Top Ten Tuesday – My Favourite Books by My Favourite Authors

We are excited to link up with Top Ten Tuesdays, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week, I am featuring my favourite authors and my favourite books of theirs. I’m so excited!


Top row (left → right):
Silvia Moreno-Garcia
James Baldwin
Charles Dickens
Elizabeth Acevedo
Junji Ito

Bottom row:
C. S. Lewis
Tiffany D. Jackson
Naoko Takeuchi
Margaret Atwood
Madeline Miller

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Book: Mexican Gothic
Author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Genre: Horror, Historical Fiction, Gothic, Mystery

James Baldwin

Book: The Fire Next Time
Author: James Baldwin
Genre: Nonfiction, Classics, Essays, Race, History

Charles Dickens

Book: Great Expectations
Author: Charles Dickens
Genre: Classics, Fiction, Literature, Historical Fiction

Elizabeth Acevedo

Book: With the Fire on High
Author: Elizabeth Acevedo
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Fiction

Junji Ito

Book: Fragments of Horror
Author: Junji Ito
Genre: Manga, Horror, Graphic Novels, Comics, Short Stories

C.S. Lewis

Book: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Author: C.S. Lewis
Genre: Fantasy, Classics, Fiction, Childrens

Tiffany D. Jackson

Book: Monday’s Not Coming
Author: Tiffany D. Jackson
Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Contemporary, Thriller

Naoko Takeuchi

Book: Sailor Moon, Vol. 1
Author: Naoko Takeuchi
Genre: Manga, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Comics, Romance

Margaret Atwood

Book: The Handmaid’s Tale
Author: Margaret Atwood
Genre: Fiction, Classics, Dystopia, Science Fiction

Madeline Miller

Book: Circe
Author: Madeline Miller
Genre: Fantasy, Mythology, Fiction, Historical Fiction


QOTD: Do you agree with any of my choices?

Top Ten Tuesday – Seven Favorite Secondary/Minor Characters

We are excited to link up with Top Ten Tuesdays, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

From That Artsy Reader Girl:
“Welcome to another TTT! This week’s topic is: Favorite Secondary/Minor Characters. I am a character-driven reader and tend to get attached to many characters, but I’ve tried super hard to narrow it down to these ten!”

I’ve come up with seven entries for this week. Yes, some of these characters are unlikeable, but they sure make the books impactful and entertaining.


Mercutio from Romeo and Juliet.
I have ALWAYS loved Mercutio. And I ESPECIALLY love the portrayal of Mercutio in Baz Luhrman’s Romeo and Juliet adaptation. Young hearts run free!

Miss Havisham from Great Expectations.
Absurd. Petty. Forever in a wedding dress. Couture meets attic. Best.

    Mr Tumnus from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.
    The Charm. The Betrayal. The Redemption. Mr Tumnus has a whole arc and I’m here for it.

    Captain Hook from Peter Pan.
    He’s giving Pirate Persona. Drama. Victorianeramaxxing.

    Okay, but seriously, hear me out. I know the guy gets a bad rep, but I mean, he adds all the flavour to the Peter Pan novel, doesn’t he? And his story is really fascinating in the retelling by Christina Henry called Lost Boy.
    Love.

    Sailor Pluto from Sailor Moon
    She controls time. What more do we want.

    Artemis and Luna from Sailor Moon
    We are simply not worthy.


    QOTD: Do you agree with any of my choices?

    May 2026 Releases – Top Ten Tuesdays – May Flowers

    We are excited to link up with Top Ten Tuesdays, hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl.

    This week we chose May 2026 releases but with one twist – all of the book covers have flowers on the cover! Or, in the case of Matt Haig’s new novel, leaves! I just had to include his in this list! I hope you enjoy.


    Title: Before I Knew I Loved You
    Author: Toshikazu Kawaguchi
    Publisher: Picador
    Release Date: May 21st, 2026


    Title: The Daisy Chain Flower Shop (Dream Harbour #6)
    Author: Laurie Gilmore
    Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
    Release Date: May 5th, 2026


    Title: Where Happy Begins
    Author: Maxine Morrey
    Publisher: Boldwood Books
    Release Date: May 12th, 2026


    Title: You Can’t Hurry Second Chances
    Author: Michelle Simpson
    Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
    Release Date: May 5th, 2026


    Title: The Library of Flowers
    Author: L.C. Chu
    Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
    Release Date: May 5th, 2026


    Title: The House of Now and Then
    Author: Edward Underhill
    Publisher: Picador
    Release Date: May 21st, 2026


    Title: That Which Feeds Us
    Author: Edward Underhill
    Publisher: Picador
    Release Date: May 5th, 2026


    Title: The Calamity Club
    Author: Edward Underhill
    Publisher: Picador
    Release Date: May 5th, 2026


    Title: The Midnight Train
    Author: Matt Haig
    Publisher: Viking
    Release Date: May 26th, 2026


    Title: Strange Familiars
    Author: Keshe Chow
    Publisher: Ace
    Release Date: May 19th, 2026


    QOTD: Which of these books looks most interesting to you?

