New Book Tuesday!

It's New Book Tuesday! 

Here are my top 9 picks! (You'll have to get to the end of the post to see #9)!

Everything Was Beautiful And Nothing Hurt by Ben Reeves... A deeply moving novel about finding beauty in the brevity of life, as narrated by the one who knows it best: Death.

Travis is Death in the modern world. He lives with his cat in a small, gray town. His job is to offer people comfort in their final hours of life, which he does without complaint or judgement. He’s stoic, gentle, and a little naive, despite who he is, but he never tries to change anyone’s fate. He is responsible for maintaining the balance of nature, and every life must eventually end.

Then Travis meets Dalia, a midwife, and her boisterous eight-year-old daughter Layla, who live across the hall, and despite his best attempts to keep his distance, he finds himself wholeheartedly embraced by other people for the first time. So it is with this seemingly unremarkable family that Travis begins to understand what it means to be truly alive—and what might be irrevocably lost in death.

Written with radiant warmth, wisdom, and compassion, Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt is a timeless and ultimately uplifting story about appreciating life, accepting its end, and finding our place in the universe—especially when it feels most impossible—that will resonate with anyone who has ever loved and lost or worried about time’s passing.

This is July's Indie Next pick. We've had "Death" write quite a few stories before (The Book Thief comes to mind first), but this one seems to have an added twist of Death being part of a family. I'm intrigued. And with this book being chosen as the Indie Next pick for July, there are a lot of other people intrigued as well! On my TBR list. Published by Avid Reader Press (& Simon & Schuster)

**********************************

The Memory Bookshop by Song Yu-jeong... 
For lovers of The Midnight Library and Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, discover a spellbinding novel about a mysterious bookshop that exists outside of time and space, where the past is only a page away…

If you're lost or grieving, you'll find The Memory Bookshop, where the shelves are endless; the books, strangely familiar; and where memories are bound in pages.

Jiwon’s life has been slowly disintegrating since her mother died. Until one day, caught by a sudden downpour, she stumbles into a mysterious bookstore. Inside, she is met by Manager K and offered no explanation, only a mysterious hourglass and a rare opportunity: to travel back to three chapters of her life.

But returning to the past isn't without risk. In exchange, Jiwon must give up time in her future.

As she wanders between the shelves, the bookshop humming with memories and regrets, she must ask herself: can the past truly be rewritten? Or does the real magic lie in the life she's yet to live?

Warm, wise, and full of wonder, The Memory Bookshop is a story about the journey of grief and the power of books to carry us home.

First, I love books about books and bookshops! Second, I love books about going back in time. This is definitely on my TBR list. This was wildly popular in Korea and translated & published by William Morrow Paperbacks.

*********************************

Helpless by Jessica Knoll... A"sexy new thriller" (New York Post) with a "shocking and mindbending" (SheReads) last page.

It's been twelve years since Faye Heron broke Henry Spalding's heart. Henry was her college boyfriend, her first love, but Faye was in danger of being subsumed by him and the intensity of their connection—a connection that took her beyond boundaries she'd only dreamed of crossing.

Now, Faye is one half of a power-producing duo with her Hollywood husband. Henry is a married father running the family business. On the surface, both of their lives have essentially gone to plan.

When a former and beloved college professor suddenly passes away, Faye and Henry find themselves back on campus for the funeral, circling something old and dangerous. Something, if Faye is honest with herself, she has been trying to duplicate for years. But Henry is one of a kind.

The kind who delivers a hypnotic apology for the way things ended.

The kind who suggests they go back to the hotel for a drink.

The kind who drugs and kidnaps her.

When Faye comes to Henry’s remote mountain cabin, she’s beside herself. Has Henry brought her here to punish her? She did, after all, write and star in a lauded episode of television based on their indelicate appetites and vicious breakup. As her week of captivity unfolds, Henry’s wanton demands intensify, and Faye finds herself pulled back into his irresistible gravity. But as Faye and Henry spiral into their old dynamic, a sprawling, years-old mystery begins to take shape—one that will rewrite history as Faye remembers it and reveal an astounding, cataclysmic truth.

This sounds like a slow irresistible hypnotic burn. On my TBR list! Published by Scribner. 

*********************************

The Great Wherever by Shannon Sanders... The dead are relentless gossips, or at least these dead are.

An impulsive and heartbroken woman inherits her father’s share of a Tennessee farm that is rich in family secrets and occupied with busybody ghosts in this sweeping family portrait.

At thirty-two, Aubrey Lamb is stumbling through adulthood. An underpaid gig worker in Washington, DC, she’s grieving the end of a serious relationship and the recent loss of her father. When Aubrey learns she has inherited his stake in a sizable Tennessee farm she sees an opportunity to get out of the city—and to erase a mounting pile of debt.

Watching her arrival with great interest are four ghosts—Aubrey’s ancestors, who’ve staked their own claims to the farm and who never hesitate to pass judgment on the mistakes made by the living, whether romantic, financial, or sartorial. As Aubrey reconnects with her living family, another story unfolds in parallel: the history of the land, beginning with its purchase by Thomas, Aubrey’s great-grandfather and one of the first Black landowners in his community. Though Thomas hopes to give his children a homestead on which they could flourish, the land proves to be a burdensome inheritance. Over the years, it turns the Lambs against one another, culminating in a catastrophic tragedy that splinters the family and echoes through the decades.

Now, as the clock ticks on a potential sale of the farm, the ghosts fear expulsion from the home they’ve made, and Aubrey must weigh the hopes and burdens of her forebears with the very real needs of her future.

An expansive family saga told with a wry and distinctly modern voice, The Great Wherever is at once grand and intimate; it explores the ways we learn to define ourselves through and against our families, how we carry on after loss, and how the past lives on in all of us.

Okay, I LOVE ghost stories! I love when they appear in stories and I love when the main character dies and comes back as a ghost. This has an interesting twist to it as it's a group of dead relative ghosts imparting some lessons to a descendent. I'm interested to see where this goes. Published by Henry Holt & Co.

