Welcome to Chick with Books — a space for readers who love getting lost in a great story and talking about it long after the final page. This is your go-to spot for buzz-worthy new releases, hidden gems, and honest reviews you can trust. I’m drawn to unforgettable stories—especially historical and literary fiction, thrillers, and my latest obsession: romantasy. Looking for your next great read? You’re in the right place.
It's Tuesday! And that means NEW book releases today! There are always plenty to choose from... These are my top 3 picks for this week...
Every morning, Evelyn Silver walks the shoreline before the rest of Portheast wakes, gathering what the tide leaves behind. Broken cups. Lost trinkets. Objects others have discarded. In her small Museum of Maritime Curiosities, each one earns its place—because to Evelyn, every forgotten thing deserves to have its story told.
At the heart of the museum lies her most precious possession: a fragment of Cornish lace, found pinned to her blanket when she was abandoned as a newborn. For over sixty years, she has kept it close, hoping someone might one day recognise it and tell her who she really is.
So when the local council threatens to close the museum, Evelyn stands to lose far more than her livelihood. Forced out of her solitude, she rallies the community around the museum's curious collection—and as the objects begin to give up their secrets, lives start to intertwine in ways nobody expected.
Because sometimes, the most precious things aren't lost at all. They're simply waiting to be claimed.
This sounds like such a great read! I love the idea of "the objects in the museum giving up their secrets"!! And I love that the main character has been waiting for someone to share with her where the piece of Cornish lace came from that was pinned to her blanket as an abandoned baby! I actually pre-ordered this at the beginning of June when it was a great price AND as of Monday night, the Kindle version was still only $4.99!
Published by Lake Union Publishers.
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When Caroline Lash arrives in Greenhead, Massachusetts, she falls head-over-heels for Van Whittaker, a fleece-wearing, litter-collecting kayak enthusiast with long, floppy hair and the personality of a Border collie. Born and raised in this picturesque coastal village, Van runs with the same crowd he did as a kid: His ex-girlfriend, Bailey, a beautiful girl who attracts men like moths to a flame; Augusta, old money, horsey, and snobbish; and Fran, surrounded by brothers and sons, too fed up with boys to ever consider marrying one.
Together, the group runs wild through the marshes, beaches, and bars of Greenhead, drinking on houseboats, spending long afternoons sunbathing with their children, and playing games the way they always have. But when Bailey discovers that she is pregnant with Van’s baby, the delicate balance of the group’s friendship is thrown off. Soon Caroline is cast out of the circle and what she does next—in a potent mix of fury and heartbreak—exposes long-held secrets and works the entire town of Greenhead into a lather.
Dazzlingly funny, sexy, and as juicy as it is astute, The Shampoo Effect is a story of late-night parties, early mornings with small children, the dawn of midlife, and a group of old friends finally growing up despite all their best efforts to the contrary.
This book sounds like the best beach read! I love stories with groups of friends and the drama that comes from that. This is also a Read with Jenna pick for this month. On my TBR list too!
Published by Pamela Dorman Books.
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Jodie always dreamed of being the perfect housewife. And after a whirlwind romance, she marries renowned psychologist Dr. Roy Davies and moves into his perfect Beverly Hills home. But the fairy tale fades fast. Roy is distant, his friends view her as a gold-digger, and the house still reveres his late wife, Deborah, whose presence looms over everyone and everything.
When Jodie learns that Deborah became a recluse before her death, she begins to suspect Roy was behind it. And the deeper she digs, the darker Roy's past appears―obsessive, controlling, unfaithful. Jodie knows she should go to the police but she has her own secrets, such as three dead bodies and a prison sentence she still claims was a misunderstanding.
But Jodie doesn’t care how long it takes. She’s going to clean every inch of that house until she finds proof that Dr. Davies killed his first wife.
And then, she’ll make him pay.
House wifes gone wild are all the rage these days and this book sounds like a dark read with murder and secrets everywhere and from everyone!
Published by Furphies Press
Which are you going to add to your TBR list?! Hope you found something that you just HAVE to read today... Happy Reading, Suzanne.
