If you’re looking for a feel good book, The Same Bright Stars by Ethan Joella was it! I loved the characters, the setting in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Makes me want to pay a visit there in the summertime. I loved this book and could totally see it in a movie. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honest review. Excellent storytelling!

A melancholy novel about a man who is facing his future and saying......no spoilers. Jack Schmidt is 52 and he's tired of running the family restaurant in Rehobeth Beach. Should he sell to DelDine-the corporation which has been buying up other family owned businesses? This moves back and forth in time to tell part of his story- about his mother, his summer romance and so on- but is largely focused on the present as Jack struggles with what to do with his life, his employees, and his friends, especially Deacon. We should all be so lucky as to have a relationship like Jack does with Deacon. This has a big revelation that changes Jack's life but it doesn't work out the way he hopes. I'm a fan of Joella, who has a knack for writing characters. And the Rehobeth atmospherics are great (and applicable to many other Atlantic beach towns). Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A very good read.

I am a huge Ethan Joelle fan, having loved both A Little Hope and A Quiet Life. This was a slower, more tender read for me, definitely character-driven with less focus on plot tensions.

The spotlight is on Jack, the decades-long owner of an indie restaurant in the Delaware shore town of Rehoboth. I was immediately swept into Jack’s struggles with retirement and whether he should sell or not, and swiftly shifted into wondering who is Jack, why is he alone, what life moments shaped him?

As Jolla slowly strings out the answers, we also see Jack’s relationships with his employees, his friends, and former family members.

Ultimately, this felt like a postcard portrait of a man with regrets, but also with hope, as well as the painting of life in a small beach town. Little bites were included on economic fears, of bodily autonomy, of mental health issues, which I appreciated. At the same time, it also felt like it was a portrait that missed some pieces of the rawness of American life, the divisiveness, the despair millions of people face each day, the anger and grievance driving American voters…And perhaps that was the point. It gave my heart a respite.

Jack is settled in his life: single, owns a restaurant, has a cat and a best friend. Yep. That's about it. But now a restaurant conglomerate wants to buy his restaurant and he is surprised by news from his past. This all throws Jack a curve ball and the reader follows along as Jack tries to make decisions and deal with the things he has learned. This book is slow going and while there are some surprises along the way, they aren't of the thriller variety. Instead this is a deep look at Jack, the life he has and hasn't led, and the good and bad of living a life unchanged. It was easy for me to understand Jack and appreciate the obstacles he had to face. This would definitely be a great summer/beach/poolside read.

The writing is beautiful and captures the essence of community, family, and the bittersweet beauty of letting go. A heartwarming read.
Many thanks to Scribner and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

4+ stars rounded up!

“…his dad told him years ago that this place can swallow you like a big wave, so you have to keep swimming sideways against the current.”

Jack Schmidt is at a crossroads. As the current third generation owner of the beloved Schmidt’s restaurant on the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk, he has an offer which may be too good to refuse. A restaurant conglomerate is buying up mom and pop places in the area and is pressuring him to rethink so much about his past and his future.

Ethan Joella takes great care with this, his third novel, and does not disappoint. The slow, character driven story is in the “still waters run deep” category of family dramas I have loved over the years. We get a clear glimpse of life on the other side of the hostess stand. Summer visitors who are in rest and relaxation mode are in direct contrast to Jack’s view of his responsibility to his customers, his staff and his family. Opening the chapters with little excerpts from the Rehobeth Beach Guidebook, gives readers the varnished version of the Delaware beach town. What lies beneath that surface is explored in the heart of the story.

The beauty of Joella’s writing is how he creates tension by exploring the concept that there is more than meets the eye to outwardly simple characters; he masterfully shows us rather than tells us how their past informs decisions both simple and complex. These characters feel so real and I cared deeply for each of them in different ways.

A perfect and thoughtful beach read, this will definitely appeal to those who loved Marrying the Ketchups by Jennifer Close and Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal.

Many thanks to Scribner Books and Net Galley for the early copy in exchange for my honest review.

Jack has lived on Rehoboth Beach his entire life, and most of it has been spent running his family’s diner. With an offer to have the diner purchased for a large sum by a restaurant group, he’s struggling to decide what his life would even look like without the safety and routine of his job and the family he has created of its employees. Now in the sunset of his life, he’s watching others pass away and wondering if there’s still time to do more.

This was my first book by this author, and I didn’t realize it would be so character driven. I kept hoping for more of a plot, but it all revolved around Jack and the people in his orbit. I didn’t find myself connecting with most of the characters, though, so unfortunately this story didn’t work for me as well as it has for others. I have found I need a positive story arc!

