By Any Other Name

 

By Any Other Name 

by Jodi Picoult

I reached out to my friend Katie looking for a book recommendation. I told her, “I really need a good one.” She suggested Jodi Picoult’s by Any Other Name. I decided to listen to it on a drive to a boat show in Tampa. I’ve been on the fence about audiobooks, but by the end of this one, I couldn’t resist listening to the Author’s Note. That’s when I discovered something shocking: Jodi Picoult pronounces her last name “Pico.” All these years, I had been saying “P-CULT”!  How have you been pronouncing it?

Beyond that revelation, the book introduced me to a fascinating historical mystery: Did William Shakespeare have multiple ghostwriters?  Did he actually write A Midsummer Night’s Dream…The Tempest…Twelfth Night or The Two Gentlemen of Verona? OR…did Emilia Bassano? My entire life I have never questioned it.  Why would I?  But now…are you not wondering? Who was William Shakespeare…the actor, poet, English playwright, and literary icon? 

“There was once a girl who became invisible so that her words might not be.”

By Any Other Name unfolds across two timelines: Melina in the present and near future (2013–2027), and Emilia in the past (1581–1645). Though separated by centuries, both narratives explore how little some aspects of women’s lives have truly changed.  How sad.  How depressing.  While laws and social norms have evolved, many aspects of women’s lives…particularly the fight for respect, recognition, and equality feel like we are still echoing the limitations experienced in the 16^th century.

The idea that someone could have penned Shakespeare’s works isn’t new, but Picoult does something extraordinary: she gives a voice to Emilia Bassano Lanier, England’s first known female poet, bringing her largely forgotten story to life in a beautifully written novel.

The book highlights the struggles women faced in the 1500s…expected to marry and bear children or be considered nothing if they weren’t of high class. Emilia, however, is raised to serve in the royal courts as a musician and becomes a mistress to an older Count. Despite societal constraints, she continues to write, earning only pennies compared to Shakespeare, but nurturing her love for poetry and self-expression. Along the way, she experiences a secret romance that inspired Romeo and Juliet.

Emilia is portrayed as a highly educated, well-traveled woman with a gift for languages, music, and poetry. Her proximity to the theater world, including collaborations with Kit Marlowe, positions her perfectly to contribute to Shakespeare’s works…yet as a woman, she could never publicly claim her voice.

Fast forward to 2023, we meet Melina Green, a Bard College graduate and struggling playwright. Picoult brilliantly ties her to Emilia through an ancestral connection, highlighting how women still face barriers in the creative world. Melina’s story takes a compelling turn when her play, inspired by Emilia’s life, is submitted to a festival by her friend without her consent. Echoing the challenges of her ancestor, Melina must navigate the consequences of this deception, exploring authorship, recognition, and the gendered obstacles that persist.

I will admit…I was shocked when I heard them say 2024 and she was using a man’s name to submit her play.  Haven’t we come further than this?  In today’s society, women can vote, work, and pursue education…yet we often still encounter barriers.  Unequal pay, underrepresentation in leadership roles, societal judgments on choices about family and career, harassment and the struggle for autonomy.  From experience, I can say women still struggle to have our voices taken seriously or our contributions valued equally…but to have to submit work under a man’s name in today’s society…I just can’t accept that. 

While I enjoyed both perspectives, Emilia’s point of view was more interesting to me.  Picoult draws attention to the severe limitations women faced, and the courage it took to persist creatively and personally in a male-dominated society.

Equally intriguing are the “what ifs” about Shakespeare’s legacy. How could one man have written over thirty plays while also acting and producing? Did he collaborate, buy works, or rely on a group of writers? Picoult raises these questions thoughtfully, making this book a must-read for fans of theater, history, and literary mysteries.

“What do you say when you know your words will be your last? I was here. I mattered.”

This theme resonates strongly: women have always mattered, and their voices deserve to be heard. Emilia represents the countless women who endured oppression yet continued to create, love, and survive. I also appreciated Picoult highlighting the historical “rule of thumb,” a grim reminder of domestic violence laws that allowed men to beat their wives with impunity.

As I mentioned earlier, I almost didn’t listen to the Author’s Note at the end, but it turned out to be my favorite part. It felt personal, insightful, and a perfect capstone to a novel that weaves together history, fiction, and the enduring fight for women’s rights and recognition.