*****************************

An Infinite Love Story by Chanel Cleeton... 
When an astronaut is lost in space, his wife relives their epic love as she attempts to unravel what truly happened to him, in this sweeping love story set against the backdrop of the 1960s Space Race, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes.

When Joe Mitchell launches into space, the world is watching. It’s 1968, and the country waits with anticipation and excitement for another successful mission, another celebration as America sets its sights on the Moon. And then comes the knock at the door.

Joe Mitchell’s spacecraft has lost contact. He and his fellow astronauts onboard are feared to be dead. It’s his wife Vivian’s worst nightmare come to life, her grief suddenly taking center stage as the nation waits and mourns. In her quiet moments, Vivian relives their memorable story, unable to accept that this is the end to a love that felt as though it was written in the stars.

As the investigation surrounding Joe’s lost spacecraft intensifies and the mishap is written off as an operator error, Vivian is determined to clear her husband’s name and uncover the mystery of what happened in space. When someone starts sending Vivian messages—messages she believes only Joe could send—she begins to wonder if their love is stronger than space and time, and she’ll do whatever it takes to bring her husband back to her.

It feels like NASA is part of quite a few love stories these days (Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid anyone?!) Going up in space is big in the movies too (Hail Mary!) But I love those stories where someone comes back from the other side to say hello, and this may or may not be messages from the other side, we just have to read it to find out. On my TBR list and published by Berkley. 

Pretty Dead Things by Kelsey Cox... Secrets emerge as a Texas beauty pageant turns deadly in this rich and addictive novel with a jaw-dropping twist from psychological suspense author Kelsey Cox.

2000:Isabelle Whitmore vanishes at Sherman Ranch in Anhalt, Texas, without a trace.

2025: The Lone Star Princess Pageant is about to begin, but this year it’s offering more than an annual dose of rhinestone heels and plunging necklines. Competition is stiffer than ever —and long standing grudges are about to resurface. Ingrid fled Anhalt in the wake of her sister Isabelle’s disappearance and has now returned, just in time for a construction crew to start digging up Sherman Ranch; the pageant brings up past traumas that Melanie can't forget; Cat, newly sober, starts to feel threatened in ways that bring back old demons; and Sarah Lynn, who comes from a long line of pageant winners, knows that losing is not an option.

When old resentments and new confrontations reach their boiling point, temperatures drop to deadly degrees as a record-setting storm brings down the state’s power grid. With everyone trapped under one roof, scores will be settled, and more than one person will end up dead.

Of course we have to have a creepy pageant queen thriller ! I'm not into beauty pageants, but this is suppose to be a "jaw-dropping" thriller and I'm definitely into that! It irks me a little that a book by the same name by Liv Lowry and practically the same cover. I guess pretty dead things are equivalent to dead flowers. On my TBR list and published by Minotaur books.

**********************************

The Exquisite Torment of Loving Your Enemy by Brigitte Knightley... The stakes are high, the love is forbidden, and the slow burn turns steamy in this swoony, witty, and heart-stoppingly romantic sequel to instant New York Times bestseller The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy.

Osric is a member of the Fyren Order, a guild of assassins who gleefully murder for money. Aurienne is a Haelan, a scholar-healer whose Order’s motto is Harm to none. Clear-cut absolutes separate them: good and bad, right and wrong, light and dark . . .

Until they don’t.

When Osric first bribed Aurienne to heal him, he never imagined those lines would begin to blur. But every healing session draws them closer together. He finds himself developing unwanted feelings for Aurienne as her capable hands heal his body—and his heart.

Aurienne’s perfect life has been flung into chaos in the form of a devastatingly handsome assassin. She should be in her research lab, not illicitly healing a Fyren every full moon—nor wrestling an attraction to him that threatens to slip into something else.

Things go superbly sideways when Osric and Aurienne discover more about the deadly Pox deliberately unleashed through the Tīendoms. The plague may be the work of another Order—an Order far nastier than either of them can handle.

As the lines between Osric and Aurienne continue to blur, the balance between peace and war, and love and hate, trembles, shifts, and hinges on a heartbeat.

Book 2 of a romantasy that brings enemies to lovers to another level, this is wildly popular series with a lot of buzz about book 2. Published by Ace.

***********************************

Where Lost Girls Go by Kody Keplinger... There are many reasons why six girls have ended up living with Sol in a cabin in the Kentucky mountains. But the girls don't talk about what has brought them each here or who they were before. They have become sisters and are grateful to have a place to call home.Iris knows she owes everything to Sol. He has promised to keep them safe from their pasts. All he asks in return is for their loyalty, which Iris freely gives. With her sisters and Sol as her family, she feels happier than she has in a long time.

Until a new girl arrives and everything changes.

Sol dubs her Rose and the sisters are quick to welcome her. Iris is drawn to Rose, but as they grow closer, Rose has Iris questioning things about this life in the woods. When Sol notices, he challenges Iris to prove her commitment to their family. Her sisters tell her that she should be willing to do anything for the man who saved her. But with each new ask, Iris realizes there is more to Sol-and her sisters-than she knows and some secrets should stay buried deep.

a stunning story about girlhood, power, and desperation that asks just how far we'll go to save ourselves-and those we love.

This sounds creepy, but in a good way. I want to read this just for Iris. She seems like a great protagonist questioning the whole creepy set-up and maybe liberating her sister friends from a dangerous situation. Published by Scholastic Press, but it doesn't sound YA to me. Maybe the writing is gauged more towards a younger audience?

***********************************

The Lure of Wolves and Whispers by Amanda Connolly... One sister offers her life in exchange for the other’s in this dark, Irish lore–inspired romantasy and “sizzling, high-stakes debut launching a series that readers will greedily devour”.

On the mist-shrouded Isle of Eireann, buying magic comes with a price.

