It’s summertime on the North Carolina coast and the livin’ is easy.
Unless that is, you’ve just lost your mother to cancer, your sister to her evangelical husband, and your husband to his executive assistant. Meet Gray Howard. Right when Gray could use a serious infusion of good karma in her life, she inadvertently gets a stranger fired from her job at the local pharmacy.
Diana Harrington’s summer isn’t off to the greatest start either: Hours before losing her job, she broke up with her boyfriend and moved out of their shared house with only a busted Impala for a bed. Lucky for her, Gray has an empty guest house and a very guilty conscience.
With Gray’s kindness, Diana’s tide begins to turn, but when the one that got away comes back, every secret from her past seems to resurface all at once. And, as Gray begins to blaze a new trail, she discovers, with Diana’s help, that what she envisioned as her perfect life may not be what she wants at all.
In her warmest, wittiest, and wisest novel yet, Kristy Woodson Harvey delivers a discerning portrait of modern womanhood through two vastly different lenses. Feels Like Falling is a beach bag essential for Harvey fans—and for a new generation of readers.
Publication Date:
April 28th, 2019
Genre:
Southern/Family Life Fiction
My Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
My Review:
Feels like Falling was my first book by Kristy Woodson Harvey. I read it while traveling home from vacation and it was the perfect balance of being easy and engaging without being too fluffy. It was the kind of book that I had a hard time putting down but I also didn’t want it to end because I wanted to follow along with these main characters even more.
I enjoyed getting to know the characters and the idea that sometimes “family” is the one we create ourselves. Harvey’s writing is emotional, engaging and has a perfect touch of humor. I loved the topic of friendship and supporting one another through tough situations and choices.
Feels Like Falling perfectly captured how sometimes the right people come into our lives when we least expect it and the amazing power of connection. The romance element was light and easy and helped round out this powerful story of friendship. I hope this becomes a series like her Peachtree Bluff trilogy!
Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.
Disclosure: Some of the links above are Amazon affiliate links. This means if you click through and make a purchase, it helps support this blog at no cost to you. Thank you!
“Sam Brandis was Tate Jones’s first: Her first love. Her first everything. Including her first heartbreak.
During a whirlwind two-week vacation abroad, Sam and Tate fell for each other in only the way that first loves do: sharing all of their hopes, dreams, and deepest secrets along the way. Sam was the first, and only, person that Tate—the long-lost daughter of one of the world’s biggest film stars—ever revealed her identity to. So when it became clear her trust was misplaced, her world shattered for good.
Fourteen years later, Tate, now an up-and-coming actress, only thinks about her first love every once in a blue moon. When she steps onto the set of her first big break, he’s the last person she expects to see. Yet here Sam is, the same charming, confident man she knew, but even more alluring than she remembered. Forced to confront the man who betrayed her, Tate must ask herself if it’s possible to do the wrong thing for the right reason… and whether “once in a lifetime” can come around twice.
With Christina Lauren’s signature “beautifully written and remarkably compelling” (Sarah J. Maas, New York Times bestselling author) prose and perfect for fans of Emily Giffin and Jennifer Weiner, Twice in a Blue Moon is an unforgettable and moving novel of young love and second chances.”
Publication Date:
October 22, 2019
Genre:
Contemporary Romance
My Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️
My Review:
Ever since I read Love and Other Words I have been a huge fan of books by Christina Lauren(the pen name for the writing duo Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings). These women know how to develop relatable characters while also introducing a variety of scenarios for their engaging novels to take on. I think because I loved Love and Other Words SO much, the bar has been set high for me. While the premise of Twice in a Blue Moon was promising, and I do enjoy the idea of “second chance romance” this one fell flat.
I really struggled to connect or find any believability with these main characters and their romance. Knowing each other for a couple of weeks as teenagers…becoming lovers and sharing their deepest darkest secrets and then there being a HUGE betrayal just didn’t work for me. It was all just too quick and then way too dramatic. I get it, teenager love can work in many storylines (hello Love and Other Words!!), but in this situation, it just didn’t.
