It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This meme is hosted by Kathryn at Reading Date.

Books I completed over the past week are:

In Our Midst by Nancy Jensen
On the Steamy Side by Louisa Edwards
The Beauty of Your Face by Sahar Mustafah
The Second Home by Christina Clancy
Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden
Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells

Bookmarks are still living in the middle of:

Yellow Earth by John Sayles
Small Game Hunting at the Local Coward Gun Club by Megan Gail Coles
All My Mother's Lovers by Ilana Masad
The Big Quiet by Lisa D. Stewart
Wild Dog by Serge Joncour
The Moonshiner’s Daughter by Donna Everhart
Unconditional Love by Jocelyn Moorhouse
The Last Blue by Isla Morley
Queen of the Owls by Barbara Linn Probst
Along Came Mary by Jo-Ann Mapson

Reviews posted this week:

nothing because I continue to be a slacker!

Books still needing to have reviews written (as opposed to the ones that are simply awaiting posting):

Beginning with Cannonballs by Jill McCroskey Coupe
The Right Sort of Man by Allison Montclair
Faces: Profiles of Dogs by Vita Sackville-West
The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley
The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott
Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan
Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore
Holding on to Nothing by Elizabeth Chiles Shelburne
Difficult Light by Tomas Gonzalez
Adults and Other Children by Miriam Cohen
Grief's Country by Gail Griffin
Moments of Glad Grace by Alison Wearing
Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss
The Library Book by Susan Orlean
Misconduct of the Heart by Cordelia Strube
Search Heartache by Carla Malden
What the Lady Wants by Renee Rosen
The Other Americans by Laila Lalami
The Book Keeper by Julia McKenzie Munemo
The Postmistress by Sarah Blake
Temporary by Hilary Leichter
Blue Marlin by Lee Smith
Rules for Visiting by Jessica Francis Kane
Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart
A Short Move by Katherine Hill
A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum
The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North
The Divorce Papers by Susan Rieger
Watershed by Mark Barr
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
The Goshen Road by Bonnie Proudfoot
We Have Everything Before Us by Esther Yin-ling Spodek
Anna Eva Mimi Adam by Marina Antropow Cramer
This Is My Body by Cameron Dezen Hammon
Impurity by Larry Tremblay
The Last Goldfish by Anita Lahey
Invisible Ink by Guy Stern
A Room Called Earth by Madeleine Ryan
Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips
Raphael Painter in Rome by Stephanie Storey
Blue Summer by Jim Nichols
The Miracle of Saint Lazarus by Uva de Aragon
Red Mother with Child by Christian Lax
The Mystery of Henri Pick by David Foenkinos
Tamba Child Soldier by Marion Achard
The Girl with Braided Hair by Rasha Adly
The Book of Second Chances by Katherine Slee
Disfigured by Amanda Leduc
Floating in the Neversink by Andrea Simon
Seven Sisters and a Brother by Marilyn Allman May
A Royal Pain by Rhys Bowen
Sansei and Sensibility by Karen Tei Yamashita
The Paris Secret by Natasha Lester
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat
I Was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhon
Godshot by Chelsea Bieker
The Hierarchies by Ros Anderson
The Change by Lori Soderlind
The Man in the White Linen Suit by David Handler
I Saw Three Ships by Bill Richardson
A Wicked Kind of Husband by Mia Vincy
Wild Ride Home by Christine Hemp
If You Leave Me by Crystal Hana Kim
The Book of Rosy by Rosayra Pablo Cruz and Julie Schweitert Collazo
The Devil to Pay by Liz Carlyle
How to Survive Death and Other Inconveniences by Sue William Silverman
The Prettiest Star by Carter Sickels
The Bitch by Pilar Quintana
Three Things About Elsie by Joanna Cannon
Continental Divide by Alex Myers
The Road to Urbino by Roma Tearne
The Wanting Life by Mark Rader
Invented Lives by Andrea Goldsmith
Friends of the Library by Susan Cushman
In Praise of Paths by Torbjorn Ekelund
Tea by the Sea by Donna Hemans
Heiress for Hire by Erin McCarthy
In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
Wild Game by Adrienne Brodeur
The Royal Abduls by Ramiza Shamoun Koya
The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline
The Expert's Guide to Driving a Man Wild by Jessica Clare
How to Eat by Thich Nhat Hanh
Miracle Creek by Angie Kim
Startled by His Furry Shorts by Louise Rennison
Love and Hunger by Charlotte Wood
Tell Me Your Names and I Will Testify by Carolyn Holbrook
You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Amor Towles
In Our Midst by Nancy Jensen
On the Steamy Side by Louisa Edwards
The Beauty of Your Face by Sahar Mustafah
The Second Home by Christina Clancy
Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden
Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells

