Tuesday! Which are you putting on your TBR list?

In My Mailbox... Advanced Reading Copies that Came My Way This Week and You'll Want to Know About!

I'm so excited about these two soon-to-be-published books! It's been a few years since we've heard from Richard Russo and Chang-Rae Lee. Both wonderful writers whose books I've devoured in the past...

Under The Falls by Richard Russo...
A spellbinding page-turner about a crime in a small town that exposes long-held secrets and betrayals among a group of lifelong friends.When Tyler Sinclair left Stone Mountain at eighteen, he had no plans of returning. With only a duffel bag full of clothes, a few bucks stolen from his father’s dresser, and a guitar, his most prized possession, Tyler disappeared without so much as a goodbye. Eighteen years later, Tyler, now the frontman of a famous band aptly named Stone Mountain, finds himself returning to his hometown for a one-night-only benefit concert to support his old friend, Doc, who lost feeling in his legs following a childhood accident. As Tyler ascends the mountain, memories of his childhood come rushing back—memories of his abusive father and despondent mother, of the friends he left behind—and he quickly learns that, for many people on Stone Mountain, the past does not feel like so long ago, and not everyone has been eagerly awaiting Tyler’s return.

At the concert, resentment simmers just beneath the surface, and Tyler finds himself confronted with faces new and old: there’s Curt, Tyler’s childhood best friend, now Stone Mountain’s chief of police, and his star officer, Deb, an out-of-towner who may have bitten off more than she can chew by accepting a job in Stone Mountain. And then there’s Freddi, Curt’s wife and Tyler’s former lover, a woman whose questionable dealings and fraught history with Tyler will become the catalyst for a tragedy that will upend each of their lives and threaten to validate Tyler’s worst fear: that “Stone Mountain is the kind of place you might escape from once, if you’re lucky, but not twice.”

Under the Falls is at once a propulsive thriller, a gut-wrenching portrait of a tight-knit rural community undone by the sins of its past, and an unflinchingly honest depiction of how porous the line between right and wrong, good versus evil, can become. This is a stunning, deeply empathetic novel, one that takes Russo’s penchant for character-driven drama to thrilling new heights. 

Richard Russo is a master storyteller and I've enjoyed all of his novels. When I heard he was coming out with a new standalong novel, I was excited and even more excited when I received an advanced digital copy of Under The Falls from the publisher, Knopf. Just add this to your TBR list. It will be published on August 11th.

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A Tender Age by Chang-Rae Lee... A story of guilt, innocence, and a boy on the cusp of adolescence. A spellbinding exploration of American masculinity and family dynamics as seen through the confused eyes of a prepubescent child of immigrants, A Tender Age joins the rich tradition of the American *bildungsroman (*a literary genre that focuses on the psychological, moral, and emotional growth of a protagonist from childhood to adulthood.) The natural descendent of characters like Huckleberry Finn and Holden Caufield, Korean-American Jeon-Gi is torn between competing ideas of himself. At home, his working-class parents dote on him. Outside, he is part of a roving pack of kids with dominion over a derelict baseball field, weedy parking lot, and rusty jungle gym. Getting into and out of trouble is all-consuming. But the summer he turns eleven, he becomes embroiled in a staggering series of events reverberating far beyond himself and his family.

Devastating in its emotional precision, A Tender Age captures a family and community in striking distance of the American dream, and a young person on the precipice of adult knowledge, looking at his own culpability and looking away—then thinking about it for the rest of his life.

Another great storyteller, Chang-Rae Lee has dived deep into his character's soul to share their lives. This sounds like a great coming-of-age story, and then some. I am excited to read this new novel from Chang-Rae Lee and was happy to received an advanced digital copy from the publisher, Riverhead. A Tender Age will also be published on August 11th!

 

First Lines Friday... An This Choice is Out of This World!

 Would you keep reading after the first lines?

An Arcance Study of Stars by Sydney J. Shields was my May Allurial book of the month choice. It sounded so different from the regular Romantasy books. Here's the blurb from the publisher...

