I loved this audiobook so much! First it centers in part on theater and the actors involved in a production of Our Town, but it’s also a story about family and identity; and it is a reminder that parents have had a full life often before they became parents. Meryl Streep’s narration is spot on perfection (no surprise!) and listening to this while I was commuting was engaging yet relaxing.
Here’s the scoop:
In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family’s orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.
Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart. As in all of her novels, Ann Patchett combines compelling narrative artistry with piercing insights into family dynamics. The result is a rich and luminous story, told with profound intelligence and emotional subtlety, that demonstrates once again why she is one of the most revered and acclaimed literary talents working today.
I got my copy through Audibile with my monthly credit.
I’m always thrilled to be part of the Harper-Collins blog tours, and this fall there were SO MANY good books from which to choose.
If you know me, you know I like suspenseful mysteries that are not overly violent/gory, so The Vacation was the perfect blend of mystery and suspense for me!
This was my first John Marrs book, but it won’t be my last. I know he is a favorite author of many readers. I did find that there were a lot of characters in this novel (and I read on my kindle so I can’t easily flip back), but it was suspenseful, which is something I love for my late night reading!
Thank you for my ePub and for making me part of the tour!
Here’s the overview:
THE VACATION Author: John Marrs ISBN: 9781335006042 Publication Date: 12/19/2023 Publisher: Hanover Square Press 18.99 US | 23.99 CAD
Venice Beach, Los Angeles. A paradise on earth. Tourists flock to the golden coast and the promise of Hollywood. But for eight strangers at a beach-front hostel, there is far more on their minds than an extended vacation. All of them are running from something. And they all have secrets they’d kill to keep…
This holiday-set read is a compulsive and addictive thriller, perfect for fans of T.M. Logan.
Author Bio:
John Marrs is an author and former journalist based in London and Northamptonshire. After spending his career interviewing celebrities from the worlds of television, film and music for numerous national newspapers and magazines, he is now a full-time author. His books include No1 bestseller and Netflix series The One, The Passengers, award winning What Lies Between Us and The Good Samaritan. Follow him at www.johnmarrsauthor.co.uk , on Twitter @johnmarrs1, on Instagram @johnmarrs.author and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/johnmarrsauthor.
I’m happy to be a stop of the blog tour for Amber and Danielle’s new novel: Perfect Little Lives. I will admit that it took me a bit to get into this novel, in part because I was expecting a different type of read in the beginning (I thought it started in the past with the murder) and I was also not prepared for the level of “spiciness”, but once I got into it, I enjoyed it. For me, it felt like a “new age” genre read, which can sometimes be a challenge for an over 55 gal like myself!
ON ASHER LANE, SOME SECRETS ARE WORTH KILLING FOR…
Simone’s mother was murdered when she was thirteen. When her father was convicted, everything changed. Overnight, Simone went from living in a wealthy white neighborhood to scraping by.
Ten years later, Simone has given up on her dreams and lives a quiet life, writing book reviews and getting serious with her boyfriend. But with a true crime documentarian hounding her for a scoop and a surprise encounter with her childhood next-door neighbor, Hunter, the past seems set on haunting her. And after Hunter reveals that his father and her mother had a years-long affair, Simone is determined to find out who really killed her mother.
Simone is convinced that all evidence points to Hunter’s father, a renowned judge who had everything to lose if his affair—and his nascent love child—came to light. Playing the game from all sides, Simone enlists Hunter’s help in her investigation into his family—whether he realizes it or not. But is she so desperate for closure that she’ll risk imploding her carefully rebuilt life?
Authors’ Bio:
Amber and Danielle Brown both graduated from Rider University where they studied Communications/Journalism and sat on the editorial staff for the On Fire!! literary journal. They then pursued a career in fashion and spent five years in NYC working their way up, eventually managing their own popular fashion and lifestyle blog. Amber is also a screenwriter, so they live in LA, which works out perfectly so Danielle can spoil her plant babies with copious amount of sunshine. Their debut Someone Had to Do It, was a Library Reads pick.
Thank you for my copy and for having me as part of the tour!
