[A Charming BookClub]
Once Upon a Time there was a girl who loved to read. So much that the people in her town would pay attention to what she was reading that day. That’s when [A Charming Bookclub] was created. This space is to share the books I currently am reading, loved, + recommend. Here you will find southern literature, lots of fiction, mystery/thrillers, motivational, and true stories.
January
[CS] Review: What a wonderful book. I couldn’t put it down. Finished this one in a day!
[2023] The Push By: Ashley Audrain
Description:
Who would believe you if you spoke out that your child didn’t behave like other children? Blythe Connor gives birth to a daughter named Violet. She promises to be the mother Blythe, herself, never had. However, in the exhausted early days of motherhood Blythe begins to suspect her daughter, Violet, isn’t like other children - something seems off about her behavior. Her husband, Fox, dismisses Blythe’s fears which drives her into questioning her own sanity. Then their son, Sam, is born and that blissful connection Blythe yearns for happens. Even Violet loves her little brother. But life is about to change in an instant forcing Blythe to face the truth about motherhood, what we owe our children, and what it feels like when women are not believed.
February
[CS] Review: Left me shocked! Loved the ending.
[2023] Every Vow You Break By Peter Swanson
description:
What are your thoughts on drunken one night stands? What if you had a one night stand on your bachelorette weekend? That’s what happens to Abigail Baskin. Her fiancé is a millionaire who is good, stable, level-headed, and kind. Right before the wedding, Abigail has a one night stand on her bachelorette weekend. She puts the incident out of her mind convinced she wants Bruce for the rest of her life. Their honeymoon is on a luxurious, secluded island - a great start to the rest of their lives… until a mysterious stranger suddenly appears turning Abigail’s new life upside down. The mysterious stranger is the one night stand and he insists that their passionate night was the beginning of something real. Does she tell Bruce and ruin their honeymoon and possibly their marriage? Or should she handle this stalker on her own?
March
[CS] Review: The story starts a bit slowly but when it picks up I couldn’t put it down.
[2023] The Marriage Portrait By Maggie O’Farrell
Description:
Florence, the 1550s. Lucrezia, third daughter of the grand duke, is comfortable with her obscure place in the palazzo: free to wonder at its treasures, observe its clandestine workings, and devote herself to her own artistic pursuits. But when her older sister dies on the eve of her wedding to the ruler of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio, Lucrezia is thrust unwittingly into the limelight: the duke is quick to request her hand in marriage, and her father just as quick to accept on her behalf. Having barely left girlhood behind, Lucrezia must now enter an unfamiliar court whose customs are opaque and where her arrival is not universally welcomed. Perhaps most mystifying of all is her new husband himself, Alfonso. Is he the playful sophisticate he appeared to be before their wedding, the aesthete happiest in the company of artists and musicians, or the ruthless politician before whom even his formidable sisters seem to tremble? As Lucrezia sits in constricting finery for a painting intended to preserve her image for centuries to come, one thing becomes worryingly clear. In the court’s eyes, she has one duty: to provide the heir who will shore up the future of the Ferranese dynasty. Until then, for all of her rank and nobility, the new duchess’s future hangs entirely in the balance.
April
[CS] Review: This was really a cute story, something fun and quick to read. Definitely a great book to pack for your spring break vacations.
[2023] The Invisible Husband of Frick Island By Collen Oakley
Description:
Piper Parrish's life on Frick Island is nearly perfect. Well, aside from one pesky detail: Her darling husband, Tom, is dead. When Tom's crab boat capsized and his body wasn't recovered, Piper, rocked to the core, did a most peculiar thing: carried on as if her husband was not only still alive. And what were the townspeople to do but go along with their beloved widowed Piper? Anders Caldwell’s career is not going well. When Anders gets an assignment to travel to the remote Frick Island and cover their boring annual Cake Walk fundraiser, he stumbles upon a much more fascinating tale: an entire town pretending to see and interact with a man who does not actually exist. Determined it’s the career-making story he’s been needing, Anders returns to the island to begin covert research but he has no idea out of all the lives he’s about to upend, it’s his that will change the most.
May
[CS] Review: A great love story. Jojo Moyes hits it out of the park with this one (the Netflix movie is good too).
[2023] Last Letter From Your Lover By Jojo Moyes
description:
It is 1960. When Jennifer Stirling wakes up in the hospital, she can remember nothing-not the tragic car accident that put her there, not her husband, not even who she is. She feels like a stranger in her own life until she stumbles upon an impassioned letter, signed simply "B", asking her to leave her husband. Years later, in 2003, a journalist named Ellie discovers the same enigmatic letter in a forgotten file in her newspaper's archives. She becomes obsessed by the story and hopeful that it can resurrect her faltering career. Perhaps if these lovers had a happy ending she will find one to her own complicated love life, too. Ellie's search will rewrite history and help her see the truth about her own modern romance.
June
[CS] Read completely heartbroken the entire time. Demon’s story will leave you speechless, angry, and sad as his story develops.
[2023] Demon Copperhead By Barbara Kingsolver
Description:
Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, Demon Copperhead is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father’s good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. Relayed in his own unsparing voice, Demon braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities.
