Hi Bookworms. I hope all is well. Does it feel like we’re racing through March or what? We’ve had much fluctuating weather here with windy 60s as well as falling temps and snowflakes too.
This weekend through Tuesday, I am busy reffing the U12 national tennis tournament here with a team of refs, so I will keep this a bit shorter than usual as I need to get to the site. The event is introducing electronic line calling this year with the benefit of players being able to challenge close line calls, which refs will check from a tablet at court side, so I hope this goes smoothly. We have 72 matches to get through today into the evening. And here you thought March Madness was all about basketball, lol. It’ll be a crazy amount of tennis.
Meanwhile here is my latest book haul that I picked up from the library.
- Brawler: Short Stories by Lauren Groff
- Evil Genius by Claire Oshetsky (novel)
- 107 Days by Kamala Haris (nonfiction)
- A Place of Tides by James Rebanks (nonfiction)
My husband has taken and is reading the Rebanks book, which is said to be about the author’s reflections on “a life-changing summer spent on a remote island off the coast of Norway, where his only companion was an old woman who practiced the ancient tradition of collecting eiderdown from birds that nest on this remarkable landscape each year.” Last year Tina at the blog Turn the Page had reviewed Rebanks’ two previous nonfiction books The Shepherd’s Life, and Pastoral Song … and I thought they sounded quite good so I picked up this latest one, which my husband will let me know about.
I’m not sure when I’ll get to the rest of these books as Tina and I plan to start a buddy read later in the week of the novel Buckeye by Patrick Ryan. It came out last fall and was a much talked about epic that weaves the intimate lives of two midwestern families across generations, from World War II to the late twentieth century. Many called it the book of the year last year — giving it 5 stars — so we can’t wait for this one. Carmen liked it a lot and tipped us off back when there was a $2.99 deal for the ebook on Amazon. Yay, it’s hard to get a recent much-awaited book cheap, but it’s good to be lucky once in a while.
In other book news, I see that it was announced that Jane Fonda will take on the role of Sybil Van Antwerp, the obsessive letter writer, in the movie adaptation of Virginia Evans’ bestselling novel The Correspondent. Wow Lionsgate snapped it up pretty quickly, but it’s still in the pre-production phase, so we will wait a bit. Also Liz Moore’s novel The God of the Woods will be coming to Netflix as an adapted TV series with Maya Hawke starring as investigator Judy Luptack … for those who liked the bestselling book. I had to look but yes, the actress is the daughter of Ethan Hawke/Uma Thurman.
And now I’ll leave you with a review of what I finished lately:
Finding Grace by Loretta Rothschild / St. Martin’s / 336 pages / 2025
3.75 stars. This debut novel by a British author came out last summer and I heard about it from Lesley at the blog Coastal Horizons. It’s one of those books you can’t say too much about its premise for fear of giving too much away. But basically it’s about a young-ish family who goes through a horrific tragedy at the start of the book … then you find out that the married couple was going through a surrogate for their second child at the time.
Four years later, Tom — the husband who survives — is raising the second child on his own with some help from his close friends … when he comes across a misaddressed letter that reveals the identity of his child’s egg donor. It’s what he does with this info — in his curiosity to meet the person — that becomes the gist of the story. It becomes a secret … that Tom doubles down on as it goes along.
I found it a good audio listen, though it seemed to go on a bit long for this type of story. I did want to strangle Tom at times as he makes plenty of bad decisions … you both sympathize with him and then are miffed by him. It’s told in alternating parts — with their lives before the tragedy … and then after the tragedy … with Tom’s dead spouse narrating the story. It makes it a bit unique though I came to want the parts in Tom’s present life to know how it plays out post-tragedy much more than the parts pre-tragedy. The story has a couple eye-rolls along the way — and whether you believe parts — still it kept me quite engaged for the duration and raises some interesting issues regarding surrogacy and parenthood.
That’s all for now. What about you — do you know about any of these books and if so, what did you think? Have a great week ahead everyone!
You have a jammed packed few days at those tennis tournaments! Thank you for the shout out about the Rebanks books. I very much enjoyed his first two and learning about his journey in farming and responsibilty to nature. I also follow him on Instagram. Looking forward to hearing your husband’s thoughts on Place of Tides.
