Weekly Recap #153: Week of 4/26 – 5/2
/42 Comments/by Suzanne
It’s time for another weekly recap post of all things happening on and off the blog. This week I’ll be linking to the Sunday Post, which is hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer.
I’m late posting today, but it’s actually for a good reason. I started reading Beach Read last night and it’s so good I picked it back up as soon as I woke up this morning and completely lost track of time. I’m also planning to dive back into it as soon as I finish this post, lol.
I hope everyone is doing well. We’re still plugging along here in Virginia. Our stay-at-home order lasts until June 10th as of right now, and considering the past three days have brought us our highest daily numbers of new cases yet, I don’t see the order expiring early.
I honestly just don’t have much to talk about this week. The big excitement for the week was going to my son’s school to pick up the contents of his school and gym lockers. Since the kids had just gone out on Spring Break when the announcement was made that the schools were closed for the rest of the year, all of their belongings were still in their lockers. The staff at my son’s school cleaned out all of the lockers and we had curbside pickup to retrieve them. I was honestly expecting pure chaos, but it was very well orchestrated and only took a couple of minutes, so I have to give props to the school. I also loved that they did it by grade and had the teachers for that grade at the school standing, safely spaced out per distancing guidelines, waving to the kids and talking to them. My son’s English teacher told him he needed to pick up a book, which made me laugh. She could obviously tell he had been slacking in her class with the distance learning, lol.
The other highlight was of course the hair dye curbside pickup I mentioned last week. I picked up my color from the salon yesterday and am thrilled to say they came up with a completely idiot-proof process to cover up that root growth. They mixed the color and put it in a Ziploc bag. All I had to do when I got home was mix it thoroughly, twist the baggie to bring all of the color down to a bottom corner, then snip the very end off of the corner and pipe the color on as if icing a cake. It was brilliant! My highlights will have to wait until the salons officially reopen but at least the gray is gone for a few weeks. Small victories, lol!
Beyond that, I’ve spent my week continuing my binge watch of Will & Grace from a few months ago. I’m finally up to the rebooted episodes and nearing the end, so now I have to decide what I want to watch next. I don’t do well with too many choices so having Hulu, Netflix, and Disney + right now has my Libra brain all muddled and indecisive. I might do Seinfeld though since that’s another show that I’m the last person on the planet who hasn’t ever watched it.
Anyway, that’s it for me. I hope everyone out there is staying safe, healthy, and is practicing social distancing. Have a great week!
WHAT I POSTED LAST WEEK
- [26 Apr] Weekly Recap #152: Week of 4/19 – 4/25
- [27 Apr] Feels Like Falling by Kristy Woodson Harvey ★★★★½
- [28 Apr] Top Ten Tuesday – Book Series I Wish Had Existed When I was a Kid
- [29 Apr] Can’t Wait Wednesday – THE ONCE AND FUTURE WITCHES by Alix E. Harrow
- [1 May] The Sweeney Sisters by Lian Dolan ★★★★
WHAT I’M READING THIS WEEK
UPCOMING REVIEWS
STACKING THE SHELVES
TOTALLY RANDOM
(Basically me trying to get my son to read these days…)
Review & Giveaway: THE SWEENEY SISTERS by Lian Dolan
/16 Comments/by SuzannePublished by William Morrow on April 28, 2020
Genres: Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Women's Fiction
Pages: 304
Source: Netgalley
Goodreads
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
Thanks so much to the Fantastic Flying Book Club for including me in the blog tour for The Sweeney Sisters. I’m thrilled to be able to share my thoughts on this wonderful read today.
When I read the synopsis for Lian Dolan’s new novel, The Sweeney Sisters, I knew I had to read it. I’m a sucker for a good story about sisters, and this story has that, as well as a healthy dose of family drama and scandalous secrets. As if those elements weren’t enticing enough on their own, The Sweeney Sisters is also a book about books! Sounds like a must-read, right?
