๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐——๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—–๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ธ | Book Review

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐——๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—–๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ธ

๐—•๐˜† ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ผ ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ถ

Out Now!



๐ŸฆŒ๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚โ€™๐—น๐—น ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฑ:

Estranged Sisters

Artworld 

Generational Trauma

Subjectiveness of Memory

The Hope for Forgiveness


After reading ๐—•๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜†๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐— ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ป, I was excited to read another book from this author. 

Here, she crafts an intricately layered story about two estranged sisters who reunite over a sketch and a letter found among their late fatherโ€™s belongings. The sketch could be an exact copy of a Vietnamese Surrealist painterโ€™s work titled ๐˜‰๐˜ญ๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ ๐˜”๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ. 

From the Wisconsin Woods to the French countryside and their ancestral home in Vietnam, the sisters set out to find answers about the art, the artist, and the โ€œofferingโ€ mentioned in the letter. 

Thai weaves elements of art and art history in to add depth and insight. But what truly captivated me was the sisters’ relationship. They had such polar personalities, and their contrasting view of their childhood made me reflect on my own siblings and how we see our past differently. 

Beautifully written, this is a reflective look at how the past is always etched into our souls. 

๐ŸŽง I enjoyed reading in tandem with the audiobook gifted by @harperaudio. Quyen Ngoโ€™s narration brought out the story’s richness by highlighting the sisters’ differences and amplifying the emotions.

Thank you @marinerbooks and @williammorrowbooks for this gifted book. 

๐ŸŽจ๐ŸŽถ๐Ÿ’ƒ What type of art moves you most: paintings, music, dance, etc. 

๐— ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—Ÿ๐—ถ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ฐ | Review & Book Tour

๐— ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—Ÿ๐—ถ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ฐ

๐—•๐˜† ๐—ง๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฎ ๐—•๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐˜

Out Now!



Iโ€™ve got a fun book for you to add to your spooky-season reading list! It’s a unique, gritty mash-up of urban fantasy and a detective whodunit.ย 

Tess Tulley, the owner of Mill City Investigations, is a flawed but relatable protagonist. Well, except that she is a mind-reading witch, which has its pros and cons. Her kind call themselves Spinners, not witches, and each has a unique gift. But Tess has made herself a bit of an outcast in the coven because of her sense of justice. 

Tessโ€™s cop friend asks for her help on a murder case involving a Spinner’s death. The mystery is compelling, and the magic twist plus Tessโ€™s sarcastic personality kept me flipping the pages into the night.

I love paranormal reads like this where the โ€œgifted โ€ are out there doing real-life stuff among normal people, in a city that could be right where you live. ๐— ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—Ÿ๐—ถ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ง๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฏ๐˜บ, ๐˜ฎ๐˜บ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ด, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ญ. 

Thank you @suzyapprovedbooktours and @trishablanchet for this gifted book. 

๐Ÿ’ซ ๐—œ๐—ณ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ณ๐˜, ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ฒ?

Book Mail



Happy Wednesday! Time to check out what new books have landed at my door recently. 

As always, thank you to my amazing partners @aaknopf @scribnerbooks @stmartinspress @sourcebookscasa @vikingpress @celadonbooks @henryholtbooks @avonbooks @bookmarked @grandcentralpub @readmirabooks @flatironbooks @ballantinebooks @suzyapprovedbooktours @uplitreads @otrpr and @tlcbooktours for these gifted books.

|๐—ข๐˜‚๐˜ ๐—ก๐—ผ๐˜„|

Dead Beat (๐˜—๐˜™ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฌ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฆ)

The Children Act

Burning the Raven Tree

Peaks and Promises

The Women

One for the Road

Fall into Place

Austenland

Midnight in Austenland

The Good Girl Effect

Hollow Bones (๐˜—๐˜™ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฌ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฆ)

|๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐˜|

Inside Henry Cato

Witchland

Itโ€™s Not What You Think

The Ghost and the Dead Librarian

Blood Drunk

The Weight of Angels

|๐—ข๐—ฐ๐˜|

Looks Perfect

The Ferrymanโ€™s Daughter 

Have Yourself a Merry Little Meltdown

Cozy Little Christmas

Odette Rising

|๐—ก๐—ผ๐˜ƒ|

Love, Like Apple

|๐——๐—ฒ๐—ฐ|

The Lost Ones 

Lina & June

|๐—๐—ฎ๐—ป|

Two Lives

๐Ÿ“š ๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†, ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐—ป ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—น ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ?