Les had a great review on Finding Grace and it intrigued me. Still hasn’t made it onto my immediate to-read list but that list is ever changing. Hoping to get to it by June. Exciting news about The Correspondent being made into a movie, will certainly look for that one.
Hoping to catch up on correspondence today. Allergies had hit me hard with all the grass pollens and these stitches on my face are driving me bonkers. This too shall pass! Chat soon.
Hi Tina, I think Robert is liking Place of Tides … so I’ll likely read one of Rebanks’ books in the future. I like these natural history kinds of reads.
And you might like Finding Grace … it’s about a surrogacy issue and reads a little like a thriller, though the plot is a bit longer. See what you think. And I wonder a bit how they will film Sybil’s letter writing obsession in the movie of The Correspondent. hmm.
Good luck with the allergies … I hope you’re able to control them with all the pollen in the air. take care, chat soon.
Ooo I am now excited about the movie adaptation of The God of the Woods. I love Maya Hawke! And I need to read The Correspondent before I see the movie. I hope to read it this summer!
Hi Erin, I think The God of the Woods will be turned into a TV series on Netflix. I have not seen Maya Hawke yet but I hope it’ll be good.
See what you think of The Correspondent … the elderly protagonist in it is a bit cranky at first but changes a bit as it goes on. Happy reading. Cheers!
I put The Place of Tides on hold at the library, but it will be months before I get a copy. It sounds like a book I will enjoy as I’m fascinated with solitude and reflection.
I ran across a nice copy of Buckeye at the library a while back, but I haven’t tried it yet. Let’s see what you and Tina think!
Hi Deb, yeah I think you might like Rebanks’ books … and my husband is enjoying The Place of Tides. I hope I get my hands on it sometime.
I’ll let you know about Buckeye. We just started it. Enjoy your week.
The weather has been crazy, right? We were recently on a trip to Arizona, which is having record heat by the way. And our area here in Central Texas had record cold while we were gone. Ha! AZ was nice for golf, walking, visiting the botanical garden, etc. And now we’re back to quasi-normal here in our area – albeit warmer than it ‘should be’ – ha! Good to know about the movie planned for The Correspondent. I’m planning on reading that for book group in May. Just looked to see what the hold line was for the audiobook at my library – WoWW!! The library has 111 copies and there are over 1340 holds. Hmmm. May have to use an Audible credit for it or get the e-book. Enjoy your ‘tennis time’! And have a good week!
Hi Kay, thanks, the tennis time went well. & Yes the weather is all over the place. We just had snow again huh. Looks like AZ was nice for you.
Oh wow. 1340 holds on The Correspondent. That’s nuts. Don’t set your expectations too high based on that … I liked it but still that’s a bit excessive. I hope you enjoy it with your book group. Cheers Enjoy your week too.
Yes, March is flying by! Our weather continues to be mild, with rain here and there, but we’ve enjoyed a few sunny days, which helps.
I was just reading about electronic line calling in tennis. It was mentioned in an article about the new MLB “robot umps.” I guess the pitcher or catcher can challenge a call on a pitch. Should help when an ump makes an obviously bad call. Each team can challenge twice in a game. If they win that challenge, they get another challenge. It will be fun to see how that works during the season. Anyhow, have fun with the tennis reffing. That’s a lot of matches!
A Place of Tides sounds like an interesting book. I wonder if the books (by Rebanks) need to be read in order. I know they’re nonfiction, so maybe it doesn’t matter.
My book group is discussing Buckeye in November. It’s a big book so I’ll start it early, but not so early that I forget the details! Hope you and Tina have a good buddy read with it.
I read about Jane Fonda starring in The Correspondent. I don’t think I would have chosen her to play Sybil, but maybe she’ll do a good job. I would have preferred Helen Miran or Meryl Streep… And God of the Woods should be fun to see on the big screen, too! I loved that novel.
Thanks for the shout-out for my review of Finding Grace. I, too, wanted to strangle Tom on several occasions!
Have a good week! Hope you have some beautiful weather in the coming days.
