Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Bookish Places I’ve Visited with the prompt: Share all the cool places you’ve been that are bookish or tied to books! This includes neat libraries, book stores, places featured in books, places inspired by books, author homes/places they’ve stayed, etc. You can also share your bucket list of the bookish places you’d like to visit someday. (submitted by Susan @Bloggin’ ’bout Books)
Here are nine places I’ve been that have some connection to books — plus one that I really want to get to:
Note: Images from online sources are credited; uncredited images are from my camera roll.
1. Forks, Washington: A road trip last summer took me through the Olympic Peninsula, and I totally fangirled out over the Twilight-ness of it all.
2. Oregon Shakespeare Festival: I love everything about the annual festival in Ashland, Oregon, and hope to make it an annual tradition.
3. New York Public Library: Iconic! Need I say more?
5. Harry Potter World at Universal Studios: Okay, sure, this is mainly based on the movies… but close enough!
6. Muir Woods: This national monument, just a quick drive from where I live, is one of my favorite local destinations, and has the added bonus of being an important site in the world of the October Daye series. Every time I visit, I hope to catch a glimpse of Toby and Tybalt. Hasn’t happened yet, but I can dream!
7. Salem, Massachusetts: Connected to so many books, and I found the small park with the names of the witch trial victims incredibly moving (despite being hemmed in on all sides by so much witchy kitsch)
8. Powell’s, Portland, OR: This immense bookstore is just as amazing as everyone says! I was so happy to finally get a chance to visit last year.
9. Florence, Italy: I was fortunate enough to be able to visit Florence during college, and read The Agony and The Ecstasy immediately before the trip, then planned my sight-seeing around checking out as many Michelangelo masterpieces as possible.
10. Jane Austen’s House, Chawton, UK: Finally, one from my bucket list! I don’t know when this will happen, but someday, I absolutely want to get to this Jane Austen landmark!
My Monday tradition, including a look back and a look ahead — what I read last week, what new books came my way, and what books are keeping me busy right now. Plus a smattering of other stuff too.
Life.
Not much new to report! It was a hectic workweek, but a lovely weekend. Books, walks, and family time… all good!
What did I read during the last week?
The Postcard by Anne Berest: A powerful, important book. I’m so glad my book group chose it for our discussion this month. My review is here.
Enormous WingsbyLaurie Frankel: A startling premise is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of this lovely, engaging, and thought-provoking novel. Highly recommended! My review is here.
The Mother-Daughter Book Club by Susan Patterson and James Patterson: I stumbled across this book while looking for a new audiobook on Libby… and since I needed a “book about a book club” for a reading challenge, I decided to give it a try. A nice bookish escape. My review is here.
First Test: Protector of the Small (graphic novel) by Tamora Pierce, adapted by Devin Grayson and Becca Farrow: I’ve had this book on my shelf for a while now, and found myself in the mood for a quick trip to Tortall this week! I’m glad I read it, although it left me wishing there was a follow-up available, and also in the mood to think about rereading one of the Tortall series from start to finish.
To the Moon and Back by Eliana Ramage: I’m glad I finally read this absorbing book, about a Cherokee woman’s quest to become an astronaut while learning about herself and her family. Not sure yet if I’ll be writing a full review, but I did find it very interesting.
Pop culture & TV:
I watched My Brilliant Career on Netflix, and loved it! With just six episodes, it’s a quick binge, and so well done. The show is an adaptation of the Australian classic by Miles Franklin (which was one of my Classics Club Spin books earlier in the year). Don’t miss it!
And having finished that series, I finally jumped on the bandwagon (very, very late) and watched… Heated Rivalry. I would have sworn that a hockey romance would hold zero interest for me, but I’m forced to admit that I was wrong! I was hooked right away, and loved the characters. I still don’t think I’d be interested in the books… but feel free to try to convince me otherwise.
Fresh Catch:
One new book this week:
I bought this lovely edition of The Time Traveler’s Wife, and I’m looking forward to getting the matching edition of the upcoming sequel in October.
What will I be reading during the coming week?
Currently in my hands:
I haven’t quite decided what to start next, since I just finished a book late Sunday. As of now, I’m leaning toward one of the remaining books from my summer TBR:
The Fox and the Devil by Kiersten White
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews
We’ll see — it’s possible my mood will take me toward something else entirely.
