Category: awesomeness

The Best Books I Read in July (2023)

In July, I read 19 books and DNFed eight, making my total for the year 117 books read. Several of these were truly excellent reads, and I cannot narrow it down to my usual three. So, this month, you get six.

The Last Exchange, by Charles Martin. This book. Man. Charles Martin writes such phenomenal characters, and this was no exception. The story of Pockets and Maybe Joe was absolutely riveting.

Demons of Good and Evil, by Kim Harrison. I love all the Hollows books, and I had real trouble putting this down to go to sleep. #teamJenks

Hello Stranger, by Katherine Center. This was sweet, cute, and funny, as Center’s books usually are. I can’t imagine having facial blindness!

Ladies of the Lake, by Cathy Gohlke. A lovely historical fiction read about friendship and facing your past so you can embrace the future.

Chasing Fireflies, by Charles Martin. The setting in this one was fascinating and Uncle Willie was so vivid I felt like he was the one telling me the story. I listened to this on audio and ended up in tears driving to work one morning. My only complaint is we didn’t figure out what happened to Jack!

The Keeper of Hidden Books, by Madeline Martin. Another lovely historical fiction read! I loved reading about Warsaw during World War II—and how people fought to preserve their history and books.

What I Read in July (2023)

Books Read in July: 19
Books Read for the Year:  117/225
Topical Books/Monthly Goal Books:

Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe, by Heather Webber (TBR). This was such a lovely Southern fiction read!
The Light Over London, by Julia Kelly (TBR). An excellent historical fiction!
The London House, by Katherine Reay (TBR). I enjoyed this a lot.
Gospel Wakefulness, by Jared C. Wilson (spiritual).
Blue Ridge Sunrise by Denise Hunter (TBR). I enjoyed this second-chance romance.
Demons of Good and Evil, by Kim Harrison (TBR). Loved this, as always.

For Review:

Hotel Laguna, by Nicola Harrison. I enjoyed this historical read! There’s a bit of mystery mixed into this post-World War read, and the characters are vivid and realistic.

And Then There Was You, by Nancy Naigle. This was such a sweet romance. It opens with a woman discovering she’s been the victim of an elaborate con and turns into a small-town romance with the detective working her case. I love how faith is woven throughout the narrative subtly and pervasively.

The Last Exchange, by Charles Martin (review forthcoming). This book. Y’all. Charles Martin is my absolute favorite author, and I was thrilled when I got the chance to read it four months before release day! I’ll be buying this in hardback when it hits shelves. Martin writes such believable, larger-than-life characters, and I fell in love with Maybe Joe and Pockets almost immediately. This book touched my heart on a deep level, and the theme, “A life laid down is better than one picked up,” is still resonating with me days after finishing this.

What Happens After Midnight, by K. L. Walther. This was a fun YA read, although bits of it felt a little bit too-good-to-be-true. (Their relationships with the adults in the story, for example. And the freedom they had at a boarding school.)

Hello Stranger, by Katherine Center. This read was great fun! It was interesting, reading about facial blindness. I can’t imagine how terrible that must be!

Thief Liar Lady, by D. L. Soria. This was a re-telling of Cinderella. Sort of. I enjoyed it, and the main character, a lot.

Ladies of the Lake, by Cathy Gohlke. I loved this historical fiction read! The characters were so much fun to read (except Dorothy, who I didn’t really like.) I listened to the audio book, and thought it was very well done.

Ghosted, by Amanda Quain. This was a decent YA read, as long as you’re not really expecting a re-telling of Northanger Abbey.

The Keeper of Hidden Books, by Madeline Martin (review forthcoming). This is a wonderful historical fiction read! I was invested from the first page, and soon found myself engrossed enough to go without sleep.

The Bone Hacker, by Kathy Reichs (review forthcoming). Another solid thrill read in the Temperance Brennan series.

The Secret Recipe of Ella Dove, by Karen Hawkins (review forthcoming). I enjoyed this book in the Dove Pond series, although I disliked Angela and Jules immensely.

