Unpopular opinion alert: I did not finish (DNF) Red, White, and Royal Blue. SO many people have raved about this book by Casey McQuiston, readers and bloggers alike. It was all over bookstagram when it published in 2019, and I'm still seeing it appear in bookstack photos of beloved books. What's Red, White, and Royal Blue about? As a lover of rom-coms, I was eager to read this relatively new member to the genre: a queer...
Tracy Chevalier’s novels are absolutely beautiful, and her latest book, A Single Thread, is no exception. This might be my new favorite title by this author. What's A Single Thread about? The shadow of WWI looms over everything in A Single Thread -- every person, every conversation, every interaction. Main character Violet's life is forever changed when both her fiancé and her brother are killed in WWI. At 38 years old and...
I knew I was going to enjoy Wow, No Thank You when I saw that author Samantha Irby also runs a blog called bitchesgottaeat.com. My enchantment with Irby only increased when I saw that she dedicated this book of essays to Wellbutrin, to which I, too, owe many a debt of gratitude. Obviously, Irby and I are kindred spirits. Why I wanted to read Wow, No Thank You The reason I originally decided to read Wow, No Thank You is the...
Some of you may remember me gushing about The Royal We in one of my earliest posts on the blog. So, you can imagine how excited I was to find out that Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan were writing its sequel, The Heir Affair! This minute I found out it was publishing, I began chasing down ARCs like kids after an ice cream truck. None made their way to me, so I was forced to wait until the ebook was available at my local library. I have to say...
A friend with whom I regularly chat about books warned me against reading Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine. We have similar reading tastes -- she's the one who introduced me to Things You Save In A Fire -- and she said she couldn't get into the book, despite all the positive hype around it. As a result, I delved into Eleanor Oliphant with a slightly closed mind and a heavy bout of skepticism. And, to be honest, I wasn’t greatly intrigued...
If it’s one thing I love about Wendy Webb novels, it’s that they’re incredibly creepy. And her latest book, The Haunting of Brynn Wilder, certainly delivers all the spine-tingling, floor-creaking moments you’d expect with a title like that. That being said… this book is also incredibly heartbreaking, which is something that I did not expect. What originally drew to me to Webb’s novels is this author’s ability to weave a damn...
I really wanted to fall deliciously deep into Rhapsody. But, this book was a DNF for me. I feel extra bad about saying this, too, since author Mitchell James Kaplan sent a personalized note on lovely, thick, cream-colored stationary along with the ARC. But, I'm all about the honest reviews, so....here goes. What's Rhapsody about? Set in Jazz Age NYC, Rhapsody is the story of composer George Gershwin's love affair with Kay...
It just so happens that I cracked open Cosy: The British Art of Comfort on a cold winter night. The temp had dropped down below freezing, and gusty winds whipped around the corners of our little cottage in the snowy mountains. I was wrapped up in the colorful afghan my grandmother knitted for me, sipping hot cocoa topped with whipped cream from a hand-crafted clay mug, with a furry little cat snuggled up on my lap. In short, at that moment, I...
I completely adored The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the hardest book reviews to write are for the books you love the most. There’s just so much you want to say! And it seems impossible to find the right words to express how much the story means to you. That’s how I feel about The Flatshare. And, I'm completely surprised by this. What's The Flatshare about? I went into The Flatshare...
Well, Tartlets, we're rounding out a year of reading by heading back to Ballybucklebo with another book in the Irish Country Novels series: An Irish Country Family. And, I'm happy to report that I enjoyed this book much more than the last one in the series. Author Patrick Taylor mercifully toned down the in-depth discussion of Irish politics, And, while Barry and Sue's infertility issues continue to plague them, that plotline, too, has...
