GHOSTED by Sarah Ready

September 29, 2023

Ghosted, Book 1

From the publisher:

Jillian Nejat is the only dating and relationship expert on the planet who is incapable of speaking to men. If they’re living, if they’re breathing, it’s game over.

With her bank account at zero, her career a dumpster fire, and her dating life in a ten-year slump, she moves into a tiny, dirt-cheap NYC apartment.

Unfortunately, the apartment is already occupied.

Daniel (no-last-name) is a sexy, shirtless, six-pack wielding heartthrob who is also…dead.

He isn’t living. He isn’t breathing. He’s a ghost. He’s also the only man on the planet that Jillian can talk to.

Soon, Daniel’s convinced that it’s his afterlife mission to resurrect Jillian’s love life. He knows, if he helps her fall in love then he can move on. Jillian agrees. The last thing she needs is a Lothario ghost haunting her living room.

But then, one practice date leads to another, one confession leads to more, and suddenly Jillian fears she’s falling for the one man she can never love.
https://amzn.to/467032L

I rarely read a romance that can be called paranormal, but when a good friend recommends it, I’m going to give it a try. I was so glad I did – I loved this book!

Jillian has a serious issue with talking to men – she gets completely tongue-tied and super quiet. She can barely order a coffee from a male barista. She has a close family, as well as Fran, their next-door-neighbor who loves Jillian and is determined to see her happily married. To that end, she is constantly setting her up on blind dates, well over a hundred of them, all to no avail. Jillian is waiting for someone to see through her awkwardness to the real person inside. In fact, she writes a dating and relationship advice column for an only news magazine. The small staff are her only friends, and they’ve worked together for almost ten years. Jillian started as an intern while in college and turned that internship into a writing job. Unfortunately, her advice sucks and her editor is getting tired of all the cancellations and nasty comments.

Jillian finds an apartment online, a studio with a loft bedroom and she grabs it, sight unseen. The neighborhood is good and fairly close to her job. Her family helps her move in, but when they get there, they are shocked by the decor. Every surface is mirrored, including the kitchen cabinets, but it does have beautiful wood floors. Jillian insists she will be fine, her parents and Fran take off, her dad leaving her an aluminum baseball bat by the door for security.

When she is alone, Jillian is shocked to hear a man’s voice. She turns around and finds this gorgeous, half-dressed man standing in her apartment. She tries hitting him with the bat but it goes right through him. He disappears and reappears at will. Turns out Jillian is sharing her new apartment with a ghost.

The ghost’s name is Daniel, and he doesn’t have much memory of his life. He doesn’t know how he died, other than he was on top of a woman and felt a lot of pain. He tells her she must save him, and he is going to save her. A relationship is formed.

Daniel comes and goes from her life, and is able to show up for her where he is needed. He gets her to talk to him while pretending to talk to other men, the barista, her blind dates. The only problem is that he is the only man that she has ever felt this comfortable with, and they fall in love. Until he ghosts her. Yep, he disappears.

A few weeks later, Jillian is meeting Fran at a museum, but she sees Daniel at the top of the stairs. She goes flying to him, jumps into his arms, and kisses him. Then she realizes she can actually feel him. And that he has no idea who she is.

This other-worldly romance has everything I love in a romance; it’s unputdownable with great characters, lots of hurdles, an interesting setting, and a happy ending. In fact, the author offers an additional epilogue if you sign up for her newsletter, which I immediately did. I can’t wait for the sequel!

9/2023 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

GHOSTED by Sarah Ready. W. W. Crown (September 26, 2023). ISBN: 978-1954007611. 490p.

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THE BOOK CLUB HOTEL by Sarah Morgan

September 29, 2023

A Christmas Novel

From the publisher:

This Christmas, USA Today bestselling author Sarah Morgan returns with another heartfelt exploration of change, the power of books to heal, and the enduring strength of female friendship. Perfect for fans of Emily Henry and Jennifer Weiner.

With its historic charm and picture-perfect library, the Maple Sugar Inn is considered the winter destination. As the holidays approach, the inn is fully booked with guests looking for their dream vacation. But widowed far too young, and exhausted from juggling the hotel with being a dedicated single mom, Hattie Coleman dreams only of making it through the festive season.

