Tag Archives: #bookblogger

Reader’s Log 078: Stacking Non-Fiction Books

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Adding nonfiction to your stacks is always a must for growing in your knowledge of real-world events and the endeavor certainly feeds the curious mind. I am always on the lookout for upcoming nonfiction reads and it is always a pleasure to share what I’m interested in learning.

I am currently reading through the nonfiction books I have already acquired and I’m enjoying them greatly and have learned a great deal more. Meanwhile, I’m collecting nonfiction (that sounds interesting) to read in the near future. They are not listed in any order and one of them is being published in November of this year and the others next year.

What nonfiction books are you on the lookout for? Do any of these books sound intriguing to you?

Stephanie

In Search of Ancient Trees: A Wayward Quest for America’s Oldest Living Things by Greg Melville

Expected Publish Date Mar 16, 2027 by @AbramsPress

Description

For readers of Bill Bryson and Ed Yong, a cross-country road trip to America’s ancient trees, reveling in natural wonder and exploring what old trees reveal about our environment, our history, and our future

We often think of ourselves as the stewards of the forests. But since before the spark of civilization, trees have been silent engineers of ecosystems and even shaped human evolution. Trees made us, have sustained us, and we couldn’t survive without them. The problem is we don’t know how to stop killing them.

Journalist Greg Melville set out in his family camper van—nicknamed the Mystery Machine—to see the extraordinary arboreal survivors across the United States while he still could. By car, foot, subway, and kayak, he visits the oldest of the old trees, Methuselah, a 4,857-year-old bristlecone pine, the tallest tree in the world, Hyperion, a 380-foot coast redwood that is between 600 and 800 years old, and the biggest tree, General Sherman, a giant sequoia with a 36-foot diameter. He stops in Austin, Texas, for a famous crime scene, in Utah for the world’s largest living organism in Pando, a quaking aspen clone that covers over 100 acres, and in Manhattan for an unassuming elm tree that predates the United States.

Blending adventurous travel, history, and natural history, Melville explores what happened to America’s trees, wonders at the survivors, and uncovers the lessons they can teach all of us. In Search of Ancient Trees is insightful and entertaining, a walk in the woods like no other.

Dead in the Water: The Lost Passengers of the Titanic by Caitlin Doughty

Expected Publish April 6, 2027 by W. W. Norton & Company

New York Times best-selling author Caitlin Doughty presents Titanic like never before: through the stories of those who died—and what happened to the bodies.

Millions of people trust Caitlin Doughty to explore dark subjects with empathy and humor. Now, in her most ambitious work to date, Doughty explains what actually happened to the 1,500 people who died the night of history’s most famous shipwreck. Alongside white-knuckle tales of survival and mass death during the disaster, Doughty foregrounds the haunting stories of lesser-known victims, profiles the telegraph-cable-repairmen–turned–seafaring-undertakers who pulled the floating bodies from the wreck site in the North Atlantic and explores how a salvage company came to control the human artifacts—shoes, hairbrushes—carried and worn by the dead passengers and crew. Along the way she shares the surprising science of death at sea, and how the Titanic tragedy led to mass casualty protocols still used today. The first book of its kind on one of the most famous events in human history, Dead in the Water explores how we face the void and accept (or refuse to accept) death in extreme conditions.

By Definition: The Surprising History of the English Dictionary by Peter Sokolowski

Expected Publish February 23, 2027 by @StMartinsPress

A veteran Merriam-Webster editor celebrates the world’s biggest language through the dictionary

In this engaging narrative lexicographer Peter Sokolowski uncovers the history of our language in the dictionary definitions written from Shakespeare’s time to ours. English is always changing. And so our dictionaries present a paradox; they represent stability and standards, but they also constantly add new usage and new words (and discard some old ones). The dictionary is, by definition, the story of the way we express culture, authority, and identity with our words.

We haven’t always had dictionaries. In Renaissance England, explaining the meanings of words meant translating the Latin of the Church and the French of the Norman bureaucracy. A linguistic class system separated these “hard words” of privilege, prestige, and power from the native English words of hearth and home. Thus, the most common words in English–from go and green to mother and father–were not given definitions in dictionaries until the mid-18th century.

