Books

Romance book reviews. Reviews of books that make my heart race, have a beautiful love story, and a happy ending.

After a decade of reading and reviewing books, I’ve decided that it’s time for me to take a step back from blogging. Running this book blog has been such a huge and wonderful part of my life. I’ve written over 600 book reviews and loved the experience of getting to share my love of reading ...Read More  >

After a decade of reading and reviewing books, I’ve decided that it’s time for me to take a step back from blogging. Running this book blog has been such a huge and wonderful part of my life. I’ve written over 600 book reviews and loved the experience of getting to share my love of reading with so many other readers from around the world. Blogging was quite an unexpected journey for me though as I never set out to “start” a blog at all. Back in 2011, I simply began reading so much that I wanted a way to remember which books were my most favorites… and that’s when I started writing reviews. At first, my reviews were written more for my own sake than anyone else’s. They began as a way for me to keep track of the books I enjoyed and remember what I loved most about each one. You see, I was quite picky about the types of books I wanted to read and had a hard time finding anywhere specifically recommending what I was looking for. I was drawn to romantic books that made my heart race, but I also strongly preferred no stupidity powering the storyline or eye-roll-enducing drama, and of course I needed a happy ending as I’ve always been quite allergic to cliffhangers. At that time, there weren’t many romance book review sites out there in general and none that focused on the particular type of books I personally wanted to read so my reviews were a way for me to catalogue the books I’d found that fit within the criteria I was looking for. At first, I really didn’t expect anyone else to read my reviews, but as I began to realize that my reviews were actually helping other readers find books they loved as well, I decided to officially begin blogging and started this website to hold all my reviews. Writing reviews was also quite cathartic for me because, after reading a truly wonderful book, I was often overwhelmed with thoughts and feelings so writing my thoughts down in reviews helped give me closure from a story and highlight/remember what I loved most about a book. I also found that I genuinely loved helping other readers find new books. So my blog began and I continued reading and reviewing books for it for almost a decade. However, the truth is that in the last while, I found myself falling in love with fewer and fewer books — I don’t know if it’s because I started to feel like I’d basically read every plotline within the types of stories I loved so many times over, or maybe if the other parts out my life just became too busy and I began having less time to read, but, regardless of the reason, I was falling in love with fewer and fewer books. And here’s the thing – this blog has always been a passion project for me so if I genuinely wasn’t falling in love with as many books, I didn’t want to continue to review books just for the sake of reviewing them. That was never what this blog was about so I just felt myself naturally drifting away from reviewing and blogging. A few months ago, I decided to try taking a break from blogging and honestly I have really been enjoying the mental freedom that came from that decision. So, least for the immediate future, I’m going to officially step away from my blog. I may begin reviewing books again one day – and that might be in a month, a year, or never… I can’t say for sure, but that door will always remain open. My blogging goal was always to put a spotlight on the wonderful books I loved and to share them with other readers. So even though I’m not reviewing new books at this time, I will leave this whole website up in the hope that it will continue to help new readers find new favorite books to fall in love with. I have 630 reviews and recommendations of books I’ve personally loved and would love for other readers to fall in love with too and I can see through my analytics that, even though I’m not actively blogging, readers continue to come to my blog every day and read my older reviews so it makes me happy to know that my reviews are still connecting readers with awesome books. I also want to take this opportunity to say THANK YOU to the thousands of amazing readers who’ve followed my blog over the years, and THANK YOU to the wonderfully talented authors who’ve written the beautiful stories that we’ve all fallen in love with. You’ve all given me so much joy and I’m so very grateful for all of it. I may return to blogging one day, and I may randomly post a surprise review/recommendation every now and again, but for now I wanted to officially make a statement that explains why my blog hasn’t been updated in a while and why it won’t have new content for the foreseeable future. If I ever start reviewing again, I will announce it by email, so please subscribe to my email list if you’d like to get a notification should that day come. I will not be sending emails out via that list until then though. In the meantime, if you’re looking for my top recommendations, here’s a list of my standout favorite books: The Bronze Horseman Trilogy by Paullina Simons (My Review) – this will always and forever by my #1 fav! The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay (My Review) – one of the most powerful endings ever! The Life Intended by Kristin Harmel (My Review) – incredibly unique love story with all the feels! Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah (My Review) – this has possibly my favorite epilogue ever! Archer’s Voice by Mia Sheridan (My Review) – gorgeous, heart-warming romance! Slammed & Point of Retreat by Colleen Hoover (My Review) – one of my first reviews, and still a top fav! Devney Perry books: reading list – heart-warming, gorgeous romance perfection every single time! Kristen Ashley books: reading list – badass alpha romance – pure epic, great families, much variety! Dark Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon: reading list – addictive paranormal romance, my fav PNR world! On The Island by Tracey Garvis Graves (My Review) – just a truly beautiful story! The Starcrossed series by Leisa Rayven (My Review) – the best purely angsty romance I’ve read! A Thousand Boy Kisses by Tillie Cole (My Review) – ugly cry romance perfection! Crossfire series by Sylvia Day (My Review) – hot sexy romance but deeply emotional and addictive! Addicted series by Krista & Becca Ritchie – great romances and one of the best family dynamics ever! Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind (Series Overview) – fantasy, fantastic morals and world building! Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost (Series Overview) – action-packed vampire romance fun! Mists of the Serengeti by Leylah Attar (My Review) – an ugly cry favorite! Becoming Calder & Finding Eden by Mia Sheridan (My Review) – another ugly cry favorite! Black Dagger Brotherhood series by JR Ward: reading order – badass/epic paranormal vampire romance! The Girl He Used To Know by Tracey Garvis Graves (My Review) – second half of the book hit me so hard! In The Stillness by Andrea Randall (My Review) – the feels… literally all the feels! Wallbanger by Alice Clayton (My Review) – most I’ve ever laughed reading any book! The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah (My Review) – stunning wartime story! A full list of all my reviews can also always be found at this link. Happy reading! ~Aestas

BOOKWORM NEWS: Juniper Hill by Devney Perry is now live!! — “Memphis Ward arrives in Quincy, Montana, on the fifth worst day of her life. She needs a shower. She needs a snack. She needs some sanity. Because moving across the country with her newborn baby is by far the craziest thing she’s ever done. ...Read More  >

BOOKWORM NEWS: Juniper Hill by Devney Perry is now live!! — “Memphis Ward arrives in Quincy, Montana, on the fifth worst day of her life. She needs a shower. She needs a snack. She needs some sanity. Because moving across the country with her newborn baby is by far the craziest thing she’s ever done. But maybe it takes a little crazy to build a good life. If putting the past behind her requires a thousand miles and a new town, she’ll do it if it means a better future for her son. Even if it requires setting aside the glamour of her former life. Even if it requires working as a housekeeper at The Eloise Inn and living in an apartment above a garage. It’s there, on the fifth worst day of her life, that she meets the handsomest man she’s ever laid eyes on. Knox Eden is a beautiful, sinful dream, a chef and her temporary landlord. With his sharp, stubbled jaw and tattooed arms, he’s raw and rugged and everything she’s never had—and never will. Because after the first worst day of her life, Memphis learned a good life requires giving up on her dreams too. And a man like Knox Eden will only ever be a dream.” The Girl in the Mist by Kristen Ashley is now live!! — “Renowned author Delphine Larue needs a haven. A crazed fan has gone over the deep end, and she’s not safe. Her security team has suggested a house by a lake. Secluded. Private. Far away. In a beautiful area of the Northwest close to the sleepy town of Misted Pines. It’s perfect. So perfect, Delphine has just moved in, and she’s thinking she’ll stay there forever. Until she sees the girl in the mist. After that, everything changes. Delphine quickly learns that Misted Pines isn’t so sleepy. A little girl has gone missing, and the town is in the grips of terror and tragedy. The local sheriff isn’t up for the job. The citizens are up in arms. And as the case unfolds, the seedy underbelly of a quiet community is exposed, layer by layer. But most importantly, girls are dying. There seems to be only one man they trust to find out what’s happening. The mysterious Cade Bohannan.”” The Summer Proposal by Vi Keeland is now live!! — “The first time I met Max Yearwood was on a blind date. Max was insanely gorgeous, funny, and our chemistry was off the charts. He also had the biggest dimples I’d ever laid eyes on. Exactly what I needed after my breakup. Or so I thought… Until my real date arrived. Turned out, Max wasn’t who I was there to meet. He only pretended to be until my real date showed up. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. Before he left, he slipped me a ticket to a hockey game a few blocks away, in case things didn’t work out on my actual date. I tossed the ticket into my purse and went about trying to enjoy the man I was supposed to meet. But my real blind date and I had no connection. So on my way home, I decided to take a chance and stop by the game. When I arrived, the seat next to me was empty. Disappointed again, I decided to leave at the end of the period. Just before the buzzer, one of the teams scored, and the entire arena went crazy. A player’s face flashed up on the Jumbotron. He was wearing a helmet, but I froze when he smiled. You guessed it: Dimples. Apparently, my fake blind date hadn’t invited me to watch hockey with him, he’d invited me to watch him play. And so began my adventure with Max Yearwood. He was everything I needed at the time—fun, sexy, up for anything, and only around for a few months since he’d signed with a new team three-thousand miles away. Max proposed we spend the summer helping me forget my ex. It sounded like a good plan. Things couldn’t get too serious when we had an expiration date. Right? Though, you know what they say about the best-laid plans.” Only One Mistake by Natasha Madison is now live!! — “Two pink lines changed all my plans. So did the guy I had a one-night stand with, a man who made me laugh and smile, a guy who I called to share my unexpected news with, only to find out his number was no longer in service. Once more letdown by the opposite sex, I figured I was doing this on my own. Then one day, I was staring into the eyes of the man I hated, the father of my baby. All it took was only one mistake to change everything.” Baden by Sawyer Bennett is now live!! — “While my injuries are physical, the same can’t be said for the woman I rescued. Suffering from wounds that can’t be seen, Sophie Winters has withdrawn from the world in fear and guilt. I didn’t know Sophie before that fateful night and have only met her once since, but I refuse to let her face her demons alone. Determined to be a friend, I support Sophie in the only way I know how… by simply being there. Through our shared trauma, Sophie and I begin to find peace within one another. As we grow closer, what started as friendship becomes more intimate until our broken pieces become one. But can a love born of anguish endure, or will the pain of our past prove too much to overcome?” Shielding Sierra by Susan Stoker is now live!! — “No one knows she’s been taken. Her missing belongings point to desertion—which means no one is looking for her, either. But someone is. Fred “Grover” Groves never forgot the redheaded spitfire working the chow line on a base in the desert. He’d felt an instant attraction to the petite woman, a connection deep in his bones…which Sierra herself clearly didn’t feel, since she’d promised to keep in touch after his mission ended, only to ghost him—and seemingly her job. But she didn’t. When several contractors go missing from the base, it looks more and more like Sierra didn’t abandon her post. Then a long-lost letter proves she’d followed through on her promise to stay in touch with Grover—and suddenly, all bets are off. He bucks every protocol he’s ever known… If Sierra’s still alive, he’ll find her. Or die trying.” Flame by Helen Hardt (Steel Brothers Saga) is now live!! — “Callie Pike always considered herself the plain sister—stuck in the middle between beautiful Rory and vivacious Maddie—so she still can’t believe gorgeous perennial bachelor Donny Steel has fallen in love with her. She should be the happiest woman on the planet, and she is…but her nemesis from ten years ago seems intent on destroying her newfound bliss. Donny Steel will do anything to protect his family, even sacrifice his ethics and his own happiness. As much as he loves Callie, he knows he can’t be the man she deserves—not until he solves the mysteries of his family’s past and finds out who shot his father. Though the two erupt in flames whenever they’re together, the secrets they both harbor could destroy any chance for a future together.” Wright Rival by KA Linde is now live!! — “No one on this planet pushes my buttons like Hollin Abbey. I don’t know if it’s the rugged, sexy cowboy look or the Harley Davidson motorcycle or the cocky swagger. Or just him. But whenever we’re together we fight like cats and dogs. Now our vineyards are rivals in the annual wine competition, and I’m determined to win. I just have to take out my Wright rival.” WEEKLY NEW RELEASES RECAP Juniper Hill by Devney Perry (small town neighbors to lovers romance, standalone in The Edens series) The Girl in the Mist by Kristen Ashley (romantic thriller, Misted Pines series) The Summer Proposal by Vi Keeland (sports romance, standalone) Only One Mistake by Natasha Madison (surprise pregnancy romance, standalone in Only One series) Baden by Sawyer Bennett (hockey romance, standalone in Pittsburgh Titans series) Wright Rival by KA Linde (enemies to lovers romance, standalone in Wright Vineyard series) Shielding Sierra by Susan Stoker (romantic suspense, standalone in Delta Team Two series) Flame by Helen Hardt (romantic suspense, Steel Brothers Saga) now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase UPCOMING BOOK RELEASES Jan 18 Pre-Order Jan 18 Pre-Order Jan 18 Pre-Order Jan 24 Pre-Order Jan 25 Pre-Order Jan 25 Pre-Order Jan 25 Pre-Order Jan 25 Pre-Order Jan 25 Pre-Order Feb 01 Pre-Order Feb 01 Pre-Order Feb 08 Pre-Order WHAT KIND OF BOOKS ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? __________________________________ Let me know if there are any other books you’re loving right now too!! LET’S STAY CONNECTED To get these lists sent to you every week, subscribe by email. FOLLOW THE BLOG Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | BlogLovin’ | Google+ | Goodreads

BOOKWORM NEWS: Shelter by Kristen Proby is now live!! — “Remi Carter has survived her fifteen minutes of fame and is putting LA in her rearview mirror. As a former reality show contestant, she’s trading staged expeditions and faked wilderness tours for real adventures. Only one fluke storm in Glacier National Park has her stranded ...Read More  >

BOOKWORM NEWS: Shelter by Kristen Proby is now live!! — “Remi Carter has survived her fifteen minutes of fame and is putting LA in her rearview mirror. As a former reality show contestant, she’s trading staged expeditions and faked wilderness tours for real adventures. Only one fluke storm in Glacier National Park has her stranded with a handsome man, and adventure takes on a whole new meaning. Seth King is as rugged and sexy as he is annoyed to be trapped with Remi. Probably because she ghosted him at the local bar not three days ago. But she’s got her reasons for ditching him, and twenty-four hours in an abandoned Montana cabin with the wildlife biologist isn’t nearly enough time to explain. As tempting as he is by firelight, she’s been burned too many times. Except one day together and suddenly her travel van doesn’t hold as much appeal. The open road feels lonely. Remi’s about to learn that shelter is more than a safe place to weather a storm. Shelter might just be the man himself. If he can give her a reason to stay.” Code Name: Disavowed by Sawyer Bennett is now live!! — “Life works in mysterious ways. Jameson Force Security has just received notice of a disavowed CIA agent in need of rescue in Central America. My blood runs cold when I learn that agent is none other than Greer Hathaway—my former fiancée. Having gone our separate ways more than a decade ago, I still have bitter feelings toward Greer and the demise of our relationship. Those feelings don’t change the fact that I loved her more than anything, so I’m on the next flight out to embark on a rescue mission. Besides, Greer once saved my life, so now it’s time to return the favor and put her firmly in my past. Face-to-face for the first time since ending our engagement, Greer and I are left with not only anger, unanswered questions and regrets, but also the undeniable chemistry we apparently still have. Will the promise of a new future together be enough, or will the same obstacles tear us apart again?” Homecoming King by Penny Reid is now live!! — “Rex “TW” McMurtry’s perpetual single-hood wouldn’t bother him so much if all his ex-girlfriends didn’t keep marrying the very next person they dated, especially when so many of those grooms are his closest friends. He may be a pro-football defensive end for the Chicago Squalls, but the press only wants to talk about how he’s always a groomsman and never a groom. Rex is sick of being the guy before the husband, and he’s most definitely sick of being the best man at all their weddings. Bartender Abigail McNerny is the gal-pal, the wing-woman, the she-BFF. She’s dated. Once. And once was more than enough. Privy to all the sad stories of her customers, ‘contentment over commitment’ is her motto, and Abby is convinced no one on earth could ever entice her into a romantic relationship . . . except that one guy she’s loved since preschool. The guy who just walked into her bar. The guy who doesn’t recognize her. The guy who is drunk and needs a ride home. The guy who has a proposition she should definitely refuse.” My Unexpected Surprise by Piper Rayne is now live!! — “I never thought of myself as dad material. Until my one-night stand showed up in my small Alaskan town five months pregnant. But I don’t shy away from responsibility. First, because I’m a Greene and not to boast but we’re kind of a big deal in Sunrise Bay. Second, I’m the Sheriff. I couldn’t have predicted how protective I’d become for the safety of her and my unborn baby to the point of asking her to move in with me and be my roommate. Just when I think I have the situation under control, another surprise knocks me over, but it only spurs me to double down. I’ll be the first to admit, I didn’t think it through. Somewhere between the dinners, the TV show binging, the doctor appointments, and me walking in on her naked, lines blurred. In what feels like warp speed, my bachelor for life status is in jeopardy and I’m fighting for the most important thing of all—my family.” Dark Alpha’s Silent Night by Donna Grant (Reapers series) is now live!! — “There is no escaping the Reapers. We are elite assassins, part of a brotherhood that only answers to Death. But when Death says it’s our time to live, we are more than happy to obey. We have suffered betrayal, heartbreak, chaos, and even death. Despite another foe lurking around the corner, most of us have found happiness and love. While some still search, there is contentment—a sense of peace and purpose. And with the holidays upon us, it is time to celebrate the family we have made. The one we chose. The season is for revelry, and we intend to take advantage. Whatever may come next will still be there after the last present is unwrapped.” WEEKLY NEW RELEASES RECAP Shelter by Kristen Proby (close proximity romance, standalone in Heroes of Big Sky series) Code Name: Disavowed by Sawyer Bennett (second chance romance/suspense, standalone in Jameson Force Security series) Homecoming King by Penny Reid (small town romance, standalone in Three Kings series) My Unexpected Surprise by Piper Rayne (pregnancy/roommates, standalone in The Greene Family series) Dark Alpha’s Silent Night by Donna Grant (paranormal Christmas tale from Reapers series) now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase WHAT KIND OF BOOKS ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? __________________________________ Let me know if there are any other books you’re loving right now too!! LET’S STAY CONNECTED To get these lists sent to you every week, subscribe by email. FOLLOW THE BLOG Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | BlogLovin’ | Google+ | Goodreads

BOOKWORM NEWS: Dream Keeper by Kristen Ashley (Dream Team series) is now live!! — “Pepper Hannigan is determined to keep any romance off the table while her daughter Juno is still young. Sure, a certain handsome commando is thoughtful, funny, and undeniably hot, but Pepper’s had her heart broken before, and she won’t let it ...Read More  >

BOOKWORM NEWS: Dream Keeper by Kristen Ashley (Dream Team series) is now live!! — “Pepper Hannigan is determined to keep any romance off the table while her daughter Juno is still young. Sure, a certain handsome commando is thoughtful, funny, and undeniably hot, but Pepper’s had her heart broken before, and she won’t let it happen again. Not to her or her little girl, even if this hero could melt any woman’s resolve. Augustus “Auggie” Hero can’t deny his attraction to beautiful, warm-hearted Pepper or how much he wants to make a home with her and her little girl, but Pepper’s mixed signals have kept him away. That is, until Juno decides to play matchmaker. Her efforts finally bring Pepper into his arms, but they expose the danger Pepper is in. To protect Pepper and Juno, Auggie will have to live up to his last name and prove happy endings aren’t just for fairy tales.” Go Tell The Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon (Outlander series) is now live!! — “Jamie Fraser and Claire Randall were torn apart by the Jacobite Rising in 1746, and it took them twenty years to find each other again. Now the American Revolution threatens to do the same. It is 1779 and Claire and Jamie are at last reunited with their daughter, Brianna, her husband, Roger, and their children on Fraser’s Ridge. Having the family together is a dream the Frasers had thought impossible. Yet even in the North Carolina backcountry, the effects of war are being felt. Tensions in the Colonies are great and local feelings run hot enough to boil Hell’s teakettle. Jamie knows loyalties among his tenants are split and it won’t be long until the war is on his doorstep. Brianna and Roger have their own worry: that the dangers that provoked their escape from the twentieth century might catch up to them. Sometimes they question whether risking the perils of the 1700s—among them disease, starvation, and an impending war—was indeed the safer choice for their family…” Change With Me by Kristen Proby (With Me In Seattle series) is now live!! — “Zane Cooper. Hollywood royalty. Fourth generation superstar. He knows what it is to be one of the biggest celebrities in the world. And how lonely that title truly is. When scandal hits, his career hangs in the balance, and Zane flees LA for Seattle, laying low with his newly married best friend. Things will eventually blow over, and he’ll have his life back soon enough. Aubrey Stansfield arrives in Seattle excited to start a new job, and eager to settle into her new home. But when she arrives at her rental, Aubrey’s sure she’s imagining things because the uber sexy Zane Cooper is unpacking in her new bedroom. Thanks to a rental snafu, and unwilling to relocate on such short notice, Aubrey and Zane are thrust into being roommates…” WEEKLY NEW RELEASES RECAP Dream Keeper by Kristen Ashley (alpha romance, Dream Team series) Go Tell The Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon (latest book in Outlander series) Change With Me by Kristen Proby (novella in With Me In Seattle series) Wrapped in Black by Tiffany Reisz (Christmas novella in Original Sinners series) now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase WHAT KIND OF BOOKS ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? __________________________________ Let me know if there are any other books you’re loving right now too!! LET’S STAY CONNECTED To get these lists sent to you every week, subscribe by email. FOLLOW THE BLOG Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | BlogLovin’ | Google+ | Goodreads

BOOKWORM NEWS: The Wolf by JR Ward (Black Dagger Brotherhood Series, Prison Camp spinoff) is now live!! — “Return to the sizzling glymera’s prison camp in this dark and sexy second novel in the new Black Dagger Brotherhood Prison Camp spin-off series from the #1 New York Times bestselling author J.R. Ward. In the next ...Read More  >

BOOKWORM NEWS: The Wolf by JR Ward (Black Dagger Brotherhood Series, Prison Camp spinoff) is now live!! — “Return to the sizzling glymera’s prison camp in this dark and sexy second novel in the new Black Dagger Brotherhood Prison Camp spin-off series from the #1 New York Times bestselling author J.R. Ward. In the next installment of bestselling author J.R. Ward’s Prison Camp series, things get steamy when Lucan, a wolven forced into bartering drug deals for the infamous Prison Colony, meets Rio, the second in command for the shadowy Caldwell supplier, Mozart. After a deal goes awry, a wolf with piercing golden eyes swoops in to save her from certain death. As shocking truths unfurl, Rio is uncertain of who to trust and what to believe—but with her life on the line, true love rears its head and growls in the face of danger.” Next Time I Fall by Scarlett Cole is now live!! — “Love rocks. Heavy guitars, a voice with the burn of pure single malt, and lyrics that distill the meaning of love are the greatest things. If only the man singing didn’t have a temperament as foul as the Michigan winter. Jase sitting in her car while yelling at her to get him out of there is a surprise. Why she hits the accelerator and takes him to her father’s cabin on the lake is an even greater mystery. How was she supposed to know they’d end up snowed in for days? Or that when they got out again, their relationship, and her views on love, would be changed irrevocably?” 14 Days of Christmas by Louise Bay is now live!! — “I hate Christmas. As CEO of my company, I’ve banned decorations from the office, festive music from the lobby and any kind of secret Santa gifts between employees are strictly forbidden. I’m heading to the airport, away from the Christmas lights and the mulled wine, heading for sunshine and margaritas when I get a call from Granny. She’s sprained her ankle and needs my help filling in for her as head of the village Christmas Committee. Snowsly is the Christmas Capital of England and the last place I want to be in the lead up to Christmas. But there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for Granny. When I arrive in Snowsly, I’m introduced to Celia Sommers who is Christmas’ biggest fan and therefore my own personal nightmare before Christmas. Worse than that, I have to work with her to make Snowsly’s Christmas market a success. Celia is determined to get me in the festive spirit. It’s not going to work. It doesn’t matter if she’s smart and funny and easy to flirt with—if she doesn’t stop looking at me with her sparkling eyes and pouting her completely kissable lips, Celia is going straight to the top of my naughty list.” The Enigma by Jodi Ellen Malpas is now live!! — “After leaving her fiancé at the altar and quitting her job as a Miami cop, Beau Hayley stumbles through life, feeling only resentment. Injustice. Loss. Her mom’s death was called an accident. She’s not convinced. Grieving, she becomes numb to everything except the constant, biting pain of heartbreak and hate. She can see no light. Until she meets James Kelly, a man who seems as damaged as she is, inside and out. And yet despite his twisted, cold façade, he stimulates feelings. Pleasure. He is a respite from her own flaws. A complete mystery.” The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan is now live!! — “Laid off from her department store job, Carmen has perilously little cash and few options. The prospect of spending Christmas with her perfect sister Sofia, in Sofia’s perfect house with her perfect children and her perfectly ordered yuppie life does not appeal. Frankly, Sofia doesn’t exactly want her prickly sister Carmen there either. But Sofia has yet another baby on the way, a mother desperate to see her daughters get along, and a client who needs help revitalizing his shabby old bookshop. So Carmen moves in and takes the job. Thrown rather suddenly into the inner workings of Mr. McCredie’s ancient bookshop on the picturesque streets of historic Edinburgh, Carmen is intrigued despite herself. The store is dusty and disorganized but undeniably charming. Can she breathe some new life into it in time for Christmas shopping?” Beard in Hiding by Penny Reid is now live!! — “Propositioning the Iron Wraiths’ money man seemed like a good idea at the time… Diane Donner—recently divorced pillar of polite society—is craving danger. She’s tired of playing it safe and she knows just the sexy criminal motorcycle man to proposition for a good time. Problem is, she doesn’t actually know his name. Jason “Repo” Doe never takes risks. So when the queen of local commerce walks into his club, looking to get risky and frisky, Jason knows the smartest thing to do is save himself a headache while saving the new divorcee from her worst impulses. But then one thing leads to another, and the memory of just-one-night doesn’t feel like enough. Theirs is a story with no future, because how can a dangerous criminal win (and keep) a queen?” Head Over Hooves by Erin Nicholas is now live!! — “You know in movies where the big city girl lands in a small town for the holidays and falls for the hunky guy who saves Christmas? This isn’t that story. But this guy does look fantastic in flannel. And out of flannel… Finding true love with his one-and-only soul mate? Drew Ryan’s given up on that. But a hot holiday fling in Louisiana, far from his responsibilities and good guy image back home, is now on the top of his list for Santa. So when he’s knocked on his ass—literally—by a Christmas elf who’s stealing a sleigh full of gifts and using his reindeer to commit the crime, he definitely doesn’t expect to fall head over heels.” The Singles Table by Sara Desai is now live!! — “After a devastating break-up, celebrity-obsessed lawyer Zara Patel is determined never to open her heart again. She puts her energy into building her career and helping her friends find their happily-ever-afters. She’s never faced a guest at the singles table she couldn’t match, until she crosses paths with the sinfully sexy Jay Dayal. Former military security specialist Jay has no time for love. His life is about working hard, staying focused, and winning at all costs. When charismatic Zara crashes into his life, he’s thrown into close contact with exactly the kind of chaos he wants to avoid. Worse, they’re stuck together for the entire wedding season. So they make a deal. She’ll find his special someone if he introduces her to his celebrity clients. But when their arrangement brings them together in ways they never expected, they realize that the perfect match might just be their own.” WEEKLY NEW RELEASES RECAP The Wolf by JR Ward (Black Dagger Brotherhood Series, Prison Camp spinoff) Next Time I Fall by Scarlett Cole (rockstar romance, standalone in Excess All Areas series) The 14 Days of Christmas by Louise Bay (CEO/small town holiday romance, standalone) The Enigma by Jodi Ellen Malpas (romantic suspense, Unlawful Men series) The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan (heartwarming holiday novel, standalone) Beard in Hiding by Penny Reid (small town romcom, Green Valley world) Head Over Hooves by Erin Nicholas (holiday fling, standalone in Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild series) Kingdom Come by Aleatha Romig (dark romance, standalone) The Singles Table by Sara Desai (romantic comedy, standalone in The Marriage Game series) now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase LATEST BOOK SALES UPCOMING BOOK RELEASES WHAT KIND OF BOOKS ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? __________________________________ Let me know if there are any other books you’re loving right now too!! LET’S STAY CONNECTED To get these lists sent to you every week, subscribe by email. FOLLOW THE BLOG Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | BlogLovin’ | Google+ | Goodreads

