Sunday Post #291

 

The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated reviewer book blog, and is a post to recap my bookish and non-bookish things from the last week. I'm also linking up to The Sunday Salon hosted by Deb Nance @Readerbuzz.

Happy Sunday! 

It's been a beautiful week, a little cold here, but sunny. We went to Filoli in Woodside, California, which is a botanical garden/historic house built by the Bourne's, the family that owned the Empire Gold Mine out here. It was a long drive almost 3 hours, but it was worth it! The weather was sunny and warm, but not too warm. 

Filoli back gardens

Tulips were in bloom everywhere

Tea room

Rhododendron 

Wisteria was blooming everywhere!

Of course, the most important room in the house: The Library!

The photos I took didn't do it justice. It was gorgeous!

I subscribed to Britbox to watch the film adaptations of Agatha Christie. I've been re-reading her books by audio and watched A Murder is Announced (Miss Marple) and Dead Man's Folly (Hercule Poirot). I have to say Hercule with David Suchet is my favorite. He narrates a few of the audio books too, which is a treat. There's a new film adaptation on Britbox of Towards Zero with Matthew Rhys. I haven't been a fan of the newer adaptations which have tried to "modernize" the stories. I hope Towards Zero is better.

Do you have any favorite book to film adaptations? I should do up a post with some of my favorites.

Read:

(Click on cover for Goodreads link)

The Seven O'Clock Club by Amelia Ireland 4.5 Stars

The Eights by Joanna Miller 5 Stars

Heartwood by Amity Gage 3 Stars

I had a pretty good reading week. Loved The Eights and The Seven O'Clock Club, both by debut authors. I was hoping to love Heartwood, it really sounded like my kind of book, but it ended up being a mixed bag for me. 

Received:

Thank you to Minotaur Books!

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Review: The Eights by Joanna Miller

 

The Eights by Joanna Miller

Publication Date: April 15th 2025 by G.P. Putnam's Sons

Pages: 384

Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

What a brilliant and moving debut! I find the events around the time of WWI very interesting, but the personal aspects brought The Eights to life for me!

 

The story alternates between Otto, Beatrice, Dora and Marianne’s POV, all touched by the war and the struggles women faced at that time. So many challenges being part of the first group of women to potentially earn a degree from Oxford in 1920. Nicknamed “The Eights” because of their residence building, they bond over their experiences drawing close. Their friendship and support of each other was moving. There was a little bit of romance, but it was a small, but wonderful part of the story!

 

Otto is haunted by her memories of volunteering during the war. Dora deals with the loss of her brother and fiancé. Beatrice’s mother loved fighting for women’s rights more than her daughter. Beatrice’s mother was awful!  Then there’s the pastor’s daughter, Marianne, carrying a secret. At first, I thought she was the least interesting, but she ended up being my favorite by the end! I loved them all, though!

5 Stars

Book Description:

They knew they were changing history.
They didn't know they would change each other.

Following the unlikely friendship of four of the first ever women to matriculate at Oxford University in the aftermath of the First World War, a captivating debut novel about sisterhood, self-determination and the many forms courage can take.

Oxford, 1920. For the first time in its 1000-year history, the world's most famous university has admitted female students. Giddy with dreams of equality, education and emancipation, four young women move into neighbouring rooms. Beatrice, Dora, Marianne and Otto (collectively known as The Eights) have come here from all walks of life, and they are thrown into an unlikely, life-affirming friendship.

Dora was never meant to go to university, but, after losing both her brother and her fiancé on the battlefield, has arrived in their place. Politically-minded Beatrice, daughter of a famous suffragette, sees Oxford as a chance to make her own way - and some friends her own age. Otto was a nurse during the war but is excited to return to her socialite lifestyle in Oxford - where she hopes to find distraction from the memories that haunt her. And finally Marianne, the quiet, clever daughter of a village pastor, who has a shocking secret she must hide from everyone, even her new friends, if she is to succeed.

But Oxford's dreaming spires cast a dark shadow: in 1920, misogyny is still rife, influenza is still a threat, and the ghosts of the Great War are still very real indeed. And as the group navigate this tumultuous moment in time, their friendship will become more important than ever.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: 

Joanna Miller studied English at Exeter College, Oxford, and later returned to complete an English teaching degree at the Department of Educational Studies. After ten years as a teacher and literacy adviser, she set up an award-winning poetry gift business. Miller's rhyming verse has been filmed twice by the BBC, and in 2015 she won the Poetry Prize, run by Bloomsbury Publishing and the National Literacy Trust. In 2021, Miller graduated from the Faber Academy, after which she was accepted on the Escalator Talent Development Scheme at The National Centre for Writing. She has recently returned to Oxford to study part-time for a diploma in creative writing. 

Top Ten Tuesday & TMST: Books on My Spring 2025 to-Read List

 

This week I'm combining two weekly Tuesday memes:

I missed TMST and TTT's 2/25/25 topic. Both were Books on My Spring 2025 to-Read List. I'm posting it now. Yep, I'm behind!

