Novella review: Schemes & Scandals (A Rip Through Time, #3.5) by Kelley Armstrong

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Schemes & Scandals
Series: A Rip Through Time, #3.5
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Publisher: Subterranean Press
Publication date: October 31, 2024
Length: 176 pages
Genre: Historical fiction / mystery
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

It’s Mallory Atkinson’s first Christmas in Scotland. Victorian Scotland, that is. Also, as the twenty-first-century detective learns, Christmas really isn’t a thing in Victorian Scotland. It’s all about Hogmanay. But her boss, Dr. Duncan Gray, treats her to an early gift of tickets to the event of the season: a Charles Dickens reading. There, they bump into Lady Inglis—the lovely widow who has sent Gray sexy letters trying to entice him back to her bed.

Lady Inglis introduces Mallory to Dickens—the meeting of a lifetime—but in return she wants their help. She’s being blackmailed. Someone stole letters she wrote to another lover and is threatening to publish them.

Mallory isn’t sure what to make of Lady Inglis, but no woman deserves that, so she insists on taking the case with or without Gray’s help. Growing tension between them soon tells Mallory that Gray is hiding a secret of his own. She has until Hogmanay to uncover the blackmailer…and, hopefully, to put things right with Gray so they can enjoy the holiday together.

Schemes & Scandals is a holiday treat that ties in perfectly with the A Rip Through Time series. In the series, 21st century detective Mallory ends up falling through time into Victorian Edinburgh, where she inhabits the body of a beautiful but nasty housemaid. (Trust me, it makes sense if you read the series from the beginning).

Here, following the 3rd full novel in the series, Mallory is well-established within the Gray household, working as an assistant to undertaker/scientist Duncan Gray, who has a side gig consulting with the police force. Duncan and his sister Isla know the truth about Mallory, and value her modern knowledge of forensics and police procedures as they apply science to Victorian crime scenes.

In Schemes & Scandals, Mallory and Duncan agree to help thwart a blackmailer who threatens a former lover of Duncan’s. The case is clever, and provides plenty of opportunities for Mallory to explore new aspects of Edinburgh society.

As a novella, Schemes & Scandals must fit a full detective story into a condensed amount of pages, and it succeeds admirably. The mystery/crime story is lots of fun — and since this novella is holiday-themed, the mood stays mostly upbeat, without endangering our heroes or involving them in anything too sinister.

The Christmas and Hogmanay elements are nice touches, and the encounter with Charles Dickens is a highlight — especially seeing Mallory’s expectations bumping up against the reality of a sold-out Victorian-era author appearance.

I am treated — if that’s the word — to the most gonzo reading a A Christmas Carol ever.

Schemes & Scandals is a great addition to a terrific series. I suppose someone could pick up this novella as a stand-alone and enjoy it, but they’d be missing a ton of context and character development. My recommendation? Start at the very beginning, with A Rip Through Time. Trust me — you won’t want to stop.

30Oct2024

Book Review: So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: So Thirsty
Author: Rachel Harrison
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: September 10, 2024
Length: 304 pages
Genre: Horror
Source: Purchased
Rating:

A woman must learn to take life by the throat after a night out leads to irrevocable changes in this juicy, thrilling novel from the USA Today bestselling author of Such Sharp Teeth and Black Sheep.

Sloane Parker is dreading her birthday. She doesn’t need a reminder she’s getting older, or that she’s feeling indifferent about her own life.

Her husband surprises her with a birthday weekend getaway—not with him, but with Sloane’s longtime best friend, troublemaker extraordinaire Naomi.

Sloane anticipates a weekend of wine tastings and cozy robes and strategic avoidance of issues she’d rather not confront, like her husband’s repeated infidelity. But when they arrive at their rental cottage, it becomes clear Naomi has something else in mind. She wants Sloane to stop letting things happen to her, for Sloane to really live. So Naomi orchestrates a wild night out with a group of mysterious strangers, only for it to take a horrifying turn that changes Sloane’s and Naomi’s lives literally forever.

