Waiting on Wednesday: The Cliffs

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

This week's pick: The Cliffs by J Courtney Sullivan

Due out: July 16, 2024

Synopsis taken from Amazon:

On a secluded bluff overlooking the ocean sits a Victorian house, lavender with gingerbread trim, a home that contains a century’s worth of secrets. By the time Jane Flanagan discovers the house as a teenager, it has long been abandoned. The place is an irresistible mystery to Jane. There are still clothes in the closets, marbles rolling across the floors, and dishes in the cupboards, even though no one has set foot there in decades. The house becomes a hideaway for Jane, a place to escape her volatile mother.

Twenty years later, now a Harvard archivist, she returns home to Maine following a terrible mistake that threatens both her career and her marriage. Jane is horrified to find the Victorian is now barely recognizable. The new owner, Genevieve, a summer person from Beacon Hill, has gutted it, transforming the house into a glossy white monstrosity straight out of a shelter magazine. Strangely, Genevieve is convinced that the house is haunted—perhaps the product of something troubling Genevieve herself has done. She hires Jane to research the history of the place and the women who lived there. The story Jane uncovers—of lovers lost at sea, romantic longing, shattering loss, artistic awakening, historical artifacts stolen and sold, and the long shadow of colonialism—is even older than Maine itself.

Enthralling, richly imagined, filled with psychic mediums and charlatans, spirits and past lives, mothers, marriage, and the legacy of alcoholism, this is a deeply moving novel about the land we inhabit, the women who came before us, and the ways in which none of us will ever truly leave this earth.

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NonFiction Tuesday: Looking Ahead: There Is No Ethan

 

I love nonfiction books and the older I get, the more I seem to gravitate toward them.  This is one title I'm adding to my TBR this month.

There Is No Ethan: How Three Women Caught America's Biggest Catfish by Anna Akbari

Due out June 4, 2024

Synopsis taken from Amazon:

Part memoir, part explosive window into the mind of a catfisher, a thrilling personal account of three women coming face-to-face with an internet predator and teaming up to expose them.

In 2011, three successful and highly educated women fell head over heels for the brilliant and charming Ethan Schuman. Unbeknownst to the others, each exchanged countless messages with Ethan, staying up late into the evenings to deepen their connections with this fascinating man. His detailed excuses about broken webcams and complicated international calling plans seemed believable, as did last minute trip cancellations. After all, why would he lie?  Ethan wasn't after money — he never convinced his marks to shell out thousands of dollars for some imagined crisis. Rather, he ensnared these women in a web of intense emotional intimacy. After the trio independently began to question inconsistencies in their new flame's stories, they managed to find one another and uncover a greater deception than they could've ever imagined. As Anna Akbari and the women untangled their catfish’s web, they found other victims and realized that without a proper crime, there was no legal reason for “Ethan” to ever stop.

THERE IS NO ETHAN catalogues Akbari's experience as both victim and observer. By looking at the bigger picture of where these stories unfold — a world where technology mediates our relationships; where words and images are easily manipulated; and where truth, reality, and identity have become slippery terms — Akbari gives a page-turning and riveting examination of why stories like Ethan's matter for us all.

Friday Five: Beginning to Count Down

I've heard some colleagues and students counting down to the end of the school year.  I still feel like there's too much time to start that nonsense yet.  But I am counting down until next Friday when our budgets are closed for the year. I purchase books for many of our school libraries in the district so this last week is a flurry of ordering, paying bills, and checking balances in accounts.  

My youngest daughter has prom this weekend, but I truly need to find a little time to fit in some work.  

We've had warmer weather toward the end of this week, and I am slowly starting to wear some of my spring clothing.  Here are a few more things I found that caught my eye this week:

1.  Double Layer Roll Trim Jersey Top

2.  Fruit Stand Graphic Tee

3.  Nike Phoenix Waffle

4.  Mini Dress With Ruffle Sleeves
 

5.  Miller Sandal by Tory Burch

6.  Structured Beaded Jacket

7.  Joelle Wide Leg

8.  Ugg Venture Daze

9.  Unfrosted

10.  Prince Louis 6th Birthday

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

Waiting on Wednesday: Very Bad Company

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

This week's pick: Very Bad Company by Emma Rosenblum

Due out: May 14, 2024

Synopsis taken from Amazon:

A gripping, darkly comic novel from the national bestselling author of Bad Summer People about a team of wealthy and powerful executives on retreat in Miami when one of them goes missing . . .

Every year, executives at the trendy tech startup Aurora gather the company’s top employees for an exclusive retreat in Miami and this year, Caitlin Levy–Aurora’s newest hire–is joining the team as Head of Events. The benefits are outstanding: a seven-figure salary, stock shares, a discretionary bonus, limitless vacation days–what could possibly go wrong?

When another high-level executive vanishes after the first night, the disappearance has the potential to derail the future of the company’s sale and cost everyone on the team millions. Now, more than ever, Caitlin and her colleagues must continue the charade–partaking in team building exercises, group brainstorms, dinners–in order to keep the future of Aurora afloat amid all the fatal speculations.

Compulsively readable, Very Bad Company is a slick send up of corporate culture wrapped in a captivating mystery.

Monday Mini-Reviews: Not Much to Report

 

This past week I've been busy with all sorts of school stuff.  And then yesterday I decided I should clean my neglected, messy house.  That has translated into not a lot of reading time. I've also been picking up a lot of nonfiction and enjoying that a great deal.

I did enjoy Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle yesterday.  This one was fast and I only regret that I was interrupted so many times while reading it.  

Daphne receives a slip of paper as each relationship starts, stating the name of the guy she will be dating and the length of time the relationship will last.  Obviously, there's a bit of magical realism in this book, but if you can get by this bit of the story, you can see how Daphne's relationships begin - and eventually fail. 

