Friday Five: June Is Upon Us

 Many of the small school districts surrounding the one I work in have already finished up for the year.  I still have another full week and then perhaps even a little bit more since I have four buildings to close up and neither of the two paras I was allotted made it through the year (one lasted twelve days!).  On a day to day basis, I hobbled through.  But the damaged books I didn't have time to repair, the weeding I couldn't get done, the organization/re-organization that was started and never completed is all awaiting me.  

I'm hoping next year is less stressful when we return in August.  

I've found some nice warm weather clothing and if I weren't crawling around moving books all over the place, I would love to wear them.  Right now I'm showing up in clothes I can get dirty in.  

June is right around the corner and I am so ready!

1.  USA Navy and Ivory Striped Sweater

2.  Voy Maeve Top

3.  Divy Woven Ballet Flats

4.  Gauze Soft Gathered Shirt

5.  We The Free Benny Boat Loafer

6.  Preston Linen Short

7.  Women's Lands End T&T the Tiffany Midkini Square Neck Set

8.  Airy Denim Utility Pocket Shirt

9.  Heritage Madras Stallings Button Down

10.  You're Killing Me - new series starring Brooke Shields on Acorn TV

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

Waiting on Wednesday: The Thoroughbreds

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 Thoroughbreds by Elin Hilderbrand

Due out: Septemer 15, 2026

Synopsis taken from Amazon:

September at Tiffin Academy is always a heady time, especially for the senior class—“sixth formers,” in Tiffin-speak—a season of college applications and intense pressure, of partying hard and last hurrahs. As the chapel bells ring in students and staff, everyone has something to look forward to—but in the midst of the anticipation and excitement, nagging questions and dark secrets lurk beneath the surface…
 
Are Tiffin’s It Couple, Charley and East, on the rocks? What sparked the rift between football star Dub and his best friend Hakeem? Will Pippa Sacks, posh day student, topple the delicate social hierarchy—or wreak even worse havoc? Can Head of School Audre Robinson save her job—and the school—after a disastrous financial mistake? And what was in that email attachment Cinnamon Peters sent to Dub before she died? 
 
Elin Hilderbrand and her daughter Shelby Cunningham answer these questions and more in The Thoroughbreds, a page-turning story about friendship, treachery, ambition, and growing up, at any age.

Friday Five: A Monday Post When The Weekend Gets Away From You

 It's Memorial Day and I am just now getting around to publishing Friday's post.  We've had a busy weekend here with all the girls being home (the older two just for visits and Little Sister is home for the summer), and one of my best friends and her daughter are here as well, visiting from North Carolina.

I'm trying not to look at any great Memorial Day sales because I know I will find something I love but don't actually need.

However, I did manage to find plenty of thing to share with you.  Enjoy!   

1. Lina Midi Dress in Gingham

2.  Jeffrey Campbell Gum Drop Studded Jelly Sandals

3.  Pilcro Short Sleeve Smock Tee

4.  Riptide One-Piece Black Cocoa Dot

5.  Fate Gauze Short Sleeve Top

6.  Smocked Peplum Top

7.  The Perfect Crewneck Tee

8.  Smocked Shell Tank Top in Floral

9.  Swim Cover-Up Mini Dress

10. Puff Sleeve Maxi Dress

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

Waiting on Wednesday: Hollow Bones

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

This week's pick: Hollow Bones by Jodi Picoult

Due out September 22, 2026

Synopsis taken from Amazon:

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of By Any Other Name comes a riveting novel about the risks we take to protect the ones we love in a world where crisis is always just around the corner.

On September 11, 2001, when Molly Fitzgerald was only two months old, her mother went to an appointment at the World Trade Center and never came home. Her father and the stepmother who raised her couldn’t have loved her more, but she still grew up with a healthy dread of disasters.

Now an adult, she runs the Rhode Island Department for Emergency Preparedness, mapping out ways to save lives during storms, epidemics, and airplane crashes. She and her husband, Jesse—a police polygraph expert with his own history of crisis—have found a love that is a solace in a dangerous world. But then the unexpected upends their new marriage, leading them both to question everything they thought they knew.

Moving between past and present, Hollow Bones is an epic story of the lies we tell ourselves as we write the narratives of our lives, the plans we design to protect ourselves at the worst moments, and the ties that bind mothers and daughters.

Monday Mini Reviews: Five Star Read: The Burning Side

I loved The Bright Years, Damoff's debut, when I read it last year.  And if it's possible, I think I love The Burning Side even more. 

This story begins on the night that Alice and Leo escape from their burning house with their young children.  This is also the night that Leo has told Alice he wants a divorce.

From that starting point, the story moves back and forth in time, narrated by Alice, Leo, and Deb (Alice's mother).  

We are able to see how Leo and Alice met, and the beginning of their relationship and marriage. At the same time, Deb also shares the origins of her marriage to Billy.  We see Deb and Billy as Alice's parents, devoted to each other and their family, but through Deb's narration, we get a fuller depiction of things.

In some parts I wanted to page ahead to make sure things turned out alright for everyone. I would inwardly groan at conversations that ended with hurt feelings, or in anger.  These characters felt so real to me - all of their imperfections made them human.

And I love the way Damoff writes about marriage.  We get to see the highs and lows, the small moments that make up everyday life, and the reality that marriages endure some hard times.