    Top Ten Tuesdays: Top Ten Books to Read for the Catathon Readathon!

    We are excited to link up with Top Ten Tuesdays, hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl.


    Hello everyone,

    Today’s post is a freebie so I will post about the Catathon Readathon, a 48-hour readathon that will take place on April 20th-21st. Myself, Abigail from Abigail’s Cup of Tea, Christin from Christin_Rene_, and Melanie from Mels_Reads_ will host the event. We have hosted this readathon once before, and it was a lot of fun! The event will mostly be hosted on Bookstagram; and we invite all bloggers to join and post about their readathon weekends on their blogs and socials!

    So today my cat Olivia and I are providing you with our top ten recommendations for our readathon! Five recs for each prompt. Please note I have read all of those listed below except for the two I plan to read for the readathon. Let’s start with the first prompt.

    Top Recommendations for:
    “Catnip Comforts: A book that brings you comfort or joy


    Title: Before the Coffee Gets Cold
    Author: Toshikazu KawaguchiGeoffrey Trousselot (Translator)
    Thoughts: Four individuals visit a cafe that promises to transport visitors through time; a very comforting Japanese-translated read!


    Title: Oddball: A “Sarah’s Scribbles” collection
    Author: Sarah Andersen
    Thoughts: I loved this comic book! Although it is not solely based on cats, it has hilarious comments about daily life with cat-related themes throughout.


    Title: Rascal
    Author: Jean-Luc DeglinEdward Gauvin (Translator)
    Thoughts: This is an absolutely adorable graphic novel featuring a cute cat named Rascal!


    Title: A Tale of Two Tabbies
    Author: Kathi Daley
    Thoughts: “Whales and Tails” is a murder mystery series, and I highly recommend the seventh book. It revolves around cats and has become one of my favourite books, bringing me a lot of joy.


    Title: Cat’s Café
    Author: Matt Tarpley
    Thoughts: SO CUTE. I enjoyed this graphic novel! It’s sure to bring you those cozy, comfy vibes.


    Top Recommendations for:
    “A cat-related book you’re excited to read”

    Title: Chapter and Curse, The Cambridge Bookshop Series #1
    Author: Elizabeth Penney
    Thoughts: This is one of my favourite cozy mystery series and it features a cat named Puck! The best part about this series is that book 2, “A Treacherous Tale,” is just as good, or even better! I hope you’ll enjoy it.


    Title: The Wildings
    Author: Nilanjana RoyPrabha Mallya (Illustrator)
    Thoughts: I’ve heard about this book and have really wanted to read it! It’s about a group of cats in Delhi. One day, an orange kitten joins their group and their whole world is transformed. Sounds great!


    Title: A Cat Story
    Author: Ursula Murray Husted
    Thoughts: I loved this! It takes place in Valletta and follows two cats, Cilla and Betto, on an adventure to find their forever homes.


    Title: The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book (Volume 14)
    Author: Bill Watterson
    Thoughts: Classic! This comic book series features a fictional tiger named Hobbes who is the best friend of the mischievous Calvin. I love it so much!


    Title: The Fatal Folio
    Author: Elizabeth Penney
    Thoughts: This is book number 3 of the Cambridge Bookshop Series and is a personal pick for me since I can’t wait to finish this series!


    Therefore my Purr-sonal Picks for the readathon are ….

    Both of these books are cat-related books, but I want to use The Fatal Folio also as a book that brings me comfort or joy since this is a series I have absolutely loved! I’m very excited to read The Wildings for the readathon and am sure this will also bring joy as well!

    QOTD: Are you a cat person? Let us know!

    This post was edited/enhanced with Grammarly AI.

    Top Ten Tuesdays: Movies/TV Shows That Would Have Made Amazing Books 

    We are excited to link up with Top Ten Tuesdays, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

    Hi everyone! This week I was pressed for time and only come up with three options but I wanted to participate so badly. As a compromise, I’ve added some books that I would love to see as movies! Let me know what your options would be as well!


