I got to know the books by Ms. Keyes when I read her first, Watermelon. It was an engaging story with both complications and heart. I think that those two qualities best describe this author’s subsequent books, including this one.

Grown Ups is a long book at over 500 pages so just perfect for settling in with on these days of early dark. It is a family story in which, at the beginning of the novel, all of the main characters are close to each other. However, the training wheels come off and the ride gets more unstable when one of the main characters, Cara, suffers a concussion. This results in her speaking thoughts, opinions and secrets without being able to stop. What will this mean to her husband, his brothers and their spouses? Will what comes out destroy this family or make its’ members stronger?

It is hard to offer more praise for this title than what has already been offered by others such as JoJo Moyes and Liane Moriarty along with print media including many, many British newspapers and magazines. I will just say that Irish author Marian Keyes knows how to write an engaging story. Give this one a try…and then go back to read some of her other novels.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

#LessonsattheSchoolbytheSea #NetGalley

I am always delighted to spend time with a book by this author. She writes the kinds of stories that give readers an opportunity to exhale.

This title is part of a series of stories set at a school. This is the third novel. Readers may want to go back and spend time with the others if they have not already read them. However it is possible to read this as a standalone. A list of major characters is included at the beginning of the story.

Boarding school stories are staples for young readers. Colgan tries to give adults that same sense of enjoyment in this series.

Students Fliss, Alice and Simone are back following the summer break. There is a new student character introduced as well. Teacher Maggie also returns and has some complications to her love life.

In addition, there is a boys’ school close by. There is a teacher there who is also important to the plot.

Regular readers of this author’s books will want to give this one a look. New readers may enjoy it as well.

Read the author’s introduction to the novel to learn more about its composition. There is a recap here for those unfamiliar with the series.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper and Harper Voyager for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: 07 March 2023

A Novel of Victorian Cookery and Friendship

by Annabel Abbs

Miss Eliza’s English Kitchen is an historical novel based on the life of Eliza Acton. Eliza was a poet whose family fell on very hard times. When a publisher, who did not want to publish her poems, offered to pay her to write a cookbook, she at first refused. Luckily for cooks and readers, Eliza changed her mind. She goes on to find poetry in her cooking and cookery writing.

The second important character in the story is Ann. Ann’s incredibly difficult life is portrayed vividly and readers will feel for her bleak home life. It is transformative for Ann to begin to work for “Miss Eliza.”

Life for Eliza and her mother involves taking in short term boarders. Readers will meet one particularly lascivious and loathsome one. He is an early guest at the house. His presence also impacts Ann.

Throughout the story, Eliza and Ann work together to create recipes that are different from those that came before. For example, they used accurate measurements.

Eliza and Ann become very close. What will the nature of their relationship be as it evolves?

I found this book to be somewhat slow moving and yet it was interesting. It described a time, place, way of life and the people who lived it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Note that there is an article in the December U.S. issue of Good Housekeeping that references this title. The book was also chosen for a morning tv show’s book club.

From the Publisher

Sloane faced an unthinkable loss when her sister died (not a spoiler as readers learn this early in the story). She is engaged to a somewhat pompous fiance who has an over involved family and often make Sloane feel inferior. On top of all this, Sloane’s parents are not the easiest people.

Sloane escapes into her work as a librarian although that also has it challenges. One of these is an older gentleman who enjoys mentally fencing with Sloane. Will these two change each other? Will others also be drawn in? Readers may know the answer but will still, I think, enjoy this book. It gives voice to some of what is important in life.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for this title. All opinions are my own

This book was published in March 2023

From the Publisher

#ThePresidentsWife #NetGalley

I am a great fan of historical fiction. I find it intriguing to look into the lives of people who lived before us.

Ms. Wood previously wrote a novel where she told readers about the woman who was responsible for the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge. Now, she has turned her attention to Edith Bolling Galt Wilson.

The story is a fascinating and involving one that gives readers insight into the United States and President Wilson. Nowadays, Wilson has been called to task for some of his views. Here readers get to meet him, being introduced to him when he was a fifty-something year old widower and the head of the nation. All this, as WWI was looming.

As the novel opens, time has moved forward. Edith is revisiting the hotel where she spent her honeymoon. It is now the 1940s. She wonders if she could have done more, been more influential and altered history in a better way. Readers will watch as she made her decisions.