  BOOKWORM NEWS: Heard It in a Love Song by Tracey Garvis Graves is now live!! — “Love doesn’t always wait until you’re ready. Layla Hilding is thirty-five and recently divorced. Struggling to break free from the past—her glory days as the lead singer in a band and a ten-year marriage to a man who ...Read More  >

BOOKWORM NEWS: Heard It in a Love Song by Tracey Garvis Graves is now live!! — “Love doesn’t always wait until you’re ready. Layla Hilding is thirty-five and recently divorced. Struggling to break free from the past—her glory days as the lead singer in a band and a ten-year marriage to a man who never put her first—Layla’s newly found independence feels a lot like loneliness. Then there’s Josh, the single dad whose daughter attends the elementary school where Layla teaches music. Recently separated, he’s still processing the end of his twenty-year marriage to his high school sweetheart. He chats with Layla every morning at school and finds himself thinking about her more and more. Equally cautious and confused about dating in a world that favors apps over meeting organically, Layla and Josh decide to be friends with the potential for something more. Sounds sensible and way too simple—but when two people are on the rebound, is it heartbreak or happiness that’s a love song away?” Just One Chance by Carly Phillips is now live!! — “As a former Marine, Xander Kingston’s writing keeps him sane. Bonus? His thrillers made him one of Hollywood’s most desired screenwriters—and also introduced him to a fledgling starlet who broke his heart. With his close-knit family in New York, Xander returned home and found peace. Until Sasha Keaton shows up at his Hamptons retreat. Now an A-Lister, she’s as beautiful as he remembers. And just as dangerous to his heart. Sasha learned from watching her mother to never sacrifice her dreams for anyone—only to discover how empty life could be without the man she loved. Now cast in Xander’s latest movie, she needs his insight to play the part, but secretly hopes for a second chance.” My Sister’s Flirty Friend by Piper Rayne is now live!! — “I broke the cardinal rule and slept with my sister’s best friend. Granted, I’d just found out that I was now a single father to a three-year-old little girl and was low on willpower. It should also be noted that there’s been sexual tension between us for years. There’s no way it would be a surprise if anyone in our small town found out. That is if we were telling people, which we’re not. We’re in agreement to keep our affair a secret, especially since neither one of us do relationships. You’ve probably figured it out already, but things didn’t go as planned.” More Than Hate You by Shayla Black is now live!! — “I’m Sebastian Shaw—CFO, pragmatist, and moneymaker. I’ve mismanaged love in the past, but when it comes to business, I’m pure shark, able to cut down any threat to my success…except Sloan O’Neill. We’re vying for the same major client, so I do what any self-respecting cutthroat does to gain the upperhand: spy on the ball-busting piece of work. She may be gorgeous and unnervingly clever, but I have skills. My gutsy roadblock doesn’t stand a chance. Until I realize I’m falling for her. Suddenly, everything from my objectives to my morals is cloudy. Stay loyal to my best friend and boss to win this critical client at any cost…or give my heart another chance? But the more time I spend with my redheaded adversary, the more I realize she’s not just ambitious but kind, vulnerable…and perfect…” Dark Tarot by Christine Feehan is now live!! — “Sandu Berdardi continues to exist only to protect his people. An ancient Carpathian, his entire long life has been dedicated to honor above all else. He knows his time has passed, especially since he has not been able to find his lifemate—the anchor to keep him sane in a world he no longer understands. But just as he truly starts to give up hope, a voice reaches out to him in the night and his world explodes into color. Adalasia enters Sandu’s mind seamlessly, as if she has been a part of him forever. While she can see the shape of things to come in her deck of cards, her gift is both a blessing and a curse. The true course of Sandu’s quest remains unclear, with danger waiting at every turn. She cannot see everything the future holds, but she does know it is a journey they will take together.” The Rhythm Method by Kylie Scott (Stage Dive novella) is now live!! — It all started in Vegas… After a wild and tumultuous beginning to their relationship, Evelyn Thomas and her rock star husband David Ferris have been happily married for years. Nothing needs to change, their life together is perfect. Which means that change in the shape of an unexpected pregnancy is bound to shake things up some. But could it be for the better? WEEKLY NEW RELEASES RECAP Heard It in a Love Song by Tracey Garvis Graves (starting over & second chances, standalone) The Rhythm Method by Kylie Scott (novella in Stage Dive series) Just One Chance by Carly Phillips (second chance romance, standalone in The Kingston Family series) My Sister’s Flirty Friend by Piper Rayne (single dad romance, standalone in The Greene Family series) More Than Hate You by Shayla Black (enemies to lovers, standalone in Reed Family Reckoning series) Dark Tarot by Christine Feehan (paranormal romance, The Dark series) now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase WHAT KIND OF BOOKS ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? __________________________________ Let me know if there are any other books you’re loving right now too!! LET’S STAY CONNECTED To get these lists sent to you every week, subscribe by email. FOLLOW THE BLOG Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | BlogLovin’ | Google+ | Goodreads

  BOOKWORM NEWS: Indigo Ridge by Devney Perry is now live!! — “Winslow Covington believes in life, liberty and the letter of the law. As Quincy, Montana’s new chief of police, she’s determined to prove herself to the community and show them she didn’t earn her position because her grandfather is the mayor. According to ...Read More  >

BOOKWORM NEWS: Indigo Ridge by Devney Perry is now live!! — “Winslow Covington believes in life, liberty and the letter of the law. As Quincy, Montana’s new chief of police, she’s determined to prove herself to the community and show them she didn’t earn her position because her grandfather is the mayor. According to her pops, all she has to do is earn favor with the Edens. But winning over the town’s founding family might have been easier if not for her one-night stand with their oldest son. In her defense, it was her first night in town and she didn’t realize that the rugged and charming man who wooed her into bed was Quincy royalty. Sleeping with Griffin Eden was a huge mistake, one she’s trying to forget. He’s insufferable, arrogant and keeps reminding everyone that she’s an outsider. Winslow does her best to avoid Griffin, but when a woman is found dead on Eden property, the two of them have no choice but to cross paths. As clues to the murderer lead to one of Quincy’s own, Griffin realizes Winslow is more than he gave her credit for. Beautiful and intelligent, she proves hard to resist. For him. And the killer.” Riggs by Sawyer Bennett is now live!! — “As a professional hockey player, people think I live a charmed life. On the surface, I do. But they don’t know the horrors of my childhood, or the real reason that I have custody of my seventeen-year-old sister, Janelle. And that’s exactly the way I like it. They may think I’m a prick because I don’t like to share, but that’s fine. They don’t know me, and they don’t need to. In an effort to help Janelle get settled in Phoenix and stay out of trouble at school, I set her up with a job at Clarke’s Corner, the local bookstore owned by the girlfriend of a teammate. It’s there that she makes friends with Veronica Woodley, the extremely annoying, arrogant, money-hungry divorcee who I don’t want anywhere near my sister. Janelle insists I’m completely wrong about Veronica, but I refuse to accept that. I have to keep reminding myself that that the gorgeous blond with legs for days is off limits. Through a series of events, I start to see Veronica for what she really is—an amazing woman who has survived her own hell to come out even stronger. I have to admit, we’re more alike than not…” Until April by Aurora Rose Reynolds is now live!! — “With happily ever after being something that happens to other people, April Mayson has decided to put all her energy into her career and living her best life, and things are better than ever. Little does she know that her world is about to be turned upside down when she’s asked to help out a family friend, Maxim Kauwe. Now, she’s dealing with a man unlike any she’s ever met before, her ex—a famous musician who’s decided he wants her back—and a possible serial killer. With all the drama suddenly swirling around her, she will have to figure out if she is brave enough to trust Maxim with her heart and maybe even her life.” Rebel North by JB Salsbury is now live!! — “In a city where image is everything, Gabriella turns heads for all the wrong reasons. The marks that slash across her neck and face turn people away. But I see the beauty that lies beneath, feel a kinship to her pain. I regret the way she found me—mugged and left for dead. I should walk away, follow the rules, but I can’t. I want to see her again. There’s only one problem. My brother convinced her I’m gay. I use that lie to my advantage, persuade her to be my pretend girlfriend, to help protect my fake-sexual identity from my judgmental family. But what starts as a shameless excuse to be near her leads to crossed lines and midnight confessions. I’m not who I led her to believe. I’m sin wrapped in silk. Betrayal masked by beauty. And she’s not the only one with scars…” Inked Devotion by Carrie Ann Ryan is now live!! — “Brenna Garrett watched her best friend fall in love with another woman all the while keeping his darkest secrets from her. Now she’ll have to figure out who she is without him while not letting the rest of the Montgomerys see her break. When her family forces her on a road trip, she finds herself bringing Benjamin Montgomery with her. The problem? He’s her best friend’s twin, so there’s no escaping that familiar face. Benjamin didn’t want to leave his family in a lurch, but Brenna isn’t the only one who needs a break. Only a drunken mistake leads to a night of passion with unintended consequences. When it turns out they can’t walk away, they’ll have to make a choice: remain just friends or start something new and possibly risk everything. Including themselves.” Rules for Heiresses by Amalie Howard is now live!! — “Born to a life of privilege, Lady Ravenna Huntley rues the day that she must marry. She’s refused dozens of suitors and cried off multiple betrothals, but running away—even if brash and foolhardy—is the only option left to secure her independence. Lord Courtland Chase, grandson of the Duke of Ashvale, was driven from England at the behest of his cruel stepmother. Scorned and shunned, he swore never to return to the land of his birth. But when a twist of bad luck throws a rebellious heiress into his arms, at the very moment he finds out he’s the new Duke, marriage is the only alternative to massive scandal. Both are quick to deny it, but a wedding might be the only way out for both of them. And the attraction that burns between them makes Ravenna and Courtland wonder if it’ll truly only be a marriage of convenience after all…” Man For Me by Laurelin Paige is now live!! — “Brett Sebastian is the very best kind of friend. Who else would get me a job at one of the biggest corporations in America? And hook me up with his uber-rich cousin to boot? And let me cry on his shoulder every time said cousin blows me off? Okay, it’s pretty obvious that Brett cares about me in a different way than I do for him, but he seems fine with how things are, and our friendship works. Until one fateful night when I’m mooning over his cousin, and Brett utters four words that should make me happy for him, should make me relieved, should balance out our uneven relationship: “I met a girl.” Suddenly my world is crashing down around me, and I’m forced to ask myself—am I only interested in Brett now that he’s taken? Or have I been looking at the wrong man all along?” Moonstone by Helen Hardt is now live!! — “As Moonstone, she was held captive. Now Katelyn Brooks is starting fresh and is determined to reclaim her life. With the help of the Wolfe family, she’s working toward healing…which doesn’t necessarily include falling for a gorgeous waiter. Luke Johnson is a recovering alcoholic who just wants to fly under the radar. He’s not looking for love, but when Katelyn walks through the doors of the restaurant where he works, he’s struck by her beauty and her meekness. Circumstances throw them together, and neither is able to resist the attraction that sparks between them. But Luke has a secret—a big one—that could spell danger for both of them.” Archangel’s Light by Nalini Singh (Guild Hunter series) is now live!! — “Illium and Aodhan. Aodhan and Illium. For centuries they’ve been inseparable: the best of friends, closer than brothers, companions of the heart. But that was before—before darkness befell Aodhan and shattered him, body, mind, and soul. Now, at long last, Aodhan is healing, but his new-found strength and independence may come at a devastating cost—his relationship with Illium. As they serve side by side in China, a territory yet marked by the evil of its former archangel, the secret it holds nightmarish beyond imagining, things come to an explosive decision point. Illium and Aodhan must either walk away from the relationship that has defined them—or step forward into a future that promises a bond infinitely precious in the life of an immortal…but that demands a terrifying vulnerability from two badly bruised hearts.” Home for a Cowboy Christmas by Donna Grant is now live!! — “Tis the season—for everyone except Emmy Garrett. She’s on the run after witnessing a crime. But when it becomes clear that trouble will continue following her, the US Marshal in charge takes her somewhere no one will think to look–Montana. Not only is Emmy in a new place for her protection, but now, she’s stuck with a handsome cowboy as her bodyguard…and she wants to do more than kiss him under the mistletoe. Dwight Reynolds left behind his old career, but it’s still in his blood. When an old friend calls in a favor, Dwight opens his home to a woman on the run. He tries to keep his distance, but there’s something about Emmy he can’t resist. She stokes his passion and turns his cold nights into warm ones. When danger shows up looking for Emmy, Dwight risks everything to keep her safe.” One Christmas Wish by Brenda Jackson is now live!! — “Vaughn Miller’s Wall Street career was abruptly ended by a wrongful conviction and two years in prison. Since then, he’s returned to his hometown, kept his head down and forged a way forward. When he is exonerated and his name cleared, he feels he can hold his head up once again, maybe even talk to the beautiful café owner who sets his blood to simmering. Sierra Crane escaped a disastrous marriage—barely. She and her six-year-old goddaughter have returned to the only place that feels like home. Determined to make it on her own, Sierra opens a soup café. Complication is the last thing she needs, but the moment Vaughn walks into her café, she can’t keep her eyes off the smoldering loner.” WEEKLY NEW RELEASES RECAP Indigo Ridge by Devney Perry (small town enemies to lovers romance, The Edens series) Riggs by Sawyer Bennett (hockey romance, standalone in Arizona Vengeance series) Until April by Aurora Rose Reynolds (contemp romance, standalone in Until Him/Her series) Rebel North by JB Salsbury (NA romance, standalone in The North Brothers series) Inked Devotion by Carrie Ann Ryan (roadtrip romance, standalone in Montgomery Ink series) Rules for Heiresses by Amalie Howard (historical romance standalone) Man For Me by Laurelin Paige (friends to lovers, standalone novella in Man in Charge series) Moonstone by Helen Hardt (love after hardship, new series) Archangel’s Light by Nalini Singh (paranormal romance, Guild Hunter series) Home for a Cowboy Christmas by Donna Grant (holiday romance, standalone) One Christmas Wish by Brenda Jackson (small town holiday romance, Catalina Cove series) now live Purchase now live Pre-Order now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase WHAT KIND OF BOOKS ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? __________________________________ Let me know if there are any other books you’re loving right now too!! 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BOOKWORM NEWS: Window Shopping by Tessa Bailey is now live!! — “Two weeks before Christmas and all through Manhattan, shop windows are decorated in red and green satin. I’m standing alone in front of the famous Vivant department store, when a charming man named Aiden asks my opinion of the décor. It’s a tragedy in ...Read More  >

BOOKWORM NEWS: Window Shopping by Tessa Bailey is now live!! — “Two weeks before Christmas and all through Manhattan, shop windows are decorated in red and green satin. I’m standing alone in front of the famous Vivant department store, when a charming man named Aiden asks my opinion of the décor. It’s a tragedy in tinsel, I say, unable to lie. He asks for a better idea with a twinkle in his eye. Did I know he owned the place? No. He put me on the spot. Now I’m working for that man, trying to ignore that he’s hot. But as a down on her luck girl with a difficult past, I know an opportunity when I see one—and I have to make it last. I’ll put my heart and soul into dressing his holiday windows. I’ll work without stopping. And when we lose the battle with temptation, I’ll try and remember I’m just window shopping.” Only One Regret by Natasha Madison is now live!! — Him: “My name came with big skates to fill. . At the top of my game, I had everything I wanted, or so I thought. . Being traded to Dallas was not what I was expecting but neither were the divorce papers I was served. . Now I’m a single dad in a city that isn’t my home.” | Her: “Handed my biggest client when I was twenty-two made my dreams come true. . Over time, our work relationship changed, and we grew closer, leaning on each other for support. . He was my rock, my best friend.. Then one drunken night changed everything, and I saw what was in front of me all along. . I just hope that when the dust settles, we won’t regret it.” Promise Me Forever by Layla Hagen is now live!! — “As a divorced single father, I live by three rules: 1. Make sure every day my daughter, Paisley, knows she’s number one in my life. No. Matter. What. 2. Keep contact with my cheating ex-wife to a minimum. 3. Turn Maxwell Wineries into a legacy that keeps Paisley set for life. When I hire Lexi to look after my daughter, I realize I need another rule: don’t pursue Paisley’s nanny. But even if I had that rule it wouldn’t matter. Because I’m breaking it already.” Boyfriend by Sarina Bowen is now live!! — “The hottest player on the Moo U hockey team hangs a flyer on the bulletin board, and I am spellbound: Rent a boyfriend for the holiday. For $25, I will be your Thanksgiving date. I will talk hockey with your dad. I will bring your mother flowers. I will be polite, and wear a nicely ironed shirt… Now everyone knows it’s a bad idea to introduce your long-time crush to your messed-up family. But I really do need a date for Thanksgiving, even if I’m not willing to say why. So I tear his phone number off of that flyer… and accidentally entangle our star defenseman in a ruse that neither of us can easily unwind. Because Weston’s family is even nuttier than mine. He needs a date, too, for the most uncomfortable holiday engagement party ever thrown. There will be hors d’oeuvre. There will be faked PDA. And there will be pro-level awkwardness…” Sealed With A Kiss by Erin Nicholas is now live!! — “What’s a girl to do when faced with a hurricane, her celebrity crush, and a power outage in their shelter? Keep her damned feelings to herself. And her clothes on… Naomi LeClaire is just a small-town girl who loves her quiet, simple life. Donovan Foster is a sexy, charming, wildlife rescuing internet sensation who loves the spotlight. What do these opposites have in common? Only an impossible-to-resist chemistry that, when they’re stuck together in a storm becomes, well, impossible to resist. But the aftermath of the storm gives them something else in common—a rescue mission to help victims. Oh, and a heat-of-the-moment kiss caught on camera by the local paparazzi. Not to mention an offer for a reality TV show documenting them falling in love while saving animals from crazy, dangerous situations…” Well Matched by Jen DeLuca is now live!! — “Single mother April Parker has lived in Willow Creek for twelve years with a wall around her heart. On the verge of being an empty nester, she’s decided to move on from her quaint little town, and asks her friend Mitch for his help with some home improvement projects to get her house ready to sell. Mitch Malone is known for being the life of every party, but mostly for the attire he wears to the local Renaissance Faire—a kilt (and not much else) that shows off his muscled form to perfection. While he agrees to help April, he needs a favor too: she’ll pretend to be his girlfriend at an upcoming family dinner, so that he can avoid the lectures about settling down and having a more “serious” career than high school coach and gym teacher. April reluctantly agrees, but when dinner turns into a weekend trip, it becomes hard to tell what’s real and what’s been just for show…” Serendipity by Kristen Proby (Bayou Magic series) is now live!! — “My sight is a gift and also a curse. It cost me the love of my life. We may have been young, but some things you don’t get over. Like being the cause of the biggest tragedy of your boyfriend’s life. It’s something I’ll never forget, and a reflection of who I am. But now that Jackson’s back in town, with scars and a hero’s badge of honor, it’s time for me to be brave, too. A malevolent evil hell-bent on making my sisters and me pay for rebuffing him is still stalking my family, and some ancient writings portended that the six were the only ones who could defeat him. Jackson Pruitt and I round out that magical number, which means I have to face the evil and the things Jack makes me feel, to save my family and my city…” Infamous Like Us by Krista & Becca Ritchie (Like Us Series: Billionaires & Bodyguards) is now live!! — “22-year-old Sullivan Meadows knew dating Akara & Banks would be complicated, but now that her relationship is public, everything has been put on blast: @HeatherB: Can’t believe Sullivan Meadows is dating TWO men and they’re like all together. Like OMG. Totally didn’t think the rumors were true. @YuiK: anyone know what happened to Sullivan Meadows? News is saying something bad went down. Seems bad. @PaulieP: Why is there no reporting on the thing that “allegedly” happened to that Meadows girl? They aren’t saying whether her boyfriends were there??? @TiffanyW: Y’all I can’t with Sullivan’s boyfriends. They just sandwiched her in PUBLIC to avoid cameras lmao @RiverT: Banks Moretti & Akara Kitsuwon are totally banging. I don’t make the rules @CarlaR: OMGOMGOMG Sullivan Meadows qualified for the Olympics! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! @LacieA: Celebrity Crush is saying ALL the families will be at the Olympics to root for Sullivan. Im dead #HalesMeadowsCobalts @GeorgieO: Dude no way she wins a gold medal. Sulli the Slut is too busy screwing anything that walks @VenusQ: I bet her boyfriends will distract her. Last Olympics, she was single. This one, she’s a MESS. Messiness isn’t getting gold #sorrynotsorry” A Shadow in the Ember by Jennifer L Armentrout is now live!! — “Born shrouded in the veil of the Primals, a Maiden as the Fates promised, Seraphena Mierel’s future has never been hers. Chosen before birth to uphold the desperate deal her ancestor struck to save his people, Sera must leave behind her life and offer herself to the Primal of Death as his Consort. However, Sera’s real destiny is the most closely guarded secret in all of Lasania—she’s not the well protected Maiden but an assassin with one mission—one target. Make the Primal of Death fall in love, become his weakness, and then…end him. If she fails, she dooms her kingdom to a slow demise at the hands of the Rot. Sera has always known what she is. Chosen. Consort. Assassin. Weapon. A specter never fully formed yet drenched in blood. A monster. Until him…” House of Shadows by KA Linde (Royal Houses series) is now live!! — “Kerrigan Argon, a half-human, half-Fae, has joined the Dragon Society against almost everyone’s wishes. A year of training is required with her dragon. First she must travel with the dark Fae prince, Fordham Ollivier, back to his home in the House of Shadows. Nothing but slavery and death has ever awaited a half-Fae in their halls. But something is wrong within their wicked world. A thousand year old spell is weakening. Cracks forming in the foundation. And Kerrigan may just be their ruin or their salvation.” WEEKLY NEW RELEASES RECAP Window Shopping by Tessa Bailey (feel-good holiday romance, standalone) Only One Regret by Natasha Madison (single dad hockey romance, standalone in Only One series) Promise Me Forever by Layla Hagen (single dad romance, standalone) Boyfriend by Sarina Bowen (hockey romance, standalone in Moo U Hockey series) Sealed With A Kiss by Erin Nicholas (opposites attract romcom, Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild series) Well Matched by Jen DeLuca (friends to lovers romance, standalone) Serendipity by Kristen Proby (paranormal romance, Bayou Magic series) Infamous Like Us by Krista & Becca Ritchie (Like Us Series: Billionaires & Bodyguards) A Shadow in the Ember by Jennifer L Armentrout (spinoff of Blood and Ash series) House of Shadows by KA Linde (fae romance, Royal Houses series) now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase WHAT KIND OF BOOKS ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? __________________________________ Let me know if there are any other books you’re loving right now too!! LET’S STAY CONNECTED To get these lists sent to you every week, subscribe by email. FOLLOW THE BLOG Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | BlogLovin’ | Google+ | Goodreads

BOOKWORM NEWS: A Moment For Us by Corinne Michaels is now live!! — “I was totally over Joshua Parkerson. Sure, I had a teenage crush on him way back when—and everyone knew it—but he never saw me as anything but his little brother’s friend, the girl who got tongue-tied any time he walked into a ...Read More  >

BOOKWORM NEWS: A Moment For Us by Corinne Michaels is now live!! — “I was totally over Joshua Parkerson. Sure, I had a teenage crush on him way back when—and everyone knew it—but he never saw me as anything but his little brother’s friend, the girl who got tongue-tied any time he walked into a room. I had long ago accepted the fact that his strong arms would never hold me, his lush lips would never claim mine, and his blue eyes would never see me as anything more than who I used to be. But now he’s back in Willow Creek Valley, and there’s a brand-new spark between us—even he can’t fight it. Our chemistry is explosive, and every time we’re together, I swear I can feel the earth shake. It doesn’t mean anything… how could it? I’m over him. Until I see that little pink plus sign, and the earth stops turning completely. Now I want it all again, a life with him. But Joshua built walls around his heart for a reason, and his secrets haunt him. How can I show him that the ghosts of his past don’t have to define our new family’s future?” Not Without Your Love by Lexi Ryan is now live!! — “Two and a half years ago, I hit rock bottom and lost everything. Since then, I’ve turned my life around—no more booze, no more drugs, no more self-sabotage. With a new business to run and old promises to keep, the last thing I need is smart-mouthed hellcat Veronica Maddox disrupting my world. Veronica’s as beautiful as she is infuriating. She pushes all my buttons. Maybe that didn’t matter before, but now she’s working for me. She keeps this place running. As a business owner, I appreciate that. As the man she hates and the one who can’t forget our wild night together, I’m slowly losing my mind. I told myself I could resist her, but we only get along when our hands are doing the talking. Before I know it, our relationship is anything but professional [and] no matter how much I try to convince myself otherwise, what started as two enemies has developed into something neither of us imagined possible. And while Veronica’s a complication I never wanted, she is exactly what I need.” Hold On To My Heart by Bella Andre is now live!! — “Nash Hardwin has been on the road full time since leaving his rough childhood behind when he was sixteen. Beloved by millions of fans around the world, he’s never had a real home and never trusted anyone enough to fall in love. Not until he meets Ashley Sullivan. After she unexpectedly steps in to help him out of a very tricky situation, he ends up having the best day of his life with her in Vienna. Ashley is sweet, beautiful and intelligent…with the biggest heart of anyone he’s ever met. When their perfect day together inevitably turns into an even more perfect night, there’s no denying that they make incredibly beautiful music together. But is there even the slightest chance that the small-town single mom and the road warrior rock star can make things work? Or will the realities of lives that are polar opposites make it impossible to hold on to each other’s hearts?” Fallen Royal by Rachel Van Dyken (Mafia Royals #4) is now live!! — “I grew up knowing it would happen one day. Believing that I would fall into my father’s footsteps… So I fought it. I lived. I loved. I teased. And then one day… I destroyed… She saw my rage, my madness, and tried to stop me from destroying myself, and I hated her for it, pushing her away past the point of no return. She was supposed to be mine. But there are some things people can never come back from. I hurt her, she hurt me, and now I’m living a lie. Telling the ones I love that I’m on one side when for years I’ve been forced to play both. I’m no angel. I’ve fallen… I will win her back… She fell for the bad one. She fell for the sinner. So why does that make me smile?” The Blood That Binds by Madeline Sheehan & Claire C Riley (Thicker Than Blood #3) is now live!! — “Two brothers. A childhood sweetheart. Life has never been easy for this trio, and especially not after the end of civilization as they knew it. Having had their formative years ripped from them, they were thrust into a shattered, savage world, a world where they only had each other. Love and loss. Weary travellers on the brink, there is a storm brewing, a turbulent tempest that has nothing to do with the weather. When tragedy strikes, everything changes in the blink of an eye– facades come undone, and loyalty is pushed to a breaking point. A diamond in the rough. Immersed back into something akin to normal society, a safe-haven in the midst of misery, our travellers are forced to finally confront their demons–long-kept secrets that have been haunting them for nearly a decade. Love is never easy; And love during the end of the world is a hell of a lot more complicated.” The Butler by Danielle Steele is now live!! — “Joachim takes a job working for Olivia as a lark and enjoys the whimsy of a different life for a few weeks, which turn to months as the unlikely employer and employee learn they enjoy working side by side. At the same time, Joachim discovers the family history he never knew: a criminal grandfather who died in prison, the wealthy father who abandoned him, and the dangerous criminal his twin has become. While Olivia struggles to put her life back together, Joachim’s comes apart. Stripped of their old roles, they strive to discover the truth about each other and themselves, first as employer and employee, then as friends. Their paths no longer sure, they are a man and woman who reach a place where the past doesn’t matter and only what they are living now is true.” WEEKLY NEW RELEASES RECAP A Moment For Us by Corinne Michaels (surprise baby/unrequited love romance, standalone) Not Without Your Love by Lexi Ryan (enemies-to-lovers office romance, standalone in The Boys of Jackson Harbor series) Hold On To My Heart by Bella Andre (single mom/rock star romance, standalone in The Sullivans series) Fallen Royal by Rachel Van Dyken (mafia romance, Mafia Royals series) The Blood That Binds by Madeline Sheehan & Claire C Riley (love triangle, Thicker Than Blood series) The Butler by Danielle Steele (women’s fiction, standalone) now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase LATEST BOOK SALES 45% OFF ★ Purchase 65% OFF ★ Purchase under $2 ★ Purchase 50% OFF Purchase 50% OFF Purchase under $1 Purchase under $2 Purchase under $1 Purchase under $3 ★ Purchase under $3 ★ Purchase 50% OFF ★ Purchase under $1 ★ Purchase UPCOMING BOOK RELEASES Oct 13 Pre-Order Oct 18 Pre-Order Oct 19 Pre-Order Oct 19 Pre-Order Oct 19 Pre-Order Oct 19 Pre-Order Oct 26 Pre-Order Oct 26 Pre-Order Oct 26 Pre-Order Oct 26 Pre-Order Oct 26 Pre-Order Nov 02 Pre-Order WHAT KIND OF BOOKS ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? __________________________________ Let me know if there are any other books you’re loving right now too!! LET’S STAY CONNECTED To get these lists sent to you every week, subscribe by email. FOLLOW THE BLOG Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | BlogLovin’ | Google+ | Goodreads

