The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion (Vol. 1)

 

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion (Vol. 1) by Beth Brower

Fiction

2019

Finished on August 27, 2026

Rating: 3/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

“I’ve arrived in London without incident. There are few triumphs in my recent life, but I count this as one. My existence of the last three years has been nothing but incident.”

The Year is 1883 and Emma M. Lion has returned to her London neighborhood of St. Crispian's. But Emma's plans for a charmed and studious life are sabotaged by her eccentric Cousin Archibald, her formidable Aunt Eugenia, and the slightly odd denizens of St. Crispian's. Emma M. Lion offers up her Unselected Journals, however self-incriminating they may be. Armed with wit and a sideways amusement, Emma documents the curious realities of her life at Lapis Lazuli House.

All my blogging friends have been raving about this series, so I purchased the first volume for my mom last Christmas. She loved it (no surprise there!) and went on to buy the next seven volumes in the collection. She's very impatient, as I'm sure many readers are, to read the ninth volume, which is due out before the end of the year. 

I had extremely high hopes for this epistolary work, but it wasn't until the final entries that I felt compelled to move on to the second volume. What should have taken me no more than a day or two to complete took well over a week! I checked in with a couple of friends who echoed my frustration with this book, but assured me that the series does get better. Much better. I hope so, as I have all the remaining volumes stacked and ready to go!

It wasn't until I finished the book that I discovered that the author also wrote The Queen's Gambit. We loved the miniseries and look forward to watching it a second time later this fall. 

The Shampoo Effect

 

The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson

Fiction

2026

Narrated by Marin Ireland

Finished on August 27, 2026

Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

An ambitious young woman insinuates herself into a tight-knit social set, shaking up friendships and marriages in a small seaside town. A frothy novel of love, money, sex, and friendship.

​​When Caroline Lash arrives in Greenhead, Massachusetts, she falls head-over-heels for Van Whittaker, a fleece-wearing, litter-collecting, kayak enthusiast with long, floppy hair and the personality of a Border collie. Born and raised in this picturesque coastal village, Van runs with the same crowd he did as a kid: His ex-girlfriend, Bailey, a beautiful girl who attracts men like moths to a flame; Augusta, old money, horsey, and snobbish; and Fran, surrounded by brothers and sons, too fed up with boys to ever consider marrying one.

Together, the group runs wild through the marshes, beaches, and bars of Greenhead, drinking on houseboats, spending long afternoons sunbathing with their children, and playing games the way they always have. But when Bailey discovers that she is pregnant with Van’s baby, the delicate balance of the group’s friendship is thrown off. Soon Caroline is cast out of the circle and what she does next—in a potent mix of fury and heartbreak—exposes long-held secrets and works the entire town of Greenhead into a lather. Dazzlingly funny, sexy, and as juicy as it is astute, The Shampoo Effect is a story of late-night parties, early mornings with small children, the dawn of midlife, and a group of old friends finally growing up despite all their best efforts to the contrary.

I seem to be reading a few "beach reads" this summer. Like Dolly All the Time, The Shampoo Effect was entertaining and very good on audio. Marin Ireland is a favorite narrator, so I was pretty sure I'd enjoy this audiobook. I wasn't disappointed! Told from four perspectives, it wasn't difficult to keep track of the main characters and their significant others. This is certainly not great literature, and most of the characters behave as if they're still partying in college (and are very cliquish), so I'm not sure why I enjoyed the book so much. I probably wouldn't have gotten very far had I read the print edition. I'd like to give Jackson's debut novel (Pineapple Street) a read and see how it compares.

More Than Enough

 

More Than Enough by Anna Quindlen

Fiction

2026

Finished on August 21, 2026

Rating: 4.5/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

A woman finds herself asking surprising questions about her family and friends in this wise, wonderful novel of life, loss, and moving on—from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of After Annie.

High school English teacher Polly Goodman can talk about everything and anything with the women in her book club, which is why they’ve become her closest friends and, along with the support of her veterinarian husband, the bedrock of her life. Her private school students, her fraught relationship with mother, her struggles with IVF—Polly’s book club friends have heard it all.

But when they give Polly an ancestry test kit as a joke, the results match her with a stranger. Despite it seeming clear that this match is a mistake, Polly cannot help combing through her own family history for answers. Then, when it seems that the book club circle of four will become three, Polly learns how friendships can change your life in the most profound ways.