A historical dark academia fantasy filled with ancient secret societies, a swoon-worthy rivals-to-lovers romance, and dangerous deals made after dark. Perfect for fans of The Atlas Six and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.

When Claudia Jolicoeur is rejected from Cygnus University, a devilish stranger named Dorian appears in her nightmares and offers her a bargain: he will get her into Cygnus if she learns how to free him from a prison of stars. He takes a bite of her soul to seal the deal, and Claudia wakes to a letter from the High Sage of Cygnus stating she will take the place of Odette Dufort, a Rhetoric student who passed away.

Her arrival raises suspicions, rumors that she had a hand in Odette's death spread like wildfire, and Cassius MacLeod, the High Sage’s apprentice and Claudia's fellow Rhetoric student, seems hellbent on humiliating her. Determined to clear her name, she searches for any evidence that could prove her innocence. When someone—or something—starts slipping her pieces of Odette’s diary, Claudia uncovers a horrifying truth: over the last century, celestial witches at Cygnus have been murdered. Odette was one of them, and Claudia could be next. For her own protection, Claudia needs to free Dorian—and fast. 

What do you think? Sound interesting to you too? 

Published in April of this year by Redhook a division of Hachette Book Group.

By night, she studies the stars, slowly unraveling the mystery of Dorian's prison. By day, she and Cassius wage rhetorical war as debate partners in class. What begins as a fierce rivalry devolves into something deeper, darker, and dangerously sensual. As Claudia inches closer to the truth, she must decide: would trusting Cassius be the last mistake she ever makes?

New Release Tuesday: Four Books Destined for Your Summer TBR!

 

Another great release day! Check out these 4 books on the top of my list...

Daughters of The Sun And Moon by Lisa See...
The story of three Chinese women whose unexpected friendship helps them survive and, despite the odds, thrive, in the turmoil of post-Civil War Los Angeles.

In 1870, three Chinese women arrive in the small, dusty, and violent pueblo of Los Angeles. Dove, the bound-footed daughter of an imperial scholar, is entrancing and innocent. These characteristics should bring her great rewards, beginning with her arranged marriage to a much older merchant. Petal, the big-footed daughter of peasants, has grown up hungry and with dirt between her toes. In a moment of desperation, Petal’s father sells her to buy money for rice seed, and she is loaded onto a ship to the Gold Mountain—America—where she is once again sold. Moon is married to a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine. She is educated, speaks fluent English, and has been endowed with a face of great beauty, yet her failed footbinding as a child has left her with a limp that lessens her value in the eyes of many.

Each woman has her own desires. Dove wants to love and be loved, Petal desires freedom, and Moon seeks justice. Together they face a larger society that wishes them not one ounce of good will. Anti-Chinese sentiment is strong in Los Angeles, and this eventually leads to the Night of Horrors during which all three women are challenged in ways they could not have imagined. Brought together by hardship and heartbreak, they must use their bravery, endurance, and ability to “eat bitterness” to discover their voices, find freedom, and connect through solace and friendship. Together they are daughters of the sun and moon.

I have loved Lisa See since I read her book Snowflower and The Secret Fan back in 2005! She writes incredible stories that you just get absorbed into. I pre-ordered this months ago.

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Villa Coco by Andrew Sean Greer...
An aspiring archivist determined to begin a “serious” life after an undistinguished undergraduate career takes up residence in the Italian countryside. Here, he becomes the all-purpose assistant to the Baronessa, known to her friends as Coco, a defiantly youthful and naturally flamboyant woman of ninety-two. Amid a chaotic and colorful milieu of gin-swilling princesses, incomprehensible handymen, roaming boarhunters, nuns, and other local wildlife, our young man does his best to catalog the villa’s extensive collection of art and antiques—although he notices that things seem to go missing from right under his nose.