SPOILER (though many know this): Edith is well known for having been very influential in Wilson’s presidency, especially when he became ill. She took over decision making in many ways at that point.

I became very involved with the time and people in this novel. I started looking up photos, Wilson and Edith’s wedding coverage and more. Clearly, the author was able to intrigue me.

Recommended for fans of historical fiction. Anyone who read The First Ladies will most likely enjoy this one as well.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: 15 August 2023

I have known Stephen Fry as an actor, having watched an enjoyable series called Kingdom in which he starred. He is also a man with lots of personality. More recently, Mr. Fry has turned his hand to writing. A prior book of his, Mythos, was well received. Now we have this new book which re-imagines a number of Greek myths.
Eight heroes have their stories told here in a series of short chapters. The characters are Perseus, Heracles, Bellerophon, Orpheus, Jason, Atalanta, Oedipus and Theseus. Before starting on his tales, Fry includes helpful resources such as maps and a family tree of the Olympians. There are some helpful entries at the end of the book including a list of characters, monsters, mortals and more.
The book’s introduction sets the tone. The style is conversational and engaging. It is written in a present tense. Frye tells his stories well and with a sense of humor. The text is beautifully illustrated with many paintings.
If you would like to relax and have someone tell you a story, you should enjoy this title. I am eager to see the print copy.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.

#Heroes #NetGalley

A Novel

by Robert Thorogood

An e book bargain

Soon to be on tv

Readers who devoured Richard Osman’s two mysteries are pretty sure to enjoy The Marlow Murder Club. It has many similar good eccentricities while telling its own story.

As in Osman’s novels, our woman on the scene is a pensioner. Eccentric Judith Potts is in her seventies. She may be a little too fond of whisky. She sets crossword puzzles to earn money, lives in an inherited property and observes everything around her. She is also intrepid.

One night Judith hears a shot. Her neighbor Stefan is dead. It is quickly established that Stefan was murdered. His character is less clear; there are those who saw him as a good and kind man and others who did not. What was the nature of his association/relationship with an antiques business and Elliott, its proprietor? How, if at all, is Stefan’s death connected to another victim, a well-liked taxi driver named Iqbal? And, what about the people Judith gets to know along the way? There are a mysterious redhead, a dog walker and a vicar’s wife among others. It all crescendos in a satisfying story.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: 03 May 2022

The best crime fiction of 2025 so far — our critics’ top books

https://www.thetimes.com/article/a6c1b701-c3bb-4754-89bb-8853ceec05e5?shareToken=d1af86c9f6f3ccc6cad2d5ef7acfee65

Jo Callaghan’s first novel was easily one of my favorite crime stories of 2024. All of the elements that made me love that book are back in Leave No Trace, the second in this series. These include characters with depth (and backstory), a plot that keeps the pages turning, and the use of a unique sidekick to detective Kat Frank.

AIDE is an AI created detective. Through a hologram, he looks very real. His thoughts, although at times concrete because of a lack of understanding of nuance, are often key to the case. It has been enjoyable to watch the “relationship” between Kat and AIDE evolve. That is just one of the joys of the series.

This time, Kat has asked for a “live” as compared to historical case. The one that she is given is rather grim. A man has been found at the top of a local landmark and he has been gruesomely murdered. The case will lead to fear and warnings to young men.

Readers know that the case will be solved. The enjoyment is in watching how the team accomplishes this.

Kudos to the author. I am already eager for book three.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this title. All opinions are my own.

Five 🌟 stars

by Jessica Sinarski

#HelloAnxiety #NetGalley

Anxious kids, you are not alone! And you, the adults who see this book, please get it for a child you know. Read it with that child or let them read it on their own if they prefer. Maybe just leave the book somewhere where it will catch a kid’s eye. Be ready to talk with them about anxiety.

This book does an excellent job of discussing the overwhelming feelings that anxiety can bring. It also offers some hope.

The best part of the book, in my opinion, is that, in addition to some techniques, Destiny find that there are ways to be helped. What a relief! Anxiety does not have to be Destiny’s destiny.

This book is great for a home library, for a therapist to use in working with a child and for school resource centers.

This book can be a terrific jumping off point. If more help is needed, remember that it is OK to access emotional support services.

Many thanks to the National Center for Youth Issues and NetGalley for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: 13 February 2025

32 pages

Children’s fiction

From the Publisher