But when Erica, Claudia and Anna—lifelong friends who seem to have it all—check in for a girlfriends’ book club holiday, it changes everything. Their close friendship and shared love of books have carried them through life’s ups and downs. But Hattie can see they’re also packing some major emotional baggage, and nothing prepares her for how deeply her own story is about to become entwined in theirs.

In the span of a week over the most enchanting time of the year, can these four women come together to improve each other’s lives and make this the start of a whole new chapter?

Get lost in more holiday reads by Sarah Morgan:

Snowed In for Christmas

The Christmas Escape

One More for Christmas

A Wedding in December

The Christmas Sisters

https://amzn.to/3RE9O4b

Ericka, Anna, and Claudia met as college roommates, and now that they are pushing 40 – or just past it – and they are still the best of friends, even though they don’t see one another except for their annual hotel book club vacations. Claudia became a chef and lives in California, where her boyfriend of ten years has dumped her. While struggling through the breakup, she also loses her job. It’s just as well; the kitchen was a toxic environment, so bad that Claudia isn’t sure she even wants to cook anymore. Because of the breakup, the women postponed their summer book club meetup and pushed it to mid-December, right before the holidays.

Anna married her college sweetheart and they are still together, and very much in love. But Anna is in panic mode; her twins are graduating high school in the spring, and will be leaving for college. Empty nest syndrome has hit her hard, to the point where her husband asks if she wants another baby – it is possible, but is that what she really wants?

Erika is the uber-successful business woman in their group. She travels the world, and hasn’t had a serious relationship in, well, ever. She has a friend with benefits situation going on for many years, but is starting to wonder if he wants more…or if she does.

Instead of meeting up in a luxurious hotel in a city, Erika has booked them into a B&B in a picturesque small town in New England. The owner, Hattie, is a young widow with a precocious daughter. The B&B was her husband’s dream, and for the two years that he’s been gone, she has struggled to keep the place running. The head housekeeper is a terror, but she is mild in comparison to the award-winning chef running the kitchen. When the three friends check-in, everything changes – or soon will.

This is a story about friendship, family, and love. These characters came to life on the page and I loved how they fit into one another’s lives. Set in this beautiful inn in a small town that felt like a Hallmark Christmas movie come to life, only slightly more believable! This was my first Christmas book of the year, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Let the holiday reading begin!

9/2023 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE BOOK CLUB HOTEL by Sarah Morgan. Canary Street Press; Original edition (September 19, 2023). ISBN: 978-1335005120. 368p.

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Spotlight Review: TOM LAKE by Ann Patchett

September 26, 2023

From the publisher:

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK

In this beautiful and moving novel about family, love, and growing up, Ann Patchett once again proves herself one of America’s finest writers.

“Patchett leads us to a truth that feels like life rather than literature.” —The Guardian

In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family’s orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.

Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart. As in all of her novels, Ann Patchett combines compelling narrative artistry with piercing insights into family dynamics. The result is a rich and luminous story, told with profound intelligence and emotional subtlety, that demonstrates once again why she is one of the most revered and acclaimed literary talents working today.

“A tender, absorbing tale about becoming who we are.” — People

“A searching reflection on the relationships between theater and life, romance and realism, Tom Lake is perhaps Patchett’s finest novel yet.” — Boston Globe

“Tom Lake is about romantic love, marital love and maternal love, but also the love of animals, the love of stories, love of the land and trees and the tiny, red, cordiform object that is a cherry. . . . This generous writer hits the mark again with her ninth novel.” — Washington Post

“A quiet and reassuring book…highly conscious of…[the] human failure to appreciate the little things.” — New York Times
https://amzn.to/3ERVBcj

I thought there would be a lot of books set during the pandemic, but if there are, I haven’t run across them. This book is about a family isolating together on their cherry farm. The adult children come home to help out since there are no farm hands available to help harvest the fruit.

Lara and Joe are the parents, and they pass their time together by telling their daughters the story of how they met, but that story is intertwined with another more interesting story. Lara used to be an actor. She played the role of Emily in her high school production of Our Town, where she was discovered by a Hollywood producer. She made one movie, did some commercials, then auditioned for the same role on Broadway. She ended up doing summer stock in northern Michigan. Joe was the director of the play, and Peter Duke was the star. Lara fell in love with Duke that tumultuous summer, and her eldest daughter has become convinced that Duke is her real father.

