Who We Used To Be

Who We Used To Be by Julia Amante. Wise Writer Publishing, 2026. **** Reading Group Discussion Guide, Questions for the Author.  

Rachel has prepared everything to be perfect to celebrate her 20th Wedding Anniversary with her husband, Jeremy. Unfortunately, he's not in the mood to dress up for the planned dinner party and doesn't understand why 20 years is a big deal. Jeremy surprises Rachel by expressing he's bored and wondering what life would have been like if they had never married? Rachel has the life she's always wanted, two great kids, a husband she loves, a beautiful home, and a fulfilling job. Jeremy wants a break from his present life and a year to explore what he really needs to feel alive. There is no other woman, he's not interested in pursuing a love interest, he wants to find the person he was before marriage. Rachel is willing to wait; she has the life she wants if only Jeremy would come home. 

Told in the alternating voices of Rachel and Jeremy, I really enjoyed the different voices and points of view. Life is never perfect; Jeremy and Rachel each have their own way of dealing with the separation. Amante paints a picture of some marriages where the couple love each other, however, the spark has died and life has become predictable and responsible. Amante suggests a realistic scenario when one partner asks for space and gets it. A quick read, great discussion book for couple's book clubs or with your girlfriends.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy to review. 

Julia Amante writes emotionally reflective stories centered on love, family, identity, reinvention, and the pursuit of meaningful lives. In 2020, she founded Wise Writer Publishing, an author services company dedicated to supporting writers and helping them build sustainable creative careers. For more info - https://juliaamante.com

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The Calamity Club

 

The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett. New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2026. 638 pages. *****

Not for the faint of heart, it's a hefty 638 pages and well worth it. It's been 17 years since her last novel, The Help was published and The Calamity Club has the same feel to it. It's 1933 in Oxford, Mississippi rich and poor are struggling with financial losses while trying to maintain societal expectations. Eleven-year-old Meg, abandoned by her mother on Christmas Eve, resides at the Lafayette County Orphan Asylum.  Unmarried Birdie is visiting her social-climbing sister to ask for financial help to keep their family home. Birdie helps at the Orphanage while working up the courage to ask for money, only to discover that her sister's situation isn't what it seems. Charlie is working hard to redefine herself and build a new life as a mother. Birdie and Charlie come together under unusual circumstances to earn as much money as they can to benefit their families. It's legal if everyone consents and no one finds out, right?  

I loved this story and didn't want it to end, expect it to be a block buster movie. You'll laugh, cry and cheer. Stockett can make absurd situations seem plausible. Championing the cause that with women working together, all things are possible. In reading other reviews, they are mixed both for the length of the novel and some of the family situations introduced. You will have to read it to decide for yourself, however, it's 5 stars for me! 

From her website - "Kathryn Stockett was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi. After graduating from the University of Alabama, she moved to New York City, where she worked in magazine publishing and marketing for nine years. Her first novel, The Help, has sold over 15 million copies worldwide." For more info https://www.kathrynstockettauthor.com/.

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Dark Ugly Places

 

Dark Ugly Places by Ashley Mansour. California: Moniker Press, 2026. 349 pages. **** Publication September 15, 2026.

Thirty-four-year-old Nicola Holiday is recovering emotionally and financially from a hit-and-run accident. Her husband is killed and her daughter severely injured. Nicola tries to recreate the accident in her mind to identify the car and the driver. She has a darkness within her inherited from her father and personified as "Martha." When Martha appears, Nicola is aware, however she is unable to stop her. Martha ingratiates herself into the household of the suspected driver. Martha is out to revenge the accident and to make those responsible  pay. 

I received a copy to review. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this well-written psychological thriller. The suspected hit-and-run driver is so abusive that it's easy to cheer Martha on in enacting her revenge. I found it interesting that Emily, Nicola's fourteen-year-old daughter, realizes when her mother isn't herself. At times, I wasn't quite sure where the story was headed, however, Mansour wraps it up cohesively, she has a devious mind.  Character development and building suspense is her strength and you will be thinking about it long after you have read it.  

From Amazon

Ashley Mansour is a renowned book strategist, bestselling author, and the founder and CEO of LA Writing Coach and Brands Through Books.

With over a decade of experience across publishing, entertainment, and digital media, she has transformed from a struggling writer into a multiple bestselling author, a sought-after coach, and a successful business owner.

Her passion for storytelling and empowering others has led to the development of her proprietary book writing system, the TAP Method, which has helped hundreds of aspiring authors, thought leaders, and entrepreneurs transform their ideas into impactful bestselling books. For more info https://ashleymansour.com

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The Mountains We Call Home

 

The Mountains We Call Home: The Book Woman's Legacy by Kim Michele Richardson. Sourcebooks Landmark, 2026. 367 pages. ****

Companion novel to the Bookwoman of TroublesomeCreek series, Cussy May Lovett and her husband Jackson are unfairly incarcerated for miscegenation, she is Blue and Jackson isn't. Life in the Kentucky prison isn't kind to women; forced sterilization if a woman is deemed an imbecile, removing her fetus even though abortion is a crime and assigning the death penalty when she may have been defending herself and her children from a brute of a husband. Cussy continues her calling as a Bookwoman by selecting and suggesting books for the inmates. Discovering that the some of the women cannot read or write, Cussy convinces the Warden to allow her to read aloud to the inmates. An extension of that activity is  to hold classes to teach the alphabet and writing. Reading letters from home to the women provides a connection that they desperately need. 

