I loved this book so much! Reading the description; it didn't sound like something I would typically read, but I had heard a lot of great things about it, so I gave it a shot and am glad I did. This story is funny; but also so heartwarming. I feel like, ultimately, its a story about women - challenges we face (especially in society during the 1960s, when this book took place), ways that we support each other - both overtly and quietly, and how much we are willing to give up and/or fight for those we love. I realize that sounds cheesy, but I promise - If you are looking for a book that keeps you up late reading because you don't want to put it down, this is your book! I have already recommended it to several people!

A lovely warm story, you will fall in love with the characters! It was fairly slow paced book which is ok if you aren’t looking for too many twists, I did enjoy the book.

I’ve seen this book recommended in SO many of the different groups I’m in, so I went into it knowing there was some hype behind it. Not all books live up to their hype, so I went into it with caution (because I’ve been burned by hyped-up books 😅).

You guys, I ADORED this book!!

This book is about a main character, Miranda Kleinman, who is the kind of character I love to read about. She is smart, self-assured, and unapologetically herself. This girl won’t settle, and I LOVE that!

The book is set in 1960, and we meet Marilyn as she is getting caught making out with the rabbi’s son when they fell through a stained glass window in the middle of service. So as punishment, Marilyn gets sent to spend the summer with her great-aunt Ada, who she barely knows. Ada works as a matchmaker, so Marilyn is preparing for the worst - a strict, fussy old lady who is hell bent on setting her up for marriage and motherhood. But she finds that Ada is not what she expected, and this summer may just change the course of her whole life.

This book is everything!! Such a good palate cleanser if you are reading dark thrillers for spooky season. I don’t give out my 5 stars lightly, and this book was such a heartwarming read. Plus the ending!! Highly recommend!

I wish I had read this as my last summer read, but I still think it’s a great one to squeeze in before the end of the year - especially if it’s still summer weather where you live. Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

I adored this book!
The characters are all brilliant, but Ada was hilarious. I have no idea how many times this book made me laugh out loud, the author has a real talent!
This was such a good read, I looked forward to reading it and I loved the ending!
I am pleasantly surprised by this, and now have another book by this author on my TBR!

After a minor scandal, Marilyn is shipped off to her Great Aunt Ada for the summer. If she can keep out of trouble and act as her parents expect, she can return to college in the fall. However, Aunt Ada turns out to be more fun and surprising than Marilyn expected.

I laughed my way through this banter-filled story (except when I was crying). I love strong, funny female characters who write their own rules, and @saraconfino gave me precisely what I wanted! Add a strong sense of place (I could smell the salt water of 1960s Jersey Shore), great outfits, a slow-burn romance, and a spectacular ending, and you’ve got a crowd-pleaser. All the love for this story and Aunt Ada!

Marilyn Kleinman got caught making out with the rabbi’s son in front of the whole community. It is 1960 and Marilyn does not exactly follow her parents strict rules and regulations. She is a strong independent woman studying in college and has absolutely no intention of marrying this boy just because everyone witnessed their brief rendezvous. As a last resort and summer punishment Marilyn is sent to live in Philadelphia with her Aunt Ada, an older woman who never married but is a wildly successful businesswoman. As Ada and Marilyn get acquainted they head to her home on the Jersey Shore. Marilyn must assist Ada in her matchmaking business. Frankly, she prefers to lay on the beach, meet cute boys and use her spare time writing her novel. Falling for the boy Ada explicitly forbids her from socializing with, Marilyn sneaks out against Ada’s wishes only to learn her Aunt was right all along. To Marilyn’s surprise Ada is not what she expected. She is fashionable, smart, funny and has lived an extraordinary life. As the two women get closer Marilyn learns more about love and family than she ever dreamed possible. Loved the characters, the setting and every moment of this unputdownable read written with the humor of Mrs. Maisel and many lessons of the heart.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC of this book!

As someone who grew up between Philadelphia and the Jersey shore, who now works based out of NYC, this book really hit on a lot of different levels. The historical aspects were well done and not overworked, which can be hard when pushing back a timeline 60 years. It gave me a nostalgia for the 60s without ever having lived in that era because I could imagine the places I love in a past state.