But when her beloved older sister is gravely injured, Maeve risks everything to buy the forbidden magic that might save her. In exchange, Maeve trades her life to a ruthless and dangerously alluring rebel leader. Bound to do his bidding, Maeve finds herself thrown into a deadly competition to become the next queen and stand beside a prince rumored to be more brutal than his tyrannical father.

With the isle on the brink of war, trust and survival come at a terrible cost—one that will tear Maeve’s world, and her heart, in two.

What would you sacrifice to survive?

You got me at Irish lore. And "mist-shrouded Isle of Eireann". Romantasy and sacrifice and all things in a great story! On my TBR list!

MORE New Released Books!

I had these new books pop into my inbox today and just HAD to share them with you! So, part 2 of New Release Tuesday with 3 books Definitely on my radar & wishlist!

Somewhere Soft to Land by Kai Alonte... In this crackling portrayal of friendship in peril, a young woman’s world is upended when a tragedy in her best friend’s life tests the boundaries of their sisterhood. Published by Ballantine Books.

Omg, this sounds so good! I love women friendship stories!

***********************************

The Mother-Daughter Book Club by Susan and James Patterson... Old friends. New secrets. A dreamy Lake Como reunion turns emotional as a mother-daughter book club reconnects—where late-night confessions, long-held tensions, and unexpected revelations prove some stories hit closer to home than any book. Published by Little, Brown & Co.

I thought this sounded like such a wonderful book for Book Clubs! And again, a women's friendship kind of read.

***********************************

The Caretaker by Marcus Kliewer... a supernatural horror about a young woman who accepts a caretaking job from Craigslist, only to discover the position has consequences far greater—and more dangerous—than she ever could have imagined. Published by Atria/Emily Best Books (an imprint of Simon & Schuster)

This one sounds delicious!

What's on your radar this week? 

What new books are you excited for?

#Bookstagram #Atriabooks #Littlebrownandco #Ballantinebooks #pubday

 

The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb... A Review

 

The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb

After the end of 12 pages I wanted to put this book down and never open it again. I was devastated. I am being dead serious. What happened in this book just ripped my heart out. Omg, how could I read on...

Wally Lamb writes about tough subjects. The last book I read of his was The Hour I First Believed, which was about the Columbine shooting. I remember being blown away by the book. Could I feel the same way about The River is Waiting.

When I did a google search of The River is Waiting, I came upon a FB reading group that had a discussion about the book after the post of one of the members with the line, "Turns out I won’t be reading past the first chapter. Anyone else?" 296 comments followed with the majority encouraging the member to push on. So I did.

The story continues with guilt, pain, and injustice as Corby Ledbetter, father and husband to two young twins tries to redeem himself after causing unbelievable heartache to his family. Okay. My pain from reading the first 12 pages dissipates a little and the story takes on a different demeanor, it turns into a story of redemption and survival... and then, at almost 300 pages the author has to, again, rip my heart out. The heart I somehow managed to put back together from the first 12 pages. All I can think is "Why am I reading this book!?".

But I continue (because I hate to not finish a book and I only have 150 pages or so to go)... and I finish the book... and I just sit there quietly. I was trying to figure out if I really liked this book. Yes, the book was good. Well written. Threw my emotions all over the place. Can we truly say it was a good read when it was so depressing. I was emotionally drained by the time I turned that last page. What I can say is that this would make a great book club pick. There are so many things that the group could discuss. And I imagine it would be a lively discussion too. There are so many things I want to discuss! I honestly didn't see the ending coming. After thinking about it more, I can't see it ending any other way. 

These characters will stay with me for a long time. They are complex and interesting. I unintentionally was living their story right along with them, wondering how I would handle certain situations. Wally Lamb is an amazing writer.

I wanted to give this book 3 stars for all the heartache it caused me, but I really can't. When a book takes you on such an emotional journey, where the lives of the characters really matter to you, no matter how depressing the story is, you have to acknowledge the writing. And the writing is at least 4 stars. The story, even though it was a hard story, was worth the read. 

**If you are sensitive reader, you should do a google search,"The River is Waiting trigger warnings" and read about these triggers first. I won't spoil the story by listing them here.

Published by Marysue Rucci Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster , June of 2025. 

Another Book Giveaway! This time for Stephen King books..

 Another great book giveaway! This time by Simon & Schuster. Not only The Bill Hodges Trilogy boxed set, but 3 other books plus an audiobook download! Hurry, ends 10/5. 

Follow this link to enter!

Memoir Monday...

One Hundred Saturdays by Michael Frank... With nearly a century of life behind her, Stella Levi had never before spoken in detail about her past. Then she met Michael Frank. He came to her Greenwich Village apartment one Saturday afternoon to ask her a question about the Juderia, the neighborhood in Rhodes where she’d grown up in a Sephardic Jewish community that had thrived there for half a millennium. Neither of them could know this was the first of one hundred Saturdays that they would spend in each other’s company as Stella traveled back in time to conjure what it felt like to come of age on this luminous, legendary island in the eastern Aegean, which the Italians won in 1912 as the Ottoman empire was disintegrating, began officially governing as a colonial possession in 1923, and transformed over the next two decades until the Germans seized control and deported the entire Juderia to Auschwitz in July of 1944.

Probing and courageous, candid and sly, Stella is a magical modern-day Scheherazade whose stories reveal what it was like to grow up in an extraordinary place in an extraordinary time—and to construct a life after that place vanished. One Hundred Saturdays is a portrait of one of the last survivors, drawn at nearly the last possible moment; it is also an account of a tender and transformative friendship that develops between storyteller and listener as they explore the fundamental mystery of what it means to collect, share, and interpret the deepest truths of a life deeply lived.

In the vein of Tuesday with Morrie, Michael Frank spends 100 Saturdays, nearly 6 years, talking with Stella Levi in her Greenwich Village apartment. A chance meeting at a lecture turns into a wonderful friendship and of Stella sharing her story, her life.

