<![CDATA[Brooke Lea Foster's Dear Fiction: Reading Life]]>https://dearfiction.substack.com/s/reading-lifehttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4vhY!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcfe4238d-eeb4-40eb-87db-f307281ffe2b_256x256.pngBrooke Lea Foster's Dear Fiction: Reading Lifehttps://dearfiction.substack.com/s/reading-lifeSubstackMon, 27 Apr 2026 09:31:07 GMT<![CDATA[The Weekly Catch Up]]>https://dearfiction.substack.com/p/the-weekly-catch-up-fb5https://dearfiction.substack.com/p/the-weekly-catch-up-fb5Tue, 13 Jan 2026 17:37:24 GMTWe had a doozy of a beginning of 2026. After dodging a snow storm the morning we flew out, and staying a night at the retro (super cool!) TWA Hotel at JFK, we landed in sunny St. Lucia for a much-needed holiday. I don’t know about you, but I find a post-Christmas vacation an absolute must after all of the running around that leads up to the big day.

The…

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]]><![CDATA[The Weekly Catch Up]]>https://dearfiction.substack.com/p/the-weekly-catch-up-cc0https://dearfiction.substack.com/p/the-weekly-catch-up-cc0Tue, 02 Dec 2025 17:12:16 GMTI buy my kids an advent calendar every year—they’ve had LEGO versions, charm bracelets, MiniBrands and chocolates—but I’ve never had one myself. This year I saw the Bibliophile countdown to Christmas and I decided to treat myself. With our elf Chippy’s arrival yesterday came the advent calendars too. My little girl has the American Girl calendar, featur…

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]]><![CDATA[The Books I'm Most Grateful For]]>https://dearfiction.substack.com/p/the-books-im-most-grateful-forhttps://dearfiction.substack.com/p/the-books-im-most-grateful-forTue, 25 Nov 2025 15:30:55 GMTIf you were to ask any author what books they’re thankful for, the list is long. We are products of other writer’s beautiful sentences, tightly woven plots, and gripping storytelling. Since I’m home with a sick child today, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I’m grateful for: my health, my writing and yes, a myriad number of books.

My list of favorites …

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]]><![CDATA[All the Books I've Read Lately]]>https://dearfiction.substack.com/p/all-the-books-ive-read-latelyhttps://dearfiction.substack.com/p/all-the-books-ive-read-latelyWed, 12 Nov 2025 16:50:27 GMTHi everyone! It was so cold in New York yesterday it felt like winter — but (BUT!) I’m still working my way through my fall book picks. I’ve read so much while watching the leaves change outside of my window this season that it became a vibe. Since I know all of you are always looking for book recommendations, here’s what I loved and didn’t love.

mug of coffee with marshmallow in front of open book on tray
Photo …

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]]><![CDATA[The Weekly Catch Up]]>https://dearfiction.substack.com/p/the-weekly-catch-up-2e3https://dearfiction.substack.com/p/the-weekly-catch-up-2e3Tue, 19 Aug 2025 18:12:25 GMTOne of my guideposts of a good couple of weeks on the beach: How many books I read. This time around I was able to get a fair share of novels. Here’s what I read and loved.

Right before I left for the beach, I finished The Correspondent by Virginia Evans, and I can’t stop raving about it. If you haven’t picked up that one, it’s an insightful and moving …

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]]><![CDATA[Meet the Foodie Bookstagrammer]]>https://dearfiction.substack.com/p/meet-the-foodie-bookstagrammerhttps://dearfiction.substack.com/p/meet-the-foodie-bookstagrammerWed, 13 Aug 2025 14:55:38 GMTRecently my son came downstairs at ten at night and said: Do we have any ramen? He was reading a book set in Japan and the descriptions of the salty noodle dishes in the Tokyo restaurants had inspired a craving. We did have a package in the cabinet, and he ended up slurping a bowl at the kitchen table while finishing his book.