Monday Mailbox

This past week's mailbox arrivals:

The Chalk Artist by Allegra Goodman came from me for myself.

This was recommended to me several years ago but it's taken me until now to buy this engaging looking novel about a chalk artist and a high school teacher.

Lies Jane Austen Told Me by Julie Wright came from me for myself.

Yeah, put Jane Austen in the title and I'm sure to be drawn to it like a bee to honey. This looks like a sweet love story.

The Book of CarolSue by Lynne Hugo came from me for myself.

Two widowed sisters and a baby abandoned by its mother? Yep, this should be a heartwarming one for sure.

Into the Planet by Jill Heinerth came from me for myself.

I am way too cowardly to cave dive but I do love regular scuba and so I am looking forward to this memoir a lot.

A Brush with Death by Ali Carter came from me for myself.

Billed as Agatha Christie meets Downton Abbey, there was no way I'd be able to resist.

Elegies for the Brokenhearted by Christie Hodgen came for me for myself.

I am very curious about this novel about family, the people the main character will never forget, told through elegies.

The Curiosities by Susan Gloss came from me for myself.

A novel about an art historian who finds a job running an artist-in-residence program after a devastating late pregnancy loss, I can't wait to meet the eccentric characters who populate the lakeside mansion and become like family to the main character.

Chasing Charlie by Linda McLaughlin came from me for myself.

A woman chasing her first love all over London despite her friends' reservations about whether any relationship with him can work, this looks charming.

The Switch by Beth O'Leary came from Flatiron Books.

A grandmother and granddaughter switching lives? This promises to be delightful!

Effortless Vegan by Sarah Nevins came from Page Street Publishing.

I've already moved to Meatless Mondays (with some small measure of grumbling from the carnivores here) so we just won't tell them these recipes are vegan. But I have to say they look amazing!

Bad Ideas by Missy Marston came from me for myself.

This novel about true love and family is loosely based on the real life attempt to jump the St. Lawrence River in a rocket car. Intriguing, no?

The Promise by Xinran came from Bloomsbury.

I liked the last Xinran book I read so I think this one about love and loss over a century in China should be fantastic too.

A Sweet Mess by Jayci Lee came from St. Martin's Griffin.

With a bakery panned by a food critic, a one night stand between the baker and the critic, and the offer of appearing on a food show as a sort of apology, these sound like the ingredients for a sweet romance.

26.2 Miles to Happiness by Paul Tonkinson came from Bloomsbury.

I've run a marathon but definitely not quickly. Even so, I am looking forward to this memoir written by a comedian trying to beat 3 hours at the London Marathon. Running and laughter together can't be beaten.

A Most Beautiful Thing by Arshay Cooper came from Flatiron Books.

All books about rowing interest me but this one about the first all-black high school rowing crew looks amazing.

The Dilemma by B. A. Paris came from St. Martin's Press.

I can't wait to read this novel about the secrets that could destroy a family and the lengths people will go to to protect those they love.

If you want to see the marvelous goodies in other people's mailboxes, make sure to visit Mailbox Monday and have fun seeing how we are all doing our part to keep the USPS and delivery services viable.

Waiting on Wednesday

This meme was hosted by Breaking the Spine and is meant to highlight some great pre-publication books we all can't wait to get our grubby little mitts on. I'm choosing to continue the tradition even though she has stopped.