The friends are forced to come to terms with some pretty eternal consequences in this bloody, seductive novel about how it’s never too late to find satisfaction, even though it might taste different than expected.

Rachel Harrison’s books are always a (gruesome) treat, and So Thirsty is an absolute gem. This book lets us know right up front — hey, it’s on the cover! — that this is a vampire story. But the how and why of it all are just so perfectly developed that it’s not at all what you’d expect.

If there is a happy medium between being a resigned, mildly depressed thirty-six-year-old woman with a thankless job and cheating husband, and being an immortal vampire indulging her lust for blood and sex and her desire for love and excitement, it sure would be nice to find it.

We start with Sloane, a woman in her mid-30s, whose life is snug, secure, and unsatisfying. She’s committed to her multi-step daily skin routine, but the signs of aging keep creeping in anyway. Her husband Joel is a cheater, but she chooses not to confront him, preferring to avoid having to actually so something about it. When Joel sends her off on a surprise birthday weekend with her best friend Naomi, she’s startled and a bit disconcerted that he planned this for her… and rightfully suspicious that he has ulterior motives. (Note to cheaters: Don’t forget about that doorbell camera!)

Naomi arrives at their ultra-posh lakeside resort and immediately shakes things up. They’ve been best friends since their teens, but their lives have taken very different directions since then. Naomi works for an up-and-coming rockstar — who is also her boyfriend — and she’s impulsive, glamorous, and impatient with Sloane’s safe (boring) life. This is not the Sloane she once knew, and she wants to force her out of her complacency.

She does so by taking Sloane to a party with strangers they’ve just met. Behind the gates of their remote mansion, the strangers are welcoming and wild. Sloane fears they’ve stumbled into an orgy; Naomi urges her to unwind and let things happen. One of the men in particular seems to have an intense, instant connection to Sloane, but she’s skittish and reluctant to risk the safety of her cocooned life, no matter how much temptation is staring her in the face. However, all choice is soon taken from both Sloane and Naomi, as a terrifying moment leads to their transformation and the start of a new life for both women.

As I mentioned earlier, the fact that Sloane and Naomi become vampires isn’t particularly surprising, given the cover and blurb. What makes this interesting is their response and experiences. The need for blood is described as an intense thirst, and the thirst represents not just the literal requirement for blood as a life-sustaining substance, but all the elements missing from Sloane’s former life — the passion for excitement, taking risks, grabbing all that life has to offer. The thirst is what Sloane will need to both embrace and control if she’s to have any sort of future at all, and to do so, she’ll have to break down the careful barriers she’s put up over the years.

I loved the insights into both Sloane and Naomi as individuals, as well as their shared dynamic. Their bond is threatened to the point of almost breaking, but ultimately it’s their love for one another that keeps them going, even in the worst of moments.

My main quibble with So Thirsty is that the vampires they encounter are introduced as a group, and there isn’t all that much to differentiate one from another. Beyond that, a few seem a bit too stereotypically vampire-y — are they intentionally aping a vampire vibe, or is this just who they are? (And also, I could definitely have done without the orgy… )

Quibbles aside, I thought the complicated relationship between Sloane and Naomi was particularly well done. Their shared history means they know each other better than anyone else, but also leads to possibly unreasonable expectations. They each want the other to pursue better options and live their best lives — but their perspectives on what that might look like aren’t actually in sync.

Does that sound less bloody than what you’d expect in a vampire novel? Never fear! Those looking for classic horror elements won’t be disappointed — yes, there’s introspection and a focus on relationships, but there’s also plenty of blood and gore. Really, lots and lots of blood and gore. Violent incidents are used to startling, scary effect, and there are a few characters met along the way who are simply terrifying.