Dictionaries developed as the language grew, and definitions by British Samuel Johnson and American Noah Webster are compared through Sokolowski’s close readings, which take us through the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary and into current online references. Many questions are answered along the way, Is irregardless a word? Does literally have only one meaning? And what exactly are users looking up today? Full of fun examples, and peeks into the mysterious world of dictionary creation, this book will delight word lovers of every kind.

Harboring the Enemy (The Civil War Heroine History Forgot) by R.C. Duffy

Expected Pub Date Nov 7, 2026 by @AmericanLegacyMedia

Charleston, 1861. Anna Itgen is a twenty-year-old German immigrant, newly married and expecting her first child, when cannon fire erupts from Fort Sumter and upends her world. Within months, her husband is killed at the Battle of Port Royal.

As a single mother, Anna works alongside her neighbors to survive the Union blockade, all while a Confederate prison sits within view of her window, packed with starving captives. She begins slipping bread to guards and prisoners alike. Then she hides an escaped Union officer in her cellar and is summoned before the Confederate provost marshal on charges that could hang her.

Choosing her integrity over self-preservation, Anna Itgen risked everything for a stranger who wore the wrong uniform.

Beneath Waves and Shadows (The Sinking of the Steamship Valencia) by Tyler Hooper

Expected Pub Date Jan 19, 2027 by @StMartins Press

With the suspense of a thriller and the emotional depth of human drama, Beneath Waves and Shadows is the untold, meticulously researched story of survival after a 1906 shipwreck in the Pacific Northwest.

On a mild January day in 1906, the Valencia steamed out of San Francisco and began the four-day voyage to Seattle. Though it was a routine journey, the crew was well aware of the dangers of sailing along the west coast of Vancouver Island, an area known as the “Graveyard of the Pacific”, a place of violent storms, dense fog, rocky shoals, and fearsome currents.

The Valencia’s captain, Oscar Marcus Johnson, was an experienced mariner, but on the third day at sea, he lost his bearing in the increasingly thick winter weather. The vessel’s hull was ripped apart on Vancouver Island’s rocky shore, setting in motion a multiday struggle for survival that revealed both the sea’s terrible power and the remarkable bravery of passengers, crew, and rescuers alike.

Of the approximately 165 souls who left San Francisco, fewer than 40 would survive.

Hooper spent more than a decade immersed in the story of the Valencia. He hiked the same wild stretches of Vancouver Island coastline where the tragedy unfolded in 1906 and combed through thousands of pages of letters, newspapers, and official reports. Drawing from survivor testimonies, and a powerful interview with one of the survivors’ descendants, Hooper brings to life a deeply human story of courage, chaos and survival at sea.

Cover Crush: The Garden by Nick Newman

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Whenever I come across a story that entails a walled garden, a boarded house, and eccentric siblings or people in general; I’ve got to check it out! I just hope it isn’t as dark and depressing as the last book I read and couldn’t finish.

Isn’t this book cover beautiful?!

I have an ARC of this book from the publishers through NetGalley for an honest review. My review will probably be posted a week or two before the publishing date. –Stephanie

About the book:

Pub Date Feb 18 2025

PENGUIN GROUP Putnam

304 Pages

Description:

In a place and time unknown, two elderly sisters live in a walled garden, secluded from the outside world. Evelyn and Lily have only ever known each other. What was before the garden, they have forgotten; what lies beyond it, they do not know. Each day is spent in languid service to their home: tending the bees, planting the crops, and dutifully following the instructions of the almanac written by their mother.

When a nameless boy is found hiding in the boarded house at the center of their isolated grounds, their once-solitary lives are irrevocably disrupted. Who is he? Where did he come from? And most importantly, what does he want?

As suspicions gather and allegiances falter, Evelyn and Lily are forced to confront the dark truths about themselves, the garden, and the world as they’ve known.

Book Review: A Feast of Folklore by Ben Gazur

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The Bizarre Stories Behind British Food

Pub Date Sep 26 2024 by Unbound

About the Book:

Folklorist Ben Gazur guides you through the dark alleys of British history to uncover how our food habits have been passed down through generations of folklore.

