Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #521: Bearer of Bad News by Elisabeth Dini

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with Can't Wait Wednesday hosted over at Wishful Endings. 

From the publisher: A sharply funny and moving debut in which a young woman accepts a job that takes her though the Italian Dolomites and into an international mystery far greater—and more personal—than she could have ever expected.

For someone who hates secrets, Las Vegas hairdresser Lucy Rey is about to be faced with a whole bunch of them. After discovering that her fiancé has been cheating on her with someone from his improv class, she finds herself short on funds and desperate for a change of scenery. Enter a most unusual job opportunity: a Bearer of Bad News.

Sure, it’s a little weird—the job description has few details, and the bad news is more like a vaguely worded threat—but Lucy can’t say no to the perks: an all-expenses-paid trip to the Italian Dolomites, plus a generous bonus if she proves she’s delivered the message. Then she learns that her task is just the tip of the iceberg.

Launched into a world of betrayal and greed involving eighty-year-old secrets, stolen jewels, and a World War II–era mystery, Lucy is in over her head. And she’s connected to her mission in ways she never saw coming.

For fans of Gail Honeyman’s Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and Kirstin Chen’s Counterfeit, Bearer of Bad News is an exhilarating romp that deftly explores the weight of secrets, the power of friendship, and how, by healing the wounds of the past, we can build a brighter tomorrow.

Bearer of Bad News by Elisabeth Dini is expected out April 29, 2025 from Gallery Books.

Why am I waiting on this book? The job opportunity, Bearer of Bad News, is an interesting concept. And I'm wondering what her connection to the secrets is. It doesn't hurt that it's described as sharply funny. I enjoy books with a good sense of humor.

What book are you waiting on? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #396: French Braid by Anne Tyler

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with Can't Wait Wednesday hosted over at Wishful Endings.

From the publisher:

A major new novel from the beloved Pulitzer Prize–winning author—a freshly observed, funny, joyful, brilliantly perceptive journey deep into one family’s foibles, from the 1950s up to our pandemic present.

The Garretts take their first and last family vacation in the summer of 1959. They hardly ever venture beyond Baltimore, but in some ways they have never been farther apart. Mercy has trouble resisting the siren call of her aspirations to be a painter, which means less time keeping house for her husband, Robin. Their teenage daughters, steady Alice and boy-crazy Lily, could not have less in common. Their youngest, David, is already intent on escaping his family's orbit, for reasons none of them understand. Yet, as these lives advance across decades, the Garretts' influences on one another ripple ineffably but unmistakably through each generation.
 
Full of heartbreak and hilarity, French Braid is classic Anne Tyler: a stirring, uncannily insightful novel of tremendous warmth and humor that illuminates the kindnesses and cruelties of our daily lives, the impossibility of breaking free from those who love us, and how close—yet how unknowable—every family is to itself.

French Braid by Anne Tyler is expected to be published March 22nd, 2022 by Knopf. 

Why am I waiting on this book? I've enjoyed Anne Tyler's writing ever since I read Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant years ago. I like that in the description it says there is humor. The whole book won't be funny, but the humor will probably balance the heartbreak. 

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesday: Grendel's Guide to Love and War by A.E. Kaplan

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by The Purplebooker.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

It was mid-July in Virginia, and in mid-July in Virginia everything is sort of damp and disgusting. The air. The grass. My sweat-coated body. You didn't walk through the air so much as swim through it.

~ 2% through on my Kindle

Actually, that's pretty much true for much, if not all, of the south.

What's your teaser this week? Share it or a link in the comments. Are you enjoying your book? Let us know! Happy Reading!

Disclaimer: The quotations come from an ARC of the book and may appear differently in the final copy. The expected publication date is April 18, 2017 from Knopf Books for Young Readers.

Waiting on Wednesday #181: How to Find Love in a Bookshop by Veronica Henry

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event which had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with "Can't Wait Wednesday" hosted over at Wishful Endings.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

The enchanting story of a bookshop, its grieving owner, a supportive literary community, and the extraordinary power of books to heal the heart. 

Nightingale Books, nestled on the main street in an idyllic little village, is a dream come true for book lovers--a cozy haven and welcoming getaway for the literary-minded locals. But owner Emilia Nightingale is struggling to keep the shop open after her beloved father's death, and the temptation to sell is getting stronger. The property developers are circling, yet Emilia's loyal customers have become like family, and she can't imagine breaking the promise she made to her father to keep the store alive. 