๐—” ๐—ง๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ช๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐˜€ | Book Review

๐—” ๐—ง๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ช๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐˜€

๐—•๐˜† ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป

๐˜–๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜•๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ!



๐–๐ข๐ญ๐œ๐ก๐ฒ ๐–๐ž๐๐ง๐ž๐ฌ๐๐š๐ฒ โœจ

Welcome to another edition of Witchy Wednesday. This season is bringing out all the best witchy reads.

โณ ๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚โ€™๐—น๐—น ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฑ:

Witches

Dual Timeline / Dual POV

Magical Realism

Historical Fiction

Women Empowerment

Sisterhood 


๐ŸŒ™England 1645: Sybil, a wealthy widow, is accused of being a witch. She must fight the vile treatment and betrayals to keep her sister safe and try to stay alive.  

๐Ÿˆโ€โฌ›Georgia, present day: Ever since Lilithโ€™s mama died, she has been having nightmares of being burned alive, and the natural world is acting strangely towards her. 

What I really enjoyed is how these two women are connected through the centuries. The author does a compelling job blending historical details of the English witch trials into this magical reaching-through-time tale. 

It was difficult to read about Sybilโ€™s circumstances and how horribly she was treated, having no voice or agency. I could tell that Martin did her research. While the present-day timeline has a little romance and even some whimsy, the heart of the matter is that Lilith and Sybil must take a stand and fight back, even through time, before their legacy as women is erased. 

Itโ€™s a powerful, magical statement of women supporting women, empowering each other, and reclaiming their voices.

โœ๏ธ This edition includes recipes, Authorโ€™s Notes not to be missed, and beautiful sprayed edges. 

๐ŸŽง Thank you @harlequinbooks for the gifted audiobook. Saskia Maarleveld is a favorite narrator of mine, and she captured these women brilliantly. Her performance stirred up all the emotions. 

Thank you @uplitreads @hanoverpress and @madelinemmartin for this gifted book. 

๐Ÿˆโ€โฌ› ๐—œ๐—ณ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฒ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฌ๐˜€, ๐—ฑ๐—ผ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ธ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚โ€™๐—ฑ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฐ๐—ต? ๐—ข๐—ฅ  ๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ?

๐‚๐ฎ๐ซ๐ซ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐‘๐ž๐š๐๐ข๐ง๐  & ๐–๐ž๐š๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  | Dead Beat

๐‚๐ฎ๐ซ๐ซ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐‘๐ž๐š๐๐ข๐ง๐  & ๐–๐ž๐š๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ 



ATTENTION: ๐•‹๐•™๐•– ๐”ผ๐•Ÿ๐•• ๐•€๐•ค โ„๐•–๐•ฃ๐•–!

๐——๐—˜๐—”๐—— ๐—•๐—˜๐—”๐—ง is one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and @flatironbooks and @lbardugo delivered big time with this PR Package!

๐——๐—˜๐—”๐—— ๐—•๐—˜๐—”๐—ง is the third and final book in the Ninth House Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo, and it is out TODAY! Iโ€™ve already started; I had to, and it is fantastic. I am so excited to be back with Alex and Darlington. They have a daunting task ahead of them, perfect for the spooky season. ๐˜ž๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฎ๐˜บ ๐˜ง๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ.

The lovely folks @flatironbooks sent me this incredible book along with these amazing items, including the cardigan Iโ€™m wearing!! 

๐Ÿฆ‰ Full package includes:

Dead Beat 

Cardigan with Lethe House Crest

Dark Caramels from @mccreascandies 

Map of Yale University

Letter from Leigh Bardugo

*Black Light and Secret Message – sent earlier

๐Ÿ–ค๐Ÿฆ‰ ๐—›๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜† ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต ๐—•๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐—ด๐—ผโ€™๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ๐˜€?  ๐—ข๐—ฅ  ๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—บ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚โ€™๐—ฑ ๐—น๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ?