I love the Cressida Fawcett cozy mysteries so I was thrilled to take part in Bookouture’s latest blog tour featuring the newest mystery by Fliss Chester. These stories are always well-plotted and fun to read. You can read them in order or individually as stand alones (always helpful!). Cressida is the type of person I’d like to be friends with — intelligent, intrepid, and funny!
Book Description:
Someone on board has a deadly destination in mind… can Cressida stop them before it’s too late?
After an eventful trip to the Scottish Highlands, Cressida Fawcett is looking forward to being back among her society friends in London. Enjoying an ice-cold martini in the lounge car of the express train, loyal pug Ruby on her lap, she’s ready to blow off some steam!
But Cressida’s hopes for a relaxing journey are dashed when a gunshot resounds through the carriages. Industrial tycoon Lewis Warriner has been shot dead in his cabin. And as this train has been racing through the countryside, the culprit must be among Cressy’s fellow passengers…
Teaming up with Detective Andrews of Scotland Yard, also on his way back to London, they work their way through the suspects. Did Warriner’s mistress, a famous dancer, see his death as her ticket on to the silver screen? Or was it the mysterious man who can’t take his eyes off Lewis’s close companion?
When the murder weapon is found in the compartment Mr Warriner’s wife occupies alone, she becomes the chief suspect. Until there’s another gunshot. When Cressida finds out that Andrews is hit, panic sets in, but she must try to stay calm.
But with her friend and co-investigator out of action, can Cressida get the journey, and the investigation, back on track? And will she catch the murderer before they reach their final destination?
Fans of Agatha Christie, T.E. Kinsey and Lee Strauss will absolutely love this addictive Golden Age cosy mystery.
Author Bio:
Fliss Chester lives in Surrey with her husband and writes historical cozy crime. When she is not killing people off in her 1940s whodunnits, she helps her husband, who is a wine merchant, run their business. Never far from a decent glass of something, Fliss also loves cooking (and writing up her favourite recipes on her blog), enjoying the beautiful Surrey and West Sussex countryside and having a good natter.
My friends at Penguin-Random House/Berkley Publishing asked if I’d like to be part of the tour for Nalini Singh’s new thriller: There Should Have Been Eight and of course I said yes! This is a super suspenseful, slow burn of a read, where long time friends come together as they remember one of their group who supposedly committed suicide a few years before the story starts.
Description
In this chilling thriller from New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh, a remote estate in New Zealand’s Southern Alps hosts a reunion no one will ever forget.
Seven friends. One last weekend. A mansion half in ruins. No room for lies. Someone is going to confess. Because there should have been eight. . . .
They met when they were teenagers. Now they’re adults, and time has been kind to some and unkind to others—none more so than to Bea, the one they lost nine long years ago.
They’ve gathered to reminisce at Bea’s family’s estate, a once-glorious mansion straight out of a gothic novel. Best friends, old flames, secret enemies, and new lovers are all under one roof. But when the weather turns and they’re snowed in at the edge of eternity, there’s nowhere left to hide from their shared history.
As the walls close in, the pretense of normality gives way to long-buried grief, bitterness, and rage. Underneath it all, there’s the nagging feeling that Bea’s shocking death wasn’t what it was claimed to be. And before the weekend is through, the truth will be unleashed—no matter the cost. . . .
This was a great read and I really liked the uniqueness of the main character, Luna, who had no partner and axes to bury, but who was also losing her sight. I kept wondering if it was a metaphor (along with her name) while I was reading.
If you like psychological suspense with a slight paranormal twist, don’t miss this one!
If you know me, you know I love a good psychological thriller that keeps me reading late into the night! My Husband’s Lies was a fast-paced, suspenseful read. I thought I had it figured out – but I was wrong! This one was a definite “can’t put down” experience.
Thank you for my copy and for making me part of the Bookouture Tour!
Book Description:
The police are coming, they’re going to arrest me.’ My blood runs cold at his words. My husband is accused of murder. He swears he is innocent – so why won’t he tell me where he really was that night?
I feel so lucky to have my handsome husband Mark and our blue-eyed little boy. Everyone says we’re the perfect family. I used to believe them.