Paula Quinn and I go back a long way... at least her books and I do. Way back in 2010, I received a copy of Ravished by a Highlander by Paula Quinn to review. I loved it! And a week before I posted my review, I invited Paula to do a guest post on Chick with Books and she wrote about writing Highlander romances in the 21st century (which was a fun post and great insight into her writing process). Fast forward 16 YEARS and I receive Where Mountains Pierce the Highland Heart by Paula Quinn from Dragonblade Publishing and NetGalley and I am excited to catch up with Paula and her writing!
Today is the official release date for Where Mountains Pierce The Highland Heart by Paula Quinn. It's book two in her Where Heaven and Earth Collide Series, but it can be read as a stand alone, which is what I'm doing since I haven't read book 1 (yet!).
Here's the blurb from the publisher:
She saved his life and it cost her everything.
On a night meant for mercy, Elspeth Woodburn risks all to save a dying Highland prisoner in her father’s dungeon. By dawn, her home is ash, her family slaughtered, and the name burned into her soul is one she will never forget. Logan Cameron. For six long years, vengeance has been the only thing keeping her alive.
He should have died that night. Instead, he cannot forget the girl who saved him.
Logan Cameron remembers little of his rescue, only a fleeting glimpse of gentle hands and a soft voice that refused to let him die. He never expected to see her again, least of all as a lass with fire in her eyes and murder in her heart.
Trapped within the unforgiving Highlands, they are bound together by decree. She waits for the perfect moment to strike. He watches her with a growing awareness he cannot explain.
Because beneath her fury is the same compassion that once saved him. And beneath his control is a pull he cannot deny.
In a land shaped by blood and loyalty, where enemies are not meant to forgive, let alone desire each other, Elspeth must decide if vengeance will claim her heart…
Or if the man she swore to destroy is the only one who can reach it.
As I started reading Where Mountains Pierce the Highland Heart, I'm reminded of Paula Quinns great writing and enjoying the story. Of course I was warning Elspeth not to do what she was about to do, but she's young and naive... the result of which will change all of that in an instant!
If you love a good Highlander story, put Where Mountains Pierce The Highland Heart on your TBR list! Better yet, put Paula Quinn on your TBR list! My full review will be coming soon...
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!
Oxford, Mississippi, 1933. Abandoned by her mother one Christmas Eve, eleven-year-old Meg Lefleur has learned the hard way to rely on no one. Now one of the unadoptable "big girls" at the Lafayette County Orphan Asylum, she fights each day to keep her spirit unbowed.
Birdie Calhoun, unmarried and outspoken, has come to Oxford to ask her socialite sister to help the struggling family she’s left behind. But as the Depression tightens its grip, Birdie discovers her sister’s seemingly charmed life is a tapestry of lies.
Then, Birdie encounters Charlie, a woman running low on luck with little left to lose. When their fates—and Meg’s—converge, Charlie comes up with an audacious plan for them to take control of their lives. But in a place and time where hypocrisy is rife and women’s freedom is fragile, even the smallest act of defiance can have dangerous consequences.
The Calamity Club will make you laugh, cry, and cheer—an epic testament to underestimated women who know that calamity can be the spark of new beginnings. This is Kathryn Stockett at her most confident, heartfelt, and hilarious—the triumphant return of one of the most beloved storytellers of our time.
Would you keep reading after the first few lines?
I think I will...
Until Julia Silva walks onto his property. Smart, snarky, beautiful, and off-limits in more ways than one. As the location consultant on set and the little sister of his most bitter professional rival, she’s the last woman who should pique his interest.
Julia has been warned about Emmett. She knows better than to fall for his cocky swagger, broad shoulders, and smoldering good looks. Plus, she’s sworn off relationships.
But as Julia and Emmett work together, mutual distaste grows into an unexpected connection and then… something more.
Soon, they find themselves searching for excuses to spend time together and out of reach of the cameras. Knowing glances. Stolen kisses. Secret rendezvous.
Still, Emmett signed up to play the role of an eligible bachelor searching for the one. His family’s land and legacy depend on him completing the show.
The problem is, he’s already fallen in love.... Just not with a contestant.
