Tag: reading

Book Review: The Underground Library, by Jennifer Ryan

Image belongs to Random House/Ballantine.

Title: The Underground Library   
Author: Jennifer Ryan      
Genre: Historical fiction   
Rating:  4.5 out of 5

When new deputy librarian, Juliet Lansdown, finds that Bethnal Green Library isn’t the bustling hub she’s expecting, she becomes determined to breathe life back into it. But can she show the men in charge that a woman is up to the task of running it, especially when a confrontation with her past threatens to derail her?

Katie Upwood is thrilled to be working at the library, although she’s only there until she heads off to university in the fall. But after the death of her beau on the front line and amid tumultuous family strife, she finds herself harboring a life-changing secret with no one to turn to for help.

Sofie Baumann, a young Jewish refugee, came to London on a domestic service visa only to find herself working as a maid for a man who treats her abominably. She escapes to the library every chance she can, finding friendship in the literary community and aid in finding her sister, who is still trying to flee occupied Europe.

When a slew of bombs destroy the library, Juliet relocates the stacks to the local Underground station where the city’s residents shelter nightly, determined to lend out stories that will keep spirits up. But tragedy after tragedy threatens to unmoor the women and sever the ties of their community. Will Juliet, Kate, and Sofie be able to overcome their own troubles to save the library? Or will the beating heart of their neighborhood be lost forever?

This was a lovely read! I love World War II historical fiction, strong female characters, and books, so this hit a lot of high notes for me. I loved Juliet and Sofie’s points-of-view, although Juliet was a bit too gullible for me. Sofie was such a strong person, and I loved her journey. Katie’s naïveté was…a lot. I can’t imagine feeling so powerless and helpless, though, and it was lovely to see her grow.

Jennifer Ryan grew up in England. The Underground Library is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Random House/Ballantine in exchange for an honest review.)

The Best Books I Read in March (2024).

In March, I read 20 books, bringing my total for the year to 45, and DNFed 14 books. Of those, some were really excellent, while others were very good. My four–sorry, can’t narrow it down to three–favorites were:

The Iron Traitor, by Julie Kagawa. I can’t remember it this was a re-read or not, but I still love this world and these characters. The author is so great at creating believable characters and worlds, and I’m always so immersed when I read her books.

Heir, Apparently, by Kara McDowell. Do you know how excited I was to get approved for this galley? This book (and the one before it) was just so much fun to read! Completely unrealistic, but entertaining on all levels, and I loved it.

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, by Fredrik Backman. I was just as transported on this, my second reading of this book, as I was the first time. I love the characters in this, and all the stories are so vivid to me! Can’t recommend this enough.

A Life Intercepted, by Charles Martin (audio). Yes, Charles Martin is my favorite author. And let me tell you why: I do not like football in the slightest, but he made football sound fascinating and compelling in this read, and his characters, like always, are both flawed and so interesting that it’s hard to put it down.

What I Read in March (2024)

Books Read in March: 20
Books Read for the Year: 47/215

Topical Books/Monthly Goal Books:
A Life Intercepted, by Charles Martin (audio). This book. Like all of Martin’s works, it just blew me away. I don’t even like football, and he made it fascinating.
Brown Boy Nowhere, by Sheeryl Lim (TBR). This was a decent read.
Treasures, Demons, and Other Black Magic, by Meghan Ciana Doidge (TBR). Another fun entry in this series.
Rogue, by Rachel Vincent (re-read). I’m enjoying re-reading this series…which I basically remember nothing about.
Crossed, by Allie Condie (re-read). Enjoyed this re-read.
The Iron Traitor, by Julie Kagawa. I can’t remember if this is a re-read or not, but I loved it.
The Bad Weather Friend, by Dean Koontz (TBR). Koontz’s gift for words sometimes makes me just sit there and stare at the page for a few seconds in wonder.
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s sorry, by Fredrik Backman (re-read). This book. On my second read, it still ranks in my top ten list of books. Just such gloriously well-done characters.

For Review:

Heartless Hunter, by Kristen Ciccarelli. I enjoyed this very much! Loved the world, the characters, and the story itself.

In Which Margo Halifax Earns Her Shocking Reputation, by Alexandra Vasti. This was a fun audio read. Margo is a bit much at times, but I liked her—and Henry.

Kilt Trip, by Alexandra Kiley. This was a fun read! By halfway through, I was ready to pack and run away to Scotland!

