The Overbooked Bibliophile

Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐ Sandwich  by  Catherine Newman  follows fifty-four-year-old Rachel or “Rocky” as is called by those close to her, over the course of her annual family trip to Cape Cod. We meet her husband Nick, her adult children – daughter Willa, son Jamie and his girlfriend Maya and her elderly parents also join them for a few days in their rental cottage. There is a lot to manage and Rocky is the middle of it all. We follow her as she navigates the demands of her family, her own struggles with bouts of melancholy and mood swings (not to mention the hot flashes) brought on by menopause and is often overwhelmed by memories of the years gone by – some happy and some not so much. The narrative is presented from Rocky’s first-person PoV and spans a week in the characters’ lives, with past events being shared as flashbacks as present-day events evoke nostalgia and Rocky is reminded of past events. The pacing is on the slower side, which suits the nature of the story. This is a s...

  Rating:3.5⭐ Book: 3⭐ Audiobook: 4⭐ As the novel begins, we meet twenty-eight-year-old Emlyn, who makes a living as a hunting and fishing guide in Idaho. She lives a simple life, keeping busy with her work and living alone in her Airstream. Her closest companions are Varden, a Forest Service Ranger and the makeshift reverend “Rev” who took her in after a particularly traumatic episode in her life. Emlyn is forced to confront a painful episode from her past when her former boyfriend Tyler asks for her help to find Janessa, a #vanlife social media star who was once Emlyn’s closest friend and who has gone missing with her boyfriend, both of whom work with Tyler, while on their latest trip. Her relationship with Tyler had ended three years ago when he had abandoned her, leaving her freezing and fighting for her life, on the side of the road. Janessa had once been Emlyn’s closest friend, but their friendship became strained after Emlyn embarked on a relationship with Tyler, who was Jan...

  Rating:  4.5⭐️ Laugh-out-loud funny and heartwarming, featuring a diverse cast of characters (including a charming dog named Maggie Thatcher),  How to Age Disgracefully  by  Clare Pooley  is a delightful read that will touch a chord in your heart. As she approaches her seventieth birthday, reclusive Daphne decides to make some changes to the way she leads her life. For starters, she decides to be more sociable, which motivates her to join the Senior Citizens Social Club at the local Community Centre. Daphne isn’t the easiest person to be around – secretive and opinionated – she’s off to a bumpy start but gradually makes friends with the other members - Art (and his friend William who often joins the group activities), Ruby and Anna– a diverse group of people, each of whom is dealing with their own difficulties in life, including fifty-three-year-old Lydia, who runs the group. An empty nester whose husband mostly ignores her has,she just started in her new...

Set in 1311 England,  Book #4  in  Lee Swanson' s  No Man Is Her Master  series follows the adventures of Christina Kohl (who has assumed the identity of her brother Frederick), a Hanseatic merchant who has earned the favor of King Edward II for her valor. As the novel begins, we find Christina and her lady love, the widowed Lady Cecily Baldewyne, who is a member of Queen Isabella’s court planning to ask for permission to marry. They are hopeful given they enjoy the favor of the King and Queen. However, the King, troubled by the rising civil unrest in his kingdom, requires the services of his trusted “Sir Frederick”, so their wedding plans will need to be put on hold. We follow Christina as she embarks on a series of tasks including defending a castle under threat of being occupied by the Barons and being entrusted with the safety of Piers Gaveston who the King is trying to protect from the Lords Ordainers who have demanded his banishment. Aided by Sir Giles, Re...

  Rating: 3.5⭐️ With complex characters and an immersive setting,  Middletide  by  Sarah Crouch  is an interesting character-driven novel with an intriguing mystery at its core. Set in the small town of Point Orchards, Washington, the novel begins in 1994 with the discovery of the body of Dr. Erin Landry hanging from a tree on the property of Elijah Leith. Elijah had been living alone in his late parents’ cabin after returning to his hometown in 1988, after his first novel failed to launch his literary career. Elijah hopes to rekindle his relationship with his former high school sweetheart, Nakita, whom he had left to pursue his dreams of becoming an author, breaking his promise to return after four years. Nakita, grieving the recent loss of her husband, isn’t quite ready to move on. Elijah was also friends with Dr. Landry, whose marriage collapsed after the death of her young daughter in a road accident. Erin’s death is initially ruled a suicide, but when Sheri...