    Title: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
    Thoughts: To be honest, I’m not quite sure how it would be done, but I think it could be great! To fully immerse oneself in Joel and Clementine’s world could prove quite profound. A novel could also provide an in depth exploration of the ethics and consequences of the technology used in the film. It’s my favourite film, so of course, I would love it in novel form!


    Title: Incpetion (2010)
    Thoughts: The first time I watched Inception, I didn’t appreciate it. I recently rewatched it and I absolutely loved it! A book could allow the reader to describe the dream sequences in even greater detail while expanding on their physics and rules in depth. I would also like to dive deeper and explore Cobb’s backstory.


    Title: The Lobster (2015)
    Thoughts: The concept of this film is fantastic. In this film set in a dystopian society, single people are given only 45 days to find a romantic partner. If they do not, they will be transformed into an animal and sent into The Woods. I’m honestly surprised it isn’t based off of a book already!



    And, to mix things up, here are some books I would love to see as films or tv shows:


    1. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
    2. Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice
    3. The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson
    4. From Eve to Dawn: A History of Women in the World by Marilyn French
    5. The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Córdova
    6. The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
    7. Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

    QOTD: what has been your favourite book-to-movie OR movie-to-book adaptation? Let us know!

    Ten Books With Spooky Season Vibes

    We are excited to link up with Top Ten Tuesdays, hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl.

    Most books Olivia and I read during this time are either cozy or scary. Here are our picks for books with Spooky Season Vibes!

    Cozy Vibes

    Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks (Illustrator). Read this one for the coziest Autumnal vibes and the most delicious treats.
    CW
    Watch our Pumpkinheads Reading Vlog here!

    Chapter and Curse by Elizabeth Penney. Read this one to enter a fantastic cozy mystery series that features cats, The Cambridge Bookshop Series.
    CW

    (Note: Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for Chapter and Curse. All opinions are my own).

    Horror

    The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke. Spooky! This book was a five-star read for me. Read this one for witchy vibes but beware – it’s dark.
    CW

    The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson. This book is a Carrie retelling that I highly recommend! Make sure to read the content warnings.
    CW

    Watch our Lighthouse Witches reading vlog here!

    Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. This book is a wild ride! It’s a mixture of gothic, mystery, historical fiction and horror. It’s also one of my favourite books, though it’s not for everyone. If you like atmospheric reads, this may be for you.
    CW

    Watch our Mexican Gothic Reading Vlog here!

    Lost Boy by Christina Henry. This book is a Peter Pan retelling told from the perspective of Captain Hook and I think it’s brilliant. There are lots of content warnings, but I do recommend it if you’re ready for a viewpoint that challenges thoughts on Peter Pan.
    CW

    Horror Manga

    Lovesickness by Junji Ito. This manga is packed with scary and graphic scenes that make you want to scream! Read this if you are ready for a spook.
    CW

    Deathnote by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata (Art). A haunting and cunning chess game that challenges good vs. evil vs. ethics.
    CW

    Cozy Graphic Novels

    Séance Tea Party by Reimena Yee. Adorable! And tugs on your heartstrings.
    CW

    Witches of Brooklyn by Sophie Escabasse. It reminds me a bit of Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Quirky, cute, and a perfectly cozy read.
    CW

    Watch our Wrap-Up for these two books here!

    @sarasreadingnook

    Thank you to everyone who cohosted and joined the Hello Autumn/Spring readathon! Here is our vlog and recap. Olivia and I made a Fall bucket list: to carve pumpkins, have pumpkin pie, go on lots of outdoor walks (Olivia to hang out on the catio), and to read lots of witchy books! #ReadathonVlog #48hrReadathonVlog #48HourReadathon #cozyBooks #MysteryBooks #HelloAutumnSpringReadathon Cohosts @Abigail @kaylasbookishlife @Ruby G Chiara Bianca

    ♬ original sound – Sara’s Reading Nook – BookTok

    QOTD: Have any books caught your interest? Let us know!

    top ten portuguese words i love

    We are excited to link up with Top Ten Tuesdays, hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl.

    I’m so excited to share my top 10 Portuguese words I love with you all! My family comes from the Azores, and some of these words will be food related, but I hope you enjoy learning them. When I last visited Porto, I was amazed by how many dishes from my childhood were being made 🍃. If you ever visit Portugal, make sure you taste some of these wonderful foods!