The book moves back and forth between the early pandemic and that summer as Lara tells her daughters the story of her life. In anyone else’s hands this might not work, but Patchett draws us in and keeps us enraptured until all the secrets are revealed. If you haven’t read her, you are in for a treat. If you have, you will appreciate this beautiful tale from a gifted storyteller. Don’t miss it.

9/2023 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

TOM LAKE by Ann Patchett. Harper; First Ed edition (August 1, 2023). ISBN: 978-0063327528. 320p.

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BURNING JUSTICE by Tee O’Fallon

September 22, 2023

K-9 Special Ops, Book 2

From the publisher:

Some cases are hot enough to kill.

After narrowly surviving a childhood fire that killed two of his friends, ATF Special Agent Brett Tanner knows what it’s like to get too close to the flame. The trauma only spurs him and his K-9 partner to track down the arsonists targeting a Colorado town. This latest warehouse blaze looks suspicious as hell…and there’s a body. Now it’s murder.

Fiercely independent insurance investigator Gemma Scott has been burned enough times to know she doesn’t need anyone—especially a handsome agent with an agenda. Teaming up with the hardened and determined ATF agent means not just trusting her instincts…it also means trusting him.

Now they’re racing against an arsonist with a lethal agenda—one who’s willing to burn and kill to hide the evidence. But the killer is only part of a larger mystery. And the searing attraction between Gemma and Brett adds fuel to an already dangerously lethal fire. One that will smoke out a killer…along with Brett’s darkest secret.

“great characterization, action, suspense, attraction, arson, and danger“ – Mystery & Suspense Magazine

“Tee O’Fallon heats the pages up in BURNING JUSTICE, giving us arson, murder, mystery, and a delicious slow-burn romance… Gemma and Brett’s chemistry absolutely sizzles on the pages.” – Fresh Fiction
https://amzn.to/3EL1jwM

I admit it; a dog on the cover always piques my interest. I have read several of O’Fallon’s books from different series, and they are all good. Even more importantly, they all stand alone and this book, the second book of a series, does as well. I didn’t realize this was book two while I was reading it – it wasn’t until I started this review that it came out. That is one of the things I really love about reading on a Kindle, especially e-galleys, pre-publication books. A lot of the time there is no cover art, so there is nothing to help form any preconceived notions, no judging a book by its cover, if you will. So I’m often surprised to learn that the book I just read was part of a series, as was the case here.

Gemma Scott has a unique skill set; she is a National Insurance Crime Bureau Investigator. She digs into suspicious fires, looking for evidence of arson. Unfortunately, the last guy she worked with basically stole her work and presented it as his own. In a job that is completely dominated by men, Gemma stands out, and Brett can’t help but notice that.

Brett is special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, better known as the ATF. He has a working K-9, one of the few in the country that can sniff out accelerants, making him invaluable for arson investigative work. He also survived a fire as a child, but two of his friends died in that fire. Understandably, that has affected his whole life.

They are working together, and the chemistry between them is, well, combustible. And the dog! Can Gemma learn to trust another man? Can Brett get past his own past to help figure out who is setting these mysterious fires? Will Gemma and Brett learn to work together? And will Gemma and Brett give in the fire that is smoldering between them? Of course! This is romantic suspense, so the ending is a given, but it is a dark, twisty road to get there and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. Now I’m on the hunt for the first book in the series, Tough Justice.

9/2023 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

BURNING JUSTICE by Tee O’Fallon. Entangled: Amara (August 22, 2023). ISBN: 978-1649373397. 400p.

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Spotlight Review: LOVE ME DO by Lindsey Kelk

September 19, 2023

From the publisher:

She’s written the perfect romance . . . for someone else

Greetings card copywriter Phoebe Chapman knows a good romantic line or two – and it makes her a fantastic Cupid.

So when she lands in the Hollywood Hills – a place that proves film stars, golden beaches and secret waterfalls don’t just exist in the movies – she can’t resist playing matchmaker for her handsome neighbour, carpenter Ren.