The Sweeney Sisters follows three sisters, Liza, Maggie, and Tricia, who have returned to their childhood home after their father, literary giant William Sweeney, has passed away unexpectedly. Their mother passed away years ago so it falls on the sisters to settle their father’s affairs. The sisters knew their father wasn’t perfect, but what they learn upon reading his will and meeting with his long-time attorney, shocks them to the core.
Because of some financial missteps their dad made, the sisters learn they will inherit much less than they were anticipating. They also learn that he made some personal missteps as well, the result of which is Serena, an older half-sister whom they’ve never met and who now stands to inherit a piece of the Sweeney estate. On top of that, their father also left behind, and apparently hid, the manuscript of a tell-all memoir he had promised his publisher. The sisters need to either find the manuscript or be prepared to pay back the very large advance their father had received for committing to write it. The sisters are navigating a potential mine field while trying to protect their father’s legacy, which is not easy to do when he lived in a tiny, seaside town in Connecticut where everyone knows everyone else.
The sisters and the way they come together are what really made this a special read for me. I adored all three of them so much. There’s “Mad” Maggie (as her dad called her), who is an artist and free spirit. Then there’s Tricia, the attorney in the family, who is both reserved and responsible. And finally, there’s Liza, married with two children, who owns an art gallery in town. The story unfolds from all of their perspectives and I found it fascinating to get a close up look at each sister’s thoughts and feelings as they try to make sense of the unexpected turns their lives have suddenly taken. I also found it interesting to watch how each sister chose to approach their new half-sister. The author rounds out the story well by also giving us Serena’s perspective so we can see how she processes this information and the drama it causes since she’s now faced with the news that the man she has called Dad all her life really isn’t her father. I really enjoyed Serena’s character. Imagine the shock of taking one of those DNA tests as a lark and then finding out you’re related to someone famous? The author does a wonderful job of crafting these potentially dramatic and awkward moments without making the story feel like a soap opera. It all felt very authentic.
The Sweeney Sisters is a heartwarming story about what it means to be a family. It’s a reminder that life is often messy and that it’s important to come together as a family to overcome any and all obstacles. If books about sisters and secrets are your thing, The Sweeney Sisters is the book for you!
PURCHASE LINKS:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | Kobo | iTunes | Google Play Books
OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS:
An accomplished storyteller returns with her biggest, boldest, most entertaining novel yet—a hilarious, heartfelt story about books, love, sisterhood, and the surprises we discover in our DNA that combines the wit of Jonathan Tropper with the heart of Susan Wiggs.
Maggie, Eliza, and Tricia Sweeney grew up as a happy threesome in the idyllic seaside town of Southport, Connecticut. But their mother’s death from cancer fifteen years ago tarnished their golden-hued memories, and the sisters drifted apart. Their one touchstone is their father, Bill Sweeney, an internationally famous literary lion and college professor universally adored by critics, publishers, and book lovers. When Bill dies unexpectedly one cool June night, his shell-shocked daughters return to their childhood home. They aren’t quite sure what the future holds without their larger-than-life father, but they do know how to throw an Irish wake to honor a man of his stature.
But as guests pay their respects and reminisce, one stranger, emboldened by whiskey, has crashed the party. It turns out that she too is a Sweeney sister.
When Washington, DC based journalist Serena Tucker had her DNA tested on a whim a few weeks earlier, she learned she had a 50% genetic match with a childhood neighbor—Maggie Sweeney of Southport, Connecticut. It seems Serena’s chilly WASP mother, Birdie, had a history with Bill Sweeney—one that has remained totally secret until now.
Once the shock wears off, questions abound. What does this mean for William’s literary legacy? Where is the unfinished memoir he’s stashed away, and what will it reveal? And how will a fourth Sweeney sister—a blond among redheads—fit into their story?
By turns revealing, insightful, and uproarious, The Sweeney Sisters is equal parts cautionary tale and celebration—a festive and heartfelt look at what truly makes a family.