Anxious People by Frederik Backman.

The book is being released by Atria on September 8, 2020.

The book's jacket copy says: From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove and “writer of astonishing depth” (The Washington Times) comes a poignant, charming novel about a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imagined.

Looking at real estate isn’t usually a life-or-death situation, but an apartment open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes a group of strangers hostage. The captives include a recently retired couple who relentlessly hunt down fixer-uppers to avoid the painful truth that they can’t fix their own marriage. There’s a wealthy bank director who has been too busy to care about anyone else and a young couple who are about to have their first child but can’t seem to agree on anything, from where they want to live to how they met in the first place. Add to the mix an eighty-seven-year-old woman who has lived long enough not to be afraid of someone waving a gun in her face, a flustered but still-ready-to-make-a-deal real estate agent, and a mystery man who has locked himself in the apartment’s only bathroom, and you’ve got the worst group of hostages in the world.

Each of them carries a lifetime of grievances, hurts, secrets, and passions that are ready to boil over. None of them is entirely who they appear to be. And all of them—the bank robber included—desperately crave some sort of rescue. As the authorities and the media surround the premises these reluctant allies will reveal surprising truths about themselves and set in motion a chain of events so unexpected that even they can hardly explain what happens next.
Rich with Fredrik Backman’s “pitch-perfect dialogue and an unparalleled understanding of human nature” (Shelf Awareness), Anxious People is an ingeniously constructed story about the enduring power of friendship, forgiveness, and hope—the things that save us, even in the most anxious times.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This meme is hosted by Kathryn at Reading Date.

Books I completed over the past week are:

Startled by His Furry Shorts by Louise Rennison
Love and Hunger by Charlotte Wood
Tell Me Your Names and I Will Testify by Carolyn Holbrook
You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Amor Towles

Bookmarks are still living in the middle of:

Yellow Earth by John Sayles
Small Game Hunting at the Local Coward Gun Club by Megan Gail Coles
The Second Home by Christina Clancy
All My Mother's Lovers by Ilana Masad
The Big Quiet by Lisa D. Stewart
Wild Dog by Serge Joncour
The Moonshiner’s Daughter by Donna Everhart
Unconditional Love by Jocelyn Moorhouse
The Last Blue by Isla Morley
Queen of the Owls by Barbara Linn Probst
In Our Midst by Nancy Jensen

Reviews posted this week:

nothing because I continue to be a slacker!

Books still needing to have reviews written (as opposed to the ones that are simply awaiting posting):

