the setup… Jane and Abe have been together for over fifty years and Central Park has been a pivotal part of their lives throughout that time. Jane is dying and Abe now spends their remaining time at her bedside, talking about their memories and reliving those moments…the highs, the lows, the joys and the pains...from… Continue reading This is a Love Story by Jessica Soffer @jessicasoffer @duttonbooks @duttonbooks.bsky.social @readwithjenna #ThisIsALoveStory
the setup… Jack Schmidt is the third generation to run his family’s Rehoboth Beach (Delaware) boardwalk restaurant and it’s his life. He has a string of failed relationships to show for it and no significant one currently. He’s in his early 50s and is approached by the DelDine group to buy his property. They’re gradually… Continue reading The Same Bright Stars by Ethan Joella @JoellaWriting @ChrisHCoffey @SimonAudio
the setup… Lewis and Wren Woodard are newly married, both realizing they truly are each other’s soulmates. But shortly after their wedding, Lewis gets a devastating diagnosis…his physical body is transforming into a great white shark. While these kinds of transformations aren’t unheard of, his particular type is rare. He will still have his memories… Continue reading Shark Heart by Emily Habeck @EmilyHabeck @KarissaVacker @ShaunTaylorC @Soneela @SimonAudio
the setup… It’s the spring of 2020 and also the early rages of the Covid-19 pandemic. Lara’s three daughters, Maisie, Emily and Nell, have returned to their family cherry orchard and home in Northern Michigan to shelter in place. While the four of them are picking cherries, the girls beg Lara to tell them about… Continue reading Tom Lake by Ann Patchett #AnnPatchett #MerylStreep @HarperAudio @ReesesBookClub
the setup… It’s the summer of 1981 and a little girl is taken by her father to stay on a farm in rural Wexford (Ireland) with the Kinsellas, her maternal relatives, for “fostering.” The child’s mother is near term with another child, one among many others. Here she finds a stark contrast to her own… Continue reading Foster by Claire Keegan @CKeeganFiction @AoifeActress @HighBridgeAudio
It’s rare for me to not be able to summarize the description of a story in my own words but I’ve given it two days and just cannot do more justice to that provided with the book so here it is. “In an Edenic future, a girl and her father live close to the land… Continue reading The Bear by Andrew Krivak
Olive Kitteridge is a retired high school math teacher who is an enigma. She’s mercurial, often cranky and always brutally honest, especially with herself. Olive is also often at odds with the changing world around her and the people in her orbit. While not all of the stories assembled here are about her, she has… Continue reading Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
Maurice Swift is a writer who has reached success in what appears to be from unconventional and dubious ways. His story is told through the narratives of those he’s encountered who have significantly influenced his journey and have, in turn, been impacted by their encounters with him. I knew going into this book that Maurice… Continue reading A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne
Blue Mood Café 