literary fiction – Always With a Book

k2reader April 13, 2026

The Tortoise’s Tale by Kendra Coulter #bookreview #debut

I purchased the print copy for my personal collection. Publisher: Simon & Schuster Published: November 4, 2025 Summary: A century of American history unfolds through the eyes of a giant tortoise with a heightened awareness for live music, the location of edible flowers, and the nuances of human behavior in this spellbinding debut novel. Snatched from her ancestral lands, a giant tortoise finds herself in an exclusive estate in…

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k2reader February 24, 2026

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke #bookreview #debut

Thank you Knopf, #partner, for the advanced copy of Yesteryear in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Knopf Published: April 7, 2026 Summary: A traditional American woman, a beautiful wife and mother who sells her pioneer lifestyle of raw milk and farm-fresh eggs to her millions of social media followers, suddenly awakens cold, filthy, and terrified in the brutal reality of 1805—where she must unravel whether this living nightmare is…

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k2reader February 5, 2026

Punished by Ann-Helen Laestadius #bookreview #series #translatedbook

Thank you Scribner Books #partner, for the advanced copy of Punished in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Scribner Books Published: February 4, 2025 (first published January 2023) Summary: From the internationally bestselling author of the “extraordinary” (Fredrik Backman) novel Stolen comes a harrowing story—inspired by true events—of five Indigenous children forced to attend a government-run boarding school in 1950s Sweden, revealing the emotional scars they carry thirty years later. In…

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k2reader January 27, 2026

Workhorse by Caroline Palmer #bookreview #audiobook #debut

Thank you Libro.fm/Macmillan Audio for the ALC and Flatiron Books, #partner for the finished copy of Workhorse in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Flatiron Books / Macmillan Audio Published: October 14, 2025 Summary: A richly drawn, unsettling, and wickedly funny story of envy and ambition set against the glamor and privilege of media and high society in New York City at its height. At the turn of the…

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k2reader December 27, 2025

The Accidental Favorite by Fran Littlewood #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Libro.fm/Macmillan Audio for the ALC and Henry Holt, #partner for the advanced copy of The Accidental Favorite in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Henry Holt / Macmillan Audio Published: June 24, 2025 Summary: From the New York Times bestselling author of Amazing Grace Adams comes a wryly resonant and deeply moving family dramedy investigating the question so many of us have asked ourselves: do my parents have a favorite? Vivienne…

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k2reader December 26, 2025

Heartwood by Amity Gaige #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Simon & Schuster Audio for the ALC and SimonBooksBuddy, #partner, for the finished copy of Heartwood in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Simon Books / Simon & Schuster ALC Published: April 1, 2025 Summary: Heartwood takes you on a journey as a search and rescue team race against time when an experienced hiker mysteriously disappears on the Appalachian Trail in Maine. In the heart of the Maine woods,…

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k2reader December 12, 2025

Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you PRH Audio for the ALC and Doubleday #partner, for the advanced copy of Cursed Daughters in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Doubleday / Random House Audio Published: November 4, 2025 Summary: A young woman must shake off a family curse and the widely held belief that she is the reincarnation of her dead cousin in this wickedly funny, brilliantly perceptive novel about love, female rivalry, and superstition from the…

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k2reader October 3, 2025

The Irish Goodbye by Heather Aimee O’Neill #bookreview #audiobook #debut

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the ALC and Henry Holt Books, #partner for the advanced copy of The Irish Goodbye in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Henry Holt Books / Macmillan Audio Published: September 30, 2025 Summary: In this debut, for fans of J. Courtney Sullivan and Mary Beth Keane, three adult sisters grapple with a shared tragedy over a Thanksgiving weekend spent in their childhood home, navigating…

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k2reader June 8, 2025

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Libro.fm/PRH Audio for the ALC and Crown Publishing, #partner, for the finished copy of The Correspondent in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Crown Publishing / Random House Audio Published: April 29, 2025 Summary: Throughout her life Sybil Van Antwerp has used letters to make sense of the world and her place in it. Most mornings around half past ten Sybil sits down to write letters—to her brother, to…

