Angieville

 Hi. Hey. Hello there. It's been a . . . well, you know what it's been. We're all still living this together. So I will simply skip to the fact that I couldn't not review this book here. Because reading it was something special. I knew nothing about Ali Hazelwood 's debut novel except that it involved women in STEM and that the cover made me smile. I decided to set it aside for myself as a reward. Work has been . . . punishing . . . for the last year, and I have been so exhausted every hour of every day. And so I determined to buy The Love Hypothesis  on release day knowing nothing about it. But when I went to the bookstore to get my copy, none were available. In fact, none were available anywhere for love nor money, in store or online. At first I was moderately disappointed. Then I told myself maybe it's not that great after all and I didn't necessarily need to feel this preemptive sense of loss. But it kept gnawing at me. The loss. And so I paused work an...

Today, I'm happy to be taking part in the blog tour for Anna Jarzab's Breath Like Water courtesy of Inkyard Press . You are likely familiar with my love for sports and sports-themed novels (may the Giants play again soon). So I was intrigued by both the lovely cover and the concept of an elite swimmer who peaks quite young but is still determined to claw her way to the Olympics.   ABOUT THE BOOK This beautifully lyrical contemporary novel features an elite teen swimmer with Olympic dreams, plagued by injury and startled by unexpected romance, who struggles to balance training with family and having a life. For fans of Sarah Dessen, Julie Murphy and Miranda Kenneally. Susannah Ramos has always loved the water. A swimmer whose early talent made her a world champion, Susannah was poised for greatness in a sport that demands so much of its young. But an inexplicable slowdown has put her Olympic dream in jeopardy, and Susannah is fighting to keep her career afloat when two importan...

There's really very little to say, isn't there? I hope you are well, wherever you are. I hope that your loved ones are. I hope that you're finding small ways to stay afloat, to remain connected to something, someone, someplace (real or fictional) that sustains you. Dark and difficult times, indeed. I've rather been holding on to this review. I felt so much, so quickly, so irrevocably for this book that it rapidly became hard to talk about to anyone who hadn't read it. And so I hope I can do it justice, just barely enough justice that, if you haven't, you'll run right out and do so. Now is the perfect time. I feel strongly that this book is what you need in your life at this moment. And so. You might want to prepare yourselves. I'm about to wax rhapsodic. But first, and introductory excerpt: At the end of that session, Fay said, What if it's not what happened with this boy you regret, it's you? It's the  you  who you left behind. It's ...

It's been years since I picked up a Mhairi McFarlane novel, and I'm not really sure why that is. I liked  It's Not Me, It's You well enough (it's obvious she's quite a witty writer), but something about the execution felt off and I think I let that keep me from diving deeper into her backlist. Then came an offer to review her upcoming title If I Never Met You , and something about this one seemed to call out to me. As though it was time. As though Laurie and Jamie might be the ones. Spoiler alert: It was and they were. It was the perfect read for a couple of dreary, grey January days. While not perhaps as bubbly as I've Got Your Number , I would definitely recommend it to readers who enjoyed that novel. They share a business setting, two individuals who are more than they know themselves to be, and a wonderfully slow burn romance. Readers who love Sarra Manning and  Beth O'Leary 's  The Flatshare should also take note. Comedy was tragedy plus ...

Today marks the release of Stephanie Butland's brand new novel The Curious Heart of Ailsa Rae . I'm pleased to be taking part in the blog tour with a giveaway courtesy of St. Martin's Press. Earlier this year (on Beth 's recommendation), I read Ms. Butland's thoughtful and quirky Lost for Words , and I immediately began looking forward to her next book. As you know, I read quite a lot of speculative and historical fiction. But I've had a streak of success with contemporaries this year, and Lost for Words was certainly one of them. If you are a fan of Jenny Colgan  or Sophie Kinsella , I suggest you do yourself a favor and check these books out. ABOUT THE BOOK For fans of Josie Silver's One Day in December , The Curious Heart of Ailsa Rae is a wholly original,  charismatic, and uplifting novel that no reader will soon forget.  Ailsa Rae is learning how to live. She’s only a few months past the heart transplant that—just in  time—saved her life. Now,...

I have now read two retellings of Much Ado About Nothing (possibly my very favorite Shakespeare play, which is saying something ), and I'm just sort of delighted with the whole situation. You know how strongly I felt about McKelle George 's incredible  Speak Easy, Speak Love . That book is perfection from start to finish, and I will die on that hill. Then this year I ran across Lily Anderson 's The Only Thing Worse Than Me is You , which just by the way became my favorite book title in forever and just so, so perfect for Beatrice and Benedick and their mad, wonderful war. This was my first book by Lily Anderson, and from the snort of laughter I let out at the opening lines, I knew that we would be getting on just fine: Ben West spent summer vacation growing a handlebar mustache. Seriously. Hovering over his upper lip―possibly glued there―was a bushy monstrosity that shouted, "Look out, senior class, I'm gonna tie some chicks to the train tracks and then go...