Just Because:
A Year with C.S. Lewis. I enjoyed this devotional so much!

Chasing Fireflies, by Charles Martin (audio). This was such a good read! Martin has a way of creating such quirky and believable characters who are just fascinating. I do wish we’d found out what happened to jack, though.

Left Unfinished:
Forever Hold Your Peace, by Liz Fenton. I didn’t really care for the characters, so I didn’t make it very far into reading this.

Good Fortune, by C.K. Chau. I wanted to like this, but I found the opening messy and chaotic and I didn’t care for the characters.

Clementine and Danny Save the World, by Livia Blackburne. I read about 40% of this before realizing my attention kept wandering and I just didn’t care about these characters and what they were up to, despite my enjoyment of the tea theme.

Tastes Like Shakkar, by Nisha Sharma. I couldn’t stand the male MC in the opening scene and I don’t care for insta-anything.

A Fatal Groove, by Olivia Blacke. I found the first 10% boring. The characters didn’t catch my attention at all.

Guardians of Dawn: Zhara, by S. Jae-Jones. DN\Fed because of the incessant giggling of the MC…she even called it the Good Looking Giggle. Please, spare me from ridiculous YA characters.

You’re An Animal, by Jardine Libaire. Made it 10% into this, but didn’t like any of the characters.

The One That Got Away, by Charlotte Rixon. I read 10% of this, but was just bored. And, frankly, anything that opens in the POV of a suicide bomber probably isn’t for me.

Book Review: Ladies of the Lake, by Cathy Gohlke  

Image belongs to Dreamscape Media.

Title:  Ladies of the Lake (audio)    
Author:  Cathy Gohlke   
Genre: Historical fiction, Christian    
Rating:  5 out of 5

When she is forced to leave her beloved Prince Edward Island to attend Lakeside Ladies Academy after the death of her parents, the last thing Adelaide Rose MacNeill expects to find is three kindred spirits. The “Ladies of the Lake,” as the four girls call themselves, quickly bond like sisters, vowing that wherever life takes them, they will always be there for each other. But that is before: Before love and jealousy come between Adelaide and Dorothy, the closest of the friends. Before the dawn of World War I upends their world and casts baseless suspicion onto the German American man they both love. Before a terrible explosion in Halifax Harbor rips the sisterhood irrevocably apart.

Seventeen years later, Rosaline Murray receives an unsuspecting telephone call from Dorothy, now headmistress of Lakeside, inviting her to attend the graduation of a new generation of girls, including Rosaline’s beloved daughter. With that call, Rosaline is drawn into a past she’d determined to put behind her. To memories of a man she once loved . . . of a sisterhood she abandoned . . . and of the day she stopped being Adelaide MacNeill.

I enjoyed this so much! Addie was such a wonderful character, and the friendship between the ladies was wonderful to see. I did not care for Dorothy, though. She was so selfish, and she grated on my nerves. Even the adult Dorothy struggled with this, although she was better than her younger self.

I truly felt the pain Addie experienced, the fear, the hurt. Her emotions were so vividly embodied on the page, and I enjoyed reading her story. I’d never heard of the Halifax explosion—this must have been such a horrific experience. This is a wonderful read, that I highly recommend.

Cathy Gohlke is a bestselling author. Ladies of the Lake is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Dreamscape Media in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review:  Hello Stranger, by Katherine Center  

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title:  Hello Stranger      
Author: Katherine Center  
Genre: Romance    
Rating:  4.5 out of 5

 Love isn’t blind, it’s just little blurry.

Sadie Montgomery never saw what was coming . . . Literally! One minute she’s celebrating the biggest achievement of her life—placing as a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition—the next, she’s lying in a hospital bed diagnosed with a “probably temporary” condition known as face blindness. She can see, but every face she looks at is now a jumbled puzzle of disconnected features. Imagine trying to read a book upside down and in another language. This is Sadie’s new reality with every face she sees.

