Book lover, collector, and reviewer
I’ll lead this review off by saying that I usually really like Jill Mansell’s books, especially her newer books, so I was excited to get a copy of Mixed Doubles to read and review. However this particular one is a re-release from the late nineties, and it feels very dated. Three best friends end their year together … Read More “Mixed Doubles by Jill Mansell” »
Hill Women is a memoir about life in and around Appalachia, especially focused on the author, Cassie Chambers, and her mother and grandmother. Her memoir compares the lives of her grandmother (with very little education, who met her 30-something-year-old husband when she was a young teenager,) to her mother (who fought for a local college … Read More “Hill Women: Finding Family and a Way Forward in the Appalachian Mountains by Cassie Chambers” »
I had high hopes for a book described as being a collection of “stories that swing a wrecking ball at our assumptions about women.” However, either my assumptions about women (as someone who identifies as a woman) are vastly different than the assumptions the rest of the general population makes or this is yet another … Read More “Women on Top by Michelle Miller” »
Woman on the Edge was a fun (albeit dark,) couldn’t-put-it-down, suspense novel. Set in Chicago (my home town!) this story is told in chapters alternating between the points of view of Nicole and Morgan. Nicole, the founder and CEO of a wellness company called Breathe, thrusts her infant daughter into the arms of a stranger, … Read More “Woman on the Edge by Samantha M. Bailey” »
I struggled to get through this one. The first few stories were especially weak, which made it even harder to persist. The later stories were somewhat better, and I wish they would have been moved toward the beginning of the book to encourage interest in reading to the end, but I eventually made it all … Read More “The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes: A Collection of Victorian-Era Detective Stories by G.K. Chesterton” »
One of the things I love most about having an active Instagram/Bookstragram page is connecting with authors. When new author Tori Whitaker reached out to ask if I’d be interested in reading and reviewing her latest book, I was very excited to receive it in my mailbox. And the story itself did not disappoint. When … Read More “Millicent Glenn’s Last Wish by Tori Whitaker” »
This was a fast-paced crime thriller, where it’s hard to figure out who you can trust and who is protecting the guilty party. Set in Northern Ireland, eight-year-old Kelly Doherty went trick-or-treating 25 years ago and never came home. Instead, her body was discovered three days later, face-down on the banks of the local reservoir, … Read More “Ask No Questions by Claire Allan” »
T.J. Klune did it again! While the plot of this book was different from The House In the Cerulean Sea, the beauty of the writing and the expert development of the characters stayed wonderfully consistent. I think The House In the Cerulean Sea is still be my favorite book for the year, but this one … Read More “Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune” »
While this was a fun thriller set in the perfect setting — a hunting lodge in the middle of nowhere in Scotland — it was very similar to The Guest List. A group of old college decide to spend their New Year’s Eve at a remote hunting lodge in Scotland. There’s a lot of drinking, a … Read More “The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley” »
What a year! I didn’t make it through as many books as I did in 2020, but I also went back to work at the beginning of the year. (Yay!) I read 65 books this year (with dozens more I haven’t gotten to yet,) reviewed on NetGalley, and didn’t keep my Instagram page as updated … Read More “Wrapping Up 2021” »