This lack of believability and connection with Tate and Sam made it hard to really feel engaged with the storyline and I felt myself rolling my eyes more than feeling engrossed in the writing. Maybe it’s just me, but I just didn’t love this one.
Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.
I figured I should finally post these photos from our summer trip to Maine before I share our photos from our trip this past week. Going on trips together as a family is a big priority for us and near the end of August, we went for our annual “end of summer” vacation to Maine. It certainly isn’t always relaxing or stressfree, but we always make great memories and it is such a special place for the four of us.
We love that we have made this a tradition as a family and our first visit was when our older son was two and I was pregnant with our second son. Our life has changed a lot since then but it is still such a magical place to visit.
Maine was somewhere that both Lucas and I visited as children. As New Englanders, Maine is easy to get to by car and has a low key pace similar to Vermont but with the ocean! It has been so special to carry on this tradition in our own family. This was my One Morning in Maine book from when I was a young child and the boys love it so much too.
How We Chose Ogunquit
There are so many amazing places to visit in Maine that the possibilities are nearly endless. When I was young, my paternal grandparents lived way up on Deer Isle (it was a long 8-9 hour drive!) and my cousins lived in the Kennebunkport area. Ogunquit is at the very beginning of Maine (close to Kennebunk) so it is much easier to get to, which also means it can be a lot busier than some other areas. Oguqnit was a place that Lucas visited as a child and when we loved our first trip together so much, we decided it was perfect for our family.
More about Ogunquit
It all depends on what you are looking for but we think it is a great vacation town that is family-friendly and provides endless outside activities and things to do with kids. While it can be busy, it never feels overwhelming. What helps is that we walk everywhere(driving can get pretty backed up) and tend to eat early (both breakfast and dinner) so we never need to wait for a table. We do book our accommodations a year before, which is pretty common for summer beach vacations. We found that four nights was the magic number for us and it seems like a great length for this type of trip.
Since our trip I have had a few questions about our itinerary, where we stay, dine, etc. so I am hoping this post covers all of that! I am not affiliated or connected with any of the places I am sharing here but I did want to provide links if you are curious.
Anchorage By the Sea on the Marginal Way
The Anchorage By the Seais right on The Marginal Way and is walkable to everything. I can’t speak to any other hotels because we have only stayed here but it is wonderful. We love the accessibility to the ocean and that you can easily get to most everywhere we wanted to go from there.
It is immaculate, very welcoming to families and everyone is so lovely that works there. The top photo is the view from the Marginal Way in front of the Anchorage by The Sea looking out to Ogunquit Beach. Depending on the tides, you can walk there a couple of different ways…either coming from the Marginal Way (this does involve some climbing on rocks and walking through shallow water) or walking through town and taking the main entrance over the bridge.
Ogunquit Beach
Our first night we walked through town after dinner to the beach, and then at low tide, we were able to cross back over to the Marginal Way and our hotel. It was a gorgeous summer night and the kids had so much fun exploring and looking for crabs. I love that they are at the age that this is still very exciting to them…
Dining in Ogunquit
One of the highlights of vacation for us is always the FOOD! Ogunquit (and the surrounding area) have some awesome dining options, especially if you are a seafood lover. We have one adventurous eater and one pretty picky eater, and there was (almost) always something that would please everyone’s tastes.
Ice Cream Every Day!
I am also a big believer in daily ice cream on vacation and Sweet Pea’s is our favorite here. The oreo ice cream is amazing! They have so many flavors to choose from and it is right in the middle of Shore Road so it is very easy to get to (and very hard to walk by!)
Ogunquit Breakfast Spots
We had great breakfasts at Amore and The Cove Cafe in Perkin’s Cove. Like everywhere here, they are very family-friendly. We walked to both of these but you could drive if you wanted to. The Cove Cafe is about a 15-minute walk down Marginal Way and Amore and just down the main road. And how genius are these crayons that can’t roll off the table?! I had seafood at just about every meal, so it is no surprise I had the lobster eggs benedict at Amore, and they were delicious!
