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The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

July 2019 Must-Reads

August 2019 Must-Reads

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9 cozy books for winter reading

19 thrillers to keep you up all night

quick reads to reach those reading goals

53 historical fiction novels to escape with

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Tags: Book Reviews, Fall 2019 Must Read Books, November 2019 Must Reads
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September 2019 Must-Reads

Wednesday, October 2nd, 2019

Looking for your next great read? I’ve got you covered with 8 reviews on new releases to help you decide if one of the latest fall releases could be for you. As you head into your fall reading, check out my suggestions from the month of September.

This has been quite the week, in MomAdvice land. We moved servers and transferring sixteen years of fun,it turns out, is NO JOKE. I am hoping that the efforts will yield a much faster site for you and a better user experience.

I know you aren’t here to talk about my technical challenges though so I’m excited to share my next stack of books with you!

follow me on instagram for more great book recommendations

Before we start, here are a few things you might have missed:

Did you download your summer reading guide? It’s not too late to snag it (by signing up for my happy list newsletter) because it contains plenty of my all-time favorite reads to enjoy. This season is a great time to get back to reading while your kiddos are back in school.

While you’re here, be sure to print out the 2019 MomAdvice reading challenge worksheet and join our FREE online book club! You can check out the 2019 MomAdvice Book Club picks over here.

Don’t forget to send me a friend request over on GoodReads for more great book reviews.

Also, did you know Prime members get a read for free every single month?

Grab your FREE books over here.

The Book of Month Club Selections Are Also Out!!

Here is what is available for October!

What Happens in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson

The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys

Fate of the Fallen by Kel Kade

This month’s deal: New members can get their first book for $9.99 when they join using this month’s code: BIG5 and can cancel at any time.

Here are 8 must-read books I tackled in September:

The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall

I hate to pick favorites, this early in the year, but my favorite book (so far) is this beautiful book. This is the kind of novel that could be shared with anyone in your life and, I just know, they would love it too.

Although this story deals a lot with faith in God, I don’t think you need to be religious (or even believe) to appreciate the themes.

In 1963, two men are jointly hired to steward at a Presbyterian congregation.

Unfortunately, they happen to be taking the reigns during a challenging and turbulent time, when the world is thick with racism and limiting women’s rights.

One of the men, Charles, is a devout believer whose faith seems unwavering. In a weird twist of fate, he falls in love with a woman (Lily) who has no faith in God at all.

The other man, Charles, had a difficult childhood and grew up with a lot of instability. He feels passionately about social issues and sees injustice all around him. He falls in love with a woman though who has had a, “silver platter kind of life,” and is the daughter of a minister.

The contrast in these homes and between these men is what feeds the story.

Imagine being an atheist feminist who is tasked with being a minister’s wife?

Imagine being the “perfect minister’s wife,” yet your husband is intent on shaking up the church with sermons on social injustice and racial inequality?

This story follows these two couples, over decades, as they must learn to love and respect one another. The themes on faith, what the role is of the church through turbulent political times, women’s roles (as wives and as mothers), are all phenomenally done.

If you asked me which book I think you should share with your book clubs this year, this is what I would recommend.

I, truly, did not want this story to end.

5 out of 5 Stars

Permanent Record by H.K. Choi

I was such a fan of H.K. Choi’s first book that I couldn’t wait to get my hands on, Permanent Record.

Pablo is a college dropout who now regularly works the graveyard shift at a twenty-four hour deli. He made numerous financial mistakes including falling for all those credit card offers, that happen on college campuses, and signing up for student loans he can never repay.

When Leanna Smart swings by the deli, Pablo can’t believe his luck. They have, it seems, immediate chemistry and he misses her as soon as she leaves.

Leanna isn’t a regular girl though, she is a social media sensation and well-known pop star.

This is why it is such a surprise when she reaches out to Pablo and suggests he join her for a couple of days on tour. Pablo knows that this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance so he leaves with Leanna and they begin the first of many days together.

This was an adorable story from start to finish.

As soon as I finished it, I handed it off to my daughter (she is 13- fyi) because I knew she would appreciate it too.

Although the love story was sweet, I appreciated this coming-of-age story more for its honesty about identity and taking ownership of the things that are going wrong (or right) in our lives.

I didn’t love this one quite as much as her first novel, but I’m still really glad I read it.

Screening for your kid? There is language in this one (probably nothing different than they hear at school) and there is some glossed over sex scenes. I would give it to them, specifically, for the exploration in student debt and how teens handle social media.

4 out of 5 Stars

The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal

Can I just say how much I love J. Ryan Stradal? I know his stories hold a special fondness, for me, because he writes about the Midwest in such beautiful ways. I loved his first book so much that I had him join me to share about his first book.

As much as I loved his first book, I have to say that this one is even more incredible.

In this story, a father dies and does not split the inheritance evenly between his daughters.

Instead he gives his entire inheritance to his youngest daughter, Helen.

Edith is stunned that her father would do this to her and has found herself struggling to make a living, after her husband passes away. She finds herself working in a nursing home, preparing her award-winning pies for the residents.

Helen, meanwhile, has used her inheritance to open one of the most successful light breweries in the country. She has been doing well with her business for many years, but as the craft beer industry moves in, she finds that she is desperate for help.

When Edith’s granddaughter, Diana, decides to learn the IPA business, Diana’s path ends up crossing with Helen. Diana is determined to forge the same path and her new business just might be the glue needed to bring these two sisters back together again.

Stradal’s storytelling is exquisite and the different viewpoints really bring it all together. This book would also make a fun book club discussion (at a brewery, perhaps?) because it has so many great themes about what it means to be family.

It has heart, humor, and beautifully written characters.

I enjoyed it start to finish.

5 out of 5 Stars

Dominicana by Angie Cruz

I can’t begin to describe just how incredible Dominicana is.

In fact, I want you to pick it up IMMEDIATELY so we can talk about it!

In 1965, Ana Cancion is just fifteen when Juan Ruiz proposes marriage. Juan is twice Ana’s age, but he is making it big in New York City and is willing to take Ana to America with him. Ana knows that if she can get to America, she can also help her family immigrate there too.

When she arrives in New York City, she quickly realizes that Juan isn’t anything like he seemed. He lives in a dirty walk-up apartment in Washington Heights and is broke. He’s also extremely abusive and will not allow Ana any freedoms, confining her to the apartment to wait for his return.

Ana is lonely and broken, but she still seems to find these beautiful joy-filled glimmers that make her time in NYC bearable.

With the Dominican Republic in political turmoil, Juan is forced to leave Ana to try to protect his family’s assets. Juan entrusts his brother, Cesar, to take care of Ana in his absence. Suddenly, Ana is able to actually see New York and the possibility of a different type of life.

It is when she finds love in Cesar and must make a difficult decision.

Should she follow her heart or should she continue her relationship to secure her parent’s trip to America?

I couldn’t put this book down as I rooted for Ana to find joy again. Cruz does an incredible job writing beautifully broken characters.

I won’t be surprised if this one gets optioned for film because it is that good!

I would highly recommend adding this one to your stack this month and I can’t wait to hear what you think about it too.

5 out of 5 Stars

There Will Be No Miracles Here by Casey Gerald

I selected There Will Be No Miracles Here for our book club discussion because so many publications put it on their recommended reading lists.

This memoir opens on New Year’s Eve, 1999, when so many believed it was the end of the world. His grandfather is an evangelical minister who has gathered his flock together for their last day on earth and as the clock strikes midnight, they all go to heaven.

Or not.

This immediately sets the tone for the kind of realistic humor that peppers Casey’s life. Casey’s life is difficult with a mentally ill mother and the abandonment of his father. He is forced to grow up quickly, simply for survival.

When Casey is recruited to play football at Yale, he is brought into a world he could never even fathom. It is here where he is invited into the folds of elite secret societies and the success of Wall Street.

He is also plagued with guilt that he is living this success story.

He has all he needs at his fingertips, but he sees how these acts are crushing those that are left in the margins.

How can many have so much while others are barely surviving?

I listened to this selection, read by the author, and thought it had so many beautiful and valid points. His storytelling shines best when he reflects on his lack of faith, his struggles with sexual identity, and the morality of privilege.

Unfortunately, this was not edited properly, and could have benefited from a great deal of trimming. The plot of Gerald’s stories often went into lengthy tangents that took away from the meat of the story. Had this been tightened up, these moments would have felt more impactful.

As a whole, this memoir felt disjointed and unnecessarily lengthy.

3 out of 5 Stars

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

I love books that seem to be orchestrated just for the pleasure of reading. The Ten Thousand Doors of January seems to pull off just that, with imaginative writing and a story-within-a-story plot concept.

January Scaller grows up in a beautiful mansion filled with loads of odd treasures. Her father travels a lot for work and January is the ward of a wealthy man, named Mr. Locke, and often left to her own devices.

January has been carrying around a secret that she has never shared with anyone. When she was just seven, she found a magical door that lead her to a beautiful city. In a moment of bravery, she shared this with Mr. Locke, who grounded her for sharing such ridiculous tales.

When January stumbles upon a book, hidden away in a chest, she begins to find herself immediately connected to the story.

It is about a young woman, named Adelaide, who has also found doors. As January begins to read this story, she stumbles again upon more and more doors that help her understand her own story and the story of her parents.

This is the type of writing where you want to underline passages or read these imaginative sentences out loud. Harrow builds these incredible worlds within each of these doors that lead the reader on adventure after adventure.

If you are looking for a fantasy escape, this is such a good one.

Honestly, it reads like a modern day classic and is just the kind of magic we need to escape with right now.

Add this one to your stack, even if you aren’t a fantasy lit lover. I have a feeling you will fall in love with this story too!

5 out of 5 Stars

No One Can Pronounce My Name by Rakesh Satyal

Satyal decided to write this novel because he noticed that so many novels about Indian culture are rooted in sadness. He wanted to craft an Indian story that had joy and humor in it, and did just that, with his novel, No One Can Pronounce My Name.