There's Sarah, owner of the stately Peasebrook Manor, who has used the bookshop as an escape in the past few years, but it now seems there's a very specific reason for all those frequent visits. Next is roguish Jackson, who, after making a complete mess of his marriage, now looks to Emilia for advice on books for the son he misses so much. And the forever shy Thomasina, who runs a pop-up restaurant for two in her tiny cottage--she has a crush on a man she met in the cookbook section, but can hardly dream of working up the courage to admit her true feelings. 

Enter the world of Nightingale Books for a serving of romance, long-held secrets, and unexpected hopes for the future--and not just within the pages on the shelves. How to Find Love in a Bookshop is the delightful story of Emilia, the unforgettable cast of customers whose lives she has touched, and the books they all cherish. 

Why am I waiting on this one? I love books about bookstores and libraries. I've worked in both in the past. This one sounds like it has an interesting assortment of customers. Couple that with the struggle to keep the store open and it sounds like a good book. Expected publication is August 15, 2017 from Pamela Dorman books.

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Waiting on Wednesday #156: The Sleepwalker by Chris Bohjalian

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. 

Synopsis from Goodreads:

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Guest Room comes a spine-tingling novel of lies, loss, and buried desire the mesmerizing story of a wife and mother who vanishes from her bed late one night. 
When Annalee Ahlberg goes missing, her children fear the worst. Annalee is a sleepwalker whose affliction manifests in ways both bizarre and devastating. Once, she merely destroyed the hydrangeas in front of her Vermont home. More terrifying was the night her older daughter, Lianna, pulled her back from the precipice of the Gale River bridge. The morning of Annalee's disappearance, a search party combs the nearby woods. Annalee's husband, Warren, flies home from a business trip. Lianna is questioned by a young, hazel-eyed detective. And her little sister, Paige, takes to swimming the Gale to look for clues. When the police discover a small swatch of fabric, a nightshirt, ripped and hanging from a tree branch, it seems certain Annalee is dead, but Gavin Rikert, the hazel-eyed detective, continues to call, continues to stop by the Ahlbergs' Victorian home. As Lianna peels back the layers of mystery surrounding Annalee's disappearance, she finds herself drawn to Gavin, but she must ask herself: Why does the detective know so much about her mother? Why did Annalee leave her bed only when her father was away? And if she really died while sleepwalking, where was the body? 

Conjuring the strange and mysterious world of parasomnia, a place somewhere between dreaming and wakefulness, The Sleepwalker is a masterful novel from one of our most treasured storytellers." 

The Sleepwalker is due out January 10, 2017 from Doubleday Books.

Why am I waiting on this book? The whole sleepwalking angle is fascinating to me. And I find I would like to know what really happened to Annalee Ahlberg.

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our ever-growing TBR lists. Thanks for coming by!

Review: Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler

Published June 21st 2016
by Hogarth

Kate Battista has been feeling a little stuck. Stuck in her job at which she seems to be frequently in trouble. Stuck in taking care of her widowed father and her somewhat obnoxious teenage sister. Now Kate is in a bit of a pickle. Her beloved, socially inept father wants her to marry his research assistant so that he can remain in the country. He feels that he is on the verge of a breakthrough and losing Pyotr will set him back.

This is a reworking of The Taming of the Shrew. Instead of multiple suitors, Kate has just the one, Pyotr. And it becomes a question of will Kate be able to resist the clumsy plan of Pyotr and her father to woo her into acceptance and get her to marry Pyotr. Kate isn't as biting as the character in The Taming of the Shrew. Instead she has her own social awkwardness. She seems to feel like she doesn't quite belong at work. And at home, she feels taken advantage of by her sister and father.

Will she marry Pyotr? Will she fall in love with him or would it be in name only?

It's a nice little tale at 240 pages and a good summer read. There is humor in the way that the characters handle things. I found it to be a quick read, the pace gradually increasing until the end. There is a short epilogue at the end, sort of a this is how things worked out in the long run.