Heir Apparently, by Kara McDowell (review forthcoming…in July). Okay, so here’s what happened: I tried—and failed—to read seven books in a row and ended up DNFing Every. Single. One. That’s definitely a record for me. So, I decided to console myself by reading this one (Read the first one a couple of months ago and was immediately distraught I had to wait months until this one came out). This was the perfect pick-me-up read! It was funny, it was cute, it was romantic…it was perfect!

The Summer She Went Missing, by Chelsea Ichaso. I love a good YA and a good mystery, and this was both! Add that to the in-love-with-her-best-friend’s-brother trope, and I thoroughly enjoyed the read.

An Unlikely Proposition, by Rosalyn Eves. This was just a meh read. I felt like I was watching a mediocre telenovela.

A Feather So Black, by Lyra Selene. Oh, I really loved this! The world with it’s different cultures was fascinating, and Fia was a character I really related to: never belonging anywhere and always looking for the place she belongs—or the person she belongs with. Can’t wait to read more of this!

Bad Like Us, by Gabriella Lepore. This was a quick, pseudo-locked room murder mystery read. The victim wasn’t a likable person, so I honestly didn’t care much who killed her.

The Berlin Letters, by Katherine Reay. I’d never read anything set in this time/place, so I found it fascinating.

The Underground Library, by Jennifer Ryan (review forthcoming). I loved the strong female characters, the setting was fascinating, and of course I loved all the books.

Expiration Dates, by Rebecca Serle (review forthcoming). This was a fun read!
Just Because:

Welcome to the Basement, by Tim Ross (audio). I’ve been a fan of Tim Ross’s since he was a pastor at my church, and I love The Basement podcast, too. He makes everything so relatable, and I love that he narrated this.

Left Unfinished:
Promchanted, by Morgan Matson. Stella was so annoyingly self-centered I couldn’t get through very much of this.

The Trouble with You, by Ellen Feldman. This felt like it was dragging to me, and Fanny felt so passive at life. She might have changed later in the book, but my attention kept wandering and it just didn’t hold my interest.

Death in Hilo, by Eric Redman. I didn’t make it very far in this. I just wasn’t a fan of the narrative style.

Ill-fated Fortune, by Jennifer J. Chow. This really just seemed like all fluff and no substance. I needed a bit more to keep my attention.

I Only Read Murder, by Will and Ian Ferguson. I don’t like unlikable characters…and Miranda wasn’t interesting enough to carry off being a horrible person.

A Tempest of Tea, by Hafsah Faizal. Arthie was a bit of a dud, and I refuse to waste my time reading about a boring main character. The setting was also confusing, and that’s a death knell for a book.

Kindling, by Traci Chee. Second-person-POV books are hard to pull off, and this…failed, coming across as chaotic and confusing. Also not a fan of the unmentioned LGBTQA rep. Not everyone wants to read it, so why not tag it as such?

I am Rome, by Santiago Postguillo. This was probably an excellent book, but the pacing and style just didn’t work for me and made my attention wander. The irony is not lost on me that I stopped reading this on the Ides of March.

Good Half Gone, by Tarryn Fisher. I made it about 20% of the way through this, but…it was a struggle. The writing was solid, no problems there. But the characters just didn’t work for me. I didn’t like either sister in the past, and I didn’t care for Irish in the present, either. Ergo, this was a no-go for me. I didn’t like the characters, so it didn’t keep my attention.

Maya’s Laws of Love by Alina Khawaja. This just wasn’t for me. The MC wasn’t for me. I don’t know very much about this faith and culture, but the first 10% just didn’t feel like it lined up with what I do know.

The Happiness Blueprint, by Ally Zetterberg. DNFed at about 10% because, if there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s anyone who sits around feeling sorry for themselves and making excuses. I don’t like people like that in real life, and I don’t like them in fiction—it’s just much easier to walk away with fictional characters than real people. These characters just weren’t a good fit for me.

Strong Like You, by T.L. Simpson. Solid writing here, but the voice just didn’t work for me.

Those Beyond the Wall, by Micaiah Johnson. Yeah, my first clue this wasn’t for me should have been the author’s note that basically said rage was a good thing. No. No, it’s not. But I kept reading, and found the style to be a bit more chaotic and confusing than I like.

The Princess of Las Vegas, by Chris Bohjalian. The MC just didn’t work for me. I don’t like superficial people, and I just couldn’t get past that.

Sundays are for Writing #271

Happy Easter!

It’s been a good writing week: five fiction sessions and three book reviews. The Berlin Letters, by Katherine Reay was an excellent read, but I DNFed Maya’s Laws of Love, by Alina Khawaja and The Happiness Blueprint, by Ally Zetterberg. The characters just weren’t for me.