Set in Cleveland, Harit is in his mid-forties and living with his mother. After the death of his sister, his mother needed support, and Harit provides that to her. He also quietly struggles with his identity, feeling like a foreigner and understanding his sexuality.

Meanwhile, Ranjana is struggling to find her identity, after her son has left for college. She is consumed with worry that her husband is cheating on her and isn’t sure what her role is now. To channel her feelings, Ranjana has begun writing paranormal romances in secret.

When Harit & Ranjana meet, they soon realize that they both are weathering similar struggles with identity and loneliness. This unlikely friendship is the love and support they both need and they each flourish under the care of one another.

I listened to this MomAdvice Book Club selection on audiobook and absolutely loved the narration.

This story had me giggling out loud and also mixed in some achingly bittersweet moments that made my heart ache.

The ending may have been a tad too tidy, but I think I’m craving those kinds of endings right now.

I loved the development of these two characters and related so well to Ranjana’s struggles to identity as your children grow and leave home.

I really enjoyed this book a lot and can see why it has been so highly rated by others. It was refreshing to read an Indian midwest story and I appreciated Satyal’s humor and heart in his writing!

4 out of 5 Stars

Sober Curious by Ruby Warrington

I’ve been reading a lot of articles about the “sober curious,” movement and thought I’d do a little dive into a book on it too. I listened to this one on audiobook and was excited to learn better habits for unwinding and more about Warrington’s own journey to sobriety.

Warrington writes very honestly about her struggles with alcohol that lead her to the decision to cut it out of her life. She shares some of her favorite side effects from quitting booze, like better sleep, more energy, and deeper connections with those around her.

The idea of sober curiosity is, certainly, a different avenue of sobriety than committing to an AA program. I think it is a great exploration for people that don’t necessarily have an unhealthy relationship with alcohol, but want to live a mindful life. I can see how the movement can feel a bit controversial for people who struggle with alcohol addiction because abstaining is the best solution.

Overall, it was an interesting read, but I thought the book would offer more takeaways or a step-by-step process. This seems to focus more on Warrington’s own benefits that she experienced rather than giving readers an actionable plan for curiously seeking sobriety.

3 out of 5 Stars

Read With Me This Year

The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup

July 2019 Must-Reads

August 2019 Must-Reads

What did you read this month? Looking for book ideas? Check out our entire Book section of the site! Don’t forget to friend me on GoodReads! xo

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Tags: Best Book Club Books 2019, Best Books 2019, Book Reviews, MomAdvice Book Club, September Book Reviews, What to Read in October 2019
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August 2019 Must-Reads

Thursday, September 5th, 2019

Looking for your next great read? I’ve got you covered with 7 reviews on new releases to help you decide if one of the latest summer releases could be for you. As you head into your fall reading, check out my suggestions from the month of August!

I am a little overdue with sharing the last of my summer reads with you. As always, it is always a bit of a struggle to squeeze in that last bit of summer, get back on a consistent schedule, AND get my work life back in order too.

Please forgive me!

I hope you all had a wonderful summer of reading and that my summer reading guide was helpful to you.

It was such a great success that I’m hoping to do that for you again next summer.

It’s not too late to snag it though because it contains plenty of my all-time favorite reads to enjoy. This season is a great time to get back to reading while your kiddos are back in school.

While you’re here, be sure to print out the 2019 MomAdvice reading challenge worksheet and join our FREE online book club! You can check out the 2019 MomAdvice Book Club picks over here. Don’t forget to send me a friend request over on GoodReads for more great book reviews!

follow me on Instagram for more book picks

Also, did you know Prime members get a read for free every single month? This is a bonus month though because you get to pick TWO for September Grab your FREE books over here.

The Book of Month Club Selections Are Also Out!!

Here is what is available for September!

This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger (read my interview with the author– he’s amazing!)

If Only I Could Tell You by Hannah Beckerman

Wild Game by Adrienne Brodeur

Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore

This month’s deal: New members can get their first book for $9.99 when they join using this month’s code: ROOTED and can cancel at any time.

Here are 7 must-read books I tackled in August:

American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson

I’m, admittedly, not big on books about spies, but I had heard such good things about American Spy that I just had to pick it up.

This title may also sound familiar to you if you caught Obama’s recent book list because he happened to recommend it too. #booktwins

This novel is set in 1986 and our protagonist is a young black woman working as an intelligence officer with the F.B.I. Since she is both black and female, she often feels excluded from promotions and as part of the team. Instead of working on exciting cases like she would love to do, she has to sit at a desk and do the paperwork.

That is why it is so exciting when she is tasked with a new case. She’s given the opportunity to investigate the president of Burkina Faso, Thomas Sankara. She’s been tasked to find a way to undermine his authority because of his Communist ideology.

The thing is, Marie has a deep appreciation for Thomas and the work he is doing. Seducing him is the easy part because her affection for him is so sincere, especially as she discovers more about him. What happens though when she has to actually use his intimate secrets against him?

I really enjoyed this one even though it was outside of my typical genres. Wilkinson creates a beautiful and believable relationship between the two. She also shows just how hard it is to move up in this world, as a black woman, and how the character is manipulated to work against Sankara’s agenda.

4 out of 5 Stars

The Last Romantics by Tara Conklin

If you are looking for an incredibly compelling piece of contemporary literature, I can’t recommend The Last Romantics enough. I was so caught up in this beautiful book and the story of these family members that I couldn’t put it down.

The story opens with Fiona Skinner, a well-known poet, sharing her own story on one of her most recognized pieces of work. Fiona’s work happened to be inspired by her own family and a betrayal that had lasting consequences for them all.

Fiona is one of four siblings (three girls and one boy) and their family has suffered the tragic loss of their father, after he had suffered an early heart attack. As a result, their mother goes into a deep depression and almost exits their life altogether by no longer caring for their most basic needs. In her grief, she takes to her bed and refuses to care for herself or for her children. The death has also come with some devastating financial consequences and force the children to be resourceful and learn to lean on one another to survive.

This difficult season shapes the rest of their lives as they enter adulthood. It is here where Conklin really pulls together the tragic repercussions of feeling abandoned by both parents.

I could not put this book down and felt fully vested in each of their stories. I did feel the first half was the strongest half because their survival story kept me on the edge of my seat. The second half though is just as important because it really shows how the things that happen to us when we are small can be so life-altering as we age.

If I was going to select the best literary fiction books I read this summer, this book and this book would top my list this year.

5 out of 5 Stars

My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing

Do you love dark thrillers like me?

If you do, you will DEFINITELY want to read, My Lovely Wife.

As a seasoned thriller reader, it is hard to find a book that catches me off guard or a writer that can craft an ending I never saw coming, but Downing managed to achieve both of those things with this debut novel.

Well played, Samantha Downing.

Told from the husband’s perspective, we are quickly enveloped in how much he adores his wife. They seem like the perfect couple and she does all the things any good wife would do. She’s beautiful, she keeps track of everyone’s activities, she makes incredible dinners, and they have a great romantic life.

It’s just that, their new favorite hobby is working as a team to seduce and murder women.

Yeah, that’s not exactly the extra curricular activity you would expect from this power duo, but do we REALLY know our friends?

What I appreciate about this story wasn’t the suspense of the killings, but the devastating consequences that begin to happen because of these murders.

This web of lies affects everyone in their house, like their poor unsuspecting children, and it becomes more and more difficult to keep anyone from finding out.

This added and believable suspense is what I REALLY loved about this story and kept me engaged (and guessing!) until those final pages.

I can’t wait to read more from this author and I hope you enjoy these twisty plot turns as much as I did. Fans of Dexter, in particular, will REALLY love this book.

5 out of 5 Stars

I Miss You When You Blink by Mary Laura Philpott

I’m not sure I have ever read a book of essays, but when 10 Things to Tell You (Laura) raved about it, I knew that I just had to read it.

Honestly, I can’t begin to tell you how enjoyable this read was.

At some points, I was misty-eyed.

At others, I couldn’t stop laughing.

It was just so darn relatable that it was uncanny.

Mary is a Type-A, go-getter, and perfectionist who has worked SO HARD to do everything right. She thought that by doing her best and by “following the rules,” she would be rewarded, but instead she’s found herself feeling lost.

This reflection on her life really showcases the real struggles of the modern woman and our identities and roles as we age. We have so many demands on us that we can get stuck in our own heads on if we are good enough or have done enough each day.

Philpott embraces and shares about the power of reinvention and that you always have the power to makeover what your life looks like.

It’s one of those charming books that I would put in a friend’s hand who just needs that reassurance that she is okay and that all of this is perfectly normal.

I loved this so much that I read several of the essays out loud to my husband and he laughed right along with me or just looked plain shocked at how relatable her stories were.

I can’t recommend it enough and I’m so thankful that Laura recommended it!

5 out of 5 Stars

The Last Book Party by Karen Dukess

I’ve been on a bookish book reading kick this summer (is that even a thing?). Bookish themes seemed to be in abundance this year and I am HERE FOR IT. Be sure to send me your recommendations if you have them for more bookish books to explore.

This book, for example, was one of my summer favorites and this one was absolutely adorable too.

I’m such a sucker for a book theme.

That is why I came in with such high hopes for this coming-of-age story. Dukess did not disappoint either with this beautiful summer romance that explores the concept of self-discovery and finding love in unlikely places.

The story takes place in Cape Cod, in the summer of 1987. Eve is a 25-year-old aspiring writer who has been working as a low-level assistance and is very dissatisfied with her job.

When the opportunity arises to work as an assistant to a famous New Yorker writer, Eve jumps at the chance to work as his research assistant and live with him and his poet wife.

With this job, she also receives a coveted invitation to attend their annual, “Book Party,” where attendees dress like their favorite literary characters hosted by the couple each year.