Published by Emerald Lake
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As the family reckons with the aftermath—grief, guilt, logistics, and memories scorched and intact—the fire exposes the cracks already forming in April and Leo’s marriage. The novel unfolds in alternating perspectives: from April, who feels the crushing weight of motherhood, marriage, and self-blame; from Leo, a high school history teacher shaped by a lonely, fractured childhood; from Deb, April’s generous and no-nonsense mother who has to contend with her husband’s recent Alzheimer’s diagnosis; and from flashbacks that trace April and Leo’s relationship from its earliest days of connection to the devastating decisions that led them here.
A family saga suffused with humor, longing, and heartbreak, The Burning Side is about what we inherit and what we choose, about forgiveness and the ache of being known. It is, above all, about the meaning of home and the costs of long love.
Published by Simon & Schuster
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Published by Sea Crow Press
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Chase death. Or life.
Desperate to save his kingdom from ruin, Kaan’s crown has never felt so heavy. His many larks to scattered friends and family remain unanswered, and time is running out. As allies merge and enemies surge with bloodlusting agendas of their own, secrets brew hot enough to burn, but none so mighty as the truth nesting within the icy depths of Raeve’s long forgotten past. Something … Other. Something with the knowledge to change it all.
Published by Avon
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Twelve years later, Carrie is living in the English countryside with her husband, Robin, and their six-year-old twins, running a holiday cottage rental business on the side. One night, she stumbles across an online post in which she discovers that Johan escaped from Thailand years ago, and has been living in Stockholm ever since. As the memories of their passionate relationship flood her, she becomes obsessed with discovering what happened on their wedding day all those years ago.
But just when Carrie thinks she knows what she must do, a shocking twist tears apart everything Carrie thought she knew.
Published by Pamela Dorman Books
In a quiet London neighborhood several miles away, Rachelle Brettler was worried about her son. Zac had told her that he had gone to stay with a friend for the weekend, but then he did not come home. Days later, a police car pulled up and two officers relayed the dreadful news: Her son was dead.In their unbearable grief, Rachelle and her husband, Matthew, struggled to understand what had happened to Zac. He had had his troubles, but in no way seemed suicidal. As they would soon discover, however, there was a lot they did not know about their son. Only after his death did they learn that he had adopted a fictitious alter ego: Zac Ismailov, son of a Russian oligarch and heir to a great fortune. Under this guise, Zac had become entangled with a slippery London businessman named Akbar Shamji and a murderous gangster known as Indian Dave. As the Brettlers set about investigating their son’s death, they were pulled into a different and more dangerous London than the one they’d always known, and came to believe that something much more nefarious than a suicide had claimed Zac’s life. But to their immense frustration, Scotland Yard seemed unable—or unwilling—to bring the perpetrators to justice.
In a bravura feat of reporting and writing, Patrick Radden Keefe chronicles the Brettlers’ quest, peeling back layers of mystery and exposing the seedy truths behind the glamorous London of posh mansions and private nightclubs, a city in which everything is for sale, and aspirational fantasies are underwritten by dirty money and corruption. London Falling is a mesmerizing investigation of an inexplicable death and a powerful narrative driven by suspense and staggering revelations. But it is also an intimate and deeply poignant inquiry into the nature of parental love and the challenges of being a parent today, a portrait of a family trying to solve the riddle not just of how their son died, but of who he really was in life.
This isn't a memoir, but a true crime novel with an interesting twist that Zac Ismailov had a kind of secret life, with him posing as the son of a Russian oligarch! That sounded so interesting to me. I love a good mystery and this certainly falls under that category.
This book was published by Doubleday in early April of this year, so it is available at your favorite bookstore! And it is on my TBR list now!
P.S. This cover is actually from the UK version of the book ( I like it better and actually ordered my copy from the UK so I could have this cover of the book.)
When most of their peers were moving in with romantic partners and having children, Kim Hana and Hwang Sunwoo chose independence—savoring solitude, quiet mornings, and the unmitigated freedom of living alone. But in their forties, something shifted, and they were met with a new, unexpected loneliness. Refusing to settle for the outdated choice between marriage or isolation, Hana and Sunwoo made a radical decision: to buy a home and live together—not as lovers, not as roommates, but as chosen family.