๐—™๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฃ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ ๐—•๐—น๐˜‚๐—ณ๐—ณ | Book Review

๐—™๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฃ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ ๐—•๐—น๐˜‚๐—ณ๐—ณ

๐—•๐˜† ๐—ž๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐˜† ๐—ช๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—›๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐˜†

๐˜๐˜ข๐˜ฑ๐˜ฑ๐˜บ ๐˜—๐˜ถ๐˜ฃ ๐˜‹๐˜ข๐˜บ!



Whether youโ€™re new to the Peachtree Bluff Series or a longtime fan, this story is perfect for anyone who loves cozy family dramas that capture your heart. It’s what KWH does best.

The Murphy Sisters make me envious, since I don’t have a sister of my own. Their bond is strong, loyal, and fierce. Theyโ€™ve walked through careers, marriages, children, heartbreaks, and loss together. 

Though life seems to have them running in different directions these days, they reunite in Peachtree Bluff with their families for several big surprises. 

I loved the cozy small-town atmosphere, the sisterly love and banter, plus the romance. This is a heartfelt, Southern family drama, and while it has its complications, it is warm and uplifting. 

Although it may still be 100 degrees here in Texas, this delightful book helped to usher in all the cozy fall feelings. 

๐ŸŽง I was so thankful to my partners at @simon.audio for the gifted audiobook. Hearing these women through the wonderful multi-cast narration made me feel like I was a part of their lives. It truly felt like I was visiting Peachtree Bluff. 

Thank you @uplitreads and @kristywharvey for this gifted book.

๐Ÿ‚ ๐—›๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น? ๐——๐—ผ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ, ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ, ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€?

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฃ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ค๐˜‚๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ป | Book Review

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฃ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ค๐˜‚๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ป

๐—•๐˜† ๐—”๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—น ๐—Ÿ๐—ฎ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ผ๐—ป

๐˜–๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜•๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ!



Thank you | gifted | @doubledaybooks and @PRHaudio 

After reading ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—™๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜‡๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ฅ๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ last year, Lawhon quickly went on my favorite historical fiction authors list. Her skill and storytelling continue to earn her spot with this sweeping and immersive tale of Grace Oโ€™Malley.

Lawhon takes a woman seemingly lost in the pages of history, with annotations and remarks here and there, or mostly given over to folklore, and here she brings Grace Oโ€™Malley to life. 

This is told in an inventive format: it alternates (non-linearly) between three sections of Graceโ€™s life: Maiden, Mother, and Matriarch. Itโ€™s a deep dive into Graceโ€™s life in 16th-century Ireland as a woman, as a wife forced into a brutal marriage, as a fierce mother, and as a shrewd pirate queen. 

I was a little worried about this being 528 pages, but I was quickly caught up in the high-seas adventure, political schemes, romance, rebellion, and all the family drama. Grace’s fierce spirit and boldness made this story impossible to put down!

โœ๏ธ Donโ€™t miss the Authorโ€™s Note. @ariel.lawhon shares fascinating extra details that enrich the reading experience and offer deeper insights into Grace O’Malley’s story. 

๐ŸŽง I loved listening to the audiobook narrated by Tara Flynn. I loved hearing the proper pronunciations of the names and getting lost in Graceโ€™s world. 

โš“  Letโ€™s name your ship: ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—–๐—ฅ + ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฑ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ.   The ___+ _______

๐—›๐—ผ๐—น๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—š๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ (๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜”๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜บ, 1) | Book Review

๐—›๐—ผ๐—น๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—š๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ (๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜”๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜บ, 1)

๐—•๐˜† ๐—ฃ๐—ถ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฅ๐—ฎ๐˜†๐—ป๐—ฒ

๐˜–๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜•๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ!



๐Ÿšค ๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฌ๐—ผ๐˜‚โ€™๐—น๐—น ๐—™๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฑ:

Small Lakeside Town

Single Dad

Enemies to Lovers

Opposites Attract

Forced Proximity

Troubled Past

I may have said this before, but I think the single-dad trope really works for me, especially when it’s written as well as Piper Rayne does here! 

Elliott is a great dad to Baylor, his five-year-old daughter, and I love how his brothers are protective and fun uncles. For five years, life has been just Elliot, his daughter Baylor, and this supportive, close-knit community.

