Chimes of a Lost Cathedral by Janet Fitch

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this release from 

the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Spending time with the main character of this book was like reuniting and spending time with an old friend...a lot of time. Because at 730 pages, Chimes of a Lost Cathedral took me forever to finish, just like its predecessor, 2017's The Revolution of Marina M (which was 816 pages). It's hard not to use words like "sweeping epic" to describe this tome spanning from the spring of 1919 to the fall of 1921, during the Russian Civil War. The stories, relationships, and Marina's persistence kept me reading but I will be honest that a lot of the political clashes and beliefs were hard for me to decipher. If you've read The Revolution of Marina M., you will also understand that Fitch will gut you with her descriptions of humanity's darkness, so much so that I needed to step away from the story and have a drink after a devastating event that occurred just before the book's halfway point.⁠
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The novel opens with 19-year-old pregnant Marina Makarova traveling through the Russian countryside searching for a place to give birth to her child and follows her on her return to Petrograd, which is mostly deserted yet teeming with orphans. "Now fully a woman, she takes on the challenge of caring for these Civil War orphans, until they become the tool of tragedy from an unexpected direction. But despite the ordeal of war and revolution, betrayal and privation and unimaginable loss, Marina at last emerges as the poet she was always meant to be."⁠
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I would recommend this novel (and The Revolution of Marina M) to lovers of Russian history, the Romanov family, and Cherise Wolas' novel The Resurrection of Joan Ashby.⁠

The Wolf Wants In by Laura McHugh

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this release from 

the publisher in exchange for an honest review

One of my most anxiously anticipated releases of the year, The Wolf Wants In (releases 8/6/19 from Spiegel & Grau) by Laura McHugh did NOT disappoint. I loved McHugh's detailed look at the dark side of small town America⁠ in her 2014 debut novel The Weight of Blood and she delivers another rural noir masterpiece with The Wolf Wants In.⁠
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The common problems of Blackwater, Kansas are the same as a majority of towns affected by the opioid epidemic: poverty, crime, addiction, and overdoses. The already overworked local police force is newly focused on the discovery of a child's skull in the woods, not the death of a young man, Shane, that has been ruled as a heart attack. One timeline of the novel follows one of his sisters as she takes it upon herself to start asking questions about her brother's death. The second timeline follows another young woman dreaming of leaving town and never looking back. Both women are are on their own paths, but in a town as small as Blackwater, everything is connected.⁠
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As a story filled with dark family loyalties, crumbling homes, and broken people, The Wolf Wants in is transportive and atmospheric. When you get to the section where you learn what the title means, it will take your breath away. Perfect for lovers of Daniel Woodrell's Winter's Bone and Mesha Maren's Sugar Run.⁠
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[also pictured my new ferns and flowers...let's see if I can keep these alive for a while]⁠

The Virgin Cure by Ami McKay

A backlist book I finally got around to reading🙌(Flip flopping back and forth between my ARCs and my backlist books is currently making me a much happier reader.) I pushed The Virgin Cure by Ami McKay up on my list after reading If You Want to Make God Laugh because of the similarities I knew it had with poverty, privilege, orphans, and ravaging sexually transmitted diseases.⁠
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In 1871, in the slums of New York City a 12-year-old girl named Moth has been abandoned by her father and sold as a servant to a wealthy woman by her mother. After fleeing the woman's abuse Moth winds up at a brothel known as "The Infant School" where gentlemen pay high prices for young virgins and the madam protects her girls from diseased men looking for "the virgin cure".⁠
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I liked this book and would recommend it to lovers of The Life She Was Given and The Crimson Petal and the White. The book is also interspersed with side notes from one of the characters, a female doctor. Her notes give statistics and background to happenings in the book such as why girls wore green or what a particular product was lauded as doing at the time (medicines, hair tonics, etc.). These notes really strengthened the storyline, characters, and settings.⁠
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Also pictured: One of my fave spots to read (in the corner of my sectional), one of my fave soft blankets, and coffee in my fave mug.

