I hate not finishing a book.
Whenever I start a new book, it has 50 pages to get me hooked, or I put it down. This is my "50 page rule." While some books have come perilously close to the cutoff point, it’s rare that a book actually gets the dubious honor of being put on my Did Not Finish (DNF) list.
With great regret, I inform you that I must place The Road to Little Dribbling in this category.
Mind you, it’s not because the book is awful....
So, yeah. This is the first time I've not had anything to say immediately after finishing a book. However, the length of this review is going to make a liar out of me, because after ruminating for a bit, I now have a lot to say about this book. It took me the better part of a month to get through Unbury Carol, by Josh Malerman. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I had read Malerman’s previous novel, Bird Box, and absolutely loved it. In...
Hey, everyone! I'm excited to announce a NEW feature on the Tart. Each month, I'll be posting a list of book recommendations entitled Quick Look Books. Each list will be themed and will give some info about books I've read but not previously reviewed on the blog. While reading in-depth reviews is fun, I know sometimes you just want an at-a-glance list of books in a certain genre, and Quick Look Books will provide just that! And, it'll allow me...
I <3 Curtis Sittenfeld. This woman can do no wrong. I'm here to talk about her newest book, You Think It, I'll Say It. But, first, we have to talk a little bit about the author. My appreciation for her work began when I read American Wife at the recommendation of a friend. Said friend is highly intelligent and often has, oh, let’s say, more educated entertainment preferences than I do. Read: she regularly watches documentaries; I’m still...
Well. That was certainly a different take on my favorite “serendipitous inheritance” theme! As you’ve learned from previous posts, I have a soft spot for books in which the main character (usually a woman whose life has become up-ended) either buys a house in some random place in an attempt to build a new life (à la Under the Tuscan Sun or Tumbledown Manor), or happily inherits a charming fixer-upper from some unknown relative just as her...
You don’t even know the level of excitement I had when I received the email from my library that this book had come in. A heat wave had just hit, and The High Tide Club seemed like the perfect beach read for a hot summer’s day. And, while I don’t plan on going near any beaches this year, you can bet your bottom sand dollar that I plunked myself down under my pergola to read this, pretending that the grass surrounding me was sand and the...
Since becoming homeowners, Husband and I have decided to try our hand at gardening. We have a not-small-and-not-big plot of land, with plenty of yard space on all sides of our house. We are lucky that our home came with beautiful landscaping; stone-lined flower beds abound, and we were excited to see azaleas, rhododendrons, tulips, and lilacs burst into bloom our first spring at the Cottage. As a girl who has been known to inadvertently kill...
I won’t lie – I mainly picked this title because of the author’s name (shout out to the CJ’s!) and the fact that there is an adorable orange cat on the front cover that looks very much like MY adorable orange cat. I figured with the stars aligning like that, I HAD to read this book. Honestly, the book description didn’t intrigue me that much (mainly because it didn’t offer much plot reveal—more on that in a bit), but I usually...
I started reading The Broken Girls by Simone St. James on a grey and chilly Saturday morning. As usual, I was awake long before Husband, but hearing the rain outside my window made me want to snuggle back down into my cozy bed. I decided that a moody, atmospheric thriller would be the best way to start the day, so I got out of bed to fetch my book and make myself a warm cuppa. Then, I grabbed my cat and headed back to bed, settling into the...
I love me a good "renovate your house, renovate your life" story. After reading a particularly terrifying but excellent novel, I decided I needed something a bit lighter as my next read. Cue The Hideaway, by Lauren K. Denton. This was an impulse grab at the library. I generally stop by my town library once or twice a week to pick up books that have come in for me (love the InterLibraryLoan system...or whatever it's called these days!), and I...
