Spell the Month in Books: APRIL

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Reviews From the Stacks hosts Spell the Month in Books on the second Saturday of each month. You can read all about it in the linked post. It’s fun!

This month I’m using only books added to my Goodreads TBR within 2023.

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“Dandy Gilver, her husband back from the War, her children off at school and her uniform growing musty in the attic, is bored to a whimper in the spring of 1923 and a little light snooping seems like harmless fun. Before long, though, the puzzle of what really happened to the Duffy diamonds after the Armistice Ball has been swept aside by a sudden, unexpected death in a lonely seaside cottage in Galloway. Society and the law seem ready to call it an accident but Dandy, along with Cara Duffy’s fiancé Alec, is sure that there is more going on than meets the eye.”

After the Armistice Ball by  Catriona McPherson 

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“Darley, the eldest daughter in the well-connected old money Stockton family, followed her heart, trading her job and her inheritance for motherhood but giving up far too much in the process; Sasha, a middle-class New England girl, has married into the Brooklyn Heights family, and finds herself cast as the arriviste outsider; and Georgiana, the baby of the family, has fallen in love with someone she can’t have, and must decide what kind of person she wants to be.”

Pineapple Street: A Novel by Jenny Jackson

 

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“Maggie is fine. She’s doing really good, actually. Sure, she’s broke, her graduate thesis on something obscure is going nowhere, and her marriage only lasted 608 days, but at the ripe old age of twenty-nine, Maggie is determined to embrace her new life as a Surprisingly Young Divorcée. Now she has time to take up nine hobbies, eat hamburgers at 4 am, and “get back out there” sex-wise. With the support of her tough-loving academic advisor, Merris; her newly divorced friend, Amy; and her group chat (naturally), Maggie barrels through her first year of single life, intermittently dating, occasionally waking up on the floor and asking herself tough questions along the way.”

Really Good, Actually: A Novel by Monica Heisey

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“A successful film professor and podcaster, Bodie Kane is content to forget her past—the family tragedy that marred her adolescence, her four largely miserable years at a New Hampshire boarding school, and the murder of her former roommate, Thalia Keith, in the spring of their senior year. Though the circumstances surrounding Thalia’s death and the conviction of the school’s athletic trainer, Omar Evans, are hotly debated online, Bodie prefers—needs—to let sleeping dogs lie. But when the Granby School invites her back to teach a course, Bodie is inexorably drawn to the case and its increasingly apparent flaws.”

I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai

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“After thirty-six years of a dutiful but unhappy arranged marriage, recently divorced Suresh and Lata Raman find themselves starting new paths in life. Suresh is trying to navigate the world of online dating on a website that caters to Indians and is striking out at every turn—until he meets a mysterious, devastatingly attractive younger woman who seems to be smitten with him. Lata is enjoying her newfound independence, but she’s caught off guard when a professor in his early sixties starts to flirt with her….Over the course of three weeks in August, [their] whole family will uncover one another’s secrets, confront the limits of love and loyalty, and explore life’s second chances.”

Late Bloomers: A Novel by  Deepa Varadarajan 

Did you participate in Spell the Month this time? Leave me a comment or a link to your post!

Spell the Month in Books: December

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Spell the Month in Books is a monthly linkup hosted here on the second Saturday of each month. Can you use book titles to spell the current month?

 

Since it is December, and the last month of the year, I will try to use books I read this year and or Christmas or other December holiday-themed books. Try….

My reviews, when possible, are linked. Just click the title.

Note: Like the librarian I am, I sick the “a” or “the”

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Did Ye Hear Mammy Died? by Seamas O’Reilly

 

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Entertaining Mr Pepys by Deborah Swift

 

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The Christmas Bookshop: A Novel by Jenny Colgan

 

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Excellent Women by Barbara Pym 

 

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Mistletoe and Magic for the Cornish Midwife by Jo Bartlett

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The Bodyguard: A Novel by Katherine Center

It includes Christmas

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The Editor:A  Novel by Steven Rowley

 

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Run, Rose, Run: A Novel by Dolly Parton and James Patterson

Spell the Month in Books: July

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Image credit: Charles Schulz

I love this fun book meme hosted by Reviews From the Stacks. This month I’m trying for Red, White and/or Blue books! All the books are again from my Goodreads TBR. (It is ok to skp A, An, or The in the title).