One Hundred Saturdays was listed under the Indies Next selections as one the 6 Now in Paperback selections for September 2023. Originally this book was in the running for the Indie Next pick in September of 2022, but didn't win the #1 spot. But that's how I found this book... reading about Septembers' picks. And it intrigued me. I generally shy away from books about the Holocaust. They just depress me. But this book takes place in an area I'm unfamiliar with: Rhodes, Greece. But not only is this a story of survival, but it also is a coming of age story. I like how the author and Stella Levi meet and how the author takes the next 100 saturdays to listen to Stella recount her life to him. 

On my nightstand, published by Avid Reader Press, a division of Simon & Schuster last September, it is now available in paperback.

The Sunday Salon and... Authors we Love to Read and Soon To Be Published NEW BOOKS!

 

It's Sunday in South Carolina... actually it's Sunday everywhere, but now that I call the South home, it seems to be different. The winters are milder here (as apposed to those Connecticut winters... legendary) and I look forward to drinking that first cup of coffee while looking out over the distant mountains. I also look forward to reading new books by my favorite authors! And that's what we're talking about this week! Some of my favorite authors have book releases in the coming months and here they are...

The House of Lincoln by Nancy Horan... a sweeping historical novel, which tells the story of Abraham Lincoln's ascendance from rumpled lawyer to U.S. president to the Great Emancipator through the eyes of a young asylum-seeker who arrives in Lincoln's home of Springfield from Madeira, Portugal. 

Showing intelligence beyond society's expectations, fourteen-year-old Ana Ferreira lands a job in the Lincoln household assisting Mary Lincoln with their boys and with the hostess duties borne by the wife of a rising political star. Ana bears witness to the evolution of Lincoln's views on equality and the Union and observes in full complexity the psyche and pain of his bold, polarizing wife, Mary. Along with her African American friend Cal, Ana encounters the presence of the underground railroad in town and experiences personally how slavery is tearing apart her adopted country. Culminating in an eyewitness account of the little-known Springfield race riot of 1908, The House of Lincoln takes readers on a journey through the historic changes that reshaped America and that continue to reverberate today.

Nancy Horan is one of those authors that I will pick up to read at the mere mention of her name. Her books are amazing! She creates stories that are so interesting and inviting that you find yourself lost in the pages with no sense of time or place other than where you are in the book. This is partly due to her thorough research of the historical facts, but the way she puts it all together is what makes such a beautiful story. Of course I'm referring to her 2 previous books, Loving Frank, about the love story of Mamah Borthwick Cheney and Frank Lloyd Wright, and Under The Wide and Starry Sky, about the love story of Fanny Can de Grift Osbourne and Robert Louise Stevenson. I've never thought of Lincoln as being in any way a romantic tale, but I'm willing to let go of any of my preconceived ideas about a story of Abraham Lincoln and dive head first into Ms. Horan's novel. The House of Lincoln has a release day of June 6, 2023 by Sourcebooks Landmark . On by TBR list....

The Ferryman by Justin Cronin...Founded by the mysterious genius known as the Designer, the archipelago of Prospera lies hidden from
the horrors of a deteriorating outside world. In this island paradise, Prospera’s lucky citizens enjoy long, fulfilling lives until the monitors embedded in their forearms, meant to measure their physical health and psychological well-being, fall below 10 percent. Then they retire themselves, embarking on a ferry ride to the island known as the Nursery, where their failing bodies are renewed, their memories are wiped clean, and they are readied to restart life afresh.  Proctor Bennett, of the Department of Social Contracts, has a satisfying career as a ferryman, gently shepherding people through the retirement process—and, when necessary, enforcing it. But all is not well with Proctor. For one thing, he’s been dreaming—which is supposed to be impossible in Prospera. For another, his monitor percentage has begun to drop alarmingly fast. And then comes the day he is summoned to retire his own father, who gives him a disturbing and cryptic message before being wrestled onto the ferry.

Meanwhile, something is stirring. The Support Staff, ordinary men and women who provide the labor to keep Prospera running, have begun to question their place in the social order. Unrest is building, and there are rumors spreading of a resistance group—known as “Arrivalists”—who may be fomenting revolution.  Soon Proctor finds himself questioning everything he once believed, entangled with a much bigger cause than he realized—and on a desperate mission to uncover the truth.

Justin Cronin is best known for his Vampire trilogy starting with The Passage and ending with City of Mirrors. It hit the publishing world by storm and we've been waiting ever since for more... and now we have it! A paradise until it isn't. I've seen this type of story before in The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist, a dystopian novel where men and women hit a certain age go to live in a man-made shangri-la, that isn't quite all that it seems (and if you haven't read it, you should. Warning though, if you are over the age of 50 it might give you nightmares) But Justin Cronin writes such big beautiful books that I know this story will be something we just aren't expecting and nothing like anything we've read before. His writing just sucks you in too. Courtesy of Random House Publishing Group Ballantine, I am reading an e-galley of The Ferryman right now and I am hooked! The release date for The Ferryman is May 2, 2023!

Where are The Children Now? by Mary Higgins Clark & Alafair Burke... Of the fifty-six bestsellers the “Queen of Suspense” Mary Higgins Clark published in her lifetime, Where Are the Children? was her biggest, selling millions of copies and forever transforming the genre of suspense fiction. In that story, a young California mother named Nancy Harmon was convicted of murdering her two children. Though released on a technicality, she was abandoned by her husband and became such a pariah in the media that she was forced to move across the country to Cape Cod, change her identity and appearance, and start a new life. Years later her two children from a second marriage, Mike and Melissa, would go missing, and Nancy yet again became the prime suspect—but this time, Nancy was able to confront the secrets buried in her past and rescue her kids from a dangerous predator.                                                                                                                                                                                                               Now, more than four decades since readers first met Nancy and her children, comes the thrilling sequel to the groundbreaking book that set the stage for future generations of psychological suspense novels. A lawyer turned successful podcaster, Melissa has recently married a man whose first wife died tragically, leaving him and their young daughter, Riley, behind. While Melissa and her brother, Mike, help their mom, Nancy, relocate from Cape Cod to the equally idyllic Hamptons, Melissa’s new stepdaughter goes missing. Drawing on the experience of their own abduction, Melissa and Mike race to find Riley to save her from the trauma they still struggle with—or worse.