My favorite thing about the book was that I got to learn a lot about Jewish culture and pressures through the mindset of a main character that I related to in terms of her want to carve her own path. The characters were fully realized and my only complaint was there very occasionally were some cliched plot points that I had to overlook.

I would probably give the book a 4/5 on a normal scale, but it hit me with that childhood Jersey shore nostalgia, so it gets bumped to a 5/5. Nice work by Confino. Might pick up her other books after this.

This book was so much more than I was expecting. Marilyn, a bored young Jewish woman, has disgraced herself epically in front of her parent's whole synagogue (with the rabbi's son). That was hilarious and it's worth reading the book just for that scene.

Her parents have sent her to stay with her great-aunt while the scandal dies down a little. Marilyn is surprised to meet Ada, who is a renowned matchmaker. Ada is in her 70s with perfect makeup, sharply dressed, usually wears high heels, and has eyes in the back of her head for nieces trying to put one over on her. Ada's roommate is away, so Marilyn takes notes while Ada interviews clients.

The first thing Ada does when they meet is to confiscate Marilyn's expensive new lipstick for herself, saying that Marilyn 'has to grow into it'. That is part of the fun as Marilyn keeps sneaking it back, only to have it confiscated again. Living with Ada leads Marilyn to question what she really wants out of life, particularly after she has a potentially life-changing scare. To me, Ada was the real heroine of this book and an unforgettable character.

I received an e-ARC of this book from Lake Union Publishing via NetGalley, and voluntarily read and reviewed it.

This book blew up in all of my Facebook reading groups, so I simply had to see what the fuss was all about. And I am very glad I did! Sweet without being overly saccharine, simply written without being simple, and just a beautiful story of females of different ages growing to love and respect each other. The time period was perfectly chosen, and the relationships are the true stars of the story.

When Marilyn is caught kissing the rabbi's son in the middle of a sermon, she is shipped off to her great-aunt's for the summer. She isn't excited but it was either this or marry the rabbi's son. However, once there, Marilyn finds freedom she didn't know before.

The plot here was fine, but the writing style wasn't really for me. It felt like the author didn't want to commit to being either a YA or an adult book. It also didn't give me serious historical fiction vibes just with the way it was written.

Thank you NetGalley for my advance reader copy of Don’t Forget To Write. I loved this book and gave it four stars on Goodreads. I have recommended it already. Unfortunately, I read it a while back and only recall how much I enjoyed it!

Don’t Forget to Write by Sara Goodman Confino
1 sentence summary: After getting caught making out with the rabbi’s son in front of the whole congregation, Marilyn is shipped off to her great-aunt, who may not be as strict as she seems.

Whew! This was a fun one! Despite seeing high reviews for this, I didn’t have too many expectations going in. Due to that, this one took me by surprise in the best way possible!

What I loved:
- Great aunt Ada. She’s one of my new favorite literary characters. I loved her!
- The humor
- The woman’s empowerment themes
- The relationships
- The emotion. For about the first 50%, I thought this was just a fun, average read. But then at about 65% I started tearing up and it took me by surprise how invested I had become.

What some may not love:
- Was able to guess some of what happened at the end (didn’t personally bother me)
- I felt it wrapped up a little too neatly

Overall I loved this one and wholeheartedly recommend it for Ada alone. This was a five star read for me!

I was so absorbed in this book. Ada has my heart! I wish that she is a live character and I could meet her. This book is well written and its a page turner. I laughed out loud and cried as well while reading this book. I loved the surprise at the ending ;) wasn't expecting that!! I closed the book with a smile on my face and feeling satisfied. Sara Goodman Confino for sure did a good job!! This book will stay with me - it has a great advise - to live and enjoy your life - we only live once after all!

This is the first book to make me cry in a very long time. Such a beautiful and funny story about charting your own path in life and not giving up on your dreams. I love that despite it being set in the 1960s and being mainly focused on the Jewish faith, it’s still such a relatable tale of not wanting to be confined to a box. The female characters were also so well-written! Ada and Marilyn were the perfect pair and their stubbornness and playfulness with each other really made me laugh at times. Then Lillian’s sweet nature was the perfect counterbalance to their attitude. Honestly this is the first book that has made me cry in a long while too. I just loved it so much and I can’t wait to get the physical copy.