Now playing via audiobook:
My Imaginary Mary by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton & Jodi Meadows: I’m always happy to return to the world of the Jane/Mary books. This book focuses on Mary Shelley and Ada Lovelace — with a bit of magic thrown in. I just started this audiobook over the weekend and haven’t gotten very far yet… but so far, it’s a lot of fun.
Ongoing reads:
The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe: My book group’s classic read. We’re reading and discussing two chapters per week. Progress: 76%. Coming up this week: Volume 4, chapters 1 and 2.
Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier: My spin book! Here’s my post about the results. This is my 2nd spin in a row to land on a du Maurier book… and I’m very happy about it. The due date is October 4th… which means I probably won’t start just yet, so I’ll leave it here as a reminder until I’m ready to dive in.
Title: The Mother-Daughter Book Club Authors: Susan Patterson & James Patterson Narrators: Many! Publisher: Little, Brown and Company Publication date: April 20, 2026 Print length: 352 pages Audiobook length: 7 hours 35 minutes Genre: Contemporary fiction Source: Library Rating:
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
The Mother-Daughter Book Club is Susan and James Patterson’s new novel, the follow-up to Things I Wish I Told My Mother—the New York Times bestselling, book club favorite praised novel.
“An entertaining book … As friends talk books, hopes, dreams … and dishy revelations … it’s romantic love—both old and new … that drive[s] the story forward.” —Kirkus Reviews
Between their busy lives and their far-flung residences, the Mother-Daughter Book Club—four longtime college friends and their five daughters—more often discuss the books on their nightstands via 2 a.m. texts than in-person meetings. And maybe it’s just as well, after what happened at their last get-together …
So it’s an emotional reunion when they finally gather again, this time on the spectacular shores of Italy’s Lake Como. Sightseeing excursions, reminiscing fueled by “Como-politans,” and a hint of vacation romance all build toward the book club’s trademark “Night of Secrets.”
These friends, and sometime rivals, are close readers—of novels, memoirs, and of each other. But as the years and the distance cast shadows and doubt, confidences and sympathies turn into surprising revelations.
The Mother-Daughter Book Club is a sun-drenched ode to lifelong friendships and the joy of sharing books… and if that cover doesn’t make you want to run away to a beautiful lake for the rest of the summer, well, I guess you’re not me!
This light book introduces us to four best friends, together since college, and their assorted daughters, now all in their twenties. The friends — an opera singer, a lawyer, a minister, and a fitness instructor — lead very different lives, but share deep bonds that they’ve cherished across the years. A tragic accident at the last gathering of the MDBC (Mother-Daughter Book Club) has kept them apart for three years, but now, they’re reuniting at a gorgeous villa on Lake Como for a weekend filled with good food, sunshine and hiking, book chatter, and their traditional sharing of secrets. The question is — will the secrets bring them closer or drive them all apart once again?
The overall tone is light and cheerful. Even when we learn of painful experiences, the setting and the banter between friends keeps the narrative from getting too dark. There’s always a yoga session or delicious dessert or tarot reading to break the tension.
It’s the relationships that make this book feel so heart-warming. The friends have been through a lot over the years, but they’ve always cared for one another and provided shoulders to cry on and cheerleading through the ups and downs of careers, marriages, and motherhood. The mother-daughter bonds are all flavored in different ways, but convey a closeness that feels special, and the friendship between the daughters likewise shows a foundation of affection and support.
The book made me yearn for an immediate summer vacation where I could indulge in gourmet meals, sinful desserts, and glasses of Prosecco (preferably while staying in a luxurious lakeside villa)… but beyond the escapist fantasy, I also enjoyed the way all of these women, with such different lives, share a love of books. If it doesn’t exist already, someone really should put together a list of every book mentioned in The Mother-Daughter Book Club. There’s something for everyone!
The audiobook is lots of fun, with a different narrator for each of the main characters. They all do a great job bringing these varied personalities to life. Helpfully, every chapter is identified by both character name and relationship status, such as “Mariella, mother of Zoey” or “Merry, daughter of Grace”. It can be tricky at first to keep the names and connections straight (the print edition includes a list of characters, which is handy to have as a reference while listening to the audiobook).
