Literary Criticism
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Review: The Shining by Stephen King
Every year my sister and I pick a scary book for October and do a buddy read. Last year we did Frankenstein and we both hated it so much that we both DNF! This year we vowed to pick something better. We tossed around a few options but ultimately settled on this classic horror novel by the king of horror Stephen King himself. Neither of us have read King before so we thought this one would be a good starting point. Wait—I take that back. I started reading The Gunslinger and I had no idea what was going on so I stopped reading it so I don’t count that as…
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Review: Bringing Down the Duke (A League of Extraordinary Women #1) by Evie Dunmore
Get ready people, I am here to rave about this book! This book was my September Book of the Month pick and I picked it because I loved the cover. I thought it looked whimsical and fun and would be a nice break from all the horror books I planned to read in October. I got it in September and then it got buried in my TBR stack until I decided to do a little dusting and then I found it and set it out to read as soon as I was done with The Shining. As soon as I was done with that book I knew that reading this…
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Review: Cilka’s Journey (The Tattooist of Auschwitz #2) by Heather Morris
I am probably the last person alive who hasn’t read The Tattooist of Auschwitz! And to think, I call myself a historical fiction fan. The Tattooist of Auschwitz was on my radar months before its release but I worried it would be a heavy read and at that time, I was reading a lot of heavy books and I just wasn’t ready for another one. After that, I sort of forgot about it in favor of other new releases. Then this book showed up on my desk for review, the second in this series. I knew there wasn’t time for me to read The Tattooist of Auschwitz before reading this…
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Review: The Art of Theft (Lady Sherlock #4) by Sherry Thomas
Do you ever just come across a book that by all accounts you should absolutely love, and then you just don’t? Well that’s what happened to me with the Lady Sherlock series. I picked up the first book fully ready to be hooked and in love with this series only to feel let down and disappointed. I don’t even think I finished the first book and I didn’t pick up any of the others in the series. I was heart broken and as the years have gone on, I keep thinking I should pick this series up again because it should be a series that I love. Sassy heroines, Victorian…
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Review: A Convenient Fiction (Parish Orphans of Devon #3) by Mimi Matthews
Oh Mimi Matthews, you have my heart when it comes to historical romances. I absolutely love all of her books and I can’t rave about them enough. I have been eager to read this latest installment of her Parish Orphans of Devon series for the last few weeks and finally cracked it open and as predicted, I read it in like one sitting. I was most eager to read Alex’s story and see how his romance evolved. In the other books he is the most mysterious and I love a mysterious rogue. So yes to say this book was high on my most anticipated list is an absolute understatement.
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Review: Secrets of the Chocolate House (Found Things #2) by Paula Brackston
Paula Brackston is a favorite author of mine. I’ve read almost all of her books and with each read, I feel like I walked away satisfied and looking forward to the next book. She has a deft hand with magical realism and all things ‘witchy’. She is probably most known for her ‘witch’ books of which I have read almost all of them (The Silver Witch, The Midnight Witch etc) as well as a host of other works by her. After reading the first book in this particular series, I was eager to see what direction this book took! After reading this one, I do think that readers who haven’t…
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Review: The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
Jojo Moyes is one of my favorite authors and I love reading her books. I think my personal favorite is The Girl You Left Behind, though Me Before You was also excellent. Anytime I get picked one of her books, I simply can’t pass. She is a tried and true author who always writes exceptional books. But this book was about more than just a big name author. The summary of this book would have appealed to me even if it was by a debut author! Horses and books? What could be better!
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Review: Christmas Angels by Nancy Naigle
By now you have probably noticed that it’s basically Christmas in October on my blog right now. I think this is like the third or fourth holiday romance that I have had up for review or feature on my blog lately. I’m a sucker for holiday romances and I simply can’t pass one up! I love the cliche predictability that comes with a charming romance novel set against the holiday season. Nothing says cozy to me like a holiday romance. Which is exactly why I wanted to read this one. I read one of Nancy Naigle’s other holiday romance last year and loved it! She has written a couple of…
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Review: Christmas in Vermont by Anita Hughes
Every year this happens. I block out the entire month of October for strictly Halloween reading (mysteries, horror, thrillers etc), but then all the holiday romances start coming out and next thing I know it’s like Christmas in October on my blog! I am one of those closet holiday movie fans. There is something so fulfilling about a feel good romance set around the holidays, and I can’t say no to a holiday romance novel to save my life! I have read all of Anita Hughes’s holiday romances and I adore them! She’s written a number of other novels that aren’t Christmas-y and are set in various exotic locations (which…
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Review: Horror Stories by Liz Phair
I don’t read a ton of non fiction, especially memoirs. It’s just not a genre that really appeals to me, but on occasion reading biographies or memoirs about Princess Diana, Kate Middleton, or other famous modern women cross my mind frequently. But as I said, it’s usually a genre that I pass on—though I rarely get pitched a memoir, I almost always skip it. However, I have a mega girl crush on Liz Phair and when I was pitched this book, I may or may not have fan girled hard. Her music was the soundtrack of my youth/high school years and when I saw this book was coming out, I…