Barbara O'Neal's books always have 3 things in common: strong women discovering who they are and where they belong; the value of friendship; and a lovable pet who makes the tough things in life a