Waiting on Wednesday: Martha's Vineyard Beach Book Club

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature where I highlight a soon to be released novel I can't wait to read.

This week's pick: Martha's Vineyard Beach Book Club by Martha Hall Kelly

Due out: May 27, 2025

Synopsis taken from Amazon: 

Two sisters living on Martha's Vineyard during World War II find hope in the power of storytelling when they start a wartime book club for women—a spectacular novel inspired by true events from the New York Times bestselling author of Lilac Girls.

2016: Thirty-four-year-old Mari Starwood is still grieving as she travels to the storied island of Martha’s Vineyard, off the coast of Massachusetts. She’s come all the way from California with nothing but a name on a piece of paper: Elizabeth Deveraux, the famous but reclusive Vineyard painter. When Mari makes it to Mrs. Devereaux’s stunning waterfront farm under the guise of taking a painting class with her, Mrs. Deveraux begins to tell her the story of the Smith sisters, who once lived there. As the tale unfolds, Mari is shocked to learn that her relationship to this island runs deeper than she ever thought possible.

1942: The Smith girls—nineteen-year-old, wannabe writer Cadence and sixteen-year-old, war-obsessed Briar—are faced with the impossible task of holding their failing family farm together during World War II as the U.S. Army arrives on Martha’s Vineyard. When Briar spots German U-boats lurking off the island’s shores, and Cadence falls into an unlikely romance with a sworn enemy, their quiet lives are officially upended. In an attempt at normalcy, Cadence and her best friend Bess start a book club, which grows in both number and influence as they connect with a fabulous New York publisher who could make all of Cadence’s dreams come true. But all that is put at risk by a mysterious man who washes ashore—and whispers of a spy in their midst. Who in their tight-knit island community can they trust? Could this little book club change the course of the war… before it’s too late?

Friday Five: Happy Valentine's Day

 I forgot all about Valentine's Day until I was already at school, so I quickly texted my husband who actually remembered before I did.  

Our ten day forecast looks cold and snowy which would be typical for winter in Iowa, but we've been spoiled so far.  I did actually find a few spring-like things, so I know that soon warm weather will be coming.  

Enjoy your weekend!

1.  Miou Muse Eyelet Detail Tank Top

2.  Sophie Luxe Herringbone Sweater

3.  Kule The Oversized Allover Heart Sweatshirt

4.  Mid Rise Girlfriend Jeans

5.  Mara Slub Polo

6.  Uptown Stripe Pullover

7.  Graphic Muscle Tee

8.  Pilcro Textured Rib Layering Top

9.  Joelle Stretch Linen Trouser

10.  Book Club Oversized Lux Hoodie in Heather Gray

That's it for me this week. What's caught your eye?

Waiting on Wednesday: The Story She Left Behind

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature where I highlight a soon to be released novel I can't wait to read.

This week's pick: The Story She Left Behind by Patty Callahan Henry

Due out March 18, 2025

Synopsis taken from Amazon:

Inspired by a true literary mystery, New York Times bestselling author of the mesmerizing The Secret Book of Flora Lea returns with the sweeping story of a legendary book, a lost mother, and a daughter’s search for them both.

In 1927, eight-year-old Clara Harrington’s magical childhood shatters when her mother, renowned author, Bronwyn Newcastle Fordham, disappears off the coast of South Carolina. Bronwyn stunned the world with a book written in an invented language that became a national sensation when she was just twelve years old. Her departure leaves behind not only a devoted husband and heartbroken daughter, but also the hope of ever translating the sequel to her landmark work. As the headlines focus on the missing author, Clara yearns for something far deeper and more insatiable: her beautiful mother.

By 1952, Clara is an illustrator raising her own daughter, Wynnie. When a stranger named Charlie Jameson contacts her from London claiming to have discovered a handwritten dictionary of her mother’s lost language. Clara is skeptical. Compelled by the tragedy of her mother’s vanishing, she crosses the Atlantic with Wynnie only to arrive during one of London’s most deadly natural disasters—the Great Smog. With asthmatic Wynnie in peril, they escape the city with Charlie and find refuge in the Jameson’s family retreat nestled in the Lake District. It is there that Clara must find the courage to uncover the truth about her mother and the story she left behind.

Told in Patti Callahan Henry’s lyrical, enchanting prose, The Story She Left Behind is a captivating novel of mystery and family legacy that captures the profound longing for a mother and the evergreen allure of secrets.

NonFiction Tuesday: Self Help

 Kicking off the new year always seems like a good time to read a self-help book.  Over the years I've read quite a few - some I've liked and even tried to incorporate some of the tips and advice I've read about.

