My Reading Life - Being Real

I have been blogging for nearly nine years now. I didn't intend for my blog to focus mostly on reading, but that is how it has turned out. I'm glad that is the direction it has gone because it has lead me to meet people that I would have never met otherwise. It has directed me to books I never would have read. It has lead me to a part-time job writing for The Gazette that I never thought I would be able to do. But, quite honestly, it has stressed me out more than a few times.

I love reading. I love the excitement of starting a new book or the panic that I am almost at the end of the book and I don't want it to end. I relish in the thrill of a great a climax to the story, especially one I didn't see coming. I love that a book can take me anywhere in the world and to any time-period. I love that I can learn something new just by reading a book.

But, honestly, I get frustrated with my reading life. So many people ask me, how do you find time to read? Well, the truth is, sometimes I don't. I didn't read a single page from any book a couple weeks ago. Sometimes it is much easier to play a game on my phone or to flip through a magazine than to read the book sitting in front of me.

I am wondering if I am in the phase right now of "burn-out". I dislike that term. It was used a lot in my years working as a social worker. It was common for social workers to experience "burn-out" and take some much needed time off or to even leave the social work world. I experienced it myself after working with the homeless. I needed a change and found it in Hospice. Do I need a change now? No, not necessarily. But, I am feeling "burn-out" when I think about reading and writing a review.

I have been feeling extremely overwhelmed with the pile of books waiting to be read on my shelves and on my Kindle. Many are ones I purchased and want to read. Many others are ones that were sent to me with the hopes of having a fabulous review posted soon after the book was sent. Yet, others were gifts or loans, given to me by friends and family knowing that I would love this book and to please read it.

I have been trying to accept fewer books for review, but every time I say no....I feel guilty. I feel bad that I am turning down a book that I am sure I would like, but just can't commit to reading and reviewing right now.

I feel anxious opening my emails knowing I have several requests for books as well as check-ins from authors and publishers wondering how I am enjoying a book they sent...when I haven't even cracked the cover.

I'm in a reading slump right now. Life is crazy busy....I'm not excited about reading....which in turn makes me not want to read and I find other things to do instead.

But, a dear friend has moved back home which means our book club of 3 can start back up again. I will be reading for a fun reason. I've been thinking about my blog coming into 2017. Do I still want to blog and write reviews? Yes, so then I need to keep reading. Do I want to do things differently on the blog? Maybe. I have some ideas for new features, but can I be realistic about staying consistent? I've been running children's book reviews pretty consistently on Fridays and I am excited about this new piece to my reviewing. I'm planning to continue to review the children's books and have plenty to take me into the new year already. But, is there more I should/could be doing to promote books, authors, and reading in general? Maybe. I'm still thinking about it.

If you have ideas of what I could do here on the blog, in my reading life, or a new feature you would like to see, I would love to hear your thoughts. Reading isn't always easy, even if it looks like it is. But, I still love reading and always will. I guess maybe I just wish some days it was more fun and like with anything else....I wish I had more time.


A post from today, 5 years ago - Scenes from Our Week - Week 4
A post from today, 4 years ago - Product Review: yurbuds Sports Earphones
A post from today, 3 years ago - Halloween Memories - Get Some Last Minute Costume Ideas 
A post from today, 1 year ago - Halloween Literary Character Quiz

Children's Book Review: Star Wars Poster-A-Page: Creatures, Ships, & Droids By Walt Disney Company

STAR WARS: CREATURES, SHIPS & DROIDS
Poster-A-Page

By: Walt Disney Company

Published: October 25, 2016

Publisher: Time Inc. Books

Non-Fiction

The Star Wars fan in your house or on your Christmas gift list must have this book. This book features all the favorite characters from the Star Wars movies including the ships that make the fight scenes so awesome.

Each page is full of vivid pictures, including many poster pages ready to pull out and hang up.

There are quizzes and puzzles throughout the pages including this poster asking you to find the different R2-D2 among all the others. There is even a full-size poster for all the Yoda fans out there. One of the quiz questions asks how old Yoda is. I had no idea he was THAT old.