Eve is enchanted by Henry and the world that he lives in. She wants so badly to participate that she finds herself intercepting, this couple’s relationship, in ways she would have never guessed.

Dukess really does a great job at creating Eve’s story and the struggles that people face to break into the literary world.

Her difficulties and her discoveries are beautifully fleshed out in this gorgeous little page-turner.

4 out of 5 Stars

Very Nice by Marcy Dermansky

Sometimes you just need a steamy summer escape and Very Nice was, well, very nice. It leans heavily into dark satire and the a weird love triangle between a daughter, mother, and man.

Rachel attends college and ends up kissing and then sleeping with her writing professor. Zahid knows quickly that he has made a big mistake, but this comes at a time when he is a little down on his luck and could use a warm body.

When he finds himself without a home, Rachel offers him a room at her mom’s house, in hopes the two can continue the relationship they started.

As soon as Zahid walks in though, the chemistry between Rachel’s mom (Becca) and Zahid is thick.

Becca never thought she’d jump so soon into a relationship, after her divorce, but she has so much in common with the professor that they quickly find a connection.

Zahid is caught in a pretty awful predicament and it causes tension between the mother and daughter.

Becca believes that Rachel has a crush on Zahid so she tries to keep their affair secret, to spare her feelings. It isn’t too long before Rachel catches on though and uses her tryst as blackmail against Zahid.

This one is like a soap opera that leans pretty heavy into dark satire.

With the narrative shifting between these characters, it made it a quick page-turner that you couldn’t wait to see how it resolves.

I wouldn’t say this book is for everyone. The characters are unlikeable, as are their motives. A lot of times when I read books with unlikable characters, I get feedback that you struggled to connect. That’s why it might be one of those kinds of books that you really need to be in the mood for.

That said, I couldn’t put it down, even if the ending wasn’t where I hoped the story would travel.

3 out of 5 Stars

The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach

Although this is a departure from my usual reading, we are approaching an age where we really need to get our ducks in a row with our retirement savings.

I have heard great things about Bach’s book and thought I would spend a day reading this to make sure we were on the right path with our savings.

This book tells the story of a couple, that David was providing financial consulting to, and their journey to becoming millionaires. David is completely astounded that they have saved this much because the couple seemed like the typical middle-class family who didn’t seem like they had a lot to save.

Their story, he reflects, is the template we all need to achieve the same financial freedoms.

The idea of automating things is an easy one to implement, especially in this era of technology. His template to remove the “latte factor,” pay off your vehicles, pay off your house, possibly do another property ownership, pay down debts, and then save are pretty straightforward.

The idea of being aggressive with retiring and how to make your savings work for you is where the meat of these lessons worked for me.

One of my tasks this week is to do some of these ideas for automation and we upped our retirement contributions since we have worked hard to put a safety net in place.

If you are trying to pay things down and looking for a strategy to begin, I think this is a great one for learning beginner skills to grow your savings and retire comfortably.

Although I hate to plug my own book, I do think there are some additional lessons you could discover in my book. Bonus, it’s priced at just $4.99 on Kindle.

4 out of 5 Stars

Read With Me This Year

The Whisper Man by Alex North

July 2019 Must-Reads

What did you read this month? Looking for book ideas? Check out our entire Book section of the site! Don’t forget to friend me on GoodReads! xo

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Tags: August Must Reads, Book Reviews, Books To Read, MomAdvice Book Reviews, Netgalley Reviews
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July 2019 Must-Reads

Thursday, August 1st, 2019

Are you looking for your next great read? I’m sharing eight AMAZING reads with you and why I think you should read them. From twisty thrillers to gorgeous historical fiction, there is something for everyone in this month’s stack!

I can’t believe that our summer is coming to a close already. I don’t know about you, but I feel like it was just beginning and now I have to prepare for the back-to-school craziness.

You can picture me crying in a corner and begging that I don’t have to start the schedules, the school supplies ordering, the check-ups, the uniform shopping ALL OVER AGAIN.

read all about the reading retreat

It has been quite the bookish month! Not only did I host my first reading retreat (and it was just as magical as I had hoped), but I also spent this week writing all about how you can get your books for FREE on you Kindle. It’s more than just a post about the library though. It’s about allll the app options and Amazon benefits you should be taking advantage of.

I also hope you didn’t miss my FREE Summer Reading Guide I made for you. This guide should keep you very busy, as summer comes to a close, with loads of beautiful reads.

While you’re here, be sure to print out the 2019 MomAdvice reading challenge worksheet and join our FREE online book club!

You can check out the 2019 MomAdvice Book Club picks over here.

Don’t forget to send me a friend request over on GoodReads for more great book reviews!

Did you know Prime members get a read for free every single month? Grab your FREE book over here.

The Book of Month Club Selections Are Also Out!!

Here is what is available for July!

The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware

The Reckless Oath We Made by Bryn Greenwood

Dominicana by Angie Cruz

Well Met by Jen DeLuca

This month’s special: New members can get their first book for $9.99 when they join using this month’s code CHASE and can cancel at any time.

Still somehow in all the craziness, I managed to read so many incredible books this month.

Here are 8 must-read books I tackled in July:

The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins

I devoured this gothic historical fiction novel from debut author, Sara Collins. This murder mystery follows the life of a slave named Frannie Langton and her difficult life as a slave for two different couples.

The novel opens with the trial of Frannie Langton and the accusations that she pulled off a brutal double murder of her employers. The couple, whose deaths are in question, are wildly eccentric and Frannie finds herself entrapped by both the husband and the wife.

The thing is, she cannot recall what happened the night of the murder, even though this information could save her from certain death. Found to be covered in blood and laying next to one of the victims, she doesn’t even have the memories to help her remember her role that evening.

The novel winds through Frannie’s journey from her Jamaican plantation upbringing to her time serving a couple in London. This woman’s story is very dark and very twisted with a forbidden relationship that no one could have ever predicted.

If you were tempted by the forbidden fruits of V.C. Andrews, love a good Sarah Waters novel, or found yourself entranced by Alias Grace…you must pick up this book.

Although it had a slow start and, honestly, far too many loose ends to wrap up, it was still worth every minute of my reading time.

Please note, this novel is graphic/brutal in nature. I would not recommend for the highly sensitive reader!

4 out of 5 Stars

Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishing house for providing an advanced copy for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

Let’s just admit that most buzz books do not deliver. I am so thrilled to say though that Ask Again, Yes, was one of the first summer buzz books that REALLY delivered on its promise to be an incredible 2019 read.

If you haven’t gotten to this one yet, let me fill you in a bit on the plot.

The story chronicles the lives of two rookie cops, Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope, who also happen to be neighbors. Set in the 1970’s, the two wives (Lena and Anne) should be close friends, but they are both battling their own demons at home. Lena is very lonely and could use a friend, but Anne is emotionally unstable and not the kind of person that can support Anne through this chapter in her life.

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The two neighbor kids, born just six months apart, have found a forever friendship with one another that trumps all of their parent’s difficulties and struggles.

In a very shocking twist of events though, one moment changes everything for these two families in a way that the reader would never expect. This event causes their loyalties to divide and their bonds to be tested.

Keane chronicles the next 40 years so beautifully that it made my heart hurt. The storytelling is exquisite and I hung on every last word.

When I ended this book, I looked at my husband and said, “FINALLY. A BUZZ BOOK WORTH READING.”

I guarantee that this one will be going on my best books of 2019 list.

5 out of 5 Stars

Three Women by Lisa Taddeo

I used my Book of the Month credit on this intimate nonfiction exploration of real women and their secret sex lives.

If this doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, please carry on!

I, honestly, cracked the book open in the morning with coffee and ended the book THE SAME DAY with wine.

I then handed it off to a girlfriend and begged her to read it too, just so I had someone to talk about it with.

Perhaps, it is my conservative Midwest upbringing, but I found this book to be eye-opening, especially because women so rarely discuss their own sexual desires openly. The author, in fact, had many people bail on her, midway through this project, because people began to worry about the anonymity factor.

As the title suggests, this profiles three different women and what is happening behind closed doors.

One Midwest woman is struggling to get her husband to even kiss her, let alone be intimate with her. It is because of this rejection that she rekindles an old flame and begins having an affair.

Another woman starts a relationship with her English teacher, at the tender age of seventeen. What begins as something innocent begins to slowly evolve into an inappropriate relationship. Just as she begins to be fully vested into this relationship, her teacher completely cuts her off from his life.

To her surprise, now as an adult, he is nominated as, “Teacher of the Year,” and no one in her town believes her story of her affair.

The third is the raciest of the storylines and features a woman who is happily married and her husband is also happily open to them having other people in the bedroom (*ahem*).

The book reads like fiction, but Taddeo has spent years on this book to make sure that she tells their story as truthfully and honestly as possible. It has seemed to struck a chord with many and now has been picked up for a Showtime television series too.

My inability to put this one down makes it a winner, at least in my book.

5 out of 5 Stars

The Chain by Adrian McKinty

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishing house for providing an advanced copy for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

If you gravitate towards the darker thrillers, I have a feeling that you will enjoy this new novel, The Chain.

The plot revolves around a mother, named Rachel, who is on her way to an oncology appointment, when she receives a panicked message from a woman who tells her that the caller’s child has been kidnapped.

She is desperate for Rachel to help her get her child back.

The only way the caller could get her child back though is to kidnap ANOTHER child…and Rachel’s daughter has been chosen.

This crazy woman has her child.

Say what?

To release Kylie, Rachel’s kidnapped daughter, she is required to send a ridiculous amount of money and KIDNAP ANOTHER CHILD to complete the chain.

What is the consequence of breaking this chain? If she breaks the link, her child will be killed.