What this book lacks is a true sense of stakes or drama. There are fun moments between characters, great descriptions of scenery and food, and hints of darker secrets… but really, everything just moves along nicely and there’s nothing terribly urgent about it. Yes, there are more serious events and a big reveal (which is telegraphed far in advance) that are emotional for the characters, but the book itself doesn’t go much beneath the surface — possibly because with so many characters to juggle, there’s no time or space to go deeply into any one person’s issues. This is truly a pleasant book, and I liked it… but it doesn’t really rise much above the description of “nice” for me.
If you’re looking for an easy-going summer escape, this might be a good choice. I don’t regret picking this one up, but I can’t exactly call it a page-turner.
Purchase links: Amazon – Bookshop.org – Libro.fm Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.
Title: Enormous Wings Author: Laurie Frankel Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. Publication date: May 5, 2026 Length: 304 pages Genre: Contemporary fiction Source: Library Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
From the beloved New York Times bestselling author Laurie Frankel, an exuberant and timely new novel
At seventy-seven, Pepper Mills is too old to be a stranger in a strange land. She didn’t choose the Vista View Retirement Community of Austin, Texas—that would be her three grown children—but when she grudgingly moves in, she not only makes new friends, she falls in love. Then the exhaustion, vomiting, and confusion start. She fears it’s cancer, dementia, a stroke. But a raft of tests later, the news is even more shocking: She’s pregnant.
As word gets out, everyone wants a piece of her: the press and paparazzi, activists and medical researchers, belly-rubbers and rubber-neckers all descending on Vista View while Pepper struggles to determine her next move. Soon she has some hard decisions to make—and some she’s not allowed to make.
Enormous Wings is an urgent novel about female agency and bodily autonomy, morality and mortality. It’s about what happens when you don’t get to choose anymore. It’s about motherhood and family, sex and love and friendship, and how those bedrocks—even so late in the day—can still change, and then change everything.
The TL;dr synopsis of this book might just be: Pregnant 77-year old! But if you read no further than those few words, you’ll be missing out.
And yes, I’ll admit that it was exactly those click-bait-y words that caught my attention — but once I picked up the book, I realized that I was in for a delightful, nuanced, lovely reading treat, one that’s thoughtful and funny, quirky yet with pathos and urgency too.
Pepper Mills, age 77, reluctantly moves into a senior living community in her Texas town after a minor fender bender results in her adult children taking away her driving license. Pepper is a bright, lively woman, a retired English teacher who’s a stickler for grammar, and a devoted (and truly amazing) grandmother. She has not been, until now, dependent or restricted, and her entry into the world of senior living doesn’t bode well, until she meets the man next door. Moth (short for Timothy) is sweet and charming, and sparks fly almost instantly… something Pepper never expected after this many decades without any sort of romance in her life.
When she starts feeling woozy and nauseated several weeks later, she assumes it’s just part of the whole package of physical symptoms that come with aging — but eventually, a trip to the doctor reveals the shocking, no-way-this-can-be-true diagnosis: She’s pregnant. Aftre testing and more testing, the pregnacy is confirmed over and over again but, her doctor is certain, her aging body definitely is not equipped to sustain a pregnancy, and a miscarriage is expected any day now. Except it never happens.
Instead, Pepper finds herself stuck in the most absurd of situations. Obviously, she can’t possibly have a baby at her age. Except she lives in Texas, where abortion is not an option. And no, she doesn’t meet the definition of the loophole for saving a mother’s life — she doesn’t seem likely to sustain or survive a pregnancy, but she’s not actively dying from it either, so that’s that.
Dr. Blankman leaned forward from his corner. “Your mother is not in immediate danger. She’s not crashing or bleeding out. She’s not even in pain. She seems, in fact, to be having an entirely normal pregnancy.”
“She’s seventy-seven.”
“But apart from that.”
But apart from the eruption, how did you like living in Pompeii?
Pepper and her children plan a trip out of state to get her the care she needs, but she finds herself stuck without even that option once word of her condition is leaked to the media, turning her into an instant celebrity, with mobs of paparazzi parked outside Vista View tracking her every move.
Now, you may feel like the entire premise is ridiculous, but the book provides enough of an explanation (related to Pepper’s medical history) that I was willing to accept it. Is it realistic or medically accurate? Maybe not… but it was enough to satisfy me and let me enjoy the story without feeling the need to nitpick.