So Thirsty is a totally absorbing read, and such a blast for readers (like me) who’ve read tons of vampire stories already, and are hungry (thirsty?!) for a new twist. So Thirsty is not quite as great as Such Sharp Teeth or Cackle, but I still enjoyed it immensely. A bloody good read for these creepy days of late October!

29Oct2024

Halloween posts for Tuesday!

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Lately, I’ve been bouncing back and forth for my Tuesday posts, alternating between the Top Ten Tuesday and Top Five Tuesday memes, depending on their topics for the week. This week, both are Halloween themed… so I’m doing them both!!

First up… it’s Top Ten Tuesday:

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 a Halloween freebie! For my Halloween post, I’m going to focus on horror novels on my to-read list (updated for 2024). I’ve done this topic a few times in the past several years, and given the state of my TBR list, it’s time to do it again.

Noted with shame: Some of these books were on my Halloween horror TBR list last year! So, you know, I’m not exactly great at following through…

Still, here are a bunch I really do want to get to… including a few upcoming 2025 new books.

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
Dread Nation by Justine Ireland
The Changeling by Victor Lavalle
Diavola by Jennifer Thorne
Hemlock Island by Kelley Armstrong
The Return by Rachel Harrison
Cutting Teeth by Chandler Baker
Overgrowth by Mira Grant (upcoming 2025 new release)
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix (upcoming 2025 new release)
My Ex, the Antichrist by Craig DiLouie (upcoming 2025 new release)

Are any of these on your TBR too? Which ones look best to you? And if you’ve read any, let me know what you thought!

Next, let’s take a look at this week’s Top 5 Tuesday:

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Meeghan Reads — check out the next batch of upcoming topics here.

This week’s topic is Top 5 books to recommend for Halloween, and the prompt is: It’s trick or treat time — are you going to tell us your best scary books or cutesy Halloween tales?

My picks are mainly ghost stories, plus a funny/clever fantasy that I reread every October!

Save

The Uninvited by Cat Winters (review)
The Veil by Rachel Harrison (review)
Thornhill by Pam Smy (review)
I’ll be Waiting by Kelley Armstrong (review)
A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny (review) — I’m reading this one again right now! Such a fun annual tradition.

What books do you recommend for Halloween? I love a good ghost story — do you have any favorites? Save

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In case it’s not obvious, I’ll probably be spending my Halloween with my nose in a book! Wishing you all a happy Halloween, whatever you’ll be doing!Save

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28Oct2024

The Monday Check-In ~ 10/28/2024

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

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 too much to report! Busy workweek, but I did manage to squeeze in a dinner out with a friend passing through town, and even grabbed some good outdoors time thanks to a gorgeous sunshiney day over the weekend.

What did I read during the last week?

The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman: Finished reading last week, but just posted a review, here.

Return to Valetto by Dominic Smith: My book group’s October read. I liked the book, and really enjoyed our book group discussion with the author. My review is here.

Lil’s Bus Trip by Judy Leigh: Such a sweet, enjoyable audiobook. My review is here.

Damn Rebel Bitches: The Women of the ’45 by Maggie Craig: Over at Outlander Book Club, we finished our group read of this fascinating history book! It’s an excellent resource for getting a different, unusual view of the women involved in the Jacobite rebellions. We have a chat scheduled with the author next month, and it should be terrific.

So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison: Finished late Sunday. So good! Review to follow later this week.

In other reading:

I read a really creepy short story after seeing it on a list via Reactor (here). The October Game by Ray Bradbury is weird and disturbing… perfect for the lead-up to Halloween! Originally published in 1948 in Weird Tales, it seems to be available for free reading online through a variety of sources. I found a PDF version here. (I also ended up reading the Seanan McGuire story on the list — good and spooky!)

Pop culture & TV:

I binge-watched Nobody Wants This on Netflix this week, and loved it! Now we wait for season 2…

Other than that, I’ve been catching up on my half-hour comedies that have just started new seasons (Ghosts, What We Do in the Shadows, Abbott Elementary) — always a good time.

