This book offers a brief introduction to each of fifty fashion designers. Readers can look for their favorites (Chanel, Dior, Balenciaga, Quant-to name a few) or page through this title in order. Readers may also discover some creators who are new to them.
For each designer, find out when they lived and what they looked like, learn a bit of their biography, understand something about their fashion ethos and see examples of their work. If anything, readers will just wish for more on their favorites.
This book is currently only ninety-nine cents of Amazon. Take a look and think about buying it today.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Arcturus Publishing for this title. All thoughts are my own.
Pub date: 01 August 2026
Description:
from the publisher
Fashion writer Emma Baxter-Wright introduces 50 of the world’s most influential fashion designers and a selection of their most celebrated pieces, showcased with full-colour photography.
Starting with the foundation of the 19th century House of Worth, perhaps the first real fashion house, through the designs of the hugely influential Coco Chanel, Christian Dior and Yves St Laurent, to Japanese designers such as Rei Kawakubo and Issey Miyake whose designs ‘deconstructed’ fashion in the 1980s and 1990s and the emerging stars of the present day, this stunning book is a fascinating history of how fashion has developed over the past 160 years. Two double-page spreads are dedicated to each designer, outlining their influences, the legacy of their ideas and revealing the beautiful designs that have made them famous.
Here is a fun and entertaining mystery that is just perfect for a winter night’s read. The ghostwriter narrator of the first book in the series is back. This time she is going on a cruise (despite not really liking the sea) for a group of would be writers. This is a clue to the double entendre of the Get Lit moniker that is the name of the event.
The cruise is organized by a writer, phenomenon and self-promoter known to our ghostwriter from their MFA days. On this mostly all women cruise, Payton has brought along her wife but also her ex husband and her male assistant. The staffers on the cruise, the guests and the writers are all brought to fun (and somewhat snarky) life.
Not so many of the attendees have signed up for our ghostwriter’s mystery writing class. But no matter, there will be plenty of real life mystery and murder on board.
Come along for a fun trip and feel like an insider in this quite entertaining read.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Kensington for this title. All opinions are my own.
Pub date: 21 January 2025
From the Publisher
Knives Out meets high seas intrigue on a literary cruise to nowhere in this intelligent, wildly funny locked room mystery for fans of Richard Osman, Anthony Horowitz, Nita Prose, and Agatha Christie!
The USA Today bestselling host of the “All About Agatha” podcast injects the spark and fizz of a Golden Age murder mystery into the present-day, as the ghostwriter’s skills are put to the test aboard a bestselling author’s decidedly insalubrious cruise.
Curtis Sittenfeld is a nimble author whose novels are each unique. I have read her takes on both Laura Bush and Hilary Rodham Clinton; while each had a similar subject in a president’s spouse, the books were definitely not the same kind of story twice. I also read Eligible which was a Jane Austen update. There is always a voice of its own in her works dating back to Prep.
This title is a lighter one in the Sittenfeld oeuvre. Many will think that there is some resemblance to SNL here. There are writers, a comedy sketch show with celebrity guests and other aspects that reference late night television. However, there are also the characters and relationships and they are Sittenfeld’s own. These folks include Sally who has not been lucky in love and has been having “hook ups” instead of commitments. She watches as a co-writer, Danny, who is described as not too well put together appearance wise, become involved with someone “out of his league.” Why do things turn out this way for men more than women?? What happens when guest host Noah comes on the show and what will happen between him and Sally over time? Read this one to find out.
Many have adored this book. I liked it. I could not quite enter its world and pushed a bit to finish it. That said, I think this will be a very popular read this spring and summer.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this title. All opinions are my own.
The early sixties were a time of nascent change for many, including women. There was restlessness as some felt that being a housewife and mother was not fully satisfying in and of itself. (This may have been true before, of course, but it was at this time that Betty Friedan published a book that spoke to and legitimized these feelings).
In this novel, Marie Bostwick looks at a group of women who are living in a planned, suburban community outside of Washington DC. The group includes Margaret who was a bright, successful college student when she met her husband. Now she is a mother of three. When she gets an opportunity to do a bit more will she take it?