Hi Lesley, thanks. We had a bit of snow here last night, lol. Hope you are in the sun. We are really looking forward to spring.
And that’s interesting to hear about the MLB new challenge rule on pitches. 2 per game, eh? Our electronic line calling worked really well at the tennis tournament and it made the kids play much more fair I think. It was also easy to use and quick to see the results … and it didn’t hold up the game, which was great. I hope it works that way in baseball too.
I wouldn’t think the Rebanks books have to be read in any order. And we will see about Buckeye. I’m not sure what to expect yet.
I think God of the Woods will be a TV series on Netflix instead of a film but it’ll be interesting to see what they do with it. Maybe Jane Fonda was chosen for The Correspondent b/c Sybil is a bit prickly at first and maybe Jane can be too. We will see how it works out.
I’m glad you talked up Finding Grace … it had an interesting twist on things. But man Tom was not forthcoming … it was squirm-worthy.
Enjoy your week too.
It sounds like you’re weekend is busy! I didn’t read God of the Woods but maybe I should give it a go before it comes out on film. I’m curious about Finding Grace now. I’m sure I’d want to smack Tom for rash/stupid decisions, though. Have a wonderful week, Susan!
Thanks Rachel. Maybe you should check out the audiobook of Finding Grace …. I was patient with the character Tom but man he is living in a dream world, lol. You might like the novel. The God of the Woods was a bit (too?) dark … and long for me but others really liked it. See what you think. Cheers. Enjoy your week too.
Your weekend sounds jam packed with activities. Enjoy as much as you can. Thanks for the shout out. I loved Buckeye; I hope you guys love it too. I had Finding Grace for a long while on my wishlist at the library last year but I guess there weren’t many people interested and the library never acquired it. I should have gone ahead and bought the book but other titles were more pressing for attention at the time. The story sounds unique enough. Great review. I’ll keep this book in mind but without commitment.
Hi Carmen, yeah I just got done with the tennis event and feel a bit exhausted after 5 days of it. But now I can start Buckeye. Looking forward to it. Glad you told me about the discount deal on it. Finding Grace is sort of fun for whenever you need a twisty kind of read … thriller-like sort of but in a longer way. It’s a lighter read than some literary fiction types. Enjoy your week.
I can totally see Jane Fonda in the role for The Correspondent. She can be prickly like Sybil in the book. I am adding Buckeye to my TBR. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read it but your description sounds good.
I hope your reffing went well and no player tantrums.
My Sunday Salon: https://headfullofbooks.blogspot.com/2026/03/sunday-salon-97.html
Hi Anne, thanks I didn’t see too many tantrums at the tournament which was a big plus.
And I agree Jane Fonda might be good for the prickly role of Sybil. We will see. I will let you know about Buckeye … just started it. yay. Cheers. Enjoy your week.
My book group really enjoyed The Correspondent so I bet we’ll have a group outing to see the movie in due time.
I love March Madness as a Duke fan and my brother-in-law went to St. John’s so I anticipate a big clash next weekend!
Buckeye sounded intriguing so I’ll be interested to hear what you think.
Hi Constance, it would be fun to have a group outing to see the movie of The Correspondent. Hope Jane can pull it off.
It looks like Duke plays St. John’s tomorrow (Friday) so that’ll be big. I love when it gets to the Sweet 16 and gets close. Enjoy watching.
I’ll let you know about Buckeye. Cheers. Enjoy the weekend.
The weather has continued to be unseasonably hot in Santa Barbara and Goleta, but we have recently had some mornings that have been foggy and overcast, which helps with the continuing yard work.
Of your library books, the Groff short story book is the only one I am familiar with. I would like to read it this year but who knows? I will be very interested to hear what you think of Buckeye.
I cannot remember, have you read The Correspondent? I finished it last night, I thought it was a wonderful book. Not depressing at all but very sad at times, or at least very emotional.
Finding Grace sounds very interesting and I think I would like the way it is told. So I will put it on my wish list and maybe I will even read it earlier than I can buy it, since it is available through Kindle Unlimited.
I saw when I went on Goodreads that you had read The Correspondent, and reviewed it in September 2025.
