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?

NonFiction Tuesday: Upcoming: The Vanishing Family

I love adding to my TBR and I love reading nonfiction.  I enjoyed Robert Kolker's previous book, Hidden Valley Road, so his newest book is an auto-buy for me.

 

The Vanishing Family: Love, Fate and the Quest To End Dementia by Robert Kolker 

Due out: September 29, 2026

Synopsis taken from Amazon:

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Valley Road comes the heart-wrenching journey of a family facing an unthinkable destiny, whose flawed genetic code might hold the long-sought key to a cure for dementia.

In the idyllic American town of Pleasant Hills, Pennsylvania, there lived a family with nine siblings, the youngest a girl named Barb. As the older children headed off to college and started their lives, only Barb was home to see their beautiful, still-young mother fall under a gothic spell, changing into someone she didn’t recognize: withdrawn, neglectful, uncaring. Thus begins The Vanishing Family, journalist Robert Kolker’s superb follow-up to Hidden Valley Road (“Deeply compassionate and chilling,” wrote The Washington Post). This family, we learn, has a genetic mutation that causes dementia, but with an especially cruel twist. As early as their forties, formerly loving parents and hard-driving executives will lose their jobs, have affairs, take up drinking—shed all inhibitions and sense of responsibility—and become people their families hardly know. Their former personalities seem to vanish—and there is a fifty-fifty chance that it will happen to their children, too.

The Vanishing Family unfolds like a heartbreaking thriller as the siblings begin to realize that what happened to their mother is happening to them: first one, then two, three, four, and more begin to change. Sue, in search of a calling, finds her place in caring for the others. Barb sets out to find a cure. Alongside their story, Kolker weaves in the dramatic scientific fight against dementia; after decades of blind alleys, this this family’s rare form of FTD (frontotemporal dementia) might lead to a breakthrough in the prevention and treatment of all dementia—including the scourge of Alzheimer’s disease. Moving, intimate, unexpectedly hopeful and redemptive, The Vanishing Family is an enthralling narrative about one family’s fate, and a medical detective story that speaks to all of us who fear losing ourselves at the end.

Friday Five

 

1.  Giselle Wide Leg Ankle Trouser Pants

2.   Boat Neck Denim Bubble Midi Dress by Anthropologie

3.  Straight Hem Short Sleeve Shirt

4.  Hailey High Rise Bermuda Short In Chocolate

5.  The Denner

6.  Maeve Cotton Sleeveless Muscle Sweatshirt

7.  100% European Linen Patch Pocket Wide Leg Pants

8.  Katie Cotton Rollneck Sweater Vest

9.  Tabitha Shirt

10.  Prince Louis 8th Birthday

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

Thursday: Five Star YA: One Word, Six Letters

I pre-ordered this one after hearing what Colby Sharp had to say about it a while ago and I knew from the beginning that it was a five-star read.  

 

Dayton takes a dare and yells the f-slur at a school assembly not anticipating the fallout that this creats.  He loses friends, disappoints his parents, and finds that one mistake can not only have unforeseen consequences, but also create lasting (negative) effects.  

Farshid is a student in the auditorium when Dayton yells the slur.  Although the slur wasn't directed at him, Farshid has been grappling with his own sexual identity and hearing another student's feelings about it causes him to face what it is like to be queer in a world where not everyone accepts that. 

Both boys must decide what kind of man they want to grow up to be.  

This book is full of important topics for discussion and as soon as I finished it, I quickly shared it with our eighth grade English teachers, who started reading and immediately ordered herself a copy.  

I'm so glad I picked this one up and will be sharing this one with anyone who enjoys reading great YA lit.

Waiting on Wednesday: The Half Life

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 Half Life by Rachel Beanland

Due out: July 14, 2026

Synopsis taken from Amazon:

From the author of Florence Adler Swims Forever and The House Is on Fire, a novel set on a remote Italian island, about a navy wife’s reckoning with power, love, and the price of staying silent in the Atomic Age.

When twenty-three-year-old Eileen O’Malley meets charismatic naval officer Paul Archer in a Charleston department store, she doesn’t expect to fall so hard, so fast. But Paul is funny and ambitious, and soon, Eileen’s got a ring on her finger and is following him to the tiny, sun-drenched Mediterranean island of La Maddalena, where Paul will be heading up Radiological Controls aboard a submarine tender.