Despite himself, he tumbles into an affair with a married man, complicating his future plans considerably. And when the Baronessa loses someone close to her, he becomes an unwitting accomplice in the acceleration of Coco’s great and final plan: to locate the love of her life and be reunited before it’s too late. Told with the signature wit, charm, and humanity that made Less an international phenomenon, Villa Coco is a dazzling, sun-soaked ode to life itself, a meditation on how seriously we ought to take ourselves, and a bawdy Mediterranean ballad about becoming who we’ve always wanted to be.

This is on ALL the lists of anticipated releases for June! I am a sucker for reunions of past loves, so this just captured me. On my TBR list!

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That Last Carolina Summer by Karen White... 
A captivating new Southern drama about sisterhood, secrets and one woman’s reckoning with the past.

As a child, Phoebe Manigault developed the gift of premonition after she was struck by lightning in the creek near her Charleston home. Plagued throughout her life by mysterious dreams, and always living in the shadow of her beautiful sister, Addie, Phoebe eventually moves to the West Coast, as far from her family as possible. Now, years later, she is summoned back to South Carolina, to help Addie care for their ailing mother.

As Phoebe’s return lures her back into deep-rooted tensions and conflicts, she is drawn to Celeste, whose granddaughter went missing years ago. Their connection brings comfort to Phoebe, while Celeste’s adult grandson Liam resurrects complicated emotions tied to Phoebe’s past.

But the longer Phoebe spends in her childhood home, the more her recurring nightmares intensify—bringing her closer to the shocking truth that will irrevocably change everything. Unfolding against the lush backdrop of the South Carolina Lowcountry, That Last Carolina Summer is an unforgettable story about the unbreakable bonds of family and the gift of second chances.

I can't resist a new book by Karen White. Always great stories and I love her writing. This one sounds like a good one...

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Heather by Caitlin Mullen...
A small-town detective reopens an unsolved case, sending shock waves across generations of women in this gripping new mystery from the Edgar Award–winning author of Please See Us.

1990. In the myth-riddled woods of the New Jersey Pine Barrens, sixteen-year-old Annabelle Riley's twin sister, Sabrina, has been having an affair with a mysterious older man, and Annabelle is determined to uncover what's going on. Then, inexplicably, both sisters disappear.

In this same town years later, newly instated police chief Callie Hauser makes an arrest that unexpectedly resurrects details from a heartbreaking cold case. As she digs deeper, the past and the present collide, challenging everything Callie believes about right and wrong, who she is, and the town she's always called home.

A propulsive mystery as incisive as it is forgiving, Heather bears a visceral reminder that the truth of a woman's life is often complicated and unknowable—to those on the outside, and sometimes even to herself.

I haven't heard much about this book, but I like "missing people" mysteries and this is now on my TBR list, 

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Other notable releases today are Harvest Season by Bynne Weaver, book 2 of the Seasons of Carnage Trilogy and The Missed Connection by Tia Williams.

What are you putting on your TBR list this week?

Memoir Monday... A Memoir about Surviving

 

A Guide to Open Water Lifesaving: Lessons on Love, Care, and Survival by Virginia  Eubanks... 
Someone you love, maybe the person you love most in the world, is drowning. Should you jump in the water? Will you be able to bring both of you back to shore?

One night, Virginia Eubanks received the kind of news we all fear. Her beloved partner had been brutally beaten, just steps from their home.

She jumped in the water.

Eubanks dove into the responsibilities of caregiving. In the weeks, months, and years that followed, she and her partner, J., struggled to stay afloat as they faced wave upon wave of setbacks: police disinterest, suspended health insurance, inadequate medical care, lost income, lost friends, endless paperwork, and, for J., a serious case of post-traumatic stress disorder. Then, a second case. Eubanks herself developed what is known as collateral PTSD, a condition common among caregivers but rarely discussed.

She scanned the horizon for help.