BOOKWORM NEWS: A Small Hotel by Suanne Laqueure is now live!! — “It’s the summer of 1941. Europe is at war, but New York’s Thousand Islands are at the height of the tourist season. Kennet Fiskare, son of a hotel proprietor, is having the summer of a lifetime, having fallen deeply in love with a ...Read More  >

BOOKWORM NEWS: A Small Hotel by Suanne Laqueure is now live!! — “It’s the summer of 1941. Europe is at war, but New York’s Thousand Islands are at the height of the tourist season. Kennet Fiskare, son of a hotel proprietor, is having the summer of a lifetime, having fallen deeply in love with a Swedish-Brazilian guest named Astrid Virtanen. But the affair is cut short and the young lovers permanently parted, first by Astrid’s family obligations, then by America’s entry into the war. The rigors of military life help dull his heartache, but when Kennet’s battalion reaches France, he is thrown into the crucible of front line combat. As his unit crosses Europe, from the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium to Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria, Kennet falls into a different kind of love: the intense camaraderie between soldiers. It’s a bond fierce yet fragile, vital yet expendable, here today and gone tomorrow. Sustained by his friendships, Kennet both witnesses and commits the unthinkable atrocities of warfare, altering his view of the world and himself. To the point where a second chance with Astrid in peacetime might be the most terrifying and consequential battle he’s ever fought…” Wild at Heart by Zoe York is now live!! — “Everyone in Pine Harbour loves Will Kincaid—except the one person he cares about actually impressing. Can grown men have crushes on their frenemies? When Catie joins the small town’s Search and Rescue team, Will finds himself spending every Thursday night swapping glares with the hairdresser while they get in each other’s way. Catie Berton has a long list of reasons why Will is an arrogant jerk. But the more time she spends with him, the more she’s forced to admit sometimes they make a good team. That doesn’t change the fact that Will has always been her right crush, wrong guy. When the SRT goes on a road trip to a competition, she surprises herself by agreeing to ride shotgun in his truck. The long drive could be a chance to repair a shredded friendship, if Catie can get past her complicated feelings for the too-attractive-for-his-own-good school principal.” Mr. Park Lane by Louise Bay is now live!! — “I haven’t seen him in over a decade, but Joshua Luca can still get to me. And I hate it. At twenty-nine, I’m a doctor and I’ve traveled the world, but just the thought of him has me sliding my sweaty palms down my jeans and wishing I could steady my racing heartbeat. Joshua was an almost obsession until, at seventeen, he cost me my future. In one night, I grew up and let go of my silly crush. My infatuation for Joshua is dead and buried. Forever. It doesn’t matter that he’s my new roommate. Or that he still has that same sexy smile. I barely notice how, despite his billions, he’s the kindest man I know. Or that when he touches me, a thousand tiny fireworks explode all over my body. I’m completely over Joshua Luca.” Spark by Helen Hardt (Steel Brothers Saga) is now live!! — “Donovan “Donny” Steel is on a partnership track with a major Denver law firm. He loves his city career and his luxurious downtown loft, and life is going just how he planned it…until his mother, the city attorney for his hometown of Snow Creek, Colorado, asks him to move back and work for her when her assistant retires. Mom asks? Donny goes. Because he’ll do anything for the family who took him in twenty-five years ago. The fact that he can pick up where he left off with gorgeous Callie Pike is simply a fringe benefit. Caroline “Callie” Pike was looking forward to finally beginning law school at age twenty-six, but the western slope fire that destroyed most of her family’s vineyards put that plan on hold. At least she has Donny Steel’s return to look forward to. After she spent an evening with him at a recent party, he hasn’t strayed far from her mind…” Eight Perfect Hours by Lia Louis is now live!! — “On a snowy evening in March, thirty-something Noelle Butterby is on her way back from an event at her old college when disaster strikes. With a blizzard closing off roads, she finds herself stranded, alone in her car, without food, drink, or a working charger for her phone. All seems lost until Sam Attwood, a handsome American stranger also trapped in a nearby car, knocks on her window and offers assistance. What follows is eight perfect hours together, until morning arrives and the roads finally clear. The two strangers part, positive they’ll never see each other again but fate, it seems, has a different plan. As the two keep serendipitously bumping into one another, they begin to realize that perhaps there truly is no such thing as coincidence.” A Reckless Match by Kate Bateman is now live!! — “Madeline Montgomery grew up despising––and secretly loving––the roguish Gryffud “Gryff” Davies. Their families have been bitter rivals for hundreds of years, but even if her feelings once crossed the line between love and hate, she’s certain Gryff never felt the same. Now, she’s too busy saving her family from ruin to think about Gryff and the other “devilish” Davies siblings. Since he’s off being scandalous in London, it’s not like she’ll ever see him again…” Wild Heart by Laurelin Paige (Dirty Wild #3) is now live!! — “Secrets, surprises, and second chances. This trip down memory lane with Jolie has mended as much as it’s torn up. I promised her I could handle anything. Whatever she was hiding, my wild heart would always belong to her. But I could never have imagined this truth. And she can’t blame me for how this will all end.” WEEKLY NEW RELEASES RECAP A Small Hotel by Suanne Laqueure (military/love/family fiction) Wild at Heart by Zoe York (frenemies to lovers romance, standalone in The Kincaids of Pine Harbor series) Mr. Park Lane by Louise Bay (second chance/roommates romance, standalone) Wild Heart by Laurelin Paige (contemp romance, book #3 in Dirty Wild series) Eight Perfect Hours by Lia Louis (snowstorm/strangers romance, standalone) More Than Possess You by Shayla Black (romance novella, standalone in More Than series) Spark by Helen Hardt (romantic suspense, Steel Brothers Saga) A Reckless Match by Kate Bateman (historical romance, Ruthless Rivals) now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase now live Purchase WHAT KIND OF BOOKS ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? __________________________________ Let me know if there are any other books you’re loving right now too!! 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196 countries, countless stories...

This novel was a recommendation from leading English-Danish translator Signe Lyng. After we met at the Dublin Book Festival in November, she generously sent me a list of recent Danish-language novels that she admires, including Niviaq Korneliussen’s Last Night in Nuuk and Solvej Balle’s On the Calculation of Volume. One of Lyng’s suggestions stood out […]

This novel was a recommendation from leading English-Danish translator Signe Lyng. After we met at the Dublin Book Festival in November, she generously sent me a list of recent Danish-language novels that she admires, including Niviaq Korneliussen’s Last Night in Nuuk and Solvej Balle’s On the Calculation of Volume. One of Lyng’s suggestions stood out to me for two reasons: firstly, because it came out twelve years ago and so the English-language version was likely to fit my criteria of only featuring books published pre-2021 on this blog this year. Secondly, because Greenland is a big focus of the plot, and as anyone who knows about my admiration for the Togolese explorer Tété-Michel Kpomassie will realise, Greenland is a place that particularly captures my imagination. (Indeed, 2025 promises to bring some exciting news on that front – watch this space!) Kim Leine’s award-winning and bestselling The Prophets of Eternal Fjord, translated by Martin Aitken, tells the story of Morten Falch, an eighteenth-century Danish missionary who travels to Greenland to spread the gospel to the Inuit. Ambitious and earnest, yet riddled with doubts and secret desires (and fixated on Rousseau’s observation that ‘Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains’), Falch finds himself tested in the colony’s harsh physical and social climate. Principles crumble in the face of insurmountable inequalities, corruption and human frailty, with gut-wrenching results. This is a truly absorbing novel. One of those rare fat books you wish was even longer. The writing is at heart of this. There is a wonderful dexterity to Leine and Aitken’s prose, which takes us inside Morten’s most intimate thoughts (as well as those of a number of characters he encounters), laying bare his blind spots, idiosyncracies, vulnerabilities and desires. Part of the work’s power comes from the attention to detail and physical sensations. The writing excels at delineating the minute shifts in power dynamics that accompany crucial moments and decisions, showing how easily things might turn in another direction, and yet simultaneously making us feel the inevitability of what transpires. The most powerful example of this involves a protracted rape scene, which shows the ebb and flow of control, and captures the absurdity, humanity and even wrongheaded moments of tenderness, humour and connection in the midst of the cruelty and brutality being inflicted. ‘I’m sure it’s not as bad as it feels,’ the attacker tells their victim at one point, revealing the self-deception underlying all the worst suffering depicted in the book. Leine presents a powerful anatomy of objectification, showing the way skewed power dynamics warp thinking, feeding off our struggle to conceive of others as having interior lives that are as rich and nuanced as our own. Interestingly, the book starts with a brief translator’s note, explaining that using the third person pronoun to address someone was a feature of polite discourse in eighteenth-century Danish and that Aitken has chosen to retain it in the English version. This feels like a risky decision – distancing and potentially confusing. Yet Aitken makes it work, establishing a new variant of formal speech that quickly feels natural to the world of the novel. This and the numerous virtuosic descriptions and assertions often couched in deceptively simple terms are testament to the skill of this writer-translator pair. Take my favourite line, used to describe an infested mattress on the ship on which Morten sails: ‘The lice seep forth like water.’ How horrifyingly marvellous is that? It captures the action so simply and so precisely. You can see the lice rising out of the fibres. It is absolutely the right formulation to bring that moment to life. And if I sat at my desk for half a year it would never occur to me. And of course it is in this ingenuity, this care, this attention to detail, that the hope of this majestic novel lies. Because although he depicts characters enchained by their own perspectives and desires, Leine reveals by the world he creates for us that we can transcend our small, partial viewpoints. We can look further, we can feel beyond the boundaries of our own experience. The best storytelling allows us to to do this. And it is by making this possible that books like The Prophets of Eternal Fjord live beyond their moment. And so I come to the end of my year of reading nothing new for this blog. What have I learnt? Well, although my other writing projects and work chairing events at literature festivals mean I haven’t been able only to read books published pre-2021, turning down the volume on the hype around newly published works over the past twelve months has proved instructive. There are many books that make a big splash when they appear and there are others that echo more loudly with the passing of the years. Sometimes there is a correlation between the two, as with The Prophets of Eternal Fjord. But often books that are big when they come out fall away in time: many of the literary stars of previous eras are barely remembered now. While big publishers have a fair bit of influence over which titles are visible at first, it is readers who dictate what will be remembered and what will speak beyond its moment. It is the books that stay with us, that we continue to recommend and return to that will live on. This is exciting and encouraging. It means we all have a say in shaping our literary culture. And it means that small presses that don’t have the marketing fire power of the big houses may still produce work that finds a large audience and reverberates down the years. Thanks to everyone who has shared their suggestions of older books that stay with them this year. Here’s to many more wonderful literary encounters (and a possible trip to Greenland) in 2025! The Prophets of Eternal Fjord by Kim Leine, translated from the Danish by Martin Aitken (Atlantic Books, 2016) Picture: ‘Old Church in Upernavik’ by David Stanley on flickr.com

This was a recommendation from Suroor Alikhan, who kindly invited me to be part of the Hyderabad Literature Festival Online series earlier this year and wrote about our event on her blog. Suroor is an extremely widely read person, so I knew when she suggested Gabonese author Angèle Rawiri’s The Fury and Cries of Women, […]

This was a recommendation from Suroor Alikhan, who kindly invited me to be part of the Hyderabad Literature Festival Online series earlier this year and wrote about our event on her blog. Suroor is an extremely widely read person, so I knew when she suggested Gabonese author Angèle Rawiri’s The Fury and Cries of Women, translated into English by Sara Hanaburgh, that it would be worth a look. As the translation came out in 2014, the book fell comfortably before the 2021 cut off I’ve set myself for my year of reading nothing new. I wasted no time in ordering it. The novel follows Emilienne, a wealthy businesswoman in what we are told is a surprisingly progressive marriage according to the norms of her community. She is the major breadwinner and her husband – who, like her, studied in Paris – was present at the birth of their daughter Rékia and plays an active role in childcare. But all is not well, and when Rékia dies suddenly and violently, the tragedy exposes cracks in the family that threaten Emilienne’s very existence, plunging her into an identity crisis, and forcing her to confront the prejudices, inequalities and values underpinning her life. It took me a while to understand quite how pioneering a book this is. Because the translation came out in 2014 and because the subject matter feels contemporary (involving a lot of reflection on secondary infertility and female sexuality, including a same-sex love affair), I had assumed the novel was relatively recent. It was only when the subject of AIDS came up some way into the narrative that I discovered it was first published in 1989. Not only that, but Angèle Rawiri is widely credited with being Gabon’s first novelist, leading with Elonga, published in 1986. I’ve featured a number of trailblazing female writers lauded as their nations’ first published women on this blog over the years (among them Kunzang Choden and Paulina Chiziane), but it is rare to see a female writer named as a nation’s first published author. Rawiri certainly seems to feel a duty to tackle national problems in her writing. Women’s rights take centre stage but many other political and social issues pass through her narrative too, among them corruption, the way workers become jaded in a capitalist system, and the legacy of colonialism. I was particularly struck by a passage in which Emilienne’s husband Joseph extolls the merits of a single-party system: let’s have the courage to recognize that we are a selfish tribal people. Take a look at what is happening in the ministries and state-owned companies! First they hire a member of the family, regardless of their abilities, and, if they have none, they look among those around them from their own ethnic group. No, believe me, in order to have a real multiparty system, Africans are going to have to manage to place national interests above their own. In the meantime, the single-party system seems to be what we need. Let me explain: when a country is under the aegis of a single party, its nationals, whatever group they’re from, are forced to meet, discuss, and exchange their opinions about issues that concern them all. They don’t have the time to dwell on tribal issues. Collective motivations almost always win against frictions between individuals. Obviously, with such a political alliance, men learn how to tolerate one another, to love one another, and above all to work toward the same ideals. Isn’t that the goal sought by our leaders! I don’t agree with Joseph (and I suspect Rawiri doesn’t either), but I’ve never seen the arguments for such a system put so persuasively before. The passages that deal with female agency and reproductive rights are particularly arresting, and sometimes shocking. For all her professional status and qualifications, Emilienne finds herself at the mercy of a value system that judges women’s worth by their ability to bear children. When she struggles to conceive a second child, her social stock plummets and she is judged to be in need of a ‘cure’. (Indeed, at one stage we are told that a woman choosing not to have children would have to be ‘sick’ in the head.) As with her presentation of the arguments for a single-party system, Rawiri makes the characters who express these views alarmingly persuasive. (Indeed, were it not for the dedication of the novel to a friend who struggled to conceive, it would sometimes be tempting to think the author’s sympathies lie with them.) In this, the work recalls the brilliant One Part Woman, reviewed on this blog last year. The novel presents numerous challenges for a twenty-first century reader steeped in the Anglo-American literary tradition. Pacing, a perennial sticking point when stories cross borders, works differently: some apparently major issues are presented or resolved abruptly, while the narrative lingers on events that may seem relatively inconsequential to Western eyes. Some of the dialogue feels rather direct or on-the-nose, and the handling of sexual encounters works according to different norms and assumptions. I also found the choice (whether Rawiri’s or translator Hanaburgh’s) to withhold specific cultural terms a little distancing – referring to another community as ‘that ethnic group’ rather than by name or telling us that characters are speaking the ‘local language’ rather than giving us the word for it. But this is distance worth travelling in order to experience this trailblazing literary work. Rawiri was not only dealing with challenging subject matter but also carving out a path for a new tradition, depicting places and people who had never been seen in novels before. When novelists like me sit down to write, we follow well-trodden paths, lined with countless examples of how the world around us might be depicted on the page. But although Rawiri may have had some exemplars in the work of Francophone African feminist writers like Mariama Bâ, no-one in her nation had put her surroundings into a published print story before. The scale of her ambition and achievement is extraordinary. The Fury and Cries of Women (Fureurs et cris de femme) by Angèle Rawiri, translated from the French by Sara Hanaburgh (University of Virginia Press, 2014)

Last weekend, I had the privilege of being part of the line-up at Dublin Book Festival, an annual celebration of all things literary in Ireland’s capital. My event was a discussion of reading the world with Literature Ireland director Sinéad Mac Aodha (pictured with me above), who helped launch Crossing Over at Hodges Figgis last […]

Last weekend, I had the privilege of being part of the line-up at Dublin Book Festival, an annual celebration of all things literary in Ireland’s capital. My event was a discussion of reading the world with Literature Ireland director Sinéad Mac Aodha (pictured with me above), who helped launch Crossing Over at Hodges Figgis last year. But I was lucky to attend several other things thanks to the Literature Ireland team, who took me under their wing for the weekend. The first of these was the launch of Your Own Dark Shadow: A Selection of Lost Irish Horror Stories at the Gutter Bookshop. I don’t consider myself a horror fan, but I was intrigued by what editor Jack Fennell said in his speech about how horror is a way of articulating the sense that something is wrong in the world and helping people to feel less alone in this. My fiction bears hallmarks of this, so I am intrigued to see how this plays out in the collection. I was also deeply impressed by the ethos of the collection’s publisher, Tramp Press, one of a number of indie houses making strides in Ireland. Their submission window is open now, so if you live outside North America and are looking for somewhere to place work, I would recommend checking them out. The next day I attended an event on short stories with Jan Carson and Mary Costello (pictured above). In the queue outside I was delighted to bump into debut novelist Alan Murrin, with whom I did an event earlier this year. His recommendation of Mary Costello’s story ‘The Choc-Ice Woman’ was so enthusiastic that I lost no time in buying a copy of her latest collection. The discussion in the event was illuminating and wide-ranging. Jan Carson talked about how word counts were coming down for many journals and competitions. ‘Watch yourself if you’re always writing to fit others’ requirements,’ she said. She explained that the way into stories for her is through concepts, and gave a brilliant example in the shape a story in her latest collection that was commissioned to explore how Northern Ireland is seen in the wake of Brexit. She had approached the subject by envisaging a baby drifting down a river separating the land of two farmer brothers who don’t get on. Meanwhile, Mary Costello said that for her the spur to writing comes from thinking about the interior lives of her characters. It will often be physical exercise, whether walking or hoovering, that shakes problems loose in her work. Next up was an event on the essay, chaired by Brendan Barrington, founder editor of The Dublin Review. I found this very inspiring. Over the hour-long discussion, in which panellists shared some of their favourite pieces from the publication, I was struck by the enthusiasm of these writers for this somewhat enigmatic form, and by their openness to people writing in several genres. ‘If you’re a serious writer and you don’t write an essay occasionally, you’re missing a trick,’ said Barrington at one point. I took this as a challenge. Watch this space. My event was towards the end of the afternoon and it was wonderful to be greeted by an enthusiastic audience, featuring several familiar faces, among them author Rónán Hession, Africa Institute in Ireland programme director Adekunle Gomez and Lyndsey Fineran, who created my literary explorer role at Cheltenham Literature Festival and is now artistic director of the Auckland Writers Festival. The discussions afterwards were particularly heartwarming. So many readers shared insights about how reading internationally connected to their experience, and I left with a list of book recommendations. I was also particularly delighted to make the acquaintance of translator Signe Lyng, who brings many of Ireland’s most well-known writers’ work into Danish. She subsequently sent me a list of Danish recommendations. I think I feel a book of the month coming on… I left Dublin inspired and encouraged. What I’d shared in was an event founded on the belief that storytelling is valuable, not for the money it makes but because of the connections it forges – something that I hope also drives my work. Irish writing has always had an important place on the international stage, and is perhaps enjoying a particularly powerful moment. At Dublin Book Festival, it was not hard to see why.

A few weeks ago, I found myself having lunch next to the Belgian author David Van Reybrouck. We were in the writers’ room at the Cheltenham Literature Festival, where he had just taken part in a panel discussion on the end of empire, drawing on his Baillie Gifford Prize-shortlisted book Revolusi: Indonesia and the Birth […]

A few weeks ago, I found myself having lunch next to the Belgian author David Van Reybrouck. We were in the writers’ room at the Cheltenham Literature Festival, where he had just taken part in a panel discussion on the end of empire, drawing on his Baillie Gifford Prize-shortlisted book Revolusi: Indonesia and the Birth of the Modern World, translated by David Colmer and David McKay. When I explained my role as the festival’s literary explorer in residence and how it had come out of this project and my first book, Reading the World, he exclaimed: ‘I just had that book in my hand!’ It turned out he had picked it up in the festival’s bookshop and checked the list at the back to see what I had chosen for Belgium. ‘You picked a French-language writer I’ve never heard of!’ he said with a mischievous smile. More than twelve years after I set out to read the world, it was clearly high time I ventured into Flemish literature. So I asked what he would recommend. According to Van Reybrouck and to the blurb on the back of my 1991 Penguin edition, translated by Arnold J. Pomerans, Hugo Claus’s The Sorrow of Belgium (first published in 1983) is one of its homeland’s most important novels. Set in Flanders between 1939 and 1947, it follows the coming of age of Louis Seynaeve, whose family collaborates with the Germans during the Occupation. Through the unfolding of tortured domestic relationships, it reveals the national and cultural cost of betrayal, brutality and war. It’s easy to see why The Sorrow of Belgium appeals to Van Reybrouck, whose Revolusi I was listening to while I read this novel. Both books find ingenious ways to pleat together the personal and the political: while Revolusi interweaves extraordinary eyewitness testimony with wide-ranging historical analysis, The Sorrow of Belgium uses intimate, personal details to reveal the psychological cost of occupation and domination. As Louis obsesses over his father’s secret stash of toffees, navigates a series of disturbing early sexual encounters and steers his way through fraught relationships with the nuns and priests in charge of his education, we see the isolation and insecurity that the horrors unfolding largely offstage have wrought in him. The book captures the tedium and pettiness that can characterise the everyday experience of momentous historical events (as many of us may have found during the pandemic). ‘The only thing you went through [during the Occupation] was making sure you got enough food and clothes and coal,’ Louis tells his mother. This both is and isn’t true: we see all the characters shaped and changed by international events. Although their reality may be measured out in the availability of provisions and snippets of local gossip, the pressure they are under is always evident, coming out in surprising, disturbing and sometimes amusing ways. Language and storytelling are constant themes. Louis’s father rails against French speakers, while, at the start of the novel, Louis and his boarding school chums make the sharing of so-called ‘banned books’ a condition for admittance into their secret club of Apostles. Even before the Occupation and certainly during it the narrative seems to hum with an awareness of what may or may not be said, and the form of language acceptable. The Penguin edition adds an extra layer to this. ‘The people of Flanders speak Flemish, a variant of Dutch which is distinguished from the version spoken in the Netherlands by minor differences in accent and vocabulary only,’ writes Arnold J. Pomerans in his ‘Translator’s Note’. The edition proclaims that it is translated from the Dutch, and the blurb even trumpets The Sorrow of Belgium as ‘the most important Dutch novel to have been published since the war’. All of which leaves a reader like me wondering what Claus – whose work has so much to say about language and how it relates to identity, and who is widely described as a Flemish writer – may have made of this. Would he have agreed with Pomerans’s assertion that the differences between Flemish and Dutch are so slight as to be negligible? Did he in fact write this book in Dutch? Or is this an example of an English-language publisher not wanting to risk putting readers off with too much intimidating detail? Would a novel billed as translated from Flemish (if that is what this is) have been a tougher sell? Language use in the novel is fascinating in other ways too. The narrative bends to explore the limits of subjectivity, diving in and out of Louis’s consciousness so that we are often uncertain how much veracity to accord events. In a manner reminiscent of anglophone modernist greats such as James Joyce, Claus excels at depicting the partial, fragmentary nature of experience and perception. This is something that Louis, himself an aspiring writer, laments: ‘He failed to see connections between things, that was true. For one reason or another he found this proof of his inability to recognise the basis, no, the very structure of things, incredibly depressing. He swore all the way back home. Others were able to gain an immediate, coherent, rational picture of complex, fragmented objects, facts, incidents all around them, but not he, no matter how hard he tried, but then he didn’t try very hard, because he didn’t know how to.’ Yet what seems to Louis to be a failing is, Claus shows us, the reality of human experience. There is often greater honesty in scraps and fleeting impressions than in neat, coherent accounts. The desires and messiness of the body (often described in vivid detail) are more truthful than the high-flown, impenetrable rhetoric that figures such as Louis’s troubled mentor Rock deliver to classrooms of bemused schoolboys. The personal is political, Claus and Van Reybrouck show us in their different ways, because it is often the best way we can appreciate what has happened. Patchy and flawed though this appreciation may be, it is necessary to keep us conscious of the distance we have travelled. Our grasp on reality is often feeble and fumbling. That is why we need storytelling. The Sorrow of Belgium by Hugo Claus, translated from the Dutch (Flemish?) by Arnold J. Pomerans (Penguin, 1991)

Some years ago, my father-in-law gave me a secondhand boxset of facsimile editions of the first ten Penguins, released in 1985 to celebrate the industry giant’s fiftieth anniversary. My TBR pile being what it is, to my shame I only gave it a cursory glance, which showed me that it included works by some of […]