The pages describe the characters and give you moments from the movies including movie scenes and quotes as you turn the pages. Our sons are huge Star Wars fans and would have loved this book and all the posters as kids. I can't wait to give this book to a Star Wars fan I know.

To purchase a copy of STAR WARS: CREATURES, SHIPS, & DROIDS, click the photo below:

I will be linking up this review with Booking Mama's Saturday feature, Kid Konnection. Other bloggers will share posts related to YA and children's books. Click HERE to see all the posts. 

A post from today, 8 years ago - Review: I Know This Much is True
A post from today, 7 years ago - Baxter's Blog
A post from today, 5 years ago - Things I Love - My Insulated Mug
A post from today, 3 years ago - Looking Back and Forward - A Little Monday Inspiration 



Thanks to the publisher for sending a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. This review is my honest opinion. If you choose to purchase a copy of this book through the above link, I may receive a small commission without you having to pay a cent more for your purchase. Thanks for supporting SincerelyStacie.com. 

Enjoy the Beauty of Your Day

We have been fortunate to have one of our most beautiful Octobers that I can remember in awhile. The weather has been warm and sunny and hardly any rain and cold to speak of until yesterday. 

October is my favorite month of the year. I love watching the changing of the leaves and the crispness in the air.  It's the month that holds my birthday, my husband's birthday, as well as a slew of other family members. I remember growing up that it was a month of celebrating. 

Last week, as our son was preparing to run his last cross country meet of the season, I found myself surrounded by the beauty of nature. The golf course in NE Iowa where the meet was held was full of trees that were in the process of changing over to fall. I was standing by myself and just took that moment to look around and enjoy the beauty of it. It helped calm me as I was extremely nervous for our son. This was his chance to make it to the state cross country meet.  Even though he didn't make it (he finished 20th and they take the top 15), I have looked back on this photo often as a reminder of the beauty in that day.

Wherever you are in the world, I hope that you can take a moment to enjoy the beauty of your day.

A post from today, 5 years ago -  Product Review: Nature's Hand Granola
A post from today, 2 years ago - Fulcrum Gallery Print Review
A post from today, 1 year ago - #52ListsProject - Things that Make Me Feel Peaceful

Book Review: Working Stiff By Judy Melinek and T.J. Mitchell

WORKING STIFF
Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner

By: Judy Melinek, M.D. and T.J. Mitchell

Published: August 12, 2014

Publisher: Scribner

Non-Fiction

For some reason, I am fascinated by medical memoirs. This one is kind of on the other end of medical...more in the morgue, but still an interesting look at the life of a medical examiner.

Judy Melinek and her husband, T.J. Mitchell have chronicled her two years working as a New York City medical examiner. She discusses some of her most bizarre and intense deaths during that time, including murder scenes, drug overdoses, and accidents. Life in New York City is never dull and each day was full of surprises.

I mostly listened to this on audio, narrated by Tanya Eby. I had both the Kindle and audible narration but found it was easier to listen to than to read. I will warn you that the material is quite graphic. Melinek does not hold back with her descriptions of the death scene or examination of the body. If you are at all squeamish, this book would NOT be for you. But, I found it easier to listen to the graphic descriptions rather than to read them. I did find myself cringing a bit while driving though at the descriptions. Eby's voice was easy to listen to and even found ways to change her voice for the various medical doctors and law enforcement that were on each scene. Eby was actually an Earphones Winner for her narration of WORKING STIFF.

Melinek obviously meets the various people after their life has ended, but finds ways to bring each of them to life by offering various background information either through the police reports or conversations with family. Melinek's own father committed suicide and she spends several pages discussing that impact on her life and attending other suicides while on her job. She even found a way to offer support to one grieving family which, I'm sure, gave her a sense of comfort as well.

The most difficult part of the book to listen to was her chapter discussing her work after 9/11. Even when I started the book and knew what year she was working in New York City, it never even occurred to me that she would be working on September 11, 2001. So, as she started describing her morning I realized the horror she was going to take the readers through on the following pages...and it was beyond horrific. I can't imagine what the first responders, fire department professionals, and law enforcement went through in the days, months, and years following 9/11. What they had to witness and go through was disastrous and life-changing. Listening to this section of the book actually caused me to pull my car over as I was crying too much to drive while listening. This part of the book has left quite an impact on me and will forever change how I view 9/11.