Things in the quaint lakeside community of Echo Lake get shaken up when Emilia Greene, who works for a developer, rolls into town. What makes things awkward is that Emilia is staying in the guest cabin on Elliott’s property. Talk about keeping the enemy close. 

I enjoyed Elliott and Emilia dancing around each other, and how smitten Baylor was with Emilia. The romantic tension kept me hooked, and I loved the gossipy townspeople and the jokes and jabs between Elliott and his brothers. This was a great start to a new series, and Iโ€™m excited for the next book.

๐ŸŽง Jason Clarke and Callie Dalton delivered a great duet narration, with the bonus of other narrators rounding out the cast. This made for an amazing listening experience and helped me connect not only with Elliott and Emilia, but with all the characters.  

Thank you @hambright_pr and @authorpiperrayne for the gifted eBook and audiobook. 

๐Ÿ’•๐—›๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜† ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜„ ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐˜€?

๐—•๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜ ๐—ฆ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜€ | Sunday Spotlight

๐—•๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜ ๐—ฆ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜€

๐—•๐˜† ๐—ž๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜† ๐—ง๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐˜

๐˜–๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜•๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ!



๐˜ผ ๐™œ๐™๐™ค๐™จ๐™ฉ ๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™ค๐™ง๐™ฎ

๐˜ผ๐™ฃ ๐˜ผ๐™ข๐™š๐™ง๐™ž๐™˜๐™–๐™ฃ ๐™ก๐™ค๐™ซ๐™š ๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™ค๐™ง๐™ฎ

๐˜ผ ๐™ก๐™ค๐™จ๐™ฉ ๐™š๐™ง๐™– ๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™ค๐™ง๐™ฎ

๐˜ผ ๐™ก๐™–๐™จ๐™ฉ-๐™ค๐™› ๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™ค๐™ง๐™ฎ

With the recent 25th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy, this is a timely, poignant, and emotional read.

๐—”๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ:

Cate, Teddy, Ames, and Sloaneโ€”newly minted Class of 2001 graduatesโ€”are reeling from their first heartbreaks as they enter real life, unaware that the world is on the brink of vast, irreversible change. When the Twin Towers fall on September 11th, the tragedy intertwines their lives and futures in supernatural ways, linked by an undelivered love letter.

A wistful story of fate, love, and human connection, Bright Stars is a portrait of the tragedy that dented the romantic imagination of a forgotten generationโ€”The Last of the Innocentsโ€”just as offline life vanished forever. This novel is a time machine that will transport you back to the final days of the lost era so many of us are longing for.

Thank you @uplitreads @dogstar.press and @theladygatsby for this gifted book. 

โ‰๏ธ ๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ ๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜๐—น๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ?

๐—ฃ๐—ฒ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ช๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐——๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜ | Book Review

๐—ฃ๐—ฒ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ช๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐——๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜

๐—•๐˜† ๐—–๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ถ ๐—”๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ



The blurb compared this to ๐—˜๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ข๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฝ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—œ๐˜€ ๐—–๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—น๐˜† ๐—™๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ, and I would agree there are similarities. 

Sonny is a young, quirky, and lonely woman who prefers to observe the world around her. After coming into a large sum of money, she decides to stay at a luxury resort & spa in Arizona. 

Sonny is meant to be the โ€œoddโ€ or โ€œweirdโ€ girl, but one could argue the large cast of characters that she meets at this desert resort are all a little strange. We are privy to Sonnyโ€™s inner dialogue, and she loves to write her thoughts in her notebooks, which gives us a chance to understand how she thinks. 

It was interesting to watch Sonny try to move from observer to participant in her own life as she became more comfortable. While this moved slowly and I felt a bit bored at times, I was curious how Sonny got to this place in life; there were little hints of a troubled past. 

This character-driven story is about observations, the assumptions we make, and the minutiae of daily life and human behavior. Through Sonny, it makes a statement about stepping outside your comfort zone and showing the importance of our connections with others.

๐ŸŽง Thank you @harperaudio for the gifted audiobook. Alexandra Hunter gave Sonny and the entire cast excellent voices. Listening to the audiobook helped endear me to Sonny. 

Thank you partner @harperbooks for the gifted book.

๐ŸŒต๐—”๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜, ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜, ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜?

OR  

๐Ÿ‘€ ๐—”๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฎ ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ?