Top Ten Tuesday – Bookish Jobs I Would Love to Have
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!
This week’s TTT topic is Bookish Jobs I Would Do For Free (Real or Imaginary). I tweaked the topic just a bit since I don’t see myself doing much for free these days, haha. Instead, I’ve broken the jobs down into what I consider to be somewhat realistic options if I were to ever decide to make a career change versus jobs I would love to do if such jobs even existed and if I have the skill/creativity to do them.
Bookish Jobs I Would Love to Have
Semi-Realistic Ones Based on My Actual Skill Set:
1. Any job in publishing – If I could go back in time and plot a different career path for myself, I definitely would have loved to go into publishing and relocate to New York.
2. Librarian – Another option I would love since it would mean interacting with readers all day and helping them find books I hope they will love.
3. Book Shop Owner, ideally the owner of a shop that is part bookstore, part wine bar or bakery – Same as number 2, but with the added bonus of food and/or wine.
4. Literary Agent – What a thrill it would be to discover and represent new authors!
5. Elementary School Reading Teacher – While I was a teacher many years ago, I was a high school English teacher. If I could go back and do things differently, I think I would have loved teaching young children the joys of reading.
Dream Jobs If They Actually Exist and/or I Actually Had the Skill to Do Them:
6. Professional Bookworm – Who wouldn’t want to get paid to just read all day?
7. Book Cover Designer – If I had any artistic ability, this would be such an amazing job.
8. Book Club Coordinator – This doesn’t really exist but I think it would be so much fun to help people who are looking for book clubs to find one that is perfect for them.
9. Designer of Bookish Merchandise – There’s just something about bookish merch that brings me so much joy so I really wish I had the artistic talent to design and sell merch of my own.
10. College Professor who specializes in teaching Contemporary Romance – I think this one springs from both my love of contemporary romance novels and my desire to defend the genre against those who always belittle it.
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Question: What would be your dream bookish job?
Holiday Reviews: A WINTER IN NEW YORK & WRECK THE HALLS
Happy Monday everyone! As you can tell by how late I’m making a post today, it has been a day! We have two big work deadlines coming up on 10/15 so things have been a bit hectic. I have gotten a ton of reading done but have been too tired to actually sit down and write reviews. I did read two fabulous holiday romances last week though and wanted to share my thoughts now that they’re both available in stores.
A Winter in New York Goodreads
Author: Josie Silver
Publication Date: October 3, 2023
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Dell
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley and a complimentary ALC from Penguin Random House Audio. All opinions are my own.
Set in New York City around the holidays, Josie Silver’s new novel A Winter in New York follows Iris Raven, a young chef who, following the death of her mother, has just moved to New York City, looking for a fresh start. Iris and her mom spent countless evenings watching movies set in New York while eating delicious gelato from her mom’s favorite recipe. Those movies, however, did nothing to prepare Iris for just how huge the city really was.
Thankfully, Bobby, Iris’ neighbor and immediate best friend, makes it his mission to get her out into the city to experience it to the fullest. When he takes her to a food festival in Little Italy, Belotti’s, a family-run gelateria immediately catches Iris’ eye. She recognizes it from an old cherished photo of her mom’s and wants to visit the shop as a way to feel close to her mom again. What Iris doesn’t realize as she’s making plans to return the next day, is how truly life changing visiting this shop will actually be.
Iris returns the next day and is surprised to see Gio behind the counter, only because she has just recently met him in an awkward encounter at the bookstore. Gio and Iris get reacquainted, and he informs her that the shop is actually in danger of closing. His uncle Santo, the owner, is sick and in a coma, and because of a strict family rule, no one else knows the secret family recipe for their beloved gelato. As Gio tells this story, Iris starts to suspect that the recipe she and her mother have enjoyed for years may, in fact, be the Belotti secret recipe. Why would her mother have this family’s top secret recipe? Is there any way she can hand over the recipe without creating drama for this family since they’ll know that someone, probably Santo, gave the recipe to someone outside of the family? Iris decides the best course of action is to volunteer to help try to recreate the recipe. Her hope is to help save the business in time for the holiday season while also protecting both her mother and Santo.
