A Special Report for Book Lovers
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It’s the fifth Tuesday of the month and time for my Newsletter for Book Lovers. As always, I will share my five favorite books from the last quarter. Interestingly, you will find two about women in long ago eras (the early 1900’s and the early 1930’s) and you will find two books about which I can say little because I don’t want to give away the plot!
Often in my Newsletter I share other books I have read by the authors I mention, but this time I have only read one other book by one of the authors, and I read that book before I started writing reviews. (It was The Help by Kathryn Stockett). So, not wanting to ONLY give you five books to consider, I’ll list the five other books I read this quarter and link the titles to my reviews.
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NOTE: Click below on the book’s title to get my review.
Click “Amazon” to get other readers’ reviews.
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Book title: A Little Bit Bad by Cassandra Neyenesch
Brief synopsis: Perdita is in her late thirties when she starts an affair with twenty-five-year-old Nando, and forty-one when she (a true crime aficionado) looks into his murder.
One more thing to say: In chapters that bounce back and forth between their meeting and his death, Perdita tells us the entire story of those years including the birth of her second child, Honor, which certainly ups the ante on this young mother’s exhaustion and possibly adds postpartum depression to the mix.
Learn more about A Little Bit Bad on Amazon.
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Book title: Like Mother, Like Mother by Susan Rieger
Brief synopsis: Lila’s mother, Zelda, was committed to an asylum when Lila was two. Zelda died in a fire at the asylum eight years later. This may or may not be true, but Lila never investigated this tale. That task falls to her daughter, Grace.
One more thing to say: In that Lila grew up without a mother, she did not learn how to be one. And though Lila was very much alive and well in Grace’s lifetime, she found a way to be as absent as if she were dead. It’s interesting how history repeats itself in families…
Learn more about Like Mother, Like Mother on Amazon.
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Book title: Peregrine Hill by Nina de Gramont
Brief synopsis: The plight of women in 1900 is explored as we watch 18-year-old Mariah being forced to marry a 63-year-old man to save her destitute family.
One more thing to say: This book will not be available until November 10, 2026, but you can pre-order it now. I was given an advance copy in return for an honest review. And honestly? I loved it. Seeing what life was like for women in that time was awful, but fascinating.
Learn more about Peregrine Hill on Amazon.
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Book title: The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett
Brief synopsis: A wildly disparate group of women come together to become a family of friends. Together, they remedy many a calamity. The book is set in the Depression, and money problems abound, especially for single women and widows.
One more thing to say: This is a book about which I am reluctant to say too much. Suffice it to say that their main “remedy” is a doozy. I’ll let you learn about it when you read the book.
Learn more about The Calamity Club on Amazon.
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Book title: Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
Brief synopsis: Natalie Heller Mills is a social media influencer. She is a wife and mother of six who sells her pioneer lifestyle of raw milk and farm-fresh eggs to millions of followers. But then one morning Natalie wakes up in a life that she doesn’t quite recognize. The house, the husband, the kids, they are all sort of familiar, but not the real deal. Ultimately, she finds out she is in 1855.
One more thing to say: It takes a very long time to figure out what is happening in this book, but I can’t say more because that would ruin it for you. I will say this, however: Stick with it! The ending makes up for all the confusion.
Learn more about Yesteryear on Amazon.
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Here are the five other books I read this quarter. All of them are good. I encourage you to take a peek:
Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth
The Final Chapter by C. B. Everett
Strangers – A Memoir of Marriage by Belle Burden
When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold S. Kushner
Man Overboard! by Kathleen Rooney
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Did you know that I post about three dozen book reviews a year? If you would like to receive them as I write them, please join the Club. Click here to do so.
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If you like my writing, I hope you will check out my new book, Chai on Life. It contains 36 slice-of-life stories ranging in topics from belly fat to Billy Joel. It is available wherever books are sold and on Amazon. There is even a companion journal for you to write the stories of your life.
Chai on Life is available in 3 formats: Hard Back, Kindle, and AudioBook.
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And one last thing! Amazon has named me an Influencer (!!!!) and invited me to open a Storefront. You will find lots of my favorite things there including a listing of all my favorite books. Check it out!
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Thanks so much for reading this Newsletter.
Lorie
Hi Lorie,
I loved “Mad Mabel”! It was funny and so different from most of the other books I have read. The writing is excellent and the author does a wonderful job of developing the characters.
I also read “Strangers”. I was not wild about this book. It is a memoir. The writing is excellent but I found the long explanation about her feelings and recovery boring and exhausting.
I agree on both books. I really liked Mad Mabel and liked that it starred an older woman!