August was a big reading month for me. I read physical books, ebooks, and listened to some books, while I was crafting.
For Lynn Danfort, the sudden loss of her young husband had been almost unbearable. With two children to raise, she'd counted on the support of her husband's best friend, Ryder Matthews. But then Ryder left town without warning and Lynn found herself feeling alone and betrayed.
Now, three years later, Ryder is back.
Ryder had tried to deny the reason he'd fled Seattle, but the truth has finally caught up with him. He's in love with Lynn—always has been. But is she ready to love more than just her husband's memory? Can he convince her to turn away from yesterday and let him be her tomorrow?
Southern Conjuring (Sweet Tea Witch Mysteries, #13) by Amy Boyles
I'm reading this series on my Kindle app. They are short cozy mysteries.
You never know when an ordinary day in Magnolia Cove will turn into one that’s extraordinary—and not in a good way.
All heck breaks loose when Pepper and her cousins accidentally release a magic eater into their beloved town. At first, they’re not sure what kind of evil they’ve unleashed, but when bodies start dropping, it’s clear this magic eater intends to feast on people in town.
Pepper must stop the creature from claiming more victims and attempt to plan her wedding to Axel Reign. Can she and her friends stop the magic eater or will a member of the Craple family become its next victim?
Starring a cast of characters from previous books including hat shop owner Sylvia Spirits, school headmaster Saltz Swift and goofy real estate agent CJ Hix, Southern Conjuring will keep you on the edge of your seat right until the end!
Your Happily Ever After by Dieter F. Uchtdorf
I've read this before, but did a quick reread on my Kindle app.
Sometimes we need a reminder that life was never all sunshine and roses for fairy-tale princesses. Before the true love s kisses and happily ever afters, there were poisoned apples, spindle pricks, and impossible tasks. Speaking to the princesses of our Heavenly King, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf compares our challenges to those faced by famous fairy-tale heroines. Recounting Belle's captivity, Cinderella's servitude, and the miller's daughter's sacrifices, President Uchtdorf emphasizes that each princess had to overcome adversity before she reached her happily ever after. Beautifully designed and illustrated, Your Happily Ever After is an inspiring and uplifting message that will encourage latter-day daughters of God to focus on His plan, to find happiness in service, and to fully embrace the blessings of the gospel.
The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali
This was our book club book and I enjoyed the book. We had a great discussion at book club. Thanks Alecia for a good book pick, discussion, and yummy treats.
In 1950s Tehran, seven-year-old Ellie lives in grand comfort until the untimely death of her father, forcing Ellie and her mother to move to a tiny home downtown. Lonely and bearing the brunt of her mother’s endless grievances, Ellie dreams for a friend to alleviate her isolation.
Luckily, on the first day of school, she meets Homa, a kind girl with a brave and irrepressible spirit. Together, the two girls play games, learn to cook in the stone kitchen of Homa’s warm home, wander through the colorful stalls of the Grand Bazaar, and share their ambitions of becoming “lion women.”
But their happiness is disrupted when Ellie and her mother are afforded the opportunity to return to their previous bourgeois life. Now a popular student at the best girls’ high school in Iran, Ellie’s memories of Homa begin to fade. Years later, however, her sudden reappearance in Ellie’s privileged world alters the course of both of their lives.
Together, the two young women come of age and pursue their own goals for meaningful futures. But as the political turmoil in Iran builds to a breaking point, one earth-shattering betrayal will have enormous consequences.
Seaside Supper Club (Lobster Bay Book #10) by Meredith Summers
I've been reading this series on my Kindle app. They are feel good reads about trust and friendship set in a beach town on the coast in Maine. The female main characters are older women which is fun for me.
When cookbook author Celia Moreau loses her publishing deal and her Manhattan apartment in the same week, she does the only thing that makes sense: she runs to a cottage on the Maine coast.
Rented from a ninety-year-old woman named Maggie, the cottage comes with a temperamental stove, a dead burner, and a box of handwritten recipe cards from decades of legendary Friday suppers.
Celia only meant to regroup. But when she starts cooking Maggie's recipes for the women she meets at the local bakery—and a quiet lobsterman named Dan keeps showing up with the morning's catch—she begins to build something she never had in New York: a table where everyone belongs.
Seaside Supper Club is a cozy, warm, buttery read about letting go of the woman you thought you had to be, the women who become your family, the second act no one saw coming, and finding home in the last place you expected.
Oh, No, Not "The Home": Observations and Confessions of a Grandmother in Transition by Peggy Rowe
This is the 4th Peggy Rowe book I've read. She is the Mom of Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs, a television show. The family is a Maryland family. Peggy and her husband still live in Maryland and have moved into a senior living facility outside of Baltimore. Peggy also appears on Mike's podcast occasionally in special episodes called, Coffee With My Mom. Here is a link to a short compilation of some of Mike's favorite stories with his mom.
In Oh No, Not “The Home,” eighty-three-year-old Peggy decides the time has finally come to move into a senior living facility with her husband, John, who follows his beloved bride . . . grudgingly. Once ensconced in "The Home," however, John quickly makes a long list of eclectic friends and takes up bocci ball, hatchet throwing, pool playing, and various other distractions that keep him mostly sane. Meanwhile, Peggy finds humor in places a normal person would never think to look—and laughter around every corner. Missing dentures? A mouse in the house? Nude sunbathing with an unexpected audience? Gluttony in the dining hall? A chair volleyball game that turns into geriatric target practice? It's all here.