Bitsy married an older man. She loves horses but passed on vet school to marry a vet. Readers will find out why. Bitsy is having trouble with the suburban dream because she hasn’t been able to have a child.
Viv is a mother to many with a husband who seems supportive. But, when she wants more and looks for a job, will she tell Tony?
Then there is artistic, chaotic Charlotte. She challenges Margaret and the others. Will she cross a line too far?
These women meet regularly in a book club with the first book being The Feminine Mystique. Readers follow their lives over the course of this long and satisfying novel that is special to the author (read what she says).
Recommended to those who enjoy (women’s) fiction and would like a look at the 1960s.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins Focus for this title. All opinions are my own.
I had previously read a couple of books by Amy Bloom and enjoyed them. Each of these (White Houses and In Bloom) was different from the other, so I knew that Bloom could definitely write in several genres as she most recently turned her hand to a mystery.
In addition, to wanting to read this title because of the author, I was also intrigued by the academic setting. After all, I loved Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers and the mysteries by Amanda Cross.
So, did I enjoy this book? Yes, I did. It offered a fun read with its outspoken protagonist, some skewering of academia, the murder and the solution. I think this is the first of the series. I look forward to what comes next.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Penzler Publisher for this title. All thoughts are my own.
Post first published on 2 August 2026
Description:
from the publisher
A failed professor solves a murder on campus in this new whodunit from bestselling author Amy Bloom.
The case of the bludgeoned lecturer has all of Cromwell University reeling, even though the elderly Professor Bullfinch wasn’t particularly well-liked. His ornery nature and Old World approach to campus politics ruffled more than a few feathers over the years, and present tensions within his department mean there are more suspects than mourners in the wake of his death. And the murder weapon—a bronze bust of Nathaniel Hawthorne—does seem to indicate that the attack may have been academically motivated…
Enter Dell Chandler, the failed English professor turned self-taught private detective whom Dr. Cutty calls in to investigate the crime. She has the background to tease out the motives among the staff and just enough experience to conduct a thorough inquiry. If she solves the case before the cops do, the university could keep the whole thing quiet, avoiding sensational media about the dark side of campus life. But to do so, she’ll have to dodge her own demons from her past life as a disgraced academic.
Written with the same depth of character and insight that readers have come to expect from author Amy Bloom’s novels and memoirs, Blunt Instrument is an engaging and entertaining mystery with a clever, complex protagonist at its core.
Editorial Reviews:
Criminal Element
Bestselling author Amy Bloom delivers a clever campus whodunit in Blunt Instrument, following disgraced academic turned private investigator Dell Chandler as she navigates university politics and her own past to solve the murder of an unpopular lecturer.
Library Journal VERDICT Dell is an appealing investigator in a somewhat unevenly paced story. Fans of mysteries in academic settings will enjoy.
Publishers Weekly The review calls Bloom’s debut “a witty whodunit” and notes that while some late-breaking plot contrivances slightly undermine the pacing, the book is “a blast” overall. It expresses eagerness for a sequel Book Marks.
Book Reporter
Written with the same depth of character and insight that readers have come to expect from author Amy Bloom’s novels and memoirs, BLUNT INSTRUMENT is an engaging and entertaining mystery with a clever, complex protagonist at its core.
Kirkus Reviews
This entertaining, sexy adventure in not-so-dark academia checks all the classic detective-story boxes. Keep ‘em coming.
This was a fun and absorbing read set in both Australia and England.
Protagonist Blaise Hill grew up poor in Sydney. She has promise and wants a career. With the help of one of her teachers she secures a newspaper job. Blaise’s career will take her far, all the way to being the Royal Correspondent of the title.
Blaise’s early jobs taught her a lot about fashion so names like Yves St. Laurent, Mary Quant and Cecil Beaton make appearances in the novel. Her later career puts her in the midst of mid-century history; readers follow her as she covers Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones. Readers also meet John Profumo and Christine Keeler, and learn about spies including Kim Philby. It makes for a fascinating background.