Rachel is down on her luck financially, is divorced, and has been beaten down with cancer. She would do or sacrifice anything though to get her child back… including taking someone else’s kid. With the help of her ex-brother-in-law (a Special Forces veteran), she goes against everything she is to get her daughter back.

McKinty adds a lot of layers to Rachel that include both her difficult life and her background as a professor of philosophy. He also adds layers to her accomplice that make him unreliable and put the reader on edge.

This is another book that I polished off in a single day and ended up being a fantastic little summer escape.

4 out of 5 Stars

Dear Wife by Kimberly Belle

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishing house for providing an advanced copy for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

Are you tired of every thriller saying that they are the next, Gone Girl?

Me too!

The thing is, this is probably the closest thing I’ve read to that novel that really delivered on great thriller plot twists.

That’s why, I’m actually going to give this one the Gone Girl Award (trademarked) for 2019.

Sabine Hardison has went missing, but this isn’t the first time that she has done this. Her husband, Jeffrey, is concerned that this time is different though and reports her missing to the police.

When her car turns up abandoned, the only evidence they have is that all signs are pointing to foul play.

Sabine’s sister knows that Jeffrey isn’t the supportive husband that he is sharing with the police though and thinks that Sabine may have disappeared just to escape the abusive relationship. When you learn more about Sabine’s story, you know you would have to leave too.

Now known as Beth Murphy, she has cut off her hair, dyed it in a new shade, and is doing everything she can to escape the cycle of abuse she was part of. “Beth” has to keep moving though, and keep an emotional distance from everyone, because the last thing that can happen is being found by her husband.

One detective is unwilling to end this case until these answers are found and he will stop at nothing to figure out where Sabine is hiding or who could have murdered her. This game of cat-and-mouse is on!

I loved, loved, loved this thriller and highly recommend this one if you are looking for a solid plot to really sink your teeth into. The twists were so well-played that it took me, even as a seasoned thriller reader, by surprise.

5 out of 5 Stars

Necessary People by Anna Pitoniak

A thriller without GIRL or WIFE in the title AND focuses on a twisted friendship instead?

Sign. Me. Up.

I used one of my summer Book of the Month credits to snag this fun thriller and really enjoyed it.

Stella and Violet have been best friends since college, but could not be more opposite. Stella is the beautiful and reckless one who oozes privilege. Violet, on the other hand, has had to work really hard to get where she is and seems to be available to clean up any mess that Stella might be making.

Violet ends up scoring her dream job, after graduation, and finds herself working for cable news. Due to her dedication and focus to detail, she is quickly moved up the ranks from intern all the way up to assistant producer. She loves having her own thing, separate from Stella, and feels like she is finally on a path that hasn’t been clouded by her taking up the spotlight.

When Stella becomes jealous of her new life, she works her family’s connections to score a job at the same news center. She begins infiltrating herself into Violet’s relationships and wins the coveted role as a news anchor.

Just as Stella is to begin her dream job as an anchor, she disappears. It’s not the first time she’s left though so no one is suspicious that there could be foul play.

Ah, but Violet has had enough with Stella moving on her turf and she just might know where Stella is.

This was another fun summer thriller that I really enjoyed this month.

Pitoniak does a great job showcasing the love-hate relationship between these two and creates the right amount of sympathy in Violet, along with the right amount of narcissism in Stella.

I would definitely add this one to your reading list this summer!

4 out of 5 Stars

The Masterpiece by Fiona Davis

Thank you to the publishing house for providing an advanced copy for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

I selected, The Masterpiece, as our book for discussion on our MomAdvice Reading Retreat. It ended up being a really charming historical fiction novel that made me want to dive into more of the offerings from Fiona Davis.

If you are unfamiliar with Fiona Davis, she tells stories, that are set in New York, at famous historic landmark locations. This novel goes back and forth through time and the setting this time is in the Grand Central Terminal.

Did you know that the Grand Central Terminal used to house an art school?

Well, it did and this story shares about that time in history and the artistry that was developed through this school.

Fifty years later, Virginia is working the information booth at the Grand Central Terminal and the building has a planned renovation that may remove beautiful portions of its history. When Virginia stumbles upon the art school, now boarded up and abandoned, she finds a beautiful watercolor that might be worth something. Virginia takes it upon herself to find out who that artist is and to learn more about the history of this school.

This is a PERFECT book club discussion book because two of these fictional characters are based on real people in history and it also was so fun to discover that there was an art school tucked away in this building.

We had an excellent discussion and it is the kind of book you could pass on to ANYONE and they will enjoy it too.

I’m really glad we got a chance to talk about this one, especially since this was our first time talking about a book in person.

4 out of 5 Stars

In Sight of Stars by Gae Polisner

If you are looking for an incredible young adult novel, be sure to pick up, “In Sight of Stars.”

The MomAdvice Book Club was lucky enough to not only have a video chat with Gae, at our MomAdvice Reading Retreat, but she also joined us for our online book chat as well. Gae is one of those generous kinds of authors that is so giving of her time time and talks openly and honestly about her books.

If you are looking for an interactive book chat, this is YOUR GIRL.

Don’t have a book club? You can join mine for free and find the chat with Gae under our Events tab.

This story explores the life of seventeen-year-old Klee (pronounced Clay) and the aching grief of losing his father. Klee’s father was his world and was the one who introduced him to art by taking him to the MoMA and sharing his stories about the artists that hung on those walls.

When his father dies, a little part of Klee has died too and he can’t help to think his mom might be partly to blame for his death.

Klee needs a little happiness in his life and when he meets Sarah, in his art class, he believes that she is just the ticket to bring him back out of his shell. She is everything he is not- wild, carefree, and lighthearted.

When Sarah betrays him though, Klee finds himself in a psychiatric hospital for teens where he is forced to deal with the emotions of his father’s death, his anger with his mother, and losing the one person who brought him joy again.

Luckily, this boy is surrounded by a staff of helpers who help Klee come to terms with ALL OF IT and his role in these stories.

Polisner really opens this story in a way that makes it confusing to the reader and she does so purposefully. She wants her reader to understand what it is like in Klee’s head and how hard it is for him.

More importantly, she confronts how the things we think we know about our parents aren’t always the real story. She challenges her reader to look at their stories in a different light and with a little more grace than they might have before.

What teen doesn’t need to hear that?

I really loved this novel and so many of our readers did too.

I would also recommend this one for older teens due to language, sex, and adult themes.

I encourage you to add this one to your stack!

5 out of 5 Stars

Read With Me This Year

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager

What did you read this month? Looking for book ideas? Check out our entire Book section of the site! Don’t forget to friend me on GoodReads! xo

*this post may contain affiliate links- I only recommend what I love though.

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Tags: Ask Again Yes Review, Dear Wife Review, In Sight of Stars Review, July 2019 Books to Read, MomAdvice Must Reads, The Chain Review, The Masterpiece Review, Three Women Review
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How To Host or Join a Reading Retreat

Thursday, July 25th, 2019

Have you ever dreamed of going on a reading retreat? Check out this post for reading retreat ideas and discover how you can participate in one!

This past week was a whirlwind of excitement as I hosted my very first MomAdvice Reading Retreat.

I, honestly, still can’t believe that this actually happened.

The first time I uttered the words, “reading retreat,” I was met with a lot of confusion.

As soon as I began to explain my idea for this though, almost everyone said that they could use a retreat like this in their life.

Let’s be honest, it seems that there has been a retreat for everything including writing retreats, yoga retreats, retreat centers for wellness, and even social media retreats.

With all these types of retreats offered, I began to wonder why I couldn’t find a reading retreat for bookish people or an introvert retreat that catered to people like me.

Today I wanted to share some book club retreat ideas and strategies for how to host a retreat. More importantly, I would love to invite you to join the next one. The quickest way to stay in the loop is to join our book club and retreat mailing list. Please note, the retreat mailing list is separate from your weekly happy newsletter.

Should history repeat itself these spots go REALLY fast and that just might be one reason why I think the bookish retreat is going to be the next big thing for our community.

I could not have done it without these two ladies- thank you, Meg & Symbol!!!

Personally, I have felt like blogging is just not filling my cup the way it used to. I have missed the feelings of connectedness that we used to have through comments and interactions.

The book club has been my way of coping with these changes and figuring out how my path might look moving forward.

The idea for a reading retreat really was hatched when I read about retreats happening in other parts of the country. Although they were hosted much differently than mine, I began to brainstorm a different type of reading retreat that would build better connections within our book club community. Keep in mind, I began the research and planning in January to execute this in the summer.

We also surveyed our book club members to see if they were even interested in the retreat, what part of the country they were in, what the best price point would be, and also what months worked best.

Once that data was collected, I scouted midwest retreat rentals, set an attendee amount, and established an application process for these spots. I read through all of the responses and tried to gather a group that I thought would mesh well together, as well as support the most active members in our community.

Catering to introverts (not to say that ALL readers are introverts, but many are) helped me make the decision to keep the group more intimate.

Each of our attendees received a copy of, “The Masterpiece,” by Fiona Davis, for our discussion, in the mail.

Have you read it?

I am pretty sure that every person walked away with a brand new impression of the Grand Central Terminal. For example, not many of us knew that an art school was tucked away in this historic building or the woman who made history streamlining the interior design of the Studebaker.

You’ll have to read this one to get the scoop on these exciting times in history.

thank you, gae, for joining our book club- check out her books here

I also encouraged everyone to dig into, “In Sight of Stars,” so that we could have a great chat with this month’s author, Gae Polisner. It was so fun to chat with our author this month and to better understand her writing process.

As expected, Gae was amazing and we all loved being able to connect with her in this way. I am hoping that we can offer more chats like these in the future!

Out of Print shared these adorable book totes for our reading retreat.

Aren’t these the cutest? They even have a library card holder! I put my Cricut to work and made name tags for each of these bags so the ladies could pick these up on the way to their room.

Thank you, Out of Print, for making these bags so darn special!

