THOUGHTS ON THIS 'n THAT

2020 has been a very exciting year for publishing. Once again, as I do every year, I'd like to give you my picks for Best Books of 2020. They aren't listed in any special order and I'm sure many of you will disagree, or think I've forgotten a book or two. Feel free to write all about it in the comments area. Also, tell us what you enjoyed reading this year. We love hearing from readers. THE VANISHING HALF (RiverheadBooks) by Brit Bennett was a favorite this year. I first discovered Brit when she wrote THE MOTHERS last year and was thrilled to hear she had a new novel coming out. I even got to workshop in one of her fiction classes. THE VANISHING HALF tells the story of two black sisters, one who lives as a black woman and the other who passes It debuted at number 1 on the NYT bestseller fiction list. It's being produced into a HBO limited series with Brit as executive producer.  Kevin Kwan's highly anticipated third book in his "Crazy Rich Asians" seri

  Bestselling author, Barbara Claypole White is best known for writing novels that really touch our hearts, making us think and feel, many times focusing on those who are marginalized. Her most recent novel, THE PROMISE BETWEEN US focuses on mental illness. Barbara has been quoted saying, "She writes hopeful family dramas with a healthy dose of mental illness." Bestselling author, Diane Chamberlain writes, "Claypole White's gift is her ability to put us in the troubled minds of her characters in a way that helps us not only understand them, but fall in love with them as well." Here are Barbara's thoughts about 2020 and 2021 I began 2020 untethered, after the loss of my mother and my childhood home. Grief remains, but I’ve channeled my emotions into rebuilding a manuscript that’s been a beast to finish. I hope 2021 turns my pages into novel six. If not, I’m ready for a new story—for all of us. Barbara loves to speak to Book Clubs via FaceTime or Skype. Just c

Just mention the name, CHANEL and high fashion, pearls, little Cs and couture come to mind. I love reading anything about Coco and my bookshelves hold at least a dozen books on her genius. I love her fragrance No. 5, but Allure is my all time favorite. It's a bit lighter. I never knew Coco had a sister, but it seems so, and in the new novel THE CHANEL SISTERS (GraydonHouse/Harlequin) we meet both and learn quite a bit about what made them so fabulously different.   THE CHANNEL SISTERS is a novel of survival, love, loss, triumph—and the sisters who changed fashion forever. Antoinette and Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel know they’re destined for something better. Abandoned by their family at a young age, they’ve grown up under the guidance of nuns preparing them for simple lives as the wives of tradesmen or shopkeepers. At night, their secret stash of romantic novels and magazine cutouts beneath the floorboards are all they have to keep their dreams of the future alive. The walls of the conv

  Author Barbara Linn Probst had quite an exciting year with her debut novel, QUEEN of The OWLS (SheWritesPress). Barbara must have had a fantastic marketing team, because I saw the book everywhere. Apparently readers did too because there were quite a few copies sold. Isn't the Georgia O'Keefe inspired cover absolutely gorgeous? Many reviewers called it a book, "women should read." I'm glad I did. Barbara has a new novel coming out in April 2021, THE SOUND BETWEEN THE NOTES. The cover is equally beautiful. It's available for pre-order on Amazon or at your favorite independent book store. Barbara was very generous to share here essay, Goodbye 2020 - Hello 2021 When I prepared for the April publication of QUEEN OF THE OWLS, I had no idea what April 2020 would be like. The reality of COVID had just hit, and all the launch events I'd worked so hard to set up were canceled. I had a choice: feel terrible, or put on my Big Girl Pants and pivot.   Luckily, I was

  Merry Christmas. Today I woke up in Miami with the sun shining, certainly nothing like what I read about in Nancy Carey Johnson's memoir, CHRISTMAS MEMORIES (HoneyberryBooks). In her book, we take a holiday vacay to Vermont. Nancy's memoir takes us all back to a time when life was much simpler, we certainly didn't have to wear facemasks. It took me to a time when I was growing up, snow always fell, my mom cooked cookies and delightful holiday treats. In CHRISTMAS MEMORIES you'll read about traditions that perhaps you share or will become new to you and your family. This is one book you'll want to refer back to every holiday season - from Thanksgiving to the New Year ... and probably some days in between.                                                                                             ***  The award-winning author of Life Is Good is back with another feel-good collection of essays, both humorous and inspiring, about life in rural America that includes 40