Fresh Catch:

Two slim but lovely hardcovers arrived this week:

So excited for both of these!

What will I be reading during the coming week?

Currently in my hands:

Schemes & Scandals (A Rip Through Time, #3.5) by Kelley Armstrong: A new novella set in the world of a terrific timeslip series. Really good so far!

Now playing via audiobook:

In New York earlier this fall, I stopped by The Strand bookstore and picked up a “blind date with a book” on a whim… and it ended up being Better Than Fiction by Alexa Martin. The packaging is so adorable that I’m hesitant to take it apart — but meanwhile, the library had the audiobook available as an instant borrow, so I thought I’d give it a whirl!

Coming soon:

An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott: My newest Classics Club Spin book! The deadline to finish is December 18th, and since this is a relatively short book, I may hold off another week or two before starting.

Ongoing reads:

My longer-term reading commitments:

Right Ho, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse: My book group’s classic read! So much fun. Progress: 77%. Coming up this week: Chapters 19 and 20.
A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny: My annual October tradition. The book has a chapter per day for each day of the month. Progress: 81%

What will you be reading this week?

So many books, so little time…

26Oct2024

Audiobook Review: Lil’s Bus Trip by Judy Leigh

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Lil’s Bus Trip
Author: Judy Leigh
Narrator: Julie Mullen
Publisher: Boldwood Books
Publication date: August 26, 2021
Print length: 350 pages
Audio length: 10 hours 36 minutes
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Purchased
Rating:

From the USA Today bestselling author of Five French Hens and The Old Girls’ Network comes a story of the journey of a lifetime across Europe in pursuit of memories, love, and new adventures. It’s always a good time for a road trip…

When 82-year-old Lil decides to book herself, her 65-year-old daughter, Cassie, and her friend Maggie on a bus trip across Europe, she hopes for a little adventure to counteract the monotony of life.

Along with three members of the Salterley Tennis Club and the Jolly Weaver football team, whose ideas of a good time are rather different to Lil’s and strikingly at odds with each other’s, the merry band of travellers set out on their great adventure.

From moving moments on the beaches of Normandy, outrageous adventures in Amsterdam, to the beauty of Bruges and gastronomic delights of France, the holiday is just the tonic Lil, Maggie and Cassie needed.

And as the time approaches for them to head home, Lil makes an unexpected discovery – even in her advancing years, men are like buses – there isn’t one for ages then two come along at once. Is Lil ready to share her golden years, and can the ladies embrace the fresh starts that the trip has given them. Or is it just too late to change…

Judy Leigh’s books can be counted on to provide cheery scenarios, heart-warming encounters, and memorable (and often feisty) older women as the main characters — and Lil’s Bus Trip is yet another terrific listening experience!

Lil’s life is perfectly nice, if not exceptionally exciting. She lives in a pleasant senior community, has good friends, and is very close to her daughter Cassie, whom she’s raised on her own after becoming unexpectedly pregnant as an unwed teen. But couldn’t they both use a little adventure for a change?

When a friend from the local pub decides to organize and lead a European road trip, Lil decides it’s just what she and Cassie need. What’s more, Lil’s best friend and next-door neighbor Maggie is slowly suffocating from neglect, as her husband mainly ignores her and sits watching TV all day, so Lil practically forces her along as well. Joining them on their trip are a group of younger folks from a local football team, the pub owner and his elderly father, and a trio of snobs from the tennis club who insist they’re only interested in culture and intellectual pursuits.

As the trip gets underway, the group gets to experience both serious moments — such as the beaches of Normandy — as well as silly mishaps… like what happens when the three oldest members of the group order a brownie to go with their coffee in an Amsterdam coffeeshop.

There’s actually not a ton of plot to describe, other than the highlights of the road trip itself. And yet, there’s something so warm and delightful about this audiobook. I was apprehensive at the beginning about there being so many characters, but ultimately, the twelve people on the mini-bus are each developed over the course of the story, so that by the end, it feels like we’ve been hanging out with a group of our own friends.