Who was the first person to throw salt over their shoulder? Why do we think carrots can help us see in the dark? When did we start holding village fairs to honour gigantic apple pies? Or start hurling ourselves down hills in pursuit of a wheel of cheese? Gazur investigates the origins of famous food superstitions as well as much more bizarre and lesser-known tales too, from what day the devil urinates on blackberries to how to stop witches using eggshells as escape boats.

My Thoughts:

I’ve never really thought of food in people’s homes to be some sort of aspect of folklore until coming across this book. Or maybe I have in passing, but I have thought of or know of foods of having traditional meanings-such as when religious traditions are practiced, dietary needs, or for warding off sickness and healing. It is safe to say we incorporate these things into our lives often without stopping to think of its origins, cultural significance or if they come from superstition. Without a doubt, like many things in history, it is lost to us but now we have, “A Feast of Folklore” to enlighten and entertain us in the most perfectly written way.

When you read this book, you will soon realize that there is a folklore for everything! I could not stop laughing and I have to say the absurdity of us humans are brilliantly displayed throughout in this book. There are also the fabulous illustrations throughout and not only that, “A Feast of Folklore” has a truly engaging narrative that keeps you turning the pages for more. Truth be told, I still can’t get over how many folklore’s there are that comes from food. For example: Who should or should not make butter because of the color of their hair. Or what you can do to get free cheese and why one should eat walnuts or when you should plant crops. And why a family would keep a half-cut onion in their pantry. The list goes on…

What an outstanding book! I can’t praise it enough. I will definitely be adding a physical copy to my book stacks and reading its pages many times over.

Stephanie Hopkins

I obtained an ARC from Unbound through NetGalley for an honest review.

Wish-List 5: Recommended Reading

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In the last few years, I’ve been going through cycles of reading slumps-for various reasons- or just wanting to listen to stories rather than reading a physical copy. That said, despite by fiction genre reading slump, I’ve stayed the course with my non-fiction reading.

In the last few weeks, I’ve gotten back to reading more fiction regularly and selecting paperbacks and hardbacks from my personal library. Turning back and reading fiction I’ve already read helped me get my groove back. What a wonderful feeling of rediscovering your passion for stories all over again.

Four out of five of these books listed were recommend to me by a friend who is a fellow book blogger. She had texted me pictures of her latest book piles and I was so intrigued by the titles; I quickly did a search on the descriptions on a few of them and knew they are what I would intent on reading.

Which one stands out to you? Have you read any of these titles yet? I can’t wait to get acquire these books!

Disclaimer: I do not support, control or endorse the adds that are showing on my blog.

Stephanie Hopkins  

The Immortals of Tehran by Ali Araghi

A sweeping, multigenerational epic, this stunning debut heralds the arrival of a unique new literary voice.

As a child living in his family’s apple orchard, Ahmad Torkash-Vand treasures his great-great-great-great grandfather’s every mesmerizing word. On the day of his father’s death, Ahmad listens closely as the seemingly immortal elder tells him the tale of a centuries-old family curse . . . and the boy’s own fated role in the story.

Ahmad grows up to suspect that something must be interfering with his family, as he struggles to hold them together through decades of famine, loss, and political turmoil in Iran. As the world transforms around him, each turn of Ahmad’s life is a surprise: from street brawler, to father of two unusually gifted daughters; from radical poet, to politician with a target on his back. These lives, and the many unforgettable stories alongside his, converge and catch fire at the center of the Revolution.

Exploring the brutality of history while conjuring the astonishment of magical realism, The Immortals of Tehran is a novel about the incantatory power of words and the revolutionary sparks of love, family, and poetry–set against the indifferent, relentless march of time.

The Bookshop of Yesterdays by Amy Meyerson 

A woman inherits a beloved bookstore and sets forth on a journey of self-discovery in this poignant debut about family, forgiveness and a love of reading.

Miranda Brooks grew up in the stacks of her eccentric Uncle Billy’s bookstore, solving the inventive scavenger hunts he created just for her. But on Miranda’s twelfth birthday, Billy has a mysterious falling-out with her mother and suddenly disappears from Miranda’s life. She doesn’t hear from him again until sixteen years later when she receives unexpected news: Billy has died and left her Prospero Books, which is teetering on bankruptcy—and one final scavenger hunt.