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Jackie & Me: A Novel by Louis Bayard

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Unraveling Oliver: A Novel by Liz Nugent

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Laddie: A True Blue Story by Jean Stratton Porter

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The Year Without Pants by Scott Berkun

Did you Spell the Month in Books for July? Leave me a link to your post!

Spell the Month in Books: June

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I love this fun book meme hosted by Reviews From the Stacks. Not only is it fun to put it together (it helps if you track your reading and your “To Be Read” list–I use Goodreads).

This month I’m using books from my Goodreads TBR shelf.

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I’m looking forward to this one–it releases June 14 in the USA. Jackie & Me: A Novel by Louis Bayard

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I’m reading through all the Barbara Pyms, so this one will come up eventually. An Unsuitable Attachment by Barbara Pym.

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This book just won the Pulitzer. I am on the list for it at the library. The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen.

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I just bought this–finally. I loved her earlier books. Plus, she started later in life to be an author and made it. Emily’s House: A Novel by Amy Belding Brown.

How did you spell the month of June in books? Leave me a comment or a link to your post. Be sure to check out all the great #SpelltheMonthinBooks posts at Reviews From the Stacks.

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Spell the Month in Books: May

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Thanks to Jana at ‘Reviews from the Stacks‘.to the created Spell the Month.

This time I’ve chosen books I’ve recently reviewed. I’ve used The Lusty Month of May again, like last year, because it’s just such a fun song! [See the bottom of this post].

The Lusty Month of May (From “Camelot”

Tra la, it’s May, the lusty month of May
That lovely month when everyone goes blissfully astray
Tra la, it’s here, that shocking time of year
When tons of wicked little thoughts merrily appear
It’s May, it’s May, that gorgeous holiday
When every maiden prays that her lad will be a cad
It’s mad, it’s gay, a libelous display
Those dreary vows that everyone takes, everyone breaks
Everyone makes divine mistakes, the lusty month of May
Whence this fragrance wafting through the air?
What sweet feelings does its scent transmute?
Whence this perfume floating everywhere?
Don’t you know it’s that dear forbidden fruit
Tra la la la la, that dear forbidden fruit, tra la la la la
Tra la la la la, tra la, tra la, tra la la la la la la la la la
It’s May, the lusty month of May
That darling month when everyone throws self-control away
It’s time to do a wretched thing or two
And try to make each precious day, one you’ll always rue
It’s May, it’s May, the month of yes you may
The time for every frivolous whim, proper or im
It’s wild, it’s gay, a blot in every way
The birds and bees with all of their vast amorous past
Gaze at the human race aghast
Tra la, it’s May, the lusty month of May
That lovely month when everyone goes blissfully astray
Tra la, it’s here, that shocking time of year
When tons of wicked little thoughts merrily appear
It’s May, it’s May, the month of great dismay
When all the world is brimming with fun wholesome or un
It’s mad, it’s gay, a libelous display
Those dreary vows that everyone takes, everyone breaks
Everyone makes divine mistakes, the lusty month of May
 

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Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

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After the Romanovs by Helen Rappaport

 

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Yours Cheerfully: A Novel by A J Pearce

 

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Spell the Month in Books: February

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This monthly meme links up on the 2nd Saturday of the month, so I’m early. It is a fun way to discover new-to-me/you-books!

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Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier

From my old blog:

A very compelling and oddly enjoyable tale. Mourning in the Victorian and Edwardian era was a way of life. Queen Victoria too it to its highest levels ever. So when two young girls meet at their family’s graves on the day of the Queen’s death, its only natural that mourning should be part of their play. The two families, one conventional, the other sucked into the suffragette movement, are the focal points of the novel along with the cemetery director and a young grave digger who becomes the girls’ friend. This is as much a fascinating social history as a novel. The one note of dissonance was with the audio book–a British reader would have been far more appropriate to the setting of the story.

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Every Living Thing by James Herriot

All of James Herriot’s books are dear old friends.

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Biglaw by Lindsay Cameron

THE book for graduates heading to law school.

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The Rector’s Wife by Joanna Trollope

From my old blog:

Excellent. I can truly feel Anna’s life. The satirical aspects are dead on. Wow!! This book resonated with me!!! Anna Bouverie is the frustrated wife of the local Rector of small parish church in rural England. It is a modern-day story (well, 1990s or so–no cell phones!!) and one that I imagine pastor’s wives the world over would find familiar. When the continual giving and smiling and sacrificing begins to way like a huge stone on her chest, when her once beloved husband seems to see her only as an unpaid administrative assistant, when her daughter suffers–it all becomes too much for Anna. Peter, her husband, is so driven by his duty to his parish that he doesn’t see his family slipping away. This is a very “inner” story and a very real one to just about anyone who is has reached the married-long-enough-to-be-parents-of-a-teen to be able to shout “YES!” to various passages.

