Book Chatter

Sunday Matters, a latte on a wooden tray against greenery.

Hey, friends. I’m good but so much is happening. A death in the family, my daughter leaving NYC on 10/3, my son’s new job with the city of Bellevue, and a busy schedule that isn’t sustainable long term.

Right Now:

Heading out the door soon to hang with the students at church. They impress me every week.

This Week:

I cannot believe we are headed into October.

Emma leaves this week with her cat to begin her life in NYC. She found a really nice four bedroom apartment in Manhattan!! Auditions continue.

I’ve been pulled into so many directions lately that my reading took a hit. Using this week to get back to it.

Reading:

I’m hosting book club this month and I selected Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood. Should be plenty to discuss.

Watching:

My daughter insisted I watch two movies with her:

Heretic
The Substance

Both, absolutely wild.

Grateful for:

Supportive friends
Cool mornings
My little pup who is still hanging on but clearly declining.
Friends who immediately recognize nonsense and don’t support it

That’s all I have. Hope you are well. Wish me luck getting back into reading. This entire year has been a challenge.

Heart the Lover
By Lily King
Grove Press, September 30, 2025, 256 pp.

The Short of It:

Lovely and poignant.

The Rest of It:

In the fall of her senior year of college, a young woman meets two star students from her 17th-Century Lit class: Sam and Yash. Best friends living off campus in the elegant house of a professor on sabbatical, the boys invite her into their intoxicating world of academic fervor, rapid-fire banter and raucous card games.

This is the type of story you tuck in with as it gently unfolds in beautiful little bits. I LOVED this story.

The narrator of the story is young Jordan. Not her real name, more on this later. She meets these two amazing men, both best friends to each other. Has a romantic relationship with one, and then the other, a deeper more personal friendship but is it really something more?

These three romp around the university, talking literature and live in the fancy house of a professor on sabbatical. None seem particularly well-to-do but they have plans to be successful. Where they end up? Not all that important to them.

These characters share their innermost thoughts in a quiet contemplative way. The tone that King sets up is very similar in feel to the movie The Big Chill. Close friends, lovers, intimate secrets. The plot follows them into adulthood. They are presented with challenges and doubts which threaten to break them apart. Jordan’s true identity is not immediately revealed until she figures out who she really is.

Lily King, well done. Highly recommend.

Comes out September 30, 2025.

Source: Review copy sent to me by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.

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