This novel also has a romantic story line, family and friendships. Will Blaise find love with Charlie who seems to have it all; this includes a high government position, a family seat, charm and more. But…there is also the mysterious Adam Rule. He knows a dark secret from Blaise’s past; will he use this against her? Readers also get to know Blaise’s sister Ivy who contracted polio and the close friends with whom Blaise lives in England. Readers will be turning the pages as they await the resolution of the novel’s several strands.
Ms. Joel writes an interesting note at the end of the novel sharing her inspiration and resources. This background places the book in context.
The Royal Correspondent reads easily and I always looked forward to picking it up. Here is a good escapist read.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.
I have been looking for a book like The Sea Stone Sisters for quite some time. I was wanting to read a novel that would fully engage me with an enjoyable and involving story, as well as having good characters and settings that come to life. Oh, it would be nice if it was a long book so that I could escape for a while (448 pages here). The Sea Stone Sisters definitely met my expectations.
I think that this will be a first in a series as there are four sisters as main characters. This time the story belongs to Iris. Her three flower named siblings will, I hope, mean that there will be four books in all.
Readers can read a plot summary to know more. Know that it is immersive.
The characters are fully brought to life in this story that focuses on several time periods and four special rings. The first time period is pre-historic and sets the stage. Next is a family in a beautiful home on Skarra (Scotland) that has fallen on hard times, and Iris’s story. There is also a story in the present that centers on Roz who has connections to the past.
I did not want this book to end. Those who enjoy women’s fiction won’t want to miss this one. Fans of Lucinda Riley may find a new favorite series here.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Headline for this title. All thoughts are my own.
Pub date: 12 March 2026
Post first published on 7 March 2026
Five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Description:
from the publisher
Across land, sea and time, the stones will summon them home . . . ‘Unputdownable . . . This book moved me, profoundly’ SANTA MONTEFIORE
It all begins with The Sea Stone Sisters. In this spellbinding series Eleanor Buchanan intricately weaves together the stories of four sisters and their descendants scattered across the globe from the Scottish home that they all yearn to return to.
‘A gorgeous immersive epic’ KRISTIN HARMEL ‘The perfect successor to Lucinda Riley’ ZOE MARRIOTT ‘Evocative, immersive and completely involving’ CLARE FLYNN ‘An enchanting, edge-of-your-seat tale’ CHRISTINA COURTENAY _________________________
Four great stones once stood on a remote Scottish headland – the Sisters of Skara. Legend has it they were raised by a grieving father, to guide his abducted daughters home. A curse was placed on anyone who laid the stones low: their family, too, would be scattered to the winds, never to find their way home.
1931. When Iris Blackmore’s father knocks down the Sisters of Skara standing stones, a dark shadow falls on the Blackmore family. With his fortune lost and wife dead, his four daughters are forced to leave their home, taking only the rings they inherited from their beloved mother.
Iris is the first to depart, travelling east in search of an uncle who might be able to help the family.
Present day. Roz Chatton moves to London from Australia, bringing very little with her other than her mother’s old ring. Grieving and adrift, she stumbles on a painting of four ancient standing stones which ignites an uncanny connection to the ring on her finger.
Determined to learn more about the origin of the painting, Roz unearths the full story of Iris Blackmore, unravelling a family history she could never have imagined.
Four lost sisters. A family scattered. An epic journey home. Will you follow? _________________________
The Sea Stone Sisters is the first of a sweeping and moving series, perfect for fans of Lucinda Riley. Let yourself be whisked away from Scotland to Ceylon and from Australia to London in this epic, dual time tale about family mysteries, unexpected love and enduring courage.
When this book was described as a cross between Kate Morton’s Homecoming and Rachel Hawkins’ The Heiress, I knew that I wanted to read it. Although Rimmer has written a number of novels, this is the first book that I have read by her.
Here is a story within a story. Fiona has had a rough time of it. Readers will find out why she has left the city to return to her recently deceased uncle’s home. The house has a reputation for being haunted and this story most definitely has Gothic elements in it.