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k2reader May 26, 2025

The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Simon & Schuster Audio for the ALC and SimonBooksBuddy, #partner, for the advanced copy of The Bright Years in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Simon Books / Simon & Schuster ALC Published: April 22, 2025 Summary: One family. Four generations. A secret son. A devastating addiction. A Texas family is met with losses and surprises of inheritance, but they’re unable to shake the pull back toward…

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k2reader April 21, 2025

The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus by Emma Knight #bookreview #debut #bookclubread

I purchased this book for my own collection. Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books Published: January 7, 2025 Summary: A witty, atmospheric, and brilliantly told novel that offers compelling portraits of womanhood, motherhood and female friendship, along with the irresistible intrigue surrounding an extraordinary British family Arriving at the University of Edinburgh for her first term, Pen knows her divorced parents back in Canada are hiding something from her. She believes she’ll…

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k2reader March 17, 2025

My Friends by Fredrik Backman #bookreview

Thank you Atria Books, #partner, for the advanced copy of My Friends in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Atria Books Published: May 6, 2025 Summary: #1 New York Times bestselling author Fredrik Backman returns with an unforgettably funny, deeply moving tale of four teenagers whose friendship creates a bond so powerful that it changes a stranger’s life twenty-five years later. Most people don’t even notice them—three tiny figures sitting at…

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k2reader February 24, 2025

Nesting by Roisin O’Donnell #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Hachette Audio, #partner for the ALC of Nesting in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Hachette Audio Published: February 18, 2025 Summary: On a bright spring afternoon in Dublin, Ciara Fay makes a split-second decision that will change everything. Grabbing an armful of clothes from the washing line, Ciara straps her two young daughters into her car and drives away. Head spinning, all she knows for certain is…

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k2reader February 10, 2025

The Great Divide by Cristina Henriquez #bookreview #audiobook

I purchased this book for my own personal collection. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: Ecco / Harper Audio Published: March 5, 2024 Summary: An epic novel of the construction of the Panama Canal, casting light on the unsung people who lived, loved, and labored there. It is said that the canal will be the greatest feat of engineering in history. But first, it must be built.…

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k2reader January 29, 2025

Penitence by Kristin Koval #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Libro.fm / Macmillan Audio for the ALC and Celadon Books #partner for the advanced copy of Penitence in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Celadon Books / Macmillan Audio Published: January 28, 2025 Summary: For readers of Ann Patchett and Celeste Ng, Penitence is a poignant exploration of love and forgiveness. It’s a suspenseful, addictive page-turner filled with literary insight that compels readers to consider whether each of us is…

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k2reader December 31, 2024

What Happened to the McCrays? by Tracey Lange #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the ALC and Celadon Books #partner for the advanced copy of What Happened to the McCrays? in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Celadon Books / Macmillan Audio Published: January 14, 2025 Summary: From New York Times bestselling author Tracey Lange, a poignant story about the resilience of family, the importance of community, and the magic of middle school hockey When Kyle McCray gets word his…

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k2reader December 29, 2024

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman #bookreview

I purchased this book for my own collection. Publisher: Atria Books Published: May 15, 2015 Summary: All you need is Ove. At first sight, Ove is almost certainly the grumpiest man you will ever meet, a curmudgeon with staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People think him bitter, and he thinks himself surrounded by idiots. Ove’s well-ordered, solitary world gets a shake-up one November morning…

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k2reader December 16, 2024

Brightly Shining by Ingvild Rishoi #bookreview #translatedread

Thank you Grove Atlantic #partner, for the finished copy of Brightly Shining in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Grove Press Published: November 19, 2024 Summary: Brightly Shining is a ‘heartbreaking, funny and philosophical tale about the reality of addiction, the power of dreams and the kindness of strangers’. Christmas is around the corner, and Ronja’s father is out of work again, but it seems that their luck has…