GIVEAWAY:
Prize: Win a copy of THE SWEENEY SISTERS by Lian Dolan (U.S. Only)
Starts: 28th April 2020. Ends: 12th May 2020.
TOUR SCHEDULE:
April 28th
April 29th
Willow Writes And Reads – Review + Playlist
Jill’s Book Blog – Review
April 30th
May 1st
May 2nd
3heartsandawish – Review
Inktalkswithmaria – Review
Paperbacks and pen – Review
May 3rd
Diary Of A Bookgirl – Review
Maddie.TV – Review + Favourite Quotes
Gwendalyn’s Anderson – Review
Nose Stuck in a Book – Promotional Post
May 4th
Bookish Geek – Review + Favourite Quotes
BiblioJoJo – Review
elena.luo – Review
About Lian Dolan
Lian Dolan is a writer and talker. She’s the author of two Los Angeles Times best-selling novels, Helen of Pasadena and Elizabeth the First Wife published by Prospect Park Books. Her next novel, The Sweeney Sisters, will be published in 2020 by William Morrow. She’s a regular humor columnist for Pasadena Magazine and has previously written monthly columns for O, The Oprah Magazine and Working Mother Magazine. She’s also written for TV, radio and websites.
Lian is the producer and host of Satellite Sisters, the award-winning talk show she created with her four real sisters. On Satellite Sisters, she’s interviewed everyone from Nora Ephron to Madeleine Albright to Big Bird. Satellite Sisters began life as a syndicated radio show and is now a top-rated podcast for women. The recent book by the Satellite Sisters, You’re the Best: A Celebration of Friendship, is popular with book clubs.
A popular speaker who combines humor and heart, Lian has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, CBS Sunday Morning and The Today Show and many local TV stations. She’s been a featured speaker at the LA Times Festival of Books, the Santa Barbara Celebrity Authors Lunch, the Literary Guild of Orange County Festival of Women Authors and dozens of other events at libraries, book stores, schools and women’s organizations across the country. In 2020, she’ll be on the faculty of the Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop.
Lian graduated from Pomona College with a degree in Classics. She lives in Pasadena, California with her husband, two sons and a big German shepherd.
Can’t Wait Wednesday – THE ONCE AND FUTURE WITCHES by Alix E. Harrow
/25 Comments/by Suzanne
“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, which encourages fellow bloggers to spotlight upcoming releases that we’re excited about. It is a meme that I have loved participating in for over a year now, but as Jill is no longer actively posting, from now on I’ll be linking to Can’t Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings, which is a spinoff of the original WoW meme.
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My selection for this week is THE ONCE AND FUTURE WITCHES by Alix E. Harrow. I started reading Harrow’s debut The Ten Thousand Doors of January this week and I’m completely enamored with it, so much so that I’m already looking ahead to see what she has coming out next. When I saw that her next book is about witches and that it’s historical fiction, I immediately added it to my TBR. That gorgeous cover doesn’t hurt either.
THE ONCE AND FUTURE WITCHES by Alix E. Harrow
Publication Date: October 13, 2020
From Goodreads:
In 1893, there’s no such thing as witches. There used to be, in the wild, dark days before the burnings began, but now witching is nothing but tidy charms and nursery rhymes. If the modern woman wants any measure of power, she must find it at the ballot box.
But when the Eastwood sisters–James Juniper, Agnes Amaranth, and Beatrice Belladonna–join the suffragists of New Salem, they begin to pursue the forgotten words and ways that might turn the women’s movement into the witch’s movement. Stalked by shadows and sickness, hunted by forces who will not suffer a witch to vote-and perhaps not even to live-the sisters will need to delve into the oldest magics, draw new alliances, and heal the bond between them if they want to survive.
There’s no such thing as witches. But there will be.
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I’d love to hear what upcoming book releases you’re waiting on this Wednesday? Leave me your link in the comments below and I’ll stop by and check out your CWW selection for this week. 🙂