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Deidre Lail

@libraryaroundthecorner

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💛I don’t claim to know the secret to happiness, but I do know I’ve never been sad in a bookstore
📚Owner @mychapterhouse
📚LFL #97938

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A CHRISTMAS CAROL
By: Charles Dickens

You’ve seen the movie(s) but have you ever read the book?

This was the 4th quarter pick for our Classics book club @mychapterhouse and a great pick at that.

Grab a warm drink and cozy blanket and snuggle up with this one this Christmas. Completely wonderful.

✨Fun fact: I don’t remember the movies as much as I do the film strip of A Christmas Carol shown in my 4 grade classroom. (Girl, yes, I am old.) by @libraryaroundthecorner

10 books that will make you want to cancel your plans📚

I laugh at myself narrowing this list down to 10 because let’s be honest … any book makes me want to cancel my plans and stay home right now. But, all 10 are ones that I wanted to read with no interruptions.

❓Have you read any of these?

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Fall Reading | Book List | TBR | by @libraryaroundthecorner

📚What I Read in October …

Dear October,
You brought long pockets of time to slow down and savor a story, a discipline I had abandoned yet craved. Days of lingering over a new 5-star read as well as visiting old favorites, you’re my favorite, I think.

✨I haven’t reviewed all of these, so if you’re curious about them, let me know.

5⭐️s
📖The Secret Keeper
📖The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Volumes 1-2 (re-read)
📖Into the Deep

4.5⭐️s
📖The Undercover Bookshop

4⭐️s
🎧Mad Mabel
🎧Before You Were Anne
📖Feels Like Home
📖Even as We Breathe
📖Back Where We Started

3⭐️s
📖Yellowface

❓Favorite read this month?

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Monthly Reads | Book Community | October Reads | Fall Reading #fallreading #monthlyrecap by @libraryaroundthecorner

EVEN AS WE BREATHE
By: Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle
Historical Fiction

📖About the book:
Nineteen-year-old Cowney Sequoyah yearns to escape his hometown of Cherokee, North Carolina, in the heart of the Smoky Mountains. When a summer job at Asheville’s luxurious Grove Park Inn and Resort brings him one step closer to escaping the hills that both cradle and suffocate him, he sees it as an opportunity. The experience introduces him to the beautiful and enigmatic Essie Stamper―a young Cherokee woman who is also working at the inn and dreaming of a better life.

With World War II raging in Europe, the resort is the temporary home of Axis diplomats and their families, who are being held as prisoners of war. A secret room becomes a place where Cowney and Essie can escape the white world of the inn and imagine their futures free of the shadows of their families’ pasts. Outside of this refuge, however, racism and prejudice are never far behind, and when the daughter of one of the residents goes missing, Cowney finds himself accused of abduction and murder.

💭My thoughts:
Recommended by a friend, I’m not sure I ever would have picked this up otherwise. The local(ish) setting to me peaked my curiosity.

I enjoyed the atmospheric setting and reading about the Cherokee area that I visited a lot as a child. Equally interesting was the setting at The Grove Park Inn and its repurposing during WWI. I wasn’t aware of this part of the resort’s history, a place we have visited numerous times.

Ultimately, it felt too short given the time and place that could lend to an informative story. Cowney was a victim of his circumstances, but the depth of such racism was skimmed over and tied up too neatly to make it impactful for the reader. The twists at the end felt sudden and then rushed.

I’m glad I read it; I just wish the author would have given us more.

My rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 by @libraryaroundthecorner

INTO THE DEEP
By: Angie Smith

📖About the book:
There’s no question it’s easier to live in shallow water, where we can touch the ground without risking anything. We’re all just trying to keep it together, hoping to find some sense of safety in our chaotic world. But as a result, we aren’t really living. We’re stuck in survival mode, saying we want relief but filling the silence with noise, hungering for connection but hiding our true selves, claiming we want freedom but clinging to control, saying that Jesus is enough but living like He’s not. We’re trying to live deep, meaningful lives with surface-level tools―when we know we were created for more.
 The world will never tell you that you’re enough. But you can take a deep breath, loosen your grip, and trust Jesus to be in the water with you.

📖My thoughts:
I read through this one slowly, and even now after turning the last page, I’m going back through to write all the highlighted parts in my journal (which is almost every page).

I’ve read and loved everything Angie Smith has written (her Seamless study is one every woman needs, seriously), but dare I say this one is her best yet.

