Today’s TTT topic, Ordinal Numbers in book titles, looks easy on the surface. It proved harder than I thought though. There are lots of books with first and second in the title, but beyond that there are not many others. Plus, I wanted to include books that I have either read or that I want to read. I ended up adding a few books that my husband has enjoyed (the Joel Rosenberg titles) as well. I hope you find a book that interests you!
I am happy to reveal the cover of Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie‘s upcoming historical/biographical novel, AFounding Mother: A Novel of Abigail Adams. I have read several of their books and find them well-crafted and historically-detailed, as well as unputdownable! The book is now ready for pre-order at all your favorite bookstores prior to its May 5, 2026 release. Check it out today!
In time for the 250th Anniversary of the birth of the United States comes a sweeping,intimate portrayal of Abigail Adams—wife of one president and mother to another—whosewit, willpower and wisdom helped shape the fledgling republic. A stunning historical novel with modern-day implications from the New York Times bestselling authors of America’s First Daughter and My Dear Hamilton.
In the heart of revolutionary Boston, Abigail Adams raises her children amid riots, blockades, and the outbreak of war. While her husband, John Adams, rises from country lawyer to nation-builder, often away for years at a time, Abigail builds her own independence—managing their farm, making lucrative investments, amassing savings, battling plague and loss, and defending their home. Unafraid to speak her mind, she famously offers fearless political counsel, urging John to “remember the ladies” in the new government. Through it all, she becomes his most trusted confidante and indispensable ally.
When peace is secured, Abigail steps onto the world stage—exchanging ideas with Thomas Jefferson in the French countryside, navigating court life as the wife of the Minister to Great Britain, and presiding over the parlor politics of the early American republic in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC. Even after her husband’s presidential administration, she continues battling political foes and working behind the scenes to advance her family, secure independence for the women in her life, and ensure a better life for the next generation of Americans.
From war-torn streets to the chandeliered halls of power, A Founding Mother is the unforgettable story of a woman ahead of her time—one whose voice, vision, and valor still resonate.
Happy Tuesday! Today bloggers are featuring their favorite books with BIG page counts. In my youth, I was a big reader of chunksters. The longer the better. But my advanced age, limited free time, and reading deadlines keep me from choosing those mega-books. I know, I know — I am retired. But my husband’s retirement earlier in the year really impacts my reading time. LOL! So today I am going to highlight my favorites from the distant past and those books that qualify as BIG books that I have read more recently and enjoyed. I define a Big Book as 450+ pages.
For more bloggers’ favorites, please visit That Artsy Reader Girl.
Top Big Books!
Five from The Past
Bleak House by Charles Dickens (800+ pages)
Exodus by Leon Uris (500+ pages)
Poland by James Michener (600+ pages)
The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas (500+ pages)
Sarum by Edward Rutherfurd (900+ pages)
More Recently Read
Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon (450+ pages)
A Noble Calling by Rhona Weaver (450+ pages)
When We Were Young And Brave by Hazel Gaynor (450+ pages)
The Women by Kristin Hannah(450+ pages)
The Women of Chateau Lafayette by Stephanie Dray (500+ pages)
Although I usually don’t have time not to read (read that again 😉 ), I do go through reading slumps occasionally. If you see me scrolling on the phone instead of reading a book, then that means I am either not engaged with the story or just too spent to keep reading. When that happens I need a book that has a unique plot or engaging characters or a subject that is intriguing. If you are ever faced with that dilemma, then check out the following books — they are sure to break that slump!
Happy Tuesday! Today the bloggers of TTT are listing books with honorifics in the title. Basically titles in a book’s title. 😉 Honorifics include Mr., Mrs., Miss, Sir, Dr., etc., but can also include General, President, Your Highness, Your Honor, etc. Before searchingbooks for this post I had no idea what I would find. What I got was a great variety of genres! I hope you find one to love.
One of my book clubs loves biographical fiction, and an author who writes it so well is Stephanie Dray. This month we choseBecoming Madam Secretary, a novel focused on Frances Perkins, the Labor Secretary under FDR. Oh my! What a fascinating story! Perkins is often referred to as the mother of Social Security. Her career began as a social worker in Hell’s Kitchen in New York City and proceeded to rise as she fought for better working conditions, especially for women. She was a crusader against child labor and helped pass legislation limiting work hours. Dray’s novel is meticulously researched and in the absence of details on Perkin’s private life, she carefully created plausible scenarios. The book comes in at 500+ pages and is not full of a lot of action, but it was certainly an enjoyable, as well as, illuminating read. I highly recommend this book for those who love historical/biographical fiction, especially that highlight the cultural and political events of first part of the 20th century.
Highly recommended.
Audience: Adults.
(I purchased the ebook from Amazon. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)
She took on titans, battled generals, and changed the world as we know it…
New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Dray returns with a captivating and dramatic novel about an American heroine Frances Perkins.
Raised on tales of her revolutionary ancestors, Frances Perkins arrives in New York City at the turn of the century, armed with her trusty parasol and an unyielding determination to make a difference.
When she’s not working with children in the crowded tenements in Hell’s Kitchen, Frances throws herself into the social scene in Greenwich Village, befriending an eclectic group of politicians, artists, and activists, including the millionaire socialite Mary Harriman Rumsey, the flirtatious budding author Sinclair Lewis, and the brilliant but troubled reformer Paul Wilson, with whom she falls deeply in love.
But when Frances meets a young lawyer named Franklin Delano Roosevelt at a tea dance, sparks fly in all the wrong directions. She thinks he’s a rich, arrogant dilettante who gets by on a handsome face and a famous name. He thinks she’s a priggish bluestocking and insufferable do-gooder. Neither knows it yet, but over the next twenty years, they will form a historic partnership that will carry them both to the White House.