Some years ago, my father-in-law gave me a secondhand boxset of facsimile editions of the first ten Penguins, released in 1985 to celebrate the industry giant’s fiftieth anniversary. My TBR pile being what it is, to my shame I only gave it a cursory glance, which showed me that it included works by some of the biggest names of the mid-twentieth century anglophone literary scene: Agatha Christie, Ernest Hemingway and Dorothy L. Sayers among them. Recently, however, as I was pondering my choices for my year of reading nothing new, the collection caught my eye. Surely there wouldn’t have been any translations in that list of first ten Penguin titles, which proved so successful that the imprint became an independent publisher the following year? I was wrong. There was one. The very first title, in fact. And it was hardly the book I would have expected to be chosen to launch a publishing venture setting out to offer affordable contemporary fiction. Ariel by André Maurois, translated from the French by Ella D’Arcy and published originally by the Bodley Head in 1924 before coming out as the first Penguin in 1935, is a biography of the major Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Picking up from its subject’s unhappy time at Eton College and following him through his rise to fame, turbulent friendship with Byron, marriages and the trauma of his children’s deaths, up until his drowning at the age of 29, the book offers a compelling portrait of this singular figure, whose personality ‘poured outwards in a sort of luminous fringe melting into that of his friends, and even into that of perfect strangers’. Seeing a famous English writer portrayed through French eyes is illuminating. Throughout the opening pages of the book, there is a subtle locating of Shelley in relation to French concerns, from the impact of the French Revolution on the education system that shaped him, to his early reading of Francophone authors. (‘To love these Frenchmen, so hated by his masters, seemed an act of defiance worthy of his courage.’) It is an intriguing example of the way texts centre certain readers by amplifying particular elements or concerns – one of the questions we often explore in my Incomprehension Workshop. Narrated with engaging wit, the book brims with brilliant anecdotes. A particular favourite of mine is the account of Shelley’s father opening unlimited credit for his son at a bookseller’s in Oxford when he started there as a student: ‘My son here,’ he said, pointing good-humouredly to the wild-haired youth with luminous eyes who stood by, ‘has a literary turn, Mr Slatter. He is already the author of a romance’ – it was the famous Zastrozzi – ‘and if he wishes to publish again, do pray indulge him in his printing freaks.’ With such enthusiastic backing, how could Shelley have failed to take the literary world by storm? Depictions like these make for a rich and engrossing reading experience. And there is something deeply reassuring and satisfying about the certainty with which Maurois recounts unknowable thoughts and conversations – from the responses of local children watching the recovery of Shelley’s remains to the musings of the young Shelley in the midst of his childhood games. But there is something unsettling about this too. Such readiness to put words and thoughts into the mouths and minds of those he describes bespeaks an authorial confidence that I find troubling as a writer. While it is seductive to think that such clarity is possible, it is problematic, harking back to a time when authority was perhaps less readily questioned. This is particularly true when it comes to the unexamined generalisations, assumptions and prejudices that pepper the pages and are stated as fact – everything from the tightfistedness of Scots (‘the citizens of Edinburgh, difficult to get at where their purse is concerned’) to the solution to the Irish question (‘Instead of expecting their freedom from the British, the Irish should free themselves by becoming sober, just, and charitable’). Women bear the brunt of this. ‘It is rare that pretty women show a taste for dangerous ideas,’ Maurois informs us. ‘Beauty, the natural expression of law and order, is conservative by essence.’ Well, slap my face and call me a Gorgon! In addition, there are multiple references to Shelley ‘forming’ both his wives, as well as a disturbingly blithe description of him spending an evening in the bedroom of the 16-year-old Harriet when she is ill – ‘next day Harriet was quite well.’ In such cases, a skewed power dynamic seems, if anything, to be a cause for celebration in Maurois’s eyes. Such a blend of empathy and blindness showing up in this book first published exactly 100 years ago is intriguing. What assumptions and blind spots crowd the work of contemporary writers? This is one of the joys of reading internationally: it allows us to recognise the narrowness of certain ideas and assumptions by throwing them into relief against stories that work on quite different terms. All credit, then, to Penguin pioneer Allen Lane for launching his bid to take the mass market by storm with a translation – and not just any translation but a reprint of a biography of a poet to boot. What commercial house today would do the same? Ariel by André Maurois, translated from the French by Ella D’Arcy (Penguin, 1935; 1985)

This #WITMonth, it was the translator who attracted me to my featured title. I often find this is the case: now that I’m relatively well versed in how books come into English, there are certain translators’ names that predispose me to try stories. Because I admire other projects they’ve done or know them to be […]

This #WITMonth, it was the translator who attracted me to my featured title. I often find this is the case: now that I’m relatively well versed in how books come into English, there are certain translators’ names that predispose me to try stories. Because I admire other projects they’ve done or know them to be particularly committed to championing interesting voices, I regard their involvement with a book as a sign that something is worth investigating. In the case of Angélica Gorodischer’s Kalpa Imperial, originally published in Spanish in 1983, it wasn’t the translator’s other translations but her novels that piqued my interest. Despite not being particularly keen on sci-fi (although I’m warming up to it in my fifth decade), I’m a big fan of the work of the late Ursula K. Le Guin. If you haven’t read her, you’re in for a treat. Along with her novels, poetry, short fiction, criticism and books for children, Le Guin’s website lists four translations in her bibliography. Kalpa Imperial: The Greatest Empire that Never Was is one of these. As its subtitle suggests, the book charts the history of an imaginary empire. It does so through multiple voices, bringing alive the idiosyncrasies, cruelties, obsessions and triumphs of a host of the personages who have shaped and been shaped by this history. Many of these figures are marvellous creations. Take the dealer in curiosities who buys a boy who can dance in an era when dancing has been forgotten. Or the urchin who shrugs off her abusers and rises to be empress. And there are numerous sadists in the mix too – many of them military men who delight in pursuing their proclivities in the professional arena. The prose is similarly inventive and startling. Lyricism jostles with surprise on every page. There is also plenty of humour. Lists in novels are frequently a bugbear of mine: I find them wearing and am often tempted to skip them. But Gorodischer and Le Guin’s lists engrossed me – masterclasses in rhythm and the subversion of expectations. There is subversion at the structural level too. Sometimes events are narrated several times by different voices – fishermen, passersby, servants and a dedicated storyteller. Indeed, along with the empire itself, the figure of the storyteller is the only consistent presence in the book. Most discussion of the novel I’ve seen declares that there are multiple storytellers involved in it. This wasn’t clear to me – I read the storyteller as being a single voice. But if you know different, please tell me! Certainly, the tone of the storyteller is varied. At times fawning and affectionate, the narrator can also be downright rude to the reader – ‘if you could imagine anything you wouldn’t have come here to listen to stories and whine like silly old women if the storyteller leaves out one single detail.’ What remains consistent, however, is the book’s excavation of the mechanics and purpose of storytelling. ‘I’m the one who can tell you what really happened, because it’s the storyteller’s job to speak the truth even when the truth lacks the brilliance of invention and has only that other beauty which stupid people call mean and base,’ the narrator declares at one point. And at another: ‘a storyteller is something more than a man who recounts things for the pleasure and instruction of the crowd[…] a storyteller obeys certain rules and accepts certain ways of living that aren’t laid out in any treatise but are as important or more important than the words he uses to make his sentences[…] no storyteller ever bows down to power’. There is a clarity to the prose and to the insights the book presents into its characters’ motivations that reminded my of Le Guin’s other writing. This got me thinking anew about the influence of readers and translators on stories. It’s something that’s been on my mind lately as I’ve been receiving feedback from beta readers on the manuscript of my forthcoming book, Relearning to Read: Adventures in Not-Knowing (preorder your signed collectors’-edition copy now!). The brilliant insights and responses I’ve had from these first readers have been invaluable in helping me finetune the book, and they have developed my understanding of it too. Relearning to Read now carries their influence and is the stronger for it. Translators, of course, aren’t simply readers providing feedback that a writer may respond to or ignore. They rewrite a book in their own words. But this rewriting is in response to reading. It can’t help but meld their own talents and perspectives with the strengths and weaknesses of the primary work. There is an inevitable hybridity to the end result. Of course, part of what attracted Le Guin to the project of translating Kalpa Imperial may have been the sense of a synergy between her work and Gorodischer’s. Unlike many translators, Le Guin had the luxury of picking and choosing the books she worked on. Translation wasn’t her primary career. Still, reading her rendering of this Argentinian sci-fi/fantasy classic, I can’t help but wonder if translation itself doesn’t have something of the fantastical or speculative about it: a processes that fuses the capabilities of two minds. It sounds like something Le Guin herself might have envisioned in one of her novels: a revolutionary technology that enables the magnification of creativity, multiplying the powers of those involved. In that sense, when a book is the product of two writers working at the top of their game, as the English version of Kalpa Imperial seems to be, might translations offer a supercharged reading experience, a kind of literature squared? Kalpa Imperial: The Greatest Empire That Never Was by Angélica Gorodischer, translated from the Spanish by Ursula K. Le Guin (Small Beer Press, 2013) Picture: ‘kalpa imperial’ by Dr Umm on flickr.com

This month, the seventh in my year of reading nothing new, I delved back further than usual. My edition of July’s featured title was published in 2020, but the original came out some considerable time before that, in 1881. The English translation of The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas is a collaboration between two translators […]

This month, the seventh in my year of reading nothing new, I delved back further than usual. My edition of July’s featured title was published in 2020, but the original came out some considerable time before that, in 1881. The English translation of The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas is a collaboration between two translators to whom I owe a debt of gratitude. Back in 2012, Margaret Jull Costa and Robin Patterson were among the nine volunteers who translated A casa do pastor by Olinda Beja so that I would have a book to read from São Tomé and Príncipe. As its title suggests, the novel by the legendary Brazilian author Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis presents an account written from beyond the grave by its title character, an aristocrat with a string of failed love affairs and thwarted political ambitions to his name. It wastes no time in declaring its singularity. Right from its dedication (to the first worm to gnaw its author’s flesh), it demonstrates a determination to explode conventions and taboos. The narrative also rides roughshod over literary customs. Digressions abound, chronology scatters and we are repeatedly informed that the author is minded to cut a section we have just read, as well as told about notes for chapters that will not be written, and, once, presented with a passage in which all dialogue is blank. ‘This is, after all, the work of a dead man’, Brás Cubas or whatever remains of him declares, as if with a shrug. Indeed, being dead seems to absolve the protagonist-narrator of all obligations to please, giving him carte blanche to lay into whomever he chooses. The reader is no exception, and neither is Brás Cubas himself: The main problem with this book is you, the reader. You’re in a hurry to get old, and the book progresses slowly; you love direct, sustained narrative, a regular, fluid style, whereas this book and my style are like a pair of drunkards: they stagger left and right, start and stop, mumble, yell, roar with laughter, shake their fists at the heavens, then stumble and fall… Of course, regardless of its narrator’s declarations about having no need to please, such devil-may-care posturing is extremely entertaining and pleasing. A great deal of humour comes from a choice of register that deflates the pretensions of the characters. There is also a wonderful inventiveness to the writing. Although he often abandons analogies in mid-flow, the imagery Brás Cubas does use is often startlingly fresh and witty. ‘One morning, while I was strolling in the garden, an idea appeared on the trapeze I have inside my head,’ he declares at the start of chapter two. Among the many things to admire about the translation is surely the fact that Jull Costa and Patterson have managed to achieve a voice that is simultaneously erratic and distinctive, that, while roving among the registers, feels true to its singular speaker. (Although the inclusion of footnotes creates a strange tension in this anarchic, irreverent text: I found myself constantly questioning whether what seemed to be straight, factual glosses were in fact up to something I hadn’t fathomed – maybe they were.) Another of the book’s startling qualities is the way it seems to reach both forward and backwards in literary history. Its irreverence and textual high-jinks recall the works of eighteenth century writers such as Sterne; there is more than a touch of the picaresque about it; yet its inventiveness also hints at psychedelia and the experimentation of the greats of modernism. In this sense, Machado has achieved a powerful impression of, if not the eternity that entraps its narrator, then timelessness. The same goes for its satire. At once of its moment and resonant beyond its setting, Machado’s exposure of the hypocrisy of this society built on the backs of slaves, in which the desire for fame eclipses genuine advancement and learning, speaks to worlds he can never have known. At one point Brás Cubas even seems to reach from the pages to grip our hands. He imagines a ‘bibliomaniac’ seventy years or so on from the time of writing considering the novel. The description is not flattering – he conjures a sallow, white-haired creature whose main interest in the volume is because it is rare rather than of any literary value. I like to think I’m some distance from the figure Machado imagined. Yet, knowing the author to have been something of a ‘bibliomaniac’ himself – he reportedly set himself the goal of reading all the world’s classics in their original languages – I suspect he may have more sympathy for such creatures then this depiction implies. At any rate, another seventy years on from the time of the bibliomaniac Brás Cubas pictures, this bibliomaniac salutes his author, even as she corrects him: the value of his novel has nothing to do with its scarcity. It is thankfully widely available. And a jolly good thing too. The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas by Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, translated from the Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa and Robin Patterson (Liveright, 2020)

A new book? I hear you cry. Yes! And it’s one that you’ve helped me write. Relearning to Read: Adventures in Not-Knowing is my second non-fiction book and it draws on a new approach to reading that I’ve developed over the twelve years of writing this blog. Among the many challenges I had to face […]

A new book? I hear you cry. Yes! And it’s one that you’ve helped me write. Relearning to Read: Adventures in Not-Knowing is my second non-fiction book and it draws on a new approach to reading that I’ve developed over the twelve years of writing this blog. Among the many challenges I had to face when I set out to read a book from every country in 2012 – how to fit all the reading in? how to get books from every country? what even is a country? – was the fact that the way I used to read wasn’t going to work. I was in the habit of being clever about books – using context and knowledge to draw out rich insights and make connections. That had worked really well for me for the first thirty years of my life, when I spent most of my time reading books from a world I knew. As a literature student, I really enjoyed researching the texts on my courses, and using criticism and history to help unlock their secrets. But in 2012, with an average of 1.87 days to read and review each book I was covering that year, there was no time to do any extra reading. Many of the titles came from cultures of which I knew nothing, and were based on belief systems, mores, events and assumptions that were mysteries to me. But there was no way for me to familiarise myself with any of this and adopt the authoritative, knowledgeable tone I had strived for at university. I had to be open about my ignorance and accept that there was a lot I didn’t understand. What started as a necessity became a revelation. I discovered that embracing not-knowing, adopting openness and humility, and learning to hold questions in my mind was hugely enriching. Not only did it teach me a lot about myself but it enabled me to build much more meaningful connections with books, people and the world. This has led to many of the exchanges and friendships I established over the years through this blog (like my correspondence with living legend Tété-Michel Kpomassie, who I met in Paris last month – that’s us pictured above). And it has shaped the way I write and think about books – on this blog and elsewhere. Back in 2021, to explore this approach to reading further, I launched my Incomprehension Workshop. A few months later, to celebrate this blog’s ten-year anniversary, I offered a free virtual session and was delighted to have so many takers that I had to run two to accommodate everyone. Since then, I have run the workshop with readers around the world, most recently in Assam, India. Playing with not-knowing in the company of fellow enthusiastic readers has been a great source of inspiration for me, and a brilliant chance to test and hone a lot of the ideas that inform my new book. Relearning to Read: Adventures in Not-Knowing is about reimaging the way we read by embracing not-knowing, questioning, humility and curiosity. Each chapter takes a different text likely to be outside the comfort zone of most English-language readers and uses this to play with different questions – what is authenticity? what makes something funny? how does censorship affect reading? and what makes us like a book in the first place? Some of the wonderful readers and writers I’ve encountered over the past twelve years make an appearance, including my hero Tété-Michel. And I also share how reading has shaped my life and rewritten me. Relearning to Read is out worldwide in English in September 2025. BUT you can preorder it now. Indeed, my publisher Renard Press has made a wonderful offer: the first 100 orders through the Renard Press website will receive a signed, special-edition copy for the price of a standard paperback, shipped ANYWHERE in the world. That’s not all. If you preorder a Renard Press Edition of Relearning to Read, you can also get a Renard Press Edition of my second novel, Crossing Over, half price. Just put both in your basket and enter the coupon code RELEARNING at the checkout, and your collectors’ copies will wing their way to you in September 2025. Thank you.

This book was one of two sent to me by Colin. He was going on a trip to Kosovo and volunteered to go to some bookshops on my behalf to see what Kosovan booksellers would choose for me as standout books from their nation. Kosovo wasn’t included in my original year of reading the world. […]

This book was one of two sent to me by Colin. He was going on a trip to Kosovo and volunteered to go to some bookshops on my behalf to see what Kosovan booksellers would choose for me as standout books from their nation. Kosovo wasn’t included in my original year of reading the world. Although it’s recognised by more than 110 countries, it isn’t officially UN-recognised. As such, it’s one of the many nations that fell under the ‘Rest of the World‘ banner, which ended up being represented by Kurdistan that year. I was intrigued to see what Colin what find. He sent me an email from Prishtina, where he had had a great conversation with a bookseller at Libraria Dukagjini. She recommended three titles that had been translated into English: the international hit My Cat Yugoslavia by Pajtim Statovci, who writes in Finnish, translated by David Hackston; Night Trails by Mustafe Ismaili, translated by the author; and Glimmer of Hope, Glimmer of Flame by Ag Apolloni, translated by Robert Wilton and published by Elbow Books. She also mentioned an untranslated novel, Genjeshtars te vegjel by Fatos Kongoli (which translates Google translates as ‘Little Liars’). I have MCY, but the other two translations intrigued me. Colin posted these to me, persevering when the British customs returned the books first time round. The Ag Apollini in particular caught my eye. ‘A masterpiece,’ proclaimed Mieke Bal on the cover and it had been named as Kosovo’s 2020 novel of the year. I decided I’d better see what all the fuss was about. Apolloni calls this book a ‘documentary novel’ and I can see what he means. Built around a real-life research trip he made with academic Dritan Dragusha and film director Gazmend Bajri, the narrative records his responses to the stories of two women whose families disappeared during the Kosovo War. One, Ferdonija, spends her life waiting, still setting the table twenty years later in the hope her four sons will return; the other, Pashka, burnt herself to death when the remains of two of her children were returned. Yet, in many ways, this book is more essay than documentary: it brings in Apolloni’s thinking on Greek tragedy and weaves together literary and cultural references from throughout human history to cast the hideous events of the recent past in a timeless, mythic light. Reflecting on the fact that of the more than 100 plays Aeschylus is known to have written only a handful survive, it explores what loss on every level means and how it shapes the human condition. At the centre of the book is an intellectual challenge: how do you tell a story about someone who has no future, whose life is in the past? Apolloni puts it like this: ‘how can you write something about someone who just sits and laments their own fate?’ Stories are surely action and agency, after all? Protagonists do things. Aeschylus provides the answer: the lost play, Niobe, surely did just that, recording the suffering of the bereaved mother at the heart of it, taking the audience into the centre of her pain. Apolloni sets out to achieve something similar. And he succeeds. This is no cold, academic exercise. Feeling is everywhere in this book, both in the raw and extraordinary portrayal of Pashka and Ferdonija, but also in the other stories that touch theirs, many of which are realised in no more than a sentence or two. A particularly moving section involves a visit from a high-profile Holocaust survivor, who comes to meet the war’s victims. ‘What I know is that I must be here at least,’ he tells a woman. ‘I must be. I cannot suffer in your place, but I have to be present at your suffering. That’s all I can do.’ Yet, in being present in such a way, he is himself a sort of timeless figure – ‘like the high priest of Shiloh, determined in his compassion to shelter all of the children and raise them in the tabernacle’. By being intensely part of specific, extreme experience, he assumes a sort universality. This is a key theme of the book: timelessness is made out of intense nowness, out of raw, compacted pain. ‘Tragic myths are created by great shocks. In the direst cases, we are myths recycled.’ So it is that the contemporary details of Ferdonija’s static existence speak beyond their moment. The descriptions of the photographers posing her and staging her home so as to present her grief as they see fit reveal themselves to be part of the changeless human condition. The feelings this evokes resonate with Niobe, with Electra, with Antigone – with all those mythic female figures who lamented and felt the weight of others’ eyes upon them. The universality of these feelings stretches not only back through time but outwards across political boundaries. In the face of such a story, all people, regardless of their heritage and allegiances, cannot help but respond. So it is that when Gazmend Bajri screens his film, people on all sides of the conflict respond to the suffering: ‘Pain is human, not national. This has nothing whatever to do with nationalism, and so the audience suffered along with the actor.’ Of course, reading this book now, in another time of great suffering, adds another layer. When many in other parts of the world – in Palestine, in Sudan, in Ukraine, to name but a few – are experiencing similar horrors on a comparable scale, this story feels particularly telling. For many, the thought of reading it might seem too much – the last thing you want when we are already bombarded with so much misery. Yet this is precisely what makes Glimmer of Hope, Glimmer of Flame uplifting. In the face of so much suffering it is easy to feel helpless and overwhelmed. Storytelling – when it is as honest, humane and insightful as this – gives us a way to get alongside these experiences, to be present. By giving shape to sorrow, stories allow us to commune with it: ‘Gazi films Ferdonija so that we too may feel her tragedy; he knows that this is how you kindle cartharsis in the spectator, participating in the suffering of the main character, so that passio becomes compassio.’ There may not be anything we can do in the face of these horrors, Apolloni shows us, but there is a way we can be. Glimmer of Hope, Glimmer of Flame: a documentary novel by Ag Apolloni, translated from the Albanian by Robert Wilton (Elbow Books, 2023)

Don’t judge a book by its cover, the saying goes. Frankly, though, if I were assessing Fatou Diome’s The Belly of the Atlantic, translated by Lulu Norman and Ros Schwartz, on its appearance, I probably wouldn’t have picked it up. The pictures of the figure in the boat and the foot on the ball feel […]

Don’t judge a book by its cover, the saying goes. Frankly, though, if I were assessing Fatou Diome’s The Belly of the Atlantic, translated by Lulu Norman and Ros Schwartz, on its appearance, I probably wouldn’t have picked it up. The pictures of the figure in the boat and the foot on the ball feel wearily familiar, if not a little clichéd. Besides, although I’ve read and enjoyed football novels in the past – and know that a great writer can make any topic absorbing – I usually do so in spite rather than because of such subject matter. Not being a sports fan, I rarely find knowing a book is built around a particular game tempting. But I did pick up this novel, which came out in French in the early 2000s and in English in 2006, for two reasons: partly because Senegal was one of the nations that had relatively few novels available in translation when I did my original Year of Reading the World, but also because I’m a particular admirer of the work of one of its translators: Ros Schwartz. Seeing her name on the title page suggested to me that this would be worth a try. In fact, this book subverts the apparently familiar tropes of its cover in powerful ways. Narrated by Salie, who lives in France, the novel crystallises around a series of phone calls from her younger brother, Madické. A football fan with a difference, Madické is obsessed not with the French team beloved of his peers but with the exploits of the Italian player Maldini and needs to hear how every match he plays turns out. The one television on their home island of Niodior is temperamental to say the least, hence his SOS calls to his sister to fill him in. These conversations prove the catalyst for a series of reflections on and memories of Salie’s life, the immigrant experience, and the gulf that travelling from one world to another opens up between those who leave and those who stay behind. The female perspective is part of what makes the book so striking. The opening descriptions of football mania and boys revelling in the beautiful game invite us to assume a male narrator. It is only gradually, with the repeated presence of strong, female characters, and strikingly direct observations about discrimination and the hypocrisy of patriarchal society, that the narrator’s position becomes clear. Indeed, it is only some pages into the narrative that Salie reveals herself as ‘a moderate feminist’ who ‘wouldn’t want testicles for the world’, and who looks with some disdain on the standards her brother is expected to conform to in order to satisfy her home society’s conception of ‘man’. This covert disruption of what might be thought of as the default narrative voice for a book like this makes much about it fresh and startling, even twenty years after its publication. Familiar ideas are presented from new angles. And the tales of those who remain on Niodior, trapped in cycles of poverty and prejudice, gleam with troubling brilliance. The story of Sankèle, who pays a terrible price in an effort to escape an arranged marriage, is particularly memorable. For a reader in the UK, the novel may seem uncannily prescient. In its exploration of the desire that many young people have to leave Niodior and try their luck in Europe, and its presentation of the grim reality and crushing obligations that await those who make the leap, the book seems to anticipate the stories that flooded Western media years later of African migrants braving horrific risks in search of a better life. For example, here’s Salie reflecting on the gap between Madické’s idea of her daily life and the reality: ‘It was no use telling Madické that as a cleaning woman my survival depended on the number of floor cloths I got through. He persisted in imagining I wanted for nothing, living like royalty at the court of Louis XIV. Accustomed to going without in his underdeveloped country, he wasn’t going to feel sorry for a sister living in one of the world’s great powers after all! He couldn’t help his illusions. The third world can’t see Europe’s wounds, it is blinded by its own; it can’t hear Europe’s cry, it is deafened by its own. Having someone to blame lessens your suffering, and if the third world started to see the west’s misery, it would lose the target of its anger.’ Of course, the fact that these words written in the early 2000s read as prescient to someone like me also shows up the selectiveness of the anglophone world’s storytelling: the so-called ‘migrant crisis’ is not a new phenomenon, Diome’s novel reminds us, regardless of what prevailing accounts of it may lead us to assume. Structured as it is, the book can feel a little static. Salie is relatively passive – partly because she is trapped by her situation and partly because she is trapped by the past. As such, she is perhaps more in the position of one of the oral storytellers of her homeland, recounting rather than participating in events. The writing, however, brims with energy. Like its perspective, the novel’s imagery is fresh and striking, melding Senegalese traditions, nature and computer technology to paint the world in bold colours. If, occasionally, the narrative tips over into polemic, well, who are we to argue? Reading The Belly of the Atlantic made me reflect on many things. It reminded me of the valuable way stories from elsewhere can disrupt, problematise and reshape the narratives that surround us. It also helped me remember how important older books are in anchoring us and counteracting the kneejerk impressions of the now. If we only ever read new titles – no matter how brilliant they may be – we can easily become detached from the threads of history, and lose sight of the lines and grapnels cast back down the decades that bind us to the world and to one another. The Belly of the Atlantic by Fatou Diome, translated from the French by Lulu Norman and Ros Schwartz (Serpent’s Tail, 2006)

Book Recommendations and Reviews

What do you think of these findings?

Everand—a company that offers a monthly subscription for access to ebooks, audiobooks, podcasts, and more—just released their 2025 State of Reading Report. They gathered data on why we read, how and what we read, our beliefs about books, and the evolution of reading by interviewing 1,500 US consumers aged 18-64 who had paid for an ebook or audiobook subscription within the last two years. Some of the report’s findings are below. Why we read The survey found that 95% of participants thought that reading was important to them 95% read for leisure, while 85% find it releaxing How and what we read 50% of participants preferred a mix of reading physical and digital books 57% consumed a mix of audiobooks and ebooks Our beliefs about books 84% of participants believe the best stories are the ones you like The evolution of reading 28% of participants think social media has influenced their reading greatly 34% think social media has made reading more popular 69% participate in book clubs to discover new authors and books 86.2% strongly oppose book bans 77% use ebook and audiobook formats daily or weekly Going into the rest of the year, this snapshot of how a certain subset of readers read and view reading is interesting. Through it, we can see the vast effects that things like social media and recent book banning efforts have had on the book world in such a short time. To get more statistics and context around the study, visit Everand. Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.

Sing Sing goes back to the big screen and behind bars, an NFL player sends a book to the bestseller list, and more.

Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more. How Gaiman’s Publishers Are Responding to Sexual Assault Allegations In yesterday’s installment, I wondered why publishing media has been relatively silent on the sexual assault allegations against Neil Gaiman while many mainstream publications have had it as the top story in their books coverage all week. At Publishers Weekly, per an editor who reached out to me by email, the delay was caused by waiting on responses to their requests for comment from Gaiman’s publishers. In a piece published yesterday afternoon, PW reports confirmation that, as was reported in the New York Times on Tuesday, HarperCollins, Marvel, and W.W. Norton do not have future books planned with Gaiman. As for who has yet to comment: Dark Horse Comics is reportedly working on a statement, per PW. Neither Gaiman’s literary agent, Merrilee Heifetz, nor his speaking agent, Steven Barclay, has commented. This is a sensitive issue that no doubt involves complex legal considerations, and yet, I can’t help but wonder why these folks apparently were not running scenarios, planning contingencies, and drafting statements in the six months since the allegations first broke. From the Sidelines to the Bestseller List After Philadelphia Eagles receiver AJ Brown was spotted reading Inner Excellence by Jim Murphy on the sidelines of last Sunday’s game, the self-help book shot to the top of Amazon’s bestseller list. The self-help title, which Brown’s teammates call his “recipe,” offers “exercises, techniques, and tools” that purport to help readers “move beyond the pursuit of happiness to a life of purpose and fulfillment.” In a post on X, Brown shared a photo of passages he had highlighted, explaining that, “This game is 90% mental and 10% physical for me. I bring it to every game and I read it between each drive.” Brown is not the first NFL player to make headlines with his love of reading. In 2017, Colts quarterback Andrew Luck launched a book club that offered a children’s book (for “rookies”) and an adult read (for “veterans”) each month through mid-2020. We love to see a new reading role model enter the scene, especially as the literary world runs another cycle of hand-wringing over whether men’s reading habits are why everything is awful. Sing Sing to Become First Movie Simultaneously Released in Theaters and Prisons When Greg Kwedar’s film Sing Sing, based on John H. Richardson’s book The Sing Sing Follies, is re-released to theaters this Friday, January 17 in anticipation of Oscar season, it will also be released to 1,100 correctional facilities around the U.S. The story, based on real events, follows a group of incarcerated men who create a theater troupe while serving time at New York’s Sing Sing prison. Colman Domingo stars as John “Divine G” Whitfield and is joined in the cast by several formerly incarcerated men who participated in the real theater arts program at Sing Sing. Most notable among them is Clarence Maclin, who gives an awards-worthy performance. It’s the kind of inspirational tale that can all too easily become cloying in the wrong hands, but Kwedar, Domingo, Maclin and their colleagues bring depth, complexity, and genuine warmth. Agatha Christie eBooks are $2 Today! For today only, more than 60 Agatha Christie ebooks are on sale for $2 or less on Amazon! We’ve included a selection here, but you can browse through all the deals on Amazon.

