Hello Bookworms. I’m sorry to be behind on keeping in touch and visiting blogs from last weekend. I just got home from a week of reffing a couple provincial tennis tournaments north of us. It was long days from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. so I’m resting up now and it’s nice to be back home. The tennis was mostly played on outdoor courts, but one afternoon we had some rain and the competitors played inside this bubble (pictured). It went fairly smoothly, and the kids seemed to get plenty of matches to play, though I didn’t get much reading in, lol.
In book news I was sad to hear of the recent passing of author Paulette Jiles, who wrote News of the World and other historical fiction. I remember being transported by her 2016 novel about the 400-mile Texas wagon journey that Captain Kidd, a veteran of the Civil War, takes with a 10-year-old Indian-kidnapped girl who needs to be returned to her family.
According to The Washington Post’s obit of Ms. Jiles: she had lived for the past two decades “in a one-room cabin outside a Texas town called Utopia. Looking out on the 30-acre ranch where she lived alone with her dogs, cats and horses, she wrote novels with the lyricism and precision of a longtime poet, channeling the rugged beauty of the Hill Country and the Sabinal River that flowed nearby.” Wow she lived on 30 acres with her animals by herself. I’m sad to see her go. I will have to pick up another of her novels sometime.
And now I will leave you with a review of what I finished lately.
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid / Ballantine / 352 pages / 2025
Oh yeah, this novel captures the life of Joan Goodwin, a professor of astronomy at Rice University, who’s accepted by NASA to train to be an astronaut in the 1980s. Alternating chapters go back and forth in time following her journey through the space program, and to a current unfolding disaster with a space shuttle mission in 1984.
Both storylines make for enticing reading. The current situation is played out pretty grippingly … as it’s a bit reminiscent of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster from 2003. Not exactly, but it’s hard not to think of that along with the Challenger disaster in 1986. The other past storyline of Joan’s journey at NASA is equally intriguing as she becomes friends with the other trainees, faces up to the sexism of the day, and helps with her young precocious niece Frances since her sister is a single mom. I can’t say too much more, but there is an illicit relationship with a pilot in the program that seems to transform Joan along the way. She faces quite a bit adversity with her family, her job, and in her personal life, but she seems quite capable, generous, and accepting of who she is. And the ending with the space disaster is quite dramatic.
In various ways the novel seems like the popular book of the summer. It’s received more than 27,500 reviews on Goodreads with a high rating of 4.44, and the author was on the cover of Time Magazine. And like Helen at Helen’s Book Blog, I thought it was Taylor Jenkins Reid’s best novel so far. I have read two of TJR’s other books and they didn’t really come close to this.
Atmosphere reminded me a bit of a Kristin Hannah novel if you like those … maybe that’s because it’s a similar kind of read as Hannah’s novel The Women from last year. That one was about female nurses in the Vietnam War and this one is about female astronauts in space, but they’re both popular kind of fiction reads about women going through a seminal era. Also Hannah’s novel was narrated by Julia Whelan for the audiobook who also narrated Atmosphere. Both novels seem to explore their environments without going too overboard deep. Atmosphere gets into the space techie lingo and training but didn’t get too weighed down into nerdy space science … not say like Andy Weir’s novel The Martian does. It’s just an entertaining summer read with action and drama and seemed resonant of what many career women in that era went through. I was pleased it was on my summer list.
That’s all for now. What about you — have you read this and what did you think?
I think of the writing of Taylor Jenkins Reid as a lot like that of Kristin Hannah. It’s just me, I think, because both are hugely popular, but I am not really a fan of either author. It feels…sloppy…I guess is the word I’d use, as if it were written very quickly and not edited well, with dialogue that doesn’t feel right for the time and with soap opera-ish plots.
Probably just me.
Hi Deb, it’s okay, a fair assessment if you’ve tried them before. I think I consider both kind of popular fiction writers — nothing too deep … but I thought this was better than what TJR’s has done before. I wouldn’t read all of their books but this one was entertaining for a summer read you take to the beach. It wasn’t as over-the-top as the second half of Hannah’s The Women.
Enjoy your week.
It’s always nice to be home, isn’t it? I know you missed the pups and husband but I hope you enjoyed the time refing.
Sad to hear Paulette Jiles died as I liked her style. News of the World was a good book, imo, and I liked the movie as well. Right now I have one of her books unread on the shelf. Must get to that one in August.