What most impressed me about Melinek was that she was able to separate her work life from her home life. During these early years in her career, she was a wife and mother to a toddler and then pregnant again. After viewing the unimaginable every day, she seamlessly went home and led the role of wife and mother. I, on the other hand, would have had a difficult time separating the two.  She talked about her day just like any other spouse would and then got on with the business of motherhood. She is a great example of working parents in stressful careers.

Judy Melinek, M.D. - source

Judy Melinek, M.D. is a graduate of Harvard University. She trained at UCLA in medicine and pathology, graduating in 1996. Her training at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in New York is the subject of her memoir, Working Stiff, which she co-wrote with her husband. Currently, Dr. Melinek is an Assistant Clinical Professor at UCSF, and works as a forensic pathologist in San Francisco. She also travels nationally and internationally to lecture on anatomic and forensic pathology and she has been consulted as a forensic expert in many high-profile legal cases, as well as for the television shows E.R. and Mythbusters. For more info on Judy Melinek, click HERE. 

Tanya Eby - source

To find out more about this award-winning narrator and see all the books she has read to listeners over the years, click HERE.

To purchase a copy of WORKING STIFF, click the photo below:




A post from today, 7 years ago - Mondays Matter: Week 43
A post from today, 2 years ago - Sunday Snippets 10.26.14 
A post from today, 1year ago - Book Review: The Italian Wife By Kate Furnivall 


If you choose to purchase this book through the above link, I may receive a small commission without you having to pay a cent more for your purchase. Thanks for supporting SincerelyStacie.com. 

Children's Book Review: Extreme Wildfire By Mark Thiessen

EXTREME WILDFIRE
Smoke Jumpers, High-Tech Gear, Survival Tactics, and the extraordinary Science of Fire

By: Mark Thiessen with Glen Phelan

Published: August 30, 2016

Publisher: National Geographic Kids

Non-Fiction

Wildfires seem to be all over the nightly news in all parts of our country. Recently, the western part of our country dealt with losses of numerous homes and thousands of acres of forest. There are numerous men and women who risk their lives every day to fight and prevent these wildfires. They can happen with the touch of a spark and destroy memories and livelihoods in seconds.

My cousin's husband has been a firefighter for the government for several years. He has traveled to swampy areas of the south, to the National Parks in the West. He is also responsible for protecting the Chippewa National Forest in Northern Minnesota. Thiessen explores the training, the science, the daily activities, and the dangers of being a firefighter in our nation's forests. As a photographer on the front-lines of the fires, he shares photos, stories, and details of fighting the fires and how they can affect the communities they threat to encroach.

Children will learn how fires began and how they quickly get out of hand. Readers will find out how the fires are spotted in the earliest of stages, even in the depth of the forest. The fighters train rigorously to live in the elements and are often away from their families and civilization for 2 weeks at a time. Readers will learn that the fires are fought from the air, on the ground, and even from the middle of the fire.

There is a whole section about the dangers of fire and how to plan if you live in an area prone to fires or to have your family be prepared in a fire happens in your area. Even a simple grass fire can wipe out an entire community.

Thiessen's photos are dramatic and show the scary side of fires as well as the generosity of communities who come together after a fire. I especially loved his photos of life returning to the forest after a fire.

There is much to learn in every National Geographic Kids book I have ever read and this one doesn't disappoint. I recommend this for upper elementary through middle school for the reading level and maturity level. It would make an excellent addition to the classroom, especially a science or social studies classroom.

Mark Thiessen - source

A National Geographic staff photographer since 1990, Mark Thiessen has published numerous feature stories and covers for National Geographic magazine and other Society publications on subjects ranging from Peruvian mummies to Egyptian archaeologists to Russian smokejumpers. 