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k2reader August 27, 2024

The Same Bright Stars by Ethan Joella #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Scribner #partner, for the advanced copy of The Same Bright Stars in exchange for my honest review. I purchased the audiobook for my collection. Publisher: Scribner / Simon & Schuster Audio Published: July 2, 2024 Summary: Three generations of Schmidts have run their family’s beachfront restaurant, and Jack has been at the helm since his father’s death. He puts the demands of the restaurant above all else, with…

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k2reader December 19, 2023

Little Monsters by Adrienne Brodeur #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Libro.fm / Simon & Schuster Audio, for the ALC of Little Monsters in exchange for my honest review. I purchased the print book for my own collection. Publisher: Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster Audio Published: June 27, 2023 Summary: From the author of the bestselling memoir Wild Game comes a riveting novel about Cape Cod, complicated families, and long-buried secrets—for fans of the New York…

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k2reader November 30, 2023

Kala by Colin Walsh #bookreview

I got this book through the Penguin Readers Rewards Program. Publisher: Doubleday Published: July 25, 2023 Summary: A gripping literary page-turner from a rising Irish talent in which former friends, estranged for twenty years, reckon with the terrifying events of the summer that changed their lives. In the seaside village of Kinlough, on Ireland’s west coast, three old friends meet for the first time in years. They—Helen, Joe and Mush—were…

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k2reader November 4, 2023

Maame by Jessica George #bookreview #audiobook

I purchased this book for my own personal collection. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: St. Martin’s Press / Macmillan Audio Published: January 31, 2023 Summary: Maame (ma-meh) has many meanings in Twi but in my case, it means woman. It’s fair to say that Maddie’s life in London is far from rewarding. With a mother who spends most of her time in Ghana (yet still somehow manages…

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k2reader October 10, 2023

The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok #bookreview

Thank you to William Morrow, #partner, for an advanced copy of The Leftover Woman in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: William Morrow Published: October 10, 2023 Summary: An evocative family drama and a riveting mystery about the ferocious pull of motherhood for two very different women–from the New York Times bestselling author of Searching for Sylvie Lee and Girl in Translation. Jasmine Yang arrives in New York City from her rural Chinese village…

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k2reader June 22, 2023

Banyan Moon by Thao Thai #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you to HarperAudio/Netgalley for the ALC and Thoughts From a Page, Mariner Books, #partner, for an advanced e-copy of Banyan Moon in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Mariner Books / Harper Audio Published: June 27, 2023 Summary: A sweeping, evocative debut novel following three generations of Vietnamese American women reeling from the death of their matriarch, revealing the family’s inherited burdens, buried secrets, and unlikely love stories.…

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k2reader May 25, 2023

Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark #bookreview

Thank you to TLC BookTours, S&S/Marysue Rucci Books, #partner, for a finished copy of Fellowship Point in exchange for my honest review. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: Marysue Rucci Books/ Scribner / Simon & Schuster Audio Published: July 5, 2022 Summary: Celebrated children’s book author Agnes Lee is determined to secure her legacy—to complete what she knows will be the final volume of her pseudonymously written…

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k2reader May 21, 2023

Trespasses by Louise Kennedy #bookreview

I purchased this book for my own personal collection. Publisher: Riverhead Books Published: November 1, 2022 Summary: Set in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, a shattering novel about a young woman caught between allegiance to community and a dangerous passion. Amid daily reports of violence, Cushla lives a quiet life with her mother in a small town near Belfast. By day she teaches at a parochial school; at night she…

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k2reader May 9, 2023

The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Simon & Schuster Audio for the ALC and @BookClubFavorites & Scriber #partner, for the advanced copy of The Half Moon in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Scribner / Simon & Schuster ALC Published: May 2, 2023 Summary: From the bestselling author of Ask Again, Yes, a masterful novel about a couple in a small town who must navigate the complexities of marriage, family, and longing. Malcolm Gephardt,…