Happy writing!

Book Review:  The Happiness Blueprint, by Ally Zetterberg   

Image belongs to Harlequin/MIRA.

Title: The Happiness Blueprint
Author: Ally Zetterberg       
Genre: Romance     
Rating: DNF

Klara and Alex are having trouble connecting, but at least their calendars are in sync.

Klara—who’s always thought of herself as a little different, a sneaker in a world full of kitten heels and polished boots—is feeling a disconnect these days. She has type 1 diabetes, currently works in a dead-end job, and is in desperate need of a change. When her dad falls ill, Klara begrudgingly agrees to help run his small construction company while he recovers, even though it means moving back home and pushing the boundaries of her comfort zone to the extreme.

Alex has been a shell of himself since his brother died in an accident. He’s unemployed, has bills piling up, and is distant from friends and family. His therapist is encouraging him to keep things manageable by setting up a calendar, checking off tasks each day, and looking for work to help get him back on his feet. When an ad pops up for a carpenter position at a small construction company, he jumps at the chance to take a step forward.

DNFed at about 10% because, if there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s anyone who sits around feeling sorry for themselves and making excuses. I don’t like people like that in real life, and I don’t like them in fiction—it’s just much easier to walk away with fictional characters than real people. These characters just weren’t a good fit for me.

Ally Zetterberg is British-Swedish, a former fashion model, and a mother. The Happiness Blueprint is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin/MIRA in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: The Berlin Letters, by Katherine Reay

Image belongs to Harper Muse.

Title:  The Berlin Letters   
Author: Katherine Reay     
Genre:  Historical fiction  
Rating:  4.2 out of 5

From the time she was a young girl, Luisa Voekler has loved solving puzzles and cracking codes. Brilliant and logical, she’s expected to quickly climb the career ladder at the CIA. But while her coworkers have moved on to thrilling Cold War assignments—especially in the exhilarating era of the late 1980s—Luisa’s work remains stuck in the past decoding messages from World War II.

Journalist Haris Voekler grew up a proud East Berliner. But as his eyes open to the realities of postwar East Germany, he realizes that the Soviet promises of a better future are not coming to fruition. After the Berlin Wall goes up, Haris finds himself separated from his young daughter and all alone after his wife dies. There’s only one way to reach his family—by sending coded letters to his father-in-law who lives on the other side of the Iron Curtain.

When Luisa Voekler discovers a secret cache of letters written by the father she has long presumed dead, she learns the truth about her grandfather’s work, her father’s identity, and why she has never progressed in her career. With little more than a rudimentary plan and hope, she journeys to Berlin and risks everything to free her father and get him out of East Berlin alive.

As Luisa and Haris take turns telling their stories, events speed toward one of the twentieth century’s most dramatic moments—the fall of the Berlin Wall and that night’s promise of freedom, truth, and reconciliation for those who lived, for twenty-eight years, behind the bleak shadow of the Iron Curtain’s most iconic symbol.

This is a time period I’m not sure I’ve read anything in, but I enjoyed this! I can’t imagine what it would have been like, watching the Berlin Wall go up overnight and being separated from your family and life. Reay did such a fantastic job of placing the reader in that scene in history, and I really felt the characters’ emotions. This was an emotional but well-written novel set in a bleak time and place, but showing the hope that existed even in that dark time.

Katherine Reay is a bestselling author. The Berlin Letters is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harper Muse in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review and Blog Tour:  Maya’s Laws of Love, by Alina Khawaja

Image belongs to Harlequin/MIRA.

Title:  Maya’s Laws of Love
Author: Alina Khawaja      
Genre: Romance    
Rating:  DNF

Maya Mirza is so convinced she’s unlucky in love that she’s come up with a list of laws to explain it. Most importantly…

    Maya’s Law #1: Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.

But that’s about to change. Maya’s headed to Pakistan for an arranged marriage with a handsome, successful doctor who ticks all the right boxes. First comes marriage, then comes love—she’s sure of it. Except…

    Law #4: When you think you’re lucky, think again.

From the start, Maya’s journey is riddled with disaster, and the cynical lawyer seated next to her on the plane isn’t helping. When a storm leaves them stranded in Switzerland, she and Sarfaraz become unlikely travel companions through bus breakdowns and missed connections.

    Law #6: Trips are never smooth sailing.

