Goodreads Monday/TBR Monday is hosted by Budget Tales Book Blog and invites you to post about what books are on your Goodreads “to read” lists or TBR lists, the progress you have made on your current books and reading challenges, and any other bookish news!

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The Union Street Bakery is a story all about the main character finding her future after having a bit of a rocky past. I love this message in books as I feel like so many of us struggle with separating our history from where we are meant to go. We are not defined by the events and circumstances of our past and I look forward to hearing this message in this book.

This is also the first in a duology it appears so plus one 🙂

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Synopsis

From the bestselling author of The Brighter the Light comes a bittersweet and hopeful story about how one woman’s journey into her family’s past helps her embrace her future.

Daisy McCrae’s life got off to a rocky start. Abandoned by a mother she never really knew, she was adopted into a family she’s never truly felt a part of. Thirty years later, her life is just as rocky. Between losing her job and her boyfriend, she’s lost all sense of self.

Now Daisy is back where it all the Union Street Bakery. She’s resigned to living in the bakery’s attic, learning the family business, and saving it if she can. But patching up the holes in her relationship with her sisters is another story.

So, too, is the century-old journal she inherits. Written by an enslaved girl named Susie, the weathered pages offer Daisy a glimpse into a past that has everything to do with her present.

As Daisy learns more about Susie, the town, and her family, she starts to see who she’s been and who she wants to be—and realizes that maybe, no matter how much you’ve lost, there’s always something more to find.

Updates

I am currently 60%of the way through His New Girlfriend by Lauren North. Unfortunately I am not the biggest fan of this story. Basically all of the characters have some characteristic I do not like. Since this is a thriller, I can understand this to an extent, but it is difficult for me to care one or another about what ends up happening lol. It comes out in a couple of days so I am trying to get through it and the review.

I am about 40% of the way through Christmas in Chestnut Crossing. I am almost through the second novella and so far, the stories are quite inspiring with heavy Christian themes. I will say, I do wish there was a bit more differentiation between the first and second stories since they both deal with a widow who is still getting over the loss of their husbands. It feels a bit like the same story twice in a row.

I do plan on finishing both of these books either today or tomorrow since I am starting my legal transcription course on Wednesday and that will greatly effect my reading time.

The StoryGraph’s Onboarding 2026 Challenge

2/5 (40%)

TBR Wheel Reading Challenge

12/108 (11%)