The adventures on the road are lots of fun, and there are more serious moments too, as the various characters have opportunities to rethink their lives back home and come to terms with what they want (or don’t want). For Lil especially, it’s a chance to look back at a life lived on her own terms, but often lived alone, and consider whether it’s too late to take a chance on loving someone new.

The audiobook narrator rises to the challenge of voicing the twelve travelers, and bringing them all to distinct life… along with several other memorable people they meet along the way. For me, a jarring note was that the narrator adds in the vocal effects described… so if it’s stated that a character laughs, the narrator laughs… or coughs… or takes a deep breath. I find this approach a bit annoying, but I’m sure some listeners like that sort of thing. (Also, Cassie is a singer, and when she performs in the book, the narrator sings Cassie’s songs, rather than just reading the words. Again, whether you’ll enjoy this is a matter of taste and preference. She does a perfectly respectable job with the singing, but it’s not my cup of tea.)

Still, audio/narration preferences aside, I did really have a great time with this sweet story. Listening to Lil’s Bus Trip is the audiobook equivalent of a warm blanket and a cup of hot cocoa. It’s comforting and pleasant, not particularly dramatic, but so easy to sink into and enjoy.

This is now my 4th book by Judy Leigh, and it won’t be my last! Fortunately, she has a good-sized backlist for me to dig into while waiting for her next new release!

25Oct2024

Book Review: Return to Valetto by Dominic Smith

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Return to Valetto
Author: Dominic Smith
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date: June 13, 2023
Print length: 336 pages
Genre: Historical/contemporary fiction
Source: Library
Rating:

A captivating and moving new novel from the international bestselling author of The Last Painting of Sara de Vos.

A nearly abandoned Italian village, the family that stayed, and long-buried secrets from World War II.

On a hilltop in Umbria sits Valetto. Once a thriving village-and a hub of resistance and refuge during World War II-centuries of earthquakes, landslides and the lure of a better life have left it neglected. Only ten residents remain, including the widows Serafino – three eccentric sisters and their steely centenarian mother – who live quietly in their medieval villa. Then their nephew and grandson, Hugh, a historian, returns.

But someone else has arrived before him, laying claim to the cottage where Hugh spent his childhood summers. The unwelcome guest is the captivating and no-nonsense Elisa Tomassi, who asserts that the family patriarch, Aldo Serafino, a resistance fighter whom her own family harboured, gave the cottage to them in gratitude. Like so many threads of history, this revelation unravels a secret – a betrayal, a disappearance and an unspeakable act of violence – that has impacted Valetto across generations. Who will answer for the crimes of the past?

Dominic Smith’s Return to Valetto is a riveting journey into one family’s long-buried story, a page-turning excavation of the ruins of history and our commitment to justice in a fragile world. For fans of Amor Towles, Anthony Doerr and Jess Walter, it is a deeply human and transporting testament to the possibility of love and understanding across gaps of all kinds – even time.

Return to Valetto is a story of family secrets and promises, set in a nearly abandoned hilltop village in the Umbria region of Italy. Valetto is now empty save for the Serafino villa, inhabited by three elderly sisters and their even older mother.

A fourth sister, the youngest, died years earlier, and as the story opens, her son Hugh — a history professor specializing in abandoned towns — arrives on sabbatical. But his arrival is marred by an unwanted presence: A squatter of sorts has taken up residence in the villa’s cottage, which Hugh’s mother had bequeathed to him. The squatter, Elisa, claims that the long-lost patriarch of the Serafino family had gifted it to her family years earlier, after they saved him in the closing days of the war. The sisters scoff at her claim, but Hugh wonders whether there might be a kernel of truth in Elisa’s tale.