I designed another custom shirt with Bonfire (you can view our book club shirt here too!) and had these camp shirts made with our retreat name and date on the back!

I wanted each of the retreat attendees to feel special and for this to feel like a true getaway experience so I requested the women share their favorite drinks, dietary restrictions, shirt sizing, and morning beverage choice before they arrived.

It was so fun to surprise them with a fridge full of their favorite things.

I also reached out to many authors and publishing houses to see if they had any books they might want to share with our retreat attendees. We had so many generous authors who shared their work with our group.

Want to see who shared their books? Here are a few pictures of what books the reading retreat attendees received. Thank you to ALL who donated!!

evvie drake starts over by linda holmes

keeping lucy by t. greenwood

the buddha at my table by tammy letherer

i’m fine and neither are you by camille pagan

i’ll never tell by catherine mckenzie

bare by susan hyatt

We spent the entire weekend doing loads of bookish things like talking about books, book swapping, movies based on books, and reading time.

I just loved coming into a room and seeing everyone curled up with their books and Kindles.

Is there anything better than being surrounded by YOUR people?

thank you to Best Hair Days With Carolyn for providing our hair care products for the event- what a treat!

look how cute Dine & Dish and Good Life Eats are!

These incredible women came from all over the United States and Canada to spend a weekend with me. I could not be more grateful.

On a personal (and selfish) level, it was an incredible experience to meet people who have been reading the site for years and years. I was so honored that they would make this trip to connect with me and with each other IN REAL LIFE.

We did our best to spoil all these special ladies with homemade meals and snacks (all day and all night long!), lots of wine, quiet time for reading, and EVERYTHING BOOKS.

Organizing a retreat came with some important lessons for the next gathering.

Here’s the thing, no one becomes an expert by doing something only once and I have lots to learn.

I do plan to extend the retreat by a day so people have a quiet day of reading when they arrive (and to hopefully weather those flight delays better), I have a better grasp of retreat expenses now that I have done this, and I need to continue working on solidifying great partnerships for our attendees for the future to keep the expenses down.

All in all, I couldn’t be prouder how this event turned out!

If you are interested in connecting with our book club, I’d love to have you!

What would you like to know about the MomAdvice Reading Retreat? I am happy to answer any questions!

This post contains affiliate links

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Tags: Book Club Retreat Ideas, Host A Reading Retreat, How to Host a Retreat, Midwest Retreat Rentals, MomAdvice Reading Retreat
Posted in Announcements, Book Reviews, Conferences, MomAdvice Book Club, My Work | No Comments »

June 2019 Must-Reads

Monday, July 1st, 2019

If you have been feeling like you are in a reading slump, I hope you are ready to get pulled out of that! I read 9 really incredible books this month and I’m excited to share them with you.

I really doubt you could see these reviews today and NOT be inspired to start loading up your reader or putting in a few requests at your local library. If that wasn’t enough, did you see my FREE Summer Reading Guide I made for you? This guide should keep you very busy this summer with loads of beautiful reads.

follow me on instagram to see what’s in my stack

Did you know Prime members get a read for free every single month? Grab your FREE book over here. Lucky for you, July is TWO free books this month. Woohoo!

The Book of Month Club Selections Are Also Out!!

This month’s deal: New members can get their first book for $9.99 when they join using this month’s code: RIDE and can cancel at any time.

Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center (READ MY REVIEW HERE)

Three Women by Lisa Taddeo

The Gifted School by Bruce Holsinger (READ MY REVIEW BELOW)

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Here are 9 must-read books I tackled in June:

Red, White, & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishing house for providing an advanced copy for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

Red, White, & Royal Blue was such a fun YA summer romance novel as McQuiston crafts a beautiful love story between the son of the U.S. President and the the Prince of Wales. This is a sweet coming-of-age story that grapples with sexuality, the perceived image of children of well-known families, and the beauty of our first love.

Alex and Henry start out as rivals, in our story. When tabloids end up securing a photo of them, in a particular moment of rivalry, their handlers must devise a way for them to forge a truce for the media. What begins as a fake friendship evolves into deep attraction for each other.

The thing is, this relationship threatens both of their worlds.

This journey requires bravery and it also requires Alex to address his own sexuality in the process.

I went into this one as a bit of a fairy tale because McQuiston requires us to suspend our own reality about how these two can go to places without being recognized or photographed. Much of these moments don’t seem plausible, but you can’t help but wish for a world that looks just like that.

The romance and connection between these two characters though seems to outweigh some of the less grounded parts in our story. While many novels tend to fade-to-black with bedroom scenes, this one leaves the light on for you.

Fans of The Royal We and What If It’s Us will DEFINITELY love this one!

5 out of 5 Stars

The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware (available on August 6th!!)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishing house for providing an advanced copy for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

I know many of us have been excitedly anticipating the new novel from Ruth Ware so I wanted to be sure to screen this one for you. I think it is important to know that I would categorize this one as more in the horror realm than as a typical Ware thriller novel. Fans of The Haunting of Hill House will love how this home has a dark past, filled with terrible secrets.

The book opens with a prisoner writing to her lawyer, as she attempts to explain how she has been set up for her crimes. She takes her reader down the twisted path of applying for a too-good-to-be-believed nanny job and the horrors that unfold in this infamous Heatherbrae House.

The house has had a lot of revamping under the new owners and is outfitted with all the latest smart home technology. Just as soon as the complicated house has been explained, the parents decide to head off for weeks, leaving their new nanny in charge of three little girls (and a bonus teenager), two wild dogs, and a couple of weird people working for the family.

Of course, everything with the smart technology starts backfiring on Rowan and she becomes increasingly paranoid that something is going to happen to her or these children. Not only that, but she hears someone above her room walking back and forth and keeping her up throughout the night. As Rowan becomes more and more unhinged, the naughty daughters get naughtier and encourage pushing their nanny right on over the edge.

I was on the EDGE OF MY SEAT through this whole book. Ware beautifully develops misleading clues, a sense of distrust with everyone, and a plausible reason for Rowan’s sudden career shift to nanny.

I loved it all the way through…until the last few pages.

Ware’s cleverly crafted twists unfold, but the last sections feels jumbled and rushed. The big reveal is shared in letter format with an abrupt conclusion that begs to have an epilogue. It doesn’t have an epilogue though so it left me feeling dissatisfied, knowing how incredibly satisfying the rest of the novel was.

I still loved it, but wish the ending was less rushed and as supported as much as the development of the story.

4 out of 5 Stars

How to Not Die Alone by Richard Roper

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishing house for providing an advanced copy for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

This novel promised a quirky character that you would grow to love, especially if you are a fan of Eleanor Oliphant and it really delivered on that promise.

Andrew’s job consists of going to a home of someone who has recently been deceased and to search for clues of a friendship or next of kin who can foot the bill for their funeral.

To his co-workers, Andrew is living his best life with a successful wife and two children in a beautiful home. What they don’t know though is that Andrew fabricated this family during his job interview and has felt compelled to carry on this fictional family.

When Andrew meets Peggy, a new hire that will be helping him handle these cases, he could never imagine how wonderful it would be to have a friend in his life. As he grows more and more attracted to her, he realizes how his lies have created an additional hurdle for him to build on this relationship.

This book is certainly a little dark, but I would say that it is dark with a lot of hope. Roper shapes compelling reasons for Andrew’s fictional relationships and his own challenges to open up to others. Andrew must acknowledge that if he doesn’t branch out more, he could be just like these lonely people that didn’t have anyone to love them at the end of their life.

I fell in love with this sweet character as he branches out into the world and learns how beautiful life is when you find friends and someone to love.

4 out of 5 Stars

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman (available on July 9th!!)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishing house for providing an advanced copy for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

I am calling this wonderful novel, the perfect love letter to a bookworm. The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, is all about Nina’s book-filled existence and what happens when major life events began to interfere with her carefully scheduled day.

Nina has her day arranged exactly as she likes it from working at the bookstore during the day, to leading multiple book clubs for readers of all ages, to participating in her local trivia team, and her blocks of times reserved just for reading.

Her mother has never told her about her father so it is a complete surprise when she gets a call that her father has passed away and included her in his will. Not only does she find out that she had a father, but she also finds out she has MULTIPLE siblings from his different marriages. For someone who is introverted, the overwhelm is huge.

Not only that, her trivia nemesis is turning out to be the guy of her dreams.

Unfortunately, her life is just too busy to squeeze him in.

Waxman cleverly leads chapters with Nina’s handwritten daily agendas and to-do list, which gives you a little snapshot into how much these major life events are sending her world into a spin. Nina’s struggle to evolve and open up to others is addressed with so much heart and humor that you will find yourself smiling a lot through these pages.

I am a bit of a Nina and, truly, have never felt more understood.

This one will definitely be making my top ten list of 2019 and is worthy of a little book splurge for your summer!

5 out of 5 Stars

The Editor by Steven Rowley

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishing house for providing an advanced copy for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

I have had such a hard time waiting to read this second novel from Steven Rowley, but I wanted to save it to prepare for our MomAdvice Book Club chat this month. Rowley’s first novel, in fact, is one that I recommend so much that I added it to my top ten favorites in my Summer Reading Guide.

To say he had a lot of hype to live up to, it would be an absolute understatement.

Guess what? He managed to do it again!

Set in the 1990’s, James Smale sells his first book to a major publishing house and is assigned his first editor. He could have never guessed that his editor would be Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, when he walked into that office, but who could ever prepare a writer for that?

Mrs. Onassis had fallen in love with this autobiographical novel that tells the stories of his own dysfunctional family. Many notes of his story end up falling short and his editor knows it is because Smale hasn’t truly owned his family story. She encourages him to make his way back home again and make the necessary resolutions needed to his real story to give it the conclusion his readers deserve.

As James returns home, he begins to realize that sometimes the way we interpret our own stories are, simply, the stories we tell about ourselves. His strained relationship with his mother challenges James to look at her in a new light…changing the entire scope of the book.

