Publisher: Berkley Books Published: September 28, 2021 Source: Personal copy Summary: When a woman travels to Nigeria to attend the funeral of the father she never knew, she meets her extravagant family for the first time, a new and inspiring love interest, and discovers parts of herself she didn’t know were missing, from Jane Igharo, the acclaimed author of Ties That Tether. Hannah Bailey has never known her father, the…
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Publisher: Berkley Published: August 24, 2021 Source: Personal copy Summary: A bursting, heartfelt, debut following fifty-five days in the life of ten-year-old Rae, who must look after herself and her dog when her mother disappears. For as long as Rae can remember, it’s been her and Mum, and their dog, Splinter; a small, deliberately unremarkable, family. They have their walks, their cooking routines, their home. Sometimes Mum disappears for…
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Publisher: Ecco Published: February 2, 2021 Source: Personal copy Summary: Steeped in Cherokee myths and history, a novel about a fractured family reckoning with the tragic death of their son long ago—from National Book Award finalist Brandon Hobson In the fifteen years since their teenage son, Ray-Ray, was killed in a police shooting, the Echota family has been suspended in private grief. The mother, Maria, increasingly struggles to manage…
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Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Published: October 5, 2021 Source: Personal copy Summary: The International Bestseller–A feel-good, holiday rom com about identical twins who swap lives twelve days before Christmas–perfect for fans of Christina Lauren’s In a Holidaze and Josie Silver’s One Day in December All they want for Christmas is a different life. When chef Charlie Goodwin gets hit on the head on the L.A. set of her reality baking show, she…
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Publisher: Ballantine Books Published: November 30, 2021 Source: ARC E-copy via Publisher/Netgalley Summary: From the #1 New York Times bestselling author comes a deeply moving novel about the resilience of the human spirit in a moment of crisis. Diana O’Toole is perfectly on track. She will be married by thirty, done having kids by thirty-five, and move out to the New York City suburbs, all while climbing the professional…
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Publisher: Little Brown and Company Published: July 7, 2020 Source: Personal copy Summary: This “outstanding” debut story collection from a rising star reveals Louisiana and its characters with stark honesty and empathy as they grapple with homesickness, desperation, and desire (Peter Orner). Last One Out Shut Off the Lights is a vivid portrait of the last-chance towns of southwest Louisiana, where oil development, industrial pollution, dying wetlands, and the ever-present…
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Publisher: Berkley Books / Penguin Audio Published: March 30, 2021 Source: Print – Personal copy / Audio – via library Summary: An epic saga from New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Dray based on the true story of an extraordinary castle in the heart of France and the remarkable women bound by its legacy in three of humanity’s darkest hours Most castles are protected by powerful men. This one…
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This month, the online bookclub I co-host, #mommaleighellenbookclub, selected In the Heart of Paradise as one of our selections. Because it is the third book in Jamie McGillen’s series and I had not read the previous two, and me being me, I knew I had to read them first and I’m so glad I did. That being said, I decided to do all three reviews in one post, rather…
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Publisher: Viking Books / Penguin Audio Published: October 5, 2021 Source: Print – Personal copy via BOTM / Audio – Personal copy via Libro.fm Summary: The bestselling author of A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility and master of absorbing, sophisticated fiction returns with a stylish and propulsive novel set in 1950s America In June, 1954, eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson is driven home to Nebraska by the warden of…
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Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark Published: October 5, 2021 Source: Paperback via Publisher Summary: In the autumn of 1707, old enemies from the Highlands to the Borders are finding common ground as they join to protest the new Union with England. At the same time, the French are preparing to launch an invasion to bring the young exiled Jacobite king back to Scotland to reclaim his throne, and in Edinburgh the…
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Publisher: Brilliance Audio Published: April 9, 2019 Source: Personal copy Summary: Two sisters raised in fear are about to find out why in a chilling novel of psychological suspense from the author of The Thinnest Air. Ignorant of civilization and cautioned against its evils, nineteen-year-old Wren and her two sisters, Sage and Evie, were raised in off-the-grid isolation in a primitive cabin in upstate New York. When the youngest grows…
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Publisher: William Morrow / Harper Audio Published: March 9, 2021 Source: Print – ARC Paperback via Publisher / Audio – via library Summary: The New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Huntress and The Alice Network returns with another heart-stopping World War II story of three female code breakers at Bletchley Park and the spy they must root out after the war is over. 1940. As England prepares to fight the Nazis, three very…
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Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio Published: May 4, 2021 Source: Publisher Summary: We all have stories we never tell. Before Owen Michaels disappears, he manages to smuggle a note to his beloved wife of one year: Protect her. Despite her confusion and fear, Hannah Hall knows exactly to whom the note refers: Owen’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey. Bailey, who lost her mother tragically as a child. Bailey, who wants absolutely…
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A few months ago, I decided to join @Literati, an online book club that is unlike anything I’ve been part of before. Quite a few of my bookstagram friends were already part of this and I knew how much they enjoyed it, so I finally took the plunge and I’m so glad I did. This unique book club offers 13 different clubs that you get to choose from and the…
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Publisher: Flatiron Books Published: August 7, 2021 Source: ARC Paperback via Publisher Summary: Think you know the person you married? Think again… Things have been wrong with Mr. and Mrs. Wright for a long time. When Adam and Amelia win a weekend away to Scotland, it might be just what their marriage needs. Self-confessed workaholic and screenwriter Adam Wright has lived with face blindness his whole life. He can’t…
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Publisher: Gallery Books / Simon & Schuster Audio Published: August 3, 2021 Source: Print: Personal copy via BOTM / Audio via Library Summary: The People we Keep is about a young songwriter longing to find a home in the world. Little River, New York, 1994: April Sawicki is living in a run-down motorhome, flunking out of school, and picking up shifts at the local diner. But when April realizes…
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Publisher: Ballantine Books / Random House Audio Published: August 3rd, 2021 Source: Print & Audio – Personal copy Summary: An annual backpacking trip has deadly consequences in a chilling new novel from the bestselling author of The Lost Night and The Herd. Emily is having the time of her life–she’s in the mountains of Chile with her best friend, Kristen, on their annual reunion trip, and the women are feeling closer than…
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Publisher: William Morrow / Harper Audio Published: August 3, 2021 Source: Print – Personal Copy / Audio via Library Summary: Kaia Alderson’s debut historical fiction novel reveals the untold, true story of the Six Triple Eight, the only all-Black battalion of the Women’s Army Corps, who made the dangerous voyage to Europe to ensure American servicemen received word from their loved ones during World War II. Grace Steele and…
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Publisher: Scribner / Simon & Schuster Audio Published: October 16, 2018 Source: Print: Personal copy via Literati Book Club / Audio: Library Summary: In this powerful and provocative memoir, genre-bending essayist and novelist Kiese Laymon explores what the weight of a lifetime of secrets, lies, and deception does to a black body, a black family, and a nation teetering on the brink of moral collapse. Kiese Laymon is a…
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