Happy Fourth of July to our members in the US! Hopefully, you’ll be able to squeeze some reading in around the festivities. What are you reading? I’m reading our group read, On the Rooftop by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton. It’s 1950s historical fiction about a trio of Black singing sisters.

Even well-loved, super-popular, award-winning books have their serious haters! 😂 This is historical fiction. All guesses are encouraged (no googling, though!). This is meant to be fun. Don't be dismayed if you disagree with the review. Any spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors are copied directly from the review. I’ll post the correct answer tomorrow (25th June 2026). ⭐ There was so much potential in this story and all of it was unfortunately ruined by poor writing and quick cleanup and just...uuuugggghhhhhh. I kinda want to throw this book in the trash. I really enjoyed [Character 1]’s and [Character 2]’s stories, but [Character 3]’s was so ridiculous. [Character 3]’s character was immature, clueless, and terribly underdeveloped. Actually, I hated [Character 3] throughout the book but by the end, I wished she’d jumped off the bridge instead of [Character 2]. • [Character 3] can’t remember the emergency number in England to help her sick husband, but instead of asking her new English friend who’s right in front of her face, she instead decides to run back to the hotel, thereby wasting precious time. • [Character 3] applies to Cambridge Univ online one night and the next day begins making plans on how to divorce her husband, quit her job at the family business, secure student housing, etc. She’s an American. Does Cambridge accept foreign graduate students that quickly? PROBABLY NOT. • She blabbers on throughout the entire book about being a historian then ends up choosing a grad degree in British Literature - a subject that is NEVER mentioned in the book but once, and only as an aside. • And maybe because she chose to be a Brit Lit major, this is why she feels like it’s appropriate to fling the vial back into the Thames and keep certain things to herself...BECAUSE HISTORIANS CANNOT DO THAT. EDITED TO ADD: [Character 1], the 18th-century feminist apothecarist, keeps a ledger of the names of all the women who’ve come to her for assistance in taking out the men who’ve wronged them. And I’m okay with that. Except when she knows the end is near and the police are closing in on her...so she decides to leave the ledger OUT to be discovered? Claiming that not acknowledging the women publicly erases them from history, but not considering that those women could all be hanged if their crimes are discovered???? That’s cowardice, not feminism.

We do have a rule against self-promotion in this community. (Thank you, everyone, for sticking to it and helping to make this community great. It's much appreciated!) But I thought we could have the *occasional* post where members can share their stuff, whatever it may be. So have at it! Comment on this post (and only on this post!) and share your website, social media, Skool community, links to your books, Substack, etc... whatever you like! It doesn't have to be HF-related. Two requirements: (1) Tell people what to expect. So if you post your Substack newsletter or your IG or your Skool community, tell us what it's about. Don't expect people to have to go look at your link to find out. Let them know if they might be interested. If it's about cooking, writing memoir, travel, makeup, business, photography, reviewing horror novels, whatever... tell us what it's about. (2) Don't just drop a comment and run. Check out other people's stuff. Read through the other comments, like them, and — if you're interested in the description — check out their links. Enjoy 😊

Spammers are gonna spam... 😂

I don't know if I have a single favourite word, but since I first heard it, I've loved the word 'chiaroscuro', which means the contrast of light and shadow (especially in art). Wikipedia uses the example of the attached painting to illustrate it. (Divine Love Conquering Earthly Love by Giovanni Baglione) I thought you might enjoy this article, full of wonderful made-up words (and some beautiful artwork): The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows: Uncommonly Lovely Invented Words for What We Feel but Cannot Name I love this one: SUERZA n. a feeling of quiet amazement that you exist at all; a sense of gratitude that you were even born in the first place, that you somehow emerged alive and breathing despite all odds, having won an unbroken streak of reproductive lotteries that stretches all the way back to the beginning of life itself. Spanish suerte, luck + fuerza, force. Pronounced “soo-wair-zuh."