Frances is destined to rise in a political world dominated by men, facing down the Great Depression as FDR’s most trusted lieutenant—even as she struggles to balance the demands of a public career with marriage and motherhood. And when vicious political attacks mount and personal tragedies threaten to derail her ambitions, she must decide what she’s willing to do—and what she’s willing to sacrifice—to save a nation.
Stephanie Dray is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal & USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction. Her award-winning work has been translated into ten languages and tops lists for the most anticipated reads of the year. She lives in Maryland with her husband, cats, and history books.
Happy Tuesday! Is it hot where you are? It is here in the sunny South, so that means it is officially Summer! of course, it is often hot here in the Spring and Autumn as well, but Summer is a special kind of hot. Some refer to it as Satan’s front porch. 😉 And let’s not even talk about the humidity! But the AC and ceiling fans that are obligatory here keep our reading environment cool and dry, so don’t feel too bad for us. Today bloggers are listing their Summer TBRs. I have a few projects that are keeping my pleasure reading at a minimum, but I do have a few books that will be well deserved breaks. I’ve only listed a few, but they are highly anticipated.
Happy Tuesday! Since it’s April Fool’s Day, this week’s TTT topic is you’d be a fool not to read these books. My list contains books I have read this year that I highly recommend you read. As always there’s a variety of genres so you can easily find your next favorite book. Enjoy!
I really enjoyed my book club’s pick this month. Indigo Heiress by Laura Frantz has a wonderful marriage of convenience storyline that rings true. Her main character, Juliet Catesby is an independent-thinking woman, yet she is true to the 1770s America time period. If you liked this historical romance with plenty of suspense and intrigue, then here are a few more recommendations (including the love story of Juliet’s great grandparents 🙂 ).
America’s First Daughter by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie
In a compelling, richly researched novel that draws from thousands of letters and original sources, bestselling authors Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie tell the fascinating, untold story of Thomas Jefferson’s eldest daughter, Martha “Patsy” Jefferson Randolph–a woman who kept the secrets of our most enigmatic founding father and shaped an American legacy.
From her earliest days, Patsy Jefferson knows that though her father loves his family dearly, his devotion to his country runs deeper still. As Thomas Jefferson’s oldest daughter, she becomes his helpmate, protector, and constant companion in the wake of her mother’s death, traveling with him when he becomes American minister to France.
It is in Paris, at the glittering court and among the first tumultuous days of revolution, that fifteen-year-old Patsy learns about her father’s troubling liaison with Sally Hemings, a slave girl her own age. Meanwhile, Patsy has fallen in love–with her father’s protégé William Short, a staunch abolitionist and ambitious diplomat. Torn between love, principles, and the bonds of family, Patsy questions whether she can choose a life as William’s wife and still be a devoted daughter.
Her choice will follow her in the years to come, to Virginia farmland, Monticello, and even the White House. And as scandal, tragedy, and poverty threaten her family, Patsy must decide how much she will sacrifice to protect her father’s reputation, in the process defining not just his political legacy, but that of the nation he founded.
The Tidewater Bride by Laura Frantz
Selah Hopewell seems to be the only woman in the Virginia colony who has no wish to wed. True, there are too many men and far too few women in James Towne. But Selah already has her hands full assisting her father in the family’s shop. And now she is in charge of an incoming ship of tobacco brides who must be looked after as they sort through their many suitors.
Xander Renick is perhaps the most eligible tobacco lord in the settlement. His lands are vast, his crops are prized, and his position as a mediator between the colonists and the powerful Powhatan nation surrounding them makes him indispensable. But Xander is already wedded to his business and still grieves the loss of his wife, daughter of the Powhatan chief.
Can two fiercely independent people find happiness and fulfillment on their own? Or will they discover that what they’ve been missing in life has been right in front of them all along?
Bestselling and award-winning author Laura Frantz takes you to the salty shores of seventeenth-century Virginia in this exploration of pride, honor, and the restorative power of true love.
The Traitor’s Wife by Allison Pataki
A riveting historical novel about Peggy Shippen Arnold, the cunning wife of Benedict Arnold and mastermind behind America’s most infamous act of treason…
Everyone knows Benedict Arnold—the Revolutionary War general who betrayed America and fled to the British—as history’s most notorious turncoat. Many know Arnold’s co-conspirator, Major John André, who was apprehended with Arnold’s documents in his boots and hanged at the orders of General George Washington. But few know of the integral third character in the plot: a charming young woman who not only contributed to the betrayal but orchestrated it.
Socialite Peggy Shippen is half Benedict Arnold’s age when she seduces the war hero during his stint as military commander of Philadelphia. Blinded by his young bride’s beauty and wit, Arnold does not realize that she harbors a secret: loyalty to the British. Nor does he know that she hides a past romance with the handsome British spy John André. Peggy watches as her husband, crippled from battle wounds and in debt from years of service to the colonies, grows ever more disillusioned with his hero, Washington, and the American cause. Together with her former love and her disaffected husband, Peggy hatches the plot to deliver West Point to the British and, in exchange, win fame and fortune for herself and Arnold.
Told from the perspective of Peggy’s maid, whose faith in the new nation inspires her to intervene in her mistress’s affairs even when it could cost her everything, The Traitor’s Wife brings these infamous figures to life, illuminating the sordid details and the love triangle that nearly destroyed the American fight for freedom.
While mystery/suspense is my go-to genre when I want an escape, I am drawn to historical fiction for a rich reading experience in another time and place. I want historically accurate details and the characters to have the same values/characteristics that you would have found had you been able to time travel in real life. My TTT list today consists of the last 10 novels I have read that fit those standards. I hope you find a time and place you want to go too.
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