Happy Tuesday from the sunny and HOT south! I really wasn’t feeling this week’s TTT prompt — wishlist books. So, I decided to feature books with the word wish in the title. That quickly evolved into books with wish(es), hope(s), and dream(s) in the title. I hope you find one to love!
I am a big fan of Chanel Cleeton. I love learning about the Cuban-American experience, as well as the history of Cuba itself. My book club chose The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes for this month’s discussion. It follows 3 women separated by time, place, and experiences, but bound by the power of story. On the surface it is about a specific book written by a young Cuban woman in the early 1900s that has been lost to time. But it is so much more than a treasure hunt for a valuable item. The story itself, hence the title, is what gives the lost book its importance. I loved all the women portrayed: Eva, a teacher in the 1900s, Pilar, a librarian in the 1960s of revolutionary Cuba, and present-day seeker of lost items, Margo. But Pilar really stole my heart. It is her determination to do even the smallest thing to thwart the totalitarianism of the Castro regime that made a big impression. She risked everything for what some would consider a trivial cause. If you love books, you will love this novel! It has romance, adventure, mystery, suspense, heartbreak, and redemption — a 5-star in my book!
(Please note this is a general market novel, but generally a clean read.)
Highly Recommended.
Audience: adults.
(I purchased the ebook from Amazon. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)
A mysterious book with a legacy spanning from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present day unites three women—and their secrets—in this unforgettable novel from New York Times bestselling author Chanel Cleeton.
London, 2024: American expat Margo Reynolds is renowned for her talent at sourcing rare antiques for her clients, but she’s never had a request quite like this one. She’s been hired to find a mysterious book published over a century ago. With a single copy left in existence, it has a storied past shrouded in secrecy—and her client isn’t the only person determined to procure it at any cost. Havana, 1966: Librarian Pilar Castillo has devoted her life to books, and in the chaotic days following her husband’s unjust imprisonment by Fidel Castro, reading is her only source of solace. So when a neighbor fleeing Cuba asks her to return a valuable book to its rightful owner, Pilar will risk everything to protect the literary work entrusted to her care. It’s a dangerous mission that reveals to her the power of one book to change a life. Boston, 1900: For Cuban school teacher and aspiring author Eva Fuentes, traveling from Havana to Harvard to study for the summer is the opportunity of a lifetime. It’s a whirlwind adventure that leaves her little time to write, but a moonlit encounter with an enigmatic stranger changes everything. The story that pours out of her is one of forbidden love, secrets, and lies… and though Eva cannot yet see it, the book will be a danger and salvation for the lives it touches.
Chanel Cleeton is the Cuban American New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of many novels, including Reese’s Book Club pick Next Year in Havana. Originally from Florida, Chanel studied in London where she earned degrees in international relations and global politics. In law school, Chanel discovered her passion writing novels and embarked on a new adventure following her lifelong love of books.
My full bookshelves, NetGalley shelf, and Kindle give testimony to my high hopes and TBR failures. 😉 I always have good intentions to read a book as soon as I take possession. Alas, I am an optimist when it comes to my free time and capacity to read all the books. Today TTT bloggers are urged to fess up to the few or many books that they have left unread. I went back to the past few years’ posts of Summer TBR Lists to discover what I really wanted to read and failed miserably to complete. I hope you (and I) discover a book we just can’t not read. Double negative there for fellow English majors.
Happy Tuesday! Today TTT’s topic is secondary, or as I like to call them, supporting characters. I see supporting characters as integral to creating a complete story. A reader gets an in-depth look at the struggles of the mains, as well as a richer reading experience. I’m not great at remembering secondary/supporting characters, so I did a search with the term in my blog reviews. I think you’ll find some great books to check out that have great supporting characters, and there’s a variety of genres that should appeal to any reading mood.
Happy Tuesday! Today’s TTT challenge is May Flowers. Since I’ve read only one book featuring Pilgrims 😉 , I decided to list books with titles that included things you could find in a southern garden, including things that have to be beaten back! I hope you find a book to catch your interest.
Happy Tuesday! Today’s TTT topic is authors I wish were still writing. This could include those who have sadly passed away, those who for a variety of reasons are not writing, those who write in different genres now, or (I added this one) those who are writing, but haven’t published anything new in a while. This is a bittersweet post. My list does include two cozy mystery writers who have passed away. And I don’t know if or when any of the others will release in my preferred genre in the future. But . . . that’s what re-reading is for! I hope you find a book to love. And, if you have different info than me, please let me know!
Happy Tuesday! Today is a Freebie day on TTT — anything our heart desires! Today I am featuring book titles containing times of day, some of which are more poetic than actual positions on a clock. I hope you find one you want to read no matter what time it is!
Happy Tuesday! Today’s TTT is April Showers — interpreted as bloggers please. I have done this topic a few times, so I am going to be all over the place today! I hope you find a book from my list to pique your interest! There are a lot of genres to choose from.
I absolutely loved The Bitter End Birding Society by Amanda Cox. I think it’s my favorite of all her books, and that’s saying a lot! If you haven’t read it, put it on the top of your TBR. If you have read it and liked it as much as I did, or you enjoy character-driven novels and/or books with a strong sense of place, check out a few more book recommendations.
The Light on Horn Island by Valerie Fraser Luesse
Just when her life comes crumbling down, she discovers secrets that could shape her future–and heal her past.
When Edie Gardner’s life in New York falls apart, her grandmother Adele “Punk” Cheramie coaxes her back to tiny Bayou du Chêne, Mississippi. Edie spent many happy summers there, a stone’s throw from untamed Horn Island, where she once found love. Can she now demystify the island’s strange new light?