A reporter and an activist, Eubanks turned to reliable sources for guidance: scientists, therapists, trauma theorists, social movements. But it wasn’t until she happened on an old lifesaving manual that she found advice that actually helped. Inspired by its lessons, she signed up for instruction in wilderness first aid, kayak self-rescue, Winter Survival 101, map and compass navigation, bushwhacking, and lifeguarding. She went out in search of other people’s stories and interviewed experts―everyone from neuroscientists to forest rangers. She gathered skills and knowledge that made her feel strong, competent, better prepared for the challenges ahead.

Disarmingly funny and quietly wise, A Guide to Open Water Lifesaving is the story―heart-wrenching and all too relatable―of how one woman tried to rescue her beloved and learned that she would also have to rescue herself. Built from both loss and connection, it is a moving, hopeful love story about two people caught in their own kind of wilderness, trying not just to survive but to truly care for each other. It asks that we reconsider the ways in which we tend to our loved ones and ourselves, and remember the communities of care that sustain us. It reminds us: no one survives the wilderness alone.

When I happened to read about this book I wondered if it was going to be the typical "how to" type of book, but I was surprised when I read a sample and it just drew me in. As Virginia Eubanks searched for help, she recounts in the pages I read, about learning how to survive an overturned kayak. As a kayaker, that's one thing that they say you should learn "just in case", but it's terrifying. Forcing yourself into a situation that could potentially drown you. Where I lived in CT, the YMCA had the survival course in one of their swimming pools. For Virginia Eubanks that lesson was in the open water. Just reading about her experience made me want to read more. But this was only one example of how the author learns to survive. I liked her writing and just from the sample I want to read more.

We'll have to wait a bit before diving into this book, Farrar, Straus and Giroux will publish & release this on August 11, 2026!

The Sunday Salon... and Having a Summer Sister

Happy Sunday and Welcome to The Sunday Salon! It's the place where Book Bloggers from around the world share their bookish finds with one another in a virtual place called The Sunday Salon. Thank you to Deb at ReaderBuzz keeping us all together on Sundays and hosting The Sunday Salon now! I also visited with Kim at The Caffeinated Reader, another Sunday gathering place for us bookish people called The Sunday Post! 

Even though the calendar doesn't say Summer is here yet, Summer is going strong in South Carolina! I have been madly re-potting and potting all those seed snails I grew this winter and have finally finished that part and am now lugging 40 lb bags of topsoil and organic garden soil into a new raised bed I bought. We have 2 other raised beds that were looking a little "tired" and I thought it would be nice not to have to bend down to get to those 12 inch high raised and bought a 26 inch high metal raised bed. What I didn't think about was how much dirt a 4 x 8, 26 inch high raised bed would need. Would you like to know how many bags of 1 cubic foot soil it needs? 69! OMG! I threw cardboard on the bottom, sticks, branches and then bought 20 bags of cheap topsoil to put in the bottom. My plants are waiting, but Summer is not. It is getting really hot here during the days... which reminds me of Summers past. My favorite reads. Summer just brings a different feeling to everything. Maybe it's because growing up when school let out for summer, we were free and carefree. Filling our days with adventures and happiness and friendships...

I was thinking about some of the books I read that brought those feeling back. I thought about Summer Sisters by Judy Blume. Have you read it? It's about 2 girls who went to school together, but didn't really know eachother. When school gets out, one of the most popular girls in the school asks one of the not so popular girls to go on summer vacation with her. This was the start of their life long friendship. And it was such an incredible read with that "spending time with your girlfriends during the summer vibe". So, today I thought I'd highlight books that bring back that "summer vibe spending time with your girlfriends"

Summer Sisters by Judy Blume... In the summer of 1977, Victoria Leonard’s world changes forever when Caitlin Somers chooses her as a friend. Dazzling, reckless Caitlin welcomes Vix into the heart of her sprawling, eccentric family, opening doors to a world of unimaginable privilege, sweeping her away to vacations on Martha’s Vineyard, an enchanting place where the two friends become “summer sisters.”