I’ve never read any of Taylor Jenkins Reid but that plot is one that would interest me. Kristen Hannah was a miss for me but that said, I did like The Women as I thought it told so much about women in Vietnam and the horrible way they were treated when returning home as veterans.
This month I have been absorbed with books, movies and food on France, joining in on the Paris in July event. Glad to see you back.
Hi Tina, thanks. It is nice to be home, though it’s raining so hard today. Crazy.
I was surprised to hear of the passing of Paulette Jiles. Apparently she had non-alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver, weird. I’ve read a bit of the blog she kept on her author website. Sort of a western kind of horse-riding life she was living – maybe a bit like her books.
I think Atmosphere is not too far from The Women if you liked that. It’s an entertaining beach kind of read.
Good luck with Paris in July. We have been watching some of the Tour de France bike race and it’s nice to see the countryside along the way.
Have a great week.
I will see if we can access Tour de France. I have been having a blast with the Paris in July event. Funny because I thought, what could I post about and turns out, quite a bit.
Thanks for th tip about Atmosphere. I am still going to give it a try…in a few months probably as the wait list is long.
I think the Tour de France is on Peacock. Though we have been streaming it on something called FloSports that we had to pay for. But we are enjoying it.
Glad you are having fun with Paris in July. Vive la France!
I had not heard of Paulette Jiles’ passing. How sad. I greatly enjoyed her writing in”News of the World,” as well as the Tom Hanks film production that brought it to life. I confess I haven’t read her other books – I must look into that. I’ve also enjoyed the writing of Taylor Jenkins Reid in the past and I will have her new book on my “to be read” list
Hi Dorothy, yes it was surprising & sad to hear of Paulette Jiles’s passing. I’d like to read another of her books as I’ve only read the one.
And see what you think of the new Taylor Jenkins Reid book … it’s an easy summer read. But I think it’s a bit better than her other novels.
Have a great week. Stay cool there. Cheers.
Those are some long days! I’d be wiped out.
I’m sorry to hear that Paulette Jiles passed away. I really enjoyed News of the World. I read it twice – once on my own and again for book club. My husband enjoyed it quite well, too. I haven’t read any other books by Jiles, but there are several for me to choose from.
I’m interested in Atmosphere, but hope it doesn’t have too much in the way of romance since that was a big turn off for me with The Women. I love Julia Whelan for audio narration, so I’ll probably go that route. I’m eager to finish my current audiobook (The Poppy Fields) since it’s a disappointment, but I have to finish to see how it wraps up.
Hi Lesley, yeah those hours reffing were grueling, so good to be done, yay.
And Jiles’s passing was surprising & sad to hear. I’m curious if her other novels are as good.
I guess I should warn you a bit that Atmosphere does have a love angle to it, though it comes a bit later in the book. Still it seems a fairly big component, & it gets a bit mushy. Still I think the novel is worth checking out. And it’s a pretty quick summer kind of read. I’m not sure if you’ll like it or not. It seems either a hit or miss with readers on GR, but more seemed to like it.
Enjoy your week.
It’s nice that you enjoyed reffing even though there were grueling hours. Good to have you back! I loved Atmosphere; for me it was a 5*. I think I’m being overly generous this year in my reading; I’ve never awarded so many 5* in a single year as I have in this one. Anyway, Atmosphere, Broken Country, Wild Dark Shore, King of Ashes, and Heartwood have all been 5* for me. Hope you have a relaxing week and get back to reading soon.
Hi Carmen, you’ve read many of the top popular reads of 2025. I think it’s okay to be generous with 5*s. I have to get my hands on a copy of Heartwood – I’ve been on a long wait list for it. I’ve reviewed the first three you mention. You might also like Nesting though it’s another gut punch, lol. I think many novels this year have been excellent. I still have many more to read. And last week while reffing I didn’t read anything, sigh! No time to lose. I hope I can get back into it.
Have a great week. thx for your info on what you read. It helps me.
Oh, I am so glad you liked Atmosphere! It ticked all the boxes for me with a little romance, historical fiction, women doing something interesting and forging a path for others, and the time is perfect for someone my age.
Hi Helen, yeah I thought it was entertaining and good for a summer read. Like you, I liked it more than her other books. I’m glad you read it first and told us about it, ha! It reminded me a bit of the astronaut Sally Ride … though the book mentions her preceding their group. Interesting. Have a great week.