Which honestly, I don’t need to rank them, but the message in Into the Deep seems urgent - at least for me.

The tagline, Finding Relief from Pressure, Exhaustion, and the Need to Perform in a Shallow World, is the perfect summary of all she addresses in this short book. I felt silly after a few chapters because I had highlighted almost every paragraph and written in most of the margins.

When a book is validating, you know it’s special; when a book gives you practical ways to move forward long after you’ve read it, you know it is meant for healing. Written with Angie’s wit and sarcasm (we would expect nothing less), Into the Deep feels like you’re sitting down and talking with a friend.

My rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ by @libraryaroundthecorner

THE SECRET KEEPER
By: Kate Morton
Historical Fiction

📖About the book:
England, 1959: Laurel Nicolson is 16 years old, dreaming alone in her childhood tree house during a family celebration at their home, Green Acres Farm. She spies a stranger coming up the long road to the farm and then observes her mother, Dorothy, speaking to him. And then she witnesses a crime.

Fifty years later, Laurel is a successful and well-regarded actress, living in London. She returns to Green Acres for Dorothy’s 90th birthday and finds herself overwhelmed by memories and questions she has not thought about for decades. She decides to find out the truth about the events of that summer day and lay to rest her own feelings of guilt. One photograph, of her mother and a woman Laurel has never met, called Vivian, is her first clue.

📖My thoughts:
I remember getting this book not long after its release in 2012 and it sitting on my shelf for years. I eventually passed it on to someone else believing I would never read it.

I’m so glad I started seeing it mentioned again on Bookstagram. After a recent meeting at our library, I decided to see if it was in stock. I started it right away and thought of little else before I turned the last page.

Kate Morton’s writing isn’t rushed; she lets the story unfold slowly, keeping the reader engaged. I was convinced I knew the “secret” before the ending, yet still there were twists I didn’t anticipate. A book about family secrets, yes, but also about sacrificial love and survival.

I gave this one a long hug at the end, thankful to have finally made the time for it. I will most definitely read more from Kate Morton.

My rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ by @libraryaroundthecorner

Happy Friday, friends🎉

These are the days of thinking of little else than when I can return home to light a candle and read a book. Truly.

Towards the end of winter, I’m usually ready for longer days and shorter nights, but right now, give me all the moody ambiance - the perfect setting for blankets and books. Ahhhh nothing like fall reading. And, I’ve read some good ones lately.

Here’s what I’m #currentlyreading …

📖The Secret Keeper
By: Kate Morton
I’ve had this on my TBR for years … YEARS … and kept putting it off. But, Bookstagram gave me the nudge I needed this week (thanks to @beverlyboymama) and I finally dove in.

Spoiler: I love it with my whole heart and all I want to do is shut out the world every night and read.

📖The Treasure House
By: Amy Matthews
Picked this up while on a date night in another town because it seemed like a cozy read. Plus, the cover is gorgeous. I’m a few chapters in, but took a break to read The Secret Keeper. I’ll get back to it this weekend.

❓What are you reading this weekend? I would love to know!

Have a great weekend, friends!💛

. by @libraryaroundthecorner

FEELS LIKE HOME
By: Courtney Walsh

💛About the book:
Hattie Holbrook is the perfect blend of spit and polish, of humor and grit . . . growing up with eight siblings will do that to a girl, especially when six of them are boys.

Hattie has a dream to transform the old hunting lodge on her parents’ Montana ranch into a wedding venue and off-the-grid vacation destination. Silverwood might be a small town, but with its proximity to Glacier National Park and thousands of tourists each year, and Hattie knows there’s no one better than her family to provide an authentic outdoor experience.

After a year of blood, sweat, and tears, the lodge is almost ready, just in time to host her pro hockey player brother’s wedding. Everything is going to be perfect. She’s thought of every detail, and planned for every possible disaster.

Except the return of Noble Kane.

Winning the bull-riding World Championship should have Noble feeling some kind of way. Years of training, sacrificing, and giving everything to the sport had finally paid off.

But all he feels is empty. Listless. Alone.

His dream? To go back to the one place that felt like home. Never mind that when he left over a decade ago, he pretty much burned every bridge.

💛My thoughts:
If Courtney Walsh writes it, I’m probably going to read it. If you love books about small towns, second chance romance, and stories of redemption, this one is perfect for you.