Written with Quindlen’s trademark warmth, humor, and insight into the power of love and hope, More Than Enough explores how we find ourselves again and again through the relationships that define us.

Another winner by Anna Quindlen! I very much enjoyed this novel, which feels like an old, favorite sweater, wrapping me up in tender moments between friends and family. Quindlen addresses difficult life situations such as infertility, dementia, and cancer with great sensitivity. While some of the secondary characters aren't fully realized, Polly, Sarah, Garrison, and Mark are as familiar to me as friends in my own social circle. I remember reading a lot of books about women's friendships back in the 1990s, but Quindlen refrains from cliches and overly saccharine scenes between her characters. This one's a keeper to read again at a later date.

Highly recommend!

The Things We Never Say

 

The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout

Fiction

2026

Finished on August 14, 2026

Rating: 4/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Artie Dam is living a double life. He spends his days teaching history to eleventh graders, expanding their young minds, correcting their casual cruelties, and lending a kind word to those who need it most. He goes to holiday parties with his wife of three decades, makes small talk with neighbors, and, on weekends, takes his sailboat out on the beautiful Massachusetts Bay. He is, by all appearances, present and alive. But inside, Artie is plagued by feelings of isolation. He looks out at a world gone mad—at himself and the people around him—and turns a question over and over in his mind: How is it that we know so little about one another, even those closest to us?

And then, one day, Artie learns that life has been keeping a secret from him, one that threatens to upend his entire world. Once he learns it, he is forced to chart a new course, to reconsider the relationships he holds most dear—and to make peace with the mysteries at the heart of our existence.

Elizabeth Strout, as we have come to expect, delivers a moving exploration of the human condition—one that brims with compassion for each and every one of her indelible characters. With exquisite prose and profound insight, The Things We Never Say takes one man’s fears and loneliness and makes them universal. And in the same breath, captures the abiding love that sustains and holds us all.

I remember the first time I read Elizabeth Strout's novel, Olive Kitteridge. I tried to listen to the audiobook, but didn't care for it at all. Olive was so unlikeable, and the story was quite sad and depressing. I went back later and read the print edition and really enjoyed it. I've gone on to read the book a second time, and I read all Strout's books in 2025. Needless to say, I was very excited to read her latest novel, The Things We Never Say, which moves away from Maine and the familiar faces from her previous works, and takes her readers to Massachusetts with a new set of characters.

One thing is certain--Elizabeth Strout's novels lean toward the bleak and melancholic themes of the human condition. In The Things We Never Say, Artie may be less unfiltered and caustic than Olive, but his temperament felt familiar to many of the characters from Strout's earlier works. He loves his wife and son, and is a wonderful teacher, but there's an underlying discontent in his life. Secrets are revealed, which up-end his steady world, while the upcoming and ensuing results of the 2024 presidential election add anxiety and fear to Artie and those he loves.

I can't say that I loved this book, but I have a feeling that it's one that I'll read again. I do wish there weren't quite so many parenthetical asides, as they interrupt the flow of the story. A few of these include revelations to key events several years before they take place. These glimpses into the future bothered me for some reason.

This passage, however, made me smile, not because of the subject, but because of the nod to one of Strout's books:

He remembered that his wife had loved some book--oh, years ago now--about a crotchety old woman from Maine, and he had read the book reluctantly only because his wife had liked it. He'd forgotten about it until now. In the book the awful woman's father had killed himself when the woman was younger, and now that she was older, the woman thought: People die of loneliness. It happens all the time.

The characters in Elizabeth Strout's novels are often reflective and prone to loneliness or isolation. The Things We Never Say touches on this, as well as politics, suicide, bullying, and infidelity. The author examines the quiet, private lives (often those of introverts or sensitive individuals) found in small towns. I cared about her characters, and I think it would be interesting to read the same story but told from Artie's wife's point of view. Or perhaps their son's. I have a feeling this isn't the last we'll hear from this coastal community.

The Winds of War

 

The Winds of War by Herman Wouk

The Henry Family #1

Fiction

1971

Finished on August 9, 2026

Rating: 3/5 (Good)

Peace, if it ever exists, will not be based on the fear of war, but on the love of peace. It will not be the abstaining from an act, but the coming of a state of mind. In this sense the most insignificant writer can serve peace, where the most powerful tribunals can do nothing. ~Herman Wouk

Publisher's Blurb:

Europe, 1939: the rumblings of war grow to a terrible roar. In America the Henry clan--Navy to the bone--finds itself drawn into the very center of the maelstrom: the father at the right hand of Roosevelt, his oldest son flying over the Pacific, his youngest falling in love in Europe. From the conference table to the battlefield, from the rise of the Reich to the horror of Pearl Harbor, this is America's great World War II novel, Pulitzer Prize-winner Herman Wouk's classic epic of monumental events--and human courage and passions.