So sorry to hear that Paulette Jiles has died. I loved News of the World and really enjoyed Simon the Fiddler. I didn’t realize she was in her 80s–living on 30 acres, alone except for your animals is a rough life, but clearly what she chose.
I think you are right. There does seem to be a lot of buzz about Atmosphere. I will read it, but probably not this summer. I am trying to get through my TBR shelf a bit.
Hi Jane, yeah I was surprised by Paulette Jiles’s passing. It’s hard to lose an author, ugh. Living on 30 acres by oneself would be a lot of work and a bit tough but she seemed a bit tough perhaps. She was an avid horse person judging from articles and her website.
Atmosphere reminded me a bit about astronaut Sally Ride … but the book mentions she was a predecessor before this group. See what you think when you get to it … there’s sort of a love angle to the story.
Have a great week.
Sorry to hear about the passing of Paulette Jiles. I have been meaning to read her novel News of the World and now I will. Paulette Jiles living alone on her ranch for 30 years reminds me of another author who recently passed. Caleb Carr who wrote the bestselling The Allienist a few decades ago. He too lived by himself for years until he died with his cat and even wrote a memoir about it
Huh Kathy. I didn’t know that about Caleb Carr. I don’t think I read any of his books but it’s always hard to lose a well-known author. Maybe I should read The Alienist. And now this week I’ve heard that author Martin Cruz Smith, who wrote Gorky Park and others with the same detective, passed away. Ugh. It feels potent when an author passes. Some of them live a bit like hermits – it appears.
Enjoy your week.
I hadn’t heard about Paulette Jiles passing away.
I haven’t ever read at TJR book. I am thinking that Atmosphere might be a good place to start
Have a great week!
Hi Marg, I think you might like Atmosphere. It’s got a bit of everything to it: action, drama, romance, history, science. It’s a quick read. See what you think.
Cheers! & Have a great week too.
That’s sad about Paulette Jiles. I really loved News of the World. And I’m glad you survived the tennis tournament and that it turned out so well! 😀
Thanks Lark. I barely survived the tournament, Lol. But I’m still standing. I did have to sleep for many hours afterwards but I have revived, and it is nice to know it went well for the participants.
I’m glad you liked News of the World. It’s a good western. It is sad Paulette Jiles is gone now. ugh.
Enjoy your week.
I just finished reading Shield of Sparrow, and I can’t stop thinking about it. Now I want to read the 2nd book, but there’s no announcement yet.
Hi Lux, I will stop by to hear what that novel is about. Hope all is well with you. Cheers!
That book is new to me. Thanks for the introduction. Thanks also for your lovely comment — it sounds like you’ve been very busy! The tennis things sound fun. Happy week.
Hi Jeanie, thanks. Last week was surely full and tiring with the teeny boppers tennis players, but luckily this week should be more relaxing. Perhaps not as great as your days on the lake but nice enough, lol. I hope you are enjoying your reading there. Have fun. Cheers!
I just started reading Atmosphere last night, I’m literally two chapters in. Your write-up about Atmosphere got me really excited because I loved TJR’s other books as well as Kristin Hannah’s The Women but I don’t want to get ahead of myself! I’m also listening on audio because I love Julia Whelan!
Awesome Haze. I think you’ll like it, though the illicit love affair could be a little overboard perhaps. The audio is well done. See what you think. I actually thought it was a bit better than TJR’s other books. It is a pretty quick book.
Enjoy!
It sounds like you had a good reffing trip and are also glad to be home. Reffing sounds like a lot of work.
Paulette Jiles is new to me, which I guess is not surprising, since for a long time I read mostly mysteries. Some of her novels sound familiar though. I should look into them.
Whenever I see mentions or reviews about Atmosphere, I waver on whether I want to read it. I am interested in the space program and women in it. I will probably wait and see if I find a copy in a couple of years at a reasonable price.
Hi Tracy, yes the reffing wore me out last week but it went well. Glad to be home!
It seems Paulette Jiles wrote western historical fiction but I only read her one (short) novel set in Texas in 1870, so I don’t know much about the others. Though I might pick up another. I think you might like News of the World — and it seems almost like a novella – not much over 200 pages.
It’s hard to say if you’d like Atmosphere. It’s a pretty light novel about women in space, with romance & a bit of drama. I’d say it’s more popular fiction than literary fiction but it’s a good kind of beach read. Quick and easy.
Hope all is well there. Enjoy your week.