But you can’t hide from love in La La Land.

And isn’t there something a little bit hot about Ren, her own leading man next door?
https://amzn.to/45QrnCm

This is a sort of modern-day Cyrano de Bergerac or more to the point, the updated film version, Roxanne.

If you’re not familiar, Phoebe is the wordsmith behind the scenes, in this case helping her friend, Bel, convince her oh-so-hot neighbor, Ren, that she is the one for him. The only problem is that Phoebe is strongly attracted to Ren as well, and Bel isn’t really her friend. It’s a bit complicated, but Phoebe is in Los Angeles on a two week vacation from her home in the UK, ostensibly visiting her super successful sister, but said sister leaves town almost immediately on a business trip. Bel is her personal trainer, who doesn’t know she is gone and shows up anyway. Bel proceeds to adopt Phoebe as her new best friend, and it is a terrific friendship for sure, despite Phoebe’s attraction to Ren. Still with me?

Phoebe writes Ren a love letter, an actual pen-to-paper letter, but signs it Bel. He immediately falls for the writer, not knowing that Phoebe actually did the writing. It’s much more understandable/believable reading the book! There are lots of outings around the L.A. area, and a lot of laughs along the way.

Kelk has a great sense of humor, and I have enjoyed all of her books. This one is a bit of a rush seeing that Phoebe is only in town for two weeks, but no worries, it is all believable in this writer’s hands. She invited me into her world, and I had a blast! Suspend your disbelief and go along for the ride, you won’t regret it. Highly recommend!

9/2023 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

LOVE ME DO by Lindsey Kelk. HarperCollins (September 5, 2023). ISBN: 978-0008619329. 384p.

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THE LONG GAME by Elena Armas

September 15, 2023

From the publisher:

A disgraced soccer exec reluctantly enlists the help of a retired soccer star in coaching a children’s team in this small-town love story in the vein of Ted Lasso and It Happened One Summer —from the New York Times bestselling author of The Spanish Love Deception.

Adalyn Reyes has spent years perfecting her daily routine: wake up at dawn, drive to the Miami Flames FC offices, try her hardest to leave a mark, go home, and repeat.

But her routine is disrupted when a video of her in an altercation with the team’s mascot goes viral. Rather than fire her, the team’s owner—who happens to be her father—sends Adalyn to middle-of-nowhere North Carolina, where she’s tasked with turning around the struggling local soccer team, the Green Warriors, as a way to redeem herself. Her plans crumble upon discovering that the players wear tutus to practice (impractical), keep pet goats (messy), and are terrified of Adalyn (counterproductive), and are nine-year-old kids.

To make things worse, also in town is Cameron Caldani, goalkeeping prodigy whose presence is somewhat of a mystery. Cam is the perfect candidate to help Adalyn, but after one very unfortunate first encounter involving a rooster, Cam’s leg, and Adalyn’s bumper, he’s also set on running her out of town. But banishment is not an option for Adalyn. Not again. Helping this ragtag children’s team is her road to redemption, and she is playing the long game. With or without Cam’s help.
https://amzn.to/466pe54

This book was a….long read. It took me days to get through it. I liked it enough to stick with it, but it was definitely slow going. This was my first read from this author.

The characters were well-developed, but their chemistry was unexplored for most of the book. I just felt like I was waiting for something to happen.

The best parts of the book were the kids and the animals. The setting was a small town in North Carolina, and one of the running gags was that Adalyn insisted on wearing her Florida clothes and heels, despite the dropping temperatures of late fall.

Both main characters had interesting backstories, but again, it took too long to piece it all out. Maybe it was me? If you’ve read it, I’d love to hear from you!

9/2023 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE LONG GAME by Elena Armas. Atria Books (September 5, 2023). ISBN: 978-1668011300. 384p.

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Spotlight Review: DUKE SEEKS BRIDE by Christy Carlyle

September 12, 2023

Love on Holiday, Book 3

From the publisher:

In the swoon-worthy finale of her Love on Holiday series, Christy Carlyle takes readers to the breathtaking coast of Ireland where a pretty, young countess’s secretary agrees to impersonate her mistress to help a duke appease his fortune-hunting family…until he falls for her instead.