As we learn, Aldo Serafino was a partisan fighter during World War II, and was last seen by his family in 1944. They never learned what became of him, but Elisa is able to fill in the blanks. He found shelter with her family, who hid him while partisans were being hunted down — and later, as he lay dying of an infection, they cared for him in his final days. She has a letter to prove his intentions, instructing his wife to give the cottage to the Tomassi family as repayment for their kindness on his behalf. The letter was never sent — and now more than half a century later, no one is willing to believe its validity.

As Hugh spends time with Elisa, he comes to see her sincerity and her devotion to her aged mother. Through this connection, he also finally starts to take an interest in life again, after spending years mourning his late wife. As Hugh and Elisa come closer to the truth about how their families intersected so many years ago, he becomes caught up in a search for truth and justice, with unexpected consequences.

Return to Valetto was my book group’s book of the month, and I can see that we’ll have lots to discuss. At the same time, I never felt any urgency about this book, and remained emotionally distant from it throughout, even at times of major revelations about traumatic events of the past.

The storytelling is slow-paced, full of descriptions and inner thoughts. It’s contemplative and shows an appreciation of history, geography, and the sense of loss and abandonment that informs the characters’ lives, as well as their town and surroundings. Shocking elements of the family’s wartime experiences gradually come to light, but even there, a lack of true drama keeps the reader at arm’s-length.

As for the conflict over the cottage, it fizzles away by the midpoint of the novel and is replaced by more dramatic conflict concerning the former townspeople of Valetto and the roles they played during the war. There are several key turning points, but somehow the narrative never truly feels compelling.

I enjoyed the depiction of the feisty older characters, as well as the descriptions of life in this empty town, and there’s a feast scene that’s just mouth-watering. The book presents several moral dilemmas to contemplate, which are interesting to think about, even while the storytelling itself feels a bit uneventful for large stretches.

I would likely not have picked up Return to Valetto without my book group — but I don’t regret reading it. I usually enjoy historical fiction, but somehow, the pacing and tone of this book work against the drama I believe it was trying to achieve, and many of the historical elements would have benefited from just a bit more exposition to set the scene.

Return to Valetto has many interesting elements in it, but it’s not a book that earns raves from me.

23Oct2024

Book Review: The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern
Author: Lynda Cohen Loigman
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication date: October 8, 2024
Length: 320 pages
Genre: Contemporary/historical fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley

It’s never too late for new beginnings.

On the cusp of turning eighty, newly retired pharmacist Augusta Stern is adrift. When she relocates to Rallentando Springs—an active senior community in southern Florida—she unexpectedly crosses paths with Irving Rivkin, the delivery boy from her father’s old pharmacy—and the man who broke her heart sixty years earlier.

As a teenager growing up in 1920’s Brooklyn, Augusta’s role model was her father, Solomon Stern, the trusted owner of the local pharmacy and the neighborhood expert on every ailment. But when Augusta’s mother dies and Great Aunt Esther moves in, Augusta can’t help but be drawn to Esther’s curious methods. As a healer herself, Esther offers Solomon’s customers her own advice—unconventional remedies ranging from homemade chicken soup to a mysterious array of powders and potions.

As Augusta prepares for pharmacy college, she is torn between loyalty to her father and fascination with her great aunt, all while navigating a budding but complicated relationship with Irving. Desperate for clarity, she impulsively uses Esther’s most potent elixir with disastrous consequences. Disillusioned and alone, Augusta vows to reject Esther’s enchantments forever.

Sixty years later, confronted with Irving, Augusta is still haunted by the mistakes of her past. What happened all those years ago and how did her plan go so spectacularly wrong? Did Irving ever truly love her or was he simply playing a part? And can Augusta reclaim the magic of her youth before it’s too late?

This dual timeline novel tells the story of Augusta Stern, first in her teens and twenties, then nearing age eighty, and shows the turning points of her life in the 1920s and how they affected everything that came after.

