Happy Friday, all!

It’s been a busy week!  I zipped down to Maryland and back for A Likely Story Bookstore and Carroll County Public Library’s wonderful Annual Day for Book Lovers, which meant… train reading time!  I love train reading time.  It’s that feeling of being neither here nor there, with nothing but you and the scenery passing outside your window, and the book you’re reading.

On the way out, I had the pleasure of reading an advance copy of Janie Chang’s upcoming The Porcelain Moon, about a little known snippet of World War I history: the Chinese labor corps sent over to France and the translators from the Chinese community in Paris who worked with them.  It’s a beautifully intertwined story of two women: Pauline, the illegitimate poor relation of a wealthy Chinese merchant family, who has found a life for herself in Paris and dreads being sent home to marry, and Camille, the granddaughter of a noble family fallen on hard times, trying desperately to find a way to free herself of her abusive husband.  I love the way historical fiction has a way to shine a light on and personalize these forgotten snippets of history.

On the way back, it was more France, but this time non fiction and a decade earlier, in the heyday of the Belle Epoque, with Sarah Horowitz’s The Red Widow, an examination of the scandalous life of Marguerite Steinheil, who may or may not have murdered her husband and mother– but definitely did cause a media sensation.

After that, I decided it was time for a re-read, so I went back to my favorite (so far) of Elly Griffiths’s stand alones, The Postscript Murders, which delightfully skewers the publishing industry, as well as being a fun murder mystery.  This comes after The Stranger Diaries, but there’s a whole new cast of protagonists, so you can absolutely read it first if you so choose.

What have you been reading this week?

p.s. in random other news….

— My upcoming book, Two Wars and a Wedding, is currently up for grabs on Goodreads!  Head over there for a chance to win an advance copy between now and September 30th….

— I’ve teamed up with FoxTale BookShoppe to offer a special gift with pre-order of Two Wars: details here.

— The very first Team W collaboration, The Forgotten Room, is currently on sale for $2.99 across e-book platforms– snap it up while it’s cheap!

— Feeling like a certain type of book, but don’t know where to look?  I’m doing a weekly book hunt column!  This week: dual timeline novels.  Next week: Halloween reads.  Let me know what you’re looking for and I’ll do a post for you!