We also love Bread & Roses Bakery for a quick (and delicious) breakfast on the go (or out their outside patio) Their blueberry muffins are to die for and they also have a great selection of breakfast sandwiches and burritos. They also have great coffee and lattes!
For no-frills seafood, we love The Lobster Shack at Perkin’s Cove. They do have grilled cheese or hot dogs if you have a pickier eater like we do!
Vacationing With Kids
Of course, it isn’t all fun and games. Vacationing with kids is more like “parenting in a different location”. As they have gotten older this has improved in many ways, but dining out every day can take a toll.
We had a great Italian dinner at Angelina’s (and their blueberry gelato is amazing!!) but it was a rough one with the kids. It was towards the end of our trip and everyone was ready for a bit of a break from sitting through 2 hour-ish dinners at restaurants. This picture of Lucas makes me smile because it brings me right back to that eventful night, ha.
Pool & Beach on Repeat
So what did we do our trip? We swam, both in the ocean and in the pools. The boys also loved the “kid-friendly” hot tub, there is also an adult-only one although we never visited it. 😉We also did a lot of reading by the pool which is the best! There are always a bunch of other families at this resort so there is no lack of other kids to play with which makes vacation SO much easier. When the tide was lower the boys had so much fun exploring. Because it was August the water wasn’t that chilly so we all did a lot of swimming too.
After dinner, they usually did a night swim and we loved sitting next to the fire pits.
Meeting Up With Friends!
One of the highlights of our trip was when we met up with our Vermont friends who were at Ogunquit Beach for the day. With five boys total, they had a blast racing around and catching crabs. Jess even got in on the action!
Perkin’s Cove
The best part of Ogunquit is how walkable it is. We only used our car once when we well to Wells(more on that soon). We loved walking down the Marginal Way to Perkin’s Cove (and it also saves you on the pricey parking spaces!) and there couldn’t be a more gorgeous walk.
Not only is Perkin’s Cove super picturesque but it is a great way to see the boats coming in and out and sometimes even getting to see the drawbridge in action! We stopped at Java and had a delicious iced latte! There are also easily accessible and super clean public restrooms at Perkin’s Cove. This may seem like a small thing until you drink a huge coffee and then have to walk a mile back to your hotel, not that I know from experience or anything…
One of the highlights for the kids is the candy store! Perkins Cove Candies has almost every candy you could think of, and you get to put all of your selections into a sand pail while you shop which is quite the cute touch.
When It Rains…
We usually have one rainy day when we go and it is the perfect opportunity to take a break from the ocean and pool and head over to Wells. Here you can find the Boardwalk Arcade which is a great way to entertain the kids for a bit when the weather isn’t ideal. I also always love seeing all the other parents who have a similar look of exasperation and disbelief that this is now what they do on “vacation”.
We also never miss an annual visit to Fisherman’s Catch. Our youngest isn’t a big seafood eater, but he loves the fried clams and I do too! It is rustic, so delicious and has paper towels that hang from a red lobster from the ceiling, which come in handy because we always make quite the mess.
Souvenirs
Just like any vacation town, there are lots of places to find souvenirs to take home with you. We try to keep it to a minimum with the knick-knacks(we have enough clutter at our house already…) and so we try to get something we will actually get some use out of and these sweatshirts have been worn SO many times since our trip. We also love finding a book related to the place we are visiting.
I hope you enjoyed this recap of our 2019 summer family vacation to Ogunquit, Maine! If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment below and I will do my best to answer!
Disclosure: Some of the links above are Amazon affiliate links. This means if you click through and make a purchase, it helps support this blog at no cost to you. Thank you!
“Morgan Grant and her sixteen-year-old daughter, Clara, would like nothing more than to be nothing alike.