Pepper is an absolute gem of a character. I loved her intelligence, her humor, her devotion to friends and family, and her insistence on being treated like a person with agency. She may be older, but that doesn’t mean anyone has the right to infantilize her. The rest of the cast of characters is fantastic too. Moth is lovely as can be, Pepper’s children are interesting and involved and somewhat ornery at times, but totally in their mother’s corner. One of the most wonderful relationships in the book is between Pepper and her 15-year-old granddaughter Lola — their connection is funny and sweet and strong… and I couldn’t help laughing every time Pepper tried to decipher Lola’s emoji-based communications.
Seeing events unfold through Pepper’s perspective allows the narrative to retain her unique tone, which is often a bit sassy and wry, even as her experiences take darker turns. The extreme nature of Pepper’s predicament provides an interesting lens through which to look at the devastating impact of laws that have been enacted since the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Enormous Wings centers an outrageous situation — a pregnant 77-year-old! — as a window into the lack of choice and agency facing any woman in a state that’s outlawed abortion access.
The title of the book is a call-out to a short story by Gabriel García Márquez, A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings, which Pepper thinks of as she’s confronted both by people seeing her as a miracle and those viewing her as some sort of freak:
People aren’t good at recognizing the hand of God in the aged or unsavory. We like our miracles gold and glowing, not gray, not noisome, not mortal.
I’d never encountered the Márquez story before, but Enormous Wings has made me curious enough to want to check it out.
Enormous Wings takes a hard look at how restrictive laws limit women’s ability to control their own lives, bodies, and futures. By having a woman like Pepper as the main character, the author is able to illustrate the absurdity and cruelty that women (and girls) subject to these laws must live through.
Beyond that, the book also provides some beautiful reflections on life and living, aging and dying, cherishing loved one, and being present through daily challenges and joys. I loved Pepper’s voice and her outlook, and had a wonderful time getting to know the funny, caring people in her life. Highly recommended.
Purchase links: Amazon – Bookshop.org – Libro.fm Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.
First Lines Friday is a weekly feature for book lovers created by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? Here’s how to join in:
Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page.
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first.
Finally… reveal the book!
Today’s FLF selection is from a book I recently added to my Kindle library (but haven’t started yet):
As the crowd screams, all Henri thinks is that he’s going to be in so much trouble when his parents find out. He closes his eyes, trying his best to undo what happened. Unwind his day. End up anywhere but here.
So what’s the book?
The Fox and the Devil by Kiersten White Published 2026 350 pages
Synopsis:
Anneke has a complicated relationship with her father, Abraham Van Helsing—doctor, scientist, and madman devoted to the study of vampires—until the night she comes home to find him murdered, with a surreally beautiful woman looming over his body. A woman who leaves no trace behind, other than the dreams and nightmares that now plague Anneke every night.
Spurred by her desire for vengeance and armed with the latest forensic and investigatory techniques, Anneke puts together a team of detectives to catch this mysterious serial killer. Because her father isn’t the only inexplicable dead body. There’s a trail of victims across Europe, and Anneke is certain they’re all connected.
But during the years spent relentlessly hunting the killer, Anneke keeps crucial evidence to herself: infuriatingly coy letters, addressed only to her, occasionally soaked in blood, and always signed Diavola.
The closer Anneke gets to her devil, though, the less sense the world makes. Maybe her father wasn’t a madman after all. Diavola might be something much worse than a serial killer . . . and much harder to destroy. Yet as Anneke unearths more of Diavola’s tragic past, she suspects there’s still a heart somewhere in that undead body.
Title: The Postcard Author: Anne Berest Publisher: Europa Editions Publication date: May 16, 2023 (English translation; first published in France in 2021) Length: 489 pages Genre: Autobiographical fiction Source: Purchased Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Winner of the Choix Goncourt Prize, Anne Berest’s The Postcard is a vivid portrait of twentieth-century Parisian intellectual and artistic life, an enthralling investigation into family secrets, and poignant tale of a Jewish family devastated by the Holocaust and partly restored through the power of storytelling.
January, 2003. Together with the usual holiday cards, an anonymous postcard is delivered to the Berest family home. On the front, a photo of the Opéra Garnier in Paris. On the back, the names of Anne Berest’s maternal great-grandparents, Ephraïm and Emma, and their children, Noémie and Jacques—all killed at Auschwitz.