Now a bustling household of two women and four cats, Hana and Sunwoo still value solitude, but can do so while sharing a life and its meaning with someone else. Together they navigate the challenges and comforts of cohabiting in midlife, the growing pains of interdependence and the unexpected rewards of compromise when you’ve grown set in your ways. From sick days to career wins to aging parents and beach-side retirement plans, they are redefining domestic bliss on their own terms, where love, partnership, and home are defined not by tradition, but by choice.
With warmth, wit, and sharp social insight, Hana and Sunwoo share their blueprint for building a life outside the scripts of marriage and society’s expectations for women. Two Women Living Together is a quiet revolution—a celebration of female friendship, community, and the many forms that love and family can take.
When we are young girls, we have sleepovers--with our girlfriends. When we go to college, we have roommates in college--that are women. But when we get married, we leave our girlfriends behind and build a life with our husbands. But if we find ourselves alone, why not embrace what we've done basically all of our lives, live with our girlfriends. Some may like to be alone, but we don't have to be alone. And Hana and Sunwoo chose not to be alone, and not to find a husband, but to find each other, and embrace female friendships. I am so fascinated with this book. On my wishlist!
First published in 2019, more recently in January 2026 by Ecco.
P.S. This cover show is the UK cover, which I just love because of the cat tree!
In March 2020, Belle Burden was safe and secure with her family at their house on Martha’s Vineyard, navigating the early days of the pandemic together—building fires in the late afternoons, drinking whisky sours, making roast chicken. Then, with no warning or explanation, her husband of twenty years announced that he was leaving her. Overnight, her caring, steady partner became a man she hardly recognized. He exited his life with her like an actor shrugging off a costume.
In Strangers, Burden revisits her marriage, searching for clues that her husband was not who she always thought he was. As she examines her relationship through a new lens, she reckons with her own family history and the lessons she intuited about how a woman is expected to behave in the face of betrayal. Through all of it, she is transformed. The discreet, compliant woman she once was—someone nicknamed “Belle the Good”—gives way to someone braver, someone determined to use her voice.
With unflinching honesty and profound grace, Burden charts a path through heartbreak to show the power of a woman who refuses to give up on love. Strangers is a stunning, deeply moving, compulsively readable memoir heralding the arrival of a thrilling new literary talent.
I have heard so many people talk about this book. It almost sounds like a book of fiction, but for Belle Burden it is all too real. I read the first 13 pages or so and was crushed for Belle and her family. Now I need to read this to know how Belle survives the betrayal.
Published by The Dial Press last January.
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!
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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.
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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
A Jersey girl by birth, Isabel Klee had always wanted to live in New York City. At age 20, she got her chance, ditching her college upstate and moving into a grungy basement apartment in Manhattan. Dog-obsessed since childhood, her first post-grad job was becoming an assistant to a dog photographer, and something clicked into place: a career focused on helping dogs was the new dream.
Isabel quickly found a passion for rehabilitating rescue dogs and helping them get adopted. At the same time, she was caught up in a whirlwind of friendships, parties, fickle boyfriends and grand romances, which she recounts in honest, tender, and sometimes devastating chapters about the search for love and belonging.
Isabel’s first true love, though, was Simon, a fluffy puppy who’d been saved from the meat trade. As the highs and lows of her twenties hit Isabel in wave after wave, it was Simon who kept her grounded. Together, Isabel and Simon created a community of dog-lovers and a tight-knit group of friends pursuing their dreams.
In this honest and moving memoir, Isabel weaves together the stories of her foster dogs—and the challenges she helped them overcome—with tales of complicated relationships, hard decisions, and great loves in New York City, all leading to a happy ending not only for the rescue pups, but for Isabel herself.
I've had dogs in my life, not rescue dogs, but dogs who have rescued me. And I always, I mean always, watch those dog adoptions, or dog rescue videos. I just can't help myself even when I am balling my eyes out with a happy ending or a happy rescue. It takes a very special person to actually be involved in rescue. And don't even get me started on how important being a foster is... and how can you give up that special furball when they're ready for a family? (but if you don't you'll have 100 dogs, and no room for the next special furball needing your help). So I already know Isabel Klee is special, now I'd like to learn how special...