This would be a great book club selection. It's for anyone who loves character driven novels, or well written fiction.  And I can't wait to see what Damoff writes next.

Friday Five

 

1. Linen Blend Popover Top

2.  Knotted Muscle Tee

3.  New Balance 327 Denim Shoes

4.  Lottie Love Sleep Set

5.  Izzie Relaxed Pull On Shorts

6.   9" Downtown Bermuda Shorts

7.  French Terry Oversized V-Neck Sweatshirt

8.  The Lodge Pant "Crepette"

9. Gola Hawk Sneakers

10.  Four Seasons- Season Two

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

Waiting on Wednesday: Valley of the Moms

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

This week's pick Valley of the Moms by Hannah Selinger

Due out: June 16, 2026

Synopsis taken from Amazon:

Stepford Wives meets Big Little Lies in this twisty thriller that uncovers the untruths, petty grievances, and local school politics underneath a seemingly quaint small town.

Hamilton, Massachusetts is one of those suburban towns that appears untouched by the outside world where stay-at-home moms wear 2ct diamond studs to the playground, where a million-dollar property is “affordable,” and where the Parent Teacher Organization is a hotbed of controversy. Sure, some people struggle to make ends meet, but residents would say discussing such ugly matters is impolite. Hamilton has been like this forever, and everyone likes it that way. Or: almost everyone.

It's not that Anna Plummer doesn't like Hamilton, but she never thought she'd be married with two young kids, comfortable, complacent…and growing more bored by the minute. So, when she realizes her second grader won't be able to attend the "Ziti with Your Sweetie" school dance because she didn’t pay for a “Premium” membership, she snaps. She sends an email to the terrifying president of the PTO—and all hell breaks loose.

One year later, Anna is found dead in the frozen Ipswich River. Left to pick up the pieces, her husband, Denny, is shaken to his core. He's no expert, but he's seen enough Dateline to know that the police think he's the main suspect. If they aren't going to get justice for Anna, he will. Told through the alternating perspectives of Anna and Denny exactly one year apart, and with a shocking concluding twist, Valley of the Moms is a gripping look at the underpinnings of grief, the social structures of wealth, and the secrets people keep—even among friends and loved ones.

Friday Five

The weeks are flying by.  The end of this school year brings unknowns again for the fall.  Despite the fact that I've had four libraries to run this year, and have spent a lot of time driving back and forth to different buildings and been in and out of countless classrooms, I have enjoyed getting to work with elementary students again.  And next year, because the district has cut another two library positions, there will be no librarians in any of our eleven elementary buildings.  The number of colleagues, community members and parents who have all voiced their disappointment in the short-sightedness of the decision, does not change this decision.  I'm grateful to have a job in the library but there is no actual plan for what this might look like.  And this is not what is best for students. 

So, I'm trying my best to enjoy this last month with the students.  And because I have four libaries to inventory there isn't much time to think about how much I will miss these kids.

I'm finding so many great things I'd love to add to my closet.  The willpower comes and goes, so there are packages that keep showing up for me. 

Enjoy this week's finds!

 

1.  The A & F Madeline Whipstitch Crew Sweater

2.  Garden Square Scarf

3.  Ruthie Woven Ballet Flats

4.  The Linen Marine Wide Leg Pant Vintage Ivy

5.  BDG Bridget Cotton Slub Knit Oversized Cardigan

6.  Indigo Tencel Lyocell Zip-Front Jacket

7.  Charlotte Striped Vest

8.  Cora Hand-Made Crochet Cardigan

9.   Princess Charlotte's Eleventh Birthday Picture

10.  Ted Lasso Season 2

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

Waiting on Wednesday: The Amateur

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 Amateur by Chris Bohjalian

Due out: August 

Synopsis taken from Amazon:

When a young woman, a golf prodigy, kills a caddy with a stray ball at the country club, the investigation of this freak accident reveals a dark and shocking tale of secret affairs and predatory men, and suddenly a teenager is on trial in this spellbinding novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Midwives and The Flight Attendant.

1978: It is the first Thursday in August and temperatures are flirting with ninety when Mira Winston, eighteen years old, drives a golf ball from her tee toward the practice net near the clubhouse and caddy shack. The golf ball, weighing 1.6 ounces, tears through the net, traveling 150 miles per hour, and slams, with sickening force, into the temple of a high school junior named Kenny Foster, rupturing an artery and unleashing a torrent of blood. Kenny brings his hand to the side of his head, then topples onto his side. He’s dead before the ambulance even arrives.

In the wake of this terrible accident—and everyone, at first, agrees it was an accident—Mira looks for comfort in all the wrong places: In her lover, Theo Catton, a married man three decades her senior. In her mother, a well-kept woman with secrets of her own. In the dead caddy’s little sisters, girls bewildered by grief. But when the investigators look more closely at the torn net, when a detective recalls Mira’s history of recklessness, and when Kenny’s father spies Mira with her married lover, the affluent and mannered community turns on this once-promising young woman. A gripping story that takes the reader from the sun-soaked greens of a tony Westchester country club to the fluorescent-lit stand of a county courtroom, The Amateur asks: What happens when one small moment—a swing, a ball, a piece of string—changes the course of an entire life?