He recently documented film director and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence James Cameron's dive to the ocean's deepest location at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Mark's photographs for the July 2008 National Geographic cover story “Under Fire: Why the West Is Burning” earned first-place recognition by Pictures of the Year International. Mark also directs the National Geographic photo studio and was featured in "Out There", a series aired on the National Geographic Channel.

In 1996, Thiessen began a personal photography project on wildland firefighters that took him to the front lines of wildfires every summer. To better understand the world of this little-known subculture, he became a certified wildland firefighter. An award-winning online piece, FireCall, features Thiessen's photographs and interviews with a veteran wildland firefighter.

To purchase a copy of EXTREME WILDFIRES, click the photo below:

I'll be linking up this review with Booking Mama and other bloggers on her Saturday feature, Kid Konnection. To see all the posts related to YA and children's books, click HERE.


A post from today, 8 years ago - The Secret Life of Bees
A post from today, 6 years ago - Thought for the Day 
A post from today, 5 years ago - Some Deliciousness 
A post from today, 3 years ago - A Little Monday Inspiration - Final Challenge Check In 
A post from today, 2 years ago - Book Review: A Breast Cancer Alphabet By Madhulika Sikka
A post from today, 1 year ago - Product Review: Eukonic Organic Coconut Oil Supplement


Thanks to the publisher for sending a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. This review is my honest opinion. If you choose to purchase this book through the above link I may receive a small commission without you having to pay a cent more for your purchase. Thanks for supporting SincerelyStacie.com. 

Children's Book Review: Sweet Pea & Friends The SheepOver By John &Jennifer Churchman

SWEET PEA & FRIENDS: 
The SheepOver

By: John and Jennifer Churchman

Photo Illustrations by: John Churchman

Published: December 8, 2015

Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers

Fiction

I have always been a fan of books about sheep. We raised sheep while I was growing up and my very first pet was Lambie, a sheep that was raised on our farm for many years. Sheep are special to our family and when I saw this book, I knew I had to get it for my niece. I think this will be part of her birthday gift next month.

Sweet Pea is one of the many sheep on the Churchman's farm. One night, Sweet Pea gets very sick and they have to call in Vet Alison. All of the friends on the farm are deeply worried about Sweet Pea and share their concern on the pages. Keeper the goose, Prem the goat, and Laddie the dog are just some of the farm friends watching over Sweet Pea. Farmer John promises a SheepOver in the greenhouse if Sweet Pea gets better and that is just what Sweet Pea and her friends get.

The illustrations are actual photos from the Churchman farm yet have digital artwork mixed with it. It gives the photos that creative brilliance that will give children the magic of what happens between the animals on the farm.

I love how all the animals on the farm are like family and rally around their friend Sweet Pea when she is sick. Then celebrate together when she is healthy. What a wonderful lesson to teach children about loving and caring for their friends.

John Churchman 

Jennifer Churchman

SWEET PEA & FRIENDS: The SheepOver is author Jennifer Churchman's debut children's book written in partnership with her husband John Churchman.  John draws on his talents as an artist, photographer, and farmer as he brings this story to life with his enchanting photo-illustrations. 

Jennifer and John bring their talents together to give voice to the stories of the animals that surround them and add boundless enjoyment to their lives. They have made their home on a small farm in the beautiful countryside os Essex, Vermont, with their daughter Gabrielle.
They are currently working on their next children's book and a variety of related creative projects, including an interactive website that continues the day-to-day story of Sweet Pea & Friends. Visit their website, HERE. Your child can meet all the farm friends and even watch the Farm Cam!  

To purchase a copy of SWEET PEA & FRIENDS: The SheepOver



To purchase a copy of the Churchman's newest book, SWEET PEA & FRIENDS: Brave Little Finn, click the photo below:

I will be linking up this review with Booking Mama's Kid Konnection. Every Saturday, Booking Mama offers bloggers an opportunity to share posts related to YA and children's book. To see all the posts, click HERE. 


A post from today, 5 years ago -Things I Love - Breast Cancer Awareness, A Movie, and A Song
A post from today, 4 years ago - Wonder By R.J. Palacio 
A post from today, 3 years ago - A Little Monday Inspiration and a Week Four Check-in
A post from today, 1 year ago - Book Review: Taming the To-Do List By Glynnis Whitwer 


If you choose to purchase a book through the above links, I may receive a small commission without you having to pay a cent more for your purchase. Thanks for supporting SincerelyStacie.com.