Beginning with Cannonballs by Jill McCroskey Coupe
The Right Sort of Man by Allison Montclair
Faces: Profiles of Dogs by Vita Sackville-West
The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley
The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott
Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan
Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore
Holding on to Nothing by Elizabeth Chiles Shelburne
Difficult Light by Tomas Gonzalez
Adults and Other Children by Miriam Cohen
Grief's Country by Gail Griffin
Moments of Glad Grace by Alison Wearing
Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss
The Library Book by Susan Orlean
Misconduct of the Heart by Cordelia Strube
Search Heartache by Carla Malden
What the Lady Wants by Renee Rosen
The Other Americans by Laila Lalami
The Book Keeper by Julia McKenzie Munemo
The Postmistress by Sarah Blake
Temporary by Hilary Leichter
Blue Marlin by Lee Smith
Rules for Visiting by Jessica Francis Kane
Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart
A Short Move by Katherine Hill
A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum
The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North
The Divorce Papers by Susan Rieger
Watershed by Mark Barr
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
The Goshen Road by Bonnie Proudfoot
We Have Everything Before Us by Esther Yin-ling Spodek
Anna Eva Mimi Adam by Marina Antropow Cramer
This Is My Body by Cameron Dezen Hammon
Impurity by Larry Tremblay
The Last Goldfish by Anita Lahey
Invisible Ink by Guy Stern
A Room Called Earth by Madeleine Ryan
Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips
Raphael Painter in Rome by Stephanie Storey
Blue Summer by Jim Nichols
The Miracle of Saint Lazarus by Uva de Aragon
Red Mother with Child by Christian Lax
The Mystery of Henri Pick by David Foenkinos
Tamba Child Soldier by Marion Achard
The Girl with Braided Hair by Rasha Adly
The Book of Second Chances by Katherine Slee
Disfigured by Amanda Leduc
Floating in the Neversink by Andrea Simon
Seven Sisters and a Brother by Marilyn Allman May
A Royal Pain by Rhys Bowen
Sansei and Sensibility by Karen Tei Yamashita
The Paris Secret by Natasha Lester
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat
I Was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhon
Godshot by Chelsea Bieker
The Hierarchies by Ros Anderson
The Change by Lori Soderlind
The Man in the White Linen Suit by David Handler
I Saw Three Ships by Bill Richardson
A Wicked Kind of Husband by Mia Vincy
Wild Ride Home by Christine Hemp
If You Leave Me by Crystal Hana Kim
The Book of Rosy by Rosayra Pablo Cruz and Julie Schweitert Collazo
The Devil to Pay by Liz Carlyle
How to Survive Death and Other Inconveniences by Sue William Silverman
The Prettiest Star by Carter Sickels
The Bitch by Pilar Quintana
Three Things About Elsie by Joanna Cannon
Continental Divide by Alex Myers
The Road to Urbino by Roma Tearne
The Wanting Life by Mark Rader
Invented Lives by Andrea Goldsmith
Friends of the Library by Susan Cushman
In Praise of Paths by Torbjorn Ekelund
Tea by the Sea by Donna Hemans
Heiress for Hire by Erin McCarthy
In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
Wild Game by Adrienne Brodeur
The Royal Abduls by Ramiza Shamoun Koya
The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline
The Expert's Guide to Driving a Man Wild by Jessica Clare
How to Eat by Thich Nhat Hanh
Miracle Creek by Angie Kim
Startled by His Furry Shorts by Louise Rennison
Love and Hunger by Charlotte Wood
Tell Me Your Names and I Will Testify by Carolyn Holbrook
You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Amor Towles

Monday Mailbox

This past week's mailbox arrival:

Sisters of War by Lana Kortchik came from Harper Collins.

In all of the WWII books I've read, very few of them were from a Russsian (Ukrainian) perspective so I am looking forward to this novel about two Ukrainian sisters whose whole lives are changed when the Nazis invade their city.

If you want to see the marvelous goodies in other people's mailboxes, make sure to visit Mailbox Monday and have fun seeing how we are all doing our part to keep the USPS and delivery services viable.

Waiting on Wednesday

This meme was hosted by Breaking the Spine and is meant to highlight some great pre-publication books we all can't wait to get our grubby little mitts on. I'm choosing to continue the tradition even though she has stopped.

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi.

The book is being released by Knopf on September 1, 2020.

The book's jacket copy says: Yaa Gyasi's stunning follow-up to her acclaimed national best seller Homegoing is a powerful, raw, intimate, deeply layered novel about a Ghanaian family in Alabama.

Gifty is a sixth-year PhD candidate in neuroscience at the Stanford University School of Medicine studying reward-seeking behavior in mice and the neural circuits of depression and addiction. Her brother, Nana, was a gifted high school athlete who died of a heroin overdose after an ankle injury left him hooked on OxyContin. Her suicidal mother is living in her bed. Gifty is determined to discover the scientific basis for the suffering she sees all around her. But even as she turns to the hard sciences to unlock the mystery of her family's loss, she finds herself hungering for her childhood faith and grappling with the evangelical church in which she was raised, whose promise of salvation remains as tantalizing as it is elusive. Transcendent Kingdom is a deeply moving portrait of a family of Ghanaian immigrants ravaged by depression and addiction and grief--a novel about faith, science, religion, love. Exquisitely written, emotionally searing, this is an exceptionally powerful follow-up to Gyasi's phenomenal debut.