 Now, years later, Vix is working in New York City. Caitlin is getting married on the Vineyard. And the early magic of their long, complicated friendship has faded. But Caitlin begs Vix to come to her wedding, to be her maid of honor. And Vix knows that she will go—because she wants to understand what happened during that last shattering summer. And, after all these years, she needs to know why her best friend—her summer sister—still has the power to break her heart.

This broke my heart and brought tears to my eyes when I first read it, but it is such a good read. You feel yourself growing up with Victoria and Caitlin, and become invested in their friendship and their lives. If you have never read Summer Sisters, this is your sign that you should! Published by Dell in 1999.

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The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by... Carmen got the jeans at a thrift shop. They didn’t look all that great: they were worn, dirty, and speckled with bleach. On the night before she and her friends part for the summer, Carmen decides to toss them.

But Tibby says they’re great. She'd love to have them. Lena and Bridget also think they’re fabulous. Lena decides that they should all try them on. Whoever they fit best will get them.

Nobody knows why, but the pants fit everyone perfectly. Even Carmen (who never thinks she looks good in anything) thinks she looks good in the pants. Over a few bags of cheese puffs, they decide to form a sisterhood and take the vow of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants . . . the next morning, they say good-bye.

And then the journey of the pants — and the most memorable summer of their lives — begins.

All I can say, is this is a great book! Summer and friendships and growing up. Some friends just fit together. Published by Ember Publishing way back in 2003.

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This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki (illustrated by Jillian Tamaki).... Every summer, Rose goes with her mom and dad to a lake house in Awago Beach. It's their getaway, their refuge. Rosie's friend Windy is always there, too, like the little sister she never had. But this summer is different. Rose's mom and dad won't stop fighting, and when Rose and Windy seek a distraction from the drama, they find themselves with a whole new set of problems. It's a summer of secrets and sorrow and growing up, and it's a good thing Rose and Windy have each other. Gorgeous, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful story about a girl on the cusp of her teen age—a story of renewal and revelation.

Jillian Tamaki is a talented artist and her illustrations for This One Summer, who she collaborated to create with her sister Mariko, are wonderful. I enjoy graphic novels. Not the super hero kind, but the kind that tells a story of something I can relate to. This One Summer is that kind of story about "Summer Sisters". I read this a dozen years ago and it still remains in my summer heart today. Published by First Second Books, Read this! 

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The Summer List by Am Mason Doan... Laura and Casey were once inseparable: as they floated on their backs in the sunlit lake, as they dreamed about the future under starry skies, and as they teamed up for the wild scavenger hunts in their small California lakeside town. Until one summer night, when a shocking betrayal sent Laura running through the pines, down the dock, and into a new life, leaving Casey and a first love in her wake.

But the past is impossible to escape, and now, after seventeen years away, Laura is pulled home and into a reunion with Casey she can’t resist—one last scavenger hunt. With a twist: this time, the list of clues leads to the settings of their most cherished summer memories. From glistening Jade Cove to the vintage skating rink, each step they take becomes a bittersweet reminder of the friendship they once shared. But just as the game brings Laura and Casey back together, the clues unravel a stunning secret that threatens to tear them apart…

The Summer List by Amy Mason Doan was published almost 8 years ago by Graydon House. I just reserved it at my local library! This sounds like a "Summer Sisiter" vibe and I'm looking forward to reading it!

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Girl's Girl by Sonia Feldman... Fifteen-year-old Mina’s whole world is her two best friends, but after an unexpected kiss, the established dynamics of their trio quickly unravel. Everything that was once shared openly, from clothes to secrets, now feels impossibly fragile. Loyalties shift and tensions simmer across the long days of this pivotal summer, where the girls have nowhere new to go and everything new to feel.

Looking back, an adult Mina traces the undercurrents of longing that shaped her first experience of desire. The rituals of girlhood—gossip, selfies, sleepovers, and videogames—become threads in a delicate, volatile web of intimacy, in which everything feels achingly fleeting and permanently etched. Loving one person, Mina learns, can change the way we love everyone else—including ourselves.

