I'm really enjoying these Fridays that I have free. Summer school only meets four half days a week, so Fridays are a nice time to relax a little at home. We are now halfway through with summer school, so a real break is just around the corner.
The weather has been hot, and will forever enjoy that more than I enjoy cold and snow. I'm still finding things to buy for the summer, but I suspect that in a few weeks fall clothes will be coming out.
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: Hot Desk by Laura Dickerman
Due out: September 2, 2025
Synopsis taken from Amazon:
Younger meets Writers & Lovers in this rollicking, sparkling, and funny novel that spans decades and generations of a family in the publishing industry.
In the post-pandemic publishing industry, two rival editors are forced to share a “hot desk” on different days of the week, much to their chagrin. Having never set eyes on each other, Rebecca Blume and Ben Heath begin leaving passive-aggressive Post-it notes on the pot of their shared cactus. But when revered literary legend Edward David Adams (known as “the Lion”) dies, leaving his estate up for grabs, their banter escalates as both work feverishly to land this career-making opportunity. Their fierce rivalry ultimately forces each to decide how far they’ll go to get ahead, what role they want to play in the Lion’s legacy, and what they mean to each other.
As their battle for the estate gets more heated, Rebecca learns of a connection between her mother, Jane, and the Lion. The story travels back four decades earlier to when Jane arrives in Manhattan and meets Rose, soon her best friend. Jane and Rose are two strong, talented young women trying to make their mark in the publishing world at a time when art, the written word, and creative expression were at their height. But one fateful day during the April blizzard of 1982 will change the course of Jane’s life, and of their friendship, forever...
On Thursday I picked up Wally Lamb's newest book, intending to read just a few pages before I started cleaning. I knew within just a few minutes that my day was not going to be productive; I needed to read the entire book that day.
It's been such a long time since I've read anything by Wally Lamb that I can't recall writing style or details, but I can recall reading I Know This Much Is True adn also being unable to put it down.
Corby and his wife Emily are a young couple raising their toddler twins. When Corby loses his job, he stays home with the twins while his wife, Emily, goes to work each day. Corby is a great dad, but he also begins drinking and overdosing on his prescription medication as he struggles with the anxiety of being out of work.
When a tragedy occurs - one that is Corby's fault- their family is forever changed. Corby wants forgiveness from Emily, but he isn't able to forgive himself. While he spends time in prison, life on the outside goes on, and Corby works hard to find happiness where he can and hopes to be with his wife and daughter when he is released.
I loved every single page of this book, and found the ending to be particulary heartbreaking. This one won't feel like it's nearly five hundred pages because it moves fast.
I didn't always like Corby's decisions, but his dialogue with Emily as they talk on the phone shows his insecurities and needs that are right at the surface- too hard for him to hold in, and as a reader you could feel the pain he was in.
I've been telling my friends that this is one I need them to read. Put it on hold at your library, download it to your kindle, buy a copy. This is a fantastic five star read.
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 Break In by Katherine Faulkner
Due out: August 26, 2025
Synopsis taken from Amazon:
After killing an intruder in self-defense, a wealthy London mother must unravel a terrifying mystery filled with twists and turns, from the author of the “deliciously twisted thriller” (People) The Other Mothers.
Alice, a professional mother of one, is hosting a playdate with friends at her upscale London home when a disturbed man breaks in. With her child in the next room, Alice panics and kills him—an act later ruled to have been in self-defense.
Everyone tries to encourage Alice to move on with her life—but with strange comments appearing online, a mysterious phone call telling her all is not as it seems, and her husband, nanny, and friends behaving strangely, Alice finds herself drawn to the mystery of who her intruder really was. As she digs deeper, she discovers a trail of dark secrets that spiral closer to home than she ever could have imagined.
I love adding new nonfiction to my TBR. Here's a title coming out this fall I can't wait to read:
Don't Call It A Comeback: What Happened When I Stopped Chasing PRs and Started Chasing Happiness by Keira D'Amato
Due out September 9, 2025
Synopsis taken from Amazon:
"Don't Call It a Comeback is fireworks in a crowded field of athlete memoirs. With a knack for hilariously vulnerable storytelling, Keira unspools a fascinating tale of her unconventional running career." ―Shelby Van Pelt, New York Times bestselling author of Remarkably Bright Creatures
A victorious tale of coming back in middle age to topple marathon records, from the running world's most beloved underdog, mom of two, and woman voted "most fun follow" on Strava.