My Mother has always loved Mystery books and of course she passed that love down to me. My early reading was always mysteries. Mary Higgins Clark is part of my reading life. I always read whatever new book she came out with. I had the honor of actually meeting her at my local Borders when she came there for a book signing for Dashing Through the Snow, a Christmas book she wrote with her daughter Carol Higgins Clark in 2008. She was so elegant and so very nice too. Where Are The Children was the first book I read of hers. It was such a page turner! Written in 1975, we are now going to revisit the characters in Where Are The Children Now by Mary Higgins Clark & Alafair Burke. I'm curious as to the collaboration for this novel... Alafair Burke is a really good crime writer in her own right and has collaborated with Mary Higgins Clarke in 7 of her Under Suspicion Series books. But Ms. Clark passed away in 2020, so was this something they were working on prior to her passing? Something Alafair Burke wrote with the approval of the estate of Mary Higgins Clarke? I messaged Alafair Burke on FB to see if she had the time to answering some questions for Chick with Books, I hope she does and if so, I'll share it with y'all here. But in the meantime, I'm definitely going to put this on my TBR list! Where are The Children Now will be released April 18th 2023! Published by Simon & Schuster.

The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand... Hollis Shaw’s life seems picture-perfect. She’s the creator of the popular food blog Hungry with Hollis and is married to Matthew, a dreamy heart surgeon. But after she and Matthew get into a heated argument one snowy morning, he leaves for the airport and is killed in a car accident. The cracks in Hollis’s perfect life—her strained marriage and her complicated relationship with her daughter, Caroline—grow deeper. So when Hollis hears about something called a “Five-Star Weekend”—one woman organizes a trip for her best friend from each phase of her life: her teenage years, her twenties, her thirties, and midlife—she decides to host her own Five-Star Weekend on Nantucket. But the weekend doesn’t turn out to be a joyful Hallmark movie. The husband of Hollis’s childhood friend Tatum arranges for Hollis’s first love, Jack Finigan, to spend time with them, stirring up old feelings. Meanwhile, Tatum is forced to play nice with abrasive and elitist Dru-Ann, Hollis’s best friend from UNC Chapel Hill. Dru-Ann’s career as a prominent Chicago sports agent is on the line after her comments about a client’s mental health issues are misconstrued online. Brooke, Hollis’s friend from their thirties, has just discovered that her husband is having an inappropriate relationship with a woman at work. Again! And then there’s Gigi, a stranger to everyone (including Hollis) who reached out to Hollis through her blog. Gigi embodies an unusual grace and, as it hap- pens, has many secrets.

I always think of Elin Hilderbrand as my summer reading fun. Although she has written a series of "winter" books, I always think of those beachy reads first. And I'm looking forward to picking this one up. Her writing is wonderful and breezy and something to relax with... on the beach or at least in the sun.  

The Five-Star Weekend with be released June 13th by Little Brown & Company

Who are some of your favorite authors? 

Do you look forward to new books published by authors you enjoy?

I just love hearing about new books coming out. It's always exciting to learn about a new book by a favorite author too. But I like discovering new authors too. Today is all about our favorite authors with new books, but next week we'll look at debut novels we just can't put down!

Happy Reading... Suzanne

The Answer is...Memoir Monday? No, it's the Memoir of Alex Trebek!

The Answer is... Reflections on My Life by Alex Trebek... Longtime Jeopardy! host and television icon Alex Trebek reflects on his life and career.

Since debuting as the host of Jeopardy! in 1984, Alex Trebek has been something like a family member to millions of television viewers, bringing entertainment and education into their homes five nights a week. Last year, he made the stunning announcement that he had been diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer. What followed was an incredible outpouring of love and kindness. Social media was flooded with messages of support, and the Jeopardy! studio received boxes of cards and letters offering guidance, encouragement, and prayers.

For over three decades, Trebek had resisted countless appeals to write a book about his life. Yet he was moved so much by all the goodwill, he felt compelled to finally share his story. “I want people to know a little more about the person they have been cheering on for the past year,” he writes in The Answer Is…: Reflections on My Life.

The book combines illuminating personal anecdotes with Trebek’s thoughts on a range of topics, including marriage, parenthood, education, success, spirituality, and philanthropy. Trebek also addresses the questions he gets asked most often by Jeopardy! fans, such as what prompted him to shave his signature mustache, his insights on legendary players like Ken Jennings and James Holzhauer, and his opinion of Will Ferrell’s Saturday Night Live impersonation. The book uses a novel structure inspired by Jeopardy!, with each chapter title in the form of a question, and features dozens of never-before-seen photos that candidly capture Trebek over the years.

Alex, I love you! And I'm not alone. I can't remember where I was at the start of Jeopardy, but I sure can tell you that I've been hanging around watching jeopardy for at least 30 of its 30 plus years on television. And so, what Alex Trebek fan wouldn't want to read a book by the master himself? Published by Simon & Schuster this past Tuesday, July 21st and available at your favorite bookstore. This is definitely on my wishlist!

                      *********************************************
P.S. If one Alex Trebek book wasn't enough, Thomas Dunne Books also published an Alex book released the same day as the other one! Who is Alex Trekek, a Biography was penned by Lisa Rogak, who has written many biographies, including one on Stephen King, Bill Gates and Rachel Maddow. I almost feel as though they jumped on the bandwagon to get out a book of the much loved Jeopardy host because of his diagnosis and serious battle with pancreatic cancer. My money is on the book actually written by Alex Trebek though. I don't have interest in reading a well researched biography. 

Dear Mrs. Bird... A Review

WWII London, a spunky little lady named Emmy, and a Dear Abby type advice column answered by a woman who doesn't like any "unpleasantness" make this lighthearted story, Dear Mrs. Bird by AJ Pearce a charmer...