This story really was a delightful and heartwarming read. I loved watching Gio and Iris work together every day to try to recreate this recipe. They of course have wonderful chemistry that Silver brings to life beautifully, but they are also both very much dealing with grief and loss. While Iris is still mourning the loss of her mom, Gio is grieving the loss of his wife. Working comfortably side by side every day allows both Iris and Gio to start moving past that grief and to find their way to one another. They had so many sweet moments together in that shop. The Belotti family was also fantastic and I adored them. They were a big-hearted, loud, loving family and it was just such a joy every time they appeared on the scene.
Another wonderful element of the story was Iris following the clues to figure out what exactly Belotti’s shop meant to her mother. We get some beautifully done flashback scenes to when Iris’ mom was a young woman living in the city. I love a good dual timeline story so I very much enjoyed watching this aspect of the story unfold.
I alternated between the e-book and the audio and thoroughly enjoyed both. Emma Appleton narrates the audiobook and she just did such a magnificent job creating distinct voices for each character and capturing both the humorous and the heartfelt moments of the story.
If you’re looking for a heartwarming, heartfelt holiday read, be sure to check out A Winter in New York. 4.5 STARS
Wreck the Halls Goodreads
Author: Tessa Bailey
Publication Date: October 3, 2023
Publisher: Avon and Harper Voyager
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
I know that I can always count on Tessa Bailey for an entertaining rom-com so I, of course, couldn’t resist her latest book, Wreck the Halls, a holiday-themed rom-com that features the adult children of two estranged former rock band mates who team up to try to convince their moms to reunite for a Christmas Eve concert.
Melody Gallard may be the daughter of a rock legend, but one awkward tabloid photo when she was a teen was enough to make Melody shun the spotlight and the attention that goes hand and hand with fame. Instead, she has chosen a quieter path for herself and spends her days restoring old books. When a producer comes forward and offers her a huge sum of money if she can convince her mom to reunite with her band on live TV, Melody wonders if this is a sign it’s time to step out of her comfort zone. She loves the idea of having enough money to be financially independent and is also very intrigued by the fact that she’ll have to team up with the only other person who can possibly convince the estranged band members to get back together, Beat Dawkins.
Beat is the son of the band’s lead singer. Charming, handsome, and not at all awkward in front of the cameras, Beat’s experience with fame was quite different from Melody’s. When he and Melody met as teenagers while the band was still together, Beat immediately felt very protective of Melody, especially when he saw how the media treated her so differently from the way they treated him. Beat thought they might become friends but instead, they lost touch after the band broke up. These days Beat finds himself dealing with one of the serious downsides of fame, someone with a secret about his mom’s past, is blackmailing him. Every time Beat thinks he’s done with the guy, he shows up again demanding more money. When Beat is approached about trying to reunite the band, he truly hopes the payout is enough to get the blackmailer off his back once and for all. Plus, there’s the added bonus of finally getting to see Melody again.
This book was such a fun ride! I loved that the premise of this reunion was done in the vein of a reality TV show, with both Beat and Melody mic’d up and followed by camera crews at all times. Trying to get these two rock divas to reunite was basically Mission Impossible for the two of them, but I loved every minute of the rom-com style shenanigans that took place. I also loved that it gave Melody and Beat a chance to get reacquainted as adults and finally explore the sparks that flew between them when they first met as teens. Tessa Bailey is the queen of the spicy rom-com so of course things heat up between these two and I was here for it and cheering them on.
If you’re looking to add a little spice to your holiday romance TBR, you’ll definitely want to pick up a copy of Wreck the Halls. 4 STARS
Thriller Thursday Reviews: In a Quiet Town & Finders Keepers
Hi everyone! Time for another edition of Thriller Thursday with Sharon. 🙂 This week I have two psychological thrillers, Amber Garza’s, In a Quiet Town and Natalie Barelli’s, Finders Keepers. I really like both of these authors and they did not disappoint with these books.
In a Quiet Town Goodreads Author: Amber Garza
Publication Date: August 8, 2023
Publisher: Mira
Amber Garza’s newest book, In a Quiet Town, is a psychological thriller that follows a determined mother as she searches for her missing daughter.
