So many words. So little time.
Tag: books
This was a decent writing week. I wrote three books reviews, and nothing else: Get Lost with You, by Sophie Sullivan, The Queens of Crime, by Marie Benedict, and The Perfect Rom-Com, by Melissa Ferguson, all forthcoming. I lost a friend of mine last Sunday, so writing fiction really wasn’t a place my head was at this week.
Happy writing!
Title: A Sea of Unspoken Things
Author: Adrienne Young
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4 out 5
The only thing James and Johnny Golden have ever had is each other. For as long as she can remember, James’s deep connection with her twin brother, Johnny, has gone beyond intuition—she can feel what he feels. So, when Johnny is killed in a tragic accident, James knows before her phone even rings that her brother is gone and that she’s alone—truly alone—for the first time in her life.
When James arrives in the rural town of Hawthorne, California to settle her brother’s affairs, she’s forced to rehash the ominous past she and Johnny shared and finally face Micah, the only person who knows about it. He’s also the only man she’s ever loved.
But James soon discovers that the strange connection she had with Johnny isn’t quite gone, and the more she immerses herself into his world, the more questions she has about the brother she thought she knew. Johnny was keeping secrets, and he’s not the only one. What she uncovers will push her to unravel what happened in the days before Johnny’s death, but in the end, she’ll have to decide which truths should come to light, and which should stay buried forever.
I’ve read—and loved—all but one of Adrienne Young’s novels, so I expected to enjoy this one. And I did—I read I straight through in one sitting. She brought Hawthorne to—rather unsettling—life. I don’t like small towns, and this one gave me the creeps, but it was very well-done and believable. That was a fascinating read, and I was eager to find out what was going on. The landscape itself is a character, and a very vivid one, and I enjoyed this story a lot.
Adrienne Young is a bestselling author. A Sea of Unspoken Things is her newest novel.
(Galley courtesy of Random House/Delacorte Press in exchange for an honest review.)
Title: Work in Progress
Author: Kat Mackenzie
Genre: Romance
Rating: 3.8
UK Bus Trip Goals:
1. Crawl out of pajamas.
2. Get over cheating bastard and his stupid ironed jeans.
3. Have my first real adventure!
4. Achieve stability, strength, and growth.
5. Definitely do NOT kiss any British men.
Alice loves a good list. But careful planning didn’t stop her from losing her job and her fiance in one fell swoop. With her dreaded 30th birthday looming on the horizon, Alice makes the first impulsive decision of her life – booking a flight to the UK for a three-week, all-female, literary bus tour. What could possibly go wrong?
Turns out – everything.
Alice arrives to discover that this tour isn’t what she expected. At all. Instead of cool, globe-trotting thirtysomethings with meaningful tattoos, she finds a rickety, antique bus full of fluffy-haired octogenarians. And to make matters infinitely worse, the tour guide makes her blood boil! And that devilish grin of his tells her he’s dead set on making her trip a misery.
But as they travel from castle ruins to cozy pubs, Alice may just find that she’s got it all wrong. The ladies are vivacious. The book club chat is on fire. And damn if that mischievous smile doesn’t threaten to turn her world upside down – and her beloved list right along with it!
I have to be honest: Alice was very off-putting for me for the first bit. Her absolute hatred for Robby was almost irrational—and she was vicious. I liked her personality when she wasn’t being rabid, so I kept reading, and she did improve. I loved the group of ladies she was with on the literary tour, and I would have signed up for that trip in a hot second!
Kat Mackenzie is an American who loves to travel. Work in Progress is her debut novel.
(Galley courtesy of Avon and Harper Voyager in exchange for an honest review.)
Title: What Happened to the McCrays?
Author: Tracey Lange
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
When Kyle McCray gets word his father has suffered a debilitating stroke, he returns to his hometown of Potsdam, New York, where he doesn’t expect a warm welcome. Kyle left suddenly two and a half years ago, abandoning people who depended on his father, his employees, his friends—not to mention Casey, his wife of sixteen years and a beloved teacher in town. He plans to lie low and help his dad recuperate until he can leave again, especially after Casey makes it clear she wants him gone.
The longer he’s home, the more Kyle understands the impact his departure has had on the people he left behind. When he’s presented with an opportunity for redemption as the coach of the floundering middle school hockey team, he begins to find compassion in unexpected places. Kyle even considers staying in Potsdam, but that’s only possible if he and Casey can come to some kind of peace with each other.
I really enjoyed this read! Potsdam, and life there, kind of made my skin crawl—not really a fan of the whole small-town life—but it felt very realistic and believable. I loved how things built slowly between Kyle and Casey, allowing us to see things unfolding in the past and the present, without it feeling rushed or unbelievable.
Tracey Lange lives in Oregon. What Happened to the McCrays? is her newest novel.
(Galley courtesy of Celadon Books in exchange for an honest review.)
