Three Books I'm Reading Now, 8/17/26 Edition

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The Books I'm Reading Now

I took a break from posting (and everyday life) last week to spend time with family and friends in cooler climes, hiking, beer-tasting, exploring, and catching up. It was a wonderful vacation--but I didn't have time for much reading except for during my plane rides. I love the variety of books I have going now:

I'm reading Shea Ernshaw's mysterious, fantastical Habits of the Sea; I'm reading the lighter titleVera Stein Is Fine by Dumplin' author Julie Murphy; and I'm listening to Beverly Gage's nonfiction truth-telling and celebratory exploration of our nation's history, This Land Is Your Land.

What are you reading, bookworms?

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01 Habits of the Sea by Shea Ernshaw

The stormy night Clay Lockhart's wife and children die, he flies into a raging grief, and his home and the land beneath it break from Scotland and float into the sea.

When Ellie Mills is a young girl in Nova Scotia, she stumbles onto Clay and his island and enters into a mysterious time warp, but upon her return home her account is largely dismissed as a delusion.

Now Ellie is an adult, and Clay's island has been spied by a cruise ship of passengers. Now everyone is prepared to believe her original tale, but Ellie is torn. Can she revisit the strange island from her youth, and does she even want to unravel the secrets of that distant memory and place?

Shea Ernshaw is also the author of The Wicked Deep, A History of Wild Places, Winterwood, and other titles.

I'm reading a prepublication edition of this novel courtesy of NetGalley and Atria Books.

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02 Vera Stein Is Fine by Julie Murphy

Vera Stein has been working below her abilities as an assistant for her college friend, actor, longtime crush, and sometime hookup Brody.

That is, until she stumbles across Brody's email laying out how he's prepared to sack her in favor of a younger, cost-saving alternative.

Now Vera, her decades-old, languishing attempt at scriptwriting, her dog Marlon, and her few other possessions are headed from Brody's pool house to the only other place she can think of to shelter: her non-nurturing former scream-queen grandmother's wild retirement community, Starlight Palms.

But surprises await Vera, and she'll need to undergo some painful self-discovery in order to face the new phase of her life.

I received a prepublication electronic version of this title courtesy of NetGalley and Avon, and I received a prepublication audio version of Vera Stein through Libro.fm and Avon.

Julie Murphy is also the author of Dumplin'.

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03 This Land Is Your Land: A Road Trip Through U.S. History by Beverly Gage

Beverly Gage is a lifelong historian who traveled across the United States in order to write this work highlighting key points in our history, unforgettable characters who shaped our past, conflicts and cooperation, and mistakes as well as hope for a better future.

Gage doesn't focus only on the most popular or well known facts and landscapes; she offers thirteen essential places and their stories, which interconnect and build from each other, sharing context and fascinating details to bring it all to life.

This nonfiction work is perfect to read during our nation's semiquincentennial year.

I'm listening to this title as an audiobook through my library and Libby.