A blog tour! Main Character Energy by Jamie Varon

I am delighted to introduce you to this title. It is one of many good books on the fall blog tour. Many thanks to the team at HTP for this opportunity.

The cover:

What it’s about:

Poppy Banks would rather be writing mysteries than writing listicles for her dead-end job at Thought Buzz. But after a series of rejections, she’s ready to accept life on the sidelines as a plus-size woman. Her aunt Margot is the one person unwilling to give up on her niece’s dreams and tells her so at their secret yearly lunches.

But all of Poppy’s beliefs about herself are challenged when her beloved aunt dies and leaves her niece a grand surprise—a trip to her villa in the French Riviera. There, she learns her aunt intends to leave her stunning villa and secretive writer’s residency to Poppy—if she can finish her novel in six months.

When the writing countdown begins, Poppy realizes she has more to confront than her writer’s block. Family drama, complicated romances and self-doubt all threaten to throw her off course. In this fun and heartwarming debut, Poppy must decide if she can live up to her aunt’s—and her own—desire to be the main character in her own life.

Reviews:

“This book absolutely dazzled me from the opening scene until the very last page. Highly recommend!” 
—Jenn McKinlay, New York Times bestselling author of Summer Reading
“a sparkling debut” -PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Try it:

When I met my aunt for the first time, I expected to hate her. After all, she had been the villain in my mom’s story since I was a kid. They hadn’t talked in nearly twenty years and every time I brought her up, my mom would shut me down. I didn’t know what caused their fracture, but my mom’s anger was enough to make me believe that Aunt Margot was the problem.

I never wanted to go behind my mom’s back and betray her trust, but when Margot contacted me in secret, I knew I had to finally meet my elusive aunt.

It was a shock to me that our first visit felt like a reunion.

I thought she’d be hard-edged and critical like my mom was, but instead, she was warm and effusive. I was pulled into her comforting orbit immediately.

We convened in Malibu on a rainy, moody February afternoon. I was twenty-three years old and hopeful, brash, naive. We ate at a cliff-side restaurant, waves crashing against the rocks below us. I didn’t know this would be the start of an annual tradition where I’d meet her for lunch once a year in February, always at the same place, the same order—a sacred ritual just for us.

“Poppy,” she said, her eyes crinkling, her hands outstretched for me to grab them. She seemed ready to cry and I sat there feeling slightly guarded and guilty. I wasn’t supposed to be here. If my mom knew I was meeting with Margot, she wouldn’t be happy. But curiosity had won out.

“Hi,” I said, and the one question that had plagued me slipped from my lips before I could stop it. “What happened between you and my mom?”

Her face clouded over for just a fraction of a second before she waved me off and said, “That’s neither here nor there. Tell me about you. What do you love, Poppy? What lights you up? Who do you want to be when you grow up?”

There was a magic to Aunt Margot. It was clear immediately. I felt myself open up like a blooming sunflower in her presence. A smile spread across my face, the initial guardedness falling away like petals to the ground.

Looking at Margot was like looking at myself in the future. Long, loosely waved, chestnut-brown hair, hers streaked with natural gray, mine highlighted by caramel coloring. Almond-shaped eyes. Hers, moody gray-blue. Mine, vibrant green. Curvy bodies. Heart-shaped faces, reddened at the cheeks. Full lips tinted a cherry red, and straight teeth.

Where we differed was that she was so at ease in her body. She made me feel stronger, simply because she was so herself. Her body wasn’t an apology. She existed as if everything about her were a celebration. She wasn’t braced for the world, like I felt I was. When she spoke to the servers at our lunches, they were all mesmerized by her. She had the kind of wide-open soul that invited everyone in. She had confidence that radiated outward. I basked in it, like it was sunlight after an endless winter.

I wanted to be as carefree as her.

I still do. She made me feel bold.

“What lights me up? Writing,” I told her, jutting my chin up. “I want to write books.”

Her face beamed into a wide smile. 

“That’s wonderful, Poppy,” she said. “Are you writing now?”

“Yes,” I told her. “I’m working on a novel. A thriller, actually.”