I really can’t believe that I never knew that Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis had ever really been an editor so I was surprised to read that this was absolutely true (although not as a well-documented portion of her life).

Rowley treats her legacy with the kindness and beauty it deserves without speculation, but with stunning observation. As she mothers this writer, to get conclusions for his own life, you can’t help to fall in love with her even more.

It’s a beautiful fictional friendship that I didn’t want to end.

I loved this one start to finish!

5 out of 5 Stars

The Gifted School by Bruce Holsinger (This month’s BOTM selection– available on July 2nd)

Thank you to the publishing house for providing an advanced copy for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

Big Little Lies fans won’t want to miss, The Gifted School which promises to be the next juicy summer drama to love! I read this in a weekend and loved the way Holsinger challenges us to exam our role as parents of gifted children as well as the difficulties of being a gifted child.

This read also couldn’t be more appropriately timed to the current admissions scandal that is making headline news.

When an exclusive new charter school is introduced to a fictional suburban Colorado town, all the parents want to give their gifted child a chance to test into this school. With very limited spots available though, parents begin putting pressure on their children to succeed and begin to go to unnecessary lengths to secure these coveted positions in the charter school.

This highly addictive story, examines how this competition begins to interfere, in particular, with four couples and their decade-long friendships. We begin to see these friendships in a new light and how these behaviors contribute to the way kids feel about and present themselves to their peers.

The book is told from multiple perspectives so it took me awhile to remember how these characters were linked to one another. Pretty soon though, I started to hit my pace and could not wait to see how this was all going to play out for these families. This is one of those can’t-put-down reads of parents behaving badly that I didn’t want to end.

I highly recommend this one for a great summer book club discussion about privilege, standardized testing, and the challenges with raising a gifted child.

5 out of 5 Stars

A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum

I used my Book of the Month credit for, A Woman is No Man, and was excited to dig into one of this summer’s biggest buzz books!

The story floats between two timelines and two very different countries. In 1990, seventeen-year-old Isra is growing in up in Palestine and is already facing the prospector of her father selecting a suitor for her. In just the course of a week, Isra finds herself to be betrothed, married, and facing a move to Brooklyn with her husband. The husband (and family) are looking forward to a son in their family, to take over the family name. As Isra births daughter after daughter though, she finds that her family and husband’s reception to her become colder and abusive.

In 2008, eighteen-year-old Deya is supposed to meeting with potential husbands and is preparing to be married. Deya really wants to go to college though and is hoping to convince her grandmother to go along with her decision. In a shocking twist though, Deya discovers truths about her family, the past and her future. It is through an unlikely source, but she is the one person that can help Deya make sense of the death of her parents.

I have to admit that I am feeling a bit conflicted with this one because I was hoping that it would be a bit more layered. Within these two timelines, everything felt identical which, I believe, Rum may have wanted to use to drive home how little has changed. With the two identical stories, though it created times where I felt like I may have read the same section twice and I found a struggle connecting with these characters, except through their shared love of reading.

I had to look up the ending because I found it caught me off guard, confusing the timeline a bit again. When I read the meaning behind the ending, it did tie it up beautifully, I just needed a minute to understand where we were at in the story.

All in all, it was a good debut and was another one I wouldn’t have picked up if I wasn’t a BOTM subscriber.

4 out of 5 Stars

Lie With Me by Philippe Besson

I can admit that I picked up Lie With Me because I noticed that the book had been translated by Molly Ringwald. You may recall that I did an interview with her about her writing and I have always been drawn to her projects because of all the layers this talented woman has.

This sparse novel was an award-winning French novel that documents the love story between two teenage boys, set in 1984 France. Now that they are grown, Philippe happens to run into a man bearing a striking resemblance to Thomas, a boy he once loved. When he realizes who his father is, Phillipe is reminded of the love he once had for Thomas and their moments together.

In his senior year of high school, Phillipe and Thomas begin a secret affair at school. Thomas demands the highest level of secrecy from Phillipe that confuses the experience for Phillipe as one that is shameful. Dismissed and ignored at school, yet contacted through secret notes and meet-ups, Philippe wishes that he could love him more openly. When Thomas abruptly decides to move away, never saying goodbye to Philippe, it devastates him, leaving him with many questions.

Meeting the son of Thomas, all these years later, allows his son to unfold his story and some letters that give Philippe some closure to their time together.

I am not sure why I didn’t seem to connect with this one. It may have been, perhaps, too sparse. The book, for me, was at its best while exploring the coming-of-age and discovering sexual identity, but it left me longing for a little something more.

3 out of 5 Stars

Atomic Habits by James Clear

I love productivity books and first was intrigued by books on better habit building after reading, The Power of Habit. If you struggle with habit building (or breaking), you will appreciate Clear’s easy approach to establishing better habit routines.

The big takeaway with this one is that very small shifts, as low as 1%, can still build incredibly over time. Clear encourages you to start implementing these smaller shifts to begin breaking down those larger goals. These goals are achieved through establishing better programming of our habits and then reinforced through your own habit tracking.

If you are a fan of Essentialism (a book I try to read yearly!), then I think you will appreciate this simple guide on establishing good habits and how to get back on course if you find yourself unmotivated.

5 out of 5 Stars

Read With Me This Year

A Nearly Normal Family by M. T. Edvardsson

What did you read this month? Looking for book ideas? Check out our entire Book section of the site! Don’t forget to friend me on GoodReads! xo

*this post may contain affiliate links- I only recommend what I love though.

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Tags: 2019 Summer Beach Reads, 2019 Summer Reads, Summer Book News, The Bookish Life of Nina Hill Review, The Gifted School Review, Turn of the Key Review
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The 2019 MomAdvice Summer Reads Guide

Saturday, June 1st, 2019

For many years, I have wanted to do a reading guide for you all, but each year the days would slip away and I would think, “Maybe next year!”

Well, not today, Satan!

I am thrilled to share my first Summer Reading Guide with you! This has been a true labor of love and I’m incredibly proud how this turned out.

Within this 15 page guide you will find:

A huge list of great books to read over the summer. I have included some new (and upcoming) novels, but I also weaved in some older favorites that might be easier to snag at your local library.
Tips for reading more this summer including a few of my own tried-and-true formulas for reading.
A bookworm gift guide filled with fun finds from Etsy sellers.
10 of my all-time favorite books
5 summer selections curated by the Currently Reading Podcast.

All you need to do to access the free guide is be an email subscriber! Upon signing up for our mailing list, you will receive a link to the reading guide.

If you decide to read any of these selections, I’d be honored if you used the #momadvicesummerreading hashtag and tag me on Instagram!

Happy reading, bookworms! xo

Sign up for the MomAdvice Newsletter and receive your FREE Summer Reading Guide!

Tags: 2019 Beach Reads, MomAdvice Book Club, MomAdvice Summer Reading Guide, Summer Reading, Summer Reads
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May 2019 Must-Reads

Saturday, June 1st, 2019

Who is ready for all that summer reading? Today I’m sharing 8 books that I enjoyed this month and think you will too! This month’s stack includes a couple of incredible thrillers, a courtroom drama, a memoir, and some really fun women’s fiction novels that are begging to be added to your beach bag.

BTW- Did you see my FREE Summer Reading Guide I made for you? This guide should keep you very busy this summer with loads of beautiful reads.

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While you’re here, be sure to print out the 2019 MomAdvice reading challenge worksheet and join our free online book club! You can check out the 2019 MomAdvice Book Club picks over here. Don’t forget to send me a friend request over on GoodReads for more great book reviews!

Did you know Prime members get a read for free every single month? Grab your FREE book over here.

The Book of Month Club Selections Are Also Out!!

This month’s special: New members can now get their first book for $9.99 when they join using this month’s code: SUMMERVACAY and can cancel at any time.

Recursion by Blake Crouch (read my review on this one HERE)

Golden Hour by Beatriz Williams

Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane

Summer of ’69 by Elin Hilderbrand

Here are 8 must-read books I tackled in May:

Miracle Creek by Angie Kim

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishing house for providing an advanced copy for review- it allowed me to toggle between my hardback and Kindle this month. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

I do not typically turn to courtroom dramas for reading, but the premise for this one was so intriguing that I decided to make Miracle Creek my Book of the Month in April. Don’t worry, if you missed that one, you can probably still add this one to your box this month! Honestly, this book really blew me away with it’s smart twists that it surprised me that such seasoned writing could be found in a debut novelist.

If courtroom thrillers aren’t your cup of tea or if you haven’t picked up one since the Grisham days, I encourage you to give this one a spin!

The book opens with the court case so it is one of those right-out-of-the-gates kind of books that I tend to gravitate towards these days. The story centers around a family who have immigrated to the states and decided to open an experimental medical treatment facility that utilizes a pressurized oxygen chamber as a therapeutic device to treat complex medical cases like autism and infertility.

When the device, known as the Miracle Submarine, explodes, killing two people, everyone becomes a suspect and each have their own motives that could throw their innocence into question.

Told from alternating perspectives, Kim really builds layered characters that are real and relatable. I found the mother, who comes under scrutiny, to be among the most compelling because she is dealing with the heaviness of the day-to-day grind of appointments and struggles with her son and her need to escape from these burdens.

If you are a fan of Celeste Ng or loved Defending Jacob, I have a feeling you will love this book as much as I did. Kim really uses her own complex background in a way that makes you feel sympathy in the Yoo’s family struggles of trying to make their life in America and not always feeling welcomed or at home.

5 out of 5 Stars

The Mother-In-Law by Sally Hepworth

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishing house for providing an advanced copy for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

Don’t you love a deliciously good thriller in the summer months? I have a feeling if you are a Liane Moriarty fan that you will adore The Mother-In-Law this year.