I give it 4 stars out of 5 because it's well written. It feels a little awkward at times. There are some surprises as to how the characters acted. Three of the main characters are portrayed as lacking socially, and yet it works. I could almost picture this taking place in mid twentieth century rather than in the 21st. I would recommend this book for people who enjoy retellings of classic literature and enjoy the modern twists that they often involve.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Review: Magruder's Curiosity Cabinet by H.P. Wood

Published June 7th 2016
by Sourcebooks Landmark

Some Unusuals, Dozens, and a Plague
It's Coney Island 1904 and Kitty's mother has disappeared from their hotel while Kitty went to fetch medicine for her. Kitty is alone, penniless, and has no place to stay until conman Archie introduces her to the other Unusuals at Magruder's Curiosity Cabinet. And so we get to meet Zeph who has no legs and pretty much runs Magruder's, P-Ray the boy who tends to the flea circus, Rosalind - half man/half woman act, and Timur a brilliant scientist who lives upstairs at the Cabinet to name a few.

The Unusuals agree to help Kitty even though she is one of the Dozens - so called normal people. A sickness is spreading across the island. It's definitely worse than the flu. It's killing people seemingly randomly and without mercy. The end result is a quarantine of Coney Island cutting them off from the rest of New York. What will become of them all?

The characters are well developed and interesting to read about. They all are confronted with the plague and handle it in different ways. Some rise to be better, while others sink lower. My favorites are Kitty, Nazan, and Zeph. Kitty and Nazan were two of the Dozens. Zeph is an Unusual . It's interesting to watch how some of the Dozens become used to the Unusuals and start to see past their appearances and behaviors. I very much enjoyed the story and wished for a better outcome for several of the characters. It definitely has its dark moments.

This is not a story for children. It is very much an adult story and an excellent one at that. It deals with adult themes such as how people behave when they are cut off from the general populace with disease running rampant, racism, and differences in class.

I gave this book 4 stars based on the characterization, the plot, and pace. Even with the dark moments, it is a good read. There is more information about the book and its inspiration on the author's website.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Waiting on Wednesday #132: Jonathan Unleashed by Meg Rosoff

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

National Book Award finalist and bestselling author Meg Rosoff's charming, hilarious new novel about a young New Yorker’s search for happiness and the two dogs who help him find it—the perfect summer read 
 
Jonathan Trefoil’s boss is unhinged, his relationship baffling, and his apartment just the wrong side of legal. His girlfriend wants to marry someone just like him—only richer and with a different sense of humor. He doesn’t remember life being this confusing, back before everyone expected him to act like a grown-up.
 
When his brother asks him to look after his dogs, Jonathan's world view begins to shift. Could a border collie and a cocker spaniel hold the key to life, the universe, and everything? Their sly maneuvering on daily walks and visits to the alluring vet suggest that human emotional intelligence may not be top dog after all. 
 
A funny, wise romantic comedy set in Manhattan, Jonathan Unleashed is a story of tangled relationships, friendships, and dogs. Rosoff’s novel is for anyone wondering what to be when they grow up, and how on earth to get there.

Why am I waiting on this book? It sounds interesting. I like the idea that it might be the dogs that bring people together. And I like the last line of the synopsis, "Rosoff's novel is for anyone wondering what to be when they grow up, and how on earth to get there." The book is due out July 5, 2016 from Viking.

What's your WoW? Please leave a title or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our ever-growing TBR list.

Waiting on Wednesday #120: Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating.

This week the book I am waiting on is Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler. It's due out June 21, 2016 from Random House. 

Synopsis from Goodreads.com: 

‘You can’t get around Kate Battista as easily as all that’

Kate Battista is feeling stuck. How did she end up running house and home for her eccentric scientist father and uppity, pretty younger sister Bunny? Plus, she’s always in trouble at work – her pre-school charges adore her, but the adults don’t always appreciate her unusual opinions and forthright manner.

Dr Battista has other problems. After years out in the academic wilderness, he is on the verge of a breakthrough. His research could help millions. There’s only one problem: his brilliant young lab assistant, Pyotr, is about to be deported. And without Pyotr…

When Dr Battista cooks up an outrageous plan that will enable Pyotr to stay in the country, he’s relying – as usual – on Kate to help him. Kate is furious: this time he’s really asking too much. But will she be able to resist the two men’s touchingly ludicrous campaign to win her round?

Anne Tyler’s retelling of The Taming of the Shrew asks whether a thoroughly modern, independent woman like Kate would ever sacrifice herself for a man. Its answer is as individual, off-beat and funny as Kate herself. 