With her usual mix of warmth and irreverence, Peggy brings her daily journal to life with an unforgettable mix of observations and confessions, written with the honesty of a true observer of the human condition and the urgency of an embedded reporter entrenched in a strange and distant land. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and before long, you’ll start to think that Peggy and John and their many new friends are just the kind of people you wish you had for neighbors.
Whatever you think you know about retirement communities, think again. This is life at "The Home."
And it’s not exactly what the marketing brochure promised!
Seeking Persephone (The Lancaster Family, #1) by Sarah M. Eden
I've seen lots of ads for a new movie based on this book on social media. Melissa also had this as a possible book pick for book club. We aren't reading it for book club, but I decided to read it anyway. It was a good period piece. It is the first of a series of 5 books in The Lancaster Family series. I'll be reading the others also.
When Persephone Lancaster receives a marriage proposal from the ill-tempered Duke of Kielder, she refuses—and then reconsiders. The obscene sum of money he’s offering Persephone would save her family from ruin. With her characteristic optimism, she travels to the far reaches of Northumberland to wed a greatly feared stranger. Lodged deep in a thick forest infested with wild dogs, the Duke’s castle is as cold and forbidding as the Duke himself, a man with terrible scars on his body and his soul. But the Duke’s steely determination to protect his heart at all costs is challenged by his growing attachment to his lovely and gentle bride. With caring persistence, Persephone attempts to pierce the Duke’s armor and reach the man beneath. Yet he cannot tolerate such exposure, and his repeated rejections take their toll. But when grave danger arises, the Duke realizes he must face the risk of revealing his true feelings or lose the woman he cannot live without.
My Next Breath by Jeremy Renner
I listened to this while working on some crafts for Christmas gifts. Jeremy Renner read his book for the audio version. I don't think I've seen any of the movies he's been in. He mentioned in the book about a series he did for Disney + called Rennervations. It follows Jeremy who travels across the world to help communities by reimagining old vehicles into a vehicle with a totally different purpose. One showed them repurposing and old bus into a mobile music bus for youth in Chicago. The second one I watched showed them repurposing a large bus into a mobile dance studio for orphaned/abandoned youth in in Los Cabos, Mexico
Two-time Oscar nominee Jeremy Renner was the second most googled person in 2023… and not for his impressive filmography. His searing portrayals on film ranged from an Iraq-based army bomb technician in The Hurt Locker and a Boston bank robber in The Town to a crooked Camden mayor in American Hustle before he became heir to the Jason Bourne franchise (The Bourne Legacy). Amongst other iconic roles, he also captured hearts as fan-favorite comic book marksman Hawkeye in seven Marvel films.
Yet, his otherworldly success on-screen faded to the periphery when a fourteen-thousand-pound snowplow crushed him on New Year’s Day 2023. Somehow able to keep breathing for more than half an hour, he was subsequently rushed to the ICU, after which he would face multiple surgeries and months of painful rehabilitation.
In this debut memoir, Jeremy writes in blistering detail about his accident and the aftermath. This retelling is not merely a gruesome account of what happened to him; it’s a call to action and a forged companionship between reader and author as Jeremy recounts his recovery journey and reflects on the impact of his suffering. Ultimately, Jeremy’s memoir is a testament to the human spirit and its capacity to endure, evolve, and find purpose in the face of unimaginable adversity. His writing captures the essence of profound transformation, exploring the delicate interplay between vulnerability and strength, despair and hope, redemption and renewal.
That's A Great Question, I'd Love to Tell You by Elyse Myers
I've seen short reels of Elyse Myers on social media. She does have anxiety, and ADHD which were diagnosed in childhood and later in adulthood, she was diagnosed with autism. She talks about what her life is like with these and how finding out that she also has autism has helped explain things in her life. I listened to the book and she read it. I was working on some craft projects and listening to her for a couple of hours straight was a bit much for me. I am however grateful that I do not have the mental health issues like she does and I do know some people who have exactly the same issues she has. It is a lot.
Elyse Myers is known to her twelve million followers as “The Internet’s Best Friend,” sharing her relatable stories and comedic sketches and serving as an advocate for topics such as neurodivergence, impostor syndrome, body image, and more. Whether she’s making people laugh with tales of disastrous dates or giving a voice to that awkward internal monologue many of us have, she has three simple goals behind everything she makes: To make people feel known, loved, and like they belong.In That's a Great Question, I'd Love to Tell You, Elyse delivers a debut collection of deeply personal stories and hand-drawn illustrations, offering even more intimate reflections beyond what fans have seen on her social media, including:
- Spending 7 Minutes in Heaven accidentally friend-zoning her crush
- How Lucy, the Magic 8 Ball keychain, changed her life by accident
- Moving from California to Australia to Texas to Nebraska to like (maybe even love!) herself
- How to Fold Hospital Corners in 10 EASY STEPS!—a practical guide and a rumination about…everything
- The “meat cute” when she met her smoke show of a husband at a butcher’s counter in Australia—and how she revealed herself to be an emotional runner
Plus, tales involving bad dates and is-this-a-dates; the tempting yet futile urge to reinvent yourself, panic attacks and escape hatches, and favorite pens and systems to use them, all while loving and letting yourself be loved, preferably at the same time.
