"Step Ball Change" by Jeanne Ray, who is Ann Padgett's mom.
The protagonist in the book runs a dance studio, and the book title refers to a tap dance move. The book was about a couple in their early 60's who daydream about retiring and traveling, but life keeps interfering.
They both work, they have 4 kids and their nest is not quite empty. They hired a contractor to do a remodeling project only to learn that their foundation has been crumbling for years so now the contractor practically lives at their house. Their daughter gets engaged to a guy from a super wealthy family. The mother of the groom has a list of 900 people to invite to the wedding. And the wife's sister has come to stay with them while she nurses her wounds because her husband ran off with a younger woman.

I thought the book was a lot of fun. I had read one other book by Jeanne Ray several years ago, which was called "Calling Invisible Women". I had wanted to read more by her for a long time but my library overdrive / libby website didn't have any of her other books. I happened to see this book at the thrift shop a few months ago and bought it.

Just finished Here After by Amy Lin and thought it was amazing. It’s about a woman whose husband died suddenly. Her writing was beautiful. Not an easy read but short.

I just finished "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand.

It is a nonfiction book about WWII, published in 2010. Specifically, it is about a guy who took part in the 1936 Olympics as a runner, then WW II came along and he joined the Army Air Corps. His plane crashed into the Pacific ocean and he and 2 other crash survivors floated for 46 days in a raft. One guy died in the raft. Then they were taken as POW's in Japan for the next two years.

I thought it was really good. It was almost 500 pages and full of statistics, but the author did a really good job of keeping it all interesting.

I downloaded it from my library website.

Starting “Grendel” by John Gardner.

Brilliant but so weird!

Just finished the Sicilian Inheritance which I really enjoyed after a couple of meh thrillers (The Heiress and First Lie Wins)

The Covenant of Water

Also going through the Inspector Maigret series by Georges Simenon thanks to someone's rec on this forum - thank you very much for that.

Recently finished Lady Tan's Circle of Women. Just started Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives it Changed. I only heard about it because my 9th grader is reading it in English.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two books by Sophie Kinsella.
She is a British author who writes romcoms set in or around London.

The first book was called "Can You Keep A Secret". It was about a young woman who sits on a plane and freaks out when the plane hits turbulence. She ends up confessing lots of stuff to a nearby plane passenger. The next day when she arrives at work she discovers that the fellow plane passenger is actually the CEO and founder of the company she works for.

The next book was called "I owe you one". A woman is in a coffee shop and the guy at the table next to hers asks her to watch his laptop for a few minutes while he takes a phone call outside. The ceiling happens to cave in from a water leak while the guy is outside . She saves his laptop. They strike up a relationship.

I liked both books. They were both fun. I thought the characters and the story were well developed.

I picked up those particular books because I have read a few other books by the same author and always enjoy her books.

I downloaded the books from my library Libby / Overdrive website.

I've read everything by Sophie Kinsella - if you like her, definitely check out Sophie Cousens. I'm actually enjoying her books more these days.

Love both Sophie Kinsella and Cousens!

I started listening to “Ghachar Ghochar” by Vivek Shanbhag, translated by Srinath Perur.

Got it from Libby. It is short, about 120 pages. It is about a lower middle class Indian family that is scraping by becoming wealthy and how that changes the family dynamics and relationships. Interesting read so far.

Anonymous wrote:Just finished The Women and I thought it was okay. Agree with others that it wasn’t Hannah’s best book. I weirdly think I enjoyed the first half of the book more than the second half.

I’m currently reading The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo. It’s an interesting read, set in Inquisition-era Spain, but its slower than I expected.

Have you gotten to the romance part in The Familiar? That’s where it really kicked in and became a 5 star read for me—very sexy and satisfying slow burn.

Just devoured Death in the Spires by KJ Charles. Wonderful murder mystery! I bought it in ebook because my library doesn’t religiously buy her books and I wanted to read it immediately. So good!

I have read 2 fantastic thrillers this month: What Happened to Nina by Dervla McTiernan and Safe and Sound by Laura McHugh. The second one publishes a little later this month.

Just finished The Women and I thought it was okay. Agree with others that it wasn’t Hannah’s best book. I weirdly think I enjoyed the first half of the book more than the second half.

I’m currently reading The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo. It’s an interesting read, set in Inquisition-era Spain, but its slower than I expected.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just finished Olga Dies Dreaming and absolutely loved it.

Oh I’ve heard good things about this one—this was the nudge I needed to read it!

DP. Started listening to the audiobook based on OP's rec and enjoying it so far!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just started The Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek. So far, so good. I'm listening on Libby and I chose it, because it was available now. I've got 3 other books on hold and needed something to fill the gap while I wait.

Came back to report that this was very good and I highly recommend it. There's a sequel that I've got on hold now.

Just wanted to say that I loved the Bookwoman and the sequel the Bookwoman's daughter! I'm so glad you're reading them! It made me research the Applachian blue-skinned people as a result - such fascinating history!

I’d also recommend the Giver of Stars by JoJo Moyes. The books are about similar characters (Appalachian “book woman”) and came out around the same time, so there was some controversy about who came up with the idea first. I really enjoyed both books!