I have no idea how long I've owned a copy of The Winds of War, but it's easily been sitting on my shelf for over a decade. Maybe two. I've come to enjoy reading about World War II and have always wanted to read Herman Wouk's classic novel. The length (1000+ pages in mass market!) was enough to keep me from picking it up, but last winter I decided to make it a year-long read in 2026. Well, it didn't take me a full year, but I did read it here and there between other books in my stacks. Fortunately, the storyline was straightforward in such a way that it didn't lose momentum with each pause I took over the course of eight months of reading. It's essentially a family saga with the backdrop of the war, culminating with the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The Henrys are a Navy family, and readers are given detailed accounts of that life. The book is not one of my favorites of the genre, and I never came to care about any of the main characters. As one might expect, the passages about Hitler felt all too familiar in these current times:

When Victor Henry first came into Hitler's new chancellery, he was incongruously reminded of Radio City Music Hall in New York. The opulent stretch of carpet, the long line of waiting people, the high ceiling, the great expanses of shiny marble, the inordinate length and height of the huge space, the gaudily uniformed men ushering the guests along, all added up to much the same theatrical, vulgar, strained effort to be grand; but this was the seat of a major government, not a movie house. It seemed peculiar.

and

Hitler from moment to moment looked restless, tired, or bored, or else he flashed into winning charm. He was seldom still. He shifted his feet, turned his head here and there, clasped his hands before him, folded them, gestured with them, spoke absently to most people and intensely to a few, and every so often did the little knee kick. Once Pug saw him eating small iced cakes from a plate, shoving them toward his mouth with snatching greedy fingers while he talked to a bemedalled visitor.

and

The speech was a lot of the same old stuff, with some remarkable whoppers, even for the Fuhrer, about who started the Polish war and about the sterling conduct of the Germans toward civilians. This tommyrot was certainly for internal consumption. His German listeners appeared to be swallowing it, though it's very hard to discern what Germans really think.

I've never watched the popular miniseries based on The Winds of War, which aired in 1983 starring Robert Mitchum, Ali McGraw, Polly Bergen, Jan-Michael Vincent, Victoria Tennant, Peter Graves, and John Houseman, but I'm tempted. I also plan to read War and Remembrance in 2027 for another year-long read. 

The Correspondent

 

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

Fiction

2025

Narrated by Maggi-Meg Reed, Jane Oppenheimer, Carly Robins, Jeff Ebner, David Pittu, Chris Andrew Ciulla, Mark Bramhall, Petrea Burchard, Robert Petkoff, Kimberly Farr, Cerris Morgan-Moyer, Peter Ganim, and Jade Wheeler

Finished on October 4, 2025 and August 5, 2026

Rating: 5/5 (Outstanding!)

Update: I read this a second time, listening to the audio edition, which is outstanding. I loved the full-cast ensemble of 13 narrators, especially Maggi-Meg Reed, who brings Sybil to life with a wide variety of emotions. What a remarkable debut novel. I couldn't love it more!

Publisher's Blurb:

A woman tries to heal old wounds and make sense of the world the only way she knows how—through letters—in this charming, laugh out loud debut novel about a life fully lived.

“Dear Ms. Van Antwerp,

There is a movie coming out this month and I saw the trailer and it made me think of you. It’s about an old woman who lives alone like a hermit.  She is eccentric and rude….”

Sybil Van Antwerp is a mother and grandmother, divorced, retired from a distinguished career in law, an avid gardener, and a writer of letters. Most mornings, around half past ten, Sybil sits down to write letters—to her brother, to her best friend, to the president of the university who will not allow her to audit a class she desperately wants to take, to Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry to tell them what she thinks of their latest books. 

Because at seventy-three, Sybil has used her letters to make sense of the world and her place in it. But as Sybil expects her life to go on as it always has, letters from someone in her past force her to examine one of the most painful periods of her life.

Filled with knowledge that only comes from a life fully lived, The Correspondent is a gem of a novel that is a testament to the power of the written word.