In La Maddalena, Eileen joins a makeshift community of Navy wives, who are hell bent on making the island feel a little more like home. But for Eileen, whose brother died in Vietnam, home is a loaded word, and as she settles into life on the island—taking Italian lessons and learning to make culurgiones—she begins to love the place for all the ways it is not like where she comes from.

Still, it doesn’t take long for Eileen to be confronted with the complexities of being an American abroad. The decision to send nuclear-powered subs into the La Maddalena Archipelago was a contentious one, and the US government is doing whatever it can to ensure that the island—not to mention all of Italy—doesn’t go communist in the next election.

When Italian activists and scientists begin to sound the alarm about possible nuclear contamination in the water, the island erupts in a series of protests, made worse by the ongoing mishaps of the US Navy. Soon, Eileen’s marriage falters and her loyalties begin to shift as she is drawn into a web of secrets—and to a local journalist who forces her to imagine a life beyond the one she’s been handed.

Atmospheric, sexy, and quietly defiant, The Half Life is a story of love, complicity, and awakening—of one woman forced to choose between loyalty to her husband and country and to the Italian locals who show her the high cost of American exceptionalism.

Tuesday Non Fiction: Reading On Topic

I love watching golf.  I played in high school, but that is a long time ago.  My parents both golfed and my dad often had the television tuned in to the Golf Channel. My husband golfs, and so do most of our extended families.  Reading about golf is one way I still enjoy the sport- and it is far less frustrating than actually playing.  

 

Rory McIlroy's win at the Masters this year was perfect timing for his biography being released. I had it next to my night stand to start reading, and my husband quickly snatched it up.  He has already finished it and given it back to me so I can enjoy it, and then we can discuss it.

A few years ago we both read Tiger Woods by Jeff Benedict. This is a chunker of a book, but I feel like I grew up watching Tiger and his athletic prowess is something to behold. However, his personal life does not necessarily make him seem like a nice guy, and with his latest struggles, I've been thinking about this book a bit more.

I can still vividly recall A Good Walk Spoiled sitting next to my dad's side of the bed. Feinstein's sports writing is always something I enjoy reading.  And still on my TBR are The Match: The Day The Game of Golf Changed Forever by Mark Frost and Seven Days in Augusta: Behind the Scenes at the Masters by Mark Cannizzaro.

I know there are plenty of other golf related titles.  I've read a few others and have a fiction golf-related book checked out from the library right now.  

Do you have a sport you enjoy reading about?

Monday Mini Reviews: A Pair of Excellent Reads

Each week I feel like I'm falling further behind as my TBR continues to grow.  I read in any free moment I have, and luckily I have enjoyed some fantastic books.

 All The World Can Hold takes place immediately after 9/11 and is such a throwback to that time period.  Three separate stories unfold on the cruise ship: Fanny and her husband are taking Fanny's mom, brother and his girlfriend on a cruise for her mom's 70th brithday.  Fanny has always felt like she must hold things together and live up to her mom's expectations.  There are a lot of things unspoken between the various members of this family, and Fanny tries to ignore the horror she witnessed on 9/11, unwilling to let herself feel any emotions about it.  

Doug, a former star of a Love Boat style television show is on board the ship, reuniting with some fellow castmates who seem to have bad feelings toward Doug, even though he can't remember anything that might have happened to make them feel so negatively about him.

And Lucy is on the cruise after being invited at the last minute by her roommate.  She has blown off her job search for a few days, needing a break from the stresses she is feeling about needing to find a good job.  She's looking for work in the tech industry, not really sure about a new start-up company called Google.  

These three stories were all compelling and I enjoyed this one a lot.

Romcoms have been a go-to for me this past year that I've had a lot of success with.  This was a JBH book club pick this year and hit just the spot for me. 

Cassia and her family run a Fated Love business, seeing people in past lives as couples and helping them find each other again. There's the need to suspend disbelief, which I was OK with.

And once I could look past that, I enjoyed this story so much.  Cassia has been looking for a man for the past decade. She's known his name, but has never been able to find him. She's nearing forty and would like to find her Mr. Right.  When Ellis helps her after a bike accident, the two have a steamy night together. But Cassia can't let it go any further.  She's been fated to someone else, after all. 