It’s no secret that the mother-in-law gets a bad rap sometimes in literature. Hepworth though carves a marvelously complex character for her mother-in-law and builds all of these twists and tensions, among her family members, in a way that garners empathy for her role in the family.

Lucy knows right away that she is not the wife that Diana has envisioned for her son. Lucy struggles with the distance that Diana seems to create within them, despite her charitable spirit and working tirelessly for others as an advocate for female refugees.

When Diana unexpectedly dies of suicide, her family is surprised, but also realizes that her cancer diagnosis may have just been too much for her.

The problem?

The autopsy shows that she never had cancer, but the body does show traces of poison and evidence of suffocation.

Diana’s complex relationships really come into play as you try to piece together what has happened. Told in alternating points of view, through past and present, you realize just how many people had a motive in Diana’s death and how many layers she really did have to her own personal story.

I couldn’t put this one down and would recommend it for a strong thriller that genuinely delivers on those complex thriller plot twists. Fans of The Other Woman, in particular, are sure to enjoy this one!

5 out of 5 Stars

The Overdue Life of Amy Byler by Kelly Harms

Thank you to the publishing house for providing an advanced copy for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

I hope you are snagging those free Kindle First Reads that you are being offered up as a Prime member! The Overdue Life of Amy Byler happened to be one of those free selections and I can’t tell you what a welcome escape it was for this mom!

Amy Byler’s husband unexpectedly left her and for three years she has been raising her teen daughter and tween son all on her own.

When her husband comes back he offers to care for their kids for the summer, to make up for lost time. It’s why Amy decides to escape her suburban life to head to New York for a conference and to visit an old friend in New York City.

Her old friend is impossibly stylish and working for a magazine and thinks Amy’s getaway would make for an excellent piece. Nicknamed her Momspringa, to mimic the Amish teenage passage of Rumspringa, Amy receives a makeover and is encouraged to try dating again. Amy finds herself quite at home in the city and grapples with the blissful absence of responsibility and the welcome joy of having New York City all to herself.

Do I want to leave my family?

Absolutely not!

I will say though that Amy’s fictional escape was just what this Amy needed. Escaping the day-to-day grind sounds pretty flipping amazing when I’m in the thick of end-of-school-year commitments. It also, equally, made me sweet on my kids and hubby again to be reminded of just how beautiful it is to be home and loved unconditionally.

I laughed out loud, there are loads of bookish references and nerd humor, an incredibly beautiful friendship, and a Nora Ephron-worthy love story all in one delicious little read. It is the perfect palate cleanser between some heavier reads. I have a feeling you will adore this as much as I did, especially if you loved Matchmaking for Beginners.

5 out of 5 Stars

Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes (available for pre-order, available on June 25th)

Thank you to the publishing house for providing an advanced copy for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

NPR Pop Culture fans definitely won’t want to miss this heartfelt debut novel from Linda Holmes, hitting store shelves on June 25th! I’m a big fan of Linda Holmes and her thoughts on pop culture and couldn’t wait to get my hands on her first novel.

Evvie is recently widowed and has decided that taking in a tenant will be a great way to help her pay her bills. Dean, a former Yankees pitcher, happens to be on the hunt for a new place and is looking for a quiet place to escape from his own reality. Dean’s career is now struggling, as he has lost his ability to throw straight, and this apartment is a place for him to escape both the big city life and the media circus that follows.

What the two didn’t realize though is how these holes in their life can be filled with their friendship and how this friendship will lead them back to themselves and to each other.

Holmes has such a way with words and has created a perfectly charming story that will have you rooting for each of these sweet characters. If you appreciate a good comeback story or happen to be looking for a little rom-com for your beach bag, this book is it.

4 out of 5 Stars

The Night Olivia Fell by Christina McDonald

If you are on the hunt for an audiobook for the summer, I highly recommend adding, The Night Olivia Fell, to your earbuds. This isn’t your typical shallow thriller, it has a deep and compelling storyline that really builds believable twists and is filled with rich character development.

Abi Knight receives a call in the middle of the night that her daughter, Olivia, has fallen off a bridge. Upon her arrival, she is informed that Olivia is brain dead and, as an enormous surprise to her mother, she is also pregnant. The doctor believes that they *may* be able to keep her baby alive if they keep Olivia on life support and want to do their best to give her child a fighting chance by keeping the baby in her womb as long as possible.

The police rule her death as an accident, but Abi is troubled by the bruising around Olivia’s wrists and begins to stumble upon a web of secrets that Olivia has been keeping from her. With the help of a detective, she has to confront her own troubled past, find out who the father of Olivia’s baby is, and figure out who would have a motive to kill her daughter.

McDonald writes Abi’s journey with such raw honesty that it brought tears to my eyes. The relationships between our children is so layered and much of the book focuses on her own reflections and guilt for not being enough to her daughter, despite being an incredible and protective mom. I was completely swept away in this story and McDonald builds believable motives that leave a reader guessing right up until the very end.

5 out of 5 Stars

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

Thank you to the publishing house for providing an advanced copy for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

There are good summer reads and then there are PERFECT summer reads and I have to say that, The Unhoneymooners, fell into the PERFECT camp.

Twin sisters Ami & Olive couldn’t be more different. Ami seems to always have the absolute best luck and Olive is her poor unlucky sister. When the entire wedding party gets food poisoning, at Ami’s wedding, Ami decides to forfeit her honeymoon to Olive and Ethan (the brother-of-the-groom) to both go in their place. After all, Ami won the honeymoon free of charge (of course she did!) and this vacation is nonrefundable.

Unfortunately, Olive & Ethan have never gotten along, but decide to form a temporary truce to take advantage of the free vacation. Being together in such close quarters definitely muddies the waters and they begin to uncover hidden layers to each other…and their siblings.

If you have been struggling to get back on the reading bandwagon or if you are just looking for something light and funny for your bag, I can’t recommend this one enough. This is my first Christina Lauren novel, but it won’t be my last. I was laughing out loud through the entire book at the antics of Olive & Ethan. It is, truly, what summer reading is all about!

5 out of 5 Stars

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb

I decided to use my Book-of-the-Month credit on, “Maybe You Should Talk to Someone,” and I’m so glad that I did. Although I am not a big nonfiction reader (and maybe you aren’t too?), I found this book to read as easy as fiction while being incredibly compelling and thought-provoking. It is the type of book that you read and then immediately hand off to someone who might need the sage advice and wisdom of a good therapist too.

What makes this story unique is that the therapist, Lori, is now in a difficult break-up with a boyfriend and finds herself needing a therapist of her own. With the blurred boundaries of working in the very profession you need, Lori finds herself seated in Wendell’s office. Wendell is a therapist she discovered through a colleague by pitching to her an imaginary client that she was searching for the right person for him to talk to. Everything in his office is different than Lori’s, including some of his tactics to understand her better, and Lori is both equally bewildered and admiring of Wendell’s abilities to get to her own hidden truths.

Weaved in, Lori shares about some of her most compelling clients and a bit of the psychology of our own actions and how we can learn to understand the motives of others. Honestly, the insights are worthy of a good highlighter and a revisit through the tougher times in our lives. I found myself to be quite teary-eyed, particularly through a difficult case of a woman facing cancer. Lori shares her most difficult cases and how to love people even when they seem unworthy of it.

I doubt you could read this and not take away something that would make your life a little better. We also can look forward to this one coming to television, telling Lori’s stories through an ABC series. I would definitely encourage you to read this one and to also pass it on to someone who could benefit from these lessons too.

5 out of 5 Stars

The Friend by Sigrid Nunez

We read The Friend for this month’s book club chat. This one was selected because it won the 2018 National Book Award and I was really excited to read something that had garnered this award.

The story is about a woman who unexpectedly loses her friend and finds herself burdened with the unwanted elderly dog he has left behind. Although she initially doesn’t want to connect with this animal, they both find companionship with one another as each of them deal with the grief and loss. Unfortunately, she is threatened with her own potential eviction because dogs are prohibited in her apartment building.

The story of this narrator and the dog was what I connected most with and I think that is where the story, truly, shined. There were gorgeous passages and the idea of these two finding one another through this grief was really beautiful.

Where it didn’t shine, for me, was the rambling rants that the story would trail into that felt as though you were reading someone’s stream of thought. It felt more like a memoir of Nunez and how frustrated she is with the craft of writing and literature. At just 212 pages, I had a hard time concentrating amidst her stream of consciousness and it pulled me away from the story I really wanted to hear.

Our book club seemed pretty divided on this one- they either REALLY loved it or they REALLY hated it.

This was definitely not my favorite in the stack, but I do think it can connect with people who crave a meatier piece of literature.

3 out of 5 Stars

Read With Me This Year

What did you read this month? Looking for book ideas? Check out our entire Book section of the site! Don’t forget to friend me on GoodReads! xo

*this post may contain affiliate links- I only recommend what I love though.

Tags: Evvie Drake Starts Over Review, May Must Reads, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone Review, Miracle Creek Review, The night Olivia Fell Review, The Overdue LIfe of Amy Byler Review, The Unhoneymooners
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April 2019 Must-Reads

Thursday, May 2nd, 2019

It is getting to that fun time of year where I start trickling out some of my thoughts on the BIG summer reads this year! This summer you can expect an OVERWHELMING amount of incredible books to enjoy poolside or with your feet up in the backyard!

Today I’m here to share about SEVEN amazing reads that you can pick up now (or start pre-ordering for your summer beach reading)!

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Did you know Prime members get a read for free every single month? Grab your FREE book over here.

The Book of Month Club Selections Are Also Out!!

This month’s special: Check them ALL out HERE!

Book of the Month has a new coupon code to get a FREE book credit when you use code SPRINGFEVER at checkout!

OR For a limited time only, use the coupon code MOMKNOWSBEST to save $10 on a 6+ month gift subscription + a free book for you! Perfect time to buy Mom a gift for Mother’s Day!