What a delightful book! Several blogging friends have raved about The Correspondent, so when I saw a copy on the shelf at Imprint Bookshop (in Port Townsend, WA), I couldn't resist. One of my favorite subgenres is epistolary fiction, and as I sat down to start this post, I did a quick search to see just how many I've read/reviewed. Wow. I had no idea I'd read so many.* When I was a bookseller at Barnes & Noble, I created an endcap with some of my favorite epistolaries. Today, I'd need two endcaps! 

I wonder what it is about a book centered around a collection of letters that is so satisfying. Until the advent of email (I think we started with Prodigy and then moved on to AOL), I used to write to a few of my childhood friends, a good friend who moved to the East Coast, and to a few relatives (my grandmother, my godmother, and my mom, all after I moved from California to Nebraska). I loved finding pretty stationery to use for my letters, and had a couple of fountain pens that were fun to write with. I miss sitting down with pen in hand to write long, chatty letters, but typing is so much easier. Once we had a computer, I began to type letters, printing them out to send in the mail. Even that method has gone by the wayside. I try to send birthday cards through the mail, but texting & Facebook seem to be the favored mode for that communication. After reading The Correspondent, I'm inspired to start writing again. 

But back to the novel. What a wonderful achievement for Virginia Evans. I never would have guessed this was her debut! I enjoyed the book from the first page, and wound up starting over after I reached the 60th page. I knew it was going to be a winning read and I didn't want to read it too quickly. 

Sybil reminded me of Olive Kitteridge with her unfiltered, opinionated comments, saying exactly what she felt, not mincing words. And yet, I loved the spunk and kindness that came through in her letters. I also like that she received replies from the various authors to whom she wrote. (Yes, I know she's not a real person, but I was still happy for her.) I was especially thrilled to read the details of Ann Patchett's reply on a postcard with an image of her dog... I, too, have received the same postcard from Patchett in response to a letter I sent to her a few years ago! I also found myself nodding my head as I read the exchanges between Sybil and Joan Didion. I read The Year of Magical Thinking after our daughter died. "The club of parents who have buried children is a membership I wish I did not own, but the sense of being seen is comforting."

In addition to my love of epistolary works, I enjoy books that reference other books, and The Correspondent is chockful of titles, many of which I've read (denoted with the check mark):

• Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
• The Chateau by Jaclyn Goldis
• Round House by Louise Erdrich
• Inferno by Dan Brown
• Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier ✅
• The World Below by Sue Miller ✅
• To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf ✅
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen ✅
• State of Wonder by Ann Pachett ✅
• Bel Canto by Ann Patchett ✅
• Run by Ann Patchett
• Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese ✅
• Blue Nights by Joan Didion
• The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion ✅
• The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
• Never Let me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
• Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie ✅
• Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
• The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson
• Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
• Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
• Ulysses by James Joyce
• 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff ✅
• Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck ✅
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte ✅
• Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry ✅
• The Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis
• The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
• Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
• The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee
• Stoner by John Williams ✅
• The White Album by Joan Didion
• Amongst Women by John McGahern
• That They May Face the Rising Sun by John McGahern
• The Stories of William Trevor by William Trevor
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series by Stieg Larsson ✅

Dear Virginia,

Thank you for creating such a wonderful character in Sybil. I loved each and every letter, and will recommend your novel to all of my book-loving (and letter-loving) friends. Please write back! Actually, I would prefer you skip a reply and get to work on another book. Meanwhile, I plan to re-read your excellent book in the coming months.

With great admiration,

A fellow lover of snail-mail.

*Below is my list (with links) of the epistolary books that I've read:

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff (5/5)

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (4.75/5)

These is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901 by Nancy Turner (5/5)

Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man by Fannie Flagg

Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding (3/5)

The Color Purple by Alice Walker (5/5)

Address Unknown by Kathrine Kressmann Taylor (3.5/5)

Last Days of Summer by Steve Kluger (4.75/5)

Love & Saffron by Kim Fay (5/5)

The Pull of the Moon by Elizabeth Berg (4/5)

Paris Letters by Janice MacLeod (4/5)

Letters From Skye by Jessica Brockmole (3.5/5)

Meet Me at the Museum by Anne Youngson (4/5)

Dear Stranger, Dearest Friend by Laney Katz Becker (5/5)

Dear Exile: The True Story of Two Friends Separated (for a Year) by an Ocean by Hilary Liftin (3/5)