Punk and her colorful friends introduce Edie to the Trove, a fascinating gallery and antique shop. Like Horn Island’s light, The Trove has appeared out of nowhere. Its proprietor, with a gift for discerning his customers’ needs, gives Edie a Victorian parlor game that asks players a series of personal questions, which is harmless fun at first. But Edie and her grandmother’s circle find that the game has a way of uncovering secrets, including a heartbreak that has haunted one of the women for decades. Banding together, this Southern sisterhood is determined to find answers that will bring healing, hope, and happiness–and maybe explain the transcendent illumination of a wild and windswept barrier island.
A Place to Land by Lauren K. Denton
Violet Figg and her sister Trudy have lived a quiet life in Sugar Bend, Alabama, since a night forty years ago that stole Trudy’s voice and cemented Violet’s role as her sister’s fierce and loyal protector. Now Trudy spends her days making sculptures from found objects and speaking through notes written on scraps of paper, while Violet runs their art shop, monitors bird activity up and down the water, and tries not to think of the one great love she gave up to keep her sister safe.
Eighteen-year-old Maya knows where everyone else belongs, but she’s been searching for her own place since her grandmother died seven years ago. Moving in and out of strangers’ houses has left her exhausted. After seeing a flyer on a gas station window for a place called Sugar Bend, Maya chooses to follow the strange pull she feels and finds herself on the doorstep of an art shop called Two Sisters.
When a boat rises to the surface of Little River in the middle of the night, the present and no-longer-buried past collide, and the future becomes uncertain for Maya, Violet, and Trudy. As history creeps continuously closer to the present and old secrets come to light, the sisters must decide to face the truth of what happened that night forty years ago, or risk losing each other and those they’ve come to love.
The Stories We Carry by Robin W. Pearson
A small-town bookstore owner finds herself at odds with a newcomer bent on disrupting her quiet life in this Southern women’s fiction novel by award-winning author Robin W. Pearson.
Glory Pryor has carved out a life for herself in Gilmore, North Carolina, cultivating a community around her bookstore, By the Book. While her business is a success, she carries the weight of stories of her own she’s never told anyone. She holds out hope that one day her estranged brother will turn up on her doorstep so she can finally learn where he’s been all these years. Glory’s husband Eli thinks she has her arms wrapped too tightly around the could-have-beens, and that it’s time for them to let go of the store as they head into their retirement years. Glory has different opinions on that—she’s not ready to give up the dream she’s built just yet. Then Adelle Simonette shows up with her young son, Bennett, and Glory’s carefully controlled life begins to crumble.
Newly widowed Adelle Simonette is a single mother trying to find her footing and navigate parenting her young son. Lost in her grief, one thing she’s certain of is that she needs to confront Glory Pryor and everybody who knows her because the woman’s been living a lie. Adelle thinks it’s high time Glory made things right. But Adelle’s finding it hard to tell the truth . . . and there will be no going back once she does.
In the wake of deeply personal grief and loss, two women reckon with a lifetime of silence and secrets to find a path forward toward healing, hope, and restoration.
Happy Tuesday! TTT‘s topic today is bookish quotes. I regularly participate in First Line Friday hosted by Carrie at Reading Is My Superpower. What a great way to introduce new books to readers! So today, I am including some of the best first lines from the past few months. I hope you find a book to pique your interest.
I deeply regret to confirm that your son Lance Corporal Mark James Taylor died in Vietnam 1 November 1968.
All We Thought We Knew by Michelle Shocklee
Viola Chambers had always wondered at what point in the dying process a person understood they weren’t long for this world, and now she’d give anything to unlearn it.
The Bitter End Birding Society by Amanda Cox
“The sea never gives back what it claims . . .”
Deadly Currents by Elizabeth Goddard
A shrill sound pierced the night, sweeping through the house like the unearthly wail of a banshee.
Dragonfly Ashes by C. C. Warrens
Lizbeth Bennet clutched the handle of the wicker basket with hope.
The Heart of Bennet Hollow by Joanne Bischof DeWitt
No one knew that Carol Langstrom hated Christmas.
Once Upon a Christmas Carol by Melody Carlson
Natasha shifted uncomfortably on the rock floor of the icy cave, shoving her gloved hands under her armpits to keep warm.
Queen of Hearts by Heather Day Gilbert
Death had always been fashionable.
Specters in The Glass House by Jaime Jo Wright
Pandemonium has broken out in the streets of New York City.
Under The Tulip Tree by Michelle Shocklee
When I was eight, I watched my mother disappear in fading pixels.
Many of the books I review are provided to me free of charge from publishers, authors, or other groups in return for a review. The opinions expressed in the reviews are mine and mine alone. No monetary consideration is given. This disclaimer is in accordance with FTC rules.
I am an Amazon.com affiliate, which means that I earn a small percentage of the sales from products purchased through links on my site. I NEVER recommend a book in order to receive a profit. Proceeds from affiliate sales help to defray operating costs of the blog.
Giveaways are open to persons 18 years or older. All winners are picked randomly. No purchases are necessary to enter a giveaway. All giveaways are for US entries only and are void where prohibited.
GDPR compliance -- the email address you leave when you subscribe to the blog or leave a comment, is used only to notify winners of giveaways or to send an email whenever a post goes live. That's it.
For a more detailed privacy policy for Wordpress sites, go to https://wordpress.org/about/privacy/.
Recent Comments