It sounds like this book is a hit for previous Joella fans, so check it out if you like his other novels! It had lots of beachy vibes going into the 4th of July weekend.

3.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner Books for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

“Rehoboth Beach is a town where the sun is always bolder, a place that carries the memories of a busy and fun summer all year long. “
—That’s Rehoboth Beach: A Guidebook

I’ve been really looking forward to this book after reading and loving A Quiet Life last year. It was one of my top reads of the year. This book has a different feel to it. It’s pensive and reflective. A slower, character-driven book.

It goes back and forth between the present day and flashbacks from the past. Jack is at a point in his life where he’s trying to decide whether to sell the restaurant he’s put his heart and soul into for years. He’s grappling with memories, relationships and how he can help the people he cares about.

Things I enjoyed |
•Rehoboth Beach setting
•Characters
•Found family

In his signature style, Joella reminds you of what matters most in life. The people you find along the way in life who become family, and the little moments that bring joy. I’m a big fan of his work, and he’s the nicest person you can know. I’d definitely love to take a trip to Rehoboth Beach sometime!

A special thanks to the publisher, Scribner and NetGalley, for the advanced electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

CW | Strong profanity throughout

Schmidt’s Restaurant has been a staple in a resort town of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Jack Schmidt is the third generation to own and manage his family run business, but he is tired of the long hours, never taking time off, and a string of failed relationships. He is entertaining an offer by a large corporation that would let home retire.

As with Joella’s, “A Quiet Life”, this is a quiet and thoughtful examination of one’s life and the things that are most important. The characters are well developed and the story line, while a slower pace, moves forward steadily. Themes of grief and forgiveness, love and family are woven throughout. I appreciate the middle age viewpoint, and the examination of work life balance in particular as I have been examining some of the same concepts. I loved the small town sense of place that Joella develops of his home town, it is now on my vacation list!

I absolutely enjoyed The Same Bright Stars by Ethan Joella. I have read (and loved) both of his previous books, and his latest novel did not disappoint.

In his previous books, Joella used multiple points of view to tell his story, but in TSBS, the main character Jack Schmidt carried the story. Joella's characters are well developed, and the dilemmas they face seem genuine and real. This story is set in Rehoboth Beach, DE and after reading this novel, I feel like I've visited there. Many times authors can be overly descriptive and wordy, but Joella does a nice job of easily sharing the setting with the reader.

I would consider Ethan Joella to be an auto-buy author for me. Highly recommend if you're looking for an easy read this fall. (To me, this feels like a seasonal book!!) This book is out July 2nd.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for the eARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

This is my third Joella story. As with his previous works, I enjoyed the characters in this one. Jack is a character the reader can’t help but empathize with. As the story unfolds we learn of the weight Jack bears and the losses he has witnessed. A story of relationships, found family and finding what is really important in life. I enjoyed this one, though I felt it was a bit slow and a little disjointed in its telling.
Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read an early copy via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
3.5 stars

Full of heartache and hope. Life can be so painful but we don’t have to walk it alone. The importance of the people around us and the small moments of joy. Finding light through darkness. This feels real and raw. No complete happily ever after but always hope for peace and finding love again.

It’s refreshing to have stories that center on characters that are in their 50s as they transition to another part of life.

I was SO excited to receive an advanced copy of Ethan Joella’s latest novel, The Same Bright Stars. It’s been one of my most anticipated books of the summer and let me tell you, it did not disappoint.

Opening this book up I immediately knew it was for me. The epigraph at the beginning is a quote from The Amateur Marriage, a recent favorite by Ann Tyler…and the same quote that I used in my review last month.

The Same Bright Stars is a bit of a departure from Joellla’s earlier works….but as with A Quiet Life and A Little Hope, I was hooked almost immediately. His other books follow several different characters and different points of view. In this book we mostly follow Jack, the owner of Schmidt’s restaurant in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The DelDine Group has been hounding him to sell, and his heart is torn - while he would love to focus on something other than the restaurant, Schmidt’s has been a staple at the shore for three generations.

Reading this book made me think of the Jersey shore, where I’ve spent a lot of time with my family over the years…I loved learning about the running of the local restaurant, and what’s it’s like in the off-season. It made me think of our favorite family run restaurants there and how sad we’d be if they were sold to chains. I loved the characters - in all of his novels I feel like the characters are people I would be friends with if they were real. And I loved how the book is about KINDNESS, and forgiveness, and found family.

Just an overall stunner of a book, put it on your summer TBR! The Same Bright Stars publishes on July 2nd.

Thank you to Netgalley and Scribner for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

A massive thank you to NetGalley and Scribner books for this advance copy of Ethan Joella’s new release, The Same Bright Stars - this one is coming out very soon, 7/2/24!