Readers will follow Fiona’s life. They will get to meet the people who are part of her world.
Fiona discovers that her uncle left behind twelve copies of a novel. She begins to read this and it is quite a tale. Will Fiona’s own story and family intersect with the contents of this novel? If so, how, and will our protagonist survive her experiences? Read this one to find out.
I must give content warnings for the novel within the novel. There is domestic violence and coercive behavior. Some readers may not want to read the novel for this reason.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this title. All thoughts are my own.
Post first published on 31 July 2026
Description:
from the publisher
AN INDIE NEXT PICK • A LIBRARY READS #1 TOP PICK
A limited edition paperback featuring foil and embossing, with gorgeous custom designed edges.
“Kelly Rimmer is at her most skillful here… An emotional, haunting tale.” —Julia Kelly, internationally bestselling author of The Dressmakers of London
In the aftermath of a tumultuous year, Fiona Winslow finds solace in the decaying grandeur of Wurimbirra, the rambling family estate she once called home. Intent on restoring it, she discovers the keys to more than just the dilapidated mansion—beneath the crumbling plaster and dust are secrets that have been buried for a generation.
When a curious book, The Midnight Estate, catches her attention in her late uncle’s library, Fiona is plunged into a tale that mirrors her own—a story of love, loss and betrayal. But as the lines between fiction and reality blur, Fiona must ask herself: Is the true mystery the one hidden within the walls of her ancestral home, or is it within the pages of a book that chose her as much as she chose it?
Told in a dual narrative and set against the Gothic backdrop of Wurimbirra, Kelly Rimmer, bestselling author of The Things We Cannot Say, weaves an intricate and compelling tale, inviting readers into the heart of a family’s deepest secrets with an absorbing book-within-a-book mystery.
“Kelly Rimmer always delivers a poignant story with real characters who lodge themselves in your heart.” —New York Times bestselling author Madeline Martin
For more by Kelly Rimmer, look for
The Paris Agent
Before I Let You Go
The Things We Cannot Say
Truths I Never Told You
The Warsaw Orphan
The German Wife
From People Magazine:
The cover of ‘The Story Keeper;’ Kelly Rimmer. Credit : MIRA; Kirsten Cunningham Photography
Kelly Rimmer is unraveling another twisty story.
PEOPLE has an exclusive first look at the author’s latest novel, The Story Keeper, out next summer via MIRA, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
The novel follows Fiona Winslow who escapes to her family’s gothic estate, Wurimbirra, after a difficult year. The once-prosperous home is now deteriorating, and Fiona intends to restore it to its former grandeur.
But when Fiona uncovers an old book that belonged to her late uncle entitled The Midnight Estate, she learns that the volume eerily mirrors her own life. Soon, fiction begins to mix with reality, and Fiona is forced to confront the true mysteries of the book and Wurimbirra.
“This story is so special to me,” Rimmer, the bestselling author of The Things We Cannot Say and The German Wife, tells PEOPLE. “It’s a book-within-a-book family mystery, a love song to all things books and an ode to small towns like the place I called home as a kid. I can’t wait to share it with readers!”
The cover of ‘The Story Keeper’ by Kelly Rimmer. MIRA
Uncle Tad was a storyteller by nature as well as profession and he loved to tell elaborate stories about the “ghosts” he supposedly shared Wurimbirra with. So many ghosts. Not a menacing one among the crowd of them, at least in the stories Tad told me. I was possibly the first child in history to grow up believing she lived in a haunted house and thrilled about the excitement of it. I used to hope and pray I’d see one of Tad’s ghosts.
Only as I grew older did I learn that there were other stories that circulate around this region — about the mansion’s dark past, about spirits lingering on the land because of unfathomable injustice and unresolved pain. There’s a terrible truth behind all of that — a few years before this house was built, something unthinkable did happen right on the other side of the low concrete wall that bounds the existing property. Even so, I don’t believe in ghosts, and that’s mostly because I lived here for 16 years and in all of that time, I never felt anything but safe and loved.