Augusta is the daughter of a trusted pharmacist in Brooklyn. She’s drawn to her father’s knowledge and the way he helps the community, and as soon as she’s allowed, begins apprenticing in his store. There, she meets Irving Rivkin, her father’s delivery boy, who admires Augusta’s intelligence and always has a kind word for her.

Augusta’s father provides financially for his two daughters, but their home has been cold and lifeless since the death of Augusta’s mother. When her great-aunt Esther arrives to keep house for the family, Augusta is initially turned off by this older woman, dressed always in drab clothing and with little tolerance for nonsense. But Esther’s incredible soup and other foods soon bring a sense of warmth back to the family — and what’s more, Esther has a secret, old-world knowledge of herbs, plants, and natural remedies. Is she a homeopathic healer, or is there magic behind her powders and potions?

In the 1980s timeline, Augusta has finally retired from her career as a pharmacist and, upon her niece’s urging, has moved into a Florida retirement village. Much to her dismay, she almost immediately runs into Irving — whom she hasn’t seen in sixty years. He broke her heart all those years ago by disappearing suddenly and marrying another woman. He seems to want to reconnect with Augusta now, but how can she forgive him, much less trust him again?

The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern is a charming story on many levels. The chapters focused on Augusta’s younger years bring 1920s Brooklyn to life, as she navigates her way through a society that doesn’t have much patience or respect for women’s knowledge or professionalism. The women of the neighborhood seek out Esther’s help in secret, while getting “official” prescriptions from Augusta’s father. Augusta is torn: She’s eager to follow in her father’s footsteps, but can’t help seeing that Esther’s knowledge and skills provide help, relief, and cures for women who’ve been failed by more modern approaches. Watching Augusta puzzle out how to fit both aspects of healing into her life is fascinating, and her romance with Irving is innocent and lovely before it all falls apart.

The 1980s chapters are lighter in tone, with some comical moments of conflict between the various residents of the retirement village. Still, Augusta is never portrayed as silly, and in fact, it’s quite special to see this vibrant 80-year-old woman as the focal point of a love story.

The two pieces of the story come together well in the end, as the author draws meaningful connections between the events of then and now, and offers hopeful messages about finding love, no matter one’s age or how much time has passed.

The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern is a heart-warming, uplifting story about love, family, and second chances. It’s a fast read, and kept my attention from start to finish. Highly recommended.

22Oct2024

Top 5 Tuesday: Top 5 orange books

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Meeghan Reads — check out the next batch of upcoming topics here.

This week’s topic is Top 5 orange books, and the prompt is: Earlier this year we did yellow books and red books, but it’s now time for Halloween. What are your favourite orange covered books?

What fun… and a great excuse to shuffle books on my bookshelves and check out all the covers! I ended up with more orange books than I expected to find — here are five that stand out:

There There by Tommy Orange (even the author’s name fits the theme!)
Never Fall for Your Fiancé by Virginia Heath
The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston
Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon
Ravensong by TJ Klune

Definitely getting a fall vibe from all these!

What orange books are on your shelves?

21Oct2024

The Monday Check-In ~ 10/21/2024

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Life.

This week zipped by without quite enough time to read all the books I meant to read! Meanwhile, we had some nice weather over the weekend, so I was able to squeeze in some good outdoorsy fun, and even managed to go dancing one night.

(I also got my Covid and flu vaccines this week, which hit me about 24 hours afterward. Not as bad as some previous rounds, but I did feel pretty knocked out for a day.)

What did I read during the last week?

Cue the Sun! The Invention of Reality TV by Emily Nussbaum: Fascinating non-fiction about the origins and evolution of reality TV. My review is here.

Life’s Too Short by Abby Jimenez: The 3rd book in the Friend Zone trilogy. I enjoyed it, although not quite as much as the previous two. My review is here.

The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman: Sweet, dual-timeline novel with a lovely story about second chance love. Review to follow later in the week.