When Miranda returns home to Los Angeles and to Prospero Books—now as its owner—she finds clues that Billy has hidden for her inside novels on the store’s shelves, in locked drawers of his apartment upstairs, in the name of the store itself. Miranda becomes determined to save Prospero Books and to solve Billy’s last scavenger hunt. She soon finds herself drawn into a journey where she meets people from Billy’s past, people whose stories reveal a history that Miranda’s mother has kept hidden—and the terrible secret that tore her family apart.

Bighearted and trenchantly observant, The Bookshop of Yesterdays is a lyrical story of family, love and the healing power of community. It’s a love letter to reading and bookstores, and a testament to how our histories shape who we become.

The Good Wife of Bath by Karen Brooks

In the middle ages, a famous poet told a story that mocked a strong woman. It became a literary classic. But what if the woman in question had a chance to tell her own version?

England, 1364: When married off at aged twelve to an elderly farmer, brazen redheaded Eleanor quickly realizes it won’t matter what she says or does, God is not on her side—or any poor women for that matter. But then again, Eleanor was born under the joint signs of Venus and Mars, making her both a lover and a fighter.

Aided by a head for business (and a surprisingly kind husband), Eleanor manages to turn her first marriage into success, and she rises through society from a cast-off farm girl to a woman of fortune who becomes a trusted friend of the social-climbing poet Geoffrey Chaucer. But more marriages follow—some happy, some not—several pilgrimages, many lovers, murder, mayhem, and many turns of fortune’s wheel as Eleanor pursues the one thing that all women want: control of their own lives.

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

Widower Mukesh lives a quiet life in Wembley, in West London after losing his beloved wife. He shops every Wednesday, goes to Temple, and worries about his granddaughter, Priya, who hides in her room reading while he spends his evenings watching nature documentaries.

Aleisha is a bright but anxious teenager working at the local library for the summer when she discovers a crumpled-up piece of paper in the back of To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s a list of novels that she’s never heard of before. Intrigued, and a little bored with her slow job at the checkout desk, she impulsively decides to read every book on the list, one after the other. As each story gives up its magic, the books transport Aleisha from the painful realities she’s facing at home.

When Mukesh arrives at the library, desperate to forge a connection with his bookworm granddaughter, Aleisha passes along the reading list…hoping that it will be a lifeline for him too. Slowly, the shared books create a connection between two lonely souls, as fiction helps them escape their grief and everyday troubles and find joy again. 

Her Lost Words by Stephanie Marie Thornton

From A Vindication of the Rights of Woman to Frankenstein, a tale of two literary legends–a mother and daughter–discovering each other and finding themselves along the way, from USA Today bestselling author Stephanie Marie Thornton.

1792. As a child, Mary Wollstonecraft longed to disappear during her father’s violent rages. Instead, she transforms herself into the radical author of the landmark volume A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, in which she dares to propose that women are equal to men. From conservative England to the blood-drenched streets of revolutionary France, Mary refuses to bow to society’s conventions and instead supports herself with her pen until an illicit love affair challenges her every belief about romance and marriage. When she gives birth to a daughter and is stricken with childbed fever, Mary fears it will be her many critics who recount her life’s extraordinary odyssey…

1815. The daughter of infamous political philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft, passionate Mary Shelley learned to read by tracing the letters of her mother’s tombstone. As a young woman, she desperately misses her mother’s guidance, especially following her scandalous elopement with dashing poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Mary struggles to balance an ever-complicated marriage with motherhood while nursing twin hopes that she might write something of her own one day and also discover the truth of her mother’s unconventional life. Mary’s journey will unlock her mother’s secrets, all while leading to her own destiny as the groundbreaking author of Frankenstein.

A Better Understanding of Political and Social Controversies of Our Times

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I’ve known about Thomas Sowell for a few years now and have listened to many of his interviews’ and recently started listening to his audio books on YouTube. I first became interested in his work on two scores. The first, his research on the history of slavery and two, his journey with Marxism in his twenties. His clear cut, intellectual thoughts are enlightening to say the least. He reacts on information rather than feelings. Sowell’s writings should be mandatory study in the school system.