Overall, I truly enjoyed this book. I’m fascinated by how women lived in earlier times…how they persevered, and survived against incredible odds, and then to be introduced to questions about whether Shakespeare truly wrote all of his plays added an unexpected twist. I’ll be honest: I’m not a huge Shakespeare fan but exploring the “what-ifs” of his life and works in depth gave me a new perspective, even if I remain…gasp, unimpressed.

I guess what stayed with me the most, is the stark reminder that the challenges women face persists across centuries.  The fight for respect, equality, and recognition is far from over.  Societal change is slow, incomplete, and often frustratingly uneven.  Yet, it is in the courage, resilience, and determination of women, past and present, that hope for change endures. 

Each day offers a chance to make a difference. I feel a personal responsibility to continue to fight…not just for myself, but for my goddaughter, for my friends’ daughters, and for every woman whose voice has been silenced or overlooked.  The pursuit of equal rights and a fair, just society is not just a cause; it is a duty, and one I will never cease to champion.

 

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

 

Atmosphere

By Taylor Jenkins Reid

I’ve always been fascinated by space…the planets, the stars, the pull of astrology. But my brother took it to another level. He was obsessed with NASA, absorbing everything he could about rockets and space travel. One spring break, the world’s greatest mom (mine) packed us into the car and drove to Huntsville, Alabama, for Space Camp. We suited up for a mock mission to the moon, and although the details are fuzzy now, I remember one thing clearly: my brother was ecstatic. He talked about that trip for months.

Because of that lifelong tie to space, I was excited to read Atmosphere. I’ll say upfront: it’s far more a love story than a novel about NASA, astronauts, or the cosmos. Jenkins Reid frames the book in the world of the 1980s shuttle program, touching on the uphill battle women faced in gaining acceptance within NASA, but the heart of the story happens on Earth…where a romance slowly deepens into love. The book opens with drama, then slips back in time to show how the characters arrived at that pivotal moment.

One quote in particular stuck with me:

“I was circling two hundred miles above the Earth, and all I wanted was to get home and see you. Do you understand that I don’t care how big or small this world is, that you are the center of mine?”

It’s December 1984 when newly qualified astronaut Joan Goodwin becomes CAPCOM at the Johnson Space Center in Houston…the voice in Mission Control communicating directly with the shuttle crew. When disaster strikes during a spacewalk, the lives of everyone on board hang in the balance. They are people Joan cares about deeply: friends, found family, and one person who means more than anyone else.

The love story between Joan and Vanessa is quiet and charged…full of restraint, longing, and slow-burn intensity. Their connection feels earned, and it hits even harder because it has to stay hidden in 1980s America.

We don’t actually get much of Joan as an astronaut. Instead, we see her as a caretaker, a guardian to her niece, a partner, a sister’s anchor. These roles are meaningful and often moving, but they overshadow her ambition. The setup hints at a story about chasing a dream in a world determined to hold you down…but that thread never quite comes together.

In the end, the book is less about space travel and more about the emotional gravity of exclusion, about fighting upward through the weight of prejudice. Atmosphere is a story of love, but also of sacrifice and belonging. It’s about the ache of reaching for something more…whether it’s a place among the stars or simply a place where you are seen and loved. It’s a journey through loss and hope, a reminder that even in darkness, the human spirit burns bright. And under that same endless sky, the characters ultimately discover that belonging isn’t about where you land…it’s about who holds your light.

It feels like a love letter to dreamers, fighters, and the quiet heroes who refuse to stop reaching.

That said, the book fell short of a must-read for me. And it made me wonder: what earns a book five stars for you? Is it that you find yourself crying during a dramatic confession of love? A fresh kind of love story? The ongoing narrative of women being dismissed or underpaid? Strong character development? Surprising plot twists? Or simply the depth of emotion you feel when you turn the final page?

I’m genuinely curious…what are the markers that make a book unforgettable for you?

 

The Artist's Way

The Artist's Way

by Julia Cameron

I went to my mom’s place in Florida a few weeks ago, and sitting on her slanted antique desk between the dining room table and the kitchen was a book titled The Artist’s Way. I looked over at Vanessa and asked, “Did you bring this?” She had recommended it to me awhile ago, and I’d never hit purchase.

“No,” she said. “Must be Amanda’s…but it is an inspiring book.”