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Unsettled Ground: A Novel by Claire Fuller

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All the Stars In the Heavens: A Novel by Adriana Trigiani

The Golden Age of Hollywood–personalized.

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The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

I devoured this book when it came out!!

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The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs

What a fun book!

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Spell the Month in Books is the brainchild of Reviews From the Stacks and occurs on the second Saturday of each month. I’m early….

Spell the Month in Books: December

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Why all the Royal books? December 14th is why! Three deaths and the birth of an unexpected King occurred on this most auspicious royal day:

  • December 14, 1861–Death of Prince Albert (the Prince Consort) QueenVictoria’s beloved husband.
  • December 14, 1878 Death of Princess Alice of Hesse (2nd Daughter of Queen Victoria and Great-Grandmother of Prince Philip)
  • December 14, 1895 Birth of Prince Albert Frederick Arthur George of York, later King George VI (father of the current Queen)
  • December 14, 1945 Death of the Countess of Southesk, aka HH Princess Maud of Fife (Granddaughter of King Edward VII)

Also on December 10, 1936, Edward VIII abdicated.  There have been several recent births and a death or too in the family in December since the Abdication as well. 

November: Spell the Month in Books

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Photo credit

This fun book tag was created by Jana at ‘Reviews from the Stacks

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November of the Heart by LaVyrle Spencer

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Old Baggage: A Novel by Lissa Evans

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Vanessa and Her Sister: A Novel by Priya Parmar

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Excellent Women by Barbara Pym

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Malibu Rising: A Novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid

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The Bookseller of Kabul by Åsne Seierstad (My review on my old blog was lost).

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Eternal: A Novel by Lisa Scottoline

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The Reading List: A Novel by Sara Nisha Adams

Have you participated in Spell the Month in Books? Leave me a comment or a link to your own November post.

Spell the Month In Book Titles: July

Jana at ‘Reviews from the Stacks‘ created this fun book post.

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All right, skipping “The” is allowed, but using an initial? If you were here in Southern Ohio on the day I’m doing this post, you’d do whatever to give a cool, refreshing image, too! It’s super, super hot and humid today! This looks lovely–the water so cool, I’m sure there is a breeze, too, in that picture! The J.M. Barrie Ladies Swimming Society by Barbara J. Zitwer, Here’s my review from my old blog:

Chick lit? Yes–but GOOD chic lit! One of the best debut novels in a long time. Characters, while somewhat predictable, (come on it is chic lit!), most of them anyway, felt “real.” Loved the backstory of the other main character–the house and Barrie. Couldn’t go all the way to 4 stars, but 3 imho is darned good and well worth the read.

The J.M. Barrie Ladies Swimming Society by Barbara J. Zitwer

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I love the 44 Scotland Street series by Alexander McCall Smith! I do not always review series books because it is hard to avoid spoilers, especially for those who are just starting to read the series or are just learning of its existence. None-the-less, I love the whole cast of characters. The Unbearable Lightness of Scones by Alexander McCall Smith.

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My review from my old blog:

What an AMAZING writer!!!! Best novel I’ve read in ages.David Parks must have been sitting in Belfast brewing this marvelous “inner” story for years! It is so well crafted I didn’t want to put it down. Exactly my sort of book–lots of inner workings to characters–hopes, dreams, thoughts and fears. Add to that a character just written for actor Robert Bathurst to play in movie version, and you have a winner all around. Nice too that no one is a lithe 20-something hopping in and out of beds with other lithe 20-somethings. A father (Bathurst-ready character) experiencing, on the surface, a Dylan concert, a mother and daughter doing a boozy British pre-wedding “Hen Party,” a long-married couple on a getaway–all have their world’s rocked without bombs being thrown or war breaking out. This is a book not to be missed. I will certainly be buying a copy and re-reading this one for years to come. The Light of Amsterdam: A Novel by David Park

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No spoilers but one minor character’s story line was really dumb. The rest was fun–chick lit to be sure, but hey! chick lit in and around Paris? Why not! Lots to love here if you don’t think too hard. I enjoyed every minute of it!

Yellow Eyes of Crocodiles by Katherine Pancol

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