His lectures on the history of slavery validated a passage I read on the subject over fifteen years ago. I was over at a friend’s house, scrap-booking and mentioned what I had read about slavery in Africa and the said “friend” proceeded to shut me down and was appalled at what I had stated. I was taken back by her reaction and to my dismay, I dropped the subject entirely. It is as if she thought I had some sort of agenda in what I said and refused to have an objective conversation. Though, I dare say, she did not have an intelligent response at anytime. In hindsight, I should have asked her about her sources and why she is dismissing my discovering.

I’m currently re-reading, The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx & Engels (which is pure propaganda in my opinion but an important to read) and have just started, The Naked Communist by W. Cleaon Skousen. After I read those books and finish listening to Sowell’s audio books, I want to purchase a few of his physical books for further study.

Here are the titles I want to acquire by Sowell:

Intellectuals and Society

Economic Facts and Fallacies

The Housing Boom and Bust

A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles

Black Rednecks and White Liberals

The Quest for Cosmic Justice

Bio:

Thomas Sowell is an American economist, social commentator, and author of dozens of books. He often writes from an economically laissez-faire perspective. He is currently a senior fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. In 1990, he won the Francis Boyer Award, presented by the American Enterprise Institute. In 2002 he was awarded the National Humanities Medal for prolific scholarship melding history, economics, and political science.

Sowell was born in North Carolina, where, he recounted in his autobiography, A Personal Odyssey, his encounters with Caucasians were so limited he didn’t believe that “yellow” was a hair color. He moved to Harlem, New York City with his mother’s sister (whom he believed was his mother); his father had died before he was born. Sowell went to Stuyvesant High School, but dropped out at 17 because of financial difficulties and a deteriorating home environment. He worked at various jobs to support himself, including in a machine shop and as a delivery man for Western Union. He applied to enter the Civil Service and was eventually accepted, moving to Washington DC. He was drafted in 1951, during the Korean War, and assigned to the US Marine Corps. Due to prior experience in photography, he worked in a photography unit.

After his discharge, Sowell passed the GED examination and enrolled at Howard University. He transferred to Harvard University, where he graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics. He received a Master of Arts in Economics from Columbia University, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Economics from the University of Chicago. Sowell initially chose Columbia University because he wanted to study under George Stigler. After arriving at Columbia and learning that Stigler had moved to Chicago, he followed him there.

Sowell has taught Economics at Howard University, Cornell University, Brandeis University, and UCLA. Since 1980 he has been a Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, where he holds a fellowship named after Rose and Milton Friedman.

Bio and picture used from goodreads

September: Book Round-Up

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This month has been tough to get reading time in and I listened to more books rather than reading physical ones. I didn’t use to be able to listen to audio stories at all and it is something I’ve been training myself to do more of. Overall, I enjoyed what I read with a few minor hiccups.

I read The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane years ago and it is one of my favorites. I decided to revisit the story again but this time, to listen to it. I must say, my experience with the story was better reading it than listening to it. Though, I wonder if maybe I’m examining the story differently. Has that ever happened to you? You know, as readers, we grow and our taste can change.

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane (The Physick Book #1) by Katherine Howe

Harvard graduate student Connie Goodwin needs to spend her summer doing research for her doctoral dissertation. But when her mother asks her to handle the sale of Connie’s grandmother’s abandoned home near Salem, she can’t refuse. As she is drawn deeper into the mysteries of the family house, Connie discovers an ancient key within a seventeenth-century Bible. The key contains a yellowing fragment of parchment with a name written upon it: Deliverance Dane. This discovery launches Connie on a quest–to find out who this woman was and to unearth a rare artifact of singular power: a physick book, its pages a secret repository for lost knowledge.

As the pieces of Deliverance’s harrowing story begin to fall into place, Connie is haunted by visions of the long-ago witch trials, and she begins to fear that she is more tied to Salem’s dark past then she could have ever imagined.

I listened to this book and it took me a while to get through it. I really enjoyed the story but I felt it dragged on in certain parts, which made me struggled to keep up at times. I will say that Mary’s character development was fantastic! I would still rate this book high.

The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow

Mary, the bookish ugly duckling of Pride and Prejudice’s five Bennet sisters, emerges from the shadows and transforms into a desired woman with choices of her own.

