The Book Club Hotel

Charming, seasonal, heartwarming, and ultimately relatable. Three friends put aside their busy work and home lives and get together once a year for a week in a nice hotel to hang out, discuss books, and catch up on life. Claudia is still reeling from her boyfriend of ten years dumping her and then her later losing her job as a chef. Anna is preparing to be an empty nester when her twins go away to college in a year and isn't taking the holiday season well. Erica is toying with the idea of maybe liking someone enough to let them be more than a casual thing - and she also has a big secret that she hasn't shared with her best friends. The cozy Vermont Inn is an idyllic setting and the perfect place for their yearly getaway. The owner, Hattie, has some problems of her own as well. Running an inn and raising a child while being widow is tough, but's even tougher when there are staff members with big egos who keep getting in the way. These four women will find they have so much more in common then they thought. They'll also realize that even if someone's life looks perfect on the outside, that isn't always the whole picture. Female fiction at its finest. 

Ladies' Lunch: and Other Stories

Pulitzer Prize finalist, and beloved New York writer, Lore Segal pens a short story collection about five female friends who have been lunching together for over forty years. As they enter their ninth decade of life, they find that things that were important in their youth don't matter so much anymore. They limit their talk on aches and pains and try to focus on friendship, family, the future, and of course aging. Over the course of sixteen stories listeners are treated to humor, heartbreak, resourcefulness, and grim determination as these women try to avoid assisted living, figure out how to travel, and brainstorm ways to keep the whole gang together. Ladies' Lunch is narrated by Callie Beaulieu, who effuses the ladies' advanced ages and voices with wisdom, humor, and grace. Segal brilliantly showcases both incredible sharpness and wisdom in characters that sometimes forget names and misplace medications; with a perspective that younger writers can't easily imitate. Some stories shine much more than others, but seniors especially will relate and identify with the struggles of aging gracefully. 

Bookshops & Bonedust

I love this cozy fantasy world so so much. This wasn't quite as head over heels for me as Legends & Lattes was but it was so close!! It was so good getting to see a new side to Viv, a battle hungry orc, before she puts up her blade. While on a mission to apprehend a necromancer she gets severely injured and is left behind in a town to heal. An orc with nothing to do but rest and heal is miserable and Viv is beyond that. Against the doctors orders she starts walking around the sleepy seaside town she is trapped in and finds a musty old bookshop. After getting guilted into buying a book, she discovers she loves reading and finds herself coming back again and again and befriending the Rattkin owner. Together and along with some other outcasts they form a little ragtag group and work on saving the bookshop from folding. It's wholesome and charming. More books set in this world please!

The Christmas Guest

Trying to get in the holiday spirit by reading about some murder under the mistletoe. While no one gets murdered under the mistletoe (more like actually bludgeoned to death with a rock in the snowy woods), there is at heart a little mystery. When an American student is invited to the English countryside to spend the holidays with one of her classmates she bites at the chance. She also falls head over heels for her friend's older brother. While at the pub, someone comments that she looks just like the murdered girl found behind her classmate's manor. Is it true? How did that girl die and why? Interesting narrative. It was a quick read that kept me hooked. 

Lore Olympus v. 5

The artwork is stunning and this story keeps getting more engaging. I am always so interested to see how Rachel Smythe can "modernize" ancient mythology and it's always so inventive and engaging. This slow burn between Persephone and Hades is starting to steam up. I can't wait for the next installment!

Cat + Gamer

Cute, but not quite cute enough to continue the whole series. I'm not even sure what else there is to write about. Riko is an office worker pushing thirty. She never works overtime, never discusses her private life, and never goes out for drinks with her co-workers. She is an enigma to everyone. One day a security guard finds a scared kitten in the parking lot and she finds herself volunteering to take the kitty home. Before the kitten all she would do is play video games, all night and every weekend. Now that she has a kitten she backed off the games (only a little) and has started focusing on "leveling up" her kitten. It's cute, but how much more story can there be?

One by One

Not my favorite Ruth Ware thriller. I loved the setting and I liked the premise but I STRONGLY disliked the dual narrative. The story unfolds between two perspectives, Erin a chalet cleaner and host and Liz, a timid guest staying at the chalet as part of a corporate retreat. The chalet is high in the alps, it's gorgeous and isolated; just what the executives of Snoop need to decide the future of their company. They've brought along one extra member though, Liz. Liz hasn't been employed in several years, but she does have a stake in the company owning 2% of the shares. She knows the co-founders are going to hem and haw and use her to be a deciding factor if they take their company public or if they sell it. When one of the co-founders goes missing after a day of skiing they are sick with worry, before they can send out a search party an avalanche traps them up in the mountains. They have no power, no reception, and soon no hope as other members of the party start to die. Who is killing off people and why? It was pretty obvious. And again, the dual narrative was not done well. I'll try another Ruth Ware though - the setting was great. 