    I tried to do the pronunciation as best as I could for these haha. And although I speak Portuguese, it is rusty and needs to be improved!

    1. As Queijadas (de leite)

    Pronunciation: Kay-sha-das

    The word “Queijada” makes me SO incredibly hungry. And that is because I am reminded of these creamy milk tarts my mother used to make when I was growing up. I love them so much and with some adaptations I can make these at home.

    2. (Um) Guardanapo

    Pronunciation: Gwer-de-nah-pu

    It literally just means napkin haha. But I love saying it!

    3. (Uma) Biblioteca

    Pronunciation: Bib-lee-oh-tek-uh

    Can you guess?

    A library!

    4. (Uma) Formiga

    Pronunciation: For-mee-guh

    An ant! I love how this one sounds!

    5. (Um) Golfinho

    Pronunciation: this one’s a bit hard for me to type, so I’ll link google translate!

    A dolphin!

    6. (As) Batatas

    Pronunciation: Bah-tah-tas

    The potatoes!

    I absolutely love potatoes. Roasted, fried, in soup. You name it!

    7. Puxar

    Pronunciation: Pu-shar

    This is actually the verb “to pull”! Very useful to learn this one quickly.

    8. Saudade

    Pronunciation: best to hear this one.

    This is a very complex word. Saudade is a very deep feeling of melancholy/sadness/nostalgia.

    9. (O) Gato / (A) Gata

    Pronunciation: Gah-to; Gah-tah

    Cat! Olivia’s request 😸

    10. (Um) Beija-Flor

    Pronunciation: Bay-jah-flor

    Hummingbird.

    QOTD: How do you like to eat batatas?
    Let us know!

    Books I Love That Were Written Over Ten Years Ago

    Hello, everyone!

    We are excited to link up with Top Ten Tuesdays, hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl.

    We have so many books that we love written at least a decade ago that we wanted to focus on a few books that we’ve enjoyed and categorize them by mood. There are more than 10 books. Enjoy!

    Adventurous

    1. Sailor Moon Manga by Naoko Takeuchi. Amazing.
    2. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. Get a tissue box ready.

    Challenging/Informative

    1. From Eve to Dawn: A History of Women Volume 1. Origins by Marilyn French. I can’t believe how much I’ve learned from this book, and I’m happily continuing the series. I think this could be updated and even more inclusive now, but it’s a good place to start.
    2. The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin. Everything Baldwin writes belongs in the must-read section.
    3. A Stranger at Home by Margaret Pokiak-Fenton, Christy Jordan-Fenton, and Liz Amini-Holmes. A must-read.

    Dark

    1. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. This book really impacted my world view.
    2. Deathnote by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. Disturbing, but you can’t stop once you’ve started it.

    Emotional

    1. Night by Elie Wiesel. Deceptively short read; however, its impact lasts forever.
    2. If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin. Literally finished a box of tissues with this book.

    Reflective

    1. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. My all-time favourite book. The theme of adjusting one’s expectations really helped me a lot with some very difficult decisions.
    2. Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin. Again, read this with a box of tissues.

    QOTD: Have you read any of these titles?
    Let us know!

    book covers that feel like summer

    Hello, everyone!

    We are excited to link up with Top Ten Tuesdays, hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl.

    Here are my Top Ten book covers that feel like summer!

    Goodreads Description:
    A coming-of-age story set in Mexico quickly turns dark when a young woman meets three enigmatic tourists.

    Baja California, 1979. Viridiana spends her days watching the dead sharks piled beside the seashore, as the fishermen pull their nets. There is nothing else to do, nothing else to watch, under the harsh sun. She’s bored. Terribly bored. Yet her head is filled with dreams of Hollywood films, of romance, of a future beyond the drab town where her only option is to marry and have children.

    Three wealthy American tourists arrive for the summer, and Viridiana is magnetized. She immediately becomes entwined in the glamorous foreigners’ lives. They offer excitement, and perhaps an escape from the promise of a humdrum future.

    When one of them dies, Viridiana lies to protect her friends. Soon enough, someone’s asking questions, and Viridiana has some of her own about the identity of her new acquaintances. Sharks may be dangerous, but there are worse predators nearby, ready to devour a naïve young woman who is quickly being tangled in a web of deceit.

    Silvia Moreno-Garcia is one of the most exciting voices in fiction, and with her first crime novel, UNTAMED SHORE, she crafts a blazing novel of suspense with an eerie seaside setting and a literary edge that proves her a master of the genre.