The Witch's Daughter by Paula Brackston

⁠I've read The Little Shop of Found Things (Found Things series #1) and I have an ARC of Secrets of the Chocolate House (Found Things series #2) but I had not read any of Paula Brackston's "Witch" books! I love books about witches (fiction and non-fiction). This was fun historical fiction and I'd recommend it to lovers of magic realism or fans of Alice Hoffman's Rules of Magic and Practical Magic.⁠


Summary:⁠
My name is Elizabeth Anne Hawksmith, and my age is three hundred and eighty-four years. Each new settlement asks for a new journal, and so this Book of Shadows begins.⁠
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In the spring of 1628, the Witchfinder of Wessex finds himself a true Witch. As Bess Hawksmith watches her mother swing from the Hanging Tree she knows that only one man can save her from the same fate at the hands of the panicked mob: the Warlock Gideon Masters, and his Book of Shadows. Secluded at his cottage in the woods, Gideon instructs Bess in the Craft, awakening formidable powers she didn't know she had and making her immortal. She couldn't have foreseen that even now, centuries later, he would be hunting her across time, determined to claim payment for saving her life.⁠
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In present-day England, Elizabeth has built a quiet life for herself, tending her garden and selling herbs and oils at the local farmers' market. But her solitude abruptly ends when a teenage girl called Tegan starts hanging around. Against her better judgment, Elizabeth begins teaching Tegan the ways of the Hedge Witch, in the process awakening memories—and demons—long thought forgotten.⁠
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Also pictured: Ree Drummond's "Funeral Potatoes". I think they are named that because they are so good you could just die! Or because all the butter, cheese, sour cream, and POTATO CHIPS are likely to give you a heart attack. What a delicious way to go...⁠

Costalegre by Courtney Maum

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this release from 

the publisher in exchange for an honest review

I devoured Costalegre by Courtney Maum (releasing 7/16/19 from Tin House) in just a couple hours and while it was a quick read it will stay with me forever. The 15-year-old narrator was naive and pining for the knowledge of the artists who surround her and the love of her mother. Written in diary form (I love that!) this book will have you remembering what it was like to be 15 (in the best and worst ways). Going into this book I did not know that this story is based on the real-life relationship between heiress Peggy Guggenheim and her daughter, Pegeen, but now I will be on the lookout for anytime the Guggenheim name pops up again.⁠
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Summary:⁠
It is 1937, and Europe is on the brink of war. In the haute-bohemian circles of Austria, Germany, and Paris, Hitler is circulating a most-wanted list of “cultural degenerates”—artists, writers, and thinkers whose work is deemed antithetical to the new regime. To prevent the destruction of her favorite art (and artists), the impetuous American heiress and modern art collector, Leonora Calaway, begins chartering boats and planes for an elite group of surrealists to Costalegre, a mysterious resort in the Mexican jungle, where she has a home.⁠
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The story of what happens to these artists when they reach their destination is told from the point of view of Lara, Leonora’s neglected 15-year-old daughter, who has been pulled out of school to follow her mother to Mexico. Forced from a young age to cohabit with her mother’s eccentric whims, tortured lovers, and entourage of gold-diggers, Lara suffers from emotional, educational, and geographical instability that a Mexican sojourn with surrealists isn’t going to help.⁠
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Also featured: Italian Sausage Meatballs with onions and peppers. While they sounded great in theory (for my husband) they did NOT turn out well (burnt outside and raw middle, even though I made them small) Maybe they needed to cook in more oil? idk. advice?⁠

If You Want to Make God Laugh by Bianca Marais

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this release from 

the publisher in exchange for an honest review

If You Want to Make God Laugh (releasing 7/16) by Bianca Marais was a heart-ripper. I kept putting off reading this ARC because I loved the author's previous novel, Hum if You Don't Know the Words, so much and I was worried that this would fall short. Hardly the case! Marais has delivered another masterpiece. My heart did a steady melt through the book, then I started tearing up a bit, but the ending had me sobbing so much I couldn't read the words. I had to put down the book and walk around to catch my breath...but then I'd dive right back in.

