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Friday, July 26, 2024
Fiction/Nonfiction Quick Reviews: The Windsor Edition
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Wednesday, July 24, 2024
Can't-Wait Wednesday: The Thirteenth Husband
Based on a real woman from history, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo meets The Haunting of Hill House in this fictional tell-all narrated by the glamorous Aimee Crocker, revealing everything from her mischievous days in German finishing school to dinners with Hawaiian royalty to lavish Astor parties in Manhattan. But behind Aimee's public notoriety, there's private pain.
When Aimee is ten years old, as the night dips into the witching hour, the Woman in White appears to her. Minutes later, Aimee's father is dead―and Aimee inherits a fortune. But the Woman in White never really leaves Aimee, appearing as a sinister specter before every tragedy in her life. Despite Aimee's wealth, her cross-continental travels, and her increasingly shocking progression through husbands, Aimee is haunted by the unidentifiable Woman's mysterious motivations.
Tearing through millions of dollars, four continents, and a hearty collection of husbands, real-life heiress Aimee Crocker blazed an unbelievable trail of public scandal, private tragedy, and the kind of strong independent woman the 1880s had never seen. Her life was stranger than fiction and brighter than the stars, and she whirled through her days as if she was being chased by something larger than herself. Greer Macallister brilliantly takes us into her world and spins a tale that you won't soon forget. - from Amazon
Monday, July 22, 2024
Michele's Monday Picks #50
Friday, July 12, 2024
Blog Break!
Monday, July 8, 2024
Michele's Monday Picks #49
Friday, July 5, 2024
Mid-Year Goals Check-In
- Read 75 books. At the time I'm writing this, I've read 51 books, so I'm well ahead on this goal!
- Reread once a month. So far I'm at 100% on this goal! Most months, the first book I choose is a reread, and it's a nice way to start the month!
- Read at least six nonfiction books. I've already read 6 nonfiction books this year, and I have so many more on my shelves and TBR that I'm excited about!
- Finish the Bridgerton series. Goal completed! I finished the last book in June.
- Purge my shelves. I've donated over 40 books this year, including many dropped off at Little Free Libaries. My shelves are still full, but I'm making progress!
- Read 275 books. I actually recently dropped my goal to 250 books and I feel good about it. I know it is taking me longer to get through books this year due to other hobbies I am giving more attention to. But I am basically sticking to the books that excite me the most, so I’m happy with this development.
- Track my reading contemporaneously. Doing good on this one! My spreadsheet is pretty up to date and it is so interesting seeing the sources and format of my reading, as well as what genres I gravitate towards.
- Binge author backlists via audio. Making lots of good progress on this one. I have listened to multiple backlist titles from Christina Lauren, Katee Robert and Sierra Simone. I never would have had time to physically read all of these so the audiobooks have been a lifesaver.
- Listen to 5 audiobooks with my hubby. We are starting the first of our summer road trips at the end of June, so this goal will really commence then. We are a couple chapters into an audiobook about the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs, but we don’t get too many opportunities for long, uninterrupted car time.
Wednesday, July 3, 2024
Can't-Wait Wednesday: A Novel Summer
A bestselling author finds love and second chances in the stacks of a quaint beach town bookshop
Author Shelby Archer found inspiration for her first novel while living on the picturesque shores of Provincetown on Cape Cod. When she comes to the town to celebrate her new bestseller, she is expecting a warm homecoming. But instead she is confronted with the cold shoulders of friends and neighbors who feel exposed and betrayed.
Heartbroken, Shelby tries to move on and focus on her next novel. But then an unexpected call comes: her dear friend who owns the beloved Land's End bookshop needs help for the summer. Shelby reluctantly returns to the Cape to manage the store.
Back at the beach, Shelby sets her focus on the tiny seaside shop, getting lost in the shelves of steamy romance novels and dusty classics and trying to right the wrongs of her past. With every page turned and every customer served, Shelby comes closer to gaining back the trust of those she hurt. But as her manuscript deadline nears, she is again forced to choose between her own success and a second chance at love and belonging. - from Goodreads
Monday, July 1, 2024
Month in Review: June 2024
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Friday, June 28, 2024
Quick Reviews
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Wednesday, June 26, 2024
Guest Blogger: Getting Guys to Read
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Monday, June 24, 2024
Michele's Monday Picks #48
Friday, June 21, 2024
Quick Reviews
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Wednesday, June 19, 2024
Can't-Wait Wednesday: The Game Changer
A hockey player and a baker shoot their shot in this steamy new romance by Lana Ferguson, USA Today bestselling author of The Nanny.