Cookbook Review: Good Taste By Jane Green

GOOD TASTE
Simple, Delicious Recipes for Family and Friends

By: Jane Green

Published: October 4, 2016

Publisher: Berkley/NAL

Non-Fiction/Cookbook

There is no doubt that Jane Green is a talented author. She has written numerous widely-popular novels including her latest, FALLING, that I reviewed HERE. But besides writing best-selling novels, Jane Green loves food. While leafing through the pages of her cookbook and salivating over the recipes and photos, you realize that she also loves the experience of making the food and sharing it with her family and friends.

Jane Green truly loves gathering with her friends and family and the best way to do that is through food. She takes great pleasure in making food and enjoying it with her friends and family, hosting parties, brunches, and intimate gatherings. She is good at it and you can tell by reading the pages of her book.

Green begins with recipes for the "Beginnings..." including soups, breads, and appetizers, The "Middles...." remind me of the best of comfort foods with a flair towards Indian and Middle Eastern dishes. Dishes like Asian Orange Chicken, Maple Pork Chops, and Shephard's Pie are all on my list to try.

Finally, she closes out the book with the "Endings..." that will fix that sugar craving. Warm Chocolate and Banana Cake, as well as, the Lemon and Almond Cake Tart have made my mouth water just looking at the photos. Actually, I should mention the photos because they are gorgeous. There are photos of her lavish home, photos of every recipe, and pictures of Jane cooking in her kitchen or setting up for a party. There is no doubt that she loves cooking and entertaining and this book embodies that.

I can't review a cookbook without trying a recipe or two from it. I knew I wanted to try a couple of the recipes right away and got the ingredients. First I tried the Sweet Corn and Chili Soup and it was a hit. It went together pretty quickly....the most time consuming was chopping the onions and celery. I don't have a handheld blender so I couldn't puree the soup, but we liked it just fine without that step. The red pepper flakes gave the soup some heat and it was filling. Of course, the guys were missing the meat but still liked it enough. I could easily add chicken, bacon, or sausage to this and make it heartier.  Next up to try is the Warm Chocolate and Banana Cake. YUM!

SWEET CORN AND CHILI SOUP

1 medium white onion, chopped
2 TBS butter
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 medium red chili or dried chili flakes to taste (I used 1 -2 tsp red pepper flakes)
1 bag frozen corn kernels
1-quart vegetable stock
salt and pepper
1/2 cup half-and-half

In a large pan, soften the onions in butter, add garlic after 1 minute and celery 1 minute later. Cook gently for around 5 minutes until soft. Add chili pepper/flakes, frozen corn, and vegetable stock. season well with salt and pepper.

Bring to boil, then cover and turn down to simmer for half an hour.

Take off heat, puree soup with a handheld blender. Add half-and-half at the end and garnish with slices of red chili/flakes or kernels of roasted corn.

Jane Green - source

Jane Green is a bestselling author of many popular novels. She has been featured in People, Newsweek, USA Today, Glamour, and Cosmopolitan. She lives in Connecticut with her family. 
For more information, connect with Jane at Facebook.com/AuthorJaneGreen.

To purchase a copy of GOOD TASTE, click the photo below:

I will be linking up this review with Beth Fish Reads and other bloggers for her regular feature, Weekend Cooking.  This linkup is open to anyone with food related posts including book reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, gadgets, restaurant reviews, or fun food posts. Grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. To see all the Weekend Cooking posts, click HERE. 


A post from today, 7 years ago - Mondays Matter: Week 41
A post from today, 5 years ago - 10-Day Give - Day 10
A post from today, 1 year ago - #52ListsProject - Mood Boosting Songs


Thanks to the publisher for sending a copy of this novel for the purpose of this review. This review is my honest opinion. If you choose to purchase the book thorugh the above link, I may receive a small commission without you having to pay a cent more for your purchase. Thanks for supporting SincerelyStacie.com. 