When Marilyn is caught making out with the Rabbi's son, her parents ship her off to spend the summer with her Great Aunt Ada. The year is 1960 and even though Marilyn is 20 years old her old fashioned dad still treats her like a child. Marilyn and Ada turn out to be close friends and Aunt Ada encourages her to write the book she has been wanting to write. Ada also encourages her not to settle for the life she doesn't want. She must make many decisions about her future. She can settle for a comfortable boring life or she can embrace the risks and follow her own path. This is a very good book. Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC of this book. I highly recommend it.

Thank you to the author, publisher and @NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I saw this book ALL over my NetGalley FB group so read the synopsis and crossed my fingers I would get a chance to read this.

It was such an amazing, funny, heartwarming book 🩷

When the misbehaving Marilyn not only makes out with the Rabbi’s son, but gets caught doing so by the whole congregation, her Dad comes down with an ultimatum only the 1960s could produce: marry the boy or spend the summer with great-aunt Ada.

A little Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. A little witty banter. A sassy Aunt. A little misbehaving. A lot of love. A lot of family.

I truly enjoyed this. I didn’t find it ‘laugh out loud’ funny like some others have but I both giggled and teared up reading this.

This book was a great read. I loved all the characters except the Dad. I think the girl enjoyed going to live with her aunt. I was glad to see that she took her time to find the right man for her. I was so proud of her mother for finally standing up to the Dad. This book was an easy read that held your attention.

Ooh, my word! I’ve never read a novel along the lines of Don’t Forget to Write, and what a marvellous surprise it was. Ms. Goodman Confino’s prose and thought-provoking storytelling hooked me instantly. How could I not be when first meeting her heroine in a gut-busting laugh-out-loud scenario that had me from hello?

Seriously–it’s not just the sassy characters' wit that I liked. Narrated in flawlessly descriptive settings in 1960, the author takes her readers on Marilyn Kleinman’s journey of self-discovery and what life could be without strict family boundaries. When men still had superiority over women in specific religious ambiences, they started challenging their roles towards the end of the '60s. It might be a little late for Marilyn but not for her wry 70-ish great-aunt who turned her back on the norms well before that. Taking no-nonsense, Ada has a matchmaking business to run and a spotless reputation to uphold; however, she and her great-niece grow on each other regardless of her father's summer-long punishment. Did he unknowingly do his rebellious daughter a favour, or would it backfire? You’ll only find out by reading the novel.

What did hit home were the expectations of some women in this decade. Attending temple, finding a good financially stable husband, having babies, and that seen but not-heard attitude many parents had, I don’t remember. Maybe it was because I was born in England in ‘57, I experienced the '70s movement. I can’t tell you how much I learned about religious and social correctness in the book’s timeline and how interesting I found it.

Marilyn grabs every opportunity given with such exuberance that I couldn't help but love her. While she was discovering new surroundings, making friends–hmm, boys are off limits, and lending a hand to Ada–or crafting her next move, it felt like I was by their sides. That said, it’s not all roses and sunshine. Marilyn is headstrong, her aunt even more. But under this steely septuagenarian’s eye, not only is she on the ball, there is so much more to her than I could ever have imagined. Also, observing this twenty-year-old find her feet, take knocks and bounce back evokes all the emotions.

As said before, the opposite sex is out of bounds for Marilyn. Nonetheless, the author wove romance into the story when least expected and much appreciated. Did Ada have a hand in it? How would it all pan out, seeing that Marilyn has strong feelings about what a solid relationship should be and if it were for her? My first thought was she deserved a guy like him in her life.

So, if I weren’t laughing until I cried at Ada and Marilyn’s wisecracks and sharp comebacks, I was balling my eyes out in heartfelt moments. The twist I never saw coming is so jaw-droppingly well-done I did a happy dance. Simply Bravo, Ms. Goodman Confino!

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fun, feel-good read that follows Marilyn as she spends the summer with her bold Aunt Ada in 1960s Philly and the Jersey Shore. Together they discover freedom, self-love, and that settling down isn't the only option for women who want to live life to the fullest.

Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy of Don’t forget to write by Sara Goodman Confino. The writing is so good. Everything and everyone felt so real. I could feel the emotions and connect to the characters. I still think abut this book.