Happy Tuesday! Does it feel like Fall where you are? Are the mornings cooler, the trees sporting colors of red, yellow, and orange? Is there a scent of pumpkin spice in the air? LOL! Even if none of those things are appearing where you live, you can always count on a book to take you wherever you want to go.
This week bloggers are sharing their Fall TBR Lists. I have some fun books on mine, with some early Christmas vibes included. Tell me what you are reading.
Happy Tuesday! Today TTT bloggers are sharing books that have nationalities in the title. I had more books than I expected to choose from my shelves, but I did a bit of googling to round out my list. Asterisks denote books that I don’t own. Let me know if I should add them!
Happy Tuesday! Today I am tweaking the TTT prompt just a bit. I am listing books I have read whose titles include real cities. I have visited some of those places (5 in fact!), but others I have only traveled to in my imagination via the books listed. I love how many different genres and time periods are represented — I hope you find one to schedule your next trip to!
Happy Tuesday! Today’s TTT topic is a Cover Freebie. I went with something very simple — main characters on book covers. While I like lots of cover styles, it is always interesting to see how the publishers/authors envision the main characters. I have heard that traditional publishers vary in the input from authors when it comes to cover art, but we know that with an indie author, what you see is what is in their imagination. The books on my list are from recent reads. I hope you find one to love.
Do you like people on book covers?
For more cover love, check out That Artsy Reader Girl.
Happy Tuesday! I am going off topic today because I am just not feeling the suggested prompt of today’s TTT. I missed last week because we were in Virginia welcoming grandbaby #4, so today my list includes recently-ish read books that live in my head rent-free. A couple are pretty creepy — I am not sure what that says about my head! 😉 I hope you find one to pique your interest.
Happy Tuesday! Today TTT bloggers are sharing upcoming books that they cannot wait to read. It’s really hard to limit the list to just 10, but here goes.
Sarah Sundin is one of my book club’s favorite authors. We were not disappointed with her latest WWII-era novel, Mists over The Channel Islands. If you are a fan of Sundin or like well-researched historical novels, you need to check this one out!
Behind enemy lines, adversary and ally become impossible to distinguish.
The German invasion of the British Channel Islands shatters Dr. Ivy Picot’s peaceful world, forcing her to shoulder the weight of her father’s medical practice and hold together a family unraveling under the strain of war. As conditions worsen in Jersey with the arrival of thousands of forced laborers, Ivy’s quiet allegiance to the Allies compels her to risk everything by providing medical aid to escaped workers–even as danger closes in.
Dutch engineer and resistance member Gerrit van der Zee volunteers to build fortifications for the Germans so he can secretly send maps and diagrams to the Allies. On his arrival in the Channel Islands, he crosses paths with Ivy, who shows him contempt for the uniform he wears. As tensions mount and their missions grow increasingly dangerous, Ivy and Gerrit must confront the cost of courage, the meaning of sacrifice, and whether love can survive in the shadow of war. Will their covert efforts turn the tide–or will they pay the ultimate price for defiance?
Renowned WWII fiction author Sarah Sundin crafts a compelling historical romance featuring enemies-to-lovers, wartime resistance, and medical intrigue–a tale of loyalty, resilience, and courage when love and duty collide.
Sarah Sundin enjoys writing about the drama and romance of the World War II era. She is the bestselling and Christy Award-winning author of Mists over the Channel Islands (February 2026), Midnight on the Scottish Shore (2025), Embers in the London Sky (2024), The Sound of Light (2023), Until Leaves Fall in Paris (2022), When Twilight Breaks (2021), and several World War II series.
Sarah’s novels have received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, and Booklist. Until Leaves Fall in Paris received the 2022 Christy Award, The Sky Above Us won the 2020 Carol Award, The Sound of Light was a finalist for both the Christy Award and the Carol Award, and When Twilight Breaks and The Land Beneath Us were finalists for the Christy Award.
A mother of three, Sundin lives in Southern California and enjoys speaking to community, church, and writers’ groups. Sarah serves as co-director of the West Coast Christian Writers Conference.