This book is on my wishlist. It's being published by William Morrow and it's release date is next tuesday, April 28th!
Hockey Romances are all the rage these days. I was reading about this book and I loved the idea of someone getting the wrong text, answering the text and the start of a budding romance!
Would you keep reading this after the first lines?
* Lincoln Daniels is a morally grey antihero who is obsessed with his girl and will do anything to keep her.
This is a darker hockey romance. The Pucking Wrong Number is a hockey romance standalone from USA Today and International Bestselling Author C.R. Jane.
This book was published way back in 2024 by Podium Publishing. This is a stand alone story, but C.R. Jane has written quite a few books under the "Pucking" theme.😉
"I started writing this book six months after my baby died."
"I wasn't sure if I wanted anybody to read it."
"But part of me wanted people to know about my baby and how much I love her."
"So I kept writing thru the tears..."
"And now it's a book."
"I dedicated it to her, my sweet Gemma."
And the dedication:
"For Gemma and all the babies who didn't get to stay"
Omg, the strength of Mai Nguyen to write this book. It's fiction, but it's written from her heart. Not just heartbreaking, but hopeful. And mixed with some dark humor... I just received a review copy from the publisher and moved this to the top of the reading pile. Stay tuned for a review in the near future! Thank you to Atria Books for the digital review copy!
A powerful and unflinching memoir tracing one woman’s journey from trauma and self destruction to hard won wholeness. A deeply personal and courageous account of survival in the aftermath of sexual assault. With unvarnished honesty, it recounts the night that altered the course of her life and the years of struggles that followed, marked by addiction, self harm, and the gradual erosion of identity.
What began as a simple act of kindness in a parking lot became a turning point that shattered any sense of safety and certainty. From that moment, she traces a nonlinear journey through darkness, documenting the ways trauma manifested in destructive choices and emotional isolation. Her story does not follow a tidy arc of recovery. Instead, it reflects the complicated, often painful reality of living with unresolved wounds. Spanning more than twenty years, Jumper Cables moves from that first devastating night to a gas station decades later. The symbolism of these two moments anchors the memoir, illustrating both the depth of loss and the possibility of transformation.
She makes clear that this is not a guidebook or a prescriptive path to healing. Rather, it is an intimate testimony of endurance. She writes for those who have felt broken beyond repair, who have questioned whether survival was enough, and who have wondered if restoration was even possible. By sharing the messy, fragile, and deeply human process of reclaiming herself, she offers readers recognition and hope.
Jumper Cables speaks to survivors of assault, individuals navigating addiction or self destructive cycles, and anyone confronting the long shadow of trauma. Her voice is steady and reflective, honoring the unforgettable girl she once was while acknowledging the woman she fought to become. Dean brings vulnerability and strength to the pages, contributing to an ongoing conversation about trauma, accountability, and resilience. Her memoir stands as a testament to survival and the quiet courage required to rebuild a life.
Someone asked me if I had read this memoir, and I said no. They told me I should take a look at it, and I did. This is a slim book, 165 pages in total, but I feel it is an important one. Surviving sexual assault is a battle and Jumper Cables is a gift to women who need to see that there is light at the end of the tunnel. I started reading the sample of this book and was immediately drawn to this woman. I will be reading this, this week. Self published on February 17th of this year.
'That doesn't mean anything,' pointed out Sir Ritchfield, the oldest ram in the flock. 'He didn't die of an illness. Spades are not an illness.'
The shephard was lying in the green Irish grass beside the hay barn, not far from the path through the fields. He didn't move. A single crow had settled on his woolly Norwegian sweater and was studying his internal arrangements with professional interest. Beside the crow sat a very happy rabbit. Rather farther off, close to the edge of the cliff, the sheep were holding a meeting.
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All books tell stories. Some better than others. When we look to fiction we generally want to be entertained, so this week I'm sharing three books I picked up to entertain me, from 3 great storytellers..