Pairing recipes and books …

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]]><![CDATA[What Is Your Secret Connection to Books? ]]>https://dearfiction.substack.com/p/what-is-your-secret-connection-tohttps://dearfiction.substack.com/p/what-is-your-secret-connection-toTue, 22 Apr 2025 14:50:17 GMTDon’t forget to enter the SUPER FANTASTIC giveaway for signed copies of all three of my novels HERE. You have eight days left to enter!! Now on to this issue!

I’ve had a longstanding book club. We started meeting during the fall of 2019, and we’ve been meeting monthly or bimonthly ever since. Our books tend to be contemporary fiction and they’re often pu…

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]]><![CDATA[This Voice Sounds Familiar]]>https://dearfiction.substack.com/p/this-voice-sounds-familiarhttps://dearfiction.substack.com/p/this-voice-sounds-familiarTue, 21 Jan 2025 15:09:45 GMTI was walking the dog the other day feeling super excited to begin listening to my new audiobook, The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus. The story immediately sucked me in. If you haven’t seen the latest Jenna pick—it’s everywhere—Octopus is a bildungsroman about a young college student in Scotland looking to unravel the secret that her divorcing parents…

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]]><![CDATA[My 3 Most Anticipated Books For Winter]]>https://dearfiction.substack.com/p/my-3-most-anticipated-books-for-winterhttps://dearfiction.substack.com/p/my-3-most-anticipated-books-for-winterTue, 03 Dec 2024 16:27:18 GMTOver the last week, I’ve been reading the mystery/thriller The Puzzle Box by Danielle Trussoni, mostly because it’s set in Japan, it’s a fresh take on a propulsive-style Davinci Code story, and I wanted to read something in a completely different genre. (It’s really great, both the book and reading out of genre!)

There’s no shortage of great books to ta…

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]]><![CDATA[The Best Historical Fiction Books This Summer]]>https://dearfiction.substack.com/p/the-best-historical-fiction-bookshttps://dearfiction.substack.com/p/the-best-historical-fiction-booksFri, 14 Jun 2024 13:54:49 GMTMy nightstand is overloaded with books at my beach cottage because there are so many incredible historical fiction novels out this summer. Some of these book picks I’ve already read — and some I will read in coming weeks — but all of them are worthy of your consideration. If you look forward to escaping into the past (and a great story), here are ten bo…

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]]><![CDATA[The Greatest Summer Novels of All Time]]>https://dearfiction.substack.com/p/the-greatest-summer-novels-of-allhttps://dearfiction.substack.com/p/the-greatest-summer-novels-of-allTue, 19 Mar 2024 13:20:39 GMTI write summer novels so it’s no wonder that I’ve been inspired over the years by many other writers who set their books in the warm weather months. To me, a summer novel doesn’t mean a book is fluff; sometimes these books are written off as “beach reads,” even if they tackle serious subjects and are as well-written as most novels released in Fall. This…

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]]><![CDATA[Do You Underline When You Read Novels?]]>https://dearfiction.substack.com/p/do-you-underline-when-you-read-novelshttps://dearfiction.substack.com/p/do-you-underline-when-you-read-novelsTue, 12 Mar 2024 14:15:18 GMTA bookstagrammer recently sent me a note (and a photo) saying how much she enjoyed my book, explaining that as she read, she underlined her favorite lines and put stickers on pages she wanted to remember. She did this for two reasons: The first is that she always sends her books on to friends to enjoy and wants them to see the parts of the book that res…

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]]><![CDATA[Would You Join a Couples Book Club?]]>https://dearfiction.substack.com/p/would-you-join-a-couples-book-clubhttps://dearfiction.substack.com/p/would-you-join-a-couples-book-clubTue, 13 Feb 2024 13:46:37 GMTI was chatting about books with one of my favorite independent bookstore owners, Jessica Kaplan at Bronx River Books, when she mentioned that she and her husband, Mark, are in a couples book club.

One of my eyebrows shot up. “What do you mean, you’re in a couples book club?”