Published this week by The Dial Press, Girl's Girl by Sonia Feldman sounds like that summer spent with your girlfriends kind of vibe I love. This is on my TBR list and I'm hoping it meets all my expectations.

Weekly Recap... 

(or how did I miss reading all this the last 2 weeks!)

New Release Tuesdays... 

May 26th,  June 2nd and June 2nd part 2. A massive amount of great books just got released these past two weeks! Check out what you need to put on your TBR list!

First Lines Friday... 

May 26th & It's a Calamity... June 5th & A House Full of Ghosts. Great first lines from some new books you definitely need to put on your TBR list! Check out the first few lines and tell me if you'd keep reading!

Did you find books to add to your growing TBR list? I hope so! Share books that aren't on today's post that you love too! I'd love to hear about them! Have a wonderful week! And stop back this week for more great bookish things!

 Happy reading... Suzanne

First Lines Friday... A House Full of Ghosts and Not The Kind You Think

The Children by Melissa Albert...  The estranged adult children of a legendary author, written into their dead mother’s beloved fantasy series, must contend with the vine-like creep of legacy, memory, and magic.

Guinevere Sharpe has two childhoods.

In one, she and her brother, Ennis, live in the wooded shadow of their family's isolated Vermont farmhouse; in the other, the pages of their mother’s world-famous Ninth City books, where their magical adventures have made them household names. In reality, Guinevere's childhood isn't the enchanted idyll her mother’s readers imagine: she and Ennis are growing up near-feral, unwashed and underfed, escaping each day to the wild woods they’ve made their playland. As Edith Sharpe’s books explode into epic popularity, the threats of a rural childhood give way to the escalating perils of fame—until the night it all goes up in flames, leaving Edith’s series unfinished and her children the sole survivors.

Now an adult coasting on her mother's name, Guinevere is mid-promotion for a ghostwritten memoir when her estranged brother, an artist who has until now spurned his family's legacy, announces an upcoming installation titled, simply, Mother. As rumors swirl around a death connected to his last show, unsettling recollections from Guinevere’s childhood begin to surface. Her public facade starts to crack, forcing her to confront the questions she's spent the last twenty years running from: What really happened the night of the fire? And what dark history lies behind their mother’s fantasy world?

The Children is wise to the mythic weight childhood memories gather over time, and the way our most beloved stories grow up with us. It's for anyone who's ever revisited an old favorite and found its pages cast in a darker light, the line separating magic from reality blurring as we discover the books that once comforted us carry shadows of their own.

Would you keep reading after the first few lines? 

My Book of The Month selection this month was The Children by Melissa Albert and I am definitely going to keep reading after the first few lines. And I really liked the style of writing so far too. What do you think? Is this on your TBR list? It's this months pick for Read With Jenna too. The cover reminds me of old time Halloween cards! I wonder if that was the point?! 

Published by William Morrow and just released this week!

New Release Tuesday... Fresh Stories/New Obsessions

 

This week is loaded with great reads! A new book from Ann Patchett that has the book world buzzing and a new book by Mary Kay Andrews too! Let me tell you, (actually, I already did back in February) Road Trip is a fabulous read! I loved it! But let's get to them all...

Whistler by Ann Patchett... A moving, luminous novel that reminds us of the sweetness and impermanence of life and the power of connection to defy time.

When Daphne Fuller and her husband Jonathan visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, they notice an older, white-haired gentleman following them. The man turns out to be Eddie Triplett, her former stepfather, who had been married to her mother for a little more than year when Daphne was nine. Now fifty-three, Daphne hasn’t seen Eddie for many years, not since the fateful event that changed the direction of both their lives. Meeting again, time falls away; while their relationship was brief, it had a profound impact on them both, and now that they are reunited, they have no intention of ever being separated again.

Whistler is a story about two adults looking back over the choices they made, and the choices that were made for them. It’s a story about bravery, memory, the often small yet consequential moments that define our lives, and the endless stream of loss that in time comes for us all. Beautiful in its simplicity, it is ultimately about how love endures, and how the feeling of being known by one other person, even for a short period of time, can change everything.