Our heroine of the story, Emmeline, dreams of becoming a war correspondent someday, which leads her to answer a help wanted add for what she thinks is a major London newspaper. Not only answering the ad, but accepting the job without hearing one word about what it actually involved. What she finds out soon afterwards is that the job is not working for the newspaper, but for a subsidiary of the newspaper - Woman's Friend magazine and specifically for Henrietta Bird, the Ann Landers of Woman's Friend, who incidentally is not really a friend of any of the women who write in for help, because she doesn't like any letters with any "unpleasantness", which includes anything about Sex, War and Rock n' Roll (okay that last one didn't exactly exist back then, but you get my drift), and for which she orders Emmy to tear up and throw away any letters about "those topics". After reading so many letters, from so many women and girls looking for help and being categorically rejected by Mrs. Bird, Emmy decides to take matters in her own hand and starts answering them personally, under the guise of Mrs. Bird.

A nice cast of characters fill out the story and Emmy's life, including a BFF, a fiancé and quirky work mates, and paint a realistic picture of life in London during WWII with the tragedies, hopes & dreams, and the strength of the women left behind.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this sweet charming read to historical fiction fans. Emmy is a great character, so are her friends, and the story does a good job of immersing the reader in London during WWII. I enjoyed the premise of the story, where Emily decides she can't ignore those crushing letters that Mrs. Bird rejected. And there was a steady build up to see if Emmy was going to get caught answering those letters herself.  My only wish for a little more would be in developing Emmy's love interest, but putting that aside I would say it was a good read.

Dear Mrs. Bird is the debut novel of AJ Pearce, who was inspired by reading advice columns from women's magazines from the 1930's. A strong 3 1/2 stars from this reader!

Memoir Monday... Traveling With Ghosts by Shannon Leone Fowler

From grief to reckoning to reflection to solace, a marine biologist shares the solo journey she took— through war-ravaged Eastern Europe, Israel, and beyond—to find peace after her fiancé suffered a fatal attack by a box jellyfish in Thailand.

In the summer of 2002, Shannon Leone Fowler, a twenty-eight-year-old marine biologist, was backpacking with her fiancé and love of her life, Sean. Sean was a tall, blue-eyed, warmhearted Australian, and he and Shannon planned to return to Australia after their excursion to Koh Pha Ngan, Thailand. Their plans, however, were devastatingly derailed when a box jellyfish—the most venomous animal in the world—wrapped around Sean’s leg, stinging and killing him in a matter of minutes as Shannon helplessly watched. Rejecting the Thai authorities attempt to label Sean’s death a “drunk drowning,” Shannon ferried his body home to his stunned family—a family to which she suddenly no longer belonged.

Shattered and untethered, Shannon’s life paused indefinitely so that she could travel around the world to find healing. Travel had forged her relationship with Sean, and she hoped it could also aid in processing his death. Though Sean wasn’t with Shannon, he was everywhere she went—among the places she visited were Oświęcim, Poland (the site of Auschwitz); war-torn Israel; shelled-out Bosnia; poverty-stricken Romania; and finally to Barcelona, where she first met Sean years before. Ultimately, Shannon had to confront the ocean after her life’s first great love took her second great love away.

Cheryl Strayed’s Wild meets Helen Macdonald’s H Is for Hawk in this beautiful, profoundly moving memorial to those we have lost on our journeys and the unexpected ways their presence echoes in all places—and voyages—big and small.

Published by Simon & Schuster, February 2017.

For some reason the cover grabbed my attention. Maybe because it had the word "ghost" in the title and I love ghost stories. Then I read the inside jacket, which told me this was a "different" kind of ghost story and a kind of love story. The cover may have grabbed my attention, but Shannon Leone Fowler's writing hooked me. In my TBR pile... and it passed the "Joy" test. ( Not sure what the "Joy" test is? Look at Sunday's Moving Madness post!)

Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley... A Review

"This is a story about that special someone: the one you trust, the one you can't live without."

How do you pick up a book and start reading it, when you don't know ANYthing about it? The quote above was the first line in the dustjacket. There were a few more indications about what it was about, with comparisons to The Art of Racing in the Rain and the Life of Pi, but that was it. But, I had seen a lot of bloggers raving about this book. And I finally read a review that told me what it was about. OOoh... But if you don't want me to spoil it for you, and you want to discover the story on your own, just pick up the book and trust me. Also remember to grab a box of tissues.... And now cover your eyes for the rest of this review.

Now, if you are still curious and have kept reading, here is the gist of the book...  It's about the depths of our love, fierce loyalty and the need for forgiveness all wrapped up in a ball of wonderfulness! 

 Lily is a dachsund owned by Ted, a L.A. guy who at the start of the book is alone and miserable after having ended a long term relationship with a guy named Jeffrey. But Lily is really his greatest love, sharing confidences about cute boys, playing monopoly on game nights and eating pizza on Sundays. Lily has been with Ted through rain or shine, and he's not about to let Lily be abducted by some... Octopus. Now, I don't mean that literally, but the octopus plays a big part in the story. "The Octopus" appears one day on Lily's head. It's actually a mass that looks just like an octopus with its' arms hanging down around the sides of Lily's head. And this is the start of the fight of a lifetime... 

The story is imaginative, charming, and will leave you with the warm fuzzies. It will also make you start to choke up in spots, especially if you have had or have a special furbaby in your life. I don't want to say much more, but the story really is heartwarming and the author paints such an amazing true picture of that deep loving relationship we have with our babies that just happen to have four legs. Dog lover? Just read it, you won't be sorry. 

Lily and the Octopus by Steve Rowley is published by Simon & Schuster, and can be found at your local bookstore now! 

The Sunday Salon and Taking The Plunge.. 3 Books Where You End up Somewhere You Never Want to Be...

 Welcome to The Sunday Salon and The Sunday Post! It's that day of the week bloggers from all over the internet get together virtually in a large gathering place called The Sunday Salon and talk books!  And at The Sunday Post, which is a weekly meme hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, in which more bloggers share their bookish news!