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k2reader May 7, 2023

Dust Child by Nguyen Phan Que Mai #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Hachette Audio for the ALC and Algonquin Books, #partner for the finished copy of Dust Child in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Algonquin Books / Hachette Audio Published: March 14, 2023 Summary: From the internationally bestselling author of The Mountains Sing, a suspenseful and moving saga about family secrets, hidden trauma, and the overriding power of forgiveness, set during the war and in present-day Việt Nam. In…

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k2reader April 26, 2023

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano #bookreview #audiobook

I purchased this book and audiobook for my own personal collection. Publisher: The Dial Press / Random House Audio Published: March 14, 2023 Summary: From the New York Times bestselling author of Dear Edward comes a poignant and engrossing family story that asks: Can love make a broken person whole? William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love…

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k2reader March 13, 2023

A Likely Story by Leigh Abramson #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Simon & Schuster Audio for the ALC and Atria Books, #partner, for the advanced copy of A Likely Story in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Atria Books / Simon & Schuster ALC Published: March 14, 2023 Summary: The only child of an iconic American novelist discovers a shocking tangle of family secrets that upends everything she thought she knew about her parents, her gilded childhood, and her…

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k2reader February 27, 2023

I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Libro.fm / Penguin Random House Audio, for the ALC and Viking Books, #partner for the finished copy of I Have Some Questions for You in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Viking Books / Penguin Random House Audio Published: February 21, 2023 Summary: The riveting new novel from the author of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist The Great Believers A successful film professor and podcaster,…

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k2reader January 21, 2023

Aesthetica by Allie Rowbottom #bookreview

Thank you to TandemCollectiveGlobal, Soho Press, #partner, for a finished copy of Aesthetica in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Soho Press Published: November 22, 2022 Summary: In a debut novel as radiant as it is caustic, a former influencer confronts her past—and takes inventory of the damages that underpin the surface-glamour of social media. At 19, she was an Instagram celebrity. Now, at 35, she works behind the…

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k2reader December 15, 2022

The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Hachette Audio for the ALC and Grand Central Publishing, #partner, for the advanced copy of The Light Pirate in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Grand Central Publishing / Hachette Audio Published: December 6, 2022 Summary: For fans of Station Eleven and Where the Crawdads Sing comes a hopeful, sweeping story of survival and resilience spanning one extraordinary woman’s lifetime as she navigates the uncertainty, brutality, and arresting beauty of a rapidly changing…

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k2reader November 29, 2022

A Quiet Life by Ethan Joella #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Simon & Schuster Audio for the ALC and Scribner #partner, for the advanced copy of A Quiet Life in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Scribner / Simon & Schuster ALC Published: November 29, 2022 Summary: From the author of A Little Hope—a Read with Jenna Bonus Pick—comes an enormously powerful and life-affirming novel about three individuals whose lives intersect in unforeseen ways. Set in a close-knit Pennsylvania suburb in…

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k2reader November 14, 2022

We Are the Light by Matthew Quick #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Simon & Schuster Audio for the ALC and Avid Reader Press #partner, for the advanced copy of We Are the Light in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster ALC Published: November 1, 2022 Summary: From Matthew Quick, the New York Times best-selling author of The Silver Linings Playbook, made into the Academy Award-winning movie starring Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper, comes a poignant…

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k2reader September 3, 2022

Broken Summer by J.M. Lee, translated by An Seon Jae #blogtour #bookfeature

Thank you @OTRPR & Amazon Crossing, #partner, for the advanced copy of Broken Summer in exchange for my honest review. Today, I’m so happy to be a tour stop on the blog tour for Broken Summer. Thank you OTRPR for inviting me to participate. I have a book spotlight today — see what the book is about and what others have to say about it. I love translated books and…

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k2reader July 28, 2022

Woman of Light by Kali Fajardo-Anstine #bookreview #bookclub

Thank you Libro.fm, #partner for the ALC of Woman of Light in exchange for my honest review. I purchased this book for my own collection. Publisher: One World / Random House Audio Published: June 7, 2022 Summary: A dazzling epic of betrayal, love, and fate that spans five generations of an Indigenous Chicano family in the American West, from the author of the National Book Award Finalist Sabrina & Corina…