What will you be picking?? I decided to go with Necessary People this month!

Here are 7 must-read books I tackled in April:

The Girl He Used to Know by Tracey Garvis Graves

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishing house for providing an advanced copy for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

Looking for a novel that you just won’t be able to put down this month? The Girl He Used to Know is a beautiful contemporary fiction escape that features a really incredible love story with characters that seem to lift off the pages.

Annika is an English major at the University of Illinois. She struggles to make sense of social situations and college, in particular, is a very scary time.

When she joins the chess club, she immediately beats Jonathan Hoffman, who can’t help to be captured by Annika. She is different than any girl he has ever been with, a worthy chess opponent, and she’s stunning (without even being aware of it!). They begin a beautiful relationship together, but an unforeseen tragedy forces them apart and ends their relationship.

One decade later, Annika and Jonathan are reunited and happen to be living in the same town. The two begin rekindling what was lost, but must also address why they lost each other in the first place.

Annika is a character that you can’t help but to fall in love with and you also can’t help rooting for these two to work their relationship out. Graves rounds out her story with beautiful supporting characters that help Annika navigate the world in really incredible ways. I can fully admit that I may have teared up in a few places in this sweet read.

Definitely add this one to your book bags this summer! I have a feeling you will love Annika & Jonathan as much as me!

I’m recommending this one for fans of The Light We Lost!

5 out of 5 Stars

Recursion by Blake Crouch (pre-order for June 11th!!)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishing house for providing an advanced copy for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

Dark Matter is one of my favorite science fiction book recommendations to give and ended up making my top ten books list in 2016. To say that I had HIGH expectations for the next Blake Crouch novel would be putting it mildly.

I am so happy to say that this book DID NOT disappoint!

In this story, Barry Sutton is an NYC cop who has been investigating the phenomenon the media has called, “False Memory Syndrome.” It is a mysterious affliction that makes its victims mad with memories of a life that they never lived.

Helena Smith is also trying to understand memory and wants to find a way that it can be captured, through her work as a neuroscientist. Inspired by her mother’s struggles with dementia, she has decided to study memory and focus on a piece of technology that will allow people to preserve their most precious memories.

As Barry begins searching for the truth, he discovers what happens when we play God with memory and how Helena’s technology has helped to create this False Memory Syndrome. While sheltering ourselves from our most devastating memories, by rewriting our history, Barry & Helena begin to realize how altering memories can change our identity, our relationships, and how altering circumstances doesn’t always yield the results we are after.

When the technology gets into the wrong hands, they realize how it can destroy the world, as they know it, and they will stop at nothing to get it back, forced to repeat their lives over and over again, to try to change their circumstance.

Once again, Crouch blends science fiction with a thriller pace and a beautiful love story. His storytelling is masterful and the suspense is so incredibly good in this one.

I immediately passed this book on to my husband who loved it just as much as me. I am so glad I got to screen this and feel confident recommending this one to our Dark Matter fans.

If you haven’t dipped your toes yet into the science fiction world, I have a feeling you will find this to be a compelling read that will pull you right out of your literary comfort zone.

What are you waiting for?

Be sure to pre-order this for June!

5 out of 5 Stars

Chronicles of a Radical Hag by Lorna Landvik

A couple of the ladies in our book club were RAVING about, Chronicles of a Radical Hag, and managed to convince me to order this for my trip.

I read a lot of Landvik’s earlier books so I knew she approaches stories with a lot of heart and humor, something she does well again in this latest novel.

Haze Evans is a local legend, writing as a columnist for over fifty years, for the Granite Creek Gazette. Her past columns were filled with liberal ideas and her column was nicknamed the “Chronicles of a Radical Hag,” by conservative readers. She lived without censorship and would reply to her naysayers with tongue-in-cheek recipes to help them melt away their misdirected anger, unafraid to speak her mind about anything and everything.

Haze is unexpectedly hospitalized though and unable to write her column. This is when Susan, who works for the paper, has her son (Sam) help work at the paper for the summer and Sam begins discovering that this older lady’s stories are brave, hilarious, and her political struggles are not too different than today. He finds these columns so fascinating, in fact, that he begins sharing them in class and other kids begin to look forward to Haze’s storytelling AND the hilarious and heartfelt replies from people who read her column.

I am recommending this one for fans of Dear Mrs. Bird or anyone who needs a little bit of humor mixed in with the heaviness of the political world.

Landviks’ trademark humor really shines in this book and you can’t help reading these columns and responses with a smile, especially when a younger generation is discovering how history is repeating itself today.

4 out of 5 Stars

The Floating Feldmans by Elyssa Friedland (pre-order for July 23rd!!)

Thank you to the publishing house for providing an advanced copy for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

I’m such a sucker for dysfunctional family stories and The Floating Feldmans is a fun one, if those are your cup of tea too!

The premise of this one is that Annette Feldman has decided that she is going to book a cruise for her entire family, in honor of her 70th birthday! It has been over a decade since they have all been together and getting them all on a boat has them trapped into oodles of family time together.

Each of these siblings has come on their boat with an extra set of baggage though (sorry, I can’t resist a good pun!) and this luggage harbors a lot of old secrets and the terrible kinds of hurts that only a family member can seem to hold against you.

Some have grown up for the better, some have secrets that threaten their future, and the grandkids just might have a couple secrets of their own.

Told from alternating perspectives, this is over-the-top fun and had me laughing out loud at various points.

If you just want a fun escape, add this one to your beach bag. I’m recommending this one for fans of, This is Where I Leave You.

4 out of 5 Stars

Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center (pre-order for August 13th!!)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishing house for providing an advanced copy for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

I never thought I would be such a sucker for a good love story, but I was completely head-over-heels for, How to Walk Away, and Center’s beautiful writing. The author is now back with another beautiful love story, perfectly named, Things You Save in a Fire.

Center’s uses her husband’s firefighter background to craft the story of Cassie Hanwell. In this fictional story, she is the only female firefighters in her Texas firehouse and is respected by her colleagues and boss. After a public incident though, that taints Hanwell’s image, she finds the timing of her estranged and ailing mother’s request to move to Boston lines up with when she needs to step down.

She joins the Boston firehouse and finds the environment to be a bit of a “boy’s club.” Her ability to separate her work from her personal life has never been an issue, but Cassie has never seen a guy like the rookie that she must train with on her new job. Cassie has built up walls for a reason and the rookie seems to be disregarding them, no matter how hard she tries.

This is a later coming-of-age story where Cassie must resolve her old hurts with her mother, confront the issue of aging parents, and admit why she has been unable to be close to anyone because of a traumatic incident in her past.

That’s not all though…she also must fight off someone who is stalking her and doesn’t want to see her succeed at the fire station.

These characters are deeply flawed, just like we are, and Center’s does an incredible job making them feel real and relatable.

The love story, I have to say, is FIRE and you can’t help but root for these two brokenly beautiful people to love each other.

Definitely, pre-order this one for your summer stack!

I’m recommending this beautiful read for anyone who is a Taylor Jenkins Reid fan! I know you will love it too!

5 out of 5 Stars

Little by Edward Carey

Have you joined our free book club yet? Even if you aren’t looking for a discussion, it is such a great place to connect with your fellow bookworms. This month we dove into Little , a historical fiction novel about Marie Tussaud. Marie was an orphan in the 1700’s who ended up being taken in by an eccentric wax sculpture and develops a growing curiosity and fondness for the art.

To pay for her food and shelter she begins as an apprentice and later tutors a princess on the art of creating wax sculptures.

Does Tussaud and wax figurines bring to mind any famous tourist attraction?

Carey writes AND illustrates this unusual novel that reminded many of our book club participants of a good old-fashioned Dickens novel.

Learning about the craftsmanship that went into these wax figures, particularly back in those days, was equally fascinating and horrifying.

As someone who appreciates the wildly weird, I was really taken into this element of the story.

Admittedly, this was a slow starter and took awhile for me to get into and I can’t say this book would be for everyone. For me, the beauty in historical fiction is always the rabbit trails it leads me on and this one was a fun find for exploring the art of wax sculpture, a subject that I would have never really thought to explore.

Our chat ended up being an excellent one so I would definitely recommend this for any of your own upcoming book club chats.

4 out of 5 Stars

Trust Exercise by Susan Choi

Not many of you could probably guess that I’m an old-fashioned theater nerd….well, maybe you could?

This is one reason why I was so excited to dive into the contemporary novel, Trust Exercise, this month. This was a big buzz book for Spring and has gotten a lot of positive press, in particular, about it’s exploration of the #metoo movement, told through these reflective stories.

I am having a hard time reviewing this one because the concept was brilliant, but I felt like the entire plot could have been tightened up entirely. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it. The writing, while excellent, didn’t always have a story that I felt entirely connected to.

This novel is set in the 1980’s at a highly competitive arts high school. Along with the talent and greed to get ahead, hormones are raging and relationships between students began to splinter and friendships are tested.

In a spiral of events, Choi begins to flip the plot on its head that makes everything flip upside down for the reader. What you think may be happening, isn’t happening, and a new perspective on the story changes the plot entirely.

It is these new glimmers of truth that allow the reader to see that everything is not as it seems and the power that comes to play in the arts world.

I can see this leading to heated discussions in book clubs about our own past experiences with adults and teachers, in particular, in the arts community. The changing narrative, in itself, becomes a trust exercise into itself.

Not only are the kids doing these trust exercise in their classroom, but Choi is giving us an exercise in who to believe.

Had the plot been tighter, I could see this being a 5-star read, simply for the value of the discussion and the smart twists Choi uses. I struggled to connect though as the chapters felt a bit clunky at times and I found myself having difficulty to keep attention through it.

For reference though, I listened to this one on audiobook! It might lend itself better in print format and I still found the topic and plot twists to be solid. I can’t wait to see what Choi writes next.

3.5 out of 5 Stars

Read With Me This Year