But, as she struggles to cope, hang on to her artistic dream, work through major family issues, and take care of her beloved dog, Peanut, she falls into—love? Lust? A temporary obsession to distract from the real problems in her life?—with not one man but two very different ones. The timing couldn’t be worse.

If only her life were a little more in focus, Sadie might be able to find her way. But perceiving anything clearly right now seems impossible. Even though there are things we can only find when we aren’t looking. And there are people who show up when we least expect them. And there are always, always other ways of seeing.

I enjoyed Katherine Center’s latest read very much! It was worthy of binge-reading until 1 a.m. after a hellish day at work, if that tells you anything. Sadie was a little bit whiny at first, which got on my nerves, but I ended up liking her a lot. Why can’t I have a helpful/cute neighbor like Joe? Sadie had “strangers” popping out of the woodwork—like her horrible stepsister—but she also was surrounded by kindness. Her character growth was fun to watch, and I just enjoyed this book so much (even if the big surprise wasn’t really a surprise to me).

Katherine Center is a NYT bestselling-author. Hello, Stranger is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Sundays Are for Writing #233

This was an excellent writing week! I wrote four book reviews and my post on the best books I read in June. Hotel Laguna, by Nicola Harrison, was a solid historical fiction read with a bit of a mystery thrown in, too. And Then There Was You, by Nancy Naigle, was a sweet small town romance that I truly enjoyed. What Happens After Midnight, by K. L. Walther (review forthcoming), was a fun YA read although all the adults in the book seemed a little too good to be true.

And, last weekend, I read The Last Exchange, by Charles Martin. He is my absolute favorite author and I rewarded myself for making it through a tough week by reading his next release (book and review both out in October). Y’all. This book was SO GOOD!

The Best Books I Read in June (2023)

In June, I read 14 books. Of those, some mere meh, most were solid, and three were exceptional.

The Study of Poisons, by Maria V. Snyder. This is Poison Study from Valek’s POV, and I loved it! It’s been so long since I first read these books, but now I want to re-read all of them.

Morgan Is My Name, by Sophie Keetch. I love King Arthur mythology, and this was a riveting read! From the very first page, when Morgan was seven years old, her voice and personality captivated me. I had trouble putting this down to sleep!

Beach Read, by Emily Henry. I loved the dialogue in this novel! The banter was so witty and had me in stitches so many times. This would make and excellent weekend read—or let’s be hones: a great beach read!

Book Review:  Morgan Is My Name, by Sophie Keetch   

Image belongs to Penguin/Random Hose Canada.

Title: Morgan Is My Name       
Author: Sophie Keetch     
Genre: fantasy     
Rating:  5 out of 5

Young Morgan of Cornwall lives a happy life in Tintagel Castle until King Uther Pendragon, with the help of the sorcerer Merlin, murders her father and tricks her mother into marriage. Furious, brilliant, and vengeful, Morgan defies her brutal stepfather, taking up a secret education, discovering a lifelong affinity with the healing arts, and falling in love with a man far beneath her station. However, defiance comes at a cost. Used as a bargaining chip in her stepfather’s war games, Morgan finds herself banished to a world of isolated castles and gossiping courts, amidst the machinations of kings, sorcerers, and men.

But some desires are not easily forgotten, and the search for her independence is a quest Morgan cannot give up. As the era of King Arthur approaches, she must use all her wit, knowledge, and courage to fight against those who wish to deny her intelligence, crush her spirit, and control her body. But, in seeking her freedom, Morgan risks losing everything–her reputation, her loved ones, and her life.

I love Arthurian legends and retellings, but most are not as well-done as this one. I truly loved this read! Morgan is a fascinating character as a child, and she only grows more fascinating as she gets older. I loved her forceful personality, her wit, and her determination to live her own life. Uther Pendragon—and Merlin, too—was a horrible person in this story and he made my skin crawl. Morgan, however, is vibrant, inspiring, and had me rooting for her from the first page.

Sophie Keetch is Welsh and lives in South Wales. Morgan is My Name is her new novel.