Product Review: FramedArt.com

With the recent remodeling of our home, I was in need of new artwork for our walls. Just at the right moment, I had the opportunity to review my experience with FramedArt.com. I had a really hard time narrowing down my choices. But, since I still wasn't sure what I was going to do with our new areas, I narrowed it down to a fun print that completed my wine corner.

We have a wine fridge and since it isn't really decorative, I wanted to dress up the area a bit. I have an old glass jug that I put wine corks in and found this neat sign at a local shop in town. I needed something to tie the whole look together.

When you visit FramedArt.com, there are a plethora of options for you to choose from. It would be extremely overwhelming if you didn't have some sort of sense of what you were looking for on the site. So for me, I knew I was looking for framed wine prints and entered that in my search.You can filter your searches by color, style, subject matter, size, and shape. So, once I chose wine prints, it then offered me red, white, champagne, or corkscrew. Since I wasn't sure exactly what I was looking for, I looked through all my options.

Once you find the print you like, then you can choose the mat and frame you want.

It can be overwhelming, but the picture actually changes once you select a color of mat or frame, so you can visualize what the print will look like in your frame and mat choices.

The process is really very simple and quite reasonable. The print, mat, and frame I purchased was just under $74.00 and arrived well packaged. I can't speak to delivery time since I was going through a different process than you would if you ordered directly off the website.

The other neat feature of this website is you can search by artist. Once I chose the "Good Wine" print, I also clicked on the artist, Marla Rae, which took me to a page with all of her artwork. If you find an artist you really like, you can see everything they have to offer on FramedArt.com. In fact, I found another print of hers, that I will definitely be getting soon!

I am so thrilled with this artwork and how it brings my wine corner together. I would highly recommend purchasing art through FramedArt.com the next time you are looking for some artwork for your walls.


A post from today, 2 years ago - The Last Two Days of the 10-Day Give
A post from today, 5 years ago - Children's Book Review: Lucy the Dinosaur: Nice to Meet You By Joey Ahlbum



Thanks to FramedArt.com for providing this product for the purpose of this review. This review is my honest opinion. I was not compensated in any way for this review. 

Book Review and Author Interview: The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay by Kelly Harms

THE MATCHMAKERS OF MINNOW BAY: A Novel

By: Kelly Harms

Published: August 9, 2016

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books

Fiction/Contemporary Fiction

Kelly Harms' sophomore novel focuses on Lily, an artist, who has lived her life relying on others to clean up her life-messes. Her best friend, Renee, doesn't seem to have much time for her in her attorney/mom life. Her gallerist/boyfriend, Mitchell, is only concerned about the next piece she is creating and not the current mess Lily has found herself in. Lily is stuck and since she hasn't turned out a painting lately, she is being evicted from her apartment after missing rent. While cleaning out her apartment, Lily finds an envelope that takes her back to a night in Vegas and a man she has totally forgotten about, Ben Hutchinson. Once the shock of the contents of the envelope has sunk in, she jumps in her hatchback loaded with everything she has ever owned and travels to Minnow Bay, Wisconsin, to find Ben and make things right.

Lily is a character you love, yet are annoyed with. Lily has lived in her artist bubble for ten years and her naivety has let the people in her life walk all over her. During Lily's stay in Minnow Bay, some new characters emerge that have their own life issues and yet offer Lily kindness, generosity, and the reality check she needs. Minnow Bay is much like many other small towns in the Midwest where news travels faster that you can walk to the mailbox. It has all the quirky characters and small town struggles of staying afloat in the middle of the winter season. It also has people who genuinely care about each other and they are just the people that Lily needed to walk into her life.

Harms' book is a light read and one that could easily be read in a weekend. The romance is light and without graphic detail. The friendships are heartfelt and humorous. The story is a bit silly and predictable. But, the whole package works. Harms has the skill to put the reader into the scene of the story, with the location, the temperature, the scenery, and the emotions. It's all there and the reader can visualize the story playing out before them. It's not a skill all authors have and she has it. Her writing reminds me of Beth Kendrick or Jane Green, both authors I have written about before. Her characters will stay with you and when the book ends you'll be wanting to know more.

