Thirty Days to Thirty by Courtney Psak
Thirty Days to Thirty is a fun and emotionally-charged novel about a woman who’s just approaching thirty who loses everything: In the space of a few hours she gets fired from her job and then finds her boyfriend of six years has been cheating on her. Just when she thought her whole life was coming together and she was on the right track, everything falls apart, and instead finds herself living again with her parents. And so she gets innovative: she finds an old list of things she hoped to accomplish before she turned thirty, and with a few friends […]
Blue Sky, the second book in the Morrow Girls series, starts off where book one left off: after “Pecan” Marrow has struggled through an abusive marriage while trying to raise four dynamic girls, Blue Sky follows the life of the girls. The girls have broken spirits from their tumultuous upbringing, but they’re still plenty spirited. One by one, we learn the girls stories and how their past and family affected their present life. It’s not just a case of the girls against the world: it’s the girls against each other.
Juliet’s Journey by Kathy Gates is a delightful and comforting novella about traveling outside your country and your comfort zone. Juliet is a thirty-year-old graphic designer who decides to volunteer at an art school in the tiny village of Baiardo (a real place, the pictures of Baiardo are astounding). As sometimes can only happen in an exotic locale, Juliet learns to open up and be more comfortable with herself and her past.
Off Balance, by Terez Mertes Rose, is a refreshing and gritty story about friendships, dreams, and life.
Conversations and Adventures by Simone Diston is a spirited and engaging collection of true-to-life stories about meeting different people in a city and starting conversations out of the blue. Everyone she meets on her travels is asking big questions about life, with obstacles in their lives to overcome. Together they reach new insights into big questions about the human condition, such as equality or identity, and smaller issues as well, such as dating.
The Fat Girls Club by Lila Johnson follows the lives of Sissy, Nicki and Angela who join together in an effort to lose weight. The novel had the possibility of being a bit superficial and weight obsessed – and indeed Nicki and Angela aren’t too happy at first about having their weight pointed out – but losing weight is a very real concern for most everybody, and the issue is handled sensitively, and humorously. It’s also an uplifting story about friendship and how important it is to have the support of friends during difficult times.