

Review of The Course of All Treasons: An Elizabethan Spy Mystery by Suzanne M. Wolfe
Nick is an appealing character, I adored the detailed setting, and the mystery's resolution makes sense without seeming too easy. I'm...
Dec 8, 2020


Review of The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren
The Unhoneymooners is fun escapism, even if it's not my very favorite Christina Lauren book. In The Unhoneymooners, unlucky Olive is...
Dec 7, 2020


Shhh! More Book Gift Ideas for the Holidays
A Bossy book-buying note: Your local independent bookstore needs and appreciates your business now more than ever, and the staff will...
Dec 4, 2020


Three Books I'm Reading Now, 12/2/20 Edition
01 The Fighting Bunch: The Battle of Athens by Chris DeRose The young men of McMinn County, Tennessee, are coming home after fighting in...
Dec 2, 2020


Review of Skyhunter by Marie Lu
Lu offers complex motivations, clashes between idealism and realism, editorialization about class and race, and futuristic advancements...
Dec 1, 2020


Review of Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick
I would have liked more introspection, but I loved spending time in Kendrick's funny, honest, often wonderfully wacky point of view. In...
Nov 30, 2020


Shhh! Book Gifts for Kids and Teens
A Bossy book-buying note: If you're buying books this holiday season, please support your local independent bookstore. They need and...
Nov 27, 2020


Three Books I'm Reading Now, 11/25/20 Edition
01 The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren Christina Lauren is the pen name for Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, who write as a team....
Nov 25, 2020


Review of Writers & Lovers by Lily King
King immerses the reader in a sometimes-claustrophobic situation while providing enough character connection and appealingly messy...
Nov 24, 2020


Review of The Skylark's Secret by Fiona Valpy
Valpy's detailed Scottish setting and character development are wonderful, and I was equally invested in and engaged by both of the...
Nov 23, 2020


Shhh! Books I'm Giving as Gifts This Holiday
Spoiler alert: If you're someone I give gifts to for a fall birthday or for the holidays, this roundup might be a surprise ruiner! Or...
Nov 20, 2020


Review of Fable by Adrienne Young
I loved this first installment of Young's two-book series, which features pirates, a brave young heroine, a little romance, and lots of...
Nov 18, 2020


Three Books I'm Reading Now, 11/17/20 Edition
01 Skyhunter by Marie Lu My copy of the book unfortunately does not have this gorgeously mesmerizing cover. But I'm still excited to read...
Nov 17, 2020


Review of Murder in Old Bombay by Nev March
This is an appealingly cozy and old-fashioned mystery, with the flavors, sights, and sounds of colonial India underlying everything. It's...
Nov 16, 2020


Six Lighter Fiction Stories for Great Escapism
01 Head Over Heels by Hannah Orenstein Nineteen-year-old Avery Abrams was set to be the next big gymnastics Olympic champion. She had the...
Nov 13, 2020


Review of One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London
One to Watch is engrossing escapism into a world of reality TV, romantic possibilities, and luxurious fashion, where things don't always...
Nov 12, 2020


Three Books I'm Reading Now, 11/10/20 Edition
01 Fable by Adrienne Young There's a freckle-faced young lady staring unflinchingly at the reader from the striking cover of Adrienne...
Nov 10, 2020


Review of Head Over Heels by Hannah Orenstein
With lots of engrossing gymnastics details that made the setting come to life, Head Over Heels was the engrossing, light fiction book I...
Nov 9, 2020


Six More Great Fiction Titles I Loved This Year
01 Where the Forest Meets the Stars Joanna is feeling adrift after her mother's death, and she disappears into the constant attention her...
Nov 6, 2020


Review of How Much of These Hills Is Gold by C. Pam Zhang
Zhang's detail was wonderful, and her characters make noble sacrifices and face impossible choices. The book's frequent heartbreak was a...
Nov 4, 2020