Another beautiful day in Connecticut! There is a cool breeze in the air, that just reminds me that I am alive and that nature is calling my name. But nature can be cruel too... And that's what today's Sunday Salon is about: Nature being cruel whether by challenging us to survive the icy waters of the ocean, the terror of a tsunami, or surviving a disaster like what happened on the Hindenburg... These are fictional stories, though, and stories that have gotten a lot of Buzz from the reading community recently. So, let's take a look at these books... Let's take the plunge...

Before The Fall by Noah Hawley... On a foggy summer night, eleven people-ten privileged, one down-on-his-luck painter-depart Martha's Vineyard on a private jet headed for New York. Sixteen minutes later, the unthinkable happens: the plane plunges into the ocean. The only survivors are Scott Burroughs-the painter-and a four-year-old boy, who is now the last remaining member of an immensely wealthy and powerful media mogul's family. With chapters weaving between the aftermath of the crash and the backstories of the passengers and crew members-including a Wall Street titan and his wife, a Texan-born party boy just in from London, a young woman questioning her path in life, and a career pilot-the mystery surrounding the tragedy heightens. As the passengers' intrigues unravel, odd coincidences point to a conspiracy. Was it merely by dumb chance that so many influential people perished? Or was something far more sinister at work? Events soon threaten to spiral out of control in an escalating storm of media outrage and accusations. And while Scott struggles to cope with fame that borders on notoriety, the authorities scramble to salvage the truth from the wreckage. Amid pulse-quickening suspense, the fragile relationship between Scott and the young boy glows at the heart of this stunning novel, raising questions of fate, human nature, and the inextricable ties that bind us together. 

I have seen this book on numerous review sites, all with great pre-publication praise. This was also a staff pick for best summer read from Publisher's Weekly, where it also told me that Grand Central Publishing called it "The thriller to read in 2016". I just downloaded the eGalley and I am thrilled! I thought the writing was good when I read a sample and by page 21 the crash has happened and the story starts to slowly take off from there. I'll be diving into this one this weekend! Published by Grand Central Publishing, this is going to be released May 31st!

Flight of Dreams by Ariel Lawhon... On the evening of May 3rd, 1937, ninety-seven people board the Hindenburg for its final, doomed flight to Lakehurst, New Jersey. Among them are a frightened stewardess who is not what she seems; the steadfast navigator determined to win her heart; a naive cabin boy eager to earn a permanent spot on the world’s largest airship; an impetuous journalist who has been blacklisted in her native Germany; and an enigmatic American businessman with a score to settle. Over the course of three hazy, champagne-soaked days their lies, fears, agendas, and hopes for the future are revealed. Flight of Dreams is a fiercely intimate portrait of the real people on board the last flight of the Hindenburg. Behind them is the gathering storm in Europe and before them is looming disaster. But for the moment they float over the Atlantic, unaware of the inexorable, tragic fate that awaits them. Brilliantly exploring one of the most enduring mysteries of the twentieth century, Flight of Dreams is that rare novel with spellbinding plotting that keeps you guessing till the last page and breathtaking emotional intensity that stays with you long after. 

There was a lot of press for this book when it came out at the end of February, but has since died out. I picked up a copy because I read a sample and loved the writing. It just drew me in. I don't want to say it's a light read, but the story just flows from the voice of the characters as you get to know them and learn about the time frame. Definitely take a look at this one if you enjoy historical fiction! Published by Doubleday, this is available now from your local bookstore!

Two If By Sea by Jacquelyn Mitchard... Just hours after his wife and her entire family perish in the Christmas Eve tsunami in Brisbane, American expat and former police officer Frank Mercy goes out to join his volunteer rescue unit and pulls a little boy from a submerged car, saving the child’s life with only seconds to spare. In that moment, Frank’s own life is transformed. Not quite knowing why, Frank sidesteps the law, when, instead of turning Ian over to the Red Cross, he takes the boy home to the Midwestern farm where he grew up. Not long into their journey, Frank begins to believe that Ian has an extraordinary, impossible telepathic gift; but his only wish is to protect the deeply frightened child. As Frank struggles to start over, training horses as his father and grandfather did before him, he meets Claudia, a champion equestrian and someone with whom he can share his life—and his fears for Ian. Both of them know that it will be impossible to keep Ian’s gift a secret forever. Already, ominous coincidences have put Frank’s police instincts on high alert, as strangers trespass the quiet life at the family farm. The fight to keep Ian safe from a sinister group who want him back takes readers from the ravaged shores of Brisbane to the middle of America to a quaint English village. Even as Frank and Claudia dare to hope for new love, it becomes clear that they can never let Ian go, no matter what the cost. A suspenseful novel on a grand scale, Two If by Sea is about the best and worst in people, and the possibility of heroism and even magic in ordinary life. The fight to keep Ian safe from a sinister group who want him back takes readers from the ravaged shores of Brisbane to the middle of America to a quaint English village. Even as Frank and Claudia dare to hope for new love, it becomes clear that they can never let Ian go, no matter what the cost. A suspenseful novel on a grand scale, Two If by Sea is about the best and worst in people, and the possibility of heroism and even magic in ordinary life.

I tried to resist this book for a long time. It received such amazing praise, but I still wasn't sure. I think it was the part where the boy that survives and is rescued/kidnapped by the protagonist is suppose to have "an extraordinary telepathic gift" that kind of made me "roll my eyes" (just a little). But, I read the beginning of the story and really liked the writing, so I'm willing to see where the story goes. On my wishlist! Published by Simon & Schuster, this is available right now at your local bookstore!

Weekly Wrap-up... Only one more week and National Poetry Month will be over. Have you been enjoying all the poetry and poetry related posts?! This year I've been more enthused about sharing poetry than previous years, though I don't know why exactly. But this past week was filled with poetry "stuff"...