It is a pleasure to be a part of the blog tour for Hazel Prior's debut novel Ellie and the Harpmaker . I confess it was the title that drew me in when Berkley approached me about a possible review. It sounded a bit fey, a bit on the ethereal side. The comparisons to the exquisite  Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine decidedly did not hurt. And so I readily accepted and opened my review copy to the first page. A thought: Some things are easier to hide than others. A fact: Harps come under the "others" category. So do small boys. As you know by now, I am such a sucker for a good epigraph, and this one did the trick nicely. As did the novel's opening lines: A woman came to the barn today. Her hair was the color of walnut wood. Her eyes were the color of bracken in October. Her socks were the color of cherries, which was noticeable because all the rest of her clothes were sad colors. And so we are introduced to one Dan Hollis and the particular way that he s...

All it took was hearing the basic bones of the premise of Beth O'Leary's debut novel The Flatshare for me to determine I would absolutely be reading it as soon as I possibly could. I was so delighted to be granted access to an advanced reading copy by Flatiron Books. Even better, it became apparent from the moment I read the first few lines that this reading experience would take place in one headlong rush. No significant breaks allowed, let alone required. The Flatshare was published first in the UK and then slightly later here in the U.S. I dithered over which cover to buy as both have much to recommend them, but I finally decided on the U.S. cover (pictured here). I just love the two of them standing on either side of the same door, the tiny heart between the title and author name. Tiffy is in a massive, massive bind. Out on her ear after breaking up with her exceptionally controlling boyfriend, she needs an inexpensive place to live and she needs it yesterday. Despite ...

Top Ten Tuesday is a bookish feature hosted at That Artsy Reader Girl It's been awhile, but this topic was too good to pass up. When I thought about it, I genuinely could not recall which were the first ten books I actually reviewed here on the blog. So then, of course, I had to know . The thing is, I originally started the whole thing simply posting a once a month list of my favorite reads and rereads of the month. That went on for some time until lo and behold I went ahead and wrote and posted my first review on November 9, 2007. In hindsight, I probably should have known exactly which book pushed me over the edge into full fledged reviews. So this was a rather delightful journey back in time. Do you remember the first book you ever reviewed (in any forum) or what made you take the plunge? Here are my first ten (and I have to say, looking at this snapshot from the past, these remain some of my absolute favorite authors and a pretty spot-on array of the genres I read and l...

I have been waiting for this day for what feels like forever. If you've followed this blog for basically any length of time, you have heard me singing the praises of  Ellen Emerson White . I am a devoted fan of her spectacular  President's Daughter  and Echo Company series. And you should read and own them and spread the good word immediately. But Life Without Friends . This book was the beginning for me. Beverly and Derek and Boston and the Public Gardens. From my review : This book kind of ate me alive at fourteen, and I have reread it pretty much every year since. It has become what you might call a Monster Comfort Read. I have been buying up used copies of this previously out-of-print book for years now and sending them to readers I knew needed them. I am so delighted to let you know it's now available on Kindle for just $2.99 or free with Kindle Unlimited. And I really love the new Kindle cover (above left), while I will always be inordinately attached to th...

I have had a string of lovely successes with contemporaries lately. I wonder, sometimes, about the phases we go through, both in reading and in life in general and whether or not (or where) they align. I'm not always able to see the patterns amid the daily vicissitudes, but I wonder about them often. Several months ago, I saw the cover for Sarah J. Carlson 's debut novel All the Walls of Belfast  and thought I might have died and gone direct to heaven. The title alone is my favorite of the year, hands down. I don't even care if those are fighting words. It is the best title of the year, so there. And, happily, it has a cover to match that beauty, all orange and green and hints of the walls that make up its title. I could only hope that the content matched. Somehow I knew it had to. Fiona grew up in America. From the time she was two years old and her mother took her and fled Northern Ireland for the unknown wilds of Wisconsin, she has believed that her father was dead. ...

My online book group does a Secret Santa exchange every year, and this last year mine knocked it out of the park. She sent me a copy of Brigid Kemmerer 's Letters to the Lost  along with the most creative accompanying letter and series of clues and mementos tied to a fictional relationship not even wholly of this world. It tied in perfectly with the book and, once I read it, her creativity and extra mile effort meant that much more. I thoroughly enjoyed the novel and immediately sought out the companion book featuring Declan's enigmatic best friend Rev. More Than We Can Tell begins shortly after the events of Letters to the Lost  and, while Declan and Juliet are in the story, it focuses primarily on Rev and a new character named Emma Blue. I was already half in love with Rev Fletcher from the glimpses we get of him in the first book, so it was in no way surprising that I fell into his story without a hitch. This book can definitely be read as a standalone, though I think it...