I picked it up, sat down, and opened it. I asked Vanessa what she liked about it…why she had recommended it. She said, “Especially for you, as someone who likes to write… every day they tell you to write three pages of whatever comes to mind. A mind dump. It doesn’t have to be profound…just write. No one will ever see it.”

I was intrigued. I ordered the book.

It isn’t one of those books you devour in 24 hours. I’ve been reading about ten pages a day, and I’ve started doing the morning pages. It feels like part workbook, part guide, part artistic reset. I picked it up out of curiosity, but something about writing each morning with no structure, no edits, zero expectations…just me, my favorite pen, and whatever is swirling in my head…felt inspiring. I thought…I can do this.

Three pages did feel like a lot. And I’ve started journals before only to abandon them quickly; they always felt pointless. But this… this seems to quiet the noise. Hidden ideas come to life. These random words I write somehow unclutter my mind.

Do you wake up and immediately find that your thoughts are at full tilt? Your punch list a mile long before you’ve even brushed your teeth? Worries creeping in…what you forgot yesterday, what you must do before the end of the day?

You need to sit down and write what’s in there. Get it out. Write down your fears, your ambitions, what excites you, what confuses you, what you love.

I’ve only been doing this for a week…not long…but I’ve noticed that when my mind isn’t ruminating over junk data, unexpected ideas show up. I’ve gotten a couple of solutions to problems. It has started to feel like…sounds cheesy…but that this...this little exercise...is where the magic begins.

I think of morning pages...exactly as Vanessa described it...a mind dump. The words don’t have to be poetic. They can be messy, repetitive, ordinary.

Just write.

Here’s what I wrote this morning…not three pages, but still writing:

I feel tired. How is it possible to sleep and yet wake up tired?  What time did I end up going to bed? I think 9:30, so that means I got roughly eight hours… should be good. My coffee is delicious. I wonder if coffee actually wakes me up or if I have formed a lifelong pact with beans.  I should probably start the day with water.  Water apparently solves everything. Water isn’t as good as coffee.  I don’t want to wake up Ginger… maybe I’ll move my vibrational plate to the bathroom and shut the door. I can’t shut the door…the boys will get upset. Does this even do anything…I guess on a cellular level.  Makes me laugh.  I’ll do it anyway.  I should check my work calendar and see what meetings I have today. Maybe the Friday lunch meeting can get pushed out. I should talk to Lance about his presentation next week and tell him to intentionally pause so I can read any questions that come in. Ugh, I need to pick up my prescription… I need to see what time CVS opens on Saturday. I need to refill my pills.  I’m looking forward to going to Folly Beach this weekend. Wonder what to pack. Wonder if I have time to take the Barre class before we leave… don’t think so. Maybe Ginger and I will walk tonight. I always feel better after I walk. I hope she won’t mind prepping everything to take to the pool after work so we can grill before it gets too dark. I should do a blog post. I’m excited to spend the winter season in South Carolina. I wonder if we’ll get any snow. I’ve got to get moving. I should shower.

See? Not a single profound or meaningful line. But I cleared my mental clutter. I reminded myself of small tasks. I got my brain moving. That is the value.

No big rules except write by hand, aim for three full pages, no edits, don’t reread it, and whatever you do…don’t try to sound wise.

Just show up.

Let the pages hold whatever you’re carrying.

It might surprise you.

And although I haven’t even finished the book yet, I’ve already gotten so much from it. I’ll definitely do a part two once I turn the last page. 

I dare you to try it...just for a week.

The Wedding People

 

The Wedding People 

by Alison Espach

Okay, well…hmmm. Simply put, I don’t quite understand all the hype around this book. I went in expecting a light, beachy read…something funny and uplifting. It even won a Goodreads Best Book of the Year award and was described as absurdly funny. But honestly? I don’t remember laughing. At best, it had a gentle, wry kind of humor. To be fair, I listened to the audiobook rather than reading it…maybe that made a difference?

The story centers on Phoebe, a woman who checks into a luxury hotel with no luggage and a dark plan: she intends to end her life using her cat’s painkillers. Her husband has left her, her cat has died, she has no children, and her career is going nowhere. When she arrives, she discovers that she’s the only guest not attending the week-long wedding taking place at the hotel.

What follows is…unexpected. (SPOILER ALERT!) After her suicide attempt fails, Phoebe somehow ends up befriending the bride-to-be, becoming her maid of honor (yes, really), and eventually falling in love with the groom (also, yes, really).

