Books
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Review: Black Chamber (Tales from the Black Chamber #1) by S.M. Stirling
When this book came across my desk for review—I was stoked. I don’t read a ton of alternative history, but this one sounded so so so good that I was eager to read it without question. I sounded like alternative history mixed with some espionage and sci-fi so how could I pass? I couldn’t! In 1912, just months before the election, President Taft dies suddenly, and Teddy Roosevelt wastes no time in grabbing power as he wins another term as president. By force of will, he ushers the United States into a new, progressive era with the help of the Black Chamber the mysterious spy organization, watching his back. Luz…
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Review: The Lost Family by Jenna Blum
This was a book that I actually passed on initially. Yes it sounded good and like something that would be right up my alley. But my summer reading schedule always fills up so fast and I just didn’t have room for this book so basically I had to pass. I did however agree to do a special feature on this book as I think it would appeal to many of my readers. As I was working on the special feature, I felt really sad that I wasn’t reading this book because it sounded so good. After some very aggressive reading and maneuvering, I was able to fit this book in.…
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Review: Echo Moon (Ghost Gifts #3) by Laura Spinella
This book appealed to me for a couple of reasons, but one in particular stood out above all the other general ‘pick me’ signs that I saw in the pitch. The thing that caught my eye was the twist between historical fiction and magical realism/paranormal. This book is set during the Great War (hello my favorite era) but yet has paranormal characters and the combo between the two interested me. They sound like two very conflicting different genres and the first thing that I thought was ‘this could go one of two ways—really bad or really good’. So I agreed to review this one. Knowing that it was the third…
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Special Feature: The Lost Family by Jenna Blum
“Jenna Blum shines a powerful light on how the past swings back and how we must face it. The Lost Family is an extraordinary read, the kind of book that makes you sob and smile, the kind that gives you hope…. It is compassionate, masterful and disturbingly contemporary.” —Tatiana de Rosnay, bestselling author of Sarah’s Key This is high praise indeed from a very well known author! That’s what caught my eye with this one. I am a fan of Tatiana de Rosnay so seeing how much she recommended this novel made me in turn excited to read it. I am actually reviewing it next week, I made room for…
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Review: Dreams of Falling by Karen White
Many times I get review pitches months before the actual review posts. When I get the review pitch, sometimes the book sounds interesting at that time but when it comes time to pick it up to actually read it for review months later, it might not sound as interesting. So how do I combat this? I trust the process. I have to believe that something about the book appealed to me at one time or another enough for me to agree to review it and even if I am not 100% in the mood to read it when it’s time—I need to trust that I had good judgment. That’s kind…
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Review: The Summer I Met Jack by Michelle Gable
Most people know who John F Kennedy was and can probably name a fact or two about him. President. First Catholic president. Assassinated president. Democrat. Bostonian. War hero. Hyannisport yachtsman. Rich Playboy. Womanizer. I think it’s safe to say that he is one of the most recognizable presidents in modern memory. For me personally I am not a huge fan of the post war America time period but I was intrigued by this novel. Though I know quite a bit about JFK in a professional sense–I am more intrigued by his personal life than his politics. When this book came up for review many many months ago, I was eager…
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Review: A Sin Such As This (Love Lies Beneath #2) by Ellen Hopkins
I’ve been curious about Ellen Hopkins for quite some time. Her books are always being checked out at my local high school library and I’ve seen a ton of students walking around with Crank in their backpack. Many of her books are YA novels so I was curious to see what it is that so many teens love about her work. From the sound of it, she writes really really edgy stuff so needless to say I was intrigued. Reading for high school students is like pulling teeth so when they are eagerly awaiting the next Ellen Hopkins book in droves, clearly there is something interesting happening there. When A…
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Review: Limelight (Penny Green #1) by Emily Organ
Like many other bibliophiles, I subscribe to BookBub. Basically every day I get an email telling me about all the great deals for ebooks in categories that I have selected. This service is free so if you like book and want to hear about good deals on ebooks, subscribe! So in one of my emails last week there was a special ad feature at the bottom of the email that said ‘have you discovered Penny Green yet?’ with this great foggy London photo in the background. And in my mind all I could hear was ‘no I have not discovered her yet!’. The first book in this series was on…
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Review: The Dante Chamber (The Dante Club #2) by Matthew Pearl
To say that Matthew Pearl likes literature is an understatement. Many of his books are literary related in some way or another, making them really intriguing to me. My first experience with Pearl was with the book THE LAST BOOKANEER which was a wonderful read, but more importantly it was different. I have also had THE DANTE CLUB on my radar for the better part of six years, so when this one came up for review I was stoked. So why haven’t I read THE DANTE CLUB you ask…..I have no idea. Maybe it’s because it’s been on my TBR list for so long that I’ve forgotten about it as…
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Review: Crazy Rich Asians (Crazy Rich Asians #1) by Kevin Kwan
Like many people, I’ve seen the preview for the upcoming film Crazy Rich Asians and let’s be honest, it looks really good–at least I think so anyway. It’s definitely on my summer movie list at any rate. I was thrilled to see that the movie was also based on a book and I was super excited to read it. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to buy it but I put it on my library queue and waiting a surprising number of weeks to get it—seems like everyone else had the same idea as me. When it came in I rushed to pick it up because clearly it was a…