Miss Evelyn Graves has never had a holiday. She is much too busy as the personal secretary to the Countess of Waverly. But the Duke of Ballymore Castle in Connemara, Ireland, has invited the countess to visit—and as the countess cannot travel, she has insisted Evelyn go in her stead. Except when Evie arrives, everyone mistakes her for the countess—and it’s clear the family who owns crumbling Ballymore were hoping to match the widowed countess with Alexander Pierpont, Duke of Rennick. Though Alex knows the truth of Evie’s identity, he has an unusual request. He’ll happily show her hospitality if she’ll agree to let others think she’s the countess during her visit.

There’s just one problem: as time runs out on their arrangement and Alex increasingly fears he must in fact marry an heiress to save his family’s fortunes, he finds that his heart now belongs to Miss Evie Graves…and he can’t bring himself to let her go.

“Carlyle completes her Love on Holiday trilogy (after Lady Meets Earl) with characters fans will adore. Hand to readers who love the fake-dating trope and the hijinks of a romantic comedy.” — Library Journal

“With its charming Cornish setting, lively writing enhanced by a blithe sense of wit, and a memorable cast of characters, Duke Gone Rogue, which kicks off Carlyle’s Victorian-set Love on Holiday series, blossoms into an absolute delight.” — Booklist
https://amzn.to/3NKW4lU

I’m not sure how I missed the first two books in this series, but this third one was so much fun to read that I will hunt down the first two. I always enjoy Carlyle’s books and this is no exception.

I love the setting in Ireland; I’m not sure I’ve ever read a historical romance set there. Usually, it’s England, sometimes Scotland, and occasionally America. I also like the Duke falling for a commoner trope, which is so popular that it has become a subgenre of historical romance, as far as I’m concerned.

The Duke was actually a second son, and he never planned on becoming Duke, but when his eldest brother and his father died, he inherited the title. Unfortunately, his father was a terrible steward of the family fortune, and they are now in dire straights. The only solution is for the Duke to marry someone with a large dowry. Except he really doesn’t want to. But there is stipulation in the will that says if he isn’t married within six months, his uncle will inherit the castle in Ireland, and that is the only place the Duke really cares about.

His family set about matchmaking but he isn’t being too cooperative until he accidentally meets Evelyn Graves in the garden at a ball. They have a strong connection, but he doesn’t know who she is and she takes off. He next sees her when she appears at his home instead of her employer, a rich widow his family is trying to matchmake for him. Confusion soon ensues, but while parts of their story may be fake, their feelings for one another are very real.

I really enjoyed this story; there were a lot of laughs, some heart-wrenching scenes, and some heat as well, making this a terrific read. Now I’m off to find the first two books in this trilogy!

Book 1: Duke Gone Rogue

Book 2: Lady Meets Earl

9/2023 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

DUKE SEEKS BRIDE by Christy Carlyle. Avon (August 22, 2023). ISBN: 978-0063054516. 368p.

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THE ROOMMATE PACT by Allison Ashley

September 8, 2023

From the publisher:

All of the fun, none of the heartache…as long as they stick to the agreement.

The proposition is simple: if ER nurse Claire Harper and her roommate, firefighter Graham Scott, are still single by the time they’re forty, they’ll take the proverbial plunge together…as friends with benefits. Maybe it’s the wine, but in the moment, Claire figures the pact is a safe-enough deal, considering she hasn’t had much luck in love and he’s in no rush to settle down. Like, at all. Besides, there’s no way she could ever really fall for Graham and his thrill-seeking ways. Not after what happened to her father…

Just as things begin to heat up way before the proposed deadline, Graham’s injured in a serious rock climbing accident—and he needs Claire’s help to heal. She’ll do whatever it takes to nurse him back to health…even if it means moving in to Graham’s bed and putting up with his little dog, who hates her. But with this no-strings arrangement taking a complicated turn, keeping “for now” from turning into “forever” isn’t as easy as they’d planned.

“Claire and Graham’s chemistry jumps off the page…Friends-to-lovers fans are sure to be pleased.” —Publishers Weekly
https://amzn.to/3swBkpK

This was my first read from this author, and it was really good! I was surprised to learn it is the second book of the series, so I will have to go back and read the first book, Would You Rather.