Morgan is determined to prevent her daughter from making the same mistakes she did. By getting pregnant and married way too young, Morgan put her own dreams on hold. Clara doesn’t want to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Her predictable mother doesn’t have a spontaneous bone in her body.
With warring personalities and conflicting goals, Morgan and Clara find it increasingly difficult to coexist. The only person who can bring peace to the household is Chris—Morgan’s husband, Clara’s father, and the family anchor. But that peace is shattered when Chris is involved in a tragic and questionable accident. The heartbreaking and long-lasting consequences will reach far beyond just Morgan and Clara.
While struggling to rebuild everything that crashed around them, Morgan finds comfort in the last person she expects to, and Clara turns to the one boy she’s been forbidden to see. With each passing day, new secrets, resentment, and misunderstandings make mother and daughter fall further apart. So far apart, it might be impossible for them to ever fall back together.”
Publication Date:
December 10th, 2019
Genre:
Family Fiction, Contemporary Romance
My Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
My Review:
I know it is probably hard to believe but Regretting You is my first Colleen Hoover book EVER!! Her books have been recommended to me for years but I just didn’t know where to start. When I saw an advanced copy of Regretting You on NetGalley I knew I had to see what all the fuss was about. I was immediately drawn into the storyline and found it to be a totally engrossing read.
Regretting You ended up being a very engaging book that I loved reading while on vacation. This book was told partly from a teenager POV and although I wasn’t sure at first, I found that I was able to relate to both of the main characters even though I am around the age of the mother in this female relationship.
I was pleasantly surprised that Hoover took on some deeper and thought-provoking topics. My favorite part of this book was how it dealt with grief and loss and I loved seeing this from multiple perspectives. There is a YA romance that was enjoyable enough but also a little predictable but the other parts really shined through this for me.
Colleen Hoover’s Backlist:
I am definitely going to dive into Colleen Hoover’s backlist list now! I asked one of my Hoover loving friends, Kailey at @kmc_reads, and she suggested It Ends With Us so that will be coming up soon for me. I have heard great things about Verity but it might be a bit too creepy for me although the reviews I have read just raved about it. If you have read her books I would love to know your favorite to add to my reading list!
Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake Romance for an advanced copy.
Disclosure: Some of the links above are Amazon affiliate links. This means if you click through and make a purchase, it helps support this blog at no cost to you. Thank you!
“‘If I know why they are the way they are, then maybe I can learn why I am the way I am,’ says Alex Tuchman of her parents. Now that her father is on his deathbed, Alex—a strong-headed lawyer, devoted mother, and loving sister–feels she can finally unearth the secrets of who Victor is and what he did over the course of his life and career. (A power-hungry real estate developer, he is, by all accounts, a bad man.) She travels to New Orleans to be with her family, but mostly to interrogate her tightlipped mother, Barbra.
As Barbra fends off Alex’s unrelenting questions, she reflects on her tumultuous life with Victor. Meanwhile, Gary, Alex’s brother, is incommunicado, trying to get his movie career off the ground in Los Angeles. And Gary’s wife, Twyla, is having a nervous breakdown, buying up all the lipstick in drug stores around New Orleans and bursting into crying fits. Dysfunction is at its peak. As each family member grapples with Victor’s history, they must figure out a way to move forward—with one another, for themselves, and for the sake of their children.
ALL THIS COULD BE YOURS is a timely, piercing exploration of what it means to be caught in the web of a toxic man who abused his power; it shows how those webs can tangle a family for generations and what it takes to—maybe, hopefully—break free. With her signature “sparkling prose” (Marie Claire) and incisive wit, Jami Attenberg deftly explores one of the most important subjects of our age.”
Publication Date:
October 22nd, 2019
Genre:
Family Saga Fiction
My Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
My Review:
All This Could Be Yourswas one of my most highly anticipated fall 2019 book releases. I have been on a family saga kick and after hearing some great reviews I couldn’t way to start it. I absolutely loved Jami Attenberg’s approach to the complexities and intricacies of family life, especially when it is dysfunctional.