It’s classic Courtney Walsh and a continuation of the Hart/Holbrook storyline that we’ve come to love. Noble’s journey to redemption is believable; you’re cheering him on from the beginning. And gosh, I loved Hattie’s family - empowering, encouraging, beautiful family.

I read it in a few hours one rainy morning and loved it. Thank you @courtneywalsh for the ARC.

My rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 by @libraryaroundthecorner

BEFORE YOU WERE ANNE
By: Emiko Jean
Mystery/Thriller

📖About the book:
Married, pregnant, and thriving in her career, Detective Chelsey Calhoun’s life finally feels whole, until an explosive new case shatters everything. A mother is dead. Her sixteen-year-old daughter, Naomi, has disappeared. And the search will awaken questions about Chelsey’s own origins—questions she’s spent a lifetime afraid to ask.

The victim called herself Anne Walker. But she was born Rika Takahashi, and her journey from a remote Japanese farm to suburban Seattle conceals decades of deception. Across Tokyo’s shadowed underworld, an isolated Idaho town, and years of carefully constructed lies, Rika reinvented herself at every turn. But she was always running—from someone, or something.

💭My thoughts:
I wasn’t aware that this was the second book in a series until I started it, but I do think it can be read as a stand alone.

I appreciated the multiple POVs. I thought it was interesting that the author switched from third person to second person which becomes clear as to why in the end.

This is a detective, well-paced mystery, and although one of the main themes (don’t want to spoil it) is usually a strong deal breaker for me, I thought it was handled well and made for an interesting read. Emotional, but interesting.

I was satisfied with the ending and enjoyed this one more than I thought I would.

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 by @libraryaroundthecorner

I love that book clubs introduce us to books we wouldn’t choose for ourselves, introducing us to authors and stories that stir empathy and compassion.

I have read many incredible books by reading outside my normal realm. And, I’ve also disliked an experience entirely and struggled to get to the end.

❓I’m curious …. If you aren’t enjoying a book club pick, do you stop reading or endure to the end?

I do love being able to discuss a book, the good and the bad, but have certainly quit a book because of content.

❓How about you?

About the pic: I just finished Yellowface for tomorrow night’s book club. I can’t remember disliking a main character more. by @libraryaroundthecorner

Happy Friday, friends🎉

I picked up a book while out of town last weekend that I knew (I KNEW!) would stretch me, and most likely, make me sad.

And yet, I got it anyway.

I read more than half of it and, for several reasons, I decided I just can’t finish it. It seriously affected my mood and not in a good way.

So.

I picked up Volume 2 of Emma Lion and wrong was made right again.

I need some recommendations for light, fun reads - like a beachy read but for fall - or I don’t know, maybe I need a beachy read after alllll the sadness. Any suggestions?

Until I find something, I’ll continue to make my way through Emma Lion while also reading Yellowface by RF Kuang for book club @mychapterhouse. Am I going to hate it? Love it?

My judgment is off😅

Have a great weekend, friends! Hope you can spend it doing some fun, fall-ish things🧡💛 by @libraryaroundthecorner

THE UNDERCOVER BOOKSHOP
By: Katherine Reay
Historical Fiction

🔎About the book:
Recently moved to the English Cotswolds, Gemma Brown desperately wants to create the kind of idyllic life she’s read about in her favorite mystery novels, with herself as the leading lady. But fitting in proves difficult as Gemma is more adept at solving mysteries and setting up the village’s first bookstore than she is at baking cakes or grasping social niceties. Nevertheless, she finds a friend in Peggy, a young woman recently moved to town herself, and Ursula Beurton, who is not only the village’s best baker but an enigmatic figure who sparks controversy in the small-town gossip network.

As Gemma spends more time with Ursula, she begins to suspect all those novels are affecting her thinking. The oddities she starts to notice must be her imagination because, if not, they point to something far more dangerous than winning the local baking contest or being placed on the church committee. Could her neighbor be a real spy?

🔎My thoughts:
I’m a big Katherine Reay fan (I especially love Dear Mr. Knightley and recommend it to all who will listen). I’ve been anxiously awaiting this new release and was thrilled to receive an ARC.

The Undercover Bookshop is my favorite of hers in a long while. It started a little slow, but soon I was hooked and finished it quickly. A mystery with a hint of danger and a sweet romance; I think this is one you’ll want to add to your TBR stack.

We have the honor of welcoming Katherine to @mychapterhouse tomorrow night to talk about her new release - I can hardly wait!

My rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 by @libraryaroundthecorner