Summary:
A rich, unforgettable story of three unique women in post-Apartheid South Africa who are brought together in their darkest time, and discover the ways that love can transcend the strictest of boundaries.

In a squatter camp on the outskirts of Johannesburg, seventeen-year-old Zodwa lives in desperate poverty, under the shadowy threat of a civil war and a growing AIDS epidemic. Eight months pregnant, Zodwa carefully guards secrets that jeopardize her life.

Across the country, wealthy socialite Ruth appears to have everything her heart desires, but it's what she can't have that leads to her breakdown. Meanwhile, in Zaire, a disgraced former nun, Delilah, grapples with a past that refuses to stay buried. When these personal crises send both middle-aged women back to their rural hometown to lick their wounds, the discovery of an abandoned newborn baby upends everything, challenging their lifelong beliefs about race, motherhood, and the power of the past.

As the mystery surrounding the infant grows, the complicated lives of Zodwa, Ruth, and Delilah become inextricably linked. What follows is a mesmerizing look at family and identity that asks: How far will the human heart go to protect itself and the ones it loves? [Also pictured: I don't usually buy baked goods but it's so freakin' hot that I've almost totally stopped using my stove or oven...so Kroger is taking care of breakfast lately]

Midnight at the Blackbird Café by Heather Webber

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this release from 

the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Midnight at the Blackbird Café serves up personal healing and family reconnections with a side of magic realism. This was such a sweet (pun intended) book. I wanted to give it a little hug when I finished it. Plus, look at that cover...I mean 😍⁠
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Summary:⁠
Nestled in the mountain shadows of Alabama lies the little town of Wicklow. It is here that Anna Kate has returned to bury her beloved Granny Zee, owner of the Blackbird Café.⁠
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It was supposed to be a quick trip to close the café and settle her grandmother’s estate, but despite her best intentions to avoid forming ties or even getting to know her father’s side of the family, Anna Kate finds herself inexplicably drawn to the quirky Southern town her mother ran away from so many years ago, and the mysterious blackbird pie everybody can’t stop talking about.⁠
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As the truth about her past slowly becomes clear, Anna Kate will need to decide if this lone blackbird will finally be able to take her broken wings and fly.⁠

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this release from 

the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Bookworms will love The Bookish Life of Nina Hill. If you love books about books, bookstores, readers, etc. you should pick this one up. Very cute, light read.⁠
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Nina works in a bookstore, is part of a trivia team, and likes living alone with her cat. Her quiet, solitary life is upended when she finds out that the father she never knew has died and she is required to come to the reading of his will...and to meet her complicated and extended new family. As if that wasn't enough to send her into a tailspin, her handsome trivia nemesis is turning into a suitor...and maybe more!⁠
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My favorite part of this book is that each chapter begins with a page of Nina's planner. I love that stuff in books: diary entries, letters, post-its, emails, etc.⁠

L'Appart by David Lebovitz

L'Appart: The Delights and Disasters of Making My Paris Home by David Lebovitz was a fun (for me as a reader) journey through the adventures and misadventures of renovating an apartment in Paris. I would describe this book as “The Money Pit” meets “Under the Tuscan Sun”. It’s equal parts dreamy and frustratingly hilarious.
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“When David Lebovitz began the project of updating his apartment in his adopted home city, he never imagined he would encounter so much inexplicable red tape while contending with the famously inconsistent European work ethic and hours. Lebovitz maintains his distinctive sense of humor with the help of his partner Romain, peppering this renovation story with recipes from his Paris kitchen. In the midst of it all, he reveals the adventure that accompanies carving out a place for yourself in a foreign country--under baffling conditions--while never losing sight of the magic that inspired him to move to the City of Light many years ago, and to truly make his home there.”