Fifteen years after the postcard is delivered, Anne, the heroine of this novel, is moved to discover who sent it and why. Aided by her chain-smoking mother, family members, friends, associates, a private detective, a graphologist, and many others, she embarks on a journey to discover the fate of the Rabinovitch family: their flight from Russia following the revolution, their journey to Latvia, Palestine, and Paris. What emerges is a moving saga that shatters long-held certainties about Anne’s family, her country, and herself.
The Postcard delivers an unforgettable, deeply impactful history of a family, told through the lens of a book described as “autobiographical fiction”. Written by French author Anne Berest, translated to English by Tina Kover, the book explores the author’s family history and their experiences before, during, and after the Holocaust. Anne Berest herself is a character in the book, as we follow her attempts to unravel a mystery related to the arrival of an anonymously sent postcard.
The postcard is slightly old, featuring a Paris landmark, and has only four words written on it: the names of Anne’s great-grandparents and great aunt and uncle, all of whom were murdered at Auschwitz following their deportation from France during the Nazi occupation. While the postcard is delivered to Anne’s mother’s address in 2003, it’s not until sixteen years later, spurred by an antisemitic incident at her daughter’s school, that Anne becomes consumed by the need to understand who might have sent the postcard, and why.
As she investigates, Anne is driven by questions surrounding her Jewish identity. She does not attend synagogue, knows practically nothing about Jewish holidays or rituals, and has no grounding in organized religion. And yet, she feels deeply that she is Jewish, and that being Jewish is essential to understanding herself and her family. Questioned by a woman she meets at a Passover seder, she has to consider whether her Jewish identity is something she claims only when it suits her, or if not, what does it actually mean in her life?
While the investigation into the postcard provides the framing of this novel, the family’s story provides the most compelling and devastating sections of the book as a whole. The Rabinovitch family’s journey, from Russia to Latvia to Palestine to France, is one of seeking a home and a place representing hope for the future. Anne’s great-grandfather Ephraim’s ultimate goal is French citizenship. As he settles in France with his wife and children, he files for patents and establishes a thriving business. His illusion of belonging is shattered by the advent of the Nazis, and the family’s sense of security is destroyed as edict after edict strips them of rights, freedoms, financial means, and safety.
The stories of Ephraim’s three children — Myriam, Noémie, and Jacques — are particularly powerful. All quite young at the time — in their late teens and early twenties — and what happens to each of them is tragic in different ways. As the sole survivor, Myriam could be considered fortunate, yet we see through the story of her life following the war all the ways in which she’s irrevocably altered and damaged by her experiences and her terrible losses.
I puzzled over this book being called a novel, and only stumbled across the “autobiographical fiction” label (which I’d never heard of before) after the fact. What I came to understand, after doing a bit more reading about the author and her research, is that while she’s portraying her family’s story based on archival documents and intensive research, she’s created scenes between characters to fill in the blanks and bring interactions to life, especially in cases where no living participants or witnesses remain to provide details. She’s also altered certain names of people and villages in France, in order to protect the privacy of descendants of those whose actions or inactions allowed atrocities to occur.
The Postcard never left my thoughts during the week I spent reading it, and even now, days later, it’s hard to shake the thoughts and images associated with this book. The first 40% or so is especially devastating. Yes, we’ve all read about this terrible, unimaginable time, but there’s something about the specificity of the details here that make it all seem new and fresh. Statistics tell us how many Jews were deported from France and ultimately killed; by focusing in one family, the author brings us into the personal nature of the experiences and makes us feel the nightmare they found themselves trapped in.
I’m not sure I have the words to do justice to this important, powerful, haunting book. I’ll close by sharing links to reviews and background pieces related to The Postcard:
Purchase links: Amazon – Bookshop.org – Libro.fm Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.
Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Book Series I Want to Catch Up On (or series you’d like to start)
I generally start each year with a post about my series reading goals (here’s the version I shared for 2026), where I share my intentions regarding new-to-me series that I plan (or hope) to start. For today’s post, I decided to focus on the next books in series that I’m already involved with. Most of these are series that I’m totally committed to, basically just checking my calendar until the next installment is available — and a couple are series where I’ve read a book or two and feel interested in continuing, but perhaps a little less motivated to dive in the second I get hold of them.