But everything changes when Mark comes home from a work trip with dark circles under his eyes. That night I jump at a hammering at the door. The police want to question him about the murder of a beautiful, blonde young woman. Mark swears he had nothing to do with it, that she was a colleague, nothing more.
Mark is a respected airline pilot, and the model husband and father. It seems impossible that he would be involved in something like this. But he won’t say a word about where he really was. I believe that he’s not a killer – but I know he’s hiding something. It wouldn’t be the first time.
Then my husband is attacked. I sit by his hospital bed praying for him to wake up, tears streaming down my face. The police say it’s an accident. But what if someone has done this to him?
I go rigid with fear when I see someone hidden in the garden, watching the house. Are they coming to hurt us too? I’ll do anything to protect my precious little boy – and I have to start by uncovering my husband’s lies…
An unbelievably tense and twisty psychological thriller that will leave you breathless for more! Perfect for fans of Kathryn Croft, T.M. Logan and Ruth Heald.
Liz Lawler grew up sharing pants, socks, occasionally a toothbrush, sleeping four to a bed. Born in Chatham and partly raised in Dublin, she is one of fourteen children. She spent over twenty years as a nurse and has since fitted in working as a flight attendant, a general manager of a five star hotel, and is now working with trains. She became an author in 2017 when her debut novel Don’t Wake Up was published by Twenty7.
I love Laura Morelli’s novels, historical fiction which usually ties into art, especially in Italy. This one was so interesting, telling the stories of two women, an American woman sent to Italy to help itemize and protect the great works of art, and a German woman, working for the Reich as they “protected” the art of Florence as well. Their paths cross, of course! There are so many interesting details and facts in this novel that I felt like I learned a lot while reading. Laura Morelli has a blog where she shares interesting facts about Italy, art, and art history, too, if you are interested!
In a race across Nazi-occupied Italy, two women—a German photographer and an American stenographer—hunt for priceless masterpieces looted from the Florentine art collections.
In the summer of 1943, Eva Brunner is taking photographs of Nazi-looted art hidden in the salt mines of the Austrian hinterland. Across the ocean in Connecticut, Josephine Evans is working as a humble typist at the Yale Art Gallery.
When both women are called to Italy to contribute to the war effort, neither imagines she will hold the fate of some of the world’s greatest masterpieces torn from the Uffizi Galleries and other Florentine art collections in her hands.
But as Italy turns from ally to enemy and Hitler’s plan to destroy irreplaceable monuments and works of art becomes frighteningly clear, each woman’s race against the clock—and against one another—might demand more than they were prepared to give.
The Last Masterpiece takes readers on a heart-pumping adventure up the Italian peninsula, where nothing is as it seems and some of the greatest works of art and human achievement are at stake. Who might steal and who might save a work of art—and at what cost?
Inspired by the incredible true story of the Monuments Women, the Fifth Army WACs, and the looted Florentine art collections during World War II, the latest historical novel by USA Today bestselling author and art historian Laura Morelli plunges readers into the heart of war-torn Italy.
Oh I’m always so happy to see when Viola Shipman (Wade Rouse) has a new novel out! The books are always engaging and touching and they never disappoint! This one was perfectly timed as it has a Christmas theme. Protagonist Henri returns home to get her parents to sell their Christmas store (in Frankenmuth ,MI) and Henri has to deal with family and old boyfriends and her cutthroat job – while being reminded of the old saying “you can never go home again”. Of course I had NO idea that Frankenmuth is a real place! And it’s Bavarian (almost like Solvang in CA but Bavarian not Danish). And Christmas is a HUGE deal there! There is even a huge Christmas store there in real life like in the book!
Here’s the scoop:
The Wishing Bridge Author: Viola Shipman On Sale: November 7, 2023 Publisher: Graydon House ISBN 9781525804861 Price: $18.99
VIOLA SHIPMAN is the pen name for internationally bestselling LGBTQIA author Wade Rouse. Wade is the author of fifteen books, which have been translated into 21 languages and sold over a million copies around the world. Wade writes under his grandmother’s name, Viola Shipman, to honor the working poor Ozarks seamstress whose sacrifices changed his family’s life and whose memory inspires his fiction. Wade’s books have been selected multiple times as Must-Reads by NBC’s Today Show, Michigan Notable Books of the Year and Indie Next Picks. He lives in Michigan and California, and hosts Wine & Words with Wade, A Literary Happy Hour, every Thursday.
