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Book Review: All the Right Reasons by Bethany Mangle
The Bachelor meets Gilmore Girls in this laugh-out-loud young adult romance about a girl who joins her mother on a reality dating show for single parents—only to fall for a contestant’s son. Cara Hawn’s life fell apart after her father cheated on her mother and got remarried to a woman Cara can’t stand. When Cara accidentally posts a rant about her father online, it goes viral—and catches the attention of the TV producers behind a new reality dating show for single parent families. The next thing Cara and her mother know, they’ve been cast as leads on the show and…
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On audio books and why they’re my new best friends.
If you’re anywhere on the internet, it’s inevitable that at some point you’ll see a debate about audio books. You have the group who insistent that these are somehow “cheating” and don’t have the same benefit as print books. Then you have the group, the one that I fall in, who believes in the power of audio books. I don’t exclusively listen to audio books, I alternate between formats, but I wouldn’t mind if anyone else did! Truth be told, some stories come to life only when told verbally, and I fully believe that narrators are artists. Anyway, this is…
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Book Review: The Witch, The Sword and The Cursed Knights
Twelve-year-old Ellie can’t help that she’s a witch, the most hated member of society. Determined to prove her worth and eschew her heritage, Ellie applies to the Fairy Godmother Academy—her golden ticket to societal acceptance. But Ellie’s dreams are squashed when she receives the dreaded draft letter to serve as a knight of King Arthur’s legendary Round Table. She can get out of the draft—but only if she saves a lost cause. Enter Caedmon, a boy from Wisconsin struggling with the death of his best friend. He first dismisses the draft as ridiculous; magic can’t possibly exist. But when Merlin’s…
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Book Review: The Night She Went Missing by Kristen Bird
This addictive YA horror about a group of teen ghost hunters who spend the night in a haunted LA hotel is The Blair Witch Project for the TikTok generation. When the YouTube-famous Ghost Gang—Chrissy, Chase, Emma, and Kiki—visit a haunted LA hotel notorious for tragedy to secretly film after dark, they expect it to be just like their previous paranormal huntings. Spooky enough to attract subscribers—and ultimately harmless. But when they stumble upon something unexpected in the former room of a gruesome serial killer, they quickly realize that they’re in over their heads. Sometimes, it’s the dead who need our…
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Graphic Novel Review: Across a Field of Starlight by Blue Delliquanti
An epic sci-fi graphic novel romance between two non-binary characters as they find one another through time, distance, and war. An amazing story that explores the complexity of human nature and what brings us together. When they were kids, Fassen's fighter spaceship crash-landed on a planet that Lu's survey force was exploring. It was a forbidden meeting between a kid from a war-focused resistance movement and a kid whose community and planet are dedicated to peace and secrecy. Lu and Fassen are from different worlds and separate solar systems. But their friendship keeps them in each other's orbit as they…
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A Quiet Start to the Year
It’s been a quiet, but lovely start to the year so far! I’m so pleased with the fact that I actually finished five full books last month, and that I only bought one new physical book. In case you’re wondering what I chose, I found the most beautiful book ever and absolutely had to have it. The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh is a feminist retelling of a classic Korean fairytale. Doesn’t that sound amazing? I know! It sounds amazing. You should go check out the cover and fall in love too, because it is absolutely…
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Book Review: Horror Hotel by Victoria Fulton and Faith McClaren
This addictive YA horror about a group of teen ghost hunters who spend the night in a haunted LA hotel is The Blair Witch Project for the TikTok generation. When the YouTube-famous Ghost Gang—Chrissy, Chase, Emma, and Kiki—visit a haunted LA hotel notorious for tragedy to secretly film after dark, they expect it to be just like their previous paranormal huntings. Spooky enough to attract subscribers—and ultimately harmless. But when they stumble upon something unexpected in the former room of a gruesome serial killer, they quickly realize that they’re in over their heads. Sometimes, it’s the dead who need our…
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The Year of Low Buy
I started out the year by doing what I should probably do every year, but never do… cleaning out my hoards. Every Christmas I am blessed with lovely gifts, and I always mean to go through my extra things and donate them. Then I never do. Hahaha. It’s one of the reasons why this year it was absolutely necessary. I sat down and went through piles of magazines, stacks of books, shelves of clothes, and came out the other side with a bunch of wonderful donation piles and plenty of space for the new things I had acquired. It was…
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Book Review: Love At First Spite by Anna E. Collins
In this delightful, breezy romcom, interior designer Dani decides to get revenge on her cheating ex the only way she knows how: by building a spite house next door. They say living well is the best revenge. But sometimes, spreading the misery seems a whole lot more satisfying. That’s interior designer Dani Porter’s justification for buying the vacant lot next to her ex-fiancé’s house…the house they were supposed to live in together, before he cheated on her with their realtor. Dani plans to build a vacation rental that will a) mess with his view and his peace of mind and b)…
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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (1/3/22)
Happy first Monday of the new year, my bookish friends! I hope that so far this year is treating you well, and that you’re having a lot of fun planning out your new year of reading (or not, if that’s not your jam)! I, for one, am trying to take the “plan less” approach this year. Other than review books that I have to read by a specific date, I’m planning on just picking up whatever strikes my fancy. I honestly can’t wait to see what I uncover. So in that spirit, let’s see how the year has started off!…