In no particular order, here are the top ten next installments from series I’m reading — can’t wait to get to all of these!
1. October Daye by Seanan McGuire
Up next: A Divided Duty #20 in the series Release date: September 2026
2. Wayward Children by Seanan McGuire
Up next: A Song of Sugar Sparrows #12 in the series Release date: January 2027
3. InCryptids by Seanan McGuire
Up next: Pride and Poltergeists #16 in the series Release date: March 2027
(Yes, that’s three from three different series by Seanan McGuire!! Moving on…)
4. Alpha & Omega by Patricia Briggs
Up next: Steel Rain (no cover yet — this is an earlier book in the series) #7 in the series Release date: April 2027
5. Haven’s Rock by Kelley Armstrong
Up next: Last Resort at Haven’s Rock #5 in the series (series finale) Release date: February 2027
6. We Solve Murders by Richard Osman
Up next: We Chase Shadows #2 in the series Release date: September 2026
7. The Marys by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows
Up next: My Imaginary Mary #2 in the series Published: 2022
8. Well Met by Jen DeLuca
Up next: Well Versed #5 in the series Release date: September 2026
9. Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell
Up next: The Neverfear #3 in the series Release date: September 2026
10. Detour by Jeff Rake & Rob Hart
Up next: Roundabout #2 in the series Release date: January 2027
What series do you hope to start or continue?
If you posted a TTT list this week, please share your link!
My Monday tradition, including a look back and a look ahead — what I read last week, what new books came my way, and what books are keeping me busy right now. Plus a smattering of other stuff too.
Life.
Yet another busy week, but the weekend was a little slower-paced, which I was grateful for. We had typical August weather for where I live… overcast, gray, and misty! But that didn’t stop me from getting out for a long walk and checking out events at a nearby park.
It was my son’s birthday on Friday — and while he did most of his celebrating with friends, we were able to start the day with brunch together. Good food, good times!
As for my reading life… this week was the newest Classics Club Spin, and I’m delighted with my result. Check it out below, under my ongoing reads.
Bookish bits & bobs.
Here’s something fun! An author I follow shared this link (https://uncovered.ink/) to a site where the general idea is:
It’s a cool idea — read a sample without knowing what the book is, reveal what it is, and then — if you’re interested — add it to your reading lists.
What did I read during the last week?
The Amateur by Chris Bohjalian: Tense, absorbing story with quite a unique premise. My review is here.
Kill the Beast by Serra Swift: Engaging (and surprisingly bloody) fairy tale retelling. I really enjoyed the audiobook. My review is here.
The Postcard by Anne Berest: I spent most of this past week absorbed by this deeply emotional book (my book group’s upcoming discussion book for August). I’ll need a bit of time to gather my thoughts. Watch for my review later in the week.
Everything On It by Shel Silverstein: I’m trying to spend a bit of time each week with some of the random books on my shelves that aren’t fiction — such as children’s books, coffee table/art books, and other books that I enjoy looking at but wouldn’t necessarily read cover to cover. I’m glad I finally opened up this poetry collection. Some of the poems are clever and funny, some didn’t appeal to me… but overall, it was an enjoyable way to spend a few minutes every day!
Also in children’s books, I picked up these two books at the library during my last visit and read them over the weekend. It was nice to finally experience both, after hearing about them for years:
Pop culture & TV:
I’m on a movie theater roll, after months and months of never viewing anything I couldn’t watch from the comfort of my couch. This week, I went to see Six: The Musical, filmed live in London. I’m so glad I did! I’d seen the show on Broadway already, and it was really great to get another chance to enjoy it (without having to pay Broadway prices).
Not to imply that I didn’t fit in plenty of viewing from my couch as well! I finished watching Every Year After on Prime Video, which I mainly enjoyed… although it probably goes without saying that the book is much, much better.
Next up for me: My Brilliant Career (Netflix), adapted from the Australian classic by Miles Franklin, which I read recently as one of my Classics Club Spin books!
Fresh Catch:
Two new books this week:
The paperback of Atmosphere is so pretty — I love how the colors blend over onto the edges. The other book is a manga version of Emma by Jane Austen! I saw it in a bookstore while on vacation last month and regretted not buying it, so I ended up finding a used copy online. I’m not really a manga reader… but how could I resist?