Keira D’Amato was an all-American runner who used to chase success. But after being injured in her early twenties, she assumed her running career was over, and settled into life as a military spouse and mother of two young children. In her early thirties, she found herself overweight, out of shape, and battling postpartum depression. She knew that improving her fitness would make her feel better, and told herself to just get out and run ninety seconds, down her street and back. To her dismay, she couldn’t do it. But two days later she tried again. And six years after that, she broke the American women’s record in the marathon at the age of thirty-seven.
Keira has created a buzz in the world of professional athletics by taking the road less traveled. The normal trajectory for an elite female athlete has been to focus on sport first, then get a "real" job, and finally, have a family. Keira upended that: she married her high school sweetheart, had two babies in quick succession, began her career in real estate―and only then returned to running. But it’s not just her relatable background that makes Keira so popular amongst fellow runners. We assume that to be successful, one must be serious and humorless, with an all-or-nothing approach to ambition. But what if the opposite were true―that cultivating more fun, and more variety in your life could actually help you reach your biggest goals?
At an age when most athletes consider retirement, Keira is just getting started. And she’s determined to share the secrets of her success to help readers to start chasing their own happiness, to dream a big, scary dream, and ultimately to find their way back to themselves.
I've had such a good week of reading. The quality of the books I've picked up has been excellent. I have been devouring books, which is great, but I am sure that will slow down once I start in on a few other projects.
Last week I dropped off some books for my cousin's twin boys. Listening to them talk, enjoy some stories, eat supper....two and a half year olds are delightful. I think I could visit them every day - it would certainly be hard to be in a bad mood around them.
Two of my favorites this past week:
A Family Matter by Claire Lynch is not only a Book of the Month selection but also a Jenna Bush Hager book club pick - and it is fantastic. At just over 200 pages, this was a one-sit read for me, and I loved every page. Moving between the present day and the early 80s, we meet Heron who raised his daughter Maggie by himself. In the 1980s, Maggie was just a little girl and has no memories of her mother, Dawn, who left the family. Readers see Dawn's perspective as well as Maggie's as their stories are revealed. The writing in this novel is so good - spare, yet enough. I can't wait to talk about this one with friends.
Audrey Ingram's The Summer We Ran has been all over Instagram. It's also a Book of the Month pick for June. This was also a fast read, and easy to get into. Another book that moved between time frames, we see Grant and Tess as teenagers who fall in love despite coming from different backgrounds. Thirty years later, Tess and Grant are political opponents, battling for the governorship of Virginia. They've kept their past a secret, until a photo from long ago surfaces and the two must connect with each other and come to terms with what happened that ended their love affair.
I've still got a few more from the past week that are worth sharing and I'll be picking up another new book to start before bed tonight. What else do I need to add to my TBR?
It seems amazing that school has been out for just one week. I worked at school all week - different building, packing up a library for a move - and will start summer school on Monday.
I have been reading a lot. And not getting a lot of other stuff done - like the house cleaning projects I started a bit ago that are all only partially completed.
Here are the things I found to share this Friday. Enjoy!
I was the kid who always had a book open under my desk, reading a novel while my teacher taught us a lesson. So it is no surprise that I learned nothing about space, the stars, or the various missions in the space race.
As an adult this is a topic I find fascinating, and I've read both fiction and nonfiction books on the topic of space.
Taylor Jenkins Reid's book Atmosphere is THE BOOK of summer, and I devoured it over the weekend.
It's the 1980s and Joan Goodwin has been accepted into NASA's shuttle program. Women are finally being included in a field previously reserved for men. While there's a little suspense in this novel, there is also a lot of character development. We watch Joan struggle to find who she really is and what she wants, work through a complex relationship with her sister, Barbara, and experience uncomplicated joy when she's with her niece, Frances. Joan hasn't chosen an easy path professionally or personally, and as the novel unfolds we understand Joan's choices.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It might not be my favorite TJR, but she consistently delivers enjoyable unputdownable fiction and this one lived up to the hype.
And if you are in the mood for a few more books about space/astronauts/the space race, here are ten more titles (a combination of fiction and nonfiction) for you to enjoy.