(Galley courtesy of Penguin/Random House Canada in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review:  Same Time Next Summer, by Annabel Monaghan  

Image belongs to Penguin Group Putnam.

Title: Same Time Next Summer
Author: Annabel Monaghan
Genre: Romance    
Rating:  5 out of 5

Beach Rules:

Do take long walks on the sand.

Do put an umbrella in every cocktail.

Do NOT run into your first love.

Sam’s life is on track. She has the perfect doctor fiancé, Jack (his strict routines are a good thing, really), a great job in Manhattan (unless they fire her), and is about to tour a wedding venue near her family’s Long Island beach house. Everything should go to plan, yet the minute she arrives, Sam senses something is off. Wyatt is here. Her Wyatt. But there’s no reason for a thirty-year-old engaged woman to feel panicked around the guy who broke her heart when she was seventeen. Right?

Yet being back at this beach, hearing notes from Wyatt’s guitar float across the night air from next door as if no time has passed–Sam’s memories come flooding back: the feel of Wyatt’s skin on hers, their nights in the treehouse, and the truth behind their split. Sam remembers who she used to be, and as Wyatt reenters her life their connection is as undeniable as it always was. She will have to make a choice.

This book. Y’all…I was up until midnight reading this straight through because I could NOT put it down! Sam’s family is delightfully quirky and entertaining, and I loved them. I also loved seeing Sam and Wyatt’s relationship in the past—and watching as Sam rediscovered who she really is, not the person she’s been pretending to be. This would have been so much easier if Jack was a jerk, but he’s not (usually). Sam spends a lot of the book in denial, but her journey was absolutely wonderful to read. I cannot recommend this highly enough.

Annabel Monaghan lives in New York. Same Time Next Summer is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Penguin Group Putnam in exchange for an honest review.)

The Best Books I Read in May (2023)

In May, I read 14 books, bringing my total for the year to 84. Three of those were re-reads of beloved classics: Pride and Prejudice, The Return of the King, and All Creatures Great and Small. All excellent reads, of course. Some of the new-to-me reads were also excellent:

The Secret Book of Flora Lea, by Patti Callahan Henry. This book was a lovely read! I was enchanted from the very first page—with both timelines.

Emma of 83rd Street, by Audrey Bellezza and Emily Harding. I was on the fence with the first, frivolous scene of this book, but I ended up enjoying it very much!

Painted Devils, by Margaret Owen. This was the second book of a series, and I enjoyed this from the very beginning. Love the characters, the setting, and everything.

Book Review: Painted Devils, by Margaret Owen   

Image belongs to Macmillan Children’s/Henry Holt and Co.

Title:  Painted Devils      
Author:  Margaret Owen   
Genre:  Fantasy, YA
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 

When misfortune strikes, the “reformed” jewel thief Vanja manipulates a remote village for help and in turn, accidentally starts a cult around a Low God, the Scarlet Maiden. Soon after, her nemesis-turned-suitor Emeric and a supervising prefect arrive to investigate the claim of godhood, and she realizes how in over her head she must be. But the Scarlet Maiden does reveal herself . . . only to claim Emeric as her virgin sacrifice. Desperate to save the only man she’s ever cared for, Vanja decides to seek an alternative: bring the Scarlet Maiden a drop of blood from each of seven brothers for the midsummer feast.

While the thief and prefect-in-training still have feelings for one another, Emeric must determine whether Vanja has committed fraud as his final test for prefect-hood. And as they travel the Haarzlands, a harsh land far from the rules of the city, the past that Vanja barely remembers comes into full view and she fears a future that does not require her to keep running.

The amount of snark in this novel is genius-level. I was snickering within two minutes after I started reading. Unlike the previous book, I was invested from the very beginning, and each obstacle the characters met only drew me further into the story. This is a gritty fantasy, not a sweetness-and-light one, but the characters and the world have so much depth that you feel everything they experience. I highly recommend this read and this author.

Margaret Owen lives in Seattle. Painted Devils is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Macmillan Children’s/Henry Holt and Co. in exchange for an honest review.)