And before long, Maya’s wondering whether she’s just experienced the ultimate in misfortune—finally meeting the right man a few days before she marries someone else. And Maya might just be the worst person to keep a secret.

    Law #18: If you’re overtired, you’ll always spill your guts.

But maybe, if she’s willing to bend some laws, this detour could take her somewhere totally—and wonderfully—unexpected.

This just wasn’t for me. The MC wasn’t for me. I don’t know very much about this faith and culture, but the first 10% just didn’t feel like it lined up with what I do know.

Alina Khawaja is from Canada. Maya’s Laws of Love is her newest novel./

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin/MIRA in exchange for an honest review.)

Sundays are for Writing #270

This was a good writing week! I wrote Four book reviews, and got in five fiction sessions. An Unlikely Proposition, by Rosalyn Eves (This read like watching a telenovela), Good Half Gone, by Tarryn Fisher (DNFed because I didn’t like the MC), A Feather So Black, by Lyra Selene (I really liked this and can’t wait to read more!), and Bad Like Us, by Gabriella Lepore (This was a kind of YA locked room murder mystery—but I didn’t like the victim at all, so I wasn’t too invested.).

The fiction sessions were mainly brainstorming a do-over and working on bits of a re-write because I decided I didn’t like the genre or world I was writing in, So there’s that.

Happy writing!

Book Review: Bad Like Us, by Gabriella Lepore

Image belongs to Inkyard Press.

Title: Bad Like Us
Author: Gabriella Lepore     
Genre: YA, mystery     
Rating: 3.8 out of 5 

Spring break is a vibe—until someone gets murdered.

Partying with popular classmates they barely know is not what Eva and her BFFs had in mind for their spring break. But things have been off ever since Miles’ academic career took a turn for the worse (they don’t talk about it), so a trip to a private beach lodge might be exactly what they need. And Eva won’t admit it, but the chance to reconnect with Colton is worth putting up with Piper’s constant livestreams to her thousands of “besties.”

At first, it’s all sand and waves, but tensions run high when an anonymous letter shakes up an already-flailing love triangle.

When someone turns up dead, Eva can’t even trust her closest friends—but she thinks she can trust Colton. As they get closer to the truth, they uncover secrets that upend everything they thought they knew about their fellow spring breakers.

Frankly, Piper got on my very last nerve, and I had trouble keeping the other characters—well, the female characters except Eva—straight. It was a little hard imagining all these parents being okay with their teenagers going off on their own, with no phone service, so that required suspending my disbelief quite a bit. Despite the subject matter, this felt like a fluffy, quick read, and would probably be a good weekend read.

Gabriella Lepore lives in Wales. Bad Like Us is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Inkyard Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: A Feather So Black, by Lyra Selene

Image belongs to Orbit Books.

Title: A Feather So Black
Author: Lyra Selene      
Genre:  Fantasy    
Rating:  5 out of 5

In a kingdom where magic has been lost, Fia is a rare changeling, left behind by the wicked Fair Folk when they stole the High Queen’s daughter and retreated behind the locked gates of Tír na nÓg.

Most despise Fia’s fae blood. But the queen raises her as a daughter and trains her to be a spy. Meanwhile, the real princess Eala is bound to Tír na nÓg, cursed to become a swan by day and only returning to her true form at night.

When a hidden gate to the realm is discovered, Fia is tasked by the queen to retrieve the princess and break her curse. But she doesn’t go with her is prince Rogan, Fia’s dearest childhood friend—and Eala’s betrothed.

As they journey through the forests of the Folk, where magic winds through the roots of the trees and beauty can be a deadly illusion, Fia’s mission is complicated by her feelings for the prince…and her unexpected attraction to the dark-hearted fae lord holding Eala captive. Irian might be more monster than man, but he seems to understand Fia in a way no one ever has.

Soon, Fia begins to question the truth of her mission. But time is running out to break her sister’s curse. And unraveling the secrets of the past might destroy everything she has come to love.

I loved this! I enjoyed Fia’s point-of-view so much:  how she feels like she never fits in and she doesn’t really understand a lot of things but keeps trying her best anyway. I never liked the queen or Eala at all, and I wish Fia had been more observant when it came to both of them.

Rogan was likable enough, although I frequently wanted to smack him. Irian, I liked him from the beginning. Who doesn’t like a dark, handsome, mysterious, powerful stranger? I enjoyed this world and the bits of history sprinkled in it, and the magic and cultures were fascinating to me. Can’t wait to read more!

Lyra Selene lives in New England. A Feather So Black is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Orbit Books in exchange for an honest review.)