Until she meets Jake.  And the slip of paper states his name, but no ending date. 

There is a plot twist I didn't see coming, so I encourage readers to go into this one without reading any form of a summary.  I will say that suddenly Daphne's relationships make more sense, and the ending does seem a bit inevitable. 

A little bit serious as well as a little bit fun, this was a great book to spend an afternoon on.

Friday Five

 School deadlines are looming and that has taken quite up quite a bit of reading time.  However, I have finished up quite a bit and that feels good.  

Here are some things I found this week to share.  I'm still waiting for warmer weather, but we have finally had rain this week, which is also a good thing.

1. Seasoft Quarter Zip

2.  Wide V-Neck Midi Dress

3.  2024 Striped Color Block Oversized Sweatshirt

4.  We The Free Wesley Ankle Boots

5.  Tina Turner Tee

6.  Poplin Pajamas

7.  White Stovepipe Straight Jean in Stretch

8.  Short Sleeved Tiered Jersey Dress

9.  Book Gang Podcast

10.  Caitlin Clark on SNL and The Today Show - as an Iowan I have loved watching Iowa Women's Basketball (far more than the men's team these past few years).  I am so sad that Caitlin and the other seniors are moving on and we won't get to see them play together anymore.  But, man, has it been fun!

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

Children's and YA Lit: Keeping Pace

I love middle grade novels and am always amazed by the high quality out there for kids.

Keeping Pace caught my eye because as a family of runners, I'll pretty much read anything about running.  And this story does not disappoint.

Grace and Jonah grew up as best friends. But Jonah's dad died about the same time Grace's parents were divorcing and somehow the two became rivals, competing to win the award for who has the highest GPA in their class.

Grace decides to run a half-marathon over the summer and Jonah has apparently decided the same thing.  The two occasionally run together to train - each time Grace realizes she enjoys Jonah's company.  However, Grace has her eyes firmly set on beating Jonah in something.

This story is more than a book about running, though.  It's a story about friendship and growing up and accepting that life isn't only about achievements and checklists. 

This book is just a perfect blend of so many things.  My girls are a little too old to pick it up, but for middle school girls (or boys) this is a great story.

Waiting on Wednesday: Summer Pact

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: Summer Pact by Emily Giffin

Due out: July 9, 2024

Synopsis taken from Amazon:

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?

Waiting on Wednesday: Same Bright Stars

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

This week's pick: Same Bright Stars by Ethan Joella

Due out July 2, 2024

Synopsis taken from Amazon:

From the author of the Read with Jenna Bonus Pick A Little Hope, an uplifting and emotionally resonant novel set in a Delaware beach town about a local restaurant owner at a turning point.

Three generations of Schmidts have run their family’s beachfront restaurant and Jack has been at the helm since the death of his father. Jack puts the demands of the restaurant above all else, with a string of failed relationships, no hobbies, and no days off as proof of his commitment to the place. He can’t remember the last time he sat on the beach, or even enjoyed a moment to himself.

Meanwhile, the DelDine group has been gradually snapping up beloved eateries along this stretch of coast and are pursuing Jack with a very generous offer to take Schmidt’s off his hands.

Jack craves companionship and maybe even a family. He wonders if closing the door on the restaurant might open a new window for him. But who would he be without Schmidt’s, and can he trust DelDine’s claims that they will continue to employ his staff and honor his family’s legacy?

When he receives startling news from the past, Jack begins to reshape his life and forge unexpected new friendships. But will he really let go of the very things that have defined him?

Monday Mini-Reviews: Romances

 I don't read a ton of romances, but I generally enjoy them when I do.  My daughters are all in the phase where they enjoy rom-coms and chick lit books a lot.  Often I can hand off the romances I read to them.  However, the last three I read are definitely more open door than I feel comfortable giving to them. (I'm totally fine with them reading them on their own, but I won't be pressing them into their hands).

Done And Dusted by Lyla Sage is the first in the Rebel Blue Ranch series set on a ranch in Wyoming.  Emmy returns home after a bad fall from her horse that has left her unable to ride at all.  She's always found her brother Gus' best friend, Luke, to be annoying- definitely not someone she would spend time with.  But Luke isn't who Emmy thought he was and when he volunteers to help her get back to riding again, she takes him up on his offer.  This the familiar frenemies to friends to lovers trope which I always enjoy.  The second in this series is already out and I know I'll be picking it up soon.

Before I Let You Go by Kennedy Ryan is the first in the Skyland series.  Ryan is a new-to-me author, but she is quickly becoming an auto-read author and I can't wait for the third installment to be published.

This first book features Yasmen and Josiah a couple who was so in love that they couldn't ever imagine being apart.  But after a series of devastating losses, the two can't seem to find their way together and eventually divorce.  Narrated by both Yasmen and Josiah, we can see their thoughts and perspectives as they navigate being single, yet working together and raising children together.  And trying to deal with the fact that they both are still in love with each other.  

The second installment in the Skyland series features Soledad Barnes, one of Yasmen's best friends.  Soledad is the mother to three girls and unhappily married.  This book features the demise of Soledad's marriage and the aftershocks she must deal with as her ex was even more devious and dishonest than anyone would expect.  

I liked that Yasmen makes many appearances in this novel and we continue to see how her story plays out.  And I can't wait to read Hendrix's story in the third installment.  

All of these books are predictable as far as romances go. I knew who each woman would end up with and that the road to get there would be full of challenges, but that true love would prevail.  These three books are steamy, but the stories are also engaging and kept me turning pages.

I'm glad I have a few more by these authors that I will get to enjoy soon.