Behind the Seams

To thine oneself be true, could aptly sum up this excellent audiobook celebrating Dolly Parton's iconic and timeless style. Narrated by the icon herself, Behind the Seams takes readers on a journey through Dolly's early style, makeup, fashion, wigs, and more. Interspersed throughout the interviews are song clips and interviews with some of the designers and stylists who have helped showcase Dolly’s unique and unforgettable vision. From the Country Music Awards, The Porter Wagoner Show, album covers, Studio 54, and The Playboy cover – each outfit has a story to tell. Dolly Parton’s style has evolved over the years, but has always been flashy, busty, unique, and glitzy; just like the legend herself. Part memoir, part fashion manifesto, part archive; Behind the Seams is filled with humor, confidence, candor. This audiobook deserves all the rhinestone stars it can get.

The Unmaking of June Farrow

I wanted to like this book more than I did. I love the concept, it just made my brain hurt trying to keep all the time travel threads together and in the right order. June Farrow has always known that she is from a family of strong, yet curiously sick women. Her mother abandoned her on her family's steps and her grandmother slowly lost her mind as well. It's not your average mental illness, something seems to unravel the Farrow women and June knows it's only a matter of time before it happens to her as well. She's put off love, hopes, and dreams, and surrendered herself to the family curse. After her mother's funeral, June receives a newspaper article featuring her mother... from nearly 80 years ago. How could that be? Maybe she just looks identical to her mom? She starts following a trail of breadcrumbs an things start getting really weird, really fast. When the visions and "hallucinations" start to get real bad, her dear friend Birdie tells her that the next time she sees the red door she has to go through it. But what is on the other side? A twisty  magical realism book about love, family secrets, and the power to change our past by changing the future. 

World Within a Song

New York Times bestselling author and Wilco front man, Jeff Tweedy is back with another fun music inspired journey. Tweedy shares the fifty songs that have impacted his life the most, for better or for worse. He’s very clear that these aren’t what he considers the best fifty songs of all time, that is too daunting of a list to try. Rather this compilation of songs represents moments in his life where the song is crucial to the memory. From childhood to his wedding, music has been involved in every aspect of his life and these fifty songs highlight some important and unforgettable moments. Fantastically narrated by the legend himself, Tweedy’ s charisma shines throughout the recording. He shares the experiences behind each song and how it impacted his own relationship with music and song-writing. Featuring an eclectic list of songs by Otis Redding, Billie Eilish, Deep Purple, The Rolling Stones, and many others; this list is fresh and surprising. Part memoir, part music appreciation, and all-around joy; World Within a Song is a fantastic listen, that will have listeners pausing the audiobook to listen to the many songs referenced. – Erin Cataldi 

The Woman in Me

Wow. Definitely learned A LOT about Britney and her life. It's sad and crazy to think that this sort of abuse happened in our lifetimes. It explains so much about the headlines and the photos. The book is so eye opening and drops so many crazy little stories in details. It's not what I would call well written or super detailed for a memoir, it's much more conversational. There is no overall flow, but it's a quick read and the voice really does seem authentic to her. After reading this I have newfound and mad respect for her. Also, fuck Justin Timberlake!

Against the Wind

While this is the second book in a series, this historical novel can easily be read as a standalone as well. Louisa Vaughn had vowed never to return to Sweetwater Crossing but when her friend insists that she accompany her back to bury her husband she does. She reunites with her estranged sister and discovers she has been left a doctor's office. That comes as a major blessing because while away she had been studying to become a midwife and doctor. Sweetwater Crossing no longer has a doctor and she is ready to take the reigns if the townsfolk will trust a female doctor. The first big way to prove that she knows what she is doing is by setting the leg of a man who was thrown from his horse. Josh Porter is a big shot from New York who was just passing through, but since he broke his leg he will have to spend several months there while he heals. She finds her heart opening to him and another man who seems intent on pursuing her. Maybe returning to Sweetwater Crossing wasn't so bad after all? She'll have to navigate her heart and convince the town that she really is fit to be their doctor. A good clean Christian read. 

One Italian Summer

Honestly, this is just a 3 or 3.5 star - but I rounded up for the excellent narration from Lauren Graham. She made the book sparkle despite some pretty big shortfalls. I immediately identified with this book having lost my mother around the same age, but, the execution of the "magic" was just too unbelievable for me. When Katy's mother dies she decides to hop on a plane on go on the trip to Positano Italy that she and her mother had been planning for months. She can barely function but she hopes that seeing the place her mother had loved as a young woman would help make her feel closer to her. Katy is barely functioning as her mom was her best friend and the most important person in her life (even more than her husband!). While she is in Positano she sees her mother as a 30 year old, which is impossible, yet it's her, it is somehow her mother reincarnated as her younger self. Later we find out that Katy has somehow traveled back into time to the same summer that her mother was in Italy. Katy NEVER questions this or anything. She is just so excited to see her mother and befriend her that she doesn't question anything. Like HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?! There are some heartwarming moments and she has to accept that her mother was not perfect. Another thing I loved besides the narration was all the food writing and the descriptions of the Italian countryside. Charming, yet ridiculously unbelievable.