It's been a few years since we've gotten a new book by Ann Patchett and this one sounds wonderful. The kind of story we expect from her. And I have a copy sitting on my nightstand right now waiting for me to crack the spine! 

Published by Harper Collins

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The Children by Melissa Albert... The haunting new novel from New York Times bestselling author Melissa Albert, in which the estranged adult children of a legendary author, written into their dead mother’s beloved fantasy series, must contend with the vine-like creep of legacy, memory, and magic.

Guinevere Sharpe has two childhoods.

In one, she and her brother, Ennis, live in the wooded shadow of their family's isolated Vermont farmhouse; in the other, the pages of their mother’s world-famous Ninth City books, where their magical adventures have made them household names. In reality, Guinevere's childhood isn't the enchanted idyll her mother’s readers imagine: she and Ennis are growing up near-feral, unwashed and underfed, escaping each day to the wild woods they’ve made their playland. As Edith Sharpe’s books explode into epic popularity, the threats of a rural childhood give way to the escalating perils of fame—until the night it all goes up in flames, leaving Edith’s series unfinished and her children the sole survivors.

Now an adult coasting on her mother's name, Guinevere is mid-promotion for a ghostwritten memoir when her estranged brother, an artist who has until now spurned his family's legacy, announces an upcoming installation titled, simply, Mother. As rumors swirl around a death connected to his last show, unsettling recollections from Guinevere’s childhood begin to surface. Her public facade starts to crack, forcing her to confront the questions she's spent the last twenty years running from: What really happened the night of the fire? And what dark history lies behind their mother’s fantasy world?

The Children is wise to the mythic weight childhood memories gather over time, and the way our most beloved stories grow up with us. It's for anyone who's ever revisited an old favorite and found its pages cast in a darker light, the line separating magic from reality blurring as we discover the books that once comforted us carry shadows of their own.

This has gotten a lot of buzz because it is this month's Read with Jenna pick (Jenna Bush). I am intrigued! And I chose this as my June Book of the Month selection too. 

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Published by William Morrow.

Lies Between Us by Jessica Goodman... a razor-sharp murder-mystery set during the summer when a local teen's suspicious death exposes the devastating secrets three sisters keep.

Do you ever really know the people you love?

For the Gold sisters and Silver brothers, life has been idyllic, growing up in side-by-side waterfront mansions in a town where doors are never locked and the police do little more than issue speeding tickets. The Golds and Silvers have known each other their entire lives, as neighbors, as friends, as family.

But one carefree summer takes a dark turn when a beach party ends in tragedy and their perfect world cracks wide open. Suddenly, the bonds that tie these families together are strained by suspicion and fear. Painful secrets surface, revealing the fragile truths they've all been hiding.

Lucy, the oldest Gold girl, harbors a crushing secret from her boyfriend, one of the Silver boys. Millie, the middle sister, quietly yearns for the one person she can't have. And the youngest, Frankie, uncovers something that could blow their island apart. A gripping novel about the lies friends tell, the façade siblings build, and how one summer tests—and breaks—the bonds of family.

This sounds like a perfect summer read! And courtesy of the publisher, I have a copy to read and review! Stay tuned for that soon! Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons.

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The Jellyfish Problem by Tessa Young... A marine biologist makes the discovery of a lifetime when called to rescue the inhabitants of a small Maine island being menaced by a giant, glowing jellyfish in this richly imagined, wholly original debut.

Dr. Jo Ness prefers jellyfish to people. Her best friend, Aldo, was the exception, but he died seven months ago. So she spends her days hidden away at an underfunded aquarium with her specimens and a draft of the jellyfish guide she and Aldo had been working on together. His voice is alive in the notes in the margins, and it’s enough. Almost.