1. The Six: The Untold Story of America's First Women Astronauts by Loren Grush
2. The Astronauts Wives Club by Lily Koppel
3. The New Guys by Meredith Bagby
4. The Martian by Andy Weir
5. Challenger by Adam Higginbotham
6. October Sky by Homer Hickam
7. Rocket Men by Robert Kurson
8. Packing For Mars by Mary Roach
9. Shoot For The Moon by James Donovan
10. The Time It Takes to Fall by Margaret Lazarus Dean
This week's pick: The Secret Book Society by Madeline Martin
Due out: August 26, 2025
Synopsis taken from Amazon:
A captivating new historical novel from Madeline Martin, set in Victorian London about a forbidden book club, dangerous secrets and the women who dare to break free.
You are cordially invited to the Secret Book Society…
London, 1885: Trapped by oppressive marriages and societal expectations, three women receive a mysterious invitation to an afternoon tea at the home of the reclusive Lady Duxbury. Beneath the genteel facade of the gathering lies a secret book club—a sanctuary where they can discover freedom, sisterhood and the courage to rewrite their stories.
Eleanor Clarke, a devoted mother suffocating under the tyranny of her husband. Rose Wharton, a transplanted American dollar princess struggling to fit the mold of an aristocratic wife. Lavinia Cavendish, an artistic young woman haunted by a dangerous family secret. All are drawn to the enigmatic Lady Duxbury, a thrice-widowed countess whose husbands’ untimely deaths have sparked whispers of murder.
As the women form deep, heartwarming friendships, they uncover secrets about their marriages, their pasts and the risks they face. Their courage is their only weapon in the oppressive world that has kept them silent, but when secrets are deadly, one misstep could cost them everything.
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: Our Last Vineyard Summer by Brooke Lea Foster
Due out: July 1, 2025
Synopsis taken from Amazon:
From the “great storyteller” (Natalie Jenner, author of The Jane Austen Society) Brooke Lea Foster, a captivating new novel set in 1965 and 1978 about a graduate student who returns with her sisters to their family’s summer home on Martha’s Vineyard and begins to unravel old family secrets.
After suffering through her first year of graduate school at Columbia following her senator father’s death, Betsy Whiting is hoping to spend the summer with her boyfriend…and hopefully end the summer as his fiancée. Instead, her mother—a longtime feminist and leader in the women’s movement—calls Betsy and her sisters back home to Martha’s Vineyard, announcing that they need to sell their beloved summer house to pay off their father’s debts.
When Betsy arrives on the island a week later, she must reckon with her strained familial relationships, a long-ago forbidden romance, and the complicated legacy of her parents, who divided the family even as they did good for the world.
Following a dual timeline between 1965 and 1978, and filled with the vibrant, sunlit nostalgia of the cherished New England vacation setting, Our Last Vineyard Summerpoignantly captures two generations of women navigating love, loss, and womanhood while trying to find the courage to stand up for what they believe in—and the strength to decide if the home they once loved is worth saving.
I have always loved books about words. Just this past weekend, when looking through picture books, I pulled out several titles that I had initially intended to take to Goodwill, but ultimately couldn't part with because I wanted to use them with groups of students.
Antics by Cathi Hepworth is a book I've had since I started teaching (and at this point that is a long time ago). I can easily see challenging students to find words with "ant" in them: romantic, antler, lantern...you get the idea. So, I returned this book to the pile of books I am still keeping around.
And then, this morning, while I was driving to work I listed to Thoughts From A Page, one of my favorite bookish podcasts. Cindy just received a copy of this book, which is publishing in August. And once I heard the description, I ordered it for myself.
Even better, there is a podcast A Way With Words, hosted by Martha Barnette, that is now on my radar.
Synopsis taken from Amazon:
With warmth, a popular radio and podcast host shares her love of language, weaving together linguistic history, regional phrases, the hidden poetry in etymologies, new words, and stories from her life and time on the air
Martha Barnette has spent two decades as the co-host of A Way with Words, lauded by Mary Norris in The New Yorker as “a virtual treasure house” and “‘Car Talk’ for Lexiphiles.” Over that time, she’s developed a keen sense of what fascinates people about language. They are curious about etymology and revel in slang, are surprised by regional vocabulary and celebrate linguistic diversity. Idioms both puzzle and delight word lovers, and they are eager to share family neologisms and that weird phrase Grandma always used to say.
In Friends with Words, Barnette weaves together all these strands in a clear, informative, highly entertaining exploration of language. Chock-full of anecdotes, humorous asides, new words, trivia, and other lexicological delights, Friends with Words also tells Barnette’s story—from her Appalachian roots through her study of Ancient Greek, and on to the making of a beloved and enduring show. Friends with Words is an expert, good-humored, joyful book.
Coming out on August 5, I can't wait to get my hands on it.