The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Son on Life, Love, and Loss by Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt (4/5)

A Celibate Season by Carol Shields and Blanche Howard (4.5/5)

My Dear Cassandra: Selections from the Letters of Jane Austen (Penelope Hughs-Hallett, editor) (3/5)

Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed (4.5/5)

Delicious by Ruth Reichl (3.5/5)

That Part Was True by Deborah McKinlay (4.5/5)

Impatient with Desire by Gabrielle Burton (4/5)

Holly's Inbox by Holly Denham (2.5/5)

The Recipe Club by Andrea Israel and Nancy Garfinkel (3/5)

'Tis the Season! by Lorna Landvik (4/5)

Between Friends by Debbie Macomber

The Boy Next Door by Meggin Cabot

The Gulf of Lions

 

The Gulf of Lions by Caitlin Shetterly

Fiction

2026

Finished on August 1, 2026

Rating: 3/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

From the acclaimed author of Pete and Alice in Maine, comes a standalone and evocative sequel about a mother who, recovering from the trauma of breast cancer and a mastectomy, takes a once-in-a-lifetime trip across France with her two daughters, determined to fully live. There, she finds herself newly awakened by beauty and desire but when the trip takes a turn for the worst, she must decide between a life of pleasure or the deep tethering of family.

Reconciling with her husband after a betrayal and recovering from a yearlong battle with breast cancer, Alice longs for an escape from the trials of everyday life. When the opportunity arises for a once-in-a-lifetime camping trip across France, she packs up her daughters, hoping it’s the new start she so desperately needs.

Alice, teenage Sophie, and young Iris begin their odyssey in the French Alps, entering a foreign world they did not know existed: beautiful people, luscious food, and sensual temptations. It’s a freeing experience—exploring the countryside, sleeping beneath the stars, reveling in the sights and scents of nature. For the first time since her diagnosis, Alice starts to feel alive, less afraid of dying, and less angry about her husband's affair.

But as the family continues south, traveling through Provence, where they camp on the Gulf of Lions, an area of the Mediterranean known for wild, roaring winds and purple fields of lavender, they start to unravel the yarn that binds them together. By the time they head to the charred Pyrenees, and then back across France to stay in a castle that sits on the confluence of two rivers, Alice worries that the trip might have been a disastrous and reckless mistake.

A beautiful meditation on womanhood, personhood, exploration, survival and sexual awakenings, The Gulf of Lions is a breathtaking and emotionally resonant story that plumbs the eternal question: What, in the end, will keep a family from falling apart?

I read Caitlin Shetterly's debut novel, Pete and Alice in Maine, earlier this year. I loved it, and couldn't wait to get my hands on The Gulf of Lions when I heard it was due out in May. I bought my copy and added it to my summer reading list, eager to see what was in store for Alice and her daughters as they made their way across France. 

I'm sad to say that this was a disappointing read. I didn't like any of the characters, especially Alice's two bratty daughters (who hadn't matured at all since the previous novel). I didn't care for Alice's poor choices while in France, either. The only redeeming quality of the book was the lush descriptions of setting and the food. Otherwise, I might not have finished reading the novel. 

Whistler

 

Whistler by Ann Patchett

Fiction

2026

Finished on July 22, 2026

Rating: 5/5 (Excellent)

Publisher's Blurb:

The acclaimed, prize-winning #1 New York Times bestselling writer returns with a moving, luminous novel that reminds us of the sweetness and impermanence of life and the power of connection to defy time.

When Daphne Fuller and her husband Jonathan visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, they notice an older, white-haired gentleman following them. The man turns out to be Eddie Triplett, her former stepfather, who had been married to her mother for a little more than year when Daphne was nine. Now fifty-three, Daphne hasn’t seen Eddie for many years, not since the fateful event that changed the direction of both their lives. Meeting again, time falls away; while their relationship was brief, it had a profound impact on them both, and now that they are reunited, they have no intention of ever being separated again.

Whistler is a story about two adults looking back over the choices they made, and the choices that were made for them. It’s a story about bravery, memory, the often small yet consequential moments that define our lives, and the endless stream of loss that in time comes for us all. Beautiful in its simplicity, it is ultimately about how love endures, and how the feeling of being known by one other person, even for a short period of time, can change everything.

A delightful novel!