We meet a family who’s toxic patriarch, Victor, is on his deathbed. Attenberg gave an intricate look at dealing with the complexities of grief and loss when the relationship you had with the person was deeply troubling at times. The desires we wish for with others (closure, forgiveness, and answers) are often up against the reality that sometimes we have to find this within ourselves.
The novel has flashbacks that help us see the history of this family which totally worked for me as I always enjoy knowing the who and why of this family drama genre. We learn family secrets and the emotional and physical damages Victor caused to his family members. Even when all of the characters were not super likable, I felt like I understood them because of Attenberg’s ability to create such multi-faceted personas. This was completely engaging to read while also being super thought-provoking which would make it a fantastic book club discussion.
Thank you to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for an advanced copy.
Disclosure: Some of the links above are Amazon affiliate links. This means if you click through and make a purchase, it helps support this blog at no cost to you. Thank you!
We had a wonderful start with our brand new motherhood book club and had our first discussion and guest speaker last week! I am planning on sharing some of our discussion topics when I return from vacation but for now, you can read more about our first book club meeting HERE on Instagram. You can read more details about the book club in my blog post HERE.
November 2019 Better Together Book Club Selection
While many of you are too far away to participate in person, a lot of you have shared an interest in following along! We are excited to announce our second Better Together Book Club selection, Small Animals by Kim Brooks.
This book made my top books of 2018 list HERE, I discussed the book topic HEREand shared my full book review HERE. I can’t wait to hear everyone’s thoughts!
“From the time she was a teenager, Beth knew she wanted to fly, and a solo trip across the country to visit family confirmed her aspirations of becoming a pilot. But her dreams were almost grounded before they could take off when she received the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis at the age of 22.
Beth vowed that this new challenge would not put restrictions on her life and embarked on a journey to become an airline pilot. Starting at the small local airport, the aviation world swallowed her whole, and the next five years of her life were as turbulent as an airplane in a thunderstorm, never knowing when, how or if she would emerge.
An agonizing love affair with her flight instructor, dangerous risks in the sky and flying broken airplanes for shady companies all intertwined to define her road to the airlines, eventually being hired by Trans World Airlines in 1989.
Flying Alone outlines the struggles and the challenges of civil aviation that Beth faced 30 years ago.
Ultimately a story of survival and overcoming overwhelming odds, Flying Alone is told with soul-baring candor, taking readers on a suspenseful journey through terror, romance and victory.”
I have always been a huge fan of memoirs. I think there is such a power and connection with sharing our stories and so I was delighted to receive an advanced copy of Beth Ruggiero York’s Flying Alone. In Flying Alone, York brings us through the highs and lows of her early professional life in her journey to become an airline pilot in a male-dominated industry.
About the Author:
Beth Ruggiero York is a former airline pilot for Trans World Airlines. She entered the world of civil aviation in 1984 shortly after graduating from college and, for the next five years, climbed the ladder to her ultimate goal of flying for a major airline. Beth now has dual careers–Chinese translation and professional photography. She teaches photography workshops for Arizona Highways PhotoScapes and her own company, Ruggiero Images LLC. She and her husband live in Fountain Hills, AZ.
While this book is focused a lot on her goals in aviation, it is so much more than that. We follow York as she faces many obstacles within and outside the commercial airline world. I loved seeing York’s personal growth as she faced many obstacles both personally and professionally.
Her voice is relatable and I loved that while she was faced with many roadblocks in her quest, she pushed on and her resilience shined through. This is an honest account of the trials and tribulations she has faced and I so appreciated that she was raw and real about the real challenges she faced wtih her medical challenges and sometimes turbulent personal life.
In addition, Flying Alone was a fascinating look at the commercial aircraft industry and how much it has changed over the last few decades. This was an informative read for me as I am not someone who knows a lot about this the aviation world. I found York’s tenacity and ability to share the ups and downs of her life inspiring and if you like reading memoirs I think you would enjoy reading Flying Alone too.
Thank you to FSB Associates for an advanced copy of Flying Alone.