    Goodreads Description:
    They say you can never go home again, and for Persephone Fraser, ever since she made the biggest mistake of her life a decade ago, that has felt too true. Instead of glittering summers on the lakeshore of her childhood, she spends them in a stylish apartment in the city, going out with friends, and keeping everyone a safe distance from her heart.

    Until she receives the call that sends her racing back to Barry’s Bay and into the orbit of Sam Florek—the man she never thought she’d have to live without.

    For six summers, through hazy afternoons on the water and warm summer nights working in his family’s restaurant and curling up together with books—medical textbooks for him and work-in-progress horror short stories for her—Percy and Sam had been inseparable. Eventually that friendship turned into something breathtakingly more, before it fell spectacularly apart.

    When Percy returns to the lake for Sam’s mother’s funeral, their connection is as undeniable as it had always been. But until Percy can confront the decisions she made and the years she’s spent punishing herself for them, they’ll never know whether their love might be bigger than the biggest mistakes of their past.

    Told over the course of six years and one weekend, Every Summer After is a big, sweeping nostalgic look at love and the people and choices that mark us forever.

    Goodreads Description:
    A magic passed down through generations . . .

    Georgina Fernweh waits with growing impatience for the tingle of magic in her fingers—magic that has been passed down through every woman in her family. Her twin sister, Mary, already shows an ability to defy gravity. But with their eighteenth birthday looming at the end of this summer, Georgina fears her gift will never come.

    An island where strange things happen . . .

    No one on the island of By-the-Sea would ever call the Fernwehs what they really are, but if you need the odd bit of help—say, a sleeping aid concocted by moonlight—they are the ones to ask.

    No one questions the weather, as moody and erratic as a summer storm.

    No one questions the (allegedly) three-hundred-year-old bird who comes to roost on the island every year.

    A summer that will become legend . . .

    When tragedy strikes, what made the Fernweh women special suddenly casts them in suspicion. Over the course of her last summer on the island—a summer of storms, of love, of salt—Georgina will learn the truth about magic, in all its many forms.

    Goodreads Description:
    The author of The Wedding Date serves up a novel about what happens when a public proposal doesn’t turn into a happy ending, thanks to a woman who knows exactly how to make one on her own…

    When someone asks you to spend your life with him, it shouldn’t come as a surprise–or happen in front of 45,000 people.

    When freelance writer Nikole Paterson goes to a Dodgers game with her actor boyfriend, his man bun, and his bros, the last thing she expects is a scoreboard proposal. Saying no isn’t the hard part–they’ve only been dating for five months, and he can’t even spell her name correctly. The hard part is having to face a stadium full of disappointed fans…

    At the game with his sister, Carlos Ibarra comes to Nik’s rescue and rushes her away from a camera crew. He’s even there for her when the video goes viral and Nik’s social media blows up–in a bad way. Nik knows that in the wilds of LA, a handsome doctor like Carlos can’t be looking for anything serious, so she embarks on an epic rebound with him, filled with food, fun, and fantastic sex. But when their glorified hookups start breaking the rules, one of them has to be smart enough to put on the brakes…

    Goodreads Description:
    The New York Times best-selling author of Final Girls and Survive the Night (“a master of the twist and the turn” – Rolling Stone) is back with his most unexpected thriller yet.

    Casey Fletcher, a recently widowed actress trying to escape a streak of bad press, has retreated to the peace and quiet of her family’s lake house in Vermont. Armed with a pair of binoculars and several bottles of liquor, she passes the time watching Tom and Katherine Royce, the glamorous couple who live in the house across the lake. They make for good viewing—a tech innovator, Tom is rich; and a former model, Katherine is gorgeous.

    One day on the lake, Casey saves Katherine from drowning, and the two strike up a budding friendship. But the more they get to know each other—and the longer Casey watches—it becomes clear that Katherine and Tom’s marriage is not as perfect and placid as it appears. When Katherine suddenly vanishes, Casey becomes consumed with finding out what happened to her. In the process, she uncovers eerie, darker truths that turn a tale of voyeurism and suspicion into a story of guilt, obsession and how looks can be very deceiving.

    With his trademark blend of sharp characters, psychological suspense, and gasp-worthy surprises, Riley Sager’s The House Across the Lake unveils more than one twist that will shock readers until the very last page.

    Goodreads Description:
    When Katy’s mother dies, she is left reeling. Carol wasn’t just Katy’s mom, but her best friend and first phone call. She had all the answers and now, when Katy needs her the most, she is gone. To make matters worse, their planned mother-daughter trip of a lifetime looms: two weeks in Positano, the magical town Carol spent the summer right before she met Katy’s father. Katy has been waiting years for Carol to take her, and now she is faced with embarking on the adventure alone.