This year I picked up The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins.  This seems to be all over social media right now, and after starting reading I can see why.

This is a fast read with some good advice.  Let Them refers to the attitude you can take about a variety of things.  Instead of letting the decisions others make bother you, your reaction can be "let them."  There is only one thing you can control- your own actions and reactions.  So instead of letting others' actions bother you, just reply "let them."  This is something most people could put into practice in their everyday lives.  And I've thought about this a variety of times since I read Robbins' book.

I know there is some controversy about Robbins not giving credit to someone else who had already talked about this method, but I'm far enough out of the loop on this issue and found this book to be interesting to read and Robbins to be a person easy to identify with.  I enjoyed the book enough that I'm interested in listening to her podcast.

Over the years I've read a variety of self-help books, and often I take something away from them that I can put into practice.  I also think that in most cases, I should probably re-read these self-help books every few years because often there is so many different good points that I am not able to retain or practice all of them.  

These five are some of my favorites:

Monday Mini-Review: Five Star Suspense: Dead Money

I've read some really good books already this year.  Some I've been anticipating for a long time, but others have been a surprise.  Jakob Kerr's novel Dead Money is a debut, and what I'm hoping is the first of many book by him.

 

Set in Silicon Valley, a successful tech CEO has been murdered in his penthouse office while he is alone there one night. Just weeks before his death, he had changed his will, freezing his money in the event of his death until whoever killed him comes to trial. Now Mackenzie Clyde has been sent by her boss, the tech company's chief investor, to investigate.  

Mackenzie begins working with the FBI, who has taken over the case from the local police.  They begin by questioning the executives of the tech company, although they are less than compliant.  The story moves back and forth in time revealing more about Mackenzie, an attorney by trade, who has some secrets in her past as well.

I couldn't put this one down.  I started it right before bed, stayed up too late reading, and took it to work with me, hoping I could find a way to sneak in a page or two during the day (I'm not sure why I ever think this would be a possibility).  

I'm not sure what I'll find to match this one, which is the best book I've read this  month by far.

Friday Five

We have four things on our agenda this weekend: Middle Sister's Friday night track meet at Wartburg kicks it off.  Little Sister's last archery meet on Saturday morning along with the UNI basketball game in the afternoon pretty much take up another day, and on Sunday we have church, along with trying to cram in grocery shopping, cooking, a little laundry, and some exercising and reading.  And I guess the SuperBowl is on?!  

After our hint of spring-like weather a couple weeks ago, the cold of this week has been a rude awakening.  We had an early dismissal and late start because of freezing rain, but still have no snow on the ground.

I found some things to share this week, and I think soon we will be seeing some spring clothes coming out.

 

1. Dre Cardigan

2.  Pinch Crochet Short Sleeve Top

3.  Heather Jacquard Sweater

4.  Maddie Ringer Sweater Top in Taupe

5.  Aly Satin Shirt

6.  Ultra Stretch Ponte Bootcut Pants

6.  Incline Hybrid Vest

7. High Rise Embroidered Jeans

8.  Wishlist Lobster Sweater

9.  Amelie Merino Wool Turtleneck

10.  Post Malone Oreos

That's it for me this week.  What's caught your eye?

Waiting on Wednesday: Back After This

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature where I highlight a soon to be released novel you can't wait to read.

This week's pick:  Back After This by Linda Holmes

Due out:  February 25, 2025

Synopsis taken from Amazon:

A podcast producer agrees to host a new series about modern dating—but will the show jeopardize her chance at finding real love? From the New York Times bestselling author of Evvie Drake Starts Over and Flying Solo.

Cecily Foster loves to make podcasts. She fiercely protects her colleagues, dearly adores her friends, and never misses dinner with her sister. But after a disastrous relationship with a colleague who stole her heart and her ideas, she's put romantic love on hold.

When the boss who's disappointed her again and again finally offers her a chance to host her own show, she wants to be thrilled. But there's a catch—actually, two catches. First, the show will be about Cecily's dating life. And second, she has to follow the guidance of influencer and newly minted relationship coach Eliza Cassidy, whose relentlessly upbeat attitude seems ready-made for social media, not real life.

Cecily would rather do anything other than put her singledom on display (ugh) or take advice from the internet (UGH). But when her boss hints that doing the show is the only way to protect a friend's job, she realizes she has no choice.