July
[CS] Review: Story is told in present and past fashion simultaneously. The story line you’d think is important turns out to be secondary. Great ending!
[2023] More Than You’ll Ever Know By Katie Gutierrez
Description:
In 1985, Dolores “Lore” Rivera marries Andres Russo in Mexico City, even though she is already married to Fabian Rivera in Laredo, Texas, and they share twin sons. Through her career as an international banker, Lore splits her time between two countries and two families—until the truth is revealed and one husband is arrested for murdering the other. In 2017, while trawling the internet for the latest, most sensational news reports, struggling true-crime writer Cassie Bowman encounters an article detailing that tragic final act. Cassie is immediately enticed by what is not explored: Why would a woman—a mother—risk her family, career, and social standing for a secret double marriage?
August
[CS] Review: Really had high hopes for the Nashville Country Music storyline. Just fell flat.
[2023] Run Rose Run By Dolly Parton and James Patterson
description:
A new singer arrives in Nashville. She calls herself AnnieLee Keyes, and she has more beauty, talent, and ambition than most -- and a dangerous past that she's running from. Her performance of original songs at open-mic night at the Cat’s Paw Saloon downtown transfixes Ethan Blake, back-up musician for country star Ruthanna Ryder. Ruthanna may have retired—for deeply personal reasons—but that doesn’t mean she’s stopped writing music. Every day, she records songs she’ll never release. When Ruthanna hears AnnieLee sing, the legend decides to help the ingenue. But a boost from a mega-star like Ruthanna may spotlight the talented newcomer’s secret. Now AnnieLee may not live long enough to realize her dreams of stardom—or for the world to learn her true identity.
September
[CS] Review: Delicious twists and turns! A favorite read that I won’t talk much about for fear of giving the ending away.
[2023] You Shouldn’t Have Come Here By Jeneva Rose
description:
Grace Evans, an overworked New Yorker looking for a total escape from her busy life, books an Airbnb on a ranch in the middle of Wyoming. When she arrives at the idyllic getaway, she's pleased to find that the owner is a handsome man by the name of Calvin Wells--and he's eager to introduce her to his easygoing way of life. But there are things Grace discovers that she's not too pleased about: A lack of cell phone service. A missing woman. And a feeling that something isn't right with the ranch. Despite her uneasiness, the two bond and start to fall for one another. However, as her departure date nears, things change for the worse. What began as a playful romance soon turns into a complicated web of lies. Grace grows wary of Calvin as his infatuation for her seems to have morphed to obsession. Calvin fears that Grace is hiding something from him--including her reason for staying at his ranch to begin with. Vacation flings typically end in heartbreak, but for Grace and Calvin, it'll be far more destructive.
October
[CS] Review: Great concept for a survival story set among a gloomy depressed background. Something different.
[2023] House of Hunger By Alexis Henderson
description:
Marion Shaw has been raised in the slums, where want and deprivation are all she know. Despite longing to leave the city and its miseries, she has no real hope of escape until the day she spots a peculiar listing in the newspaper seeking a bloodmaid. Though she knows little about the far north where wealthy nobles live in luxury and drink the blood of those in their service. Marion applies to the position. In a matter of days, she finds herself the newest bloodmaid at the notorious House of Hunger. There, Marion is swept into a world of dark debauchery. At the center of it all is Countess Lisavet. The countess, who presides over this hedonistic court, is loved and feared in equal measure. She takes a special interest in Marion. Lisavet is magnetic, and Marion is eager to please her new mistress. But when she discovers that the ancient walls of the House of Hunger hide even older secrets, Marion is thrust into a vicious game of cat and mouse. She’ll need to learn the rules of her new home—and fast—or its halls will soon become her grave.
November
[CS] Review: I have never been a big Britney fan but I have always been aware that her life was very controlled. Such a heartbreaking story full of exploitation and abuse by the hands of her family.
[2023] The Woman in Me By Britney Spears
description:
In June 2021, the whole world was listening as Britney Spears spoke in open court. The impact of sharing her voice—her truth—was undeniable, and it changed the course of her life and the lives of countless others. The Woman in Me reveals for the first time her incredible journey—and the strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history.
Written with remarkable candor and humor, Spears’s groundbreaking book illuminates the enduring power of music and love—and the importance of a woman telling her own story, on her own terms, at last.
December
[2023] Coming Soon
Description:
Coming Soon
Past BookClub rEADS
[2023] The Push By:
[2022] All The Ugly and Wonderful Things By: Bryn Greenwood
[2022] The Deal of a Lifetime By Fredrik Backman
[2022] Our Missing Hearts: A Novel By: Celeste Ng
[2022] The Burning Girls By C.J. Tudor
[2022] I’m Glad My Mom Died By: Jennette McCurdy
[2022] Tender is the Flesh By: Agustina Bazterrica
[2022] Lessons in Chemistry By: Bonnie Garmus
[2022] Mexican Gothic By: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
[2022] Verity By: Colleen Hoover
[2022] Tell Me Lies By: Carola Lovering
[2022] The Midnight Library By: Matt Haig
[2022] In Five Years: a novel By Rebecca Serle