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Showing posts with label Carol Goodman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Carol Goodman. Show all posts
Thursday, September 04, 2025
The Bookish Books Reading Challenge: September Book Ideas and Link-Up for Reviews
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I'm late to post again this month. September is already getting away from me and it's barely even started. Yikes! This is going to be a quick post, too, because I only read two bookish books in August. They were:
The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows—This historical novel, which I listened to on audio, takes place in a small West Virigina town in 1938. When a wealthy socialite from Washington, D.C. is cut off by her father, who insists she needs to learn how to live independently, she is forced to take a job with the Federal Writers' Project. She is tasked with writing a town history of a berg in the middle of nowhere, exactly where she does not want to be. As she gets to know the quirky Romeyn family, however, she finds her attitude toward many things changing.
Writers and Liars by Carol Goodman—Goodman's newest mystery/thriller stars an antiquities museum director who is invited back to the privately-owned Greek island where she once lived for a summer during a writers' retreat. Unable to write after suffering a heartbreaking betrayal, she has done her best to put the whole terrible experience behind her. Now, fifteen years later, she vows to go back and confront those who did her wrong. She counted on drama, but not a dead body...
Those are the only bookish books I read last month. How about you? What bookish reads did you enjoy in August?
I'm not sure yet what exactly I'll be reading this month. Here are three possibilities:
The Lamplighter's Bookshop by Sophie Austin—I like the sound of this historical novel. It's about a woman who is left penniless after her father wracks up enormous debts with his gambling, leaving her and her mother destitute. In order to keep them from the poorhouse, the daughter applies for a position at a bookstore. Much to her chagrin, she's not the only one who wants the job. Can she and her handsome, enigmatic competitor find a way to work together so they both win?
The Librarians by Sherry Thomas (available September 30, 2025)—I was fortunate to receive an e-ARC of this novel from NetGalley. When a murder at their workplace shatters the peace and refuge they've found at the library, a ragtag group of librarians must band together to save the library they love.
The Sisters of Book Row by Shelley Noble (available March 3, 2026)—Okay, so I don't actually have a copy of this book, which doesn't come out until next year, but I'm praying to the gods of NetGalley and Edelweiss that I can snag an e-ARC. It sounds like a great bookish read.
Based on real circumstances, this historical novel is set in 1915 Manhattan where a vicious censor named Anthony Comstock is eagerly outlawing the publication of any works he deems inappropriate or dangerous. The three Applebaum sisters, owners of a Book Row bookstore, are determined to stop him at any cost.
What about you? What bookish books are you planning to read in September?
If you are participating in the 2025 Bookish Books Reading Challenge, please use the widget below to link-up your September reviews. If you're not signed up for the challenge yet, what are you waiting for? Click here to join the party.
Friday, May 02, 2025
The Bookish Books Reading Challenge: May Book Ideas and Link-Up for Reviews
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I just realized it's been a whole month since I published a post here at BBB. Such a slacker! I've been reading (that never stops), but I haven't been reviewing books except on Goodreads. (Are you following me there? You should be.) I've even been skipping out on my favorite meme, Top Ten Tuesday. Yikes! Hopefully, I can get back into the swing of things soon.
At any rate, how are you doing with the Bookish Books Reading Challenge? (I would know if I had been visiting your review posts, which I haven't been doing either.) I'm doing fairly well with it, actually. So far this year, I've read ten bookish books. That's not so bad, right?
In April, I read and enjoyed both of these:
The Boxcar Librarian by Brianna Labuskes—This new historical novel is all about the power of stories to uplift and inspire. It features two women who brave all the challenges of the Montana wilderness to bring books to people in isolated mining camps. A third comes to Big Sky country in order to help with a Works Progress Administration (WPA) program aimed at employing jobless writers and editors to write travel guides for the American states. In doing so, she uncovers a mystery involving the two boxcar librarians.
