Can’t Wait for … Hot to Trot by M.C. Beaton and R.W. Green

M.C. Beaton’s Agatha Raisin headlines one of my favorite series. Aggie, somewhat cranky and irrational, has been a unique and not always pleasant voice since her cozy debut in 1992. Unfortunately, Beaton passed away in 2019, and I assumed that spelled the end for sleuthing adventures in the Cotswolds. But for this week’s Can’t-Wait Wednesday, I’m delighted to reveal that Beaton had at least one more mystery up her sleeve with some help from R.W. Green.

Ten Authors I’ve Read the Most Books By

Until last year, Goodreads featured one of my favorite reading tools: users could view the most popular authors from their list of read books—the writers they had read the most books by. It would have come in handy for this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, since that’s the theme. But good news! Turns out, I can still find this information by sorting my ‘Read’ shelf and counting … all 2,000 books. So please, enjoy this painstakingly curated stroll through my bookshelves and see some of the authors whose books I keep coming back to time and time again.

An Unexpected Favorite Lines Friday

Sometimes an author begins a chapter with a sentence so surprising that I have to read it twice—sometimes even three times. For this week’s Favorite Lines Friday, I’m highlighting one of my favorite examples of that.

Can’t Wait for … This Is All Your Fault by Aminah Mae Safi

Sometimes I don’t even have to finish a book’s blurb before it ends up on my TBR pile. First, I absolutely love when books take place over a short period of time—especially a day or less. A truncated time frame usually bumps up the tension and raises the stakes, and I’ll never complain about either of those things! Second, I love books that feature other books, bookstores, or libraries. Most of you can probably relate. With that in mind, imagine my delight when I first came across this week’s selection for Can’t-Wait Wednesday.

Becoming Duchess Goldblatt by Anonymous

One of the funniest writers working does most of her writing on Twitter these days. Smart. Charming. Whimsical. Duchess Goldblatt, famous for books such as Feasting on the Carcasses of My Enemies: A Love Story and An Axe to Grind, is the blip of optimism on twitter feeds needed and cherished by thousand of individuals all across the world every day. She’s also completely fictional … sort of. But there’s a very real voice behind the woman celebrated as Her Grace and she has a story all her own.

It’s a Long Year: Ten Releases for the Second Half of 2020

The first half of the year has come and gone … and, well, who among us hasn’t felt every second of it? But good news! There’s more. And with the next half comes an abundance of great new book releases. So for this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, here are ten books I’m hoping will get me through the rest of 2020.

A Talented Favorite Lines Friday

Every once in a while I read a book with a character who has a special talent and I think, “Well, I wish I could do that.” In many cases, it’s something that’s completely achievable. When I was in high school, I read The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood and fell in love with a craft that I knew next to nothing about. Yet there I was, a few weeks later, the proud owner of a pair of knitting needles and a lot of bad semi-finished projects. For this week’s Favorite Lines Friday, however, I’m highlighting a talent that, while great, might not be in my future’s cards.

Can’t Wait for … For Whom the Book Tolls by Laura Gail Black

A brand new start to a cozy mystery series is always exciting. Fun characters, quirky hooks, and the built-in promise that I’ll be able to explore those worlds for at least a few books. And when that new series has a bookish theme? Well, I’ll let this Can’t-Wait Wednesday show off itself…

Who’s Who: Thirteen Picture Book Biographies

Top Ten Tuesday is turning ten this week, so big congratulations and thank you to Jana for keeping things running! I only started participating this year, so I’ve missed out on a ton of great topics over the years. Fortunately, this week’s theme is a bit of a grab bag, so I’m featuring a topic I never had the chance to showcase. Here are thirteen—in celebration, I couldn’t stop at ten—of my favorite picture book biographies.

Midsummer Dreams at Mill Grange by Jenny Kane

When Thea Thomas needs an escape, she finds the perfect opportunity: leading the restoration of a Victorian manor, Mill Grange. And while she’s more than capable of taking on the job, the volunteer team and their leader, Mable Hastings, don’t seem keen on relinquishing any control. But with time running out, Thea and Mable will have to team up—and nab a number of new volunteers—if they ever hope to return the estate to its former glory. However, when a televised appeal for more help leads to Thea’s troubled former boyfriend showing up along with a handsome TV host, there might be more than just dust flying before the cleanup is over.