Our Favorite Reads of August

Here we are again at the end of the month and facing the difficult naming our favorite read of the month. It is the official last weekend of summer for those in the U.S. as we celebrate with a long weekend. As the heat from the dog days of summer dissipates and there is a hint of fall in the crispness of the morning air, we start to transition from summer "beach" reads to autumn books perfect to read under the covers with a hot beverage. Regardless if you are wanting to hang onto summer or are ready for the fall these are books you will want to read.

The Oysterville Sewing Circle by Susan Wiggs ~ a Review

by Susan Roberts

"In the darkest hour before the breaking dawn, Caroline Shelby rolled into Oysterville, a town perched at the farthest corner of Washington State. The tiny hamlet hung at the very tip of a narrow peninsula, crooked like a beckoning finger between the placid bay and the raging Pacific. She was home,"  (p1)

The Lost Daughter by Gill Paul ~ a Review

by Susan Roberts

"They were going to shoot her father. Maria crossed herself and out of the corner of her eye saw her mother and sisters doing the same. And then it all happened fast. Yurovsky pulled out a gun, the other men did the same, and there were flashes of light and deafening sound that ricocheted around the room, Nicholas staggered and fell heavily to the floor, but still guns were firing and that was when Maria realized they were shooting them all. They couldn't be. It made no sense. But they were."  (p 46)

How To Love A Duke In Ten Days by Kerrigan Byrne ~ a Review & Interview

by MK French

Alexandra Lane had suffered a horrible trauma, but at least had her two best friends to help her through it. Now she is being blackmailed for it, one of her closest friends is betrothed when all three never wanted to marry, and the Duke of Redmayne is known as the Terror of Torcliff because of the visible scars he has. Alex is aware that marriage to the duke would help her financially and perhaps protect her from the blackmailer, and Piers feels fiercely protective of her and drawn to her intelligence.

Rash: A Memoir by @LisaKusel12 ~ a Review

by Donna Huber

Have you dreamed of living abroad? While I love to travel, I've never wanted to live in a foreign country for longer than a few weeks. I'm always a little impressed with people who do which is one of the reasons I wanted to read Lisa Kusel's memoir Rash.

Searching for Family and Traditions at the French Table by Carole Bumpus ~ a Review

by MK French

A retired family therapist, Carole and her husband traveled to France with P, a friend and translator. They went through the countryside with the intention of learning about cuisine pauvre, the everyday peasant-style cooking that the people use, as well as the stories and traditions of the families there.

August Reading & Blogging Wrap Up

by Donna Huber

August has been over the top hot, but we finally got a tiny break in the heat yesterday. While I prefer the heat to the cold, I'm looking forward to Fall. For those who have been following my summer wrap up posts you know work has been stressful. Thankfully, I've reached the light at the end of the tunnel. I was able to get back to doing my own job instead of filling in for the vacant positions. The start of a new semester also means that I'm back at my spin class. I took the summer off because I had strained a muscle in my hip. It's amazing how much energy I get from going just a few days a week. This weekend I celebrated the end of the dog days of summer by purchasing a couple of plants for the garden I created earlier this summer (they're perennials so they come back next summer) and a couple of books.

7 Women's Fiction Novels to Wrap Up Summer

by Susan Roberts

Women's fiction is an umbrella term for women-centered books that focus on women's life experience that are marketed to female readers.  I have seven women's fiction books today that show how varied the novels are that fall into the genre of women's fiction-- one is family life humor, one is a suspense novel, the third is a novel about an extremely dysfunctional family, two books about older women at pivotal points in their lives, and two books about women who have to make a decision whether to accept and forgive their past and start overlooking towards a happier life in the future. All of them are great books to wrap up the summer and head into fall with.