The Raven Thief by Gigi Pandian—The second installment in a cozy mystery series starring an out-of-work magician who reluctantly returns home to work for her family's unique construction business, The Raven Thief is a murder mystery centered around an Edgar Allen Poe-themed party that goes horribly awry.
What bookish books did you read in April?
I'm not sure what I'm going to be reading in May since I really don't plan out my reading, but these two look good:
Writers and Liars by Carol Goodman (available July 15, 2025)—Goodman's one of my go-to mystery/thriller authors, so I'm excited for her newest. Hopefully, I can get an e-ARC sometime soon. The story is about a group of authors who were invited to an exclusive writing retreat on a Greek Island fifteen years ago. Something sinister happened then. Now, that same group of writers is being invited back for a cutthroat writing competition that, once again, turns bloody. Whodunit?
Just Another Dead Author by Katarina Bivald (available August 12, 2025)—This mystery has a very similar plot to the above book. It's about Berit Gardner, a mystery author who travels to the French countryside to attend a writer's conference. When the keynote speaker, a despised literary critic, dies suddenly after delivering his lecture, it throws the gathering into chaos. While the police launch an investigation, Berit decides to do her own digging. Plenty of people wanted revenge on the harsh critic, but who actually did the deed?
The Lady and Her Quill by Ruth A. Casie—I'm not much of a romance reader, but this one sounds fun. It's about two rival authors who design a competition to see who is the better writer. Both of them are to craft a story based on a newspaper headline about a stolen treasure. As they delve into the task, the contest gets more dangerous than they could ever have imagined. When Lady Alicia Hartley is captured by the thieves, it's up to her rival to rescue her. Can he save the woman he loves to hate? What if her adventure gives her the better story? Can he win at both writing and love?
Are you planning to read any bookish books in May?
If you are participating in the 2025 Bookish Books Reading Challenge, please use the widget below to link-up your May reviews. If you're not signed up for the challenge yet, what are you waiting for? Click here to join the party.
Saturday, September 07, 2024
The Bookish Books Reading Challenge: September Book Ideas and Link-Up for Reviews
To no one's surprise, I'm late again with my monthly post for the Bookish Books Reading Challenge! Sigh. One of these days I'll get on the ball with my host-ly duties. Until then, here's a recap of my bookish reading in August:
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett—I don't know if I read this classic as a child or not, but I enjoyed it as an adult. It's about a young girl who experiences a total reversal of fortune after her father's death. Stuck at an English boarding school, she must make the best of her new life as a cast down servant instead of a pampered pupil. She finds solace where she always has—in reading and making up stories.
We Solve Murders by Richard Osman (available September 17, 2024)—This hilarious whodunit features a crime-solving trio, one of whom is a famous, bestselling murder mystery writer. When Rosie D'Antonio features a barely fictional Russian mobster in one of her books, she becomes the target of the real one. She hires Amy Wheeler as her private bodyguard. Amy enlists the help of her beloved father-in-law Steve to help her and Rosie solve a string of murders.
Louder Than Hunger by John Schu—A middle-grade verse novel about disordered eating, this book features a 13-year-old boy with anorexia who loves to read. He's especially into poetry, with Emily Dickinson being his favorite poet. She's mentioned a lot in the story.
Return to Wyldcliffe Heights by Carol Goodman—Like millions of readers, Agnes Corey adores The Secret of Wyldcliffe Heights, a Jane Eyre readalike that won its author legions of fans when it was published two decades ago. Blinded after a tragic fire that echoed events in her iconic book, author Veronica St. Clair has been a recluse ever since. A new employee at the bankrupt company that published the one-hit wonder, Agnes makes a desperate attempt to save her job by contacting Veronica and begging for a sequel. To her astonishment, not only does the author respond but she hires Agnes to transcribe the new novel. As she works with the author, fact starts to blur with fiction as Agnes learns what really happened on the night of the fire that stole Veronica's vision.