It was a novel idea, and I suddenly had so many questions, namely: What would h…

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]]><![CDATA[Do You Still Read Magazines? ]]>https://dearfiction.substack.com/p/do-you-still-read-magazineshttps://dearfiction.substack.com/p/do-you-still-read-magazinesTue, 02 Jan 2024 15:05:37 GMTMagazines used to make me swoon. I grew up on a steady diet of Sassy and YM and Seventeen. When I graduated college, I only wanted to work in magazines, and I spent my twenties and thirties writing for a slew of them. It wasn’t just how beautiful the print mags were to thumb through with their four-color photos and expert aspirational articles, it was t…

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]]><![CDATA[My Favorite Book of 2023]]>https://dearfiction.substack.com/p/my-favorite-book-of-2023https://dearfiction.substack.com/p/my-favorite-book-of-2023Tue, 26 Dec 2023 15:43:37 GMTI’m not going to pick my 10 favorite novels that I read in 2023. I’m going to do the impossible. I will pick one, and then you will have an idea for a book that you just have to read in 2024!

I had many favorites this year, many that I wrote about on Dear Fiction, like The Guest Book by Sarah Blake, I Have Some Questions For You by and The Beach at Sum…

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]]><![CDATA[8 Novels I'm Dying to Read]]>https://dearfiction.substack.com/p/7-novels-im-dying-to-readhttps://dearfiction.substack.com/p/7-novels-im-dying-to-readTue, 12 Sep 2023 10:20:07 GMTHas anyone been listening to author Elin Hilderbrand’s new podcast “Beach, Books & Beyond” that she’s been recording with Tim Ehrenberg? It’s filled with writing tips and insider takes. The interview with Kristin Hannah is an absolute must listen.

Hannah has a new novel releasing this winter called The Women and it’s set in the 1970s during the Vietnam …

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]]><![CDATA[How to Pick Books You’ll Love for Your Summer Travels]]>https://dearfiction.substack.com/p/how-to-pick-books-youll-love-forhttps://dearfiction.substack.com/p/how-to-pick-books-youll-love-forTue, 06 Jun 2023 13:01:32 GMTIt’s tricky — selecting books to pack for vacation. If you’re heading to a beach or foreign locale, you’ll likely be stuck with whatever it is you bring. So if it turns out you’re not as into it as you thought you’d be, that’s too bad for you. You’ll either have to continue slogging through it or read nothing at all. 

Tashe

(Side note: I’ve always wondere…

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]]><![CDATA[Finding More Time to Read]]>https://dearfiction.substack.com/p/finding-more-time-to-readhttps://dearfiction.substack.com/p/finding-more-time-to-readThu, 01 Jun 2023 10:01:16 GMTI was lunching with an author friend recently who said something on the lines of, “You read so much. How in the world do you find the time?” Well, for one, reading is like breathing to me. My media diet consists of: reading online articles in the AM before I start writing, leafing through magazines while the kids play outside, indulging in the Sunday Ti…

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]]><![CDATA[Book Club with My Tweens]]>https://dearfiction.substack.com/p/book-club-with-my-tweenshttps://dearfiction.substack.com/p/book-club-with-my-tweensThu, 20 Apr 2023 13:01:12 GMTA few weeks ago, I wrote about how my 11-year-old son has been losing interest in reading and has been reading less fiction in particular. Since then I’ve received lots of advice on how to remedy the situation, and one idea has really stuck out to me. Just as I used to read to my two kids when they were small, maybe I can continue to make reading a bond…

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]]><![CDATA[My Favorite Bookish (and Capacious) Totes ]]>https://dearfiction.substack.com/p/my-favorite-bookish-and-capacioushttps://dearfiction.substack.com/p/my-favorite-bookish-and-capaciousTue, 18 Apr 2023 10:31:05 GMTForget Chloe. And Longchamp. And most definitely Prada. Book people adore a much simpler accessory that rarely costs more than $20: the literary-themed canvas tote. No joke. I’ve come to rely on several in my collection and not just as carryalls to haul groceries home.

So while I rock a boho purse when I’m running errands or going out, I use my favorite…

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