What if Mary Bennet’s life took a different path from that laid out for her in Pride and Prejudice? What if the frustrated intellectual of the Bennet family, the marginalized middle daughter, the plain girl who takes refuge in her books, eventually found the fulfillment enjoyed by her prettier, more confident sisters? This is the plot of The Other Bennet Sister, a debut novel with exactly the affection and authority to satisfy Austen fans.

Ultimately, Mary’s journey is like that taken by every Austen heroine. She learns that she can only expect joy when she has accepted who she really is. She must throw off the false expectations and wrong ideas that have combined to obscure her true nature and prevented her from what makes her happy. Only when she undergoes this evolution does she have a chance at finding fulfillment; only then does she have the clarity to recognize her partner when he presents himself—and only at that moment is she genuinely worthy of love.

Mary’s destiny diverges from that of her sisters. It does not involve broad acres or landed gentry. But it does include a man; and, as in all Austen novels, Mary must decide whether he is the truly the one for her. In The Other Bennet Sister, Mary is a fully rounded character—complex, conflicted, and often uncertain; but also vulnerable, supremely sympathetic, and ultimately the protagonist of an uncommonly satisfying debut novel.

I read this book for review and won’t post it until January.

The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain

When Kayla Carter’s husband dies in an accident while building their dream house, she knows she has to stay strong for their four-year-old daughter. But the trophy home in Shadow Ridge Estates, a new development in sleepy Round Hill, North Carolina, will always hold tragic memories. But when she is confronted by an odd, older woman telling her not to move in, she almost agrees. It’s clear this woman has some kind of connection to the area…and a connection to Kayla herself. Kayla’s elderly new neighbor, Ellie Hockley, is more welcoming, but it’s clear she, too, has secrets that stretch back almost fifty years. Is Ellie on a quest to right the wrongs of the past? And does the house at the end of the street hold the key? Told in dual time periods, The Last House on the Street is a novel of shocking prejudice and violence, forbidden love, the search for justice, and the tangled vines of two families.

I read this book for review. It did take me a while to get through the story but glad I pushed on.

The Disappearing Act by Catherine Steadman

A woman has gone missing

But did she ever really exist?

Mia Eliot has travelled from London to LA for pilot season. This is her big chance to make it as an actor in Hollywood, and she is ready to do whatever it takes. At an audition she meets Emily, and what starts as a simple favour takes a dark turn when Emily goes missing and Mia is the last person to see her.

Then a woman turns up, claiming to be Emily, but she is nothing like Mia remembers. Why would someone pretend to be Emily? Starting to question her own sanity, she goes on a desperate and dangerous search for answers, knowing something is very, very wrong.

In an industry where everything is about creating illusions, how do you know what is real? And how much would you risk to find out?

Cover Crush: A Botanist’s Guide to Parties and Poisons by Kate Khavari

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A Saffron Everleigh Mystery

Pub Date Jun 7, 2022

About the Cover: This cover is really pleasing to the eye. The vibrant colors of the background, bottle and flowers add that extra spark to the overall layout. Often times, artists describe vibrant art as meaning pure, energetic and radiant. Quite the contrast to this novels premise. Though, I dare say, the most beautiful objects can be deadly.

About the Book: I love a good period mystery and what a great premise for a story! Imagine yourself alongside Saffron Everleigh, working to uncover the murderer and in the throes of intrigue and mystery.

Stephanie Hopkins

Description

London, 1923.  Newly minted research assistant Saffron Everleigh attends a dinner party for the University College of London. While she expects to engage in conversations about the university’s large expedition to the Amazon, she doesn’t expect Mrs. Henry, one of the professors’ wives to drop to the floor, poisoned by an unknown toxin.
 
Dr. Maxwell, Saffron’s mentor, is the main suspect, having had an explosive argument with Dr. Henry a few days prior. As evidence mounts against Dr. Maxwell and the expedition’s departure draws nearer, Saffron realizes if she wants her mentor’s name cleared, she’ll have to do it herself.

Joined by enigmatic Alexander Ashton, a fellow researcher, Saffron uses her knowledge of botany as she explores steamy greenhouses, dark gardens, and deadly poisons. Will she be able to uncover the truth or will her investigation land her on the murderer’s list? 

