4 Stars. I usually like to read “fluffy” books when the weather is warm but somehow I’ve been reading some pretty heavy titles lately. I asked for recommendations and Shelleyrae at Book’d Out suggested Book Lovers. It was just what I needed. I’m not a huge romance reader, but I do enjoy the occasional romantic comedy and this […]
Hello, Star by Stephanie V. W. Lucianovic: Book Review
5 Stars. What a lovely book! It’s a realistic story but the illustrator captured the girl’s excitement in touches of whimsy throughout. The soft focus of the artwork gives the book the feel of a dream, even while the girl/woman is working hard to do real things. One spread near the end gives me goosebumps. I especially love […]
All American Boys by Jason Reynolds: Book Review
5 Stars. Holy cow. Can I give this book all the stars? Because five doesn’t seem like enough. Written by a Black author and a White author, All American Boys covers all the nuances of a scene that’s shamefully familiar to the American public–a policeman beating and/or killing a Black man. Rashad shows signs of PTSD. His older […]
Drama by Raina Telgemeier: Book Review
4 Stars. I liked Callie and her theatre geek crew! (I was a band geek myself.) Callie is outgoing and unashamedly enthusiastic in her passions. She’s a great friend and encourages others at every opportunity. She’s also in 7th grade, at an age when boys and girls are developing school romances. This group of schoolmates sure […]
Beautiful by Stacy McAnulty: Book Review
5 Stars. Oh my goodness! I loved this book! I love the way the illustrations subvert the text. If I were only reading the words, I would expect a stereotypical princess playing tea with her dolls (I love those little girls but that doesn’t reflect every girl’s interests). For example […]
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata: Book Review
4 Stars. I wasn’t quite sure to what to expect when I downloaded this book from the library but I liked it. It’s quirky and funny but there’s a lot of substance lurking beneath the exterior. won’t hazard a guess as to what might be “wrong” with Keiko but she really doesn’t think like most other people. But is that bad? She […]
A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi: Book Review
4.5 Stars. Shirin is so relatable, despite our obvious differences. Who wouldn’t be angry and withdrawn after all she’s experienced, especially when she was born in the US and speaks better English and gets better grades than most of the people who give her a hard time? “I’m tired as hell, Mr. Jordan. I’ve been trying to educate […]
The Library of Lost and Found by Phaedra Patrick: Book Review
4 Stars. I read and loved Ms. Patrick’s first book, The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper, during my blogging break. I was excited to listen to another one of her books. I really enjoyed The Library of Lost and Found as well, and for a lot of the same reasons. Martha Storm is so lonely but she’s so kind and has so much to give […]
Alaskan Holiday by Debbie Macomber: Book Review
2.5 Stars. I’m not really the audience for this book but I wanted a Christmas-y audiobook and it was either this standalone romance or other romances or cozy mysteries that were roughly number 52 in a series. (Yes, that’s an exaggeration but not as much as it should be.) Standalone romance it was, even though I’m not really a […]
Melissa (Formerly Published as George) by Alex Gino: Book Review
Oh my goodness. I inhaled this book in just a few hours and it left me with so much joy for George, I was almost in tears. George is afraid to tell anyone that she’s really a girl. What will they think? But as she slowly starts to share her secret, she finds so much love and acceptance. The road isn’t perfectly smooth—that would […]
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides: Book Review
I’m in the minority here, but I was not impressed. My contrarian streak shows up in all these twisty thrillers about women, which all seem to have the word girl in their title. I gave up on Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train; this one must be better since I actually finished it. Maybe the title wasn’t as derivative so it didn’t…