“’Tis the season for change and Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood) is embracing it, returning from the States to live in the charming village of Letherby and working with her best friend, Suze, in the gift shop of Suze’s stately home. Life is good, especially now that Becky takes time every day for mindfulness . . . which actually means listening to a meditation tape while hunting down online bargains.
But Becky still adores the traditions of Christmas: Her parents host, carols play on repeat, her mother pretends she made the Christmas pudding, and the neighbors come ’round for sherry in their terrible holiday sweaters. Things are looking cheerier than ever until Becky’s parents announce they’re moving to ultra-trendy Shoreditch—unable to resist the draw of craft beer and smashed avocados—and ask Becky if she’ll host this year. What could possibly go wrong?
Her sister demands a vegan turkey, her husband insists that he just wants aftershave—again, and little Minnie demands a very specific picnic hamper: Surely Becky can manage all this, as well as the surprise appearance of an old-boyfriend-turned-rock-star and his pushy new girlfriend, whose motives are far from clear. But as the countdown to Christmas begins and her big-hearted plans take an unexpected turn toward disaster, Becky starts to wonder if chaos will ensue, or if she’ll manage to bring comfort and joy to Christmas after all.”
Publication Date:
October 15th, 2019
Genre:
Holiday/Humorous Fiction
My Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
My Review:
I have such wonderful reading memories of the Sophie Kinsella Shopaholic books and it was one of the first series that I really got into as an adult reader in the early 2000s. It was so fun to reconnect with Becky in Christmas Shopaholic and see what she is up to now all these years later. Becky Bloomwood (now Becky Brandon) has matured and grown in many ways and is now juggling life as both a wife and mother.
While Becky has changed in many ways, her shopping habits and overthinking just about everything has not… which always was part of the charming appeal of these lighthearted booked. Christmas Shopaholic was a wonderful addition to this collection and it was the perfect weekend read to curl up with on the couch. We get to see Becky take on hosting Christmas for the very first time and there was plenty of laugh out loud moments.
Becky is flawed but completely lovable and you can’t help but root along for her while also being highly entertained. While this is part of a series, Kinsella created a book that can also be read as a stand-alone book, although it might intrigue you to read the rest of them after.
Thank you to NetGalley, Random House, and The Dial Press for an advanced copy.
“In this whip-smart and timely novel from acclaimed author Kimmery Martin, two doctors travel a surprising path when they must choose between treating their patients and keeping their jobs. Georgia Brown’s profession as a urologist requires her to interact with plenty of naked men, but her romantic prospects have fizzled. The most important person in her life is her friend Jonah Tsukada, a funny, empathetic family medicine doctor who works at the same hospital in Charleston, South Carolina and who has become as close as family to her.
Just after Georgia leaves the country for a medical conference, Jonah shares startling news. The hospital is instructing doctors to stop providing medical care for transgender patients. Jonah, a gay man, is the first to be fired when he refuses to abandon his patients. Stunned by the predicament of her closest friend, Georgia’s natural instinct is to fight alongside him. But when her attempts to address the situation result in incalculable harm, both Georgia and Jonah find themselves facing the loss of much more than their careers.”
Publication Date:
February 18th, 2019
Genre:
Medical Fiction
My Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
My Review:
I was very intrigued by this book after reading Kimmery Martins’ debut novel The Queen of Hearts. While I enjoyed a lot of the storyline, I struggled with some of the stereotypical language the author chose to include when describing some of the patients and it was off-putting as the reader.
When I read the premise of The Antidote for Everything I was very curious to see how she would handle a topic that is important but also something that I hoped would be spoken about with compassion and understanding. The Antidote for Everything takes on the issue of discrimination against members of the LGBTQ community specifically in the healthcare world.
I applaud Martin for taking on this highly relevant and important topic and it did seem as though she did her research to connect with people who are actually living this (because yes, this does still happen and without legal ramifications in place!)