March: Book Round-Up

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Stephanie Hopkins

Well, in my Books Aplenty: March Reading Forecast post, I discussed ten books I selected to read in March. I was I am hoping to read ten books if other projects didn’t get in the way. Umm…other projects got in the way. In the back of my mind, I knew this would happen. Around March is when I tend to feverishly get the crafting bug! There is so much to be inspired by the spring season. Yup, I got my art on. However, I did read six books and that is pretty darn good considering how much time I spent on art.  

Despite not reading all the books I had projected, I’m quite pleased that I’m still reading an average of one to two books per week. That is the point. To read and keep reading. Also, it really helped me be less indecisive in which book to chose next. There really is something to say about being organized and making a list. -Stephanie Hopkins

Number of pages read in March: 1,998

Lots of book reviews coming up soon! How many books did you read for March? Do share!

Here are the titles I’ve read for March and the review post dates:

A New York Secret (Daughters of New York Book 1) by Ella Carey – -My book review HERE

The Turncoat’s Widow by Mally Becker – Book review on April 1st

Finding Napoleon by Margaret Rodenbery -Book review on April 5th

The Family Plot by Megan Collins – Book review on August 12th

The Silent Girl by Kelly Heard- Book review on April 9th

The Necklace by Matt Witten – Book review on September 6th

Be sure to check out my art journey on Instagram and at my Mixed Media Art gallery here at Layered Pages! My wish is for you to be inspired and encouraged.

Image of the Month: Spring

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Photo by Stephanie Hopkins

Spring won’t let me stay in this house any longer! I must get out and breathe the air deeply again. – Gustav Mahler

I love the colors and new blooms that spring brings and how they present new beginnings. I’m blessed to live in a beautiful neighborhood that has walking trails. There are so many beautiful sceneries and it’s wonderful to see so many people enjoy the neighborhood as well. You often see people walking their dogs, kids riding their bikes, fishing at the pond, feeding the ducks and families walking together. Looking forward to the weather warming up even more to get outdoors more often. -Stephanie Hopkins

February’s Image of the Month: Dante Gabriel Rossetti – Proserpine

Be sure to take a look at January’s Image of the Month: By the Water’s Edge. I include half of a poem I have written.

Check out my art journey on Instagram and at my Mixed Media Art gallery here at Layered Pages! My wish is for you to be inspired and encouraged.

Book Spotlight: The Family Plot by Megan Collins

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A secluded island mansion deep in the woods and a missing teen. Years after a death in the family, they make a gruesome discovery. I would say this family has been through it and then some!

Mystery/thriller stories are among my favorite genres to read! With the right elements, or pieces like a puzzle, you watch the mystery unfold and develop to the very end. Or would it be, develop and then unfold? Either way, along with other fellow readers and bloggers, I’m excited about this book coming out! Thank you, Atria Books for a copy.

Now it’s time to go grab that second cup of coffee. It is going to be a reading marathon the next two days! What are your bookish plans this weekend? Happy reading! -Stephanie Hopkins

The Family Plot by Megan Collins

Atria Books

Mystery & Thrillers

Pub Date 17 Aug 2021  

Description

When a family obsessed with true crime gathers to bury their patriarch, horrifying secrets are exposed upon the discovery of another body in his grave in this chilling novel from the author of Behind the Red Door and The Winter Sister.

At twenty-six, Dahlia Lighthouse remains haunted by her upbringing. Raised in a secluded island mansion deep in the woods and kept isolated by her true crime-obsessed parents, she has been unable to move beyond the disappearance of her twin brother, Andy, when they were sixteen.

After several years away and following her father’s death, Dahlia returns to the house where the family soon makes a gruesome discovery: buried in their father’s plot is another body—Andy’s, his skull split open with an ax.

Dahlia is quick to blame Andy’s murder on the serial killer who terrorized the island for decades, while the rest of the Lighthouses react to the revelation in unsettling ways. Her brother, Charlie, pours his energy into creating a family memorial museum, highlighting their research into the lives of famous murder victims; her sister, Tate, forges ahead with her popular dioramas portraying crime scenes; and their mother affects a cheerfully domestic facade, becoming unrecognizable as the woman who performed murder reenactments for her children. As Dahlia grapples with her own grief and horror, she realizes that her eccentric family, and the mansion itself, may hold the answers to what happened to her twin.