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k2reader July 21, 2022

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez #bookreview #audiobook

This book is from my personal collection. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: Flatiron Books / Macmillan Audio Published: January 4, 2022 Summary: A blazing talent debuts with the tale of a status-driven wedding planner grappling with her social ambitions, absent mother, and Puerto Rican roots, all in the wake of Hurricane Maria It’s 2017, and Olga and her brother, Pedro “Prieto” Acevedo, are bold-faced names in…

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k2reader June 19, 2022

Shadows of Pecan Hollow by Caroline Frost #bookreview

Thank you William Morrow, #partner, for the finished copy of The Shadows of Pecan Hollow in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: William Morrow Published: February 8, 2022 Summary: It was 1970 when thirteen-year-old Kit Walker was abducted by Manny Romero, a smooth-talking, low-level criminal. Longing for the family and security she never had, she allowed herself to be coddled and groomed into Manny’s partner-in-crime. Before long, Kit and…

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k2reader June 2, 2022

Metropolis by B.A. Shapiro #bookreview

Thank you Algonquin Books, #partner, for the advanced copy of Metropolis in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Algonquin Books Published: May 17, 2022 Summary: From bestselling author B. A. Shapiro, a gripping novel that follows six mysterious characters whose lives intersect when a tragedy occurs at the storage facility where they all rent units. In Metropolis we meet six unforgettable characters who never would have met if not for their…

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k2reader April 5, 2022

Review: Caul Baby by Morgan Jerkins

Publisher: Harper Published: April 6, 2021 Source: Personal copy Summary: New York Times bestselling author Morgan Jerkins makes her fiction debut with this electrifying novel, for fans of Ta-Nehisi Coates and Jacqueline Woodson, that brings to life one powerful and enigmatic family in a tale rife with secrets, betrayal, intrigue, and magic. Laila desperately wants to become a mother, but each of her previous pregnancies has ended in heartbreak. This…

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k2reader January 28, 2022

Review: The Latecomer by Jean Hanff Korelitz

Publisher: Celadon Books Published: May 31, 2022 Source: ARC Paperback via Publisher Summary: From the New York Times bestselling author of The Plot, Jean Hanff Korelitz’s The Latecomer is a layered and immersive literary novel about three siblings, desperate to escape one another, and the upending of their family by the late arrival of a fourth. The Latecomer follows the story of the wealthy, New York City-based Oppenheimer family, from the first meeting of parents…

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k2reader January 21, 2022

Review: Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka (audio)

Publisher: William Morrow/Harper Audio Published: January 25, 2022 Source: Print – ARC Paperback via William Morrow / Audio – ALC via Netgalley Summary: In the tradition of ‘Long Bright River’ and ‘The Mars Room’, a gripping and atmospheric work of literary suspense that deconstructs the story of a serial killer on death row, told primarily through the eyes of the women in his life – from the best-selling author of ‘Girl in Snow’.…

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k2reader December 16, 2021

Review: Florence Adler Swims Forever by Rachel Beanland

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks Published: June 1, 2021 (First published July 2020) Source: Saichek Publicity Summary: Over the course of one summer that begins with a shocking tragedy, three generations of the Adler family grapple with heartbreak, romance, and the weight of family secrets in this stunning debut novel that’s perfect for fans of Manhattan Beach and The Dollhouse. Atlantic City, 1934. Every summer, Esther and Joseph Adler rent their house…

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k2reader August 25, 2021

Review: Damnation Spring by Ash Davidson (print/audio)

Publisher: Scribner / Simon & Schuster Audio Published: August 3, 2021 Source: Print – ARC Paperback via Publisher / Audio – ALC via Publisher Summary: An epic, immersive debut, Damnation Spring is the deeply human story of a Pacific Northwest logging town wrenched in two by a mystery that threatens to derail its way of life. For generations, Rich Gundersen’s family has chopped a livelihood out of the redwood forest along…

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