My Impressions:
Mists over The Channel Islands is another great WWII-era novel from Sarah Sundin. Sundin is a favorite of my book club, and this one did not disappoint us. There is so much to love about this book. First off, the setting. We knew little about the Channel Islands in general, specifically Jersey, but really didn’t know anything about the strategic position it holds in the English Channel and its role during WWII. It seemed inconceivable that this tiny island so close to England had been occupied by the Germans. The people had strong ties to Britain and many evacuated before the coming of the Germans. The experiences of those who remained are faithfully recreated in this novel. While there was no large resistance movement on the Channel Islands, the people chose small acts of defiance that yielded big results in the lives of its citizens, as well as those imprisoned by the Germans. Sundin’s characters, both main and secondary, are well-developed, and as a reader I soon became invested in their struggles. Individual heroism is juxtaposed against characters who collaborated with their occupiers. The book really portrays a balanced view of the island during that time. As always, Sundin presents thought-provoking themes and a strong faith thread that keeps the reader thinking, feeling, and turning the pages.
I highly recommendMists over The Channel Islandsfor those who love novels set during WWII, for those who want a unique historical setting, and for those who love a good story told well. It achieved a unanimous thumbs-up from my book club!
Highly Recommended.
Great for Book Clubs.
Audience: Adults.
(I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)
I loved my book club’s selection this month. Sarah Sundin is one of our favorite authors, and her books never disappoint. Her latest WWII-era novel, The Mists over The Channel Islands, presents a little known or talked about story — the German occupation of the Channel Islands, specifically Jersey. The subject matter is fascinating and the characters are special. Make sure to read this one soon.
If you have already read (and loved) it, check out a few more book recommendations.
Flame of Resistance by Tracy Groot
Years of Nazi occupation have stolen much from Brigitte Durand. Family. Freedom. Hope for a future, especially for a woman with a past like hers. But that changes the day American fighter pilot Tom Jaeger is shot down over occupied France. Picked up by the Resistance, Tom becomes the linchpin in their plan to infiltrate a Germans-only brothel and get critical intel out through Brigitte, a prostitute rumored to be sympathetic to the Allied cause.
D-day looms and everyone knows that invasion is imminent. But so is treachery, and the life of one American pilot unexpectedly jeopardizes everything. He becomes more important than the mission to a man who cannot bear to lose another agent and to a woman who is more than just a prostitute, who finally realizes that her actions could change the course of history.
The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she’s never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb. . . .
As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends—and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society—born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island—boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all.
Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society’s members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.
Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, this novel is a celebration of the written word in all its guises and of finding connection in the most surprising ways.
The Librarian of Saint-Malo by Mario Escobar
Libraries are being ransacked. France is torn apart by war. A French librarian is determined to resist. Told through smuggled letters to an author, an ordinary librarian describes the brutal Nazi occupation of her small coastal village and the extraordinary measures she takes to fight back.
Saint-Malo, France: August 1939. Jocelyn and Antoine are childhood sweethearts, but just after they marry, Antoine is drafted to fight against Germany. As World War II rages, Jocelyn uses her position as a librarian in her town of Saint-Malo to comfort and encourage her community with books. Jocelyn begins to write secret letters smuggled to a famous Parisian author, telling her story in the hope that it will someday reach the outside world.
France falls and the Nazis occupy Jocelyn’s town, turning it into a fortress. The townspeople try passive resistance, but the German commander ruthlessly begins to destroy part of the city’s libraries. Books deemed unsuitable by the Nazis are burnt or stolen, and priceless knowledge is lost.
Risking arrest and even her life, Jocelyn manages to hide some of the books while desperately waiting to receive news from her husband Antoine, now a prisoner in a German camp.
Jocelyn’s mission unfolds in her letters: to protect the people of Saint-Malo and the books they hold so dear. Mario Escobar brings to life the occupied city in sweeping and romantic prose, re-creating the history of those who sacrificed all to care for the people they loved.
Happy Friday! My book club is discussing Mists over The Channel Islands by Sarah Sundin this month. It is a look at an unfamiliar (at least for us) chapter of WWII. It’s a fascinating story with characters you will love. Have you read it yet? We’d love to know what you thought.
If you haven’t, here’s the first line:
Words failed Dr. Ivy Picot, so she sketched her father with gray-flecked hair, packing to go to war.
