Recent Reads | The Berry Pickers and Night Watcher

Posted July 14, 2025 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

I bought this book on a whim (because of all the positive reviews and hype) at a book event a couple of years ago and it sat on my shelf. I was never sure literary mysteries – especially historical fiction – would be for me. I had a few major success stories with them this year and then my book club picked this for our July meeting, so it was finally time to try it… and it’s really not a mystery honestly. The book follows a Native American family as they come down to Maine from Nova Scotia to pick berries each summer. Their youngest daughter, Ruthie, goes missing one summer and they are never the same. Meanwhile, there’s another POV following Norma – a young girl growing up in Maine. It kind of sounds like a mystery of trying to find this missing girl but it’s painfully obvious what’s happening the entire book. There’s really no actual mystery – it’s more a story of how Norma and Joe (Ruthie’s brother) survive and go through struggles over the years. I really have no idea how the rest of book club will feel about this one. It has such a high rating on Goodreads but honestly I was completely underwhelmed. Yes, some of it is because I was expecting a historical literary mystery – I absolutely loved THE GOD OF THE WOODS and ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK. I was hoping for something similar. Even once I realized the book […]

Recent Reads | Dead of Summer and No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding

Posted July 7, 2025 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

I fell in love with Maxwell’s debut THE GOLDEN SPOON. Her sophomore novel was similar – kind of a quiet thriller and a little on the cozy side but not really? She has a very distinct style that was further solidified with this novel. We follow a few characters on Hadley Island – Orla (whose best friend went missing years ago, presumed dead), Henry (the man accused of killing her friend Alice), and Faith (joining her rich boyfriend David for the summer at their mansion). Their POVs alternate to give us a full picture of what’s happening on the island, where Orla is returning for the first time since she moved to NYC. This sets a bunch of things in motion and will eventually tie everyone together and solve the mystery of what happened to Alice. I’m a sucker for a coastal New England kind of book and this had it in spades. It was super atmospheric with the small island setting, everyone-knows-everyone. There’s a lot of build up and scene/character-setting through more than half of the book. Nothing really spooky or edge-of-your seat kind of happens until after 60%. I’m okay with this since I’ve come to expect it from Maxwell’s books. Overall this book was pretty good, albeit predictable. I figured out a few things along the way. I was generally interested the entire time while reading but I don’t think it’s an unputdownable thriller, much like her others! I really enjoyed the first installment in this series […]

Ranking Books by Favorite Authors | Taylor Jenkins Reid

Posted July 4, 2025 / Book Lists, Features / 1 Comment

I thought this was going to be a more common series on my blog but I basically wrote one post and never tried it again! The idea came from the late Grace at Rebel Mommy Book Blog. I still miss her positivity in the book community and hope I can keep doing this post justice! Previous installments include Sandhya Menon, Rachel Lynn Solomon, Christina Lauren, and Jennifer Lynn Barnes. Today I’ll be featuring… Taylor Jenkins Reid I was pretty shocked when I realized I never featured TJR for this one (along with Emily Henry but we’ll get there) when writing my review for her newest release. I still have ONE super old TJR book to read that I keep hoarding for a rainy day… but otherwise, I’ve read all of the things. You’ll see that I generally have a bias for her earlier work and romance-heavy novels compared to the more historical fiction-leaning books she’s written more recently… still most books in the 4.5 – 5 star range! 🙂 5 Stars Maybe in Another Life // This one is my all-time favorite for a lot of reasons. I’m a sucker for a “what if” kind of Sliding Doors, parallel life story. TJR knocked it out of the park within the specific subgenre or trope. It has always stuck with me and I’d be shocked if this ever made it out of the top spot… After I Do // Another oldie-but-goodie as a top favorite. I just loved the concept of this book […]

Bookmark Lit Bulletin | June 2025

Posted July 2, 2025 / Bookmark Lit Bulletin, Features, Wrap-Ups / 1 Comment

The Bookmark Lit Bulletin wraps up the last month in reading and what was on the blog, as well as what’s coming up next. You can check out my book haul, books read, posts shared, challenge updates, etc. You can read past bulletins here. If you’re looking for more personal updates, you can check out my Lauren Lately feature; it highlights my life events and non-bookish fun from the previous 30 days. Weird month in June yet again. I read a 600 page book in two days but managed to spend more than half the month reading one of my most anticipated reads. I kept having to put books on hold to finish other books and it was kind of a mess. I was hoping to slide one more book in before the end of the month but we moved so that took up an obscene amount of time for the final 5ish days. It was a pain in the butt but we’re now in our one-month rental and ready to close on our house soon! Here’s hoping, with a vacation happening as we speak and a much more chill month ahead, I’ll read more! 5 books in June 4 read • 0 reread • 1 DNF Formats: 4 mixed, 1 egalley Status/source: 1 purchased, 1 preordered, 1 review copy, 1 library book, 1 owned Age Target: 5 adult Here are all the books I read this month with ratings! 25 in 25: 60% 52 Book Club: 67% Buzzword Reading […]

July TBR

Posted June 30, 2025 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 0 Comments