To no surprise of anyone, if I need to have a “go to” feel good author who writes with so much depth, I know I can count on Ethan Joella. I’m from Pennsylvania, and the imagery and scene setting in this book was so familiar as an East Coast summertime beach goer (so I would think it might not hit the same if you’re not picturing Delaware like I’ve seen it), but this is such an interesting character story, and it made it very hard to put down because I was loving all of the writing. I was lucky enough to have met the author last year at a signing, and I can absolutely picture the inspiration for this work, as he sat down with another local author (ie - this book gave me Last Night at the Lobster vibes, and I was not mad at that whatsoever) to discuss his process and writing books that involve “normal people doing normal things” - sometimes that’s what you want in a book. Highly recommend for those that want a wonderful seasonal read.

Thank you again to NetGalley and the publishers for this advance copy in exchange for this review. Do yourself a favor and pick this one up in a week or so on 7/2 when it hits shelves!

I usually enjoy character driven novels, especially when there is a found family element. This one, however, fell flat for me. I was not invested in the main character, and I thought the first half was repetitive and too slow. The story did pick up about midway through, but the pacing was inconsistent. I did enjoy reading about the family owned business and the struggles that come with that.

Okay, I’m not going to lie when I say I was worried about my feelings towards this book until about 35% of the way through. I was like “where is this going? Why does this feel like nothing is happening? I am so sad I loved his other two books.” But then I forgot that Joella has the most perfect way of dropping you little bread crumbs to get you to fall in love with all of the characters so that when the oomph actually happens you’re sucked in and can’t let go. He does such a wonderful job of painting every day events that many people will look right past just to remind us that these every day events are what makes the juice of life. The ordinary, the dull, the what seems like the mundane––all of this is usually wrapped around community and family, love and loss. The things we hold most dear. The juice, my friends. This is the juice. For those that don’t speak Katie, this just means I loved it. And I was so glad I read this in Delaware. It was perfect timing!

I’ve typed out words and then have deleted like five times… signs I loved a book and I’m unclear on how to tell people I loved a book!

Let’s start with Rehoboth Beach…a character in itself… I know WA beaches are incredibly different from east coasts ones but this beach gave me all the nostalgic vibes of my favorite childhood beach town trips. A treat to visit while reading.

In all of Ethan’s books his characters are unforgettable and this group is one that will forever be in my heart. Ethan’s tribute to family owned restaurants felt incredibly special to read about. My first job was as a hostess at a local beach town restaurant where I worked my way up and was there for years! You can feel the demand and toll come off the pages that it takes to be in that industry.

With the memorable characters, the breezy beach setting and the hustle and bustle of the restaurant you also get story’s within story’s which span throughout the book and are so cohesively shared that focus on Jacks early years… about his mother as well as a past girl he had spent time with.

If you love books about community, found family and a great sense of place this and all of Ethan’s books are a must!

Thank you Scribner
Release 7/2

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Since the death of his father, Jack has been running the restaurant that has been in his family for generations. As his contemporaries are moving on and creating families of their own, he's in a rut keeping the restaurant afloat. A company comes in buying up restaurants in the area, and Jack has to decide what would be best for him and best for the future of the restaurant. Set in the town of Rehoboth Beach, the location setting becomes as much a character as Jack. As he struggles with his decision, we get a glimpse into his life and what could have been. The book is heartwarming and full of compassion. This is my first Ethan Joella book, and I am a fan.

I really like this author! After reading “A Quiet Life” and absolutely loving it, I was excited to read his latest.

Ugh- it was so good. I loved so many things about The Same Bright Stars. It was a character driven book with short chapters which doesn’t happen very often- 2 of my favorite things! This is one of those books that really makes you feel for the characters. I adored the main character Jack and all the side characters were fleshed out really well. While this is not necessarily a “beach read” it has small town beach vibes that I really enjoyed! And as someone who grew up working in a restaurant, I loved the theme of found family at the restaurant.

I can’t wait to see what the author writes next. He has cemented himself ad one of my auto read authors!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the arc.

Interesting story about an aging restaurateur trying to figure out his life. It's the first Ethan Joella book I've read and it was enjoyable. I liked the camaraderie amongst the restaurant workers

There is a lot going on in this book, Jack is trying to decide if he wants to continue with his restaurant or sell out to the company buying all the restaurants in Rehoboth Beach. He's tired of disappointment, of the long hours and the loss of his mother. The girl that he let slip away comes back and she's about to drop a big secret on him, something she should have told him years before - but wasn't her story. A lot going on, but a beautifully written story.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a temporary, digital ARC in return for my review.