Pop culture & TV:

I tried a new reality competition show, The Summit, and after three episodes, I’m dropping it. Want to know why? Check out my thoughts, here.

We’re a month away from the return of Outlander! Season 7, part 2, begins November 22nd, and Starz just released the trailer. Can’t wait!

Fresh Catch:

My Goodreads giveaway book arrived!

What will I be reading during the coming week?

Currently in my hands:

Return to Valetto by Dominic Smith: My book group’s October read. I’m a little behind schedule, but hope to finish in time for our chat with the author next weekend.

Now playing via audiobook:

Lil’s Bus Trip by Judy Leigh: This author’s books are always a treat!

Coming soon:

An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott: My newest Classics Club Spin book! The spin results were just announced on Sunday, and I have to say, I’m pretty pleased with this one! I used to love Louisa May Alcott’s book as a kid, but this is one that I seem to have missed. We have until December 18th to finish our books for this round, so I’m probably not going to start right away… but I’m looking forward to it, whenever I do get started.

Ongoing reads:

My longer-term reading commitments:

Damn Rebel Bitches: The Women of the ’45 by Maggie Craig: Over at Outlander Book Club, we’re doing a group read of this non-fiction book, discussing one chapter each Friday. Progress: 90%. Coming up this week — the last chapter! Chapter 25, “The End of an Old Sang”
Right Ho, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse: My book group’s classic read! Hilarious. Progress: 65%. Coming up this week: Chapters 17 and 18.
A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny: My annual October tradition. The book has a chapter per day for each day of the month. Progress: 39%

What will you be reading this week?

So many books, so little time…

20Oct2024

My Classics Club Spin book for fall 2024 will be…

Posted in Bookish Thoughts, Fun and Whimsy, The Reading Life by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Earlier in the week, I shared a post with my list of books for the newest Classics Club Spin challenge (see it here), and a few days ago, this spin’s number was announced. (For those keeping track, it’s CC Spin #39, and for me personally, #11!)

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 #39, the lucky number is:

And that means I’ll be reading:

An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott (published 1870)

Synopsis:

‘“An Old-Fashioned Girl” is a novel written by Louisa May Alcott, first published in 1870. It is a coming-of-age story that follows the life of Polly Milton, a young girl from the country who visits her friend Fanny Shaw in the city. The story explores themes of friendship, family, love, and the societal expectations of women during the late 19th century.

Polly is an old-fashioned girl, meaning that she holds onto traditional values and beliefs despite the changing times. She is kind, honest, and hardworking, and her positive traits are in stark contrast to the selfish and superficial lifestyle of the city people. Throughout her visit, Polly faces challenges as she tries to navigate the complex social dynamics of the city and maintain her own beliefs.

One of the central themes of the novel is the importance of friendship and family. Polly forms strong bonds with Fanny’s family and friends, and she uses her down-to-earth nature to bring happiness and positivity to those around her. She also learns the value of forgiveness and understanding, and she uses these lessons to help reconcile relationships that have gone awry.

The novel also explores the societal expectations placed on women during this time period. Polly challenges these expectations by staying true to herself and her beliefs, despite the pressure to conform to the norms of society. This theme highlights the importance of individuality and self-expression, and it encourages women to embrace their own unique qualities.

Overall, “An Old-Fashioned Girl” is a charming and uplifting story that emphasizes the value of friendship, family, and staying true to one’s self. The novel’s portrayal of Polly’s experiences and growth make it a timeless classic that continues to inspire and entertain readers today.

What a great result! I would have been happy with any of the books on my spin list, but I’m particularly pleased to finally get the push I needed to read more Louisa May Alcott.

In my youth, I read the Little Women books, plus a few others, but An Old-Fashioned Girl is one that I never picked up — maybe my local library just didn’t have a copy!

There are several other books by this author that I’d like to reread (Rose in Bloom, Eight Cousins, Jack and Jill). For now, I’m looking forward to getting started with my new spin book!

What do you think of my book this time around?