Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett (Early Review)

Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett (Early Review)

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Book two in the Emily Wilde series. After reading and loving the first book, Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries, I was so happy to be approved to review this one as well. It’s becoming a great end-of-year tradition for me!I love the same things about this book that I did with the first: the journal format, traveling (though there wasn’t much of that here so kind of had a gothic feel to it), and the world and creatures of the…

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November Books Read

November Books Read

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The Witch and the City by Jake Burnett 100/5 Stars The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods 2/5 StarsI like the idea of this book. A man (Henry) looking for a bookstore he went into once but cannot find again for some reason and a woman (Martha) building a new life after fleeing a violent relationship. There’s another timeline, Opaline’s, where we learn more about the bookstore, but her depressing story along with Martha’s are about a downer and a half…

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Summer Book Reviews

Summer Book Reviews

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Incidental Happenstance by Kim DeSalvo 5/5 StarsAbout a third of the way into this book I sent it to one of my best friends because I knew she would love it as much as I was, and finishing the rest of the book didn’t disappoint at all. This is a perfect book for any (former or current) teenage girl who had a crush on a celebrity, especially if they were in a band. On Tia’s first solo social outing since…

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The Witch and the City by Jake Burnett

The Witch and the City by Jake Burnett

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This book!! This book!  Here, now.  What a world. This started out as a read-at-bedtime book but I found myself thinking about it throughout the day and it became a daytime book too. This book is such a fountain of delights that I feel I need to read it again and again to appreciate it all. The more I think about it the more clever it gets. The ending a succession of fireworks.  You’ve probably already read the synopsis so…

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The Flowers of Provence by Jamie Beck (Early Review)

The Flowers of Provence by Jamie Beck (Early Review)

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The Flowers of Provence is a stunning photography book reflecting Jamie Beck’s relationship with flowers during the time she has spent in France. Unlike her first book, An American in Provence, this one has very little writing; a lengthy introduction is followed by a tutorial on preserving flowers and tips for cutting and preserving flowers at home. If you’re looking for a photography book, the instructions are an added bonus. If you’re looking more for information on flowers found in…

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The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi

The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi

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This book has a lot going for it. It is written in the first person and Anisa, the main character, has one of the strongest voices I’ve read. I can’t recall being taken out of the story or not feeling like a close friend was confiding a big, secret story in me. I really like the author’s writing style and the characters feel well developed to me. The essence of the book, the story of The Centre, was such a…

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Joie by Ajiri Aki

Joie by Ajiri Aki

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Joie is part travel guide, part lifestyle guide, and completely beautiful. While there are no recipes, per se, there are food guides such as, “How to Spot a Bona Fide Baguette,” “Apéro Cheat Sheet,” ideas for french meals, and general tips for elevating your life and how to care for the items that make it special (linen, silver, etc), making your everyday special that the French somehow just know how to do. We also get a brief background and stories…

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The French Art of Living Well by Cathy Yandell

The French Art of Living Well by Cathy Yandell

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The French Art of Living Well had a strong beginning and end but it lost me a bit in the middle. As a lifelong Francophile, I was impressed with the amount of tidbits and information that was new to me and found many things to dive into deeper. The middle of the book, I felt, went into too much detail on a few topics, and I would have preferred to let the reader look into those things more if they…

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Spring Book Reviews

Spring Book Reviews

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The Child Thief by Brom 2/5 StarsI like the idea of exploring the origin story of a dark, true-to-the-original Peter Pan. I would have liked for the majority of the book to be about that with more details of the past and a magical/faerie way of life. Instead this book was entirely sad: bad things happening to bad people and horrific descriptions that felt gratuitous. It also jumped around in time and was difficult to follow that because there wasn’t…

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The Little Village of Book Lovers by Nina George (Early Review)

The Little Village of Book Lovers by Nina George (Early Review)

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The Little Village of Book Lovers is an extraordinary story. It’s the first book I’ve ever started rereading immediately, and I haven’t reread that many books overall because it feels like there are too many books out there waiting to be read. What I love most about this book is the unique perspective of Love. The entire book is Love telling the story, with some points-of-view of an ancient olive tree; both of which Marie-Jeanne has a special connection with….

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