    But as soon as she steps foot on the Amalfi Coast, Katy begins to feel her mother’s spirit. Buoyed by the stunning waters, beautiful cliffsides, delightful residents, and, of course, delectable food, Katy feels herself coming back to life.

    And then Carol appears—in the flesh, healthy, sun-tanned, and thirty years old. Katy doesn’t understand what is happening, or how—all she can focus on is that she has somehow, impossibly, gotten her mother back. Over the course of one Italian summer, Katy gets to know Carol, not as her mother, but as the young woman before her. She is not exactly who Katy imagined she might be, however, and soon Katy must reconcile the mother who knew everything with the young woman who does not yet have a clue. 

    Goodreads Description:
    Librarian Lucy’s new historic house comes with a lot of baggage and family secrets. Can she put them to rest or will a killer bring Lucy’s family to their downfall, in the 9th Lighthouse Library mystery.

    It’s spring in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and Lucy and Connor have moved into their new home at last, a historic cottage on the Nags Head Beach. The house needs a lot of renovations, but they worked hard over the winter to get it ready. Lucy is now happily immersed in her work at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library, planning her wedding, and decorating the house. That is, until a dead body disrupts their peaceful new abode.   

    The first night Lucy’s alone in the house, with the company of Charles the library cat, she hears sounds. Investigating they see footsteps in the dust of the unfinished living room, and the door to the outside is open. Lucy’s reminded that the house is said to be haunted: forty years ago the teenage daughter of the owners fled in the night, and never again stepped foot inside her family home. 

    But the sounds have an all-too-human origin and one evening Lucy and Connor find the dead body of a man they don’t even recognize in their kitchen. They soon realize he has a long-time connection to their house. Lucy’s forced to find out what happened all those years ago and why it’s threatening her happiness today.

    Meanwhile, the Classic Novel Reading Club is reading The House of the Seven Gables by Nathanial Hawthorne, a book about another old house full of secrets. Can Lucy find parallels to her own situation in Hawthorne’s fiction before the killer strikes again?

    Goodreads Description:
    Rumi Seto spends a lot of time worrying she doesn’t have the answers to everything. What to eat, where to go, whom to love. But there is one thing she is absolutely sure of—she wants to spend the rest of her life writing music with her younger sister, Lea.

    Then Lea dies in a car accident, and her mother sends her away to live with her aunt in Hawaii while she deals with her own grief. Now thousands of miles from home, Rumi struggles to navigate the loss of her sister, being abandoned by her mother, and the absence of music in her life. With the help of the “boys next door”—a teenage surfer named Kai, who smiles too much and doesn’t take anything seriously, and an eighty-year-old named George Watanabe, who succumbed to his own grief years ago—Rumi attempts to find her way back to her music, to write the song she and Lea never had the chance to finish.

    Aching, powerful, and unflinchingly honest, Summer Bird Blue explores big truths about insurmountable grief, unconditional love, and how to forgive even when it feels impossible. 

    Goodreads Description:
    After her parents get divorced, Ann Uekusa and her mother move from Tokyo to rural Shimane. Accustomed to the anonymity of city living, Ann can’t get used to the almost overbearing kindness of the people in her mother’s hometown. But when personal tragedy strikes, Ann discovers how much she needs that kindness.

    Goodreads Description:
    For Lila Reyes, a summer in England was never part of the plan. The plan was 1) take over her abuela’s role as head baker at their panadería, 2) move in with her best friend after graduation, and 3) live happily ever after with her boyfriend. But then the Trifecta happened, and everything—including Lila herself—fell apart.

    Worried about Lila’s mental health, her parents make a new plan for her: spend three months with family friends in Winchester, England, to relax and reset. But with the lack of sun, a grumpy inn cook, and a small town lacking Miami flavor (both in food and otherwise), what would be a dream trip for some feels more like a nightmare to Lila…until she meets Orion Maxwell.

    A teashop clerk with troubles of his own, Orion is determined to help Lila out of her funk, and appoints himself as her personal tour guide. From Winchester’s drama-filled music scene to the sweeping English countryside, it isn’t long before Lila is not only charmed by Orion, but England itself. Soon a new future is beginning to form in Lila’s mind—one that would mean leaving everything she ever planned behind.

    QOTD: What books covers feel like summer to you?
    Let us know!