Book Summary: Once the hottest mergers and acquisitions executive in the company, Henrietta Wegner can see the ambitious and impossibly young up-and-comers gunning for her job. When Henri’s boss makes it clear she’ll be starting the New Year unemployed unless she can close a big deal before the holidays, Henri impulsively tells him that she can convince her aging parents to sell Wegner’s–their iconic Frankenmuth, Michigan, Christmas store–to a massive, soulless corporation. It’s the kind of deal cool, corporate Henri has built her career on.
Home for the holidays has typically meant a perfunctory twenty-four-hour visit for Henri, then back to Detroit as fast as her car will drive her. So turning up at the Wegner’s offices in early
December raises some eyebrows: from her delighted, if puzzled, parents to her suspicious brother and curious childhood friends. But as Henri fields impatient texts from her boss while reconnecting with the magic of the store and warmth of her hometown, what sounded great in the boardroom begins to lose its luster in real life. She’s running out of time to pull the trigger on what could be the greatest success of her career…or the most awkward family holiday of her life.
With unabashed winter charm, The Wishing Bridge sparkles with the humor and heart fans of Kristy Woodson Harvey, Nancy Thayer and Jenny Colgan love most. Includes the bonus novella Christmas Angels.
Here’s a little something to get you in the mood!
And I found a book trailer video from the author!
Thank you for my copy and for having me as part of the tour!
My niece told me about this book so I used my monthly Audible credit to get it.
What a treat! I had no idea what to expect, but I found this story of Marjorie Post – whose father started the cereal company Post and from whom Marjorie took over the reins – fascinating, captivating, and unforgettable!
Here’s the scoop:
NATIONAL BESTSELLER “Marvelous . . . I just had to be there with the Post cereal heiress through every twist and turn.”—Martha Hall Kelly, New York Times bestselling author of Lilac Girls
“New-money heiress Marjorie Post isn’t content to remain a society bride as she remakes herself into a savvy entrepreneur, a visionary philanthropist, a presidential hostess, and much more.”—Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Rose Code
Mrs. Post, the President and First Lady are here to see you. . . . So begins another average evening for Marjorie Merriweather Post. Presidents have come and gone, but she has hosted them all. Growing up in the modest farmlands of Battle Creek, Michigan, Marjorie was inspired by a few simple rules: always think for yourself, never take success for granted, and work hard—even when deemed American royalty, even while covered in imperial diamonds. Marjorie had an insatiable drive to live and love and to give more than she got. From crawling through Moscow warehouses to rescue the Tsar’s treasures to outrunning the Nazis in London, from serving the homeless of the Great Depression to entertaining Roosevelts, Kennedys, and Hollywood’s biggest stars, Marjorie Merriweather Post lived an epic life few could imagine.
Marjorie’s journey began gluing cereal boxes in her father’s barn as a young girl. No one could have predicted that C. W. Post’s Cereal Company would grow into the General Foods empire and reshape the American way of life, with Marjorie as its heiress and leading lady. Not content to stay in her prescribed roles of high-society wife, mother, and hostess, Marjorie dared to demand more, making history in the process. Before turning thirty she amassed millions, becoming the wealthiest woman in the United States. But it was her life-force, advocacy, passion, and adventurous spirit that led to her stunning legacy.
And yet Marjorie’s story, though full of beauty and grandeur, set in the palatial homes she built such as Mar-a-Lago, was equally marked by challenge and tumult. A wife four times over, Marjorie sought her happily-ever-after with the blue-blooded party boy who could not outrun his demons, the charismatic financier whose charm turned to betrayal, the international diplomat with a dark side, and the bon vivant whose shocking secrets would shake Marjorie and all of society. Marjorie did everything on a grand scale, especially when it came to love.
Bestselling and acclaimed author Allison Pataki has crafted an intimate portrait of a larger-than-life woman, a powerful story of one woman falling in love with her own voice and embracing her own power while shaping history in the process.