Margot looked delighted.

“I love thrillers, too,” she said. “Who’s your favorite author?”

“PJ Latisse,” I said quickly.

Margot sported a grin and said, “Oh, I love their books.”

“You don’t think it’s silly?” I asked, my voice low. “To want to be an author? My mom thinks I’m wasting my time.”

My relationship with my mom was beginning to deteriorate and maybe that’s why I met Margot—to rebel against my mom and all her rough edges. I was realizing I could have agency over my beliefs about the world and myself. She’d spent my childhood urging me to lose weight, forcing me on various fad diets, hoping I would become thin like her. But my body was unruly then. Still is. It didn’t respond to her shame, but my mind did. And I felt cloaked in it.

My mom believed a thin body, handed over like a sacrifice, made dreams come true. Or at least, a thin body was the initial conduit for a good life. Without it, possibilities limit and dwindle. If I did nothing with my life except lose weight and find some man to marry me, it seemed like that would make my mom the happiest. She had virtually no patience or interest in my dreams or aspirations.

“Silly?” Margot asked, cocking her head to the side. “To follow your dreams? Never.”

“Mom says dreams don’t pay the bills.” I shrugged. “But I have to try, don’t I?”

“You always have to try,” Margot said with a sharp nod of her head. “It’s your life, not hers, after all.”

“Hmm,” I said, nodding. For years, I’d been writing at night, during stolen time. I’d been reading my whole life and books were my first love. All I’d ever wanted was to be a writer.

“Remember this, Poppy. For some people, it works out,” Margot said with authority. “You don’t know if it will for you until you try. If you love it, don’t give up on it. Ever. No matter what anyone says.”

“Okay,” I said, smiling, feeling supported and buoyed for the first time ever.

“Something I always say: at the very least, do it for the plot. Do it for the story. Be bold in life, mostly because not being bold is boring as hell.” Margot tipped her head back in glittery laughter and I felt my chest expand in hope.

“The last thing I’d ever want to be is boring,” I replied.

“Good.” Margot nodded firmly, then clapped. “Now, tell me all about what I’ve missed for the last twenty-three years of your life. Don’t skimp on a single detail!” Margot’s hands framed her jaw and she rested on her elbows, waiting with undisguised glee.

This Margot was the villain in my mom’s story? But, she was lovely. I spent the rest of the lunch catching her up, and she listened with rapt interest. It was the most seen and heard I’d felt in a long time.

And so, when she asked if we could meet again the next year, I said yes. And it became our annual tradition. I secreted the visits away from my mom and never told her about any of them. I kept that first lunch—and future lunches—with Margot in my pocket like a precious stone I could rub my fingers on for luck, support, and the unconditional love I longed for.
From MAIN CHARACTER ENERGY by Jamie Varon. Copyright Jamie Varon. Copyright © 2023 by Jamie Varon. Published by Park Row, an imprint of HarperCollins.

The author:

Author Bio: 

Jamie Varon is an author, branding expert, course creator, and graphic designer living in Calabasas, California. Her nonfiction book Radically Content was published in 2022 with Quarto and is currently being adapted into a feature film with Camilu Productions LTD. Main Character Energy is her debut novel.

The links:

Buy Links:

HarperCollins.com: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/main-character-energy-jamie-varon?variant=40992983482402 

BookShop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/main-character-energy-original-jamie-varon/19278298?ean=9780778334200 

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/main-character-energy-jamie-varon/1142651724? 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0778334201  

Books-A-Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/9780778334200?AID=10747236&PID=7310909 

Social Links:

Author Website: https://www.jamievaron.com/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamievaron/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jamievaron 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jamievaron 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21746179.Jamie_Varon 

The book:

Main Character Energy 

Author: Jamie Varon

ISBN: 9780778334200

Park Row Books Paperback Original 

Publication Date: September 5, 2023

: What You are Looking for is in the Library

Michiko Aoyama

An e book bargain for 14 April 2024

#WhatYouAreLookingForIsintheLibrary #NetGalley

I am a great fan of books about books. A favorite of mine is The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George, and I recently read Days at the Morisaki Bookshop. Aoyama’s lovely title shares with the others a love of books and reading, an acknowledgment of how books open worlds to readers, and an understanding of how self-knowledge and growth are fostered through reading. A bit like, Wait Until the Coffee Gets Cold, What You are Looking for consists of a series of vignettes about people who are at a crossroads. When they meet a very particular librarian, they may not understand why she gives them certain recommendations (a small felted frying pan, the suggestion of a children’s book when the reader was asking for books on Excel) but readers can trust that all will become clear and that the books’ borrowers will benefit. This book is one that reads in a deceptively simple manner. There is much to think about as well in these pages, however, especially about the meaning of work. This book would make a delightful gift for a book lover. It looks very nice in its hardcover version. Many thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this title. All opinions are my own.

From the Publisher

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Now in paperback: Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan

Regular readers of Jodi Picoult’s novels know what to expect…the unexpected, plot twists, a social issue and lots of information on an interesting topic, in this case bees.

Here is a story in which Ms. Picoult partnered with Ms. Boylan, a fortuitous and successful pairing for this novel’s topic and one about which readers will learn a great deal. As I mentioned in a review of a spark of light, I think that a service is done for readers who are hungry for information and may not have easy access to it; in this instance, the subject is being trans.

Well, yes, as noted above, there is always a bit of a didactic turn in this writer’s works but there is also always a terrific story. Here readers get to know Asher and his bee keeping mom, and Lily, a person of great importance to Ash. Around them flow many other characters.

When something really bad happens, Asher is in trouble. Did he do what he was accused of? How will events play out? What will the impact be on the small New Hampshire town where the novel is set?

Around the central plot, are backstories for many characters. There is a good deal about families and parents who are absent, along with the impact of that on children. Is it ever better not to be with a parent is one of many questions.

As this book opens readers meet two moms are single parents for complex reasons. What happens when this new(ish) ecosystem is messed with? Will it be like it is for the bees when they face disruption?

I, for one, really wanted to know what would happen in this story, not only to Asher, but to many of the people around him. I think readers will feel that way too.

Congrats to the authors. They have written one heck of a book.

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

The First Ladies (by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murphy)

I am not a person who generally wins giveaways but, for once, I really lucked out. I was given a copy of this title through Goodreads and what a good read it was.

I read the first collaboration of these authors when they told the story of Belle Greene and the Morgan Library. That was a good read but I think that this new book is even better.

In these pages, readers spend time with Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary McLeod Bethune. Each has a life story with unique experiences. Both had struggles for acceptance, although in different ways. Each wanted to make a difference in the world; readers will, I think, agree,that they succeeded in that regard.

Although this book is written by two authors, it flows seamlessly. I enjoyed the way that many chapters were set up so that first there was one about either woman, followed by the same day’s experience for the other.

Big issues are explored here along with telling a work of historical fiction. This is a book both of its time and ours. I recommend it highly.

Learn: How to Know a Person (David Brooks)

#HowtoKnowaPerson #NetGalley

We currently live in a rather fractured and partisan world in which, it seems to me, we often lose the ability to disagree without being disagreeable, to attempt to understand another’s perspective and to venture out of communicating only with those with whom we already know that we will agree. How did we get to this point? Is it where we want to be? If, those reading this post recognize that there is work to be done but need help getting there, please pick up this book.

David Brooks has written a work that cries to be read by just about everyone, including the mental health community, politicians, the person who is a friend, a parent, a partner, and so on. He has synthesized a great deal of research on how to relate to others while also sharing some of his personal experiences with the reader.

Brooks observes that, despite being a reporter, he did not always communicate well outside of his professional role. In some ways, he wrote this title for himself as well as the reader.

Some of the topics artfully explored include how to really see another person and to listen to them, what gets in the way of that, whether a person wants to be an “illuminator” or not, defense mechanisms, talking about the hard things, understanding what empathy really is and much more.

The number of highlights that I have added to my copy of this book reminds me of how much I was left to ponder. Book clubs, teachers, social workers and others, read this book and then talk tabout it. It will be worthwhile.

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

Pub date: 24 October 2023