Hi Tracy, yes I liked The Correspondent. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Sybil has a lot on her shoulders but seems to figure out the issues by the end.
I will let you know about Buckeye which I just started. I hope to get to the Groff book too but might need to have to recheck it out from the library. Interesting to hear that Finding Grace is available via Kindle Unlimited. See what you think of it. It seems a bit different take on things. Sort of twisty.
I hope your weather cools off. I am going to SoCal near the end of April so I’m hoping it’s not too hot then. Good luck with the yard work.
I hope the tennis reffing is a good time! I do not know any of the books you mentioned. Our weather has just been hot and then hotter and hotter still. We are OVER IT. lol
Hi Jinjer, I survived the reffing, lol. I had to stand for many hours per day but I managed. I hope the heatwave there goes away. I’m supposed to go to SoCal at the end of April … so I don’t want it that hot! Enjoy your week.
March madness with Tennis! I love the idea. That’s good news about Fonda and The Correspondent. I hope it’s not Netflix! I’d have to add it and I stream too much!
Hi Jeanie, Yes March Madness tennis style, lol. And I understand about not wanting to add another streaming service. We didn’t have Netflix either but then just got it for a month to watch a couple things. I will cross fingers it’s not on Netflix when it comes out. Cheers!
I just finished The Correspondent. Not sure I feel about it becoming a movie.. but we will see. Jane Fonda is incredible.
Hi Hena, I’ll look for your review of The Correspondent to see what you thought. I’m not sure how they’ll make a movie about it but Jane Fonda is pretty good at such roles, so we will see. Enjoy your weekend.
I hope the electronic line calling worked well and that you enjoyed all the reffing.
Jane Fonda as Sybil. I am so used to seeing Fonda all dolled up, it will be interesting to see her in a “plainer” role.
Hi Helen, thanks the tournament went well … and the electronic line calling really helped us and worked easily. I hope it becomes more available at provincial kinds of events, but it might take a couple of years.
This role for Jane Fonda reminds me a bit of when she did the movie of Our Souls at Night based on the novel by Kent Haruf. She was excellent in that, so we’ll see. Enjoy your week.
Good luck with your tennis tournament!
Thanks Lark. I survived reffing the tournament …. which entailed 5 days of many hours of standing on the court. Still I enjoyed the kids’ competition. Happy reading this week.
Wow, you are one busy lady. The tournament sounds like great fun and I hope it goes well for you.
I bought a copy of Buckeye for the same price but still haven’t read it. I heard so many good things about it that I’m almost afraid to read it now. lol Don’t want to be disappointed, I guess. Of all the books you mention, I’m most curious about Lauren Groff’s Brawler. I’m a big fan of short stories, and I always have an eye out for new collections, so I’ll be looking forward to your reaction. (I’ve read Groff before, but not I think, her short stories.)
Thanks Sam, I finished reffing the tournament and it went well, yay.
I just started Buckeye and so far I’m keeping my expectations in check. I still want to get to Brawler but have put it on the back burner for now. I’m sort of a monogamous reader, lol … but I shouldn’t be. I hope you get a copy of it.
Enjoy your week.
Hi Susan, sorry my prior comment never went through. I sent it but I have to check my computer because Im having some trouble posting.
Good luck reffing the tennis tournament. I keep hearing great things about The Correspondent and I’m both cautious as if it will be a let down but also wanting to save it so I can savor it later. But that’s a mistake. Time is short and so we must read the books we most want to read now.
Hi Kathy, thanks for your follow-up. Your comment got caught up on my site and I didn’t see it. Sorry for the delay.
Well I think it’s good not to set your expectations too high for The Correspondent. It’s a quirky little story about a prickly old-school letter writer. But it might not be for everyone. You can try it whenever it’s available at the library …. I’m sure there’s a long wait list. I know what you mean about super-hyped books … they can be over-hyped then it ruins it a bit. See what you think.
I hope the tennis tournament went well!
I’ve heard a lot about The Correspondent.
It looks like you have some interesting books to dig into–happy reading!
Thanks Karis, the tournament did go well which surprised me a bit but the electronic line calling helped and was easy to use.