When a very public breakup becomes a PR nightmare for Ian Chase's team, he hopes to focus on his game, but that suddenly seem less likely than a hat trick. With his career and the team’s image in jeopardy, Ian is surprised to find a solution through none other than Delilah Baker, his best friend and teammate's little sister…who isn’t so little anymore.
Delilah Baker is known as “the darling of baking” on her local cable show, and being in the public eye is her bread and butter. But with her numbers dwindling and her producers turning up the heat, Delilah offers up the half-baked idea to collaborate with her brother’s team to entice the hockey fans of Boston to tune in to her show. Delilah thinks it will be a piece of cake—until the team sends Ian Chase, her brother’s best friend and the object of a decade-long crush that she’s never quite gotten over.
Delilah's and Ian’s teams think it’s a true win-win situation—gaining higher numbers for Delilah’s show and casting Ian in a more positive light. And viewers are eating them up like a cupcake, sparking the idea to play up their relationship for the goal of good press. With more than just their careers on thin ice, the line between what’s real and what’s for show begins to blur, but one thing’s for certain: This PR stunt will either be a total game changer—or leave them both totally pucked. - from Goodreads
Tuesday, June 18, 2024
Top Ten Tuesday: My Summer TBR
Friday, June 14, 2024
Fiction/Nonfiction Quick Reviews
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Wednesday, June 12, 2024
Can't-Wait Wednesday: Ladykiller
When an heiress goes missing, her best friend races to unravel the secrets behind her disappearance using clues left behind in an explosive manuscript…
Gia and Abby have been best friends since they were girls, forever bonded by the tragedy that unfolded in Greece when they were eighteen. In the aftermath, bookish Abby threw herself into her studies while heiress Gia chronicled the events of that fateful summer in a salacious memoir.
Twelve years later, Gia is back in Greece for the summer with her shiny new husband and a motley crew of glamorous guests, preparing to sell the family estate in the wake of her father’s death. When Abby receives an invitation from Gia to celebrate her birthday in September beneath the Northern Lights, she’s thrilled to be granted the time off from her high-pressure job. But the day of her flight, she receives a mysterious, threatening email in her inbox, and when she and Gia’s brother Benny arrive at the Swedish resort, Gia isn’t there. After days of cryptic messages and unanswered calls, Abby and Benny are worried enough to fly to Greece to check on her.
Only, when they arrive, they find Gia’s beachfront estate eerily deserted, the sole clue to her whereabouts a manuscript she wrote detailing the events leading up to her disappearance. The pages reveal the dark truth about Gia’s provocative new marriage and the dirty secrets of the guests they entertained with fizzy champagne under the hot Mediterranean sun. As tensions rise, Gia feels less and less safe in her own home. But the pages end abruptly, leaving Abby and Benny with more questions than answers.
Where is Gia now? And, more importantly, will they find her before it’s too late? - from Goodreads
Monday, June 10, 2024
Michele's Monday Picks #47
Friday, June 7, 2024
Indie Bookstore Spotlight: Frenchtown Bookshop
Wednesday, June 5, 2024
Can't-Wait Wednesday: The Summer Pact
In the wake of tragedy, a group of friends make a pact that will cause them to reunite a decade later and embark upon a life-changing adventure together—from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Meant to Be.
Four freshmen arrive at college from completely different worlds: Lainey, a California party girl with a flair for drama; Tyson, a brilliant scholar and law school hopeful from D.C.; Summer, a recruited athlete and perfectionist from the Midwest; and Hannah, a mild-mannered southerner who is content to quietly round out the circle of big personalities. Soon after moving into their shared dorm, they strike up a conversation in a study lounge, and the seeds of friendship are planted.
As their college years fly by, their bond intensifies and the four become inseparable. But as graduation nears, their lives are forever changed after a desperate act leads to tragic consequences. Stunned and heartbroken, a pact is made to be there for each other in their time of need, no matter how separated they are by circumstances or distance.
Ten years later, Hannah is anticipating what should be one of the happiest moments of her life when everything is suddenly turned upside down. Calling on her closest friends, it soon becomes clear that they are facing their own crossroads. True to their promise, they agree to take a time out from lives headed in wrong directions and embark on a journey of self-discovery, forgiveness, and acceptance.
In this tender portrayal of grief, love, and hope, Emily Giffin asks: When things fall apart, who will be at our sides to help pick up the pieces? - from Goodreads