This has been a solid writing week. No fiction, but I wrote two book reviews, See How They Hide, by Allison Brennan and Last Twilight in Paris, by Pam Jenoff, both forthcoming. I also did three journaling sessions–I really hope they’re helping get my mind straightened out. It’s been a tough week.
Happy writing!
Title: A Language of Dragons
Author: S. F. Williamson
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 5 out of 5
Welcome to Bletchley Park… with dragons.
London, 1923. Dragons soar through the skies and protests erupt on the streets, but Vivian Featherswallow isn’t worried. She’s going to follow the rules, get an internship studying dragon languages, and make sure her little sister never has to risk growing up Third Class. By midnight, Viv has started a civil war.
With her parents arrested and her sister missing, all the safety Viv has worked for is collapsing around her. So when a lifeline is offered in the form of a mysterious ‘job’, she grabs it. Arriving at Bletchley Park, Viv discovers that she has been recruited as a codebreaker helping the war effort – if she succeeds, she and her family can all go home again. If she doesn’t, they’ll all die.
At first Viv believes that her challenge, of discovering the secrets of a hidden dragon language, is doable. But the more she learns, the more she realizes that the bubble she’s grown up in isn’t as safe as she thought, and eventually Viv must What war is she really fighting?
Viv is a great character, and I liked her from the first page! Granted, she was generally clueless about reality and quite gullible when it came to believing everything the government said—but at least she eventually learned better. I found the world fascinating and I really liked all the characters and the complexities of human-dragon relations.
S. F. Williamson lives in France. A Language of Dragons is her debut novel.
(Galley courtesy of HarperCollins in exchange for an honest review.)
Title: The Stolen Queen
Author: Fiona Davis
Genre: Historical fiction, mystery
Rating: 4 out of 5
Egypt, 1936: When anthropology student Charlotte Cross is offered a coveted spot on an archaeological dig in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, she leaps at the opportunity. But after an unbearable tragedy strikes, Charlotte knows her future will never be the same.
New York City, 1978: Eighteen-year-old Annie Jenkins is thrilled when she lands an opportunity to work for iconic former Vogue fashion editor Diana Vreeland, who’s in the midst of organizing the famous Met Gala, hosted at the museum and known across the city as the “party of the year.” Though Annie soon realizes she’ll have her work cut out for her, scrambling to meet Diana’s capricious demands and exacting standards.
Meanwhile, Charlotte, now leading a quiet life as the associate curator of the Met’s celebrated Department of Egyptian Art, wants little to do with the upcoming gala. She’s consumed with her research on Hathorkare—a rare female pharaoh dismissed by most other Egyptologists as unimportant.
That is, until the night of the gala. When one of the Egyptian art collection’s most valuable artifacts goes missing . . . and there are signs Hathorkare’s legendary curse might be reawakening.
As Annie and Charlotte team up to search for the missing antiquity, a desperate hunch leads the unlikely duo to one place Charlotte swore she’d never return: Egypt. But if they’re to have any hope of finding the artifact, Charlotte will need to confront the demons of her past—which may mean leading them both directly into danger.
This was a fascinating read! I loved both timelines. The 1930s storyline was so interesting to me, showing the history of the field of archaeology and what a struggle it was to be a woman in the field. The 1970s storyline was also intriguing. Still a struggle to be a woman in the field of archeology, but also showing the behind-the-scenes details of the Met. Charlotte was a great character, and I loved seeing her story come full circle.
Fiona Davis is a best-selling author. The Stolen Queen is her newest novel.
(Galley courtesy of Penguin Group Dutton in exchange for an honest review.)
Last year, my goal was to get in five fiction sessions a week. Which I did except maybe three times. That sounds positive, but in the end, I ended up rehashing a lot of words and not accomplishing a lot, so I decided to make my goal a bit different this year: write every day (same as last year), but it can be any kind of writing. Fiction, book reviews, prayers, journaling (Yeah, that’s the headspace I’m in right now.)
This week, I’ve gotten a ton of writing done! I did get in one fiction session, but I also wrote my December reading post, my best books I read in December, What I Read in 2024, and four book reviews: Here Beside the Rising Tide, by Emily Jane, A Sea of Unspoken Things, by Adrienne Young, Capitana, by Cassandra James, and All Better Now, by Neal Shusterman (all forthcoming).
I also did three journaling sessions, so there was a ton of writing happening over here. How about you?
In December, I finished 25 books, bringing my total for the year to 238 books. Of those, several were just okay, most were good, and a few were excellent.
The Metempsychosis Collection, by Nicholas Conley. I don’t generally read short story collections, but these were all engaging and unique, and I enjoyed reading them.
The Stolen Queen, by Fiona Davis. I thoroughly enjoyed both timelines of this archeological/finding yourself novel, and couldn’t wait to find out what happened next.
A Language of Dragons, by S. F. Williamson. The dragon/human politics and dynamics were fascinating to me, and the culture just kept getting more interesting the further I read. The MC was completely clueless about reality at the beginning, but soon got a clue or two.
Tomorrow Is Another Day 