Why am I waiting on this book? It's a retelling of The Taming of the Shrew. And it's Anne Tyler. The 2 combined make it sound like it will be an awesome book.

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out.

Review: The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald

Small town love as in friendship and romance seems to be the theme in The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald.

Sara comes to visit Broken Wheel, Iowa from Sweden to meet her pen pal, Amy. Unfortunately, when she arrives she finds that Amy's funeral has just finished. Lucky for her the people in the town decide they need to look after her. She is provided with a place to stay - Amy's house. And there is a man who is out of work who is nominated to be her chauffeur since Sara doesn't drive. The townspeople go one further setting her up with a single man from amongst them whether he likes it or not.  Sara is treated well by everyone. Many won't let her pay her way. Wanting to give back to them in some way, Sara opens a bookstore in Amy's memory. She wants to share books with the people and show them that reading can be fun. 

There is more to it than that. There is a romance in store for her. And she develops a love for this small town as do the townspeople for her. There are mentions of other books scattered among the text. I would classify this as general fiction. It's the story of Sara and the town of Broken Wheel and how they change each other and learn to love one another.

I give this book 4 stars out of 5. The voice is a quiet, calm voice like reading Anne Tyler. The pace is slow in parts, but it does keep moving forward. I recommend this book for people who enjoy stories about small towns. It's a sweet book in many ways and a good read.

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend will be published January 19, 2016 by Sourcebooks Landmark.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Review: Dinner with Buddha by Roland Merullo

Expected to be available
June 2, 2015 from
Algonquin Books

Dinner with Buddha by Roland Merullo is essentially a novel that also has spiritual lessons that are an important part of the plot. 

Otto Ringling is a sort of Everyman representing the seeking, skeptical human. Volya Rinpoche is a world renowned spiritual teacher and Otto's brother-in-law. Together they travel around what I think of as the American West. They see both what are considered the great places to go sight-seeing and the more ordinary places that people live most likely getting there via a meal at a local restaurant. 

Along the way, Otto is exposed to many lessons of a spiritual nature. Some are easier for him to swallow than others. The hardest one of all may be that his niece might be the next Dalai Lama. To be honest, the author almost lost me on that one. But I realized that wasn't as important as Otto's reaction to the news. 

This is the third book in this series. Breakfast with Buddha is the first one and is described by the Boston Globe as "Enlightenment meets On the Road." I think this book could basically be described the same way.The actual places they travel aren't the same, but the idea of all this change happening on a road trip is the same.

It took me a while to read the book because I was trying to absorb the lessons to a degree as I read. It could be read straight through without doing that, but it seems you would miss out on a big part of the book that way. Or if you want the lessons after absorbing the fiction, you could always go back and read it again.

I gave this book 3 stars. I liked it. I enjoyed the story for the most part. I didn't like the aimless feel to some of the traveling around. It felt plotless in those parts and slowed down my reading. The spiritual lessons continued during those parts, but the sense of them having a destination faltered.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Review: The Faerie Tree by Jane Cable

Is there magic in memory? Is it magic to remember everything differently from the person who shared the time period with you? This is a thoughtful exploration of the relationship between two people, Robin and Izzie. They had been an item many years ago. Then Robin disappears. Then Izzie sees a bum that looks just like Robin after her husband dies. It's predictable in this one place, that bumping into Robin is the impetus for the rest of the book. 

Chapters alternate between the point of view of Robin and the point of view of Izzie. As the book goes on, it becomes clearer that their memories of what the time was like just before Robin disappeared is quite different. And it all starts on the day they visited the Faerie Tree. If you are expecting urban fantasy, this is not it. 

This book is different from most of my reads. The pace is slowish and thoughtful as each character examines what they remember from the time they were together. This is punctuated by spats, current memories, and life in general. 

I was unable to predict the ending for the most part beyond that they figure out whose memory of the past is more reliable.This is a good thing. I wasn't totally satisfied with the ending though. To tell you why, would mean spoilers. So, I will just say that there are unresolved issues with illness and with a sudden personality change. 

In general, if you like fiction about relationships that involve thoughtful examination of them, then this is a book for you. In some ways, the tone reminds me a little of Anne Tyler's writing. I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars for the quality of the writing. The pace of the book was a little slow in places, but overall it's a good book.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Review: Sweet as Cane, Salty as Tears by Ken Wheaton

"I'm so glad you came," Sonny says after his crying tapers off to a manageable whimper. "Karen-Anne always said one of  'em would have to die to get you back here for something other than Christmas."