The untold lives of Jack the Ripper's victims, meeting "the one" in the afterlife, a chronicle of death practices, and more of today's best book deals

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Dive into the new YA comics and YA nonfiction hitting shelves in January.

I’ll 100% credit the cold, gray weather, alongside the long stretches of winter darkness for why I have been reading at the pace I am right now. I’ve been blowing through books of all kinds, of every genre, of every format, since the turn of the new year. This is something I used to do, but I have not had the energy nor capacity to read at this rate and with such gusto for a long time. It’s joyful and I’m trying not to lose that enthusiasm by acknowledging this is a season and not permanent. That is all to say that one of the reasons reading has been dominating my free time is because there are so many good books out right now and there are so many exciting titles hitting shelves. I’ve been excited about all kinds of comics and nonfiction lately. YA has been just bursting lately, and this month’s offerings are no different. Because of how packed new release days can be, especially in the first months of the year, it feels appropriate to continue pulling out YA comics and nonfiction separately. These two categories of books are special, and they can easily be overlooked among YA fiction. Though we’ve seen better marketing and publicity for both–and especially comics, as those offerings specific to YA readers have expanded greatly–it is still far more common to hear about new fiction than new nonfiction. It’s been my mission for years to get this changed because the breadth and depth of nonfiction and comics for young adult readers cannot be emphasized enough. Find here this month’s new YA releases for comics and for nonfiction. There’s something for every kind of reader. If you’re not in a reading burst like I am, maybe the book that gets your back into the groove is here waiting for you. Note that if a comic does not have an illustrator called out, that’s because the author is also the illustrator. Comics Dreamover by Dani Diaz Amber and Nico have been best friends since third grade, but it is not until the end of eighth grade that Amber finally tells Nico that she has feelings that are more romantic than platonic. Nico fesses up, too: so does he. The former besties, now couple, have had a perfect summer together. But when freshman year begins, Amber and Nico are clinging to each other for support as they navigate a rough transition to high school. Amber wants nothing more for her and Nico to escape their reality. But when they fall asleep one night and Amber’s wish comes true, is it really what they want? This one’s especially for readers looking for younger teen main characters. Song of a Blackbird by Maria van Lieshout Told in two timelines, this comic shares the journey of Emma Bergsma who, in 1943 Amsterdam, is so disgusted by watching Jewish families being sent to concentration camps that she joins the Dutch Resistance. She knows the work she’s going to take on is important. In 2011, also Amsterdam, Annick needs a bone marrow donor for her oma. Her world is upended though when Annick learns that her oma was adopted, and it’s through a signature on several art prints on the wall–reading “Emma B”–that Annick may discover the truth of her family’s lineage. West Hollywood Monster Squad by Sina Grace, illustrated by Bradley Clayton Marvin and his friends want to do something simple: attend a local drag show. Unfortunately, that’s when the pink snow begins to fall, and their city, Los Angeles, is overrun with monsters. Now the ragtag team of queer teens, drag queens, and a bar owner are those who will be responsible for saving their city. But to do so, they have to resolve their myriad personal and interpersonal issues to be successful. Nonfiction There are two exciting young reader adaptations out this month. Here’s a piece I wrote a couple of years ago about the art and craft of adapting a work of nonfiction for adults to the needs and interests of a young adult audience. It’s not easy! King: A Life, Young Adult Edition by Jonathan Eig, adapted by Yohuru Williams and Michael G. Long Who was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr? He was an activist, a leader, a preacher, a father, and so much more–too often, he’s been made into a mythological figure. Eig’s biography has been adapted for young adults, and it captures the full complexity of King’s extraordinary life. The Swans of Harlem (Adapted for Young Adults): Five Black Ballerinas, a Legacy of Sisterhood, and Their Reclamation of a Groundbreaking History by Karen Valby Lydia Abarca was the first Black ballerina to see herself on the cover of Dance magazine, and that happened during the civil rights era. Abarca, alongside four fellow Harlem dancers, share their stories of grit, resilience, and, of course, grace. Over the last couple of decades, we’ve witnessed more and more Black ballerinas make waves in the field. But that attention and acknowledgement was hard won. This book gives a glimpse into those who came before and whose stories are too often ignored, forgotten, or lost to time. Those Who Saw The Sun by Jaha Nailah Avery Out this month in paperback, it’s time to revisit–or pick up for the first time–this collection of oral histories from Black elders who all grew up in the Jim Crow South. This is a preservation of history, compiled for teen and adult readers everywhere. Who Owns The Moon? by Cynthia Levinson and Jennifer Swanson The Amazon description for this book is not one of the best I’ve read, which is a bummer because this book sounds excellent (and flipping through the copy I have, looks that way, too, with its design and use of photographs). This is a look at human space travel and all of the advancements made over the decades. Although it certainly tackles topics related to the Moon, it’s about space more broadly, as well as the policies and laws that govern what’s beyond Earth. Some of the topics in this book are space etiquette, technological advances that have helped us better understand the universe, space travel, space debris, and more.

Destruction of US public libraries may start with complaints over books, but that's not the end goal. Alpena Public Library is now the tool of those book banners and serves as a stark warning of what's happening nationwide.

Like too many other public libraries across the United States, Alpena Public Library, located in northern Michigan, has found itself the target of ire from a small but loud, well-connected, and well-funded contingent of its community. And like in too many other public libraries nationwide, what began with complaints about a handful of LGBTQ+ books has transformed into a situation where two individuals at the forefront of pushing for book bans have now been given the power to oversee the future of that very public institution. Despite twin goals to remove authority and expertise from library workers, the two newly tapped board members have not worked together in their pursuits. They represent two different groups seeking the removal and relocation of LGBTQ+ titles in the children’s and teen sections of the library. Both have been regular attendees at board meetings since 2022, though each of their groups amplified complaints and pressure over the course of 2023 and 2024. The story of what’s happening in Alpena Public Library should serve as yet another stark warning of what’s at stake in US public libraries–and a loud reminder that it’s not buying personal copies of banned books nor distributing banned books via buses or vans or even Little Free Libraries which will solve the problem and save these public institutions of democracy. It’s showing up to board meetings, showing up at the polls, and using your voice to loudly push back against propaganda and bigotry intended to destabilize and defund public goods. Library workers have been seen as expendable and sometimes downright invisible, especially in an era of increased demands and stagnant, if not shrinking, budgets. The need for allies to get loudly supportive has been great, but unfortunately, the need continues to grow. Alpena Public Library’s story isn’t straightforward, just as none of these are. Groups working to defund and destabilize public institutions like libraries purposefully obfuscate and complicate their demands. If this story feels serpentine, that’s because it is. The longer beleaguered library workers are harassed, demeaned, and deprofessionalized by the very people they’re working to serve, the more complicated these stories become because of the additional weak spots that their opponents attack. For Alpena, it’s not just in library board meetings. It’s also in county commission meetings, causing irreparable damage to the workers who keep showing up, despite vitriol spewing toward them on all fronts. * To most faithfully explain what’s been happening at Alpena Public Library, it’s best to start in the middle rather than the beginning or the end. In March 2024, a petition began circulating in the Alpena, Michigan community. That petition demanded the library explain what it considers to be “age-appropriate” material. The petition threatened to withhold tax support without the library implementing “age-appropriate standards,” as their paying taxes should give them the right to do so. The library’s voter-approved millage, or percentage of tax money they receive through local property taxes, was up for renewal in the upcoming August election. As will become clear shortly, those involved in the development and transmission of the petition were well aware of the need for the library to pass their millage by vote later in the year. The petition originated at Shoreline Church and drew attention from the local Salvation Army. It was not the start of a mass disinformation campaign about Alpena Public Library, but it drew nationwide attention in a way that the other threats on the library over a handful of LGBTQ+ books had yet to do. Joe Collins, pastor at Shoreline, noted that he was inspired to begin the petition after talking with his wife Traci, other local pastors, and several community members. All claimed they were aghast that any child could go into the library and borrow books. “We just started checking into it and realizing that any child walking up would see those books and then be exposed to things that, if somebody gave those books to our kids on the street, they would be called groomers and people who are preparing kids for sexual exploits,” Collins said to The Alpena News. That comment and the book examples held up by petitioners mirror the language and arguments made in libraries nationwide by a far-right contingent–often originating in local churches, like Shoreline, that are themselves tax-exempt entities. This was the case for Samuels Public Library in Virginia, where a few dozen local church parishioners ordained themselves the moral authority over the library and nearly succeeded in getting the entire institution shut down.*. Unsurprisingly, the petitioners also insisted that their interest was not in banning books. It was, of course, to provide input as a community to what that community saw as inappropriate. As the Corps Officer and Pastor of the Alpena Salvation Army explained with identical rhetoric playing out in schools and libraries nationwide, “We don’t want these books to be banned […], we want the guidelines to come into place, and then we can always decide, OK, this is not appropriate for 5-year-olds, where else should we put this in the library?” These “parental rights” advocates claim they don’t want to co-parent with the government, and that’s true. They want the government to do all of the parenting so that they don’t have to do the job of parents and teach their children what their family believes is and is not appropriate. They don’t want to have to navigate a public library with their children at all. To contextualize the scope of this fight, the petition was over 14 books in the Alpena Public Library, nearly all of which were LGBTQ+ themed (you can see the list here). As of 2023-2024, the library held over 50,000 items, so the near closure of the library–and the vitriol the library, its workers, and its supporters have endured–is over .003% of the entire library’s holdings. In a document listing several other books that Collins and his wife consider inappropriate, “Making a Baby” is accused of depicting “grooming techniques” because of a scene in the book featuring “naked adult men next to children in the same locker room showering and changing together.” –from The Alpena News * But the fight over books in Alpena Public Library began well before March 2024. Traci Collins, wife of Shoreline Church’s pastor Joe Collins, had been a staple at board meetings for more than a year prior. She spoke during public comments about the inappropriate books available in the teen section as early as fall 2022, where she was joined by several others–including her pastor husband and a member of the Alpena county board–in claiming the library had inappropriate material for minors in the collection. Some at the meeting asked what the policy was for getting books removed, and some were unashamed in noting that their target was LGBTQ+ books specifically. The above public comment list comes from the library’s November 2022 board minutes. Some of the names will become relevant again, particularly Dustin Budd, who questioned how materials are selected for the library. Budd would be appointed to sit on that very library board just one month later, in December 2022. Alpena Public Library also embarked on a search for a new director in fall 2022. Although the board interviewed several candidates for the position in November and December, they ultimately decided to repost the position with an updated salary. After that fiery public comment session in November and in the midst of the search for Alpena’s new director, things grew quieter. Collins would not return to talk about books she deemed inappropriate until April 2023. Budd, now serving as Vice President of the Board, requested that the topic of inappropriate books in the library be addressed in the next board meeting and that the then-serving head of youth services talk about her selection process for materials and books used in the library’s teen book club. The board announced their new director hire at the April meeting, and that director would tentatively begin her work in May. She would not actually begin her service until June, and at her first board meeting as director, Debra Greenacre named the four priorities she had for the first three months of her role as director: updating library policies, building rapport with the staff, the library’s upcoming millage campaign, and establishing committees for the board. Book complaints and discussions of where and how books were selected for the teen collection and book club were not addressed in either the May or June meetings. Indeed, no public comments were made at either meeting. * One month into her directorship, Greenacre was tasked at the July board meeting with pursuing the library’s millage renewal for the February 2024 election. Board members were not sure whether there was enough time for this to happen, but by August, draft language about the public measure was being discussed among Greenacre, her staff, and the library board. Although there were no public comments at the July meeting regarding inappropriate books, the head of youth services discussed how she selected titles for the collection at this meeting, pre Budd’s request in April. Between addressing concerns from the previous challenges and the instillation of a library director, the stage was prime for public comments to amp up again, and indeed, they did. At the August board meeting, Collins complained once again about the language and content of those same books and emphasized that the library needed to buy more books and, specifically, more books without profanity or sexual content. Greenacre updated the board to let them know she reached out to a law firm to go over the language for their millage initiative and laid out a timeline for when she anticipated hearing back and submitting the proposal to the county. The plan to get the measure on the February ballot was dead by September. Instead, the measure would be put on the ballot in August 2024. This would give everyone more time to prepare and get the word out, and Greenacre presented the board with several options for the language they would use for the proposal. At this same September meeting, several public comments addressed the new director’s role at the library. Specifically, they mentioned that the board should trust Greenacre to do her job, and they all expressed concerns about the short timeline needed to get the millage measure on the ballot. She deserved the opportunity to succeed in her new role rather than the board pushing her to do specific things on a tight timeline. Collins was at that meeting, but she said very little. * Inside the youth area of the Alpena Public Library. Julie Byrnes requested a meeting with members of the Alpena Library staff in September 2023 to discuss concerns she had with All Boys Aren’t Blue. The oft-challenged memoir by George M. Johnson is a queer coming-of-age tale that has become a favorite among right-wing book-banning groups. Byrnes met with Greenacre and Jessica Luther, assistant director of the library, and she became angry that her demands to relocate the book were not being met. She then provided a formal request to remove the book. The staff took Byrnes’s concerns seriously but made the decision not to remove the book from the collection, which only further infuriated Byrnes. At this point, Byrnes represented herself as the challenger; when she formally requested an appeal of the decision by the staff not to ban All Boys Aren’t Blue in December, she stated that her request was on behalf of Save The Alpena Children (STAC). Collins and her contingent were not part of STAC despite similar inquiries and complaints. These were two different groups complaining about a small number of LGBTQ+ books in the library. That same month, the head of youth services left her role at the library. At the October board meeting, library board president Joseph Garber recommended that Greenacre and Luther coordinate with their regional library cooperative to provide the board with short training about materials challenges. Specifically, the training would cover the rights of board members regarding challenges. While Collins did not share public comment at the meeting, she was back in November asking when the collection development and public comment policies had been approved. Byrnes did not make public comment at the October or November board meetings. November’s board meeting ended with a short session for trustees on their role regarding book challenges and reconsideration requests. Immediately before that, Greenacre shared the current trustee bylaws with board members and the state trustee manual by which members swore to serve when appointed to their roles. It was becoming increasingly clear that at least one individual on the board was not interested in following the oath of office by which they were to serve, and that would have a direct impact on what was to come in terms of ongoing challenges to library materials. Collins was back once again in December. She spoke during public comments, wondering aloud how the board would protect children from materials she felt were inappropriate for them. Without question, the seeds to upend the library and undermine the professional experience and knowledge of Alpena Public Library staff were planted from the moment a new director was installed. Two different groups were digging their claws in to do battle for the entire next year–and with a county commission eager to distract from their own budget woes, the target on the library’s back would only grow bigger. * Greenacre presented an updated collection management policy in January 2024, which is available in the board packet. Collins, alongside Mark Hunter, was vocal following the proposed policy. Collins demanded to know how many times someone had to complain about a book before it was moved, while Hunter mentioned that limiting the number of times an individual can challenge a book may infringe on their right to petition. (Hunter had been a member of the Alpena Public Library board during 2022 and 2023, but he tendered his resignation in December 2023. Leaving the board allowed him more opportunity to be vocal about the library in public comment). By February, the entire section on Intellectual Freedom in the proposed new collection development policy had been axed–a concern that the library’s former head of youth services addressed during public comment. She thought this left the door wide open to the board moving or banning books in the collection. Indeed, several familiar faces showed up for public comment in February. This included Julie Byrnes, the original challenger to All Boys Aren’t Blue. She informed the board that on behalf of Save The Alpena Children, she would be formally appealing the decision to keep the book in the teen area. The public comment from that meeting included several community members complaining that “youngsters” should not have access to books like Johnson’s in the public library. Collins–again, not part of STAC but a different group targeting the library–noted that her goal was not to ban the book but to ensure that books like this were not accessible to young people in the library. Hunter was in attendance again, this time demeaning the entirety of LGBTQ+ people in one single public comment statement. Again, Hunter had served on the library board until December 2023. Plenty of public comments supported the library, including the League of Women Voters, which reminded everyone that the First Amendment allows access to a wide array of books in the public library. March’s meeting proceeded similarly, with plenty of familiar faces speaking at public comment against “inappropriate” and “pornographic” books in the library. A former doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Dr. Donald Spaeth, then presented the board with a folder of petitions demanding age-appropriate standards for books in the library and demanding that citizens have the right to determine what those standards are for the library. Several similar comments about “age-appropriateness” followed, including several that noted the library “could be” defunded if they don’t listen to these demands. Following public comment, Trustee Dustin Budd then brought up his concerns over the still-being-updated collection policy. Those concerns were references to the American Library Association (ALA) and the Library Bill of Rights. The ALA, of course, had been a point of contention among book banners nationwide for over a year. Budd became a target of a petition himself that month for sympathizing with the challengers on moving All Boys Aren’t Blue from the teen to the adult section of the library–he knew via the oath he took to become trustee, as well as through training sessions brought to the board over the rights the board has when it comes to their power in collection decisions that he did not have the power to make such unilateral decisions. That did not matter. As this meeting closed, board president Garber noted that a decision on the location of Johnson’s book would come in April–he also emphasized that if millage was not passed, the library would face the reality of shutting down at the end of 2024. This is when the petition helmed by Shoreline church and initially presented at the meeting began to circulate in earnest. * It’s certainly tiresome at this point to read through rehashed board meeting minutes, but they serve an important purpose. They establish timelines and characters. They reiterate the reality that few, if any, of these library attacks are happening privately or behind closed doors but instead on public record. They also surface information that might be easy to miss, such as a comment at a special board meeting held on April 3, 2024. At the meeting, the board talked about the ballot measure for their millage renewal, but Dustin Budd once again brought up the issue of the book challenge at the library. He wanted to know why the board’s regular meeting that month on the 17 would include a presentation from Clare Membiela, a law consultant from the State Law Library of Michigan. He was informed that Membiela would be there to help educate the board on the applicable laws during their conversation about the future placement of All Boys Aren’t Blue. It was yet another training meant to help the board recognize the limits of their roles. The board approved language for millage renewal at the second special meeting in April. Voters would vote yes or no on renewal, which would keep the library budget as-is. This differed from initial iterations and discussions about the millage, where the plan had been to seek renewal and a new rate to increase the budget. It would be far more realistic to pass a renewal than it would an increase. As it stood, the county, facing a significant budget downfall, was already putting a potential property tax increase on the ballot for August, too. Then came the regular April board meeting. It is of little surprise that the meeting was another smattering of disinformation about the American Library Association, Marxism in the library, and the damage books like All Boys Aren’t Blue might cause young readers. Byrnes noted that age ratings provided by publishers weren’t enough to determine where a book belonged in a library, and if so, there was no actual need for library workers. Trustee Budd also took the time to share that when he pledged an oath as library trustee, it was not to either the American Library Association or the Michigan Library Association–two organizations that no one had stated he needed to pledge an oath two. It was yet another means of distracting from the fact he was disinterested in following the policies, procedures, and laws that dictate the limits of library trustee power. He did this before the short presentation by the state library law consultant, emphasizing that library trustees needed to clear any decisions to relocate or remove materials with their own legal teams because they could find themselves breaking the law. She provided every trustee with a handout about the law as it applies to public libraries, accessible in the meeting minutes. The board then announced they received a formal appeal to the January decision not to move Johnson’s book from the teen collection to adult. The board decided the best course of action would be to hold a meeting with the individual (Byrnes) and the group she represented (STAC) about the book, where Greenacre and two board members would be present. The appeal was denied at the May 2024 board meeting. Even Budd, sympathetic to those demanding the relocation of Johnson’s book, changed his tune, noting that the board would be in a legally precarious position if they moved the book. In conjunction with Greenacre, the board would use this experience to strengthen the language in their ongoing work to update the collection development policy. Public comment was what you might expect here, including an interesting take from Collins about how trauma increases instances of ADHD and how important prevention is. * By this point, both members of the Save the Alpena Children group and the church group who filed the March petition against 14 LGBTQ+ books in the library were well aware that they could fight the library’s inclusive collection by going for its budget. They’d been at the board meetings and saw the process through the start of Greenacre’s tenure as director. Alpena Public Library needed its August millage renewal to pass. Three-quarters of the library’s budget came from its mileage. The passage of renewal was pivotal. Board member Joseph Gardner made this clear at the end of the March meeting–even if the millage did not pass, the board would still need to pay off bills, which would jeopardize the entire library. The church-anchored petition, which continued to gain circulation in the wake of the book relocation denial in May, served as a threat. If you don’t listen to what our group demands regarding these books in the library, then we’ll make sure you don’t have the ability to open your doors again. This wasn’t implied. It was blatant. Another revision of the collection policy was drafted at the June board meeting. Budd, seconded by two other board members, approved it for Greenacre’s review and legal review. As you might recall, Budd advocated for “age-appropriate standards,” which was the focus of the latest policy revision. What the policy actually proposed was a ratings system. The system, included in the June board packet here, would “help” parents navigate the collection’s materials. Budd noted that it was inspired by a rating system from ComicsPlus, a library vendor of digital comics and other materials. Recognizing parental autonomy, this ratings system might be helpful as parents navigate what is appropriate for their children. This system may be applied to any challenged book, and books may be labeled using a color system, stickers, posters in the children’s section, etc. – from the Alpena Public Library June 2024 Board Meeting Packet Absent from this review system? Who would be responsible for such labeling, and who would make determinations about those books. Every book already has an age range attached to it, and it has been said repeatedly that library workers use their experience working with vendors, books, and their communities to acquire appropriate materials. There is no such thing as pornography nor obscenity in public libraries anywhere, as such items are not produced by publishers with whom the library would work. Books don’t just appear on library shelves. Such a rating system would be duplicative of age ranges already on books, putting the library in a precarious space of liability. If a book that one labels as rated 1 is deemed inappropriate by the same people currently challenging the library’s every decision and the library’s professional expertise, then who gets the blame for not “appropriately” labeling it a 2 instead? * The battle over where to put a handful of LGBTQ+ books did not start or end in the library board room. It also took place at the County Commissioner meetings. The County Commissioners in Alpena, who had been sympathetic to the petitioners, retained the power to appoint the trustees to the library board. Library board members were put in a position to do the job they were appointed to do–represent the needs of the entire community–or do the job the County Commissioners told them to do to keep their positions. Resentment toward the library began bubbling up at County Commissioner meetings as early as Fall 2022, the same time period when book complaints started at library board meetings. Things amplified after Budd was appointed to the library board, and many saw his appointment as a means for the Commissioners to have one of their own in power. Tensions between the County Commissioners and the library amplified in the summer of 2024 following a presentation by the library about where and how they make collection decisions.** County Commissioners called the books obscene and put significant pressure on the board to move them. If the library didn’t want to move those books to the adult section–one of the themes made in public comments was how it made no sense to move books published for teens into the adult collection–the Commissioners suggested putting the books in the adult checkout desk for people to ask to borrow. The battle was also heating up on the streets of Alpena, where those seeking to relocate 14 books were now actively pursuing an anti-millage campaign. This campaign claimed that the library was grooming children and, as such, they should be denied their millage–even and especially if it meant the closure of the library. Yard signs asked residents to vote no on grooming, as did a mass campaign across social media. The books weren’t moved, so the group was sticking to its promise to ensure the library wouldn’t see funding again. * “The library has been given space to “repent”. But they have refused to do so. The timing is perfect as we are being given an opportunity to affect quick change by removing their funding. God is handing us a gift! If the community wishes to have control over the library and the content which is exposed to our children, we must make the simple choice.” – From this blog post about the Alpena Public Library A story in the Northeast Michigan League of Conservative Education in mid-July laid out the need for voters to defund the Alpena Public Library. Among the reasons listed were the 14 so-called inappropriate books, all linked to reviews from Moms For Liberty’s BookLooks website. The group’s goals were, as its name suggests, pushing for conservative education, and among its aims were greater growth of charter schools and home schools throughout the state of Michigan. While Alpena Public Library was not an educational institution of the likes the groups usually focused on, their misinformation campaign would work to spread awareness among their members and beyond who bought into those beliefs. Many of the individuals who had been showing up to complain about books and age-appropriate guidelines at library meetings were members of this very group. These individuals were affiliated with STAC. The small group pushing to relocate books and defund the library was only getting louder and utilizing more resources. It wasn’t about banning books as they continued to claim. It was about ending the library altogether. Just over a year into her work as director, Greenacre resigned in July. She cited personal reasons for the decision, though there’s little question about the pressure she felt, the names she was called, and the stress under which she was being put by the library board and county commissioners, which also helped in the decision. Following her resignation, library board president Joe Garber expressed optimism about the library’s millage passing in the upcoming election. He, as well as the rest of the board, elected at the July meeting to begin the search for their new director, and in the meantime, they would appoint Jessica Luther–long-time assistant director–to serve as interim. Every board member was in support except for Budd. The newly proposed collection management policy went through legal review, and the board had yet to review the feedback. Luther noted at the time that the library’s youth section was going to be reorganized, moving away from a Dewey Decimal-based finding system to one that was more amenable to browsing (this is not unusual, especially in youth departments). Part of the hope was that it would help adults who were worried about children stumbling across books that made them, the adults, uncomfortable. Books about puberty, for example, would be clearly labeled and shelved together. One day later, the County Commissioners met and voted to remove the current board of library trustees. They had talked previously about doing something like this, since the library did not follow their orders to relocate the books, but it actually happening was uncertain. Joe Collins, pastor of Shoreline Church and proud petitioner, led the County Commission in an opening prayer before the meeting where the Commissioners fired the library board. He asks for guidance in truth and in guidance for being the best caring place they can be.*** The very first speaker, Dennis Schultz, then asked the County Commissioners to dissolve the library board and replace it with people who have been showing up to monthly commissioner meetings to complain about the library’s lack of book relocation so that the community healing could begin. He added that if the Commission does what he asks, he’d personally ask every single person who had put the signs out advocating for defunding the library to remove them. The Commissioners then moved to disband the board. The vote was 6-1 in favor of firing the board in retaliation for not removing the 14 books. The Mayor did not agree with the Commissioners. Despite the vote, the board couldn’t be disbanded immediately. It would need to go before the personnel committee of the County Commissioners, with a timeframe of 60-90 days to make a final decision. The decision to renew and expand the library’s millage rate came just two weeks before the election, which shocked the board and library workers. * Two weeks later, Alpena Public Library won their millage, with nearly 60% of voters approving it. They would keep their doors open. The County Commissioners, however, lost their bid for an increase in taxes to support the county budget. This loss further fueled Commissioner animosity toward the library. * Back to the library itself. The lawyer who reviewed the library’s proposed Age Appropriate Guidelines and Ratings System advised the board not to implement it in July, but the board did not review the suggestions until August. There are no rating systems for books, and choosing to implement something like this would open them up to a lot of questions. This news came at a special library board meeting held in mid-August, and board members were advised to review the lawyer’s comments prior to the regular meeting of the board later that month. The board moved to pass the updated collections policy without the Age-Appropriate guidelines at the regular August meeting. Everyone was in favor, except for Budd, who had been the proponent of the ratings system since the start. The youth nonfiction collection at the library had now officially begun to change how it was organized. The goal was not to reshelve anything in the teen, tween, or children’s collections but to instead recategorize them to make it easier to browse within big thematic topics. As reported in the Alpena News, this would serve a secondary benefit for those who had been complaining about children stumbling across books they deemed inappropriate: organization was easier for everyone to understand. Despite praise for the new plan, at least one County Commissioner still found a way to find fault with the browsing system. Per Alpena News, Commissioner Burt Francisco still worried that a young person could check out the books in question. “It gives me optimism that maybe we can reach a mutual agreement. I’m a little more at ease, but I’m still concerned about some 12-year-old being able to check these out, but I think we are closer to an agreeable position,” he said, without a hint of indication that it should be the responsibility of parents to parent their 12-year-olds. Despite the library board members’ uncertainty about whether their terms would end in the next few weeks, book banners were still energized. The library’s millage had passed, and even though this was thanks in (small) part to Schultz’s promise to ensure a good outcome if the County Commissioners fired the board, the books were still going to be an issue. Now, local agitators were taking out advertisements in the local newspaper to attack the library’s interim director, Jessica Luther. The advertisement, which ran in the Alpena News, is packed with disinformation. It reiterates the same tired talking points dished out at library board meetings for several years—the same talking points shared across the country, too. Powley, however, has no ties to the Alpena Public Library. As a resident of Posen, he does not pay taxes to the institution. Alpena Public Library’s board website has no minutes posted for September, though they appear in the board packets for October. September was hardly a quiet month in the community. The children’s librarian resigned, and the board was still in the process of determining which search firm they wanted to use to find their next director. The board went into a closed session one hour into the September meeting. When the session reopened, Jessica Luther had stepped down from serving as interim director and would resume her previous role as assistant director. The ongoing issues related to the handful of LGBTQ+ books in the collection were significantly impacting her health. Board member Michelle Cornish also resigned from her position in September. Certainly, advertisements taken out condemning her and her work didn’t help. The Alpena News would report on Luther’s resignation from interim director two weeks later, and they included a message from the board president who complimented Luther on a job well done while acknowledging the unfair position in which she found herself. * Then news broke that the County Commissioners changed their minds. The library board would no longer be fired. There was discussion about the new book arrangement being a compromise to relocation demands–several of the so-called inappropriate books were grouped together under the “puberty” section to make it easier for parents to identify–and the Commissioners noted that they would be appointing two new members to the board shortly anyway. Commission Chair John Kozlowski noted that at that point, he and the board would evaluate candidates much more closely and would appoint people sensitive to concerns about the content of books available in the library. In retrospect, that comment raised a much larger red flag than expected. At the time, it felt like a win for the library and the library board, which was now trying to fill an interim position while preparing to conduct a nationwide search for its new director. * Advertising for the director position had not happened by October, but Budd suggested the library raise the upper limit of the director salary to $90,000 and begin the search in force in January 2025. The board held no meeting in November, and as of writing, minutes from the December 2024 meeting have yet to be posted. But that doesn’t mean things weren’t brewing. They were–and it was once again County Commissioners stirring the pot. After trustee Cornish stepped down from her role on the library board and the unfinished term filled by trustee Lauren Mantlo was coming to a close, the County Commissioners now had the opportunity to do precisely what was alluded to. They could appoint two trustees for those roles and put candidates through an interview process to ensure that those appointed would serve the goals of the Commission and, by extension, those seeking to relocate books and seek “age-appropriate” guidelines in the library. The very same people pushing the narrative about librarians being groomers now had the opportunity to have a bigger say in what the public library would look like. Mentlo is the director of a local community college library and has her library degree. She was the ideal candidate to sit on the board to finish up a term, and in seeking a reappointment, her experience and background would seem perfect. Except that for the County Commission, her knowledge and experience in librarianship was not an asset but a liability. Once Mentlo met with the Commissioners during their round of interviews for the two trustee seats, she received an email from the Commission later that afternoon informing her she would not be considered for reappointment. Her time on the board was done. The two new trustees appointed by the Commission? Long-time book challengers and public comment speakers Traci Collins, major force behind the March 2024 petitions, and Julie Brynes, spokesperson for Save The Alpena Children and filer of the original challenges of All Boys Aren’t Blue. Two of the most aggressive, anti-library candidates in a pool of 12 who interviewed for the appointments were given the power. With their appointments, the balance of power in the library board shifted to one that undoubtedly serves the Commissioners and those involved in the initial petition, the local far-right church groups, and Save The Alpena Children. * We want easy answers, and we want the issues at hand to be ones we can easily comprehend. But the reality is we’re living in complex times with insidious means of acquiring and upholding power happening all around us. Public libraries have been under attack not only for the books that are on shelves but they’ve been under attack for several years by far-right and Christian nationalist agendas. What looks like a simple complaint over a book is something much darker: it’s a push to have total control over one of the few sources of public good and democracy in the country. We don’t know what will happen yet with Collins and Byrnes on the board, but we can make plenty of speculations. The library will remain open as is for a while, given that the millage passed. But these two will, without doubt, be excited to have the opportunity to rewrite the policies that have not yet been finalized, and they’ll have a significant say in the kind of leader who will be given the title of director. While the best candidate in any job search should walk away with the role, the reality is a board stacked in favor of book censorship will find plenty of ways to reject candidates who don’t want to be their puppet. Alpena County Commissioners attempted a second ballot initiative to save their 2025 budget in late November 2024, but it, too, failed. The Commissioners have shown they’re not afraid to use the library as a pawn in their games of power. Now, with the reality of a host of cuts to come to city services, things may take an even harsher turn, especially because the library’s budget and operations are secure–and publicly supported–for the foreseeable future. All it takes is a few connections and a few favors to turn an institution belonging to all taxpayers into a space paid for and operated by those with a specific, hateful agenda. The library won’t go away, but the library may also never again belong to the whole of a community. If there’s one thing that’s clear from Save The Alpena Children and its affiliates at Northeast Michigan League of Conservative Education at least, it’s that the work to “relocate” books deemed “inappropriate” won’t stop at children’s books. They’ve got plenty of adult nonfiction books they believe are explicit and should not be available to anyone. Reports from Alpena citizens have mentioned that STAC has also begun to make their way into the public school, focusing again on LGBTQ+ materials. What begins in the schools moves to the public libraries in most states. In Michigan, however, it’s been common to see the reverse: what begins in the public libraries then moves into the public schools. Alpena’s library joins those like York County Public Library (SC), and so many others where the “public” part of the library’s name does not serve said public. It’s become a place for specific, narrow ideologies and beliefs to find a place to land and to grow. —- *At Samuels Public Library, the fight continues. Despite the small contingent of churchgoers’ failure to defund and close the library, their efforts helped create a new body of oversight for the library at the county level, giving their demands an unprecedented voice in how the public library shall operate for the entire county. **You can watch the August meeting here, beginning at minute 56. Alpena County Commissioners utilize Board Book to organize their meeting minutes and agendas–in theory. As of writing, not a single link to their approved minutes exists for the meetings listed and information in the listed projectors is incomplete. To know what transpired at County Commissioner meetings, one must hope that recordings of those meetings are available to view on YouTube. ***Public prayer opening a municipal government board meeting violates the Establishment Clause in and of itself.