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post where bloggers discuss a wide range of topics from books and blogging to life in general. For info on TMST click HERE.

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Artsy Reader where each week they post a new top ten list and ask fellow bookish folk to share their lists on that topic.

(Click on cover to take you to Goodreads listing)

How to Seal Your Own Fate (Castle Knoll Files #2) by Kristen Perrin

Death at a Highland Wedding (A Rip Through Time #4) by Kelley Armstrong

Hidden Nature by Nora Roberts

Cold Burn (National Parks #2) by A. J. Landau

The Love Haters by Katherine Center

Battle of the Bookstores by Ali Brady

Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds by Allison Brennan

The Busybody Book Club by Freya Sampson

Other People's Summers by Sarah Morgan

The Summer That Changed Everything by Brenda Novak

What is on your Spring TBR?

Sunday Post #290

 

The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated reviewer book blog, and is a post to recap my bookish and non-bookish things from the last week. I'm also linking up to The Sunday Salon hosted by Deb Nance @Readerbuzz.

It feels like ages since I last posted a Sunday Post, but it's only been two weeks. I was sick for three weeks after Montana and I wasn't sure I'd be well enough to attend a wedding we were set to go to last weekend in Las Vegas, but I finally felt better. We flew up last Saturday went to lunch at the hotel, then the wedding and then flew home early Sunday. Tiring, but we had fun visiting with friends and dancing. 

Gardens inside the Wynn in Vegas

Wynn Gardens

This week I worked and spent time planting all my plants I've grown from seedling into the garden: tomato, cucumber, green onions, jalapeno peppers, Anaheim chilies, cilantro, summer squash, zucchini, and more I'm probably forgetting. I also planted a bunch of cosmos, zinnias, scabiosa. Lots of things are starting to bloom in the garden!

Lilac starting to open

Pansies and Johnny Jump-Ups coming back nicely after winter!

Puzzle completed: Cape Village by Charles Wysocki

Puzzle: Pickwick Cottage by Charles Wysocki. You can see on the middle right there's a piece missing. I looked all over the floor and couldn't find it. It showed up under the table a week later! Have no idea how that happened.

Two weeks worth of reading:

(Click on cover to take you to Goodreads link)

A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie-4 Stars

A Proposal to Die For by Molly Harper-4 Stars

Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie-4 Stars

The Page Turner by Viola Shipman-3.5 Stars

First-Time Caller by B.K. Borison-3 Stars

Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping on a Dead Man by Jesse Q. Sutanto-4 Stars

Swept Away by Beth O'Leary-4.5 Stars

I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I'm Trapped in a Rom-Com by Kimberly Lemming-3.5 Stars

Received:

Thank you to Harlequin Trade, Harlequin Audio, Hachette Audio, Penguin Random House Audio, Zibby Publishing and Libro.fm!

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Review: The Page Turner by Viola Shipman

 

The Page Turner by Viola Shipman

Publication Date: March 4th 2025 by Graydon House & Harlequin Audio

Pages: 336

Audio Book Length: 9hrs 49mins

Narrators: Katharine Chin

Source: Publishers

Rating: ★★★½

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Emma Page and her family’s lives center around books, however in very different ways. Emma’s parents own The Mighty Page, a publishing house dedicated to elevated “literary” books, while Emma loves the feel-good romances introduced by her late grandmother. Her sister, Jenna, is a powerful book influencer paid to push books she hardly even reads anymore.

 

Emma has written a book, but it’s the kind of mainstream, women’s fiction her parents wouldn’t consider publishing. When her parents announce a business collaboration with a best-selling author Emma despises, she’s threatened by him and put in a tough position.

 

I really enjoyed seeing Emma reconnect with her sister while uncovering some of their family secrets. I loved how they banded together to take down a vile man! Emma’s parents weren’t very likeable in the beginning, mostly her mother, but I understood her better by the end with some backstory revealed.  

 

The Page Turner took a little to get into, with a lot of commentary on the publishing world and some of the narrow views on what constitutes quality reading, but it shaped up to be a feel-good story!  I was also moved by the author’s note on what inspired his story.

 

I enjoyed Katharine Chin’s narration, and I thought she did well with both male and female voices. I listened at 1.75x normal speed.

3.5 Stars

Book Description:

A young romance writer makes a discovery that throws her elitist family into chaos.

Emma Page grew up the black sheep in a bookish household, raised to believe fine literature is the only worthy type of fiction. Her parents, self-proclaimed “serious” authors who run their own vanity press, The Mighty Pages, mingle in highbrow social circles that look down on anything too popular or mainstream, while her sister, Jess, is a powerful social-media influencer whose stylish reviews can make or break a novel.

