Everyday I Write the Book - It'll help you figure out what to read.

A FORTY YEAR KISS by Nickolas Butler

A Forty Year Kiss is a second chance love story about Charlie and Vivian, a couple in their sixties who were married for only four years in their twenties. After many years of being single, Charlie has returned to the small town in Wisconsin where he and Vivian once lived, in order to win her back. Vivian has had trials of her own since their brief marriage, and she is reluctant to trust the man who once abandoned her. Thus kicks off a slow dance between these two flawed but compelling characters who each carry secrets, burdens and shame, but

A FORTY YEAR KISS by Nickolas Butler

LITTLE MONSTERS by Adrienne Brodeur

Little Monsters by Adrienne Brodeur is a dysfunctional family drama about the Gardners, father Adam and kids Ken and Abby (their mother died in childbirth with Abby). They live in Cape Cod, where Adam is set to retire from a distinguished career as an oceanographer and is going off his meds for bipolar disorder. Ken is a successful real estate developer harboring anger and resentment toward his sister, an artist living a bohemian life and

SANDWICH by Catherine Newman

Sandwich by Catherine Newman perfectly captures the place in life where I am RIGHT NOW. It’s about Rocky, a middle-aged mom of two grown kids, who is on her annual weeklong beach vacation at a rental house in Cape Cod. Her older son is there with his girlfriend, her parents arrive for their usual two-night stay, and they do all the things they always do when they go to the beach. That’s all that happens.

THE WEDDING PEOPLE by Alison Espach

The Wedding People by Alison Espach is about Phoebe, a woman who has hit rock bottom and leaves her life in St. Louis behind to go to her dream hotel in Newport RI to kill herself. When she gets there, she discovers that she is the only hotel guest there who is not part of an extravagant weeklong wedding planned by bridezilla Lila. When Lila figures out why Phoebe is there, she inserts herself into

MIDDLETIDE by Sarah Crouch

Middletide by Sarah Crouch was a BOTM pick earlier this year, and it’s not my usual fare but I was looking for something that would draw me in. It’s a mystery that takes place in a small town in Washington, among a fictional indigenous tribe. Elijah has returned home to his family’s empty, isolated home on a lake after giving up on his dream of becoming a writer. He tries to rekindle his relationship with

WE ARE TOO MANY by Hannah Pittard

We Are Too Many by Hannah Pittard is a memoir about the breakup of the author’s marriage after her husband has an affair with her best friend. Pittard jumps back and forth in time, examining her relationship with both of the betraying parties and trying to understand her own role in what went wrong. The format is interesting – some chapters are short vignettes, some are more traditional retellings of episodes throughout the marriage, and

THE WORLD AFTER ALICE by Lauren Aliza Green

I’ve gotten behind on posts again – damn this pesky bookstore! – but I am determined to catch up. The obvious solution is to write shorter posts. This doesn’t come naturally to me, but I’m gonna try. The World After Alice by Lauren Aliza Green is a character-driven drama about two families tied together by Alice – who jumped from a bridge her senior year of high school. Twelve years have passed, and her best

CHARM CITY ROCKS by Matthew Norman

I can’t remember where I learned about Charm City Rocks by Matthew Norman, but I liked the plot and have read two other Norman novels (Domestic Violets and All Together Now), so I added it to my library list. It was the right book at the right time a few weeks ago, and I got my hands on the audio as well, so off I went. Charm City Rocks takes place in Baltimore (duh). It’s

MARGO’S GOT MONEY TROUBLES by Rufi Thorpe

It has been a long time since I was here to post reviews. Opening the bookstore has really taken over my life! I am not reading nearly as much as I used to, and most of my waking hours are now spent doing store-related things. I am not complaining – I have zero regrets and am enjoying every stage of the process. It has just changed my life a lot. Here’s a bookstore update. Demo

THE CARETAKER by Ron Rash

Years ago, I read Ron Rash’s novel The Risen, about the complicated relationship between two brothers and a young woman who comes to their small Appalachian town, driving a wedge between them that survives into adulthood. I was taken by the quietness of Rash’s writing, and the deceptive simplicity of his story. I’ve always wanted to pick up another Rash book, so this spring I bought The Caretaker, his newest novel, on one of my

SUMMER FRIDAYS by Suzanne Rindell

Summer Fridays by Suzanne Rindell is a romance set in 1999 in New York City, a nostalgic time before cell phones and social media, where you could be out all day and no one would know where you were. Twentysomething Sawyer works in publishing and lives with her fiancé Charles, a young associate at a big law firm. Charles is working long hours, side by side with another associate named Kendra. One night, at a

SHARK HEART by Emily Habeck

I have been consumed by bookstore stuff lately and while I’ve actually finished a few books, I haven’t had a chance to review them. I am going to try to keep my reviews a little shorter going forward so that I can keep up with this blog as the bookstore opening approaches. I know that many people initially took a pass on Shark Heart by Emily Habeck because of its unusual premise – a man

HOW TO PROTECT BOOKSTORES AND WHY by Danny Caine

I bought How To Protect Bookstores And Why: The Present and Future of Bookselling (from Bookshop.org, of course) about a year ago. I read it very slowly, not daring to presume that it would soon be very relevant to my life. But, of course, it now is, and I finished it a few weeks ago just as the plans for Wonderland Books became public. I recommend it to anyone who believes in the value of

SOCIOPATH: A MEMOIR by Patric Gagne

Sociopath by Patric Gagne is a memoir about the author’s experience going through life as a sociopath. As a young girl, Gagne knew that there was something different about her, but it took her a few decades to truly understand what it was. Sociopath is not only about her process of accepting herself as she is, but also her effort to help other sociopaths as they too follow the road to understanding and acceptance. Why

Introducing Wonderland Books!

Hi EDIWTB Readers! I am posting today with some very exciting news. I am opening a bookstore! Owning a bookstore has been a dream of mine for a very long time. (If you’re a reader of this blog I don’t think I need to tell you why.) I’ve spent the last 18 months or so planning this out, acquiring an amazing partner, developing a business plan, finding a place, negotiating a lease, and learning everything