A Quiet Retreat by Kiersten Modglin—Five well-known authors are invited by a vacation rental company to enjoy the opening of a new property in South Dakota's Black Hills that is being promoted as a quiet retreat where writers can work in isolated peace. The novelists, all strangers to one another, have barely arrived for their weeklong getaway before strange things start happening in the house. Tension increases over the next few days as more odd things occur. As a vicious storm descends, the writers finally understand that someone is targeting them and they are all in very serious danger...
As you can see, August was a great month for me and bookish books. I enjoyed all of these, with We Solve Murders being my favorite of the bunch.
For September, I've already read an anthology of short stories written for and partially set in a real New York City bookstore. I'm also eyeing these:
A Daughter of Fair Verona by Christina Dodd—The first book in a new historical mystery series, this novel imagines if Romeo and Juliet lived to enjoy a successful marriage, including producing a large brood of children. At 20 years old, Rosie is an aging spinster with no interest in romance. Her forced engagement to a thrice-widowed cad ends in his murder and Rosie must figure out whodunit. Sounds like lots of fun!
What Fire Brings by Rachel Howzell Hall—Bailey Meadows takes advantage of a program to be the writer-in-residence at the home of a bestselling thriller writer Jack Beckham, but she has a hidden agenda. She wants to know what happened to a woman who disappeared on Jack's property. As Bailey investigates, she discovers that many women have vanished on the site. Why does it keep happening? Will Bailey be the next one to disappear?
How about you? What bookish books did you read in August? Which are you looking forward to enjoying in September?
If you are participating in the 2024 Bookish Books Reading Challenge, please use the widget below to link-up your September reviews. If you're not signed up for the challenge yet, what are you waiting for? Click here to join the party.
Tuesday, July 02, 2024
Top Ten Tuesday: The Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag
Today's TTT prompt is a nice, easy one: Top Ten Books With My Favorite Color on the Cover. As much as I love green, though, I'm just not feeling this topic today. Since today is the mid-point of the year (2024 is flying by!), I thought I'd hop on the Mid-Year Freak Out tag bandwagon and take a look at how my reading year is shaping up. I'm not entirely sure where this tag originated—someone said it started with Ely over at Earl Grey Books some years ago—but it's been all over the blogosphere lately. I saw it most recently over at Girl Plus Books, so that's where I grabbed the questions from. There are other versions floating around as well.
As always, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl.
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Before we get to the tag questions, let me just summarize where my reading is at for the year.
I'm notorious for my annual taking on of too many reading challenges. This year is no exception. I've got 15 of them going on at the moment. I like to reach the halfway point with all of them by July 2 so that I'm on target to finish them by the end of the year. (Although I do enjoy reading challenges, I never take them too seriously. If I finish them, fabulous! If I don't, no biggie.) I'm rocking them this year, as you can see from my left sidebar. The only one I'm really slacking on is the Mount TBR Reading Challenge and my own Bookish Books Reading Challenge. I'm making progress on both, just not super fast progress. The Pioneer Book Reading Challenge is still on my sidebar, but I've kind of given up on it. It's a local reading challenge based in a city I don't live in, but that I usually visit 1-2 times a year. You have to pick up your prize (a generous gift certificate) in-store and use it that way too and that's unlikely to happen for me this year. Oh well.
Back to the tag...
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I've read a handful of books this year that I've really enjoyed, but I have to go with Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson for this one. It's a YA fantasy—not my usual thing at all—but I enjoyed it immensely.
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I'm always going on about the Rip Through Time series by Kelley Armstrong, so this one is no surprise. Disturbing the Dead is the third installment in the series. It's just as enjoyable as its predecessors.
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Middle of the Night by Riley Sager is probably the new release I've been most looking forward to and haven't read yet, but guess what? I made it to the top of the library's waitlist. Yay! I'm going to pick up the book tomorrow.
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My last two Top Ten Tuesday lists were on this very subject (check out Part One and Part Two). Of the 20 books on those lists, I'm most excited about Return to Wyldcliffe Heights by Carol Goodman. She's an auto-read author for me, so I'm always up for a new one from her.