I finished Whistler a week ago and I'm still thinking about this wonderful story and its characters. It's the sort of novel that one can read very quickly, perhaps in a single day, yet I wanted to savor each page, forcing myself to read slowly, and yet I still finished in record speed. This is a book that is impossible not to tear through without pause!

What did I love? The relationships, all of them, but especially the one between Daphne and Eddie. I loved the backdrop of literature and the publishing world. I loved that Daphne recommended books much as the author does in her reels for Parnassus Books. (I added The Bee Sting, The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, and Independent People to my TBR list). I loved the setting, wishing I could visit The Metropolitan Museum of Art. I think the last time I was there was with my daughter in 1996! I loved the story within a story within another story (which sounds confusing, but it works). And I love the way in which Patchett writes about family dynamics. When I think of her more recent works, I feel that they are centered around family relationships, unlike her earlier novels (Bel Canto and State of Wonder, specifically). Oh, and I especially loved that this is told from one point of view, and is more or less linear (aside from the flashbacks centered around an incident in Daphne's childhood). The last half dozen books that I've recently read included dual points of view, as well as alternating timelines. Whistler felt like a breath of fresh air!

Reading Whistler gives one a sense of deja vu. Anyone who has read Patchett's memoir, These Precious Days, or her New York Times essay, "My Three Fathers," may wonder if Whistler is autobiographical. There appear to be parallels to her life, but while she may draw on personal experiences, the book is not a story of Ann Patchett's life.

I loved Whistler. It may be my favorite book of 2026. It may even be my favorite by the author. And the ending couldn't have been more perfect! I won't be surprised if I read it a second time before the year is over. 

Highly recommend!!

Working on being an Ann Patchett "completist," I have only three remaining novels left to read. She is obviously one of my favorite writers.

Novels:

Tom Lake (5/5)

The Dutch House (4/5)

Commonwealth (4/5)

State of Wonder (5/5)

Bel Canto (5/5)

The Magician's Assistant (3.5/5)

Nonfiction:

These Precious Days (5/5)

This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage (4.5/5)

What Now? (pre-blogging days)

Truth and Beauty (3/5)

To Be Read:

Run

Taft

The Patron Saint of Liars

Dolly All the Time

 

Dolly All the Time by Annabel Monaghan

Fiction

2026

Narrated by Julia Whelan

Finished on July 21, 2026

Rating: 4.5/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Dolly Brick has never met a problem she couldn’t solve. Not when her mom left when she was twelve, and not at thirty-nine when she moves with her son back to Whitfield, Rhode Island, for the summer to keep her dad and brother from losing the family home.

So when she comes across Stewart Whitfield—annoyingly handsome scion of the Whitfield family—with a flat tire and at the wrong end of a very public, very humiliating breakup, it’s in her nature to help. But Stewart’s proposed arrangement ends up being more than either of them bargained for, because as public dinners and high-society benefits turn into sunset boat rides and kisses that hit her bloodstream like a ghost pepper, Dolly starts to feel something more than helpful. She’s never relied on anyone besides herself—can she really start now?

When asked what type of books I enjoy reading, I usually state that fiction (contemporary, literary, and historical) is my go-to, as well as mysteries and the occasional (very occasional) science fiction and horror. I also enjoy nonfiction, with memoir as my main focus. What I don't typically read is romance novels. I think that last book that I read that falls into this category is The Wedding People, which I classified as a "romantic comedy." 

OK. Searching my blog for a similar book to Dolly All the Time, I came up with You Are Here by David Nicholls. And then when I searched for the audiobook narrator, Julia Whelan, I come up with several others. Thank You for Listening. Evvie Drake Starts Over. My Oxford Year. Book Lovers. Those titles reminded me also of Me Before You, Things You Save in a Fire, as well as The Lost and Found Bookshop. Obviously, I misspoke. Apparently, I do read romances! These mostly earn average (3/5) ratings from me, although there are a few that I loved (Me Before You, After You, and Still Me, all of which were written by Jojo Moyes). 

Listening to this genre is pure brain candy, especially those read by Julia Whelan. She breathes life into each character, their voices distinctive and as unique as if narrated from an ensemble of readers. When a character is on the verge of tears, Whelan's voice cracks as though she is on the verge of breaking down. (And yes, I choked up more than once.) And when she reads a humorous scene, I chortle out loud, not at all concerned if anyone hears me.

Dolly All the Time is written by Annabel Monaghan, an author with whom I'm unfamiliar, but I will most certainly read more from her backlist. As with most "romances," the usual tropes (fake dating, as well as rich man--poor woman) can't be ignored, and the storyline is not without predictability, but I was thoroughly entertained.