Behind enemy lines, adversary and ally become impossible to distinguish.
The German invasion of the British Channel Islands shatters Dr. Ivy Picot’s peaceful world, forcing her to shoulder the weight of her father’s medical practice and hold together a family unraveling under the strain of war. As conditions worsen in Jersey with the arrival of thousands of forced laborers, Ivy’s quiet allegiance to the Allies compels her to risk everything by providing medical aid to escaped workers–even as danger closes in.
Dutch engineer and resistance member Gerrit van der Zee volunteers to build fortifications for the Germans so he can secretly send maps and diagrams to the Allies. On his arrival in the Channel Islands, he crosses paths with Ivy, who shows him contempt for the uniform he wears. As tensions mount and their missions grow increasingly dangerous, Ivy and Gerrit must confront the cost of courage, the meaning of sacrifice, and whether love can survive in the shadow of war. Will their covert efforts turn the tide–or will they pay the ultimate price for defiance?
Renowned WWII fiction author Sarah Sundin crafts a compelling historical romance featuring enemies-to-lovers, wartime resistance, and medical intrigue–a tale of loyalty, resilience, and courage when love and duty collide.
Sarah Sundin enjoys writing about the drama and romance of the World War II era. She is the bestselling and Christy Award-winning author of Mists over the Channel Islands (February 2026), Midnight on the Scottish Shore (2025), Embers in the London Sky (2024), The Sound of Light (2023), Until Leaves Fall in Paris (2022), When Twilight Breaks (2021), and several World War II series.
Sarah’s novels have received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, and Booklist. Until Leaves Fall in Paris received the 2022 Christy Award, The Sky Above Us won the 2020 Carol Award, The Sound of Light was a finalist for both the Christy Award and the Carol Award, and When Twilight Breaks and The Land Beneath Us were finalists for the Christy Award.
A mother of three, Sundin lives in Southern California and enjoys speaking to community, church, and writers’ groups. Sarah serves as co-director of the West Coast Christian Writers Conference.
My book club loves Sarah Sundin! We are so excited to read her latest WWII-era novel, Mists over The Channel Islands. I think this one may become our very favorite!
Behind enemy lines, adversary and ally become impossible to distinguish.
The German invasion of the British Channel Islands shatters Dr. Ivy Picot’s peaceful world, forcing her to shoulder the weight of her father’s medical practice and hold together a family unraveling under the strain of war. As conditions worsen in Jersey with the arrival of thousands of forced laborers, Ivy’s quiet allegiance to the Allies compels her to risk everything by providing medical aid to escaped workers–even as danger closes in.
Dutch engineer and resistance member Gerrit van der Zee volunteers to build fortifications for the Germans so he can secretly send maps and diagrams to the Allies. On his arrival in the Channel Islands, he crosses paths with Ivy, who shows him contempt for the uniform he wears. As tensions mount and their missions grow increasingly dangerous, Ivy and Gerrit must confront the cost of courage, the meaning of sacrifice, and whether love can survive in the shadow of war. Will their covert efforts turn the tide–or will they pay the ultimate price for defiance?
Renowned WWII fiction author Sarah Sundin crafts a compelling historical romance featuring enemies-to-lovers, wartime resistance, and medical intrigue–a tale of loyalty, resilience, and courage when love and duty collide.
Sarah Sundin enjoys writing about the drama and romance of the World War II era. She is the bestselling and Christy Award-winning author of Mists over the Channel Islands (February 2026), Midnight on the Scottish Shore (2025), Embers in the London Sky (2024), The Sound of Light (2023), Until Leaves Fall in Paris (2022), When Twilight Breaks (2021), and several World War II series.
Sarah’s novels have received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, and Booklist. Until Leaves Fall in Paris received the 2022 Christy Award, The Sky Above Us won the 2020 Carol Award, The Sound of Light was a finalist for both the Christy Award and the Carol Award, and When Twilight Breaks and The Land Beneath Us were finalists for the Christy Award.
A mother of three, Sundin lives in Southern California and enjoys speaking to community, church, and writers’ groups. Sarah serves as co-director of the West Coast Christian Writers Conference.
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