The Correspondent received a lot of talk over the past months. I liked it when I read it last year …. I’ll try out Buckeye next. Cheers. Have a good week.
I think God of the Woods would make a good movie, and one that I won’t consciously avoid unless they decide to change it beyond recognition, which does happen.
I hope to actually read The Correspondent before the movie comes out. I liked Fonda in Grace and Frankie, and I love seeing older actresses still working!
Enjoy the tennis madness. I am not a basketball fan, so currently waiting for the Stanley Cup playoffs to commence…that and watching the World Figure Skating Championships this weekend.
Library hauls are always so satisfying.
Hi Jane, I think God of the Woods will be a TV series instead of a movie, so perhaps they’ll have more time with it and the characters.
I think Fonda will do a good job with The Correspondent. Did you see her in the quiet 2017 movie Our Souls at Night? It’s worth seeing.
I hope you enjoyed the World Figure Skating Championships. I guess Ilia Malinin returned to form after the Olympics’ disappointment. And I am ready for the hockey playoffs too. Wishing you happy reading & watching.
Look forward to your review of Buckeye. It’s on my radar, too. Good library haul!
Thanks Nicola. Good to hear from you. Yes so far Buckeye is going well. I’m almost to the midway point. We will see. Fingers crossed. Cheers, happy reading to you.
I’ll be curious to see what you and Tina think of Buckeye. I have it here ready to go, but picked up The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny last night and read the first couple of chapters. Wonder if I should switch course and go with Buckeye first… hmmm.
Hi JoAnn, you better keep going on Sonia & Sunny … and then we can swap what we think about the different books. We are slowly making our way into Buckeye … but so far so good. I’m reading the e-book copy which is good for underlining. I’ll let you know. Happy reading.
Hi Susan,
I just read “Evil Genius” and it was a short, quirky read. Intense due to the abusive relationship at the heart of the story.
I also finished Whidbey recently – grim! But compelling. That’s enough darkness for me for awhile.
My next read is “Wild People Quiet”.
Happy Spring!
Jillann
Hi Jillann, I’m so glad for your thoughts on these two books. From what you say, it seems both have quite a bit of abuse in them — yikes I am forewarned now. Though I’m likely going to have to return Evil Genius this time before reading it … since I’m busy with Buckeye at the moment. And thanks for letting me know about Wild People Quiet — I just looked it up and it looks interesting. I will check the library for it. thanks. Keep in touch as I like hearing about your reads. Always have good recs. Cheers & Happy spring to you as well.
I hope the tennis reffing went well!
I haven’t read any of the books on your upcoming list. But I am adding 107 Days to my TBR list. I love Kamala.
The day after the election I was on Tik Tok and privy to an interesting discussion. A white woman voiced the emotion that she didn’t feel safe, because now she was looking at people wondering if they voted for the felon-in-chief. A black woman responded stating “Now you know how we feel all of the time.” So then there was talk about Kamala voters wearing a blue bracelet to signal who they were. The black women responded that white Kamala voters could take off their bracelets when they wanted to blend in. The talk then turned to blue heart tattoos – a permanent indication. I wear my blue heart with pride.
Hi Olivia, thanks, I survived the tennis event and it went pretty well, yay.
I’m really glad to hear you’re a Kamala fan and I like the story & discussion you tell. How interesting. I didn’t know about the blue bracelets. Maybe I need a blue heart tattoo. I came to like Kamala over the campaign … and what’s interesting too is that the author Geraldine Brooks (whose books I like) worked with Kamala on 107 Days – she was the ghostwriter. So I’m keen to read it. Though it might not be right away. I will get to it. If America had voted correctly we’d not be in the mess we’re in now. Sigh. Cheers
Isn’t that the truth?! I am still aghast that so many people could not see him for who he is: a liar, thief, and a predator. Yes, there are the hard-core cult members who do all kinds of mental gymnastics to maintain their worship, but many so many people heard what they wanted to hear and ignored the rest. Now we are all in trouble. Gas prices were high in Albania when we first arrived at $8 per gallon. Now, they are approaching $11. Moving 5,000 miles away wasn’t enough to get away from him.