Until she receives a call from Nadia, one of the few other humans she’s loved but whom she hasn’t heard from in years, asking for her help. Nadia tells her a grand tale of a giant jellyfish terrorizing her tiny island off the coast of Maine and sends a grainy video of the creature. Frankly, the footage looks fake, but Jo drops everything to fly across the country to see Nadia again, and to find this supposed sea beast. She couldn’t save Aldo, but perhaps she can help Nadia.

But when Jo arrives on Shattering Point, Nadia is nowhere to be found, and the islanders she meets each have something different to say about the creature they’ve dubbed Clementine . . . a jellyfish who changes all who see it.

At turns an ode to classic sea monster stories and a vibrant tale of human connection, The Jellyfish Problem is an unforgettable debut that announces a new talent.

I was so intrigued by this book when I read about it! (and I have a digital copy courtesy of the publisher to read and review!... that's coming soon too!) 

Published by Berkley.

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Godbound by masha Sova... The Scarlet Letter meets the divine, deadly trials of The Games Gods Play in this dark, epic romantic fantasy where society weaponizes shame, gods weaponize survival, and love becomes the most dangerous rebellion of all.

They branded her a sinner.

She chose to become a threat.

In a kingdom where a forgotten goddess’s curse has become law—where purity is power and desire is a death sentence—Raylane has lived her life playing the perfect girl. Obedient. Untouched. Destined for the crown.

All so she might one day reshape a realm that damns cursed women like her mother… women who dared to fall in love.

Until one kiss ruins everything.

Branded impure and cursed with rot-magic that spreads by touch, Raylane is cast into the Trial of the Bound—a brutal arena where champions fight to the death, gods revel in blood, and power feeds on the prayers of the crowd.

Her only hope of survival? Swear fealty to the very goddess who cursed her. In return, the goddess tears a shadowbeast from another world and binds him to Raylane’s side—feral, unwilling, and the only one who can help her tame the power threatening to consume her.

He doesn’t want her. Doesn’t trust her. But their fates are entwined, and every step toward mastery binds them tighter.

As her power grows and their bond deepens, Raylane must make an impossible choice: win the trial, free the cursed, and unleash a forgotten goddess bent on reclaiming the world… or lose everything to save those who now pray for her death.

One path leads to love.

The other, to mercy.

Both end in ruin.

I've been kind of obsessed with Romantasy lately and this just sounds epic. Self published by the author, put this on your TBR list! It's being released on June 6th, and if you are a Kindle reader, it is available for pre-order for Kindle for $1.99. But as always, double check the price before you hit the buy button because prices change fast on Amazon. 

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Road Trip by Mary Kay Andrews... Pack your bags for a summer journey shaped by family secrets, long-buried history, and charming men with Irish accents.

Maeve and Therese Dunigan haven’t spoken in years. Raised under the same roof in Savannah, the two sisters could not be more opposite―Maeve the rule follower, Therese the unapologetic rebel. But when their mother’s death pulls them back together, they inherit more than just grief: a mysterious painting that may be worth millions…if it’s real.

Determined to uncover the truth―and desperately in need of the money―the sisters set out on a journey to Ireland, tracing their family’s roots and the origins of the portrait. What begins as a search for answers soon becomes something deeper―a reckoning with the past, as they uncover secrets that span generations and reshape everything they thought they knew about their family.

With tensions simmering, the two hit the road and find themselves on twisty lanes, in colorful villages, at local pubs, and with handsome men whose gift of the gab is surpassed only by their charm.

Can Maeve and Therese actually survive the journey without killing each other? Join Mary Kay Andrews on a road trip that will entertain you for miles.

I received an early review copy of this book from the publisher and absolutely loved it! How can this be my first Mary Kay Andrews book?! Well, it is, but it definitely will not be my last. Great writing and a great story to go along! If you haven't read my review, here's a link for it on Chick with Books. And definitely put this on your TBR list!

I hope you found something new to put on your TBR list! All of these are either in my Kindle or on the nightstand (or soon to be on the nightstand!). Don't you just love summer reading!

Happy reading... Suzanne