Hot New Releases for Your Summer Reading List

One of my latest articles in Leawood Lifestyle magazine's July issue, check out the issue HERE or read the article below 

Hot New Releases for Your Summer Reading List

by Rhiannon Johnson

Photography provided by publishers 

The kids are out of school and your summer schedule is likely filled with travel plans, pool parties, and fun summer activities. If you are looking for the perfect books to add to your suitcase or beach bag, we have some suggestions for everyone in your family. 

Middle Grade

• All the Greys on Greene Street by Laura Tucker, illus. by Kelly Murphy Twelve-year-old Olympia is from a family of creative New York City artists: her father restores paintings, her mother sculpts, and she loves to draw. After her father leaves a cryptic note and disappears in the middle of the night, her mother won’t get out of bed, and someone keeps calling about a missing piece of art, Olympia know she has to do something and courageously sets off to find her father.

Young Adult

• Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff The graduating cadets of Aurora Academy’s Class of 2380 are being assigned their first missions and while star pupil Tyler Jones had visions of recruiting his own dream squad, his fall from favor leaves him in charge of a leftover group of misfits. Just when he thinks things can’t get worse, he rescues Aurora Jie-Lin O’Malley (who’s been trapped in cryo-sleep for two centuries), starting a war millions of years in the making—leaving Tyler’s squad as the last hope for the entire galaxy!
• The Red Scrolls of Magic by Cassandra Clare and Wesley Chu High Warlock Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood are finally enjoying a much needed vacation after the Mortal War when an old friend delivers news about a cult called the Crimson Hand, which has strange, close ties to Magnus. The pair set off on another adventure, this time across Europe to track down the demon-worshipping cult and its leader before chaos erupts worldwide.

Adult

• Lock Every Door by Riley Sager Jules Larsen happily accepts her new job as an apartment sitter at Manhattan’s glamorous Bartholomew hotel despite the strange rules of no visitors, no nights spent away from the apartment, and no disturbing the other residents. After a fellow apartment sitter goes missing, Jules begins digging deeper into the hotel’s dark past and discovers this is not the first occurrence of an apartment sitter going missing at the Bartholomew.
• Home Remedies by Xuan Juliana Wang Xuan Juliana Wang layers bizarre fixations, family expectations, cultural heritage, and the tech-driven modern world to showcase the unique pressures of her characters and their quests in her stunning debut collection featuring twelve stories of complex, ambitious, and achingly self-conscious Chinese millennials.
• It’s Hot in the Hamptons by Holly Peterson In the Hamptons, rules don’t apply, especially in matters of money and the heart. Surrounded by wealthy Hamptons men and husbands having numerous affairs, friends Caroline and Annabelle undertake an experiment of their own. Caroline resists at first, but after reconsidering, the two friends make a pact. Over the course of the steamy summer filled with old lovers and affairs, Caroline considers risking it all for happiness and love. 

Spotlight: Layover by David Bell

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this release from
the publisher in exchange for an honest review

I have a love/hate relationship with airports. I love the people watching and reading time but I hate the security lines and constant invasion of personal space. When I heard that this book involved a passing connection between two people at "my" airport (Atlanta) I was doubly intrigued. Do you love people watching at the airport? Do you make up stories about them in your head? Am I the only one? 😆⁠
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Summary:⁠
Joshua Fields takes the same flights every week for work, his life a series of departures and arrivals, hotels and airports. During yet another layover, he meets Morgan, a beautiful stranger with whom he feels an immediate connection. When it’s time for their respective flights, Morgan kisses Joshua passionately, lamenting that they’ll never see each other again.⁠
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As soon as Morgan disappears in the crowd, Joshua is shocked to see her face on a nearby TV. The reason: Morgan is a missing person.⁠
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What follows is a whirlwind, fast-paced journey filled with lies, deceit, and secrets as Joshua tries to discover why Morgan has vanished from her own life. Every time he thinks one mystery is solved, another rears its head—and his worst enemy might be his own assumptions about those around him.⁠