From Parade Magazine:
For readers who love family secrets, decaying estates and a slow burn, The Story Keeper is on shelves now, and it is the kind of book that rewards a long afternoon and a spot on the to-be-read pile. The result is a summer read with a chill running through it.
Twenty-one Days is an offshoot of Anne Perry’s Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series. I read the first Charlotte and Thomas book, The Cater Street Hangman, in 1979. I can still remember not wanting to arrive at my destination on the subway because I wanted to keep reading.
So, it was with much anticipation that I began this novel in which Charlotte and Thomas’s son, Daniel, is the protagonist. He is all grown up, has attended Cambridge and is a newly qualified lawyer. Daniel is assigned several cases in this story, the 21 days has to do with the number of days it will be until a man convicted of murder will be hanged…or will he? Is he guilty? Read the story for a complex and engrossing solution.
It was lovely to see Thomas and Charlotte as peripheral characters and to read about Jemima, Thomas’s sister, who is now in New York. Victor Narraway and Aunt Vespasia also are mentioned. There are also new and very likeable characters as well.
If you like Anne Perry, read this! If you don’t know Anne Perry, read this and then work your way through the series starting with the book mentioned above. Highly recommended by me. Many thanks NetGalley!!
I like the way that this title was organized into sections. These include Common Objections to Therapy, Getting the Help You Need and, With A Little Help From Our Friends. Just a few of the subsections are titled Why Should I Talk to a Stranger, How Do I Find a Good Therapist and, Grief Counseling (this third section is about different types of therapy. Other contributors helped here).
The authors jump right in, letting readers know how they became interested in this field. Note that co-author Dr. Brink died before the publication of this title. He is, though, very present in these pages.
The two organized this book as a series of questions and answers. Readers can dip in and out, although they may want to read in order. Either way, many concerns about therapy and how it works are discussed in this accessibly written title.
Those who are thinking about seeing a therapist and/or those who are in therapy will find this to be a good resource. It helps to demystify what therapy is, how it works and more.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Koehler Books for this title. All thoughts are my own.
Description:
from the publisher
Plenty of people still don’t understand the basics of therapy-including those with a growing sense that they need help. An Insider’s Guide to Psychotherapy addresses some of the most basic questions you may have about working with a therapist.
Brink and Raubolt have written their guide as a series of answers to questions they’ve encountered during their decades of experience as psychotherapists-ranging from initial skepticism to concerns about whether therapy is working, to developing a clear sense of when it’s time to stop. They’ve also enlisted experts in more specialized fields of psychological therapy, such as couples therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and less well-known specialties such as EMDR or gendered therapy. The result is a trustworthy, one-stop resource that may be of as much help to newer therapists as it is to new or potential clients.
Full of common-sense advice and free of psychological jargon, An Insider’s Guide to Psychotherapy is a no-nonsense guide to getting the help you need.
A Note From the Publisher on the authors:
Richard Raubolt, PhD, ABBP, is a licensed clinical psychologist and a board-certified psychoanalyst who has been in independent practice for more than forty years. The founding editor of the online journal Otherwise, he served on the board of the International Forum for Psychoanalytic Education for ten years and was elected president of the Michigan Group Psychotherapy Society. He is the author of two previous books and more than thirty professional papers, and he has produced five films, three of which were nominated for awards given by the National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis.
Kirk L. Brink, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist who has served as an adjunct faculty member in several different colleges and universities while maintaining an active practice of individual, group, couples, and family psychotherapy, along with supervision of other therapists. He has also served as a consultant with mental health agencies, businesses, and regional hospitals. He has been a board member of the Michigan Group Psychotherapy Society and the Institute for Individual and Group Psychotherapy for the last twenty years.
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Twenty-one Days is an offshoot of Anne Perry’s Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series. I read the first Charlotte and Thomas book, The Cater Street Hangman, in 1979. I can still remember not wanting to arrive at my destination on the subway because I wanted to keep reading.
Joyce's mystery and fiction book reviews with some non-fiction too! 