Recommend!

The Alice Network

 

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

Fiction

2017

Finished on July 13, 2026

Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

In an enthralling new historical novel from national bestselling author Kate Quinn, two women—a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I and an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947—are brought together in a mesmerizing story of courage and redemption.

1947. In the chaotic aftermath of World War II, American college girl Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. She's also nursing a desperate hope that her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France during the war, might still be alive. So when Charlie's parents banish her to Europe to have her "little problem" taken care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London, determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister.

1915. A year into the Great War, Eve Gardiner burns to join the fight against the Germans and unexpectedly gets her chance when she's recruited to work as a spy. Sent into enemy-occupied France, she's trained by the mesmerizing Lili, code name Alice, the "queen of spies", who manages a vast network of secret agents right under the enemy's nose.

Thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling London house. Until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn't heard in decades, and launches them both on a mission to find the truth...no matter where it leads.

After reading Kate Quinn's marvelous novel, The Rose Code, last September, I knew I wanted to read more of her historical fiction. I got a copy a couple of months ago and added it to my Summer Reading list. As with The Rose Code, Quinn's historical novel alternates between two time periods, slowly revealing the events of 1915 as one of her main characters shares those details with others in 1947. It took me some time to settle into the story, wishing Quinn didn't flip back and forth between characters and years with each new chapter. Eventually, I fell into the rhythm of the narrative, anxious for both Eve and Charlie, one searching for an enemy and the other for a missing relative. Based on the life of Louise de Bettignies, The Alice Network is a worthwhile read, although I didn't enjoy it as much as The Rose Code. With that said, I'd love to see a TV series based on this book!

The Mother-In-Law

 

The Mother-In-Law by Sally Hepworth

Fiction

2019

Narrated by Barrie Kreinik

Finished on July 11, 2026

Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Someone once told me that you have two families in your life - the one you are born into and the one you choose. Yes, you may get to choose your partner, but you don't choose your mother-in-law. The cackling mercenaries of fate determine it all.

From the moment Lucy met Diana, she was kept at arm's length. Diana is exquisitely polite, but Lucy knows, even after marrying Oliver, that they'll never have the closeness she'd been hoping for.

But who could fault Diana? She was a pillar of the community, an advocate for social justice, the matriarch of a loving family. Lucy had wanted so much to please her new mother-in-law.

That was ten years ago. Now, Diana has been found dead, leaving a suicide note. But the autopsy reveals evidence of suffocation. And everyone in the family is hiding something...

From the bestselling author of The Family Next Door comes a new page-turner about that trickiest of relationships.

Having recently read Mad Mabel, I decided to try another book by Sally Hepworth. While not quite as good as Mad Mabel, this audiobook was entertaining and it kept me guessing. Told from Lucy and Diana's perspectives, both from the past and the present, we gain insight as to why each behave the way in which they do, not only to one another but to other family members. A satisfying read!

Yesteryear

 

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

Fiction

2026

Narrated by Rebecca Lowman

Finished on July 2, 2026

Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

A traditional American woman, a “tradwife” influencer, suddenly awakens in the brutal reality of 1855—where she must unravel whether this living nightmare is an elaborate hoax, a twisted reality show, or something far more sinister in this sensational debut novel.

My name was Natalie Heller Mills, and I was perfect at being alive.

Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle. Her charming farmhouse is rustic, her husband a handsome cowboy, her six children each more delightful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers behind the scenes, her kitchen hiding industrial-grade fridges and ovens, her husband the heir to a political dynasty? What Natalie’s followers—all 8 million of them—don’t know won’t hurt them. And The Angry Women? The privileged, Ivy League, coastal elite haters who call her an antifeminist iconoclast? They’re sick with jealousy. Because Natalie isn’t simply living the good life, she’s living the ideal—and just so happens to be building an empire from it.

Until one morning she wakes up in a life that isn’t hers. Her home, her husband, her children—they’re all familiar, but something’s off. Her kitchen is warmed by a sputtering fire rather than electricity, her children are dirty and strange, and her soft-handed husband is suddenly a competent farmer. Just yesterday Natalie was curating photos of homemade jam for her Instagram, and now she’s expected to haul firewood and handwash clothes until her fingers bleed. Has she become the unwitting star of a ruthless reality show? Could it really be time travel? Is she being tested by God? By Satan? When Natalie suffers a brutal injury in the woods, she realizes two things: This is not her beautiful life, and she must escape by any means possible.