Grab the reader in your life the perfect bookish birthday card.

My very first job as a high schooler was at Hallmark. It’s true, too, what they say: there really is a card for every single event and person you can imagine. This isn’t a bad thing: I very much remember helping someone find a thank you card for their child’s bus driver and they were thrilled that we had more than one option from which to choose. There are far more options for where you can get cards than back in the early 00s, including so many clever, creative, and unique ones on Etsy. This particular roundup is for book lovers, of course, and each of these cards is for the book lover celebrating a birthday in your life. Grab one for the person you know will love the card and/or grab a couple to have in your stock for future bookish birthday friends and family members. What’s great about these bookish birthday cards is that they’ll be memorable to the recipient. Chances are, too, those cards will be displayed as art on bookshelves or cubicles or even used as a bookmark for that perfect book you got them as a gift. Also? Many of them are the same price, if not less expensive, than cards you’d find in a specialty or big box store. Image courtesy of TinyBeeCards on Etsy Go big and bold for the next bookish birthday you’re celebrating with this novel card. $5.50. Image courtesy of HopscotchPaperCo on Etsy This is a pretty solid birthday card choice for any kind of reader. It’s simple, it’s pretty, and it’s a straight-up classic. $4. Image courtesy of TheMysticMerchShop on Etsy We love a good page turner, so why wouldn’t we want to wish someone a year that plays out like a book you can’t put down? $9+, depending on size. Image courtesy of FlyPaperProducts on Etsy Not only is this a great library-themed birthday card, the actual due date card on the front comes out from the pocket, so it can be used as a bookmark. $4.50 and up. Image courtesy of stephkaydesigns on Etsy. What every reader really wants for their birthday is this: permission to buy more books. $5+. Image courtesy of BonbiForest on Etsy. From one bookworm to another, here’s the perfect little birthday card. The spine titles on the book stack are especially clever. $4.50+. Image courtesy of SomeOfUsNotecards on Etsy Here’s a different take on the bookworm card. This one doesn’t necessarily need to be used for a birthday, and the thing that is really special on this card is the note on the back. Beneath the image, you can read, “In a world of busy bees, flies on the wall, and social butterflies, be a bookworm.” $4. Image courtesy of GoldenHourTX on Etsy Bookworms with a dark sense of humor will dig this gothic-y birthday card. When we accept we’ll never finish that TBR, we set ourselves free. $7.50. Image courtesy of HeiLoCardsStore on Etsy This might be my favorite card of the bunch. The library-themed humor here is good, of course, but the art is what really sells it for me. You can tell this was made by hand with love. Also, since this isn’t explicitly birthday-themed, you could use it for any appropriate occasion. $5. Image courtesy of RunWithItCrafts on Etsy Talk about a very sweet card. $4. Image courtesy of NightOwlPaperGoods on Etsy Talk about a card that does double duty. Not only is it a great birthday card, but the sticker on the front is one that your recipient can use beyond the card, too. $7. Image courtesy of NorthernWindCreative on Etsy Last but not least, here’s the perfect card for the person who you love being as close to as possible while reading. $7. If you’re looking for a good gift to pair with these bookish birthday cards, never fear. Dive into this gift guide to bookish finds under $30, great book embossers and stamps, and items to help build a cozy reading nook.

Well, book fans, welcome to the new year. And a new year means it’s time for our first good old ...

Well, book fans, welcome to the new year. And a new year means it’s time for our first good old fashioned book news roundup of 2025! With a fresh year comes lots of fresh book news, so let’s take a look at some of the biggest book stories to hit the Internet lately. Here’s the cover for Amber Oliver’s debut novel When the Music Hits. The novel is described as Maame meets The Devil Wears Prada and follows the story of a young Black woman who gets her dream job at a major label. Oliver says When the Music Hits “is so close to my heart and is my love letter to music, Black culture, and NYC. I hope y’all will love it.” Nosferatu director Robert Eggers has said that he would love to direct another literary adaptation: Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher. “But the problem with Poe,” Eggers says, “is that because of his belief [that] short stories are the best way to tell horror, you always end up having to pad it out to make a feature film and it doesn’t quite work.” Would Eggers attempt to try it anyway? We’ll have to wait and see. Filming for the adaptation of Freida McFadden’s The Housemaid has started. You can follow The Housemaid‘s Instagram account for more detailed updates. The film is directed by Paul Feig and starts Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyfried, and Michele Morrone. R.L. Stine has confirmed that three more Fear Street movies are in the works. Following the success of Leigh Janiak’s 2021 Fear Street trilogy, a fourth film, Prom Queen is releasing some time in 2025. But beyond that, there are three more in the works. “The writers are working,” Stine says. “So I’ve got my fingers crossed.” Sherlock Holmes is set to get a brand new manga adaptation, written by Crystal S. Chan and illustrated by Julien Choy. Rather than a retelling of the classic stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, this new series aims to tell a faithful adaptation. The first book in the series, A Study in Scarlet, will be published on January 21. Here’s to the first exciting roundup of books news for 2025, and here’s hoping we’ve got lots of reading, writing, and adaptation-watching to look forward to this year!

"I never thought a serial killer would make me giggle so much. But here we are."

A few months ago, my IRL romance book club decided we should try reading dark romance. Instead of picking one book, we choose a theme, trope, or subgenre to discuss, so we all spent a month reading as many dark romances as we wanted to, and when we came together at the end of it, we had all discovered some interesting things about books and reading…and ourselves. Many of us had read Butcher & Blackbird (which I had also intended to pick up but just didn’t get to), so that became the center of the conversation for a while. We talked a lot about what appeals to readers of dark romance, what counted as dark romance, and what elements of dark romance we tended to prefer—versus what was a hard limit for many of us. It was at this part of the conversation that one member said the words “cozy dark romance,” and that sparked for me. When you look at the buzzwords on BookTok and other social media, this micro-genre is called Dark Romantic Comedy. These books have clear elements of dark romance with the list of trigger/content warnings to go with it. But they also have just as much of the com as the rom, just like a good romantic comedy. What it really comes down to is not just the fact that it’s funny, but that the story also includes a good amount of consent and is relatively low stakes. That last part is what really gets me to the “cozy” part of defining this type of book, but as with all things, your miles may vary. Here are some of the books that fall under that “dark romantic comedy” umbrella, with varying levels of me smiling, cackling, kicking my feet. (But seriously, check content warnings for all of these; they all have plenty.) Lights Out by Navessa Allen This book (in particular, the audiobook) has become my gold standard for dark romance, romantic comedy, and dark romantic comedy. I was definitely not expecting to be all in from the minute the narrators started reading off the content warnings, but here we are. The main characters are a nurse and her stalker, but somehow the squick is not there when it could have been in a different writer’s hands. This comes in part from Josh’s POV, which shows us that Aly is in no danger of physical harm from him. It is also filled with incredibly fun exchanges between the characters, and you know I love some good banter. But I’m not kidding about the trigger warnings, which go on for several minutes at the beginning of the book. So if any of those things might harm you, steer clear. (Also, if you do like this one, you better get ready for Katee Robert’s Wicked Pursuit, which is maybe not quite as fun, but is really damn good, especially considering it’s single POV.) Lilith by Alexandria House I had no idea what this book was when I bought it for the cover, but was delighted when it hit right when I needed to be reading it for book club. This one was less laugh-out-loud funny than Lights Out but offered that same warm cozy feeling mixed with a wild premise. Lilith sees something she isn’t supposed to, and then a very handsome man starts bringing her food. Like. In her house. And then he doesn’t leave. Of course, Ray has his own secret, and it’s a banger. The fun elements do come from the interactions between the couple, but also Lilith and her sisters, and a few other members of their greater community. Unhinged by Onley James This dark romance is also less laugh-out-loud funny (though there are definitely some giggly parts) and more warm cozies from how absolutely precious these unhinged people are. Unhinged is the first in a series about a group of Umbrella Academy-style adoptees who unalive people instead of saving them. But they only kill bad people, so…it’s okay? This first one is about Adam, the youngest of the siblings. He becomes a little obsessed with Noah, whose father he killed a long time ago—and who violently confronts him about it. Unsuccessfully, of course. Demon’s Dream by Elle Kayson One of the conversations I couldn’t help bringing up in our conversation about dark romance was why, in a category that so often includes mafiosos and murderers, we don’t talk about urban romance, or street lit. Urban/street romance is a very specific category in Black romance, and it often includes people doing illegal things like dealing drugs and gangbanging. If mafiosos and Bratva are just Italian or Russian gangbangers, why don’t we talk as much about the Black ones? (We all know the answer to that one.) Anyway. Demon’s Dream is about an enforcer in a wealthy family of many illegal avenues who is conned into an arrangement with the daughter in a rival family. The pair both have lots of hidden depths and perfect inner dialogues, and their relationship resolution might take nearly 800 pages but it is worth it. I never thought a serial killer would make me giggle so much. But here we are. I’ve also heard that JJ McAvoy’s Ruthless People falls into this category, so I will try picking that one up soon. In the meantime, if you’re looking to read more dark romance, check out this solid list from 2023. And make sure you’re subscribed to the Kissing Books newsletter to get all the best info on old, new, and upcoming romances!

Some of the most impactful books out there are children’s books. They’re often our first experiences with narratives and are ...

Some of the most impactful books out there are children’s books. They’re often our first experiences with narratives and are full of new worlds to explore or things to experience. Especially when we’re younger, they can be great points of connection between us and caregivers, us and teachers, us and our siblings. Looking back, some of the most formative stories I read were as a child, sitting in a classroom with my peers or with my parents before bed. The authors who wrote them will always have a special place of fondness in my heart, no matter how old I get. From classic authors like A.A. Milne or E.B. White to more recent favorites like Jacqueline Woodson and Grace Lin, there are children’s books out there for everyone. It can make it hard to decide what to pick up and what to leave on the shelf. Maybe turning to the beloved children’s authors we already like can help point us in the right direction. What children’s books do these iconic children’s authors recommend, then? Well, let’s find out! Using interviews, websites, and social media posts, I dug into that very question. So, check out these six books recommended by six famous children’s book authors! Jacqueline Woodson recommends… Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor Jacqueline Woodson’s books are beloved by many and for great reason. She was named the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature by the Library of Congress, was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2020, and has had multiple books, including Brown Girl Dreaming, nominated for Newbery Honors. According to her website, Woodson recommends Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor as one of her favorite books. This middle grade story of Cassie Logan and her family during the Great Depression trying to survive tragedy and racism won a Newbery for a reason! It’s a must-read! Jeff Kinney recommends… Three Keys by Kelly Yang If you’ve read the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series or have seen the movies inspired by his books, you’ll know Jeff Kinney is renowned for his humorous writing. You might not know he also owns a bookstore with his wife! One of Jeff Kinney’s favorite reads of 2020 was Three Keys by Kelly Yang. A sequel to Yang’s Front Desk, Mia Lupe now faces a tough teacher, social embarrassment, and a new immigration law that threatens her family’s stability. Maggie Tokuda-Hall recommends… What Are Your Words? by Katherine Locke, Illustrated by Anne Passchier Maggie Tokuda-Hall has wowed kids and young adults alike with her works The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea and the graphic novel Squad, just to name a few. In an interview with Geeks Out, Maggie Tokuda-Hall recommended What Are Your Words? as an introduction to pronouns. This picture book follows Ari as they interact with their neighbors and learn about how fluid they can be. Judy Blume recommends… Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace, Illustrated by Lois Lenski You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn’t heard the name Judy Blume. She is a prolific children’s author and one of the 100 most influential people in the world, according to Time Magazine. Her work portrays the struggles and triumphs of childhood honestly and sympathetically. In an Elle interview full of book recommendations, Judy Blume named Betsy-Tacy as a book she wanted as a child, and what kid wouldn’t? This story of friendship between Betsy and Tacy is as sweet as it is entertaining! Kwame Alexander recommends… A Library by Nikki Giovanni, Illustrated by Erin K. Robinson Newbery Medal and Pat Conroy Legacy Award winning author Kwame Alexander’s lyrical prose can charm anyone, no matter their age! He is also the Founding Director of the Book-in-a-Day program dedicated to spreading literacy to children through writing and publishing workshops. In a list of his favorite recent reads, Kwame Alexander named A Library as one of them. A Library is a love letter to libraries and the magic they hold—perfect for budding book lovers! Rick Riordan recommends… The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke Known for his iconic Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, Rick Riordan is a big name in children’s literature. On a list of his favorite books, Rick Riordan named The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke as a great book for 4th to 7th graders. In The Thief Lord, two orphaned brothers run away from their aunt and cross paths with the Thief Lord and the group he leads of kids who turn to robbery to survive. Hopefully one of these children’s book authors’ favorite children’s books catches your eye. If you’re in the mood for more kidlit, check out these most influential children’s books or this list of the very best children’s authors!

A couple of days ago, I shared 15 of the Most-Anticipated Queer Books of 2025, but of course, that’s just ...

A couple of days ago, I shared 15 of the Most-Anticipated Queer Books of 2025, but of course, that’s just scratching the surface. There are so many queer books coming out this year that look fantastic. I’ve got about 400 titles in a spreadsheet now—and that’s just the ones we know about now! Fall is the biggest season in publishing, and most of those haven’t been publicized yet. I’m always interested in which queer books break through to the mainstream reading world, so in addition to reading dozens of lists of upcoming queer books, I’ve also combed through six of the biggest mainstream lists of most-anticipated books of 2025 and pulled out the queer books I spotted. I used lists from Book Riot (naturally), Goodreads, Time, Vulture, Lit Hub, and Barnes & Noble (Fiction, Nonfiction, YA). This involved scrolling through hundreds of books and noting the queer books that jumped out at me, so I’ve almost certainly missed some. Let me know in the comments if you spotted any queer books on several of these lists that I didn’t include here! I’ve included any queer books that showed up on multiple lists—plus a few honorable mentions that were only on one. The #1 most anticipated queer book of 2025 is definitely The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong, the author of On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, which appears on five of the six lists. I actually haven’t been able to find any confirmation that this has a queer main character, but it’s categorized as LGBT and is on many queer books of 2025 lists, so it’s a pretty good bet. Here are the rest of the most anticipated queer books of 2025, according to the biggest lists. The Most-Anticipated Queer Books of 2025 The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong (Barnes and Noble, Lit Hub, Vulture, Time, Goodreads) Stag Dance by Torrey Peters (Lit Hub, Vulture, Time) Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab (Book Riot, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads) The Dry Season by Melissa Febos (Lit Hub, Vulture, Time) They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran (Barnes and Noble, Goodreads) Cleavage by Jennifer Finney Boylan (Lit Hub, Goodreads) Hungerstone by Kat Dunn (Book Riot, Lit Hub) Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One by Kristen Arnett (Book Riot, Lit Hub) Lessons in Magic and Disaster by Charlie Jane Anders (Book Riot, Lit Hub) Flirting Lessons by Jasmine Guillory (Goodreads) Great Black Hope by Rob Franklin (Time) Where Shadows Meet by Patrice Caldwell (Goodreads) What’s your most anticipated queer book coming out in 2025? Let’s chat in the comments!

Books any time any day.

Book Review Author :Delia Owens Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher : GP Putnam’s Sons Year of Publication: 2019 Number of Pages: 368 My Rating : 4 out of 5 I picked this up with a bit of hesitation. In spite of the great reviews that it got, I must say the title made me expect something … Continue reading Where the Crawdads Sing →

Book Review Author :Delia Owens Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher : GP Putnam’s Sons Year of Publication: 2019 Number of Pages: 368 My Rating : 4 out of 5 I picked this up with a bit of hesitation. In spite of the great reviews that it got, I must say the title made me expect something quite different from what it was. I expected a book filled with scientific details about marshes and birds that would be difficult to read. I was genuinely surprised and pleased to get drawn into the story and to find that it was not an exposition on the science of the marsh masquerading as a novel but a well written, enjoyable and easy to follow story. The story is about Kya a young girl born in the marshes of North Carolina, USA who is left to fend for herself by her family from the tender age of 7. The town people consider her strange and refer to her as Marsh Girl. She somehow manages to take care of herself all alone in the Marsh with only the occasional journey into town to get supplies. She is lucky enough to make a friend who teaches her how to read and helps her make use of her knowledge of the marsh to make a respectable living. When one day, Chase Andrews, the son of one of the town’s most prominent families is found dead in the swamp, the town people cannot help but suspect that the strange Marsh girl had something to do with his death. This is an interesting book about survival and overcoming all odds to make a good life in the face of extreme hardship and hostility. Though I must admit at times I found it difficult to believe that such a young child could survive alone in such difficult circumstances and that none of the residents of the town bothered to do anything about this situation, the story is touching in many ways. It would be amazing if anyone could actually survive such a childhood and manage to turn their life around as Kya did. I also enjoyed learning about the marsh and the different species to be found there and seeing the beauty in nature through Kya’s eyes, as she explored her marsh and got to know it better than anyone else. I rate this book 4 out of 5. If you enjoy reading coming of age historical fiction stories and are a lover of nature, you will absolutely love this book. If you are the skeptical and cynical type, you might find it a bit implausible. Happy reading!

Classics Book Review Author : Elizabeth Gaskell Genre : Literary Classic Fiction Original Publisher : Chapman and Hall Year of Publication : 1854 Number of Pages : 396 My Rating : 5 out of 5 My most recent read is this gem of a book by Elizabeth Gaskell, based in Victorian England. Margaret Hale is … Continue reading North and South →

Classics Book Review Author : Elizabeth Gaskell Genre : Literary Classic Fiction Original Publisher : Chapman and Hall Year of Publication : 1854 Number of Pages : 396 My Rating : 5 out of 5 My most recent read is this gem of a book by Elizabeth Gaskell, based in Victorian England. Margaret Hale is the daughter of a parson. At age nine, her parents sent her away from the sleepy hamlet known as Helstone, where her father serves as the Parish Priest, to go live with her maternal aunt in London’s Harley Street so she could get an education along with her cousin Edith. Nine years later, aged eighteen, she returns to the village home of her parents and is longing for a quiet, peaceful life walking in the forest and spending her days tending to the needs of her father’s congregation. “She took a pride in her forest. Its people were her people. She made hearty friends with them; learned and delighted in using their peculiar words; took up her freedom amongst them; nursed their babies; talked or read with slow distinctness to their old people; carried dainty messes to their sick; resolved before long to teach at the school, where her father went every day as to an appointed task, but she was continually tempted off to go and see some individual friend–man, woman, or child–in some cottage in the green shade of the forest.“ When her father suddenly announces that he is moving the family North to the manufacturing town of Milton-Northern, she is shocked and grief stricken and wonders how this change will affect her family, most especially her mother. Life in Milton is as different as expected – the air is heavy with smoke, the streets are bustling and the people are rough. Margaret tries her best to ease her mother’s worries and anxieties. With time, she gets to meet some of the people of Milton and make friends with them, in spite of the differences in behaviour, customs and mannerisms. She manages to get herself embroilled in the politics of the town and finds herself in the middle of a strike. She also manages to draw the attention of Mr. Thornton, a mill owner and one of the wealthiest manufacturers in the town, who is also her father’s pupil. John Thornton finds Margaret haughty and thinks she treats him with contempt while Margaret finds him hard and unfeeling and only interested in getting wealthy at the expense of his poor workers. Yet the two are brought together time and time again by fate. Will they be able to overcome their differences and find common ground? “If Mr. Thornton was a fool in the morning, as he assured himself at least twenty times he was, he did not grow much wiser in the afternoon. All that he gained in return for his sixpenny omnibus ride, was a more vivid conviction that there never was, never could be, anyone like Margaret; that she did not love him and never would; but she –no! nor the whole world –should never hinder him from loving her.“ This story is engaging and well written. It demonstrates what happens when there is a clash of cultures. Margaret and her family are used to Southern mannerisms and she struggles to understand the industrial town and its people. She has also had a privileged life at the her aunt’s London home which is very different from the life her own family leads. Through the eyes of the other characters, we get to experience the industrial revolution and the inevitable clashes between the mill owners and their workers as each strives to protect their interests. I loved how the author presented us with different view points of the lives of the people of Milton – that of the owners, workers and outsiders in the form of the Hale family. “After a quiet life in a country parsonage for more than twenty years, there was something dazzling to Mr. Hale in the energy which conquered immense difficulties with ease; the power of the machinery of Milton, the power of the men of Milton, impressed him with a sense of grandeur, which he yielded to without caring to inquire into the details of its exercise.“ This was my first Elizabeth Gaskell book to read as part of my 50 classics in 5 years’ challenge. Having gotten used to Jane Austen books where the biggest differences in social class were as a result of inheritance and the sort of family that one came from, it was refreshing to read about self-made characters who were not trapped in the lives that they were born into. Adaptation North and South has been adapted for TV three times. I watched the above 2004 BBC adaptation. It was a four episode production featuring Richard Armitage and Daniela Denby-Ashe. I absolutely loved it and found the characters very fitting for their roles, save that the ending was to me a bit too different from the actual ending in the book. I would have loved to see that ending played out here, though I must admit that it did not come out very nicely in the last episode of the 1975 adaptation that I managed to find on YouTube! I enjoyed every part of this book and recommend it to all lovers of classics. I rate it 5 out of 5.

Author : Marian Keyes Genre : Family Drama Publisher : Michael Joseph -an imprint of Penguin Year of Publication : 2020 Number of Pages : 633 My Rating : 4 out of 5 I totally fell in love with Marian Keyes after reading Sushi for Beginners. It led me to her other books which I … Continue reading Grown Ups →

Author : Marian Keyes Genre : Family Drama Publisher : Michael Joseph -an imprint of Penguin Year of Publication : 2020 Number of Pages : 633 My Rating : 4 out of 5 I totally fell in love with Marian Keyes after reading Sushi for Beginners. It led me to her other books which I also absolutely loved. I know it says ‘gloriously funny’ on this book’s cover – a quote from the Sunday Times – but it was more of drama than humor to me. This is especially so when I compare it with some of her other totally hilarious ones, like Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married and Rachel’s Holiday. The book is based on the Casey family, complete with a family tree, so we know who fits where – and once you tally all the children, they are quite a number. The three Casey brothers are close and spend a lot of time together, despite their estrangement from their very cold and distant parents. The family is fairly well-to-do (or at least Johnny and his wife Jessie are) so a good portion of the book features them at elaborate dinners or on holidays in picturesque destinations. We see the usual family dynamics play out, as the different characters encounter their own unique challenges. The book is quite voluminous at over 600 hundred pages. It took me a while to get into the story, I suppose due to the many characters, each with their own backstory and peculiarities. In fact, this felt more like several stories told together. Thankfully, once the story got going, I found myself pretty much drawn into it and I was easily able to follow the different story lines. I enjoyed the way that Marian expertly combined them into one tightly woven tale and, towards the end, I could not put the book down. Whilst the story was not ‘laugh out loud’ (at least not for me), there was a lot of humor in it together with all the family drama. The characters felt pretty familiar to me. I loved the interactions between them, as I got to know them and watch as they evolved. Marian explores some pretty serious themes in the book as she reveals the characters’ strengths and weaknesses. There was no part of this story that I did not like and I would recommend it to anybody who enjoys warm family stories about relationships and the trials and tribulations that we all have to deal with in every day life. I especially loved that this story does not take itself too seriously and none of the characters is reflected as being perfect. I rate this heartwarming story as a 4. The only reason why it did not get a 5 is because I enjoyed some of Marian’s books so much more and actually laughed out loud!

Book Review Author : Colleen Hoover Genre : Romance Publisher : Simon & Schuster Year of Publication : 2016 Number of Pages : 384 My Rating : 5 out of 5 Lily Bloom is upset following her father’s very emotionally draining funeral and just wants to be alone on a rooftop where she can breathe … Continue reading It Ends With Us →

Book Review Author : Colleen Hoover Genre : Romance Publisher : Simon & Schuster Year of Publication : 2016 Number of Pages : 384 My Rating : 5 out of 5 Lily Bloom is upset following her father’s very emotionally draining funeral and just wants to be alone on a rooftop where she can breathe in the fresh air and unwind. She does not count on meeting handsome Ryle, a neurosurgeon with whom she makes an instant connection. During their brief chat, they tell each other some ‘naked truths’ about their lives. Lily is trying to overcome complicated feelings around her father’s death and the life that she left behind when she moved to Boston. Ryle is struggling with his own demons that plague him. After their initial rooftop encounter, Lily doubts she will ever see Ryle again, as they want different things from life. When they reconnect several months later, she finds herself unable to resist him. In addition to starting a new business, and settling her mother in Boston, she reminisces about her first love, Atlas. She met Atlas as a teenager, at a time when he was lost, and she saved his life. When she unexpectedly bumps into him again, she believes she will finally get the closure she needs to be able to move on with her life. This is a love story, but not just the usual love story. It is a love story that almost made me cry in some parts and left me frustrated in others. Colleen Hoover is a bestselling author of romance, young adult, thriller and women’s fiction. “And maybe a ghost story soon,” as she says in her Goodreads Bio. It is no wonder then that this was not just a romance story, even though romance is at the heart of the book. I really rooted for Lily and Ryle and the twist caught me by surprise. I honestly did not see it coming. As it turns out, this is a tale about life and relationships – and how complicated both can get. I found the story gripping, even as it took an unexpected turn. The author uses first person to narrate the story, so I felt all of Lily’s emotions intensely, as I followed her thoughts and experiences. I loved Lily as a character and wish I had her strength. The other characters were also well developed and easy to relate to. This story seemed so familiar to me, yet the author managed to show me that some circumstances in life are not as they seem at first glance. She shows how easy it is to judge people unfairly when we do not fully understand what they have been through and what makes them act the way they do. Ultimately, this is a story about one woman’s journey and her quest to overcome her past and build a fulfilling, meaningful life for herself. It tells us that we are not bound by our past – or even our present circumstances and we can make the decision to break patterns. No matter what path we take, there is always time and space to course-correct. This may not always be easy and it requires a lot of reflection to recognize where we went wrong and the right path. It also requires the courage to do what is right as opposed to what is easy. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and rate it 5 out of 5. I recommend it to anyone who loves a good story with romance and a bit of a lesson.

Book Review Author : A. J. Finn Genre : Psychological Thriller Publisher : Harper Collins Published : January 2018 Number of Pages : 390 My Rating : 5 out of 5 The Woman in the Window is a psychological thriller by A. J. Finn. The main character, Dr. Anna Fox, suffers from severe agoraphobia and … Continue reading The Woman in the Window →

Book Review Author : A. J. Finn Genre : Psychological Thriller Publisher : Harper Collins Published : January 2018 Number of Pages : 390 My Rating : 5 out of 5 The Woman in the Window is a psychological thriller by A. J. Finn. The main character, Dr. Anna Fox, suffers from severe agoraphobia and is unable to leave her house. From the windows in her living room and her bedroom, she observes her neighbors. She knows all their goings and comings and sees everything that happens on her street. One day, she witnesses something shocking through her window. Unfortunately, no one believes her because of her condition. Dr. Anna Fox is an unreliable narrator. She has a severe anxiety disorder. At times, she either forgets to take her medication as prescribed, or takes double dosses after forgetting that she has already taken the medicine. She takes copious amounts of wine, even though she lies to her doctor that she will not take alcohol. She spends days and nights in her house, watching old thrillers shot in black and white. It is no surprise, therefore, that no one believes what she says. After a while, she even starts to doubt herself. I was drawn into this story from the beginning and it kept going at the same enthralling steady pace. It was full of twists and turns and a lot of suspense. At some point, I figured out part of the main character’s back story, but the main twist still caught me by surprise. I loved the way the author was able to clearly show us what Anna was going through, though at times, even Anna was confused and unclear about some of the events. I do not know anybody who suffers from agoraphobia, but I was able to feel the intensity of Anna’s fears, as they were set out so vividly. The characters were well developed. Most of the story is focused on Anna, but there is a good mix of supporting characters, who help to build the story. At the beginning, I thought this would be just a story about a nosy woman at a window spying on her neighbors – especially given how the story started. It turned out to be so much more. I’m glad I picked this as my last read of the year as I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I rate it 5 out of 5 and recommend it to anyone who loves psychological thrillers. A film based on the book, starring Amy Adams and Julianne Moore, is currently under production and is expected to air in 2020. I’m looking forward to watching it and hope it remains faithful to the book, as I could not bear the disappointment if they mess it up.

Book Review Author : Margaret Atwood Genre : Literary Fiction/Science Fiction and Fantasy Publisher : Penguin Random House Year of Publication : 2019 Number of Pages : 401 My Rating : 5 out of 5 This book is a sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale. It is set fifteen years after the events of The Handmaid’s … Continue reading The Testaments →

Book Review Author : Margaret Atwood Genre : Literary Fiction/Science Fiction and Fantasy Publisher : Penguin Random House Year of Publication : 2019 Number of Pages : 401 My Rating : 5 out of 5 This book is a sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale. It is set fifteen years after the events of The Handmaid’s Tale. The author, Margaret Atwood, is an accomplished author whose work has been published in more than forty-five countries. An adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale is now an award-winning TV series. Though I haven’t read The Handmaid’s Tale, I caught a few of the episodes which gave me some background into Gilead. The Testaments still reads well as a Standalone and prior knowledge of Gilead is not really necessary to follow the story. Atwood was selected as a joint winner of the Booker Prize in 2019 for The Testaments. Margaret Atwood This book takes us back to Gilead, a dystopian society that can only exist in one’s worst nightmare. It is a country set up after the so called ‘Sons of Jacob’ overthrow the US Government. They are deeply unhappy with a country bedeviled by numerous ills and want to make it better. I didn’t know there was a place in the Bible known as Gilead, but it makes total sense that the country would be named after a biblical place. Or maybe it was named after another actual town in the US called Gilead. The Sons of Jacob set up a theocratic government that has retrogressive views on the role of women in society, deeming them unsuitable for any positions of power. All steeped in religious bigotry. Women are not allowed to do any professional work. They can only be Wives, Aunts, Marthas or Handmaids. Marthas are domestic workers for the elites whilst the sole role of Handmaids is to get impregnated and carry babies for couples who are sterile. The world has a severe fertility crisis and most adults are sterile. Many babies are born with serious genetic defects and do not survive. As in many such societies, it is the women who are assumed to be infertile, hence the Handmaids are meant to bear children on their behalf. This makes the Handmaids extremely valuable and they are forced to perform their role with no escape. Handmaids wearing their ‘white wings’. The story is narrated through the voices of three women, whose connection becomes evident as it progresses. These are Aunt Lydia, who featured prominently in The Handmaid’s Tale and two young girls, Agnes and Daisy. Aunt Lydia is one of the founding women of Gilead. She is extremely resourceful, powerful and greatly feared. To ensure her own survival, she maneuvered her way into being placed in charge of all the women. She runs the revered Ardua Hall where Handmaids are trained and no men are allowed. She protects her position by ensuring she has incriminating information on all the senior members of Gilead’s governing council. Agnes is a fifteen year old girl, born after Gilead was formed. She is the daughter of a high ranking Commander. Through her story, we get an insider’s perspective of how life in a Commander’s house is and the sort of upbringing that Gilead girls have. She lets us in on life at school and the transition from being a girl to becoming a Wife. Eventually, she ends up at Ardua Hall under Aunt Lydia and gives us a front seat perspective of the lives of recruits selected to become Aunts. Daisy is a sixteen year old girl living with her parents in Canada. She only knows of Gilead through what she learns in school or sees on the news. She gives us an outsider’s perspective of Gilead, through the eyes of a young girl. She eagerly participates in anti-Gilead matches and disdains the Gilead Pearl Girls, who walk around her neighbourhood looking for fresh recruits to take to Gilead, thinking them ignorant. This is a story of horrific treatment meted out to others in the name of religion. Those in charge take it upon themselves to decide the fate of others with rigid oppressive laws, rules and guidelines. Spies are everywhere. Disobedience is severely punished and life in Gilead is full of fear, violence and death. Serious crimes by powerful men – such as pedophilia – are, for the large part, ignored and victims are more likely to be punished for speaking out than the perpetrators. Handmaids occasionally gather to carry out a horrific execution. Whilst this is not a story that one can call at all enjoyable, it was an intriguing look into what could happen when there is unchecked power. I loved the style that Atwood used to tell the story as I got a clear, firsthand view of events from different angles as represented by the three main characters. Whilst I really hated Aunt Lydia in the TV series, she somehow comes out as sympathetic in this book and I found myself empathizing with her, in spite of my better judgement. I suppose that is what happens when you are able to see a character’s motivation articulated so clearly. The book has quite a number of characters. Though many of them are totally unlikeable, they play a vital role in showing us the treachery, deception and vindictiveness pervading in Gilead. Some of them are heroes, working to end the tragedy that is Gilead. A few are even unsung heroes. All in all, what I loved most about this tale of woe was the ending. It gets a well deserved 5 out of 5. I recommend it to anyone who loves literary fiction.

A Classic’s Club Book Review Author: Henrik Ibsen Genre : Realistic Problem Play Publisher: T. Fisher Unwin Year of Publication: 21st December 1879 Number of Pages: 101 My Rating: 5 out of 5 I picked a Doll’s House as the next book to read for my Classics Club ’50 books in 5 years challenge’ because … Continue reading A Doll’s House →

A Classic’s Club Book Review Author: Henrik Ibsen Genre : Realistic Problem Play Publisher: T. Fisher Unwin Year of Publication: 21st December 1879 Number of Pages: 101 My Rating: 5 out of 5 I picked a Doll’s House as the next book to read for my Classics Club ’50 books in 5 years challenge’ because my son is reading it for school and I thought it would be cool to discuss it with him and share ideas on the themes. This exceptional read is a three-act play written by Henrik Ibsen, who was a leading Norwegian playwright. It features Nora Helmer and her relationship with her husband, Torvald. The play takes place just before Christmas. Nora is overjoyed because her husband has been appointed Manager of the local bank. He is to start at the beginning of the coming year. The family has been experiencing financial problems and Nora is looking forward to having more money than she can spend. Torvald believes his wife wastes money, calling her extravagant and a spendthrift who cannot save, even as she says that she really does save all that she can. His opinion of her is also evident in the way that he addresses her, calling her ‘a little squirrel’, ‘a little lark’, ‘a little skylark’ and ‘a little featherhead’. Ugh! When he says something that seems to upset her, he gives her money to cheer her up. Unknown to Torvald, Nora is not as helpless as he thinks, as she reveals to her old school friend, Mrs. Linde. She has had to work hard as well to support the family. Soon after their marriage, Torvald had overworked himself and fallen ill. The doctors had recommended that he travel south. The trip had to be taken, even though the couple did not have money to finance it. As far as Torvald knew, Nora borrowed some money from her father to pay for the trip. But Nora’s father had also been ailing at the time and she did not want to bother him. So she did the unthinkable and borrowed money from an unsavory man known as Nils Krogstad, without telling anybody else about it. Since then, Nora has saved what she can and worked long hours on whatever job she can get in order to repay the loan and the interest charged. When Mr. Krogstad realizes that Torvald is planning to fire him from his position at the bank because of a fraud that he committed, he attempts to blackmail Nora. He threatens to reveal that she borrowed money from him (and committed a fraud in the process) if she does not get her husband to retain him in his position. Nora is distressed by this as she knows Torvald detests loans and any impropriety. This play is a very insightful look into the way that women were regarded in society at the time. Torvald thinks his wife is a feather head and constantly refers to her as ‘little’. It is clear that he has all the authority in the home and does not regard his wife as an equal. Eventually, Nora realizes that her husband does not really love her, as he even refuses to do a favor for her. He implies that he would do anything for her, but when she faces condemnation, he turns on her and blames her for ruining him. All he cares about is himself. As appearances mean a lot to him, he is happy to keep her in his house but proclaims that she must not have any contact with her children, lest she infects them with her immorality. She also realizes that she does not love him anymore. She feels that she has been treated like a doll, first by her father, then by her husband. Her opinion does not matter. Torvald does not understand her and he has no respect for her. She decides to do the unthinkable and put herself first, for once, and look after her own interests. I found this play very thought – provoking. The characters were so well developed that I felt like I knew them and what drove them, within such a short period. Their obsession with societal expectations was evident as they place this above all else. I thought it was fascinating how they believed that a parent’s immorality or indiscretions would inevitably lead to the ruin of the children. And how Nora was astonished by the realization that altruistic intentions could not forgive a crime! The play shows us how damaging secrets can be. It also demonstrates how unreasonable it is to expect that others will always be grateful for what you do for them, especially when you cut some corners in the process. I found it hilarious that Torvald was quick to forgive his wife after he realized that no harm was to come to him and how he attempted to make her forget what he had said before when he thought he was going to be ruined. The only thing that puzzled me was how a mother can walk out on her children, especially when they had such a good relationship and the kids kept on insisting on spending more time with her. In as much as I understand the need to put herself first, this seems a bit extreme to me! It therefore does not surprise me that Ibsen was made to write an alternate ending to this play (which he called ‘a barbaric act of violence’) for a staging in Germany where Nora eventually decides to stay, as audiences of the time could also not fathom such an ending. All in all, A Doll’s House was an interesting take on life and marriage in particular in the 19th century and I give it 5 out of 5 stars! I also greatly enjoyed hearing my son’s take on the themes in the play, so that’s an added bonus. Adaptations This play was first performed at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark on December 21, 1879. Since then, it has been performed numerous times and adapted for TV, radio and cinema. I didn’t really enjoy watching the adaptations. I think this is because an adaptation of a play follows the script very closely, so I just felt like I was re-reading the play again! 1992: Part of the British “Performance” series, with Juliet Stevenson as Nora and Trevor Eve as Torvald. Directed by David Thacker. 1973 : Claire Bloom as Nora and Anthony Hopkins as Torvald. Directed by Patrick Garland. If you love plays or classical literature, I recommend that you check this one out!

Book Review Author : Heather Morris Genre : Biographical Fiction Publisher : Echo/ Bonnier Publishing Australia Year of Publication : 11th January 2018 Number of Pages : 194 My Rating :4 out of 5 The Tattooist of Auschwitz has been on my ‘to-be-read‘ list for a while. To be honest, it has stayed so long … Continue reading The Tattooist of Auschwitzt →

Book Review Author : Heather Morris Genre : Biographical Fiction Publisher : Echo/ Bonnier Publishing Australia Year of Publication : 11th January 2018 Number of Pages : 194 My Rating :4 out of 5 The Tattooist of Auschwitz has been on my ‘to-be-read‘ list for a while. To be honest, it has stayed so long on my TBR list because I really did not want to read a story about the horrors of the Holocaust, having never read one before. The movies and documentaries I watched on the subject gave me quite a chill! I still kept coming across it everywhere, so my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to read it. This is Heather Morris’ debut novel, originally written as a screenplay before being reworked as a novel. The book has received international acclaim with four million copies sold worldwide (according to Amazon). In the midst of all this success, there has also been some controversy surrounding the book. This is the story of Lale Sokolov, originally known as Ludwig Eisenberg. It is April 1942 when Lale leaves his home in Slovakia. The German government has demanded that each Jewish family provide an adult child to work for them. Failure to do this will lead to the whole family being sent to a concentration camp. To save his family from this fate, Lale presents himself to the Germans for service, believing his family back home will be safe. On the gate at Auschwitz are the words ‘Work will make you free’. Lale ponders the meaning of this phrase. A number is tattooed on his arm. He soon learns the true nature of life at Auschwitz where a simple misstep can lead to the loss of a life. Fortunately for Lale, he gets appointed as a Tätowierer, whose job is to tattoo other prisoners. This puts him in a protected and advantaged position but also at risk of being considered a collaborator, since he now works for the political wing of the SS. He meets Gita as he tattoos her arm and immediately feels a connection with her. They start a relationship that endures until they separately leave Auschwitz and find each other back home in Slovakia. Heather Morris wrote Lale’s and Gita’s story from Lale’s recollections, more than sixty years after the events had transpired. Lale told her the story after Gita had passed away. Gita and Lale I liked the author’s writing style. The story is well written and easy to follow. I was able to easily picture the events as they happened and follow Lale’s thoughts as he lived through the traumatic events. The horror of life at the concentration camp – fear, devastation and suffering – are laid bare in a manner that made me feel like I was watching the events unfold through the characters’ eyes. Yet in the midst of all that is a powerful story of the resilience of human beings, their ability to survive brutal events and remain hopeful, even when surrounded by suffering and death. Their ability to fall in love and trust that they can build a relationship. It would have been easy for the characters to just give up but throughout the book, the desire to overcome their circumstances was evident. It amazed me how Lale and Gita were able to find one another and develop such a close bond in such restrictive and devastating surroundings when their future was so uncertain. Although I really doubted the authenticity of some of their encounters given my (admittedly limited) knowledge of concentration camps, I rooted for them and admired Lale’s determination to be with his beloved. Most of all, I marveled at his courage and ingenuity. I rate this book 4 out of 5 and recommend it to anyone who loves stories about overcoming adversity. It would have been a 5 but for some discussions I came across online, which resonated with me, given some of my misgivings about the book. Controversy Given the historical significance of the Holocaust, any story that is centered on it is bound to attract a lot of attention. Some researchers have questioned the accuracy of some of the details in the book and have stated that some of the events that have been described could not have happened. Critics have been concerned that readers may take the story as a source of knowledge about life at Auschwitz – Birkenau. In as much as the author clearly states that she changed some facts to further the plot, the story is described as being ‘based on a true story’ and a lot of readers connected with the story because of this. When questioned about this, the author stated that she wrote “a story of the Holocaust, not the story of the Holocaust.” She told the New York Times that ;- “The book does not claim to be an academic historical piece of non-fiction, I’ll leave that to the academics and historians.” My Take on this This made me ponder on whether writers of historical fiction have an obligation to accurately depict historical events in their books. Is it not true that inaccuracies can mislead and leave readers with a wrong impression of events? Is it enough for authors to state that their stories are fictional and expect readers not to assume all the historical events are as they happened? What is the line between the fictional and the historical bit? And what is biographical fiction anyway? I think critics here were so concerned because this is described as a book about real people in a real place at a real time in history. A very sensitive time and place. This would therefore lead most readers to expect the story to be mostly true. And it should be. How much artistic license do you think an author has when they claim that a novel is based on a true story? Shouldn’t they at the very least get the actual known historical events correct? Let me know!

Book Review Author : Lola Shoneyin Genre : Literary Fiction Publisher: Serpent’s Tail Date of Publication: 2010 Number of Pages: 245 My Rating : 5 out of 5 Yes, I somehow ended up with two copies of this book. I think I bought the first one and whilst it was still on my ‘to read’ … Continue reading The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives →

Book Review Author : Lola Shoneyin Genre : Literary Fiction Publisher: Serpent’s Tail Date of Publication: 2010 Number of Pages: 245 My Rating : 5 out of 5 Yes, I somehow ended up with two copies of this book. I think I bought the first one and whilst it was still on my ‘to read’ list I came across it again and bought a second copy! Lola Shoneyin is a Nigerian poet. The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives was her debut novel published in 2010. Lola was nominated for the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2010 for this book. She won the PEN Oakland 2011 Josephine Miles Literary Award and the 2011 Ken Saro-Wiwa Prose Prize. The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives features the Alao family, made up of Ishola Alao (Baba Segi) and his four wives – Iya Segi, Iya Tope, Iya Femi and Bolanle. Iya is the Nigerian term for ‘mother of’ so they are named after their respective first born children. Baba Segi is, of course, named for the oldest child of the first wife. The book opens with Baba Segi contemplating a problem that he has had to deal with before. The latest addition to his family, his wife Bolanle, has not yet conceived a child. The last time he faced this problem, he found the solution at Teacher’s shack, where men gather and discuss different topics over whiskey. Teacher recommended a visit to a herbalist. Not long after taking the prescribed powder, his first wife got pregnant and Segi was born. Now with seven children from his three wives, he is again concerned because Bolanle has not yet conceived, after almost three years of marriage. Bolanle is different from the other wives. She has gone to university and is educated, whereas they are not. She refuses to see a herbalist. Teacher advises Baba Segi to take her to a hospital. Bolanle married Baba Segi against the wishes of her family and friends, who do not understand why she would marry an uneducated polygamist. Baba Segi’s other wives resent her because she is educated. As a result, they refuse to let her in on the secret that they all share, hoping to get rid of her. When Baba Segi decides to visit the hospital with Bolanle, he sets in motion a course of events that will change their lives in unimaginable ways. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It gives us a good view of life in a polygamous family and the power dynamics that influence it. The role of the first wife and how it evolves as the husband gets more wives is explored. I enjoyed seeing the different personalities of the characters and how they affect their relationships. Baba Segi believes he is fully in control of the family and tries as much as he can to be fair to all his wives. Iya Segi is cunning, wise and controlling. Iya Femi is spiteful and vengeful. Iya Tope is lazy and not so bright, yet she is also kind. Bolanle is lost and carries deep-seated pain. Lola tells this story in an engaging way. She lets the main characters tell us their backstories and show us their feelings by using a first person narrative. In other places, she uses the third person to further the story. These characters are well developed and authentic. I empathised with them, even when I did not like their actions. The book tackles themes such as polygamy, violence, infertility, prejudice and other social injustices. It is a beautiful narrative that both entertains, questions and challenges. It is a tale of how far people will go to get what they want and to maintain their livelihood. It shows how easy it is to misjudge people and not appreciate their strengths. How our prejudices can make us blind to what should be obvious. Perhaps the most important lesson of all is – always be wary of karma! I rate it 5 out of 5 and recommend it to lovers of African literature.

Book Review May contain spoilers….. Author : Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Genre: Literary Fiction Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers Date of Publication: 2004 Number of Pages: 307 My Rating : 5 out of 5 Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie won the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award (Best Debut Fiction Category) in 2004 and the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book in 2005 … Continue reading Purple Hibiscus →

Book Review May contain spoilers….. Author : Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Genre: Literary Fiction Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers Date of Publication: 2004 Number of Pages: 307 My Rating : 5 out of 5 Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie won the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award (Best Debut Fiction Category) in 2004 and the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book in 2005 for Purple Hibiscus. Purple Hibiscus is Chimamanda’s debut novel, published in 2004. I read it after reading Americanah which resonated with me because of all the stories I had heard about the lives of immigrants in the US. Purple Hibiscus is a heartbreaking story about fifteen year old Kambili and her family. Kambili’s father, Eugene, is a wealthy Nigerian businessman. He is also a religious fanatic who does not allow any dissent in his family. Everything has to be done his way. He exercises tight control over their lives, planning and intricately scheduling every minute including family time, reading time, eating time and prayer time. There are prayers before and after meals, with a prayer before meals taking twenty minutes. Any dissent is met with horrific acts of violence. Eugene is fastidious about rituals and prayers but fails in kindness and compassion, yet he is blind to his many faults. Typically, he blames others for his wrongdoing and makes them go for confession when they have done nothing wrong. There are a lot of lessons to be glimpsed from the book. Chimamanda shows us how violence begets violence. Eugene was exposed to violence for behavior that was deemed ‘sinful’ by a priest he lived with while in school and metes out similar punishment to his family. Whilst this is no excuse, it helps us get a better understanding of his character. His family lives in silence and fear. This has greatly affected Kambili who rarely talks. When she does it is in a voice that is barely audible. Their mother, Beatrice, tries to prevent the violence by deflecting Eugene’s attention when she sees his temper rising, though she rarely succeeds. When Kambili and her brother, Jaja, visit their Aunt Ifeoma at the University campus in Nsukka where she works and lives with her family, they are surprised at how different life in her house is. Though Ifeoma’s family lacks the abundant resources that Kambili’s family has, they enjoy cheerful banter during meal times. Ifeoma’s house is full of music and laughter, which is alien to Kambili and Jaja. To their surprise, their aunt tells them that there is no need to follow their father’s strict schedule while they are at her house. At Nsukka, Kambili meets Father Amadi, a young catholic priest whose amiable behaviour is unlike anything her father would approve of. Father Amadi quickly notices that Kambili is different and pays her special attention. Kambili develops a crush on him. Though we do not see any inappropriate behaviour on Father Amadi’s part, he manages to draw Kambili out of her shell. She is able to open up and relax due to the way he treats her. Eventually she falls in love with him, even though she knows nothing can come out of this relationship (sigh………). Another theme that is explored in this book is how the wealthy are allowed to get away with ghastly behavior. Eugene is extremely generous. He is the main benefactor of his church. This gives him the confidence to stand in judgment of other worshippers, regarding those who missed communion on two consecutive Sundays as ‘having committed mortal sin’. Villagers flock to his rural home when he goes there and he gladly dishes out money. He is a highly regarded member of society, even though he permits his children only fifteen minutes to visit his own father whom he regards as a ‘heathen’. He refuses to have anything to do with his father. When they fail to report that they spent time with their grandfather at Aunt Ifeoma’s house, Kambili and Jaja are punished for knowingly being in the same house with a heathen. This in spite of the fact that their grandfather is only brought to Nsukka due to his deteriorating health. Eugene is not even moved when his father dies, his only comment is that a priest should have been called to pray for him and convert him. This does not stop him from sending a lot of money for the funeral, though he doesn’t bother attending it. Neither the villagers nor Father Benedict are shown as being at all concerned about the way he treats his family, though it must be clearly evident that something is off as others easily pick up on this. The only person who dares defy him is his sister, Ifeoma, who goes as far as to refuse his financial assistance because he tries to control her life in exchange for his support. Another theme that Chimamanda brings out is how society tends to turn a blind eye to things that make us uncomfortable. Nobody asks Kambili how she got hurt when she lands in hospital after her father repeatedly kicks her, not even Father Eugene or the doctor. The only person who dares broach the subject is her cousin, Amaka, who mentions it in a way that makes it obvious that she is already aware of what happened. How long can people really survive such treatment? Kambili’s mother, Beatrice, seems weak and helpless, as victims of domestic abuse often appear to be. She tries to protect her children but seems trapped by circumstances. She goes back to her abusive husband even after Ifeoma begs her not to go. Ifeoma often tries to talk some sense into her brother, although ultimately, she concludes that he is broken, perhaps beyond redemption. Jaja is wracked with guilt because of his inability to protect his mother. He is eventually able to take a stance against his father, and we see his character begin to develop. Unfortunately, the cycle of violence is doomed to continue as victims of violence often retaliate. All in all, this book was a poignant look at religious fanaticism and domestic violence. It is heartbreaking and distressing. It made me mad and frustrated. I wished I could enter into the book and shake some sense into some of the characters. I found the story well-paced and superbly written. The characters are well developed and easy to understand, even those that I did not like – Eugene and Father Benedict. I felt sorry for Kambili, celebrated Jaja’s growth into manhood, and empathized with Beatrice. I understood Ifeoma’s anger and frustration with her brother and even Amaka’s attempt at rationalizing her uncle’s behaviour. The story is told against the background of political instability and a military coup in Nigeria, which provides some useful information on what is going on in the characters’ lives. I love how Chimamanda uses the blooming of the newly planted and rare purple hibiscus to depict a new beginning for the family and how the characters are at last able to move on. The story is told from Kambili’s point of view and her emotional turmoil is brought out beautifully. I appreciated the way Chimamanda contrasts religion as depicted by Ifeoma’s family and Father Amadi, as opposed to Eugene and Father Benedict. The same religion expressed very differently. We see how Kambili feels isolated from her religion because of her father’s fanaticism, whereas her cousins embrace their religion and have a friendly and casual relationship with their priest, free from judgment. Even though a lot of violence is depicted, and I could clearly see how inhumane and traumatic this is for the characters, I did not find it at all graphic. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, even when it made me sad, and rate it 5 out of 5. I recommend it to lovers of African literature.

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Barry Swanson, a 70-year-old widower, moves into Blue Loon Village, a senior living center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at the insistence of his daughter. He’s not entirely ready to give up on living an active life, but he’s also not one to rock the boat. His attitude changes, though, when he discovers that his old high school girlfriend, Beth, is living in the same residence. Beth is as lively as ever, and she quickly recruits him for some serious boat-rocking—with little concern for potential legal consequences. When they discover that their neighbor’s granddaughter is a victim of domestic abuse, they make a plan to kidnap and terrorize the husband to scare him straight. The mission is a success, so the pair hit the road to enact more DIY justice: They rob a shipment of Spam and distribute it to unhoused people; they pick up Jenny Callahan from Des Moines, who’s on the run from an abusive husband, and she becomes their sidekick; and all three later get caught in a mass shooting during which Barry makes good use of a can of Spam. Later adventures send them to Florida, and toward a final showdown. Overall, Essen delivers a smart, gripping read that adults of any generation will enjoy, but it’s likely to appeal particularly to readers around the same age as the gray-haired heroes. Its overriding message that people of any age can make a difference in the world has universal appeal. The novel never takes itself too seriously, and it’s chock full of funny moments, despite the sometimes-dark subject matter. The book will also be a great fit for animal lovers, as the gang helps many creatures, including alligators, on their journey; Barry’s beloved leopard gecko, Gertrude, is effectively a member of the team. The narrative does simplify some issues surrounding vigilante justice, but few readers will object to the Silver Squad’s courage, even when they’re on the wrong side of the law.

Parker Hanson is a New Hampshirite and former investigative reporter now doing PI work. But sitting long hours on stake-outs without falling asleep requires a “generous amount of caffeine,” which (“along with a poor family history”) factored into Parker’s recent heart attack before his 45th birthday. On a current case, when he’s not watching baseball or going to cardiac rehab, Parker is shadowing Mark Bowman, deputy chief of staff in Governor Jack Gordon’s office.  Mark’s wife Brooke, an attractive woman in her mid-30s, hires Parker to find out if her suddenly distant husband is having an affair. “If he is, then he’s an idiot,” Parker thinks. But when trailing Mark, Parker sees him get into a woman’s car. Then a truck intentionally hits the couple’s car, engulfing it in flames, and the truck driver flees. Mark and the woman—who turns out to be Parker’s former co-worker, reporter Maggie Malone—are dead. Parker noses around the newspaper and talks to Maggie’s roommate, discovering that the journalist was investigating a private forest management concern called Tree Kings that had been awarded a state contract by the Gordon administration; a government IT staffer discovered that Tree Kings’ bid for the contract had been tampered with after the submission deadline, and Mark wouldn’t let the matter rest. The writing is crisp, but the plot is predictable. Still, Parker is an engaging character, one to root for. The theme of fatherhood weaves through the narrative; another thread follows Parker’s recovery efforts after his heart attack (the camaraderie at cardiac rehab fleshes out the protagonist). Baseball references pepper the text, but there’s no need to italicize them—or such other emphasized comments as “Good question.” The late-stage introduction of the sweet bloodhound Minerva is a welcome extra.

Justyce Dreadmiller, the self-made owner-manager of the boutique grocery store Mildred’s Market, has long suffered the routine shoplifting of “pouting young nymphet” Yvette Cartier. Every few days, the entitled, beautiful Yvette pilfers several high-end items—perfumes, cosmetics, lubricants, and the like—from Justyce’s shelves. Justyce has just purchased a Japanese-made novelty conveyor belt (the eponymous At-Your-Beck Felicity Conveyor) to help set the Market apart, a substantial investment that makes Yvette’s shoplifting increasingly hard on his bottom line. When Yvette purloins $700 worth of inventory in a single day, he knows he must do something to put her in her place. Justyce believes in “solving his own problems in his own ways, on his own initiative, and at his own convenience, in as straightforward a manner as was practicable,” an approach that has, in the past, meant leaving his high school bully drugged and castrated in a swamp. For Yvette, the plan is slightly less grisly: He will simply humiliate her in the most sadistic manner imaginable. For that, he will need, among other things, the help of his seductive son, an aphrodisiacal ointment that delays climax, and a few novel augmentations of the At-Your-Beck Felicity Conveyor. Landon’s prose is nearly Joycean in its verbosity, which, in addition to slowing down the novel’s pace, creates an ironic friction with the ribald subject matter. Here, the author describes Yvette’s magnetic effect on men: “Gentlemen from all walks of life would ogle our subdebutante everywhither she set her pretty young feet and, to boost her libidinal ego, she would play little games with these poor sitting ducks by coyly making goo-goo eyes at the throbbing love muscles inside their trousers.” The book builds to a preposterous (and literal) climax—aided by what amounts to a Rube Goldberg machine composed of sex toys—that is almost too abstracted to either scintillate or offend. Readers who enjoy both high postmodernism and BDSM will have fun with this one.

Rory, a former Honor Warrior, loves Ingefær, a battle wizard, very much. They have traveled together for years working as bounty hunters and are ready to begin the next part of their journey together: marriage. While Rory has been hesitant to propose to Ingefær after so many of his loved ones have died, Furæyar Shrine, with its dazzling colors and beautiful view, feels like the right place to finally pop the question (“the gardens were the grandest spot for romance in Vanaby, perhaps the entire Realm”). However, as soon as Rory gets down on one knee, the shrine erupts in flames. He and Ingefær rush to help people, but in the aftermaththey are arrested for suspicion of causing the magically created fire. Lieutenant Smergasil is quick to point fingers at the outsiders, and while Rory is released, Ingefær is kept in jail until the trial, leaving Rory to find the true fire mage who started the conflagration and free her. The task proves difficult, as things have changed recently in the city of Vanaby, with military control giving lieutenants an incredible amount of power—and humans are not looked upon kindly in this land. Vecka creates compelling difficulties and character challenges that help drive the fast-paced plot and add to the already exciting mystery narrative. The lieutenant and his men watch Rory like a hawk as he’s challenged to use his wits and words to figure out how to free Ingefær. If he lifts a finger against a resident of Vanaby, he’ll find himself back in jail as well; for a former Honor Warrior, this is a great strain, and the author effectively shows how Rory struggles with it. Similarly, Ingefær must struggle to choose between escaping to live as a fugitive or staying locked up until her innocence is proved by the identification of the true culprit.

Hammam, Khalil, and Hussam, writes Barber, “are ordinary people living in an extraordinary context.” All three are Palestinian men who came of age during the intifada and Israeli occupation of their home in the Gaza Strip. While the book’s insightful introductory chapter offers readers ample historical context, the author, a professor emeritus at the University of Tennessee, emphasizes that this is not “a book about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.” Instead, it is a story of resilience, survival, and trauma, told from the perspectives of its three main subjects. Barber’s research on childhood trauma in war-torn environments took him on multiple trips to the Gaza Strip over the last three decades, where he developed a close relationship with the three young men. Stories shared by the trio range from the typical trials of adolescence—Hammam, for instance, spends entire chapters stressing over his school exams—to confrontations with the Israeli military. In one particularly harrowing anecdote involving both physical and sexual abuse, Hussam tells of witnessing a Palestinian assuring soldiers that he would “confess to anything” if released. Many of the stories defy Western narratives about Palestinian youth: In addition to getting highlights of Khalil’s day-to-day family life, readers learn of his history of political activism as he eschewed joining “the front lines of the stone throwers” to participate in behind-the-scenes organizations of demonstrations. As the author of multiple scholarly books on childhood psychology, Barber approaches the stories of Hammam, Khalil, and Hussam with an empathetic style that gives them space to tell their own stories. The book’s final section looks at the events of October 7, 2023 from a Palestinian perspective, providing an intimate exploration of the ways in which the subsequent Israeli response impacted the lives of three average Palestinian families. The book’s engaging narrative is supplemented by research footnotes, though it never reads like an academic text. The book includes photographs, maps, and other visual elements that complement its accessibility.

While enjoying their lunch break outdoors on Elita Island, home to a federal penitentiary, two prison guards encounter a feral child who appears to be around 12, but is actually 17. Because the girl, who’s being called Atalanta Doe, doesn’t speak, the social worker assigned to the case is elated when she hears about Professor Bernadette Baston: “A woman child development specialist! How interesting, I thought,” she tells Bernadette when they meet. Bernadette, a curiosity as a woman in the psychology department at Seattle’s state university, specializes in language acquisition, but explains that she’s a scholar and can’t be expected to teach Atalanta to talk. Nevertheless, over the course of her visits with the girl, Bernadette becomes determined to learn how Atalanta got to the island, which will mean asking the area’s residents unwelcome questions. As it happens, Bernadette, too, knows something about surviving on one’s own: Her husband left four years earlier, when their daughter was an infant. Lunstrum builds her fathomlessly rich plot with sentences that suggest she has, as Bernadette describes a novelist’s job, “taken a polishing cloth to the surface of every word.” (Readers should be patient with early chapters that minutely recount what Bernadette acknowledges is “the teeming wildness” of her thoughts.) The novel succeeds as both a mystery and a pitiless look at the burdens that have historically been particular to female parents and professionals. As Bernadette observes a Tacoma detective’s lack of affect, she accepts that his “flat, stone-faced approach is a privilege she’ll never have.”

Seventeen-year-old Eliza Loft’s high-school experience in Whitehall—a “Podunk” town in the Adirondack Mountain region of New York—isn’t exactly idyllic. After her mother died of cancer when Eliza was 12 years old, the teen rebelled, and on a drunken night with her two best friends up in the woods, she did some regrettable things. In an inebriated haze, she also witnessed the brutal murder of an older girl from her school district. After vowing with her friends to never share the events of that night with anyone, four years pass, and Eliza becomes estranged from the two other girls, who become popular while she ends up a loner. When each of the three girls finds a photo of the dead girl with a message (“I know what you did”) in their lockers, panic ensues—no one else could possibly know. When one of Eliza’s (now former) best friends turns up dead shortly thereafter, Eliza not only becomes a suspect but also the killer’s next potential target. With her new friend Simon—a hardcore bigfoot enthusiast—accompanying her, she attempts to discover who, or what, is behind the murders. Carlisle’s story is a real page-turner. While the bigfoot element is certainly intriguing, it’s the author’s insightful depiction of the teenage experience—battling self-doubt, dealing with bullying and crushes, finding one’s place in the world—that makes Eliza’s story so emotionally resonant and compelling. Her grief over her mother’s death is particularly powerful: “But death doesn’t care about what you need. It comes without warning, takes everything from you until all you’re left with are a bunch of broken pieces and no picture to guide you on how to fit them back together.”

A grown-up rabbit and a young bunny head into nature for a day “packed with play.” They draw, jump, run, sail toy boats, build a fort, and make necklaces out of berries. Other animal pairs join them for picnic-party fun and games. The bunnies bake cupcakes for their neighbors, which sends a lovely message about the importance of honoring community. That evening, after the others bid them farewell, the adult sings “silly songs” while rocking the child to sleep. Proffering a Valentine’s Day card, the grown-up whispers those words all children, bunny or otherwise, want to hear most: “I love you.” Receiving a tender kiss, the young rabbit snuggles up with a stuffed bunny toy and drifts off. The delightful final scene depicts the pair flying a heart-shaped kite. This warm story, expressed in gentle though at times treacly verse, is well suited for young audiences on Valentine’s Day or any occasion when adults want to assure little ones they’re much loved—and that’s at any time. The inclusion of pages to write on (and an invitation to affix a photograph) makes this book better suited as a personal purchase rather than for schools and libraries. The colorful illustrations are as lushly delicate as bunny fur.

Pete Barnes finds a terrified young Black boy named Alex Broadnax—shivering from the cold and covered in blood—hiding in his father’s milk barn in Leakesville, North Carolina. Alex witnessed the murder of his entire family by the Ku Klux Klan and is now on the run. Poppa Barnes, despite his unabashed racism, takes Alex in and puts him to work, and he grows up side by side with Pete, working the farm and attending school (albeit a segregated one for Black children). Pete quickly comes to love Alex and sees him as another brother, but Alex, by far the more thoughtful of the two, never loses sight of the distance between himself and his adopted family, a bitter awareness movingly captured by the author: “I was never a son to Poppa. Every night at dinner we thanked God for his enveloping love, but come Sunday, it was clear that love did not extend to me.” Immediately after graduating high school, both boys join the army and are sent to Europe to fight in World War II. While there, Alex is stung by the military’s refusal to acknowledge his heroism and Pete wrestles with his resentment toward his father and the Baptist faith he tries to abandon. The relationship between Alex and Pete is a profoundly complex one and is rendered with impressive subtlety by Newman, who admirably refuses any facile sentimentality. Alex is a particularly memorable protagonist—it is both fascinating and heartbreaking to see how he manages to maintain both gratitude and anger in his heart in equal measure. The novel is affecting but not cloyingly manipulative, an increasingly rare accomplishment in the field of contemporary literature.

Kalaichandran, a pediatrician and journalist, starts by revisiting her travails working at an Ontario hospital where, she says, the hostility of senior staff caused her to develop anxiety, depression, and high cholesterol levels. The ordeal prompted her to research connections between mental and physical healing and embark on a tour of alternate therapies. The journey took her to a yoga training retreat in Mexico; a mass hypnosis session, which opened insights into the placebo effect (fake surgeries can be as effective as real ones in alleviating orthopedic pain and disability, she reports); new foods (she adopted the Mediterranean and Portfolio Diets and light fasting); and a trip on MDMA—ecstasy—to see whether psychedelics really do alleviate intractable mental problems. (As advertised, the experience showed her “a side to our existence that felt sublime and…connected to the larger universe,” she writes.) Kalaichandran also probes darker aspects of the medical profession that contribute to the unhappiness of doctors. These include residents’ sleep deprivation from 24-hour shifts (the practice was popularized by a cocaine-addicted surgeon, she notes), toxic hospital office politics, and bullying campaigns conducted by powerful doctors against underlings because of personal grudges, racism, and sexism—a dynamic that she credits with causing her own mental health issues. Kalaichandran presents a lucid, nuanced account of the science behind the unconventional ideas she explored amid an intricate analysis of social and psychological determinants of disease, drawing on observations of her own patients. Beyond the lucid exposition of studies and theories, there’s an evocative, spiritual richness in her prose, as when, for example, she analyzes the importance of accepting the inevitable through a plangent recollection of a patient dying of cancer: “And so, Priya had passed away, as a slow withering out of this world, while her mother fought her own resistance around letting go among the machines and cords and fluorescent lights of a small ICU room.” The result is a fascinating, hopeful meditation on sickness and recovery.

In their debut nonfiction collaboration, von Seldeneck and Alexander draw on their very different experiences in the world of executive recruitment. In the 1970s, von Seldeneck founded Diversified Search Group (DSG), which Alexander later joined, and the book alternates between exchanges of dialogue between the two and a shared narration of their evolving leadership ideas informed by their pasts. Von Seldeneck got a job as a typist in President John F. Kennedy’s Department of Commerce and lived through the turmoil of the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement; Alexander was on active duty in the United States Army during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and entered a very different corporate world than that of her co-writer, one in which many glass ceilings for women had already been shattered. “If our stories prove anything,” they write, “it’s that there is no single right way to lead,” and yet the two authors agree on many commonalities of good leadership. “If you don’t leverage your position and power to do the maximum amount of good for the maximum number of people,” they write, “you’re ignoring one of your greatest assets – and a crucial component of true leadership.” Belying the fact that the book is a collaboration, the uniform tone throughout is very convincing. The sense of listening to two friends and colleagues hashing over the lessons of their lives is both vivid and enormously instructive. The give-and-take feels natural: “You used your power position to help me out, and I trusted you right away because of it,” says Alexander. “That’s a win for me, then,” von Seldeneck responds. Their shared leadership principles are wonderfully human: “Leaders shouldn’t be gatekeepers,” they write, “we should be gate openers.” Readers will want much more of this dialogue.

As the youngest member of a student environmental club known as the Sea Musketeers, 9-year-old Gabby Torres is eager to stand out, and she decides that starting a social media account for the group is just the ticket. The others are encouraging, but Gabby’s worried parents lay down some guidelines for online safety. Her best friends, Kat and Priya, who also hope to join the Sea Musketeers, are supportive, but Gabby makes a mess of things. Kat and Priya are upset when the test to join the Sea Musketeers proves harder than they realized, Gabby ends up breaking her parents’ social media rules, and, when she notices a rude anonymous comment on the club’s page, she begins to levy accusations against everyone around her. Short paragraphs of text are mixed with traditional comic art. Zippy cartoon illustrations adeptly convey emotions, while ample white space and simple backgrounds keep the focus on the endearingly earnest protagonist. Set in the same world as Dominguez’s Stella Díaz series, the tale offers a nuanced and compassionate depiction of forgiveness as Gabby works to make amends and realizes that making a mistake can be an opportunity to learn and grow. Gabby is biracial (her mother presents white, while her father is Mexican American), and Spanish words are occasionally used; Kat appears white; Priya is Indian American.

The brown-haired, light-skinned narrator and their parents are a tightknit family. With their mom, the protagonist bakes, draws, and builds cardboard houses; with their dad, they go on walks, make up stories, and roughhouse. They love their time with each parent, but when all three are together, things don’t always go as smoothly. Mom and Dad often argue, make up with the help of their child, and return to normal until they inevitably argue again. This vicious cycle culminates with the narrator’s father leaving their home permanently to live elsewhere. The main character is understandably distraught, asking, “Why aren’t we happy together instead of having those sad feelings apart?” With a helpful piece of advice from their mother, they learn to embrace their separate lives with each parent and their respective partners, and to accept the changing, less conventional shape of their family. Here, Nikolova tackles a topic more common in real life than in children’s literature. Her writing is somewhat stilted, and occasional time skips may require assistance for young readers to fill in the gaps. Popova’s illustrations almost always portray the child with one parent at a time; when the father leaves, she removes all color from the otherwise visually vivid story as the main character struggles with their sadness.

The sweetly likable Traci, now 23, has amassed a huge following with her website, The Baker Next Door, and on social media. Against the advice and self-interest of the people who over-manage her career, she decides to find out what happened to her father. Cole quickly determines that he was last seen at the SurfMutt hamburger stand, where he gave a ride to Anya Given, a troubled 15-year-old whose mother, Sadie, was late in picking her up from the skate park across the street. With the reluctant help of a scattered young woman who used to work at the burger joint, Cole tracks down Anya and Sadie, who is eventually revealed to have a criminal past. For his efforts, he’s jumped by a small gang of men who send him to the hospital with the worst beating of his life. (Asked by a nurse what his name is, the best he can guess is “Los Angeles.”) Still in recovery, Cole and Joe Pike, his ex-Marine partner, trace his attackers to Sadie, with unexpected results. As ever, Crais draws the reader in via his protagonist’s casual, dryly humorous manner and the book’s relaxed ties to classic noir. Slowly but surely, the plot gains intensity and deadly purpose. Just when you think the missing persons case is solved, Crais ratchets things up with a devastating follow-through. This is the L.A. novelist’s 20th Cole mystery, following such efforts as The Watchman (2007) and Racing the Light (2022). It may be his most powerful.

Casey and Kyle McCray’s marriage seemed like storybook material. They began as childhood friends in Potsdam, New York, moved on to a teenage romance, and married young. For 21 years, they saw themselves as a solid team. But as this novel opens, they’re on opposite ends of the country—Kyle has fled all the way to Spokane, where he’s working as a mechanic—and scarred by a bitter divorce two years earlier. When Kyle learns that his father, Danny, a retired firefighter, has suffered a stroke, he reluctantly goes home to help care for him. Kyle knows he can’t avoid seeing Casey—she’s Danny’s neighbor and main caretaker. At first the two keep their distance, but soon, Casey, a middle school teacher who helps run the hockey team, turns to Kyle for help coaching the kids. He was a high school hockey star, and the game was always a bond in their relationship. Even more than the present tension between them, the plot is driven by the slow, skillful revelation of what shattered their marriage in the first place. Unfortunately, the story gets bogged down in snowbanks of extraneous description—everything from the outfits and hairstyles of minor characters to the color of a dog’s license tag, not to mention an avalanche of middle school hockey minutiae. The novel delves into the limitations of small-town lives set on their tracks early, such as that of Casey’s brother, Wyatt. Seriously injured as a child in the car crash that killed their father, he uses a wheelchair and has forged a career doing custom woodwork. Even though he longs to move to a city, he still lives with his sister, an arrangement that’s held him back more than protected him. The unfolding of Casey and Kyle’s secrets keeps the story interesting, although an anti-feminist subtext that emerges may disturb some readers.

Wolfgang—a gray wolf with a large gray guitar case strapped against his red-jacketed back—puts up a poster on a tree: “WOLF SEEKS GANG to form a rock band…Let’s howl!” Wolfgang becomes increasingly disappointed when no one responds. Just as he’s about to tear down the sign, a white rabbit named Rex—clad in a dark jacket and yellow boots—shows up. Though Wolfgang initially views the bunny as a “tasty snack,” he changes his tune when Rex plays his guitar and sings. The two jam together until other woodland animals—and light-skinned Red Riding Hood—show up, listen, and applaud. The increasingly popular team figures out a name: the Big Bads. Whenever Wolfgang’s rumbling tummy threatens their relationship, Rex breaks out the music, and Rex’s thoughts quickly shift: “It was as if the music was magic!” Sadly, that strategy doesn’t work when the pair encounter a trio of porcine hunters, but the Big Bads continue playing until they’ve inspired even their nemeses to make music, not violence. Spare text translated from French and funny, carefully composed illustrations reminiscent of William Steig’s work combine for a charming tale. The pacing feels a bit rushed at the end, but overall, text and art are delightful, slyly interspersing old and new.

For years, the Princess has been endlessly digging Snow—which continually falls in a scientifically modified, self-replenishing form. She’s desperate to restore her kingdom of Mistmir to the way it was, but ever since she wished for “perfect” snow, the wintry precipitation has been unrelenting, and everyone has fled except her father, the King. One day, the Princess’ shoveling reveals her flutterbye toy, which was made by the Strangers who created the Snow, and she’s excited to show the King this sign of hope. But before she can do so, she meets a girl, 12-year-old Indian American Ela, who has stumbled into Mistmir from our world. Ela is shocked to recognize the Princess from “the Book,” Snow Princess, that her mother used to read to her. Realizing that the surprise visitor is the key to fixing the kingdom, the Princess invites Ela to her castle. Ela follows her, hoping to uncover the truth behind the Book and the oddly vivid, memorylike images in her head, and they form an unexpected friendship. This story combines science and magic to create an engaging and moving setting with charming, detailed worldbuilding that’s tinged with eeriness and sadness. While the start is slow, the storyline eventually picks up, revealing family secrets, schemes, and drama. Trehan weaves in themes of loneliness, belonging, forgiveness, and power. In the brown-skinned, dark-eyed Princess’ kingdom, Hindi is known as their Naming Language.

Pope Francis’ Life: My Story Through History (2024) acted as a basic set of memoirs, but this newest work is a more in-depth look at the life of the pontiff. Francis, born as Jorge Mario Bergoglio, dives deep into his family story, memories of his youth, years of struggle and conflict in Argentina as a church leader, and finally his role as head of the Roman Catholic Church. Readers will find this autobiography replete with intriguing and sometimes surprising and even disturbing stories from the pope’s life. Francis’ worldview was shaped by a concern for the poor and the displaced; his father was an Italian immigrant, and his mother was also of Italian descent. He references war as the great evil and tragedy of humankind, returning to the theme again and again. Francis does not hide his own mistakes or peccadilloes, nor does he boast of his own accomplishments. His is a modest and humble story, centered less on himself than on the myriad of people he has encountered through the decades. This includes many people who have suffered, through political oppression, warfare, disease, and more. This makes Francis’ life story quite moving at times. Nevertheless, the work has a choppy feel, both in diction and in organization. The pope tends to wander from one topic to another and often writes in pithy, moralistic declarations. Toward the end, he veers off from autobiography to his views on humanity and life itself. He upholds the book’s title with this statement: “For we Christians, the future has a name and this name is hope.” Hope is indeed another recurring theme, even in the midst of the world’s evil and dysfunction, which he has seen firsthand.

The author, a longtime yogi and prolific self-help writer, here focuses her attention on the concept of aging. While acknowledging that genetics and lifestyle choices greatly influence how one ages, she also draws attention to the cultural and spiritual aspects of the process. Heavily influenced by Eastern practices, Moran alternates between concrete suggestions (for good skin care, wear sunscreen and eat herbs like Tulsi, amla, and ashwagandha) and more esoteric musings (“just think of your inner being as soul or spirit or whatever word you like. Terminology aside, that inner being is the real you, and it does not age. The more thoroughly you can identify with the part of yourself that has been you all your life, the more youthful you will feel and appear”). Occasional text boxes contain “Practices for the Path” with additional exercises for readers to try, like “Adapt an appropriate and appealing asana routine for yourself.” Moran includes plenty of personal anecdotes, such as her experience bungee jumping at age 43, as well as yogic parables, like the tale of the blind sea turtle. The author’s voice remains warm and conversational throughout, easing readers into sometimes rather complex concepts—the idea of the body’s three doshas (or energies), for example, with the dominating one being “solidified at the moment of conception as your body type.” In addition to all of the spiritual notions that Moran introduces, she also addresses some very practical issues, including the importance of a living will. It is the deftness with which Moran handles this delicate balance between the metaphysical and tangible that makes her guide such a pleasure to read. Her approach to aging may hover in the periphery of the mainstream, but there is valuable information here—whether or not one subscribes to all of the ideas.

Fried peanuts always make an appearance at Meng’s family’s New Year celebrations. Dad mentions that the food has an extra-special meaning because of Meng’s great-grandmother, or tài nǎi nǎi: “When she spoke, everyone listened.” He tells Meng about the time that Tài Nǎi Nǎi noticed an unfamiliar pregnant woman wandering the neighborhood. Days later, Tài Nǎi Nǎi discovered the woman, who had recently given birth, with her head in her hands; the baby was cold and crying. Tài Nǎi Nǎi respectfully bowed to the mother, asking if she could adopt the little one. The woman agreed, and eventually, the child—Meng’s great-uncle—was given the nickname of Little Peanut, in the hopes he would be as hardy as the peanut plant. Traditions, rituals, and history are deftly explained within the dialogue and in small captions with Mandarin words and their meanings; when Meng expresses dismay at the idea of a mother neglecting her own child, Dad replies that the woman was alone, her husband having left to serve in the Chinese Civil War. James fills every inch of the page with appealing cartoon portrayals of characters surrounded by textured scenes in a warm palette. More information about Lunar New Year and Chinese culture follows, along with a recipe for fried peanuts.

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