Tatum has finally reconnected with her daughter Adrienne after not seeing or talking to her for a couple of years. Tatum’s husband, Shane, is the Pastor at the local church and he and Adrienne had always had a strained relationship. Adrienne could do nothing right in Shane’s eyes. A couple of years ago Shane cut off all contact with Adrienne. Tatum went along with it because she never questioned her husband, but now she has secretly been visiting Adrienne at the bar she works at on Wednesday nights when Shane is at his men’s club meetings. But one Wednesday night Adrienne does not show up for work. When no one has heard from her for a couple of days Tatum goes looking for her, but Adrienne is not at her apartment or anywhere in town. When Tatum reports her as missing to the police, they do not take her seriously because Adrienne as always been on the wild side, “She probably just went off for a few days” they said. The only other person that is taking Adrienne’s disappearance seriously is her fiancé Seth, Who Tatum didn’t even know existed until she met him at Adrienne’s apartment. Together they work to find Adrienne, but the more time Tatum spends with Seth, the more suspicious she becomes of him. Can Tatum find her daughter before it is too late?
The story is told in dual timeline. The present-day chapters are titled “The Mother” and are told from Tatum’s POV and the past chapters are titled “The Daughter” and are told from Adrienne’s POV and also chapters titled “The Fiancé”. Now I don’t want to talk about the fiancé’s chapters, well I do but I cannot LOL, because anything I say will be a major spoiler. I’ll just say that I really enjoyed trying to piece things together while reading those chapters.
In Tatum’s chapters we get to follow her as she works to find Adrienne. I really liked Tatum, the whole time she was married to Shane she had to act a certain way because she was the pastor’s wife. She never stood up to Shane and always took his side over Adrienne’s. She was excited to be reconnecting with Adrienne. When Adrienne went missing, Tatum’s momma-bear persona came out and I loved watching her get a backbone and stand up to Shane.
I really liked getting the lead-up to what happened in Adrienne’s chapters. In these chapters, we get a look into what life was like for her with her father, as well as her relationship with Seth. The whole time I was reading Adrienne’s chapters, I was hoping that she was alright.
In a Quiet Town is full of twists and turns that kept me guessing and turning the pages. The tension and suspense slowly inched its way up and by the end of the book I was on the edge of my seat. 4 stars
Finders Keepers: An absolutely gripping psychological thriller Goodreads Author: Natalie Barelli
Publication Date: August 23, 2023
Publisher: Furphies Press
I have enjoyed all of Natalie Barelli’s books, so I was excited to read her latest, Finders Keepers, and I am happy to report that this did not disappoint.
Emily Harper is an entitled influencer who found a laptop at an airport a couple of years ago. The only thing on the laptop was a diary, which Emily decided to publish as her own. She changed a few things up and now she is the successful author of a novel called, Diary of an Octopus. Rose is the real owner of the laptop and diary and when she sees the book in the window of Barnes and Noble, she stops dead in her tracks. No, she thinks, the book name is just a coincidence. But when she reads a few paragraphs of the book she knows that Emily did not write this book, because this is her diary, the one she kept when she was thirteen years old. Rose needs to get her laptop back, because this diary is not just about a schoolgirl crush, it is also about a murder that could land Rose in jail.
This book is broken up into two parts. The first part of the book is when Rose comes up with her plan to get close to Emily so she can get her laptop back. I loved Rose. She made me laugh quite a few times while I was reading. The plans she kept coming up with sounded so good in her mind, but they never worked out. I loved how she would roll her eyes at Emily and then be thinking in her head how easy it would be to just kill her. She has already committed one murder, what is one more? LOL!
I have to say I did not like Emily at all. Right from the start she came off as so condescending. She thinks she is all that and everyone should be ready to serve her when needed. Plus, Hello! She stole the laptop and used the diary for her own gain.
The first part of the book ends in a twist that I did not see coming. This twist starts the suspense and tension in the second part of the book. I cannot say what the twist was, but I will say it made me hate Emily more than I did in the first part. I also did not trust anyone in this half of the book.
We also get excerpts from the diary Rose kept when she was thirteen, and the more I read the more sympathy I had for Rose. I couldn’t tell though if what she was writing was truth or just the wild imagination of a teenage girl. But either way I loved Rose even more.
Finders Keepers is a psychological thriller that is full of twists and turns that kept me guessing until the end. 4 stars