I use the beginning of the new year to catch up on popular books I missed from the previous year, survey new releases for spring, and to complete my annual quest to watch all the Academy’s best picture nominations. With all of this going on, I already have several recommendations to share:
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I had a slow start to reading in 2022 and remember wondering if I would even find five new books to strongly recommend by the end of the year (as is my tradition).
But by early fall I was finishing one really good read after another, and I had to give some thought before narrowing it down to five of my favorites (published in 2022). Some of these books I finished so recently that I haven’t had a chance to post about them individually.
Continue readingI’m bringing two book recommendations to you today – both of these are new releases off of my fall reading list.
One is a climate fiction (what happens when Florida is no longer sustainable) and the other is one of my favorite genres, WWII historical fiction, but a specific horror I had not read about before.
Continue readingLast week I posted my fall reading list and I’m back to review the first book, which I had early access to thanks to NetGalley. The book is now available to all:
Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan
Picoult was the author of a book I truly enjoyed last year – Wish You Were Here – so that’s why it first attracted my attention.
In Mad Honey, two moms are starting over; their kids fall in love. One ends up tragically dead and the other is accused of murder. What follows is a family and courtroom drama as well as a murder mystery and a love story told from two points of view (the mom of the accused and the girl who died). Without giving more plot details away, here’s why I liked the book:
Continue readingJust in time for Fall reading, I am presenting a list of nine new books I’m eagerly anticipating. There’s a good mix here – historical fiction (of course), thrillers of climate and family, non-fiction about the evils of social media, new books from critically acclaimed authors and another on death row.
Check out my reading list and read with me!
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TWO STATES & TWO BOOKS
I just returned from a summer road trip where – thanks to the S.S. Badger – my family visited Michigan and Wisconsin without driving through Chicago, and enjoyed long, sandy beaches and massive water parks during the same vacation. For me, vacation = reading so I can also recommend two books today while reminiscing about my fun travels.
Continue readingAgain I have to thank the University of ILLINOIS alumni book club for introducing me to a book I loved.
Before it was The Glass Hotel by one of my now favorite authors!
My most recent book club read is A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende.
Continue readingI want to share my favorite travel books. These are the books I browse through over and over to plan and dream about vacations.
If you read this blog often you already know that I love planning vacations. And because the actual vacation usually includes driving and/or flying, and relaxing, vacations and BOOKS go so well together.
Related post: My four book vacation.
Most recently I wrote about trips to Jamaica and Memphis.
I love reading travel books, and this is one of my favorite sections in the library; I always have a couple of books borrowed from this section! But these books I’m listing below, I actually own, and I use them again and again.
Continue readingHappy summer, readers!
I want to recommend several books I’ve enjoyed recently and tell you what’s still on my summer reading list!
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MY TRIP TO MEMPHIS & GRACELAND
Back around the turn of the century (wow!!) I traveled to Memphis often because my hometown BFF lived there. (And she still does, more on this later.)
But I hadn’t been there for about 20 years (again, wow) so I invited myself along while suggesting that my mom finally make her pilgrimage to Graceland.
And by the end of the trip, I found myself to be just as big of an Elvis fan!!
We traveled with Timi’s Tours out of my hometown. You may know from previous posts that I love planning my vacations and obsess over every detail. I will admit, however, there were some nice things about having someone else do all of this for me.
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