Plus, two new bookish tote bags! One is a new design from Bookshop.org, and I already love it. The other is a prize for participating in our library’s Summer Stride program. I love that adults get rewarded for summer reading, and not just kids!
What will I be reading during the coming week?
Currently in my hands:
Enormous Wings by Laurie Frankel: I needed something lighter after reading a very heavy book all week, so I’m just starting this book… which has a premise that sounds bonkers. I’m only a few chapters in, but I like it!
Now playing via audiobook:
The Mother-Daughter Book Club by Susan Patterson and James Patterson: I stumbled across this book while looking for a new audiobook on Libby… and since I needed a “book about a book club” for a reading challenge, I decided to give it a try.
Ongoing reads:
The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe: My book group’s classic read. We’re reading and discussing two chapters per week. Progress: 73%. Coming up this week: Volume 3, chapters 12 and 13.
Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier: My spin book! Here’s my post about the results. This is my 2nd spin in a row to land on a du Maurier book… and I’m very happy about it. The due date is October 4th… which means I probably won’t start just yet, so I’ll leave it here as a reminder until I’m ready to dive in.
Earlier in the week, I shared a post with my list of books for the newest Classics Club Spin challenge (see it here), and today, this spin’s number was announced. (For those keeping track, it’s CCSpin #45, and for me personally, #17!)
Hosted by The Classics Club blog, the Classics Club Spin is a reading adventure where participants come up with a list of classics they’d like to read, number them 1 to 20, and then read the book that corresponds to the “spin” number that comes up.
For CCSpin #45, the lucky number is:
And that means I’ll be reading:
Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier Published 1936
Synopsis:
The coachman tried to warn her away from the ruined, forbidding place on the rainswept Cornish coast. But young Mary Yellan chose instead to honor her mother’s dying request that she join her frightened Aunt Patience and huge, hulking Uncle Joss Merlyn at Jamaica Inn.
From her first glimpse on that raw November eve, she could sense the inn’s dark power. But never did Mary dream that she would become hopelessly ensnared in the vile, villainous schemes being hatched within its crumbling walls—or that a handsome, mysterious stranger would so incite her passions… tempting her to love a man whom she dares not trust.
That’s two Daphne du Maurier books in a row for my Classics Club spins, and I couldn’t be happier! Granted, I would have been excited to read any of the books on my list… but after being completely enthralled by Frenchman’s Creek, I was eager to explore more of this author’s books, so this is a terrific spin result for me!
What do you think of my spin book this time around?
I’ll be back to share my thoughts before October 4th!
Are you participating in this Classics Club Spin? If so, what book will you be reading?
Here’s my list of 20 titles for Classics Club Spin #44:
The House on the Strand by Daphne DuMaurier
Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir by R. A. Dick
This Rough Magic by Mary Stewart
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
White Fang by Jack London
Anna and Her Daughters by D. E. Stevenson
Pied Piper by Nevil Shute
Eight Cousins / Rose in Bloom by Louisa May Alcott
Pat of Silver Bush by L. M. Montgomery
Peony by Pearl Buck
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
Frederica by Georgette Heyer
The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
Dear Hugo by Molly Clavering
Tevye the Dairymanand Motl the Cantor’s Son by Sholem Aleichem
Title: Kill the Beast Author: Serra Swift Narrator: Moira Quirk Publisher: Tor Books Publication date: October 14, 2025 Print length: 309 pages Audiobook length: 10 hours 40 minutes Genre: Fantasy Source: Library Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
The Witcher meets Howl’s Moving Castle in this debut original faerie tale of revenge, redemption, and friendship―for fans of T. Kingfisher, Naomi Novik, and cozy fantasy with a dash of gritty adventure.
The night Lyssa Cadogan’s brother was murdered by a faerie-made monster known as the Beast, she made him a promise: she would find a way to destroy the immortal creature and avenge his death. For thirteen years, she has been hunting faeries and the abominations they created. But in all that time, the one Beast she is most desperate to find has never resurfaced.
Until she meets Alderic Casimir de Laurent, a melodramatic dandy with a coin purse bigger than his brain. Somehow, he has found the monster’s lair, and―even more surprising―retrieved one of its claws. A claw Lyssa needs in order to forge a sword that can kill the Beast.