Released July 1, 2014
by Open Road Media. 

Katie-Lee Fontenot aka Katherine to her New York friends and co-workers is surfing the web and checking Facebook same as the others in a meeting while some of the managers are discussing something among themselves when the electronic discussion among her co-workers turns to a zoo worker who was trampled by a black rhino down in Louisiana. At first Katie-Lee is going along with the jokes, until she reads the name of the woman hurt, Karen-Anne Castille - her baby sister.

She has made up her mind to go see her when her older sister, Kendra-Sue, tells her to get her butt on down there because now it's a funeral. So, Katie-Lee returns to Louisiana to face her family without the aid of modern medicine (Xanax, Lexapro, etc.).

Katie-Lee is a protagonist well worth reading about. She is 50 years old and single with all that entails. The company she works for is facing lay offs/ staff reductions. She comes across as a pretty real woman dealing with some real modern day problems.

Then we are transported to her family life, which like many a family life is a little weirder than life away from home. It's touching and funny. You feel for her and her siblings. And maybe there's a time or two where you might be tempted to knock heads, but that will pass.

It's a really good story and it's very well written. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars.

If you are interested in Cajun words and phrases such as those used in the book, Ken Wheaton has written at least 2 blog posts on them. Talkin' Funny: Louisiana Style and Even More Talkin' Funny: Louisiana Style

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Waiting on Wednesday #29 - The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating.

This week the book I am anticipating is The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. It's due to be published April 1, 2014 from Algonquin Books. 

From Goodreads.com :

On the faded Island Books sign hanging over the porch of the Victorian cottage is the motto "No Man Is an Island; Every Book Is a World." A. J. Fikry, the irascible owner, is about to discover just what that truly means.

A. J. Fikry's life is not at all what he expected it to be. His wife has died, his bookstore is experiencing the worst sales in its history, and now his prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, has been stolen. Slowly but surely, he is isolating himself from all the people of Alice Island-from Lambiase, the well-intentioned police officer who's always felt kindly toward Fikry; from Ismay, his sister-in-law who is hell-bent on saving him from his dreary self; from Amelia, the lovely and idealistic (if eccentric) Knightley Press sales rep who keeps on taking the ferry over to Alice Island, refusing to be deterred by A.J.'s bad attitude. Even the books in his store have stopped holding pleasure for him. These days, A.J. can only see them as a sign of a world that is changing too rapidly.

And then a mysterious package appears at the bookstore. It's a small package, but large in weight. It's that unexpected arrival that gives A. J. Fikry the opportunity to make his life over, the ability to see everything anew. It doesn't take long for the locals to notice the change overcoming A.J.; or for that determined sales rep, Amelia, to see her curmudgeonly client in a new light; or for the wisdom of all those books to become again the lifeblood of A.J.'s world; or for everything to twist again into a version of his life that he didn't see coming. As surprising as it is moving, The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry is an unforgettable tale of transformation and second chances, an irresistible affirmation of why we read, and why we love.

Why does it appeal to me? It's about a book lover, his life, and his bookstore. Sounds pretty good to me. 

What book are you waiting on this week?

Review: Book of Why by Nicholas Montemarano

Eric Newborn is a disillusioned self-help writer and widower living alone with his female German Shepherd named Ralph. "I didn't know, when I thought I knew it all, that I would join the chorus of askers," he says at one point in the book. Sam Leslie who comes looking for him is one of those askers. Her arrival and their subsequent adventure are the catalyst for Eric to finally tackle writing the book that he has promised the lady in the yellow dress he would write ages ago, The Book of Why.

Interspersed in the book are sections of his previous self help texts and talks. He spoke strongly about the law of attraction among other things: what you put out into the universe is what you get back. And this is one of the things that the other askers puzzle over so hard. Why is it that someone who does good and puts out good or is innocent as is a young baby can still have something bad happen to them? (Don't read it looking for a definitive answer to Why.)

Also throughout the book there are pieces of his life from when he is young through his marriage with Cary that help to explain first his belief system and then the disillusionment with it.

The book is beautifully written.  It will linger on your mind afterwards. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased opinion.