Happy Friday, all! In between ripping up bits of my manuscript this week (oh, revisions), I indulged in Helen Simonson’s The Summer Before the War, in which World War I comes to the inhabits of a Thirkell-esque village, and Liane Moriarty’s Truly Madly Guilty, in which something goes very wrong at a barbecue and you…

There’s something about summer and brand new books that just goes together. In between gnashing my teeth over revisions (revisions always entail tearing of hair and gnashing of teeth– or, at least, lots of wine and chocolate), I’ve been indulging in some new to me books. This week’s haul: — Laurie King’s The Bones of…

I’ve finally gotten around to reading some new (and new-ish) releases that I’ve had on my pile for a while. At the top of the pile? Eleanor Brown’s The Light of Paris, a lovely book about a grandmother and a granddaughter, one in the 1920s, the other in the 1990s, trying to find their true…

Now that the draft of the next stand alone is in the hands of my editor, I’ve been catching up on reading the large pile of ARCs (advance review copies) that accumulated next to my desk over the past few months. It’s been an eclectic and fascinating mix of reads, including: —The Fire by Night…

Happy July! I’ve mostly been researching the next book– about which I’m staying mum for the moment– so much of what I’ve been reading won’t appear here just yet. On the fiction front, though, I’ve stumbled upon a few new to me books and authors, including: — Chris Cleave, Everyone Brave is Forgiven, a novel…

When I’m working on the end of a book, I need books like a diver needs his oxygen tank. And not just any books. Series work best. Series entirely unrelated to what I’m currently writing work best of all. I got through the end of That Summer with Laurie King’s Kate Martinelli mysteries, The Other…

I’ll be heading back into the writing cave in a moment (send good writing vibes, all!), but it’s been a banner reading week, beginning with Deanne Gist’s Tiffany Girl, which reminds me, in the best possible way, of the young adult historical fiction I used to read back when: a coming of age story and…

Most of my reading this week has been of the contest judging variety, but I did seize the opportunity to read two other books: — Kristan Higgins’s crossover into women’s fiction, If You Only Knew, was the bright spot of an otherwise rainy week. Told from the viewpoints of two sisters whose lives are crumbling…

This will be just a quick post, since I’m about to grab the Even Littler Blue Bag and hop on a plane for Boston for today’s talk and tomorrow’s signing. Also because I’m having a hard time remembering what I read this week. Some of it is for a Contest That Shall Remain Nameless, so…

So many apologies for the radio silence here lately, all! I’m deep in the writing cave right now with the next stand alone novel (75,000 words down; 40,000 left to go!), a narrative non-fiction essay for an anthology about Paris, and various other fun stuff. But I promise, as soon as this book is in,…