This books turns the time-honored tradition of “if we’re still single by 40, we’ll get married,” into if we’re still single, we’ll hook up; a friends with benefits situation. The friends are Claire, an emergency room nurse, and Graham, a firefighter. Graham is also a thrill seeker – when he’s not fighting fires, he’s off rock climbing and participating in any kind of risky, dangerous outdoor sport. They share an apartment with another roommate and Graham’s little dog, who seems to hate Claire.

Claire lost her father fairly young, and she is averse to any kind of risk-taking because of that. That’s why she won’t agree to marrying Graham. But when he is seriously injured in a rock climbing accident, she immediately jumps into her caretaker role, even though the dog doesn’t want her around. As they spend time together, Graham realizes he is falling in love with Claire, and as much as Claire is attracted to Graham, she is more afraid of losing him to another accident and refuses to get more involved. She may be guarding her heart, but the heart wants what it wants, and rest assured, Claire & Graham find their happily every after.

If you are a fan of first responders, (and really who isn’t?!) and sassy dogs, this is your book. There were a lot of laughs in this sweet rom-com, and it was a very enjoyable read.

8/2023 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE ROOMMATE PACT by Allison Ashley. MIRA; Original edition (August 1, 2023). ISBN: 978-0778334248. 320p.

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Spotlight Review: AMAZING GRACE ADAMS by Fran Littlewood

September 5, 2023

From the publisher:

Bernadette, Eleanor Oliphant, Rosie, Ove . . . meet Amazing Grace Adams, the funny, touching, unforgettable story of an invisible everywoman pushed to the brink―who finally pushes back.

Grace Adams gave birth, blinked, and now suddenly she is forty-five, perimenopausal and stalled―the unhappiest age you can be, according to the Guardian. And today she’s really losing it. Stuck in traffic, she finally has had enough. To the astonishment of everyone, Grace gets out of her car and simply walks away.
Grace sets off across London, armed with a £200 cake, to win back her estranged teenage daughter on her sixteenth birthday. Because today is the day she’ll remind her daughter that no matter how far we fall, we can always get back up again. Because Grace Adams used to be amazing. Her husband thought so. Her daughter thought so. Even Grace thought so. But everyone seems to have forgotten. Grace is about to remind them . . . and, most important, remind herself.
https://amzn.to/3NKW4lU

Tales of extraordinary women abound, but the title character of Littlewood’s debut novel is a seemingly relatable everywoman. The timeline bounces around between the Grace of her 20s, 30s, and 40s, and the story begins as Grace spends the day trying to deliver a birthday cake to Lotte, her estranged 16-year-old daughter. She abandons her car in gridlock and starts hoofing it, taking off on a deeply personal pilgrimage of sorts. Her journey takes her to the bakery where she ordered the overpriced cake to an incident with the police and other assorted encounters. Grace is obviously troubled, and her journey to her daughter is also one of insight into her own life. Perimenopause rears its ugly head, divorce seems imminent, and unemployment all contribute to what appears to be Grace’s break with reality, but it is all underscored by the worst tragedy a parent can face. Although the story seems inconsistent at times, it only enhances the surreality that is Grace’s life. Despite this, we can’t help but root for her.

Verdict: An utterly charming debut, sure to appeal to readers who loved Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman and Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple.

9/2023 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

AMAZING GRACE ADAMS by Fran Littlewood. Henry Holt and Co.; International Edition (September 5, 2023). ISBN: 978-1250857019. 272p.

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BookBitch Diary: September 1, 2023

September 1, 2023

We Found the Ultra-Pricey Ice Cream Maker Lorelai Gilmore Got as a Wedding Gift. (She Should Have Kept It.)

My daughter got me watching Gilmore Girls when she was in middle school. We missed the first couple of seasons, which I didn’t realize at the time, and watched it sporadically. Several years ago, as streaming became a thing, I found them on Netflix and started watching from the beginning. The show had been rather abruptly canceled, so the creators of the show, the Paladinos, never got the ending they wanted. Then came the reboot, which I also watched – my friend Caitlin had a viewing party, which was so much fun! I even made homemade pop-tarts for the event.