*Monday... This is How You Celebrate National Poetry Month
*Tuesday... What the Living Do, poem by Marie Howe
*Wednesday... 5 Tips for Poetry Performance by Renee   LaTulippe
*First Lines Friday... The Last Painting of Sara De Vos by Dominic Smith.

Question... Do You Read "Disaster" Books, and if so, Has it Changed the Way you Feel About Flying, Swimming, Sailing, etc?

Next week I'll be wrapping up National Poetry Month with a special poem by Donna Marie Merritt, that if you are an animal lover, you will want to read! And if you're a dog lover, you HAVE to come back and read! Donna is a special person and I'll be reviewing her book, Her House, next week. She has also agreed to come to my reading group one night and read & discuss her poetry! Yay! That will be happening in June, and I'll be posting about all about it then. It will be interesting because I have a few "poetry haters" in my group, that I think will soften their opinions after meeting and hearing Donna.... And speaking of reading groups, this months my group will be reading The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney. I'm a little over a third the way through and am really enjoying it! It's a really good read. The characters are so well written and their interactions are so real. I should be reviewing it in a couple weeks, but suffice it to say it's a keeper.

What are you reading this week?! And what interesting bookish things are you taking the plunge with? I'd love to hear about it! Until then...

Happy Reading... Suzanne

In My Mailbox...

In My Mailbox... I've received some great eGalleys last week! And I decided I would join in on the fun sharing them with you and the other bloggers participating in Mailbox Monday!

Mailbox Monday is a weekly event for bloggers to share what books arrived in their mailboxes. Mailbox Monday was originally created by Marcia of To Be Continued and is now hosted by Vicki, Serena and Leslie at Mailbox Monday's own blog.

I think ghosts are a theme for me this week, with almost all the books here having some sort of ghost involved. All except for The Passenger, which is a thriller that involves a death, but no ghosts to speak of. ( I think) Here's what landed in my eReader this week...

Black Rabbit Hall by Eve Chase... Ghosts are everywhere, not just the ghost of Momma in the woods, but ghosts of us too, what we used to be like in those long summers . . . Amber Alton knows that the hours pass differently at Black Rabbit Hall, her London family's country estate, where no two clocks read the same. Summers there are perfect, timeless. Not much ever happens. Until, of course, it does. 

More than three decades later, Lorna is determined to be married within the grand, ivy-covered walls of Pencraw Hall, known as Black Rabbit Hall among the locals. But as she's drawn deeper into the overgrown grounds, half-buried memories of her mother begin to surface and Lorna soon finds herself ensnared within the manor's labyrinthine history, overcome with an insatiable need for answers about her own past and that of the once-happy family whose memory still haunts the estate.

Ahh, a ghost story in a country estate in London! Need I say more? I am so looking forward to diving into this one! (and actually I have!) Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam and G.P. Putnam 's Sons.

The Passenger by Lisa Lutz... A blistering thriller about a woman who creates and sheds new identities as she crisscrosses the country to escape her past: you’ll want to buckle up for the ride!

"In case you were wondering, I didn’t do it. I didn’t have anything to do with Frank’s death. I don’t have an alibi, so you’ll have to take my word for it..."

Forty-eight hours after leaving her husband’s body at the base of the stairs, Tanya Dubois cashes in her credit cards, dyes her hair brown, demands a new name from a shadowy voice over the phone, and flees town. It’s not the first time. She meets Blue, a female bartender who recognizes the hunted look in a fugitive’s eyes and offers her a place to stay. With dwindling choices, Tanya-now-Amelia accepts. An uneasy―and dangerous―alliance is born. It’s almost impossible to live off the grid today, but Amelia-now-Debra and Blue have the courage, the ingenuity, and the desperation, to try. Hopscotching from city to city, Debra especially is chased by a very dark secret…can she outrun her past?

I have been wanting to read this after all the great reviews for a long time! I kind of feel like I won the lottery here, but in all seriousness this sounds like a great read and Lisa Lutz has the talent to do it! Thank you to Simon & Schuster!

Fell side by M.R. Carey... From Kirkus Reviews: A woman in prison must fight violent inmates and suspicious ghosts to find some measure of redemption.

Jess Moulson wakes up in the hospital with no memory of where she is or what has happened. High on heroin, she started a fire that burned her own face beyond recognition, severely injured her addict boyfriend, and led to 10-year-old Alex Beech’s death by smoke inhalation. Jess is found guilty of Alex’s murder and sentenced to Fellside, a notorious women’s prison in the remote Yorkshire moors. Alex’s ghost visits her in prison, assuring her that she was not the one who hurt him and begging her to uncover the truth behind his murder. Soon Jess is projecting into “the Other World” with Alex while simultaneously navigating the very dangerous real world of Fellside.

You know, I love a good ghost story and the hook here for me was Alex's ghost coming back and visiting Jess in prison. I thought that was interesting. And I'm also interested in how well M.R. Carey handles Jess visiting "the other world", which I presume to be the place in-between life and death.  Thank you to Orbit Books!

Summer lost by Ally Condie... It's the first real summer since the devastating accident that killed Cedar's father and younger brother, Ben. But now Cedar and what's left of her family are returning to the town of Iron Creek for the summer. They're just settling into their new house when a boy named Leo, dressed in costume, rides by on his bike. Intrigued, Cedar follows him to the renowned Summerlost theatre festival. Soon, she not only has a new friend in Leo and a job working concessions at the festival, she finds herself surrounded by mystery. The mystery of the tragic, too-short life of the Hollywood actress who haunts the halls of Summerlost. And the mystery of the strange gifts that keep appearing for Cedar. 

This was just a 6 chapter sampler released by the publisher, but it sounded like a wonderful "summer" read, and hints of a coming of age tale, so I happily downloaded the sample eGalley!  Thank you to Penguin Group, Penguin Young Readers Group, and Dutton Books for Young Readers.

That's my mailbox this past week, what kind of books arrived on your doorstep?! Hop on over to Mailbox Monday and check out what everyone found waiting for them!


Happy reading... Suzanne