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May 29, 2026 - June 12, 2026

Tell us about the books you’ve finished reading with your comments and a rating of 1 to 5 stars. During the contest period from May 29th to June 12th at noon ET, three lucky readers each will be randomly chosen to win a copy of A PAIR OF ACES by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray and WHISTLER by Ann Patchett.

Wally Lamb Book Group Event

Links to https://tbrnetwork.com/podcasts/bookreporter-talks-to/bookaccino-live-book-group-with-wally-lamb/.

Wally Lamb Book Group Event

Links to https://tbrnetwork.com/podcasts/bookreporter-talks-to/bookaccino-live-book-group-with-wally-lamb/.

May 29, 2026

Here's a fun tidbit for you. This year, the unofficial summer calendar will look longer than usual as we had an early Memorial Day, and Labor Day will be celebrated on the later side. This will not happen again until 2037. This means that you have more time for summer reading. You can up your reading quota by at least one book!

This Tuesday, June 2nd will be a very big book launch day. After I finish THE LAKE HOUSE by Lori Foster, I am contemplating whether to read A PAIR OF ACES by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray, THE WINDSOR AFFAIR by Melanie Benjamin, or WHISTLER by Ann Patchett.

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Sarah Damoff, author of The Burning Side

When April and Leo’s house burns in the middle of the night, they escape with their two young children. They retreat to April’s childhood home in Dallas, where her spirited parents and siblings provide both comfort and complication. As the family reckons with the aftermath, the fire exposes the cracks already forming in April and Leo’s marriage. The novel unfolds in alternating perspectives: from April, who feels the crushing weight of motherhood, marriage and self-blame; from Leo, a high school history teacher shaped by a lonely, fractured childhood; from Deb, April’s generous and no-nonsense mother who has to contend with her husband’s recent Alzheimer’s diagnosis; and from flashbacks that trace April and Leo’s relationship from its earliest days of connection to the devastating decisions that led them here.

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Janet Skeslien Charles, author of The Parisian Chapter

Paris, 1995: It’s been five years since Lily Jacobsen and her best friend, Mary Louise, arrived from their small town of Froid, Montana. Determined to establish themselves as artists --- Lily, a novelist, and Mary Louise, a painter --- they share a tiny sixth-floor walkup and survive on brie and baguettes. When Mary Louise abruptly moves out, Lily feels alone in the City of Light for the first time and needs a new way to support herself. She lands a job as the programs manager at the American Library in Paris, following in the footsteps of her French neighbor, Odile, who infused her childhood with tales of heroic World War II librarians. Here in the storied halls of the ALP, Lily meets an incredible cast of characters, each with their own stories...and agendas.

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Debbie Macomber, author of Chasing the Clouds Away

Maisy Gallagher has her own dreams, but when her father passes away, she selflessly sets them aside to help her family. Chase Furst, the hardened heir to a financial empire, is primarily focused on his own life and on his work as a bank executive. His childhood was marred by his mother’s struggle with addiction, and it left him cynical and emotionally distant. But then Chase meets Maisy, a beautiful woman full of optimism and kindness who can see past his defenses. To his surprise and annoyance, she offers to help him during a time of need and declines his offer of payment. Instead, she asks him to pay it forward --- and not with money or a quick fix, but through an act of true selflessness. At a loss, Chase doesn’t know where to begin.

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Christina Baker Kline, author of The Foursome

When Eng and Chang Bunker arrive in Wilkes County in 1839, everyone is eager to learn if the salacious rumors about them are true. Within months, the twins have opened a general store, bought land, and begun building a plantation. Now, word has it that they’re looking for wives --- and in a place that thrives on gossip and legacy, their ambitions set the community on edge. Sarah and Adelaide Yates, daughters of a once-prominent local family brought low by scandal, are drawn into their orbit. Bold, beautiful Adelaide sees in the twins’ fame a chance to reclaim her future. Sarah, quiet and observant, isn’t so sure. When the twins’ lives become entangled with theirs, they must navigate loyalty, longing and identity in a world where everything --- including race, class and gender --- is rigidly defined.

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Ruta Sepetys, author of A Fortune of Sand

Detroit, 1927. A city of smoke and ambition, where glittering wealth conceals a graveyard of secrets. Marjorie Lennox is the youngest daughter of a powerful Detroit dynasty. Creative, reckless and never quite what they wanted, Marjorie has spent her life overlooked by her controlling father and self-absorbed siblings. But when she secretly applies to an elite arts program backed by a mysterious patron, she grabs the chance to finally step out of her family’s shadow. The program is strict in ways that feel sinister. Doors lock at strange hours. Rumors spread about women going missing. And the handsome benefactor behind it all is as magnetic as he is unsettling. As Marjorie gets pulled deeper into his world, she must fight to discover the truth before she loses herself completely.

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Louise Penny, author of The Last Mandarin

Alice Li, a first-generation Chinese American and former food blogger, has long lived in the shadow of her mother, Vivien Li --- a Tiananmen Square dissident turned world-renowned human rights activist and passionate advocate for a free and democratic China. When security and fire alarms go off simultaneously all around the world, setting off a panic, the signal is traced back to China. As world leaders scramble to respond, Vivien and Alice are called to the White House in hopes that Madame Li can interpret the Chinese intentions. But why involve Alice? If China isn’t behind the attack, Vivien warns, someone even more dangerous is pulling the strings. Mother and daughter must join together to overcome their estrangement if they have any hope of preventing global catastrophe.

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