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I hate to label a book a "disappointment," but Trouble Island by Sharon Short is a historical mystery that I was really, really looking forward to reading. I enjoyed the atmospheric setting as well as the And Then There Were None plot. The characters were not very likable, though, and in the end, the novel just wasn't nearly as satisfying as I wanted it to be.
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Not gonna lie, the cover of The Lion of Lark-Hayes Manor by Aubrey Hartman does not appeal to me. I'm just not much of a fantasy reader. I was pleasantly surprised, though, by how much I enjoyed this engaging middle-grade novel.
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Of the 91 books I've read so far this year, almost half of them were written by new-to-me authors. I don't know if an author can become a favorite with just one book, but here are some writers I'm definitely planning to read more from: Kat Ailes, Benjamin Stevenson, Jamie Sumner, Gabrielle Meyer, Lesa Cline-Ransome, Jenny Adams, Annelise Ryan, Kayvion Lewis, Katie Tietjen, Elizabeth Lowham, Kristen Perrin, Aubrey Hartman, and more.
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I'm not a book boyfriend kind of person, so how about favorite literary couple/duo that I've encountered this year? No surprise here: Mallory Atkinson and Duncan Gray from the Rip Through Time series by Kelley Armstrong. As of yet, they are not officially a romantic couple, but they share a professional partnership and a personal friendship that are mutually supportive, kind, and fun.
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I love Michael Rosario from The First State of Being by Erin Entrada Kelly. He's a sweet, quiet kid who is wholly devoted to his hardworking single mother. He's also gentle, loyal, thoughtful, and always concerned about becoming a better person.
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I'm a sap, it's true, but I still don't cry very often over books. I can't think of any tearjerkers I've read so far this year...
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Most of the books I read are of the moody, broody variety. The Jane/Mary series by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, and Jodi Meadows is the opposite. Although they do deal with serious subjects sometimes, the books are upbeat, hilarious, and all kinds of entertaining. They make me happy for sure. I've read four of them this year and, while I enjoyed them all, My Plain Jane is probably my favorite.
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I'm not usually a big fan of book-to-movie adaptations. However, I really enjoyed A Haunting in Venice, which is based on Hallowe'en Party by Agatha Christie. I'm normally a staunch book-before-movie person, but my husband was too impatient to see the film, so I watched it first. Gasp!
(This isn't book related, but right after watching this movie, we viewed Belfast, another Kenneth Branagh production. It's excellent. We thought it was going to be heavy and depressing, but it's actually very funny and heartwarming [although there is some heartbreak as well]. I highly recommend it.)
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Let's see...which of the two reviews I've written this year should I choose? LOL. Back in the day, I reviewed every book I read on my blog. These days, I'm a huge slacker and I mostly just make Top Ten Tuesday lists. I have managed to write two reviews in 2024: one for Artifice by Sharon Cameron and one for Dust by Dusti Bowling.
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Have you seen a paper copy of Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson? They're GORGEOUS.
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Since I still need to read 109 books to meet my Goodreads goal, I have quite a few I still want to read. I won't list them all. You're welcome.
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I'm super chintzy with my star ratings. So far this year, I've only awarded two books with the coveted 5-star rating:
Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson
Dust by Dusti Bowling
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I'm not a big re-reader, but I do read or listen to A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens every December. Last year, I listened to the audio version narrated by Tim Curry. It's fantastic, so I'll probably enjoy that one again this year.
In a few months, my book club will be reading The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose. I can't remember a whole lot about who's who and what's what from the first book in the series, so I'll likely re-read The Maid as well before moving on to its sequel.
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I expect The Women by Kristin Hannah will be a 5-star read for me.
Phew! That was a long tag/Top Ten Tuesday post. Thanks for hanging in there! What do you think of my answers to all these questions? How would you answer them? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your post. I also reply to the comments you leave here on my TTT posts, although I'm a little behind from last week.
Happy TTT!
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