To make matters more complicated, once she's committed to go on twenty blind dates of Eliza's choosing, Cecily finds herself unable to stop thinking about Will, a photographer she helped to rescue a very big and very lovable lost dog. Even though there are sparks between the two, Will's own path is uncertain, and Eliza's skeptical comments about Cecily's decision-making aren't helping. On the one hand, Will seems great. But on the other hand . . . don't they all?

As Cecily struggles to balance the life she truly desires and the one Eliza wants to create for her, she finds herself at a crossroads. Can Cecily sort through all the advice and find a way to do what she loves without losing herself in the process?

Non-Fiction Tuesday: Valley of Forgetting

 

There are so many great books coming out in 2025 and I have pre-ordered several of them😖- spending less money on books looks to be rather difficult in 2025.

A book that I've added to my TBR (and preordered) is:

Valley of Forgetting: Alzheimer's Families And The Search For A Cure by Jennie Erin Smith

Due out: April 1, 2025

Synopsis taken from Amazon:

The riveting account of a community from the remote mountains of Colombia whose rare and fatal genetic mutation is unlocking the secrets of Alzheimer’s disease

In the 1980s, a neurologist named Francisco Lopera traveled on horseback into the mountains seeking families with symptoms of dementia. For centuries, residents of certain villages near Medellín had suffered memory loss as they reached middle age, going on to die in their fifties. Lopera discovered that a unique genetic mutation was causing their rare hereditary form of early onset Alzheimer’s disease. Over the next forty years of working with the “paisa mutation” kindred, he went on to build a world-class research program in a region beset by violence and poverty.

In Valley of Forgetting, Jennie Erin Smith brings readers into the clinic, the laboratories, and the Medellín trial center where Lopera’s patients receive an experimental drug to see if Alzheimer’s can be averted. She chronicles the lives of people who care for sick parents, spouses, and siblings, all while struggling to keep their own dreams afloat. These Colombian families have donated hundreds of their loved ones’ brains to science and subjected themselves to invasive testing to help uncover how Alzheimer’s develops and whether it can be stopped. Findings from this unprecedented effort could hold the key to understanding and treating the disease, though it is unclear what, if anything, the families will receive in return.

Smith’s immersive storytelling brings this complex drama to life, inviting readers on a scientific journey that is as deeply moving as it is engrossing.

Monday Mini-Review: Looking Back at January

In terms of quantity,  I had my best reading month ever in January.  I also think the quality of my reading was fantastic as well.

I ended the month with 33 books, and so many I loved. 

It was hard to narrow it down to five favorites, but these five are ones I'll be thinking about and recommending to everyone.

Penitence by Kristin Koval is such a well written novel. The storyline is a little like Defending Jacob by William Landay, which I loved and still think about over a decade later.  I'll think about this one for a long time.

The Mother Next Door by Andrea Dunlop and Mike Weber is a nonfiction book about is a look at three women who had Munschausen by Proxy and the children who suffered under their parentage.  This is a fascinating -and heartbreaking- disorder, especially for the children of these women.  

Happy to Help: Adventures of a People Pleaser by Amy Wilson- this is a book of essays that reminds me a lot of some other favorite nonfiction female essay writers (Mary Laura Philpott and Elizabeth Passarella).  I like that Wilson feels like she could be a friend.

The Favorites by Layne Fargo- a fantastic novel set in the figure skating world.  Katerina has always known she was going to be a champion figure skater, and then when Heath, a foster care kid comes in to her life, the two become a figure skating pair.  A love story that experiences the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, this is a fantastic story. I couldn't put it down.

The Wealth of Shadows by Graham Moore- is historical fiction set during WWII. This is a fascinating book because it follows a group of men hired by the Treasury Department who are actually working on the economics behind the war and trying to direct outcomes by controlling the money.  I read the end notes for each chapter and want my husband to read this so the two of us can talk it over.

This group of four star books are ones that I also want to share with others because if I read fewer books each month, these would certainly be at the top of the list.  

I've read several books already in February; 2025 has so many great books being published and I still have so many on my shelves that I want to read.  

Friday Five: The End of January

1.  Quilted Quarter Zip Sweatshirt

2.  Ashton High Rise Wide Leg Barrel 

3.  Ida Fair Isle Vest

4.  Hugged Feeling Compression Leggings

5.  Meribel Quarter Zip Sweater

6.  Mon Coeur Sweater

7.  Gigio Short Puff Sleeve Blouse with Peter Pan Collar

8.  Paddington Adventure Shirt

9.  Southwestern Cardigan

10.  Irene Cable Knit Sweater

That's it for me this week.  What's caught your eye?