Favorite Quotes:
"I swear I hear the sound of my panties hitting the floor." page 29
"As long as you take a few moments for stars now and then, your soul will stay alive." page 40

Kelly Harms - submitted photo

Kelly Harms is the author of THE GOOD LUCK GIRLS OF SHIPWRECK LANE and THE MATCHMAKERS OF MINNOW BAY. She has also worked with New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors, Edgar, RITA, and Agatha award winners, and Indie Next List Picks in her time as an editor at a division of HarperCollins and later as an agent at the Jane Rotrosen Agency. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin with her son Griffin and puppy Scout.

My interview with author, Kelly Harms -

I caught Harms for a few minutes to chat while painters had just arrived at her home. Her 5-year-old son was at school and her precious golden doodle puppy was at her feet. Her personality flowed through the phone and I can see how she writes such fun novels. Her first book, THE GOODLUCK GIRLS OF SHIPWRECK LANE centers on the dream of finding a forever home.  It was special to her because she was also getting ready to relocate to Madison, leaving New York City, the place where she had spent her roaring 20’s. Her newest book, THE MATCHMAKERS OF MINNOW BAY, is inspired by the lake areas of Northern Wisconsin and has a bit of the same feel with the main character, Lily, needing to revisit where she is in her life. She is stuck in the past and determined not to move forward in her life. Harms states, “I was also tired of treading water and needed to move forward in my life. I needed to write from the perspective of someone who had much to offer and was at a crossroads in life. There is magic in who steps into your life in that moment to help you move forward.”

After working in publishing for almost a decade (which she says was the best job in the world), she was able to rub elbows with some of her writerly heroes like Susan Wiggs. Harms states, “It was a formative time for me. Every day was a master class where I could learn from the best writers in the business.” Her early years in the business allowed her to create life-long friendships with some fabulous authors…many of whom offered wide praise on her second book.

Kelly Harms’ novels are for readers looking for fun and pleasure. “The fact that I write love stories is no surprise because my parents had a beautiful love story that lasted 47 years,” says Harms proudly.  Harms didn’t always want to be a writer but instead had plans to be a doctor. Fortunately for us readers, organic chemistry was extremely difficult for her and after taking it two times, she decided to look at other options, taking an internship at a magazine with a book section. “I knew right away that I needed to be near where books were being made.”  Harms said she was always an avid reader and her mom would say she was great at making up stories. I’d say she is too.  Having the opportunity to learn from the best commercial fiction writers out there encouraged her to take a leap of faith and write her first book. Harms states, “It was a 10-year-long overnight success.”

Kelly Harms takes inspiration from authors like Marisa de los Santos, Fannie Flagg, Jane Green, Jo Jo Moyes, and Susan Wiggs who “write from a place of bold, fearless optimism. There are no perfect characters, no bad guys, just people muddling along in life.” Harms typically reads outside her genre while writing to not be influenced by what she is reading at the time. But, when I asked what book she is most excited about this fall, she stated, “the new Maria Semple book (TODAY WILL BE DIFFERENT). I’ll be sitting by my mailbox waiting for it to arrive.”

Harms will read snippets from her novel, answer questions, but mostly talk off the cuff. “We are all there because we love books.” Fans will be thrilled to hear she is working on another Minnow Bay book focusing on the character, Colleen. “I’m also having an affair with a story of a woman who steps away from her busy life as a mom and wife and what happens when she does.” Kelly Harms definitely has the talent to write the stories readers want to read. 

To purchase a copy of THE MATCHMAKERS OF MINNOW BAY, click the photo below:





A post from today, 8 years ago - The Give Begins 
A post from today, 5 years ago - Scenes from Our Week - Week 1 
A post from today, 5 years ago - The 10-Day Give - Day 9


Thanks to the publisher for sending a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. This review is my honest opinion. I was not compensated in any way for this review. If you choose to purchase the book through the above link, I may receive a small commission without you having to pay a cent more for your purchase. Thanks for supporting SincerelyStacie.com.