You have no idea what it was like. For us. The women, I mean. The wives.American women—
American wives—have been mostly minor characters in the literature of the Vietnam War, but in Absolution they take center stage. Tricia is a shy newlywed, married to a rising attorney on loan to navy intelligence. Charlene is a practiced corporate spouse and mother of three, a beauty and a bully. In Saigon in 1963, the two women form a wary alliance as they balance the era’s mandate to be “helpmeets” to their ambitious husbands with their own inchoate impulse to “do good” for the people of Vietnam.
Sixty years later, Charlene’s daughter, spurred by an encounter with an aging Vietnam vet, reaches out to Tricia. Together, they look back at their time in Saigon, taking wry account of that pivotal year and of Charlene’s altruistic machinations, and discovering how their own lives as women on the periphery—of politics, of history, of war, of their husbands’ convictions—have been shaped and burdened by the same sort of unintended consequences that followed America’s tragic interference in Southeast Asia.
A virtuosic new novel from Alice McDermott, one of our most observant, most affecting writers, about folly and grace, obligation, sacrifice, and, finally, the quest for absolution in a broken world.
With that simple line, "You have no idea what it was like. For us. The women..." I was hooked. Alice McDermott is a storyteller and I'm looking forward to reading her latest novel, Absolution.
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At the center of These Precious Days is the title essay, a surprising and moving meditation on an unexpected friendship that explores “what it means to be seen, to find someone with whom you can be your best and most complete self.” When Patchett chose an early galley of actor and producer Tom Hanks’ short story collection to read one night before bed, she had no idea that this single choice would be life changing. It would introduce her to a remarkable woman—Tom’s brilliant assistant Sooki—with whom she would form a profound bond that held monumental consequences for them both.
A literary alchemist, Patchett plumbs the depths of her experiences to create gold: engaging and moving pieces that are both self-portrait and landscape, each vibrant with emotion and rich in insight. Turning her writer’s eye on her own experiences, she transforms the private into the universal, providing us all a way to look at our own worlds anew, and reminds how fleeting and enigmatic life can be.
From the enchantments of Kate DiCamillo’s children’s books (author of The Beatryce Prophecy) to youthful memories of Paris; the cherished life gifts given by her three fathers to the unexpected influence of Charles Schultz’s Snoopy; the expansive vision of Eudora Welty to the importance of knitting, Patchett connects life and art as she illuminates what matters most. Infused with the author’s grace, wit, and warmth, the pieces in These Precious Days resonate deep in the soul, leaving an indelible mark—and demonstrate why Ann Patchett is one of the most celebrated writers of our time.
Ann Patchett is another great storyteller and even though this is not a book of fiction, these are stories. Her writing is wonderful and after reading just the one story in this collection, I wanted to read more.
Published by Harper in 2021, and "if you've never read it, it's new to you", which is a favorite Ann Patchettism during her Instagram posts for Parnassus Books every week.
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From his acclaimed stage triumphs to his legendary onscreen work in the Star Trek and X-Men franchises, Sir Patrick Stewart has captivated audiences around the world and across multiple generations with his indelible command of stage and screen. Now, he presents his long-awaited memoir, Making It So, a revealing portrait of an artist whose astonishing life—from his humble beginnings in Yorkshire, England, to the heights of Hollywood and worldwide acclaim—proves a story as exuberant, definitive, and enduring as the author himself
I enjoy reading biographies & memoirs, but I do get tired seeing every celebrity publish a memoir. Patrick Stewart is one of my exceptions. I just loved him on Star Trek NG, I loved seeing him in The Caretaker on Broadway a few years back, and I am so looking forward to reading his book, Making It So. I am rethinking that though. I heard him read an excerpt from his book and found his voice so soothing, I think I am going to listen to the audio book first. Another storyteller, like listening to your Father, Uncle, or Grandfather tell stories from a lifetime ago.
Published by Gallery Books this past October 3rd.
Do YOU have a favorite storyteller?
Week in Review...
Friday, Nov. 3rd... Author Sheila Roberts makes a stop at Chick with Books during her Virtual Book Tour in November! Check out the post all about Sheila and her newest Holiday story, The Twelve Months of Christmas!
I hope you found something interesting here today. And please feel free to share your interesting finds this week here too!
Happy reading... Suzanne