In the town of Silver Bells, there’s always a feeling of Christmas in the air… Let love—and RaeAnne Thayne—melt your heart this holiday season! This New Year will bring widowed nurse Abigail Powell a fresh start in a different city. Excited about the chance to create an unforgettable Christmas for her young son in picturesque Silver Bells, Colorado, Abby has been hired to take care of her dear friend’s recuperating grandmother. But sprightly senior Winnie insists she doesn’t need looking after. What she  does  need is help decorating her historic mansion, Holiday House, for a seasonal town fundraiser. Abby warms to the festive task, but she’ll have to contend with her own personal Grinch: Winnie’s prickly grandson, Ethan Lancaster. Ethan Lancaster is good at a lot of things. Relationships surely aren’t one of them. His ex-fiancée convinced Ethan he was incapable of love, and he believes her…up until the moment he impulsively kisses Abby. What is it about this vibrant woman and her swee

Author Judy Gaman is here to share her essay Goodbye 2020 Hello 2021. But first, lets check out her new book which came out this year. Judy Gaman was so busy making a name for herself that she barely took the time to meet a stranger, enjoy life, or simply stop to breathe. Immersed in her job as the director of business development for a high-profile medical practice―a job that required her to write health and wellness books and host a nationally syndicated radio show―she spent every day going full speed ahead with no looking back. That is, until the day she met Lucille Fleming. While writing a book on longevity, Judy interviewed Lucille, an elegant and spirited woman who had just recently turned 100. Lucille had the fashion and style of old Hollywood, but it was all hidden behind the doors of her assisted living center. What began as a quick meeting became a lasting friendship that transformed into an inseparable bond. Lucille brought incredible wisdom and great stories to the

  THE CHICKEN SISTERS is a NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK "A charming, hilarious, feel-good story about the kind of bonds & rivalries only sisters can share. Also, a great present for your sister for the holidays!!"--Reese Witherspoon Three generations. Two chicken shacks. One recipe for disaster. In tiny Merinac, Kansas, Chicken Mimi's and Chicken Frannie's have spent a century vying to serve up the best fried chicken in the state--and the legendary feud between their respective owners, the Moores and the Pogociellos, has lasted just as long. No one feels the impact more than thirty-five-year-old widow Amanda Moore, who grew up working for her mom at Mimi's before scandalously marrying Frank Pogociello and changing sides to work at Frannie's. Tired of being caught in the middle, Amanda sends an SOS to  Food Wars , the reality TV restaurant competition that promises $100,000 to the winner. But in doing so, she launches both familie

  We're checking in with some of our favorite writers and reading what they want to see left behind in 2020 and ahead for them in 2021. In addition to writing her thrilling novel, THE 5th C: A CIA NOVEL, Elaine Gallant freelances for on-line sites and magazines. THE FIFTH C is her first novel. Elaine shares her "Goodbye 2020 - Hello 2021" essay. Whispers float around this Pacific island where I live of what a massive blessing it is to be devoid of tourists. We can finally get to where we want to go. Enjoy our beaches without witnessing another soul. And step out into sea-scrubbed air that we know from any direction is really a 2,400-mile-long sigh of relief by a healing Mother Earth. The world pandemic has been a crushing reality in 2020, which is why our voices are secreted. Come 2021, most of us simply want a return to a new normal at a pace we can better endure. To purchase Elaine's novel, THE 5th C: A CIA NOVEL THE 5th C: A CIA NOVEL HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

  Barbara Conrey has had an incredibly successful year with her debut novel, NOWHERE NEAR GOODBYE (RedAdeptPublishing). She took some time out to look back at 2020 and ahead to 2021. FYI: Her essay includes a yummy treat. It’s been a year; I’ll say that. I could point out the negatives – there are a few, but I want to talk about the positives instead. And not because I’m an optimist. I can get down and dark with the best of them. So here goes: My cooking skills have improved dramatically; instead of going out to dinner three nights a week, I don’t. I’ll be honest, if I could, I would, but not at the risk of contracting COVID. I have plenty of time for writing and reading, Again, because I’m not going out. I haven’t even had a sniffle. See above. This not going out thing has its advantages. I’ve filled my car with gas exactly three times this year. Do you see a pattern here? I haven’t overspent on clothes (I’ll be honest, I love new clothes, and every time I walk into my closet I feel s