Despite the far-fetched premise, I did appreciate Phoebe’s transformation. Watching her shed the emotional restraints she’d placed on herself and begin to live authentically was refreshing. I liked seeing how her honesty and vulnerability influenced the people around her…strangers who were each dealing with their own forms of disconnection.

Ultimately, I think this is a story about starting over…about what happens after loss, and how you find your footing again when life doesn’t go the way you planned. I especially liked the ending, where Phoebe finds a new beginning as a “winter’s keeper.” It felt like the right note to end on: quiet, hopeful, and honest about how sometimes the only way forward is to start anew.

So, while this one didn’t strike me as wildly funny or groundbreaking, it offered a thoughtful reflection on reinvention, and the courage it takes to reclaim joy. Sometimes, that’s exactly what we need: a reminder that knowing yourself is one of life’s greatest challenges, and that no one is coming to save you. In the end, it’s up to each of us to take responsibility for our happiness, make the hard choices, and find the courage to change what isn’t working so we can move forward…stronger, lighter, and truly start to LIVE happily with purpose.

Gone Before Goodbye

 

Image off the Internet

Gone Before Goodbye by Reese Witherspoon

Reese Witherspoon? As an author? Originally, I thought she was just narrating the book…yes, another audiobook for me. I started it right after finishing Summer Island on a recent road trip. I’d pulled over for gas and decided to download something quickly so I could get back on the road.

Since my short time with Audible has taught me that a good narrator makes all the difference, I chose Gone Before Goodbye entirely because of Reese. I mean, her résumé is longer than the Nile: actress, Academy Award winner (that one deserves its own bullet point), producer, media mogul, book club founder…and now author/narrator. Did you know she has written several children’s books?  This, however, marks her first foray into adult fiction, co-written with bestselling thriller author Harlan Coben. I don’t usually read thrillers, so I wasn’t familiar with him.

The story follows disgraced army surgeon Maggie McCabe, who, after losing her medical license, agrees to a secretive, high-stakes job for a mysterious client. As soon as she boards a private jet bound for Russia, she becomes entangled in a violent conspiracy that exposes shocking secrets about her late husband and their missing friend.

The plot feels… a bit much. Some of the twists are so over-the-top that they border on unbelievable. I don’t mingle with the ultra-wealthy, but the opulence, greed, and almost worshipful reverence for money had me wondering…do people really live like this? I suppose in Russia and Dubai, maybe they do.

The story plunges into a rarefied world where ethics are optional and the desires of the rich outweigh things like, say, morality. While I appreciated the strong female lead and the emotional undercurrents in the storytelling, the overall plot felt far-fetched. There are plenty of twists, and I liked the themes of loss and love against the backdrop of cutting-edge medicine and AI…but for me, it dragged.

Ultimately, I can’t say I’d recommend it. Despite Reese’s excellent narration, the story felt unrealistic and overdone.

I sit here wondering that if I actually had purchased the book…would it have fallen into my DNF pile.

 

Summer Island

 

Summer Island by Kristin Hannah

This was my second audiobook, and it kept me company during a long drive from South Carolina to Florida and back. I’m really starting to enjoy this format; there’s something comforting about having a story unfold through your speakers while the miles roll by.

I’ve read several of Kristin Hannah’s novels, and she’s known for delivering emotionally charged, powerful stories. However, Summer Island felt slower for me. Maybe it was the audio format…or maybe it’s just hard to follow the brilliance of The Nightingale, The Great Alone, The Women, and The Four Winds. Those are tough acts to follow. I hadn’t realized Hannah had such a deep catalog of earlier works until I stumbled across this one. Honestly, I chose it on a whim…10 hours of listening time felt like a good travel companion.

In a nutshell, Summer Island is about a family coming to terms with painful secrets, forgiveness, and the rebuilding of relationships. The story centers on Ruby Bridge, a struggling stand-up comedian whose estranged mother, Nora, a famous self-help guru, becomes the subject of a public scandal. Ruby has long felt abandoned by her mother, but when Nora falls seriously ill, Ruby returns to her childhood home on Summer Island, off the coast of Washington. There, amid the rugged beauty of Puget Sound, Ruby is forced to confront her past, reconnect with her first love, and ultimately, face herself.