A gripping, electrifying novel that is as darkly funny as it is frightening, Yesteryear is a gimlet-eyed look at tradition, fame, faith, and the grand performance of womanhood.

I can't remember when a novel was as popular as Yesteryear, but with such opposing opinions. Many readers either gave up early on or disliked the book, calling it trash or poorly written. Others, who may have eagerly awaited long library waitlists, enjoyed the tale, happy to chat about it with friends and book groups. Whatever your opinion, one can't argue that this is the most buzzed about novel of the year. 

I went into the audiobook prepared to dislike the story, but was surprisingly captivated by Burke's ability to pull me into Natalie's world(s). Several years ago, I saw an Instagram story which showed a mother of several children making lunch for her family. She made fresh bread from a sourdough starter, cheese with milk from one of their cows, as well as other items, all in her quaint farm kitchen. Not unlike the beautiful photos in Ree Drummund's (Pioneer Woman) cookbooks, Hannah (Ballerina Farm) gave viewers a glimpse inside a home that may or may not be all that it appears. I guess I was naive to think that women like Drummond and Neeleman were doing all the work to create delicious and hearty meals from scratch, and yet, if I'm not mistaken, they have a staff of assistants behind the scenes prepping and styling every shot and angle. As with Natalie's online image in Yesteryear, not all is as it seems. Nannies, producers, farm hands, etc., are all there to make life look easier than it truly is. 

Online influencers, whether those promoting products related to nutrition and health, or those styling classic wardrobes (like my daughter, Fashion Jackson) have become so ubiquitous and profitable that young children aspire to be influencers when they grow up. Perhaps I'm biased because I've seen how hard my daughter works to create content for her followers, but I do believe that not all influencers are frauds. And perhaps that's why I was less critical than other readers of Yesteryear.

Plus, I had to keep listening to find out what the heck happened to Natalie! Not only is this a work of satire, but there's a strong element of mystery, as well. I thoroughly enjoyed the audio production, and I will probably watch the series once it hits a streaming platform. 

The Safekeep

 

The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden

Fiction

2024

Finished on June 28, 2026

Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Booker Prize Nominee for Shortlist (2024)

National Jewish Book Award for Debut Fiction (2024)

Women's Prize for Fiction (2025)

Publisher's Blurb:

An exhilarating, twisted tale of desire, suspicion, and obsession between two women staying in the same house in the Dutch countryside during the summer of 1961—a powerful exploration of the legacy of WWII and the darker parts of our collective past.

A house is a precious thing...

It is 1961 and the rural Dutch province of Overijssel is quiet. Bomb craters have been filled, buildings reconstructed, and the war is truly over. Living alone in her late mother’s country home, Isabel knows her life is as it should be—led by routine and discipline. But all is upended when her brother Louis brings his graceless new girlfriend Eva, leaving her at Isabel’s doorstep as a guest, to stay for the season.

Eva is Isabel’s antithesis: she sleeps late, walks loudly through the house, and touches things she shouldn’t. In response, Isabel develops a fury-fueled obsession, and when things start disappearing around the house—a spoon, a knife, a bowl—Isabel’s suspicions begin to spiral. In the sweltering peak of summer, Isabel’s paranoia gives way to infatuation—leading to a discovery that unravels all Isabel has ever known. The war might not be well and truly over after all, and neither Eva—nor the house in which they live—are what they seem.

Mysterious, sophisticated, sensual, and infused with intrigue, atmosphere, and sex, The Safekeep is a brilliantly plotted and provocative debut novel you won’t soon forget.

I finished this debut novel late last night and am glad I hadn't given up on it. The Safekeep is a quiet and unique tale, nothing like any novel I've read about post-World War II. The writing is lovely, but it was slow to draw me in, possibly due to the frenetic pacing of the book I read prior to this one. 

Isabel and Eva are complex, nuanced characters, both lost and broken in their individual lives, ultimately finding comfort with one another. It's a moving story of self-discovery and love, and yet the explicit revelation of Isabel's sexual awakening felt unnecessarily excessive, leaving nothing to the imagination. It didn't help to move the narrative forward, but rather became a distraction. The final chapters, however, rewarded me with an ultimately moving, and hopeful, conclusion. I look forward to reading more by the author in the future.

Recommend.