I highly recommend reading the first two books before this one even though it can be read as a standalone. Richardson is a master storyteller, describing the people and culture of rural Kentucky. Educating the reader on the necessity of traveling with The Negro Motorist Green Book, '52 edition when motoring outside their rural town. Well-researched, do not skim the added material including the Images, A Note from the Author, Recipe, and a Reading Group Guide.  I was immersed in the superstitions, accepted cultural norms and the extreme measures taken to discriminate against women and anyone different than themselves. Richardson shows us the horrors and hope, love prevails. Excellent for Book Clubs and a suggested companion book to How To Read A Book by Monica Wood.

From her website... 

A native-born Kentuckian, Kim Michele Richardson is the New York Times, L.A. Times, USA Today bestselling author who has written six novels, a memoir and most recently, two children’s picture books. Her novel The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is taught widely in high schools and college classrooms and has been adopted as a Common Read selection by states, cities, and colleges across the country and abroad, and was a Favorite Read by Dolly Parton in People’s Magazine. Kim Michele was inducted into the Kentucky Women’s Remembers Exhibit in 2025 by Gov. Andy Beshear for her contributions to Kentucky, and was awarded a Doctorate in Humanities from Eastern Kentucky University.She lives with her family in Kentucky and is the founder of Shy Rabbit, a writers residency, and a literacy initiative Courthouses Reading Across Kentucky & Beyond.  For more information, https://www.kimmichelerichardson.com 

Reviews

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek 

The Book Woman's Daughter

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Suggested Summer Reading List 2026

 

Flamazing_books suggested Summer Reading List

 The Weight of Amber ***** (The Thornfield Inheritance #1)  Eleanor Vane. 

Our Missing Hearts  ***** by Celeste Ng. - Chosen as the One Book, One Philadelphia

We Burned So Bright ***** by T.J. Klune.

The Last Mandarin ***** by Louise Penny and Melissa Fung

Daughter of Egypt ***** by Marie Benedict. 

Small Things Like These ****by Claire Keegan.

Theo of Golden **** by Allen Levi

The Mountains We Call Home **** by Richardson.

The Calamity Club ***** by Kathryn Stockett

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kn2026

 

The Radiant Dark

The Radiant Dark by Alexandra Oliva. New York: SJP LIT, 2026. 416 pages. ****

Oliva has written a multigenerational novel starting in 1980 and ending in 2138. Carol and her husband have had their first child and her life as a new mother is a lonely one. Life is somewhat predictable until "something flashes in the sky." What was that? Her husband and others get caught up in far-fetched explanations and conspiracy theories. The flickering eventually is determined to be communication from life on exoplanet, Ross128. Those other beings are 11 light years away in their communication and some humans fear what they don't understand. 

Well-written with an interesting premise, a message from another planet that takes 11 light years to get here - should we answer, ignore, or create a way to defend ourselves. If we respond, what should we say and who gets to decide the message? Motherhood is never an easy path, lacking clear direction, support, and understanding. Carol and her scientific daughter do not speak the same language, and Carol eventually finds the love and acceptance she seeks with her new husband and the light teachings of Hector Thomas. One of my favorite quotes from the book is "Every trial is an opportunity to grow. If you cannot see the light in a situation, try to feel it. Feel for the warmth. And if you cannot feel it, then perhaps it's your turn to provide it." 

Following Carol and her family through the years, we are reminded how we are different and alike. Not my usual genre (speculative fiction), I did enjoy it and read it in two days. Sympathetic to Carol's struggle with her dysfunctional family and at the same time, it was easy to be critical from a distance.  More multigenerational than science fiction, however, the story has broad appeal. What if there is life out there watching us from afar? Some people can't agree as to whether we landed on the moon and tensions run high around that discussion. This is a novel that will make you think and question what would you do? 

From Amazon

Alexandra Oliva was born and raised in the mountains of upstate New York and is the author of The Radiant Dark, Forget Me Not, and The Last One. A first-generation college graduate, she earned a BA in history from Yale University and an MFA in creative writing from The New School. She currently lives in the Pacific Northwest with her family.

For more information: https://www.alexandraoliva.com

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The Weight of Amber

 

 The Weight of Amber (The Thornfield Inheritance #1)  by Eleanor Vane. Cloud City Press LLC, 2026. 339 pages. ***** May 1, 2026 publication date

From Amazon...

"Ailis Thornfield has a gift she cannot afford to name: when she touches an object, she feels its history. A wedding ring grows heavy with decades of love. A knife burns with the memory of blood. She has survived as an herbalist in the Scottish borderlands by hiding what she can do behind knowledge that looks like intuition and cures that look like luck. Her mother was not so careful." Her mother burned as a witch.  The English Crown sends a magistrate to investigate. James Blackwood is young, educated, and inconveniently principled. He has been sent to find evidence of ungodly practices."

I received an ARC to review and I am so glad that I accepted. Part historical fiction and part romance, it has all of the elements to keep you spellbound. Ailis' gift is a blessing and a curse. She's learned to keep quiet about her ability and to ascribe a "normal" reason for her knowledge. I felt her fear and sadness after her mother's death. Descriptions of the living conditions of the prisoners and the way in which the women were dragged out of their homes reinforced the horror. "To protest was to be named. To be named was to be next." Vane has transported us to Scotland in 1593 and begged the question, what would you do? I recommend this novel and look forward to the second one in the series. 

Eleanor Vane holds an MA in Early Modern European History and spent years working in museum archives before turning to fiction. Her debut series, The Thornfield Inheritance, spans five centuries and three continents. For more information, click here. 

Don't wait, preorder now (publication date May 1) from Amazon. 

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