So, after reading, I ask myself: Why do I know nothing of this woman? I was so impressed with how she broke barriers, her creativity and fortitude in running not only a business but basically an empire, her passion for life, and her intellect and hard work. From her various marriages, to her building of Mar-a-Lago (yes, that Mar-a-Lago), to her friendships with Presidents, to her role as a mother, I enjoyed every moment of this story. This story will be in my top reads/listens for 2023.
Narration by Barrie Krienik was beautiful, as was the cover!
I enjoy Susan Meissner’s writing, so I was thrilled to get this book via Net Galley. I absolutely LOVED this story (will be in my top ten of 2023 I’m sure). It’s been a long time since a book has moved me to tears but the ending of this novel did. I loved the character of Rosie and I connected with her as she was growing up in Sonoma. (If you know me, you know I grew up in nearby Napa). Her story is so tragic and yet I don’t think it’s all that rare or improbable.
Here’s the overview:
Description
A Best Historical Fiction of Spring Pick by Amazon, PopSugar, AARP, and BookBub!
A heartrending story about a young mother’s fight to keep her daughter, and the terrible injustice that tears them apart, by the USA Today bestselling author of The Nature of Fragile Things and The Last Year of the War.
California, 1938—When she loses her parents in an accident, sixteen-year-old Rosanne is taken in by the owners of the vineyard where she has lived her whole life as the vinedresser’s daughter. She moves into Celine and Truman Calvert’s spacious house with a secret, however—Rosie sees colors when she hears sound. She promised her mother she’d never reveal her little-understood ability to anyone, but the weight of her isolation and grief prove too much for her. Driven by her loneliness she not only breaks the vow to her mother, but in a desperate moment lets down her guard and ends up pregnant. Banished by the Calverts, Rosanne believes she is bound for a home for unwed mothers. But she soon finds out she is not going to a home of any kind, but to a place that seeks to forcibly take her baby – and the chance for any future babies – from her.
Austria, 1947—After witnessing firsthand Adolf Hitler’s brutal pursuit of hereditary purity—especially with regard to “different children”—Helen Calvert, Truman’s sister, is ready to return to America for good. But when she arrives at her brother’s peaceful vineyard after decades working abroad, she is shocked to learn what really happened nine years earlier to the vinedresser’s daughter, a girl whom Helen had long ago befriended. In her determination to find Rosanne, Helen discovers a shocking American eugenics program—and learns that that while the war had been won in Europe, there are still terrifying battles to be fought at home.
Rosie ends up being brought to what is now called the Sonoma Developmental Center, but what was then a State Hospital for those with mental illness. And the whole storyline about eugenics and forced sterilization is true and so disconcerting. I was oddly reminded of a movie I watched once on a flight to Europe about the Magdalene Laundries and from which I don’t think I have yet recovered. The absolute lack of respect for Rosie’s intellect, her wishes, her baby, and her body was quite unsettling. Additionally, Rosie has synesthesia, where she “hears in color”. This trait causes others to be suspicious of her.
Rosie’s story is so terrible and yet I know that it was the story of more than one unwed teen mother years ago. Meanwhile, the novel has the parallel story of Helen who lives and works as a nanny in Europe during the rise of Hitler and WWII. Of course, eugenics was a part of the Nazi regime and we are reminded of the horrific atrocities many innocent people suffered at their hands. One of my favorite interactions in the book (which I can’t cite directly as it’s on my kindle and too hard to locate) was when Helen is arguing with a Nazi officer and when he says “You wonder how I am able to play God?” and she responds, “No. God would not harm these children. He would love them.” This story is haunting but it shows the importance of not being a bystander and just letting things happen. Rosie’s life could have been much less tragic if someone had stepped in to do the right thing; and Helen dedicated her life to helping others who needed help, thus making a difference.
So two thumbs up from me on this one!
And here’s a picture of the real place that the protagonist was sent to:
And speaking of places like this, here’s a picture of the Napa State Hospital a town away where I grew up. It doesn’t look like this anymore but I was reading that many of the patients there were there because they were homeless or struggled with alcoholism. Imagine being driven up to this place.
And here’s a short video from You Tube explaining synesthesia:
Beth's Book-Nook Blog 