This is a medical drama written by someone who obviously knows her stuff as she is a medical doctor herself. There is a certain amount of medical jargon throughout the book but not so much that someone that doesn’t work in this field would feel completely confused.
As far as the connection with the characters, that is where it got a little lost for me. I often long for more backstory and I just wanted a little more and to feel more of an understanding of who they were as individuals and in relation to one another. I felt strongly about the topic but unfortunately, things feel a little flat with the actual plotline because I felt I was analyzing things more than getting fully pulled into the writing.
So I have mixed feelings about the Antidote for Everything. It was an intriguing storyline that just lacked a strong connection with the characters for me. I do appreciate that she took on this highly relevant and timely topic that hopefully will help raise awareness of something that is still going on right now in our non-fictional world.
Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.
An unexpected teenage pregnancy pulls together two families from different social classes, and exposes the private hopes, disappointments, and longings that can bind or divide us from each other, from the New York Times-bestselling and National Book Award-winning author of Another Brooklyn and Brown Girl Dreaming.
Moving forward and backward in time, Jacqueline Woodson’s taut and powerful new novel uncovers the role that history and community have played in the experiences, decisions, and relationships of these families, and in the life of the new child.
As the book opens in 2001, it is the evening of sixteen-year-old Melody’s coming of age ceremony in her grandparents’ Brooklyn brownstone. Watched lovingly by her relatives and friends, making her entrance to the music of Prince, she wears a special custom-made dress. But the event is not without poignancy. Sixteen years earlier, that very dress was measured and sewn for a different wearer: Melody’s mother, for her own ceremony– a celebration that ultimately never took place.
Unfurling the history of Melody’s parents and grandparents to show how they all arrived at this moment, Woodson considers not just their ambitions and successes but also the costs, the tolls they’ve paid for striving to overcome expectations and escape the pull of history. As it explores sexual desire and identity, ambition, gentrification, education, class and status, and the life-altering facts of parenthood, Red at the Bone most strikingly looks at the ways in which young people must so often make long-lasting decisions about their lives–even before they have begun to figure out who they are and what they want to be.
Publication Date:
September 17th, 2019
Genre:
Literary Fiction
My Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
My Review:
The hard copy of Red at the Bone is patiently waiting in my October TBR pile but that stack is getting pretty big…So a couple of weeks ago I looked on the Libby App (you can read more about the Libby App on my blog post about Kindle e-readersHERE) and our library recently purchased a copy of the audiobook so the wait was only 2 weeks. I listened to this one yesterday (clocking it at 3.5 hours it was totally doable!) and wow!
This was an amazingly beautiful audiobook and the four narrators along with Jacqueline Woodson were just incredible. I love stories that bring us back to how someone arrived at a poignant moment in time. Red at the Bone moves back and forth with different timelines to include stories of the main character’s family members and flowed very easily for me as a listener.
The perspectives on life, parenthood, identity, race, class, and self-discovery are raw, powerful, thought-provoking and also heartwarming. While this book is on the shorter side, it packs a punch. Woodson’s writing evokes emotion and I love that she had each multi-faceted character speak for themselves which I think added so much depth and perspective. I highly recommend this and it was just wonderful on audio!
One of the highlights of vacation for us is always the FOOD! Ogunquit (and the surrounding area) have some 
We had great breakfasts at 
And how genius are these crayons that can’t roll off the table?! I had seafood at just about every meal, so it is no surprise I had the lobster eggs benedict at Amore, and they were delicious!
For no-frills seafood, we love 
We also did a lot of reading by the pool which is the best! There are always a bunch of other families at this resort so there is no lack of other kids to play with which makes vacation SO much easier. 
When the tide was lower the boys had so much fun exploring. Because it was August the water wasn’t that chilly so we all did a lot of swimming too.
We usually have one rainy day when we go and it is the perfect opportunity to take a break from the ocean and pool and head over to 
While many of you are too far away to participate in person, a lot of you have shared an interest in following along! We are excited to announce our second Better Together Book Club selection, 