For me, the story felt somewhat predictable…dare I say, almost like a Hallmark or Lifetime movie. Not in a light, romcom way, but in that familiar, emotional arc you can see coming. There are genuine moments of heartache and reflection, but the resolution seemed too tidy. How does a lifetime of pain and resentment resolve itself in a single week on an island? I suppose that’s part of the fiction…the hope that reconciliation and healing can happen swiftly when the heart is finally ready.

That said, Hannah’s sense of place pulled me in. The descriptions of the Pacific Northwest made me want to visit Puget Sound, Seattle, the mist over the water, sunsets from the dock. Even if the emotional journey felt familiar, the setting itself offered a kind of escapism that made the miles pass easily.

One line that lingered with me was this:

“I’d always believed that the truth of a person was easily spotted, a line drawn in dark ink on white paper. Now, I wonder. Maybe the truth of who we are lies hidden in all those shadows of gray that everyone talks about.”

This quote captures one of the deeper themes of Summer Island: the complexity of truth and the fluidity of human nature. We like to think of people…especially family…as either good or bad, right or wrong. But life rarely fits into those neat lines. The “shadows of gray” are where empathy, forgiveness, and understanding live. Ruby’s journey isn’t just about forgiving her mother; it’s about realizing that truth, and love…often exist in contradiction. We can be both hurt and healing, both angry and compassionate.

Ultimately, Summer Island left me thinking about the power of forgiveness…not just forgiving others but also forgiving oneself. Healing is rarely linear. It’s a process of acknowledging the past, then choosing to release its grip. Sometimes, that choice is the hardest part of all.

 

Everyone Is Lying to You

Everyone Is Lying to You

by Jo Piazza

Do you typically read or listen to books?

Earlier this week, I reached out to my friend Michelle...she's always raving about how easy it is to listen to books whenever she has a spare moment. She gave me a full rundown, and I ended up going with Amazon Audible. If you already have Prime, you get three months free, then it’s $14/month after that.

Honestly, I spend a lot of money on books through Amazon. It’s a guilty pleasure. Please don’t come for me with messages about the library...I love the library. I grew up going to them, spent hours getting lost in the aisles. But I’ve never liked the pressure of finishing a book within a set time. I also like to keep certain books.

One of my love languages is sharing books: passing them on to one of my sisters with a mini review written inside. They read it, then pass it on again. Maybe it’s silly, but I enjoy it.

Trying out audiobooks isn’t meant to replace reading for me. I just needed another option. Lately, my reading pace has slowed down, and I’m hoping this will help me keep "reading" and writing...even if I’m not technically reading. You know what I mean?

This month, our book club pick was Everyone Is Lying to You by Jo Piazza. I’m still on the fence...not just about the book, but the format too. Listening took some getting used to. My first takeaway? The narrator really matters. I wasn’t a fan of the voice actor who read Lizzie. The way she did her husband’s voice? Honestly, cringey. But I kept going.

The story itself dives into friendship, betrayal, ambition, and what I’d call the darker side of social media. In a nutshell: two estranged college friends reconnect after years of silence. Their reunion is tangled in scandal, murder, and long-buried secrets.

Social media is fascinating, isn’t it? We really don’t know what’s real and what’s performance. How far will people go to protect their image...or their freedom? Pretty far, it turns out.

Would you say you're social media-savvy? Regardless, it’s hard to escape influencer culture. The flawless women with perfect skin, toned bodies, endless outfits, immaculate homes and somehow, always living in marble mansions by the beach.

But beneath the curated perfection, there’s often chaos: crumbling marriages, hidden abuse, secrets waiting to implode everything. In the book, they talk about how it’s all a façade. The “perfect” homes? Just sets. Behind closed doors, there’s clutter, mess, real life. Some influencers even rent homes or rooms to film enough content for an entire month. Honestly, that never occurred to me. Wild, right? Want a marble bathroom for your GRWM videos? Rent it. Life is weird.

Putting the story aside, I definitely struggled with the audiobook format. I found myself zoning out or needing to rewind to catch things I would’ve picked up more naturally if I’d been reading.

That said, I’m going to stick with it...partly to cover more ground, partly to see if I can train my brain to stay engaged. I love the act of reading. Holding a book, turning pages, stealing quiet moments. Just me and the words. It’s one of my happiest places.

Overall, Everyone Is Lying to You is a murder mystery that feels eerily like real life. And while I’m still adjusting to the listening experience, I’m off to see what audiobook I’ll try next.