Hiding her own romance manuscript from her disapproving parents, Emma finds inspiration at the family cottage among the “fluff” they despise: the juicy summer romances that belonged to her late grandmother. But a chance discovery unearthed from her Gigi’s belongings reveals a secret that has the power to ruin her parents’ business and destroy their reputation in the industry—a secret that has already fallen into the hands of an unscrupulous publishing insider with a grudge to settle. Now Emma must decide: As much as she’s dreamed of the day her parents are forced to confront their own egos, can she really just sit back and watch The Mighty Pages be exposed and their legacy destroyed?

Blog Tour Review: Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (On a Deadman) by Jesse Q. Sutanto

 

Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (On a Deadman) (Vera Wong #2) by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Publication Date: April 1st 2025 by Berkley Books

Pages: 336

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Vera’s life is full with family and friends since the last story, but she’s maybe just a bit bored. However, things change when she spies a distressed young woman, Millie, outside the police station. Millie’s friend, Thomas, a social media influencer, is missing, and the case intersects with one that Detective Selena Gray, her soon to be daughter-in-law (according to Vera), is working on.

 

In her investigation Vera comes across several new people who need her wise advice and mothering. I love Vera’s no-nonsense approach to other people’s problems! She’s hilarious and usually right. She also had an abundance of understanding and sympathy for her new friends, and they needed it!

 

Vera Wong’s Guide for Snooping on a Dead Man had a lot of laugh-out-loud moments but also dealt with a serious and troubling issue that is so prevalent today! I enjoyed reading the author’s note describing the real event that inspired the plot for Vera’s latest caper. The ending hinted at another story to come for Vera. I look forward to it!

4 Stars

Book Description:

Vera Wong is back and as meddling as ever in this follow-up to the hit Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers.…

Ever since a man was found dead in Vera's teahouse, life has been good. For Vera that is. She’s surrounded by loved ones, her shop is bustling, and best of all, her son, Tilly, has a girlfriend! All thanks to Vera, because Tilly's girlfriend is none other than Officer Selena Gray. The very same Officer Gray that she had harassed while investigating the teahouse murder. Still, Vera wishes more dead bodies would pop up in her shop, but one mustn't be ungrateful, even if one is slightly...bored.

Then Vera comes across a distressed young woman who is obviously in need of her kindly guidance. The young woman is looking for a missing friend. Fortunately, while cat-sitting at Tilly and Selena's, Vera finds a treasure Selena's briefcase. Inside is a file about the death of an enigmatic influencer—who also happens to be the friend that the young woman was looking for.

Online, Xander had it a parade of private jets, fabulous parties with socialites, and a burgeoning career as a social media influencer. The only problem is, after his body is fished out of Mission Bay, the police can't seem to actually identify him. Who is Xander Lin? Nobody knows. Every contact is a dead end. Everybody claims not to know him, not even his parents.

Vera is determined to solve Xander's murder. After all, doing so would surely be a big favor to Selena, and there is nothing she wouldn't do for her future daughter-in-law.

Review: Swept Away by Beth O'Leary

 

Swept Away by Beth O'Leary

Publication Date: April 1st 2025 by Berkley

Pages: 384

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★½

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Zeke and Lexi find themselves in the middle of the ocean on a houseboat with no phone reception, a dead battery and no means of navigation. They’re essentially strangers but now must rely on each other to survive.

 

Swept Away was brilliant! There was something magical and magnetic between Zeke and Lexi from the start, but facing the trial together cemented their bond. Having nowhere to go, they shared their deepest feelings, insecurities, fears and dreams. I was on the edge of my seat with some of the things that happened, worried about their survival!

 

Beth O’Leary is famous for her surprise twists and there was one here that reshaped things. I did suspect before it was revealed, though. It did make things messier and complicated but didn’t change my love for the story from beginning to end! I will say that I was more than a little miffed with Penny.

4.5 Stars

Book Description:

Two strangers find themselves stranded at sea together in this epic new love story by bestselling author Beth O’Leary.

What if you were lost at sea…with your one-night stand?

Zeke and Lexi thought it would just be a night of fun. They had no intentions of seeing each other again. Zeke is only in town for the weekend to buy back his late father’s houseboat. Lexi has no time for dating when she needs to help take care of her best friend's daughter.

Going back home with a stranger seems like a perfect escape from their problems. But a miscommunication in the dark, foggy night means no one tied the houseboat to the dock. The next morning, Zeke and Lexi realize all they can see is miles and miles of water.

With just a few provisions on the idle boat, Zeke and Lexi must figure out how to get back home. But aside from their survival, they’re facing another challenge. Because when you’re stuck together for days on end, it gives you a lot of time to get to know someone—and to fall in love with them.

Author Bio: Beth O'Leary is a Sunday Times bestselling author whose novels have been translated into more than thirty languages. Beth writes her books in the English countryside with a very badly behaved golden retriever for company. If she's not at her desk, you'll usually find her curled up somewhere with a book, a cup of tea, and several woolly jumpers (whatever the weather).