Monday Mailbox

I've been swamped with a lot for a month or more so this is many past weeks' mailbox arrivals:

Love and Hunger by Charlotte Wood came from me for myself.

I need another cookbook like I need a hole in my head but I am intrigued by this simple, meditative look at cooking and food.

Your Blue Is Not My Blue by Aspen Matis came from me for myself.

The subtitle of "A Missing Person Memoir" was what first reeled me in and I am terribly curious about this couple who fell in love hiking the PCT, married, and spent 3 happy years together before the husband left for a friend's funeral and never came back.

The Gin O'Clock Club by Rosie Blake came from me for myself.

Sometimes you search out heartwarming and this novel about a busy young woman whose grandfather and his cronies set out to slow her down so she can open her heart to love should be exactly that.

Sorry I Missed You by Suzy Krause came from me for myself.

Three women who have all been ghosted by people important to them move into a house together and each thinks a single letter delivered to their rental hinting at answers to these disappearances is for her. This has all the trappings of an intriguing mystery.

Messy, Wonderful Us by Catherine Isaac came from me for myself.

An explosive letter, long buried family secrets, and Italy. I mean, how could you resist?

The Phone Box at the Edge of the World by Laura Imai Messina came from me for myself.

The concept of an old, unused phone box being put into service for people to speak to their lost loved one and come to terms with their own grief is a beautiful one and I imagine this will cause many tears but I think they will be cathartic tears.

Summer at the Art Cafe by Sue McDonagh came from me for myself.

I do love romances where a woman embraces herself and comes into her own and this one sounds like it will fit the bill admirably.

Uneasy Money by P.G. Wodehouse came from me for myself.

If you need funny, Wodehouse is your man so I can't wait to dip into this story of a broke, golf-loving peer who inherits a fortune from a friend and sets out to make things right and give the money to the man's impoverished children.

Miracle Country by Kendra Atleework came from LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

A memoir of landscape, escape, and return, this sounds like it will be a gorgeous, nature infused tale.

The Readers' Room by Antoine Laurain came from Meryl Zegarek PR.

Laurain writes books with unexpected twists so I am really looking forward to this one about an anonymous crime novel up for a prestigious prize at the same time police are investigating murders very similar to those in the book.

Group by Christie Tate came from Shelf Awareness.

A memoir about a young lawyer baring her soul in group therapy? Is it harder or easier to tell your secrets to strangers? This sounds terrifying and fascinating.

Garden by the Sea by Mercé Rodoreda came from me for myself.

What doesn't appeal about a novel detailing six summers of rich, joyous friends observed by the gardener who can see much more clearly than the young people what is coming their way? And I don't think I've ever read another novel translated from the Catalan so that should be cool too.

Digging In by Loretta Nyhan came from me for myself.

A widowed woman trying to find purpose in her life turns her front yard into an enormous garden, upsetting her HOA even as she herself comes back to life. Sounds lovely, doesn't it?

Our Stop by Laura Jane Williams came from me for myself.

Billed as "a not-quite-romance of near-misses, true love, and the power of the written word," this sounds absolutely delightful.

The Unexpected Education of Emily Dean by Mira Robertson came from me for myself.

I've not read many (any?) books set during WWII from an Australian perspective so I am very curious about this novel about a teenager sent to stay with her father's relatives in rural Victoria who befriends an Italian prisoner of war and gets close to her wounded, angry, drunk, literature loving uncle.

The Last Voyage of Mrs. Henry Parker by Joanna Nell came from me for myself.

The wife of a retired ship's doctor is living out her life onboard the cruise ship when her husband goes missing and she is determined to find him. This looks like a sweet and sad entry into the Grump Lit category.

Dangerous Ages by Rose Macaulay came from me for myself.

Could you resist this cover? Obviously I couldn't (even if it does do some crazy things to my astigmatism). But the story, about several women in the same family all at "dangerous ages," sounds fantastic too.

If you want to see the marvelous goodies in other people's mailboxes, make sure to visit Mailbox Monday and have fun seeing how we are all doing our part to keep the USPS and delivery services viable.