My monthly TBR feature here shows my progress based on last month’s TBR, my plans for this month, and anything else I might be thinking about from a reading perspective. Sometimes I feature a little poll at the bottom so you guys can help me figure out a certain title I should read from a group of books. June TBR June was not as productive of a reading month as May but that’s fine – I sacrificed quantity for quality and ended up with two five-star reads back to back! I’m drafting this post before finishing my final book of the month so who knows, what if it’s three in a row?! In any case, I have a bunch of books to choose from in July! Review Copies Okay so embarrassing for June… I only read one egalley from my previous list. To be fair, I was distracted by new releases and book club picks. I also got a book hangover from binge-reading a 600 page book in two days. Anyways, here are the remaining books from last month that I just need to lock in on for July. I especially want to read MAINE CHARACTERS while I’m in Maine for obvious reasons. There’s also Summerween to think about, so that TBR will be at the bottom! Physical Books As you know by now, we’re moving! By the time this post goes up we will have fully moved out of our house (the one we’ve rented […]

Five-Star Recent Reads | All the Colors of the Dark and Atmosphere

Posted June 26, 2025 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

It’s taken me a really long time to write this review because there’s SO much within this book that could be discussed. I got it a year ago with BOTM and put it off because of the length. I wasn’t sure how another historical literary mystery would go for me. I loved THE GOD OF THE WOODS but surely this isn’t a genre for me, right?! Very wrong. I loved this book! We picked it for my local mystery/thriller book club and there was no shortage of topics to discuss. Everyone gave it 5 stars with a few 4.5 stars sprinkled in. We love the fact that he tackled so many topics without ever feeling like too much, or feeling like the book was too long for a mystery. It’s very much a character study, a story of the time period, and a mystery all rolled into one. The reviewers who didn’t like this book thought the writing was trying too hard or thought it was boring, and I definitely disagree. I read this 600+ page book in two days and literally could not stop reading it. The short chapters coupled with the way he created suspense even within paragraphs because of the writing style made this impossible to put down for me. I will say, my only complaint is that some passages were confusing because of how he wrote them. Sometimes I had to read things more than once. The author was so careful with his language though because […]

Top Ten Tuesdays #472: Anticipated Reads

Posted June 24, 2025 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 3 Comments

Anticipated Reads for EOY (Jul-Dec) Top Ten Tuesdays were started by The Broke and the Bookish and are now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, where we make lists of our top ten books (or something else!) based on that week’s prompt. The topics are provided ahead of time and can be found here. Book links bring you to Goodreads or my review. I love posts like this to see what is going on for the remainder of the year. I’m surprised to see I currently have no books planned for December but I’m sure they’ll pop up as the year progresses! I usually don’t include my egalleys on here because they’re not “anticipated” when I have them on my ereader, right? But I like advertising all the goods! Note: I already read DEAD OF SUMMER by Jessa Maxwell – that would be featured in my July section otherwise. I drafted this in early July so there’s a chance more books get read before this goes live too 😉 July August September October November

Top Ten Tuesdays #471: Summer TBR

Posted June 17, 2025 / Top 10 Tuesdays, Weekly Memes / 4 Comments

Summer TBR Top Ten Tuesdays were started by The Broke and the Bookish and are now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, where we make lists of our top ten books (or something else!) based on that week’s prompt. The topics are provided ahead of time and can be found here. Book links bring you to Goodreads or my review. I’ve posted a number of summery things lately (summer reading challenges, summery books on my general reading list, and summer TBR/bucket list) but thought I would use this TTT to share the summer TBR graphic I shared on Instagram.

Recent Reads | Parents Weekend and One Golden Summer

Posted June 9, 2025 / Book Reviews, Recent Reads / 0 Comments

I’ve had books by Alex Finlay on my TBR for a long time – I don’t know why this one is the one I finally read but I think it maybe gave me a good sense for his writing and overall style. I’m definitely interested in reading more books by him now! This was good. The story follows a parents weekend at a college in California. Five students (of parents attending the weekend) go missing and a newly relocated FBI agent, Keller (I guess she’s from some of his other books), is on the case. Many of them are rich and powerful so there are theories about why these kids were taken, by who, how, and – most important – where they are. A few things kinda bugged me (lots of red herrings and plot points that didn’t do anything) but overall I liked the format and writing. I did predict whodunnit. The more middling reviews I read, the more I think I should have lowered my rating to the 3.5 range… but honestly it kept me engaged the whole time. I was curious to read more and thought the multiple POVs were decent, albeit a little confusing. I’ll be especially curious to read more books featuring Keller! Carley Fortune is soooo good. I was really craving a summer read like this thanks to a conversation with my friend Jackie, and this totally hit the spot. I wrote a TTT about this and a summer bucket list within the last week […]

Summer Reading Challenges

Posted June 5, 2025 / Book Lists, Features, TBR Lists / 0 Comments

I’m a sucker for a reading challenge, as you’ve come to know over the years, but I’m an even bigger sucker for a summer-themed one. Anything to bring me back to the school days! lol. I’ve now written multiple summer bookish posts for 2025: bucket list and TBR, summery reads, and upcoming 2025 summer releases I’m excited about. I think another TTT will be coming in a few weeks too! In any case, I’m signing myself up for two summer reading challenges this year and thought I’d share them for those interested! The Book Clurb 2025 Summer Reading Challenge is hosted by some friends from high school! They have an in-person book club that they’ve extended online with a fun reading challenge for others to join. I did so on the Storygraph challenges page. I did a lot of scientific analysis to perfectly match books already on my summer TBR to various prompts and make sure I check them all off. Set during summer: I just finished DEAD OF SUMMER this week and it certainly meets the prompt in a few ways. Really enjoyed it overall. Less than 250 pages: Pretty easy choice here is to read SAGA vol. 12 since it came out recently and is a graphic novel in the 200 page range. I like to keep up with these every time a new one comes out. Sports romance: I wasn’t sure what book I was going to do for this since I’m kind of out of my hockey romance […]