Since I’m letting that secret out, here’s the other: I have two shows that are my guilty pleasure – I watch the entire run of Gilmore Girls, then watch the entire run of The West Wing, another show I didn’t watch when it aired the first time around. A co-worker pestered me into watching – she had the whole series on DVD, and I fell in love with Aaron Sorkin. I’ve watched everything the man has written, and I’ve watched Sports Night and The Newsroom several times, and The American President, the forerunner to The West Wing, more times than I can count. But The West Wing & Gilmore Girls remain in constant rotation.

I’ve watched all the Palladinos’ shows that I know about, too: Bunheads was terrific but short lived, and I loved The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, too. One of the things I like about rewatching shows is that I don’t have to pay as close attention; I can read while I watch, always a bonus for me. I’ve been rewatching shows that I love for as long as I can remember – I watched I Love Lucy over and over throughout my childhood and even some years into adulthood. And I still watch an episode now and then, especially when I want to cheer myself up. I’ve always credited that amazing cast with getting me through my parents’ divorce.

Are there any shows you watch over and over?

The thing that I don’t understand is how emotionally invested I am with these shows. You would think after watching the President get shot over and over on TWW I’d be immune to it, but no, I still cry at that episode and several others. I’ve tried watching other shows that the stars of these shows moved on to with limited success; I loved a few, gave up on the rest.

I totally bought into this little Gilmore Girls gift from Wirecutter at the New York Times, and agree with their reasoning. If you are a fan of the show, let me know what you think!

Book News

AI is coming for your audiobooks. You’re right to be worried.

Apple and Google want ‘Madison’ and ‘Archie’ to read to you. Major publishers are hiring A-list celebs for the same job. Who will win?

How an Iowa School District Used ChatGPT to Ban Books

Using ChatGPT’s guidance, the Mason City Community School District removed 19 titles—including Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Toni Morrison’s Beloved—from its library shelves. But there is another truth: Educators who must comply with vague laws about “age-appropriate” books with “descriptions or visual depictions of a sex act” have only so many options.

Food News

Stop Trying to Convince Me Tinned Fish Is the Height of Luxury

Can we all admit that tinned fish is just okay?

This article made me laugh! When my husband and I were in Portugal in April, we noticed a lot of tinned fish. Entire aisles of supermarkets were filled with the little tins. And my personal favorite, a chain of touristy tinned fish stores that were incredibly beautiful; their design was based on the world’s most beautiful library at the University of Coimbra. Can you tell which is which??

Hint: In the center photo, those gold brick-looking things are actually cans of tuna packed in olive oil with gold leaf! Those were the most expensive in the store, around € 20. The fish in the supermarket was much less expensive; that’s how I knew this was a tourist trap. The cheapest cans in this fancy store were about €4, which was about the same price as the most expensive cans in the supermarket! Then again, I didn’t see any cans with gold leaf there, but I didn’t look very hard.

In the photo on the right, you can see books wrapping around the wall into the ceiling. Those were trompe l’oeil, painted to look like a library. It was an interesting store for sure. And thanks to Eater, I guess my trip to Portugal was on trend.

Apparently, the library was used as inspiration for some of the scenes in the Harry Potter movies. The students at the university wear a uniform of – wait for it – long black robes! They are not mandatory, but it seems most students wear them.

Other News

My kids came to visit a few weeks ago. My grandson, Jonah, is almost 2 1/2 years old and loves to help in the kitchen. We made chocolate chip cookies, and he truly did help! I had everything measured out and ready to go for him. He cracked the eggs and helped me put them in the mixing bowl. He dumped the sugars, flour, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips in next (and blew my mind when he told me we need flour and baking soda to make cookies!) Then, he helped scoop out the cookie dough. He got a few chocolate chips as a “chef snack” for helping.

A few days later, he helped make the frosting for my daughter’s birthday cake and carefully placed confetti on top. But the funniest thing was he found this giant “dinosaur egg” in with the toys I keep for him. He immediately ran to the counter to crack the egg! Then he surprised himself by putting it back together without any help. We had so much fun together!

As always, thanks for reading, and stay safe.

Thanks to The New York Times and The Washington Post for allowing me to “gift” my readers with free access to these articles, a lovely perk for subscribers.

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Posted by Stacy Alesi