When the witch Ragnhild decrees that Alderic and Lyssa must gather the other ingredients to forge the weapon together, or else the spell will fail, Lyssa gets more than she bargained for. Alderic is ill-equipped for the task at hand, and almost guaranteed to get himself killed.
But as the two of them search for the materials that will be the Beast’s undoing, Alderic reveals hidden depths: dark secrets that he guards as carefully as Lyssa guards hers. Before long, and against Lyssa’s better judgment, they begin to forge a blooming friendship―one that will either lead to the culmination of Lyssa’s quest for vengeance, or spell doom for them both.
Kill the Beast is a creative, often blood-soaked fairy tale retelling… and given the title, it’s really no surprise to discover exactly which fairy tale we find ourselves immersed in.
In this tale of vengeance and redemption, Lyssa has a fearsome reputation as “the Butcher”, a brutal sword for hire who specializes in killing trolls, goblins, and other magical menaces. But beyond that, Lyssa’s true purpose is killing Hounds — faerie-made creatures whose bloodthirsty rampages lead to mass deaths, and who have a reputation for being unkillable.
Thirteen years earlier, Lyssa saw her beloved older brother slaughtered by a creature known as the Beast, and vowed to avenge him. Over the years, her blood oath has led to successful quest after successful quest, but her ultimate quarry — the Beast — has remained elusive. When she receives a letter from a rich nobleman offering to hire her, she’s skeptical, until she realizes that he also wants to see the Beast dead.
Alderic is not what she’d expected. Beyond the drunken dandy who seems to only care about outrageously gaudy clothing, she finds a man who has a vengeance goal of his own. When the witch who acts as both mentor and spell-creator for Lyssa pronounces that she’ll need to work with Alderic to kill the Beast if they’re to have any chance of success, she hates the idea, but has no choice. The only thing she’s wanted all these years is to kill the Beast, and she’ll put up with Alderic’s company if she must if that’s the only way to get it done.
As they gather the ingredients they’ll need to forge a powerful enough weapon to destroy the Beast, Lyssa starts to see Alderic’s hidden depths. After near misses and dangerous encounters, their goal is within reach, but devastating secrets threaten to derail it all before the end.
The truth behind what’s going on is much (MUCH!) more shocking to Lyssa than it will be to any reader who’s ever watched a certain Disney movie (although Disney was never as bloody as Kill the Beast!). Still, despite a revelation that really isn’t much of a surprise, it’s enthralling to see how the story gets there, what the complicated explanations and origins turn out to be, and to see how the entire plot comes together.
Lyssa is a bristly, argumentative, thoroughly aggressive character who seems to have never met a problem that she couldn’t punch or stab into submission. She’s tough to love, yet we can understand how deeply wounded she is underneath the hard exterior — so even while wishing she’d stop and listen more often, or learn to control her blood lust, it’s hard not to empathize as well. Her partnership with Alderic leads to comic moments as well as surprisingly tender ones. Their friendship is strange and strained, but rings true.
In terms of pacing, the plot sags for a while as Lyssa and Alderic journey from place to place collecting the items they’ll need for the spell to forge a sword with enough magical power to kill the Beast. There are some tense set pieces, but it’s a lot of figuring out what they need, where to find it, how to get it, and then going through some sort of challenging circumstances to make it happen. The story is much more engaging when the focus is on the characters, their personal struggles, and their secrets. Collecting bits of stuff… not so much.
By the final third, Lyssa and Alderic’s quest picks up in terms of intensity and interest level. As hard truths are revealed, we learn just how much is truly at stake for each of them, which makes the entire story feel more dramatic and dire. I appreciated the climactic scenes and the realizations that come — practically too late — as Lyssa finally is forced to reconsider everything she’s held on to since her brother’s death and choose a path forward that might not be what she’d envisioned all along.
The audiobook for Kill the Beast is narrated by Moira Quirk, who’s been a favorite ever since I first listened to her narration of Gail Carriger’s Finishing School and Custard Protocol series. She’s quite wonderful here, especially when it comes to imbuing Lyssa and Alderic with distinct voices, but also at making the action sequences spring to life.
Kill the Beast is much darker in tone than I originally expected, but that’s okay. It’s a fairly grim story, but there are some nice little moments here and there to add a touch of lightness too. With storytelling flair and terrific characters, this is an enjoyable, compelling tale, and I look forward to reading more by this author in the future.
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