And when Ellis leads her directly to the man she's destined to be with, Cassia is sure she's on a path to happily ever after.  Except she can't stop thinking about Ellis.

This is such a good romance.  I loved Ellis and I loved Ellis and Cassia together.  I'm happy that Goo has a backlist I can enjoy as well.  

Waiting on Wednesday: A Pair of Aces

 

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: A Pair of Aces by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

Due out: June 23, 2026

Synopsis taken from Amazon:

A gripping novel about two trailblazing women on opposite sides of the law—a prosecutor and a madam—who team up to bring down notorious mob boss Lucky Luciano in 1930s New York, from the New York Times bestselling authors of the million-copy bestseller The Personal Librarian.

Eunice Carter, assistant district attorney for the City of New York and Manhattan’s first Black female prosecutor, has her sights set on the one and only Lucky Luciano, head of New York City’s five largest organized crime families. Other prosectors have tried to bring down Lucky, but they’ve all focused on the crime syndicate’s traditional businesses—bootlegging, gambling, loan sharking, and drug dealing—or tax evasion. No one has thought to approach the mob through its hand in prostitution. Until Eunice. But she can’t get Luciano alone.

Polly Adler has worked long and hard to build up her high-class brothel business. Her client list is filled with well-known names, both the famous and the infamous, who all know her booze is top-notch, her music first-rate, her food exquisite, and her girls the best. But Lucky has gone too far, putting her girls in danger, and Polly finally sees the chance to end his reign once and for all.

Together, Eunice and Polly fashion a case utilizing a network of women. Bridging the enormous divide between them and risking their own lives, they assemble evidence bit by bit, under the nose of the man they’re trying to convict. It is this very alliance—of two women from vastly different worlds—that launches the most sensational trial New York City has ever seen.

Friday Five

 Just about the time I think it is warming up, we have another burst of cold weather.  Yesterday it was in the mid-seventies in the morning, and the mid to lower fifties by the end of the day.  When I woke up this morning it was only in the low thirties.  This is spring in Iowa.

I am happily finding great warm weather clothes.  It is unfortunate that during the summer months I don't have many opportunities to actually wear anything besides exercise clothing because there are really cute things I've ordered recently. 

I've got a pile of actual school work to do tomorrow as well as cleaning and meal prep for the week, but weekends as empy nesters are far less busy than they used to be.  Sometimes that feels nice, and sometimes it feels like we need to find some new hobbies.

Enjoy this week's finds!

New Balance 327 - Blue Gingham

2.  The Nikki Bubble Sweatshirt

3. Cap Sleeve Pointelle Knit Cardigan

4. Calia Women's Everyday Rib Boxy Long Sleeve Tee

5. Libby Patchwork Zip-Up Oversized Hoodie

6.  Palm Linen Cotton Wrap Skort

7.  Crochet-Styled Collared Cardigan

8.  Sky Picnic Blouse

9.  European Linen Short Sleeve Popover Top

10.  Margo's Got Money Troubles

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

Waiting on Wednesday: The Burning Side

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 Burning Side by Sarah Damoff

Due out: June 16, 2026

Synopsis taken from Amazon:

From the author of The Bright Years, the story of April and Leo, a couple on the brink of collapse. When their house goes up in flames, family secrets and thorny histories emerge as they are forced to decide what is worth salvaging.

When April and Leo’s house burns in the middle of the night, they escape with their two young children and the quiet knowledge that the fire is not the only thing threatening their family. They retreat to April’s childhood home in Dallas, where her spirited parents and siblings provide both comfort and complication.

As the family reckons with the aftermath—grief, guilt, logistics, and memories scorched and intact—the fire exposes the cracks already forming in April and Leo’s marriage. The novel unfolds in alternating perspectives: from April, who feels the crushing weight of motherhood, marriage, and self-blame; from Leo, a high school history teacher shaped by a lonely, fractured childhood; from Deb, April’s generous and no-nonsense mother who has to contend with her husband’s recent Alzheimer’s diagnosis; and from flashbacks that trace April and Leo’s relationship from its earliest days of connection to the devastating decisions that led them here.

A family saga suffused with humor, longing, and heartbreak, The Burning Side is about what we inherit and what we choose, about forgiveness and the ache of being known. It is, above all, about the meaning of home and the costs of long love.