I went into reading A Gentleman in Moscow with mixed feelings. Why I decided to read A Gentleman in Moscow A Gentleman in Moscow had been on my reading radar for years. While I generally love stories set in Russia, I've never been particularly inclined to go for this one. I think it largely has to do with the fact that the person who recommended I read A Man Called Ove -- one of my favorite books EVER -- also recommended...
The Lost Apothecary is one of my favorite books of 2021. BOOM! I’ve said it. What's The Lost Apothecary about? There's a lot of story packed into The Lost Apothecary. This novel explores two timelines. There's 1700s Nella, who runs an apothecary shop that sells poisons for women to use against the awful men in their lives, and 12-year-old Eliza, who helps in Nella's shop. And, then there's present-day Caroline, who's visiting...
Looking for a beach read that goes a little deeper than your typical rom-com? Enter Musical Chairs by Amy Poeppel. What's Musical Chairs about? This wonderful novel is about friends and family whose lives intertwine when they’re all brought together under (or very near to) one roof over a Connecticut summer when nothing goes as planned—in both good and bad ways. The majority of Musical Chairs follows Bridget and Will, who...
I uttered "What the fuck?" an unprecedented number of times while reading Bunny. That’s pretty much the only reaction you can have to this novel by Mona Awad. It's a complete What the actual eff??? ride from beginning to end. What's Bunny about? Bunny takes place at a prestigious art school. There’s a pack of hoity-toity, grad school women there who behave like middle schoolers; they roam around in a pack, affectionately...
I spent the last 50 pages of The Supreme Macaroni Company bawling my eyes out. We're talking up at 6:30 in the morning, lying in bed, and flanked by a box of tissues and a wastebasket. I was crying so damn hard that my cat charged down the hall to see what the hell was wrong. (My husband, meanwhile, slept through the whole thing. Bless.) Before those last pages, though? The Supreme Macaroni Company was really, really good. ...
A blogger friend recommended The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires to me during one of my reading slumps. I jumped on it since I’m a big fan of author Grady Hendrix’s previous novel, Horrorstor. Also, as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Twilight enthusiast (don’t judge), I have a thing for vampires. So, I figured this Hendrix story was worth a shot.
What is The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires about? This...
Heads up, Tartlets: I tore through the The Maidens in about three days. I haven't read author Alex Michaelides' previous novel, the mega-bestseller The Silent Patient. But when an unrequested ARC of The Maidens showed up in my mailbox, I was like, Hey, a free book. Let’s try it. What's The Maidens about? The Maidens is a twisty, edgy psychological thriller bound together with threads of Greek mythology and tragedy, deception...
In Five Years isn't the book I thought it'd be. In a good way. Everyone seemed to be reading this Rebecca Serle novel last year during quarantine, so I was excited to score a copy from my library as quickly as I did. I'd just read two heavy books back-to-back, and I wanted -- nay, needed -- a fun, breezy women's fiction/romance to lighten up my mood. Well. In Five Years was NOT the book to pick up for that. But, I'm glad I read it anyway....
The Dead Girls Club by Damien Angelica Walters is a pretty morbid book title. Naturally, I was immediately drawn to it. The synopsis promised a mix of psychological thriller and supernatural suspense, so I was all "Yup, yup, that's my kind of book!" What's The Dead Girls Club about? The Dead Girls Club is told across two timelines: "Now" and "Then." The "Now" follows adult Heather, who's an anxious, nervous, borderline personality...
OMGILOVEDTHISBOOK. *deep breath* Ahem. Sorry. But, seriously, guys. I absolutely adored Meg and Jo. I’m a huge fan of retellings, particularly ones that modernize classic stories (see Eligible), but this is the first retelling of Little Women that I’ve read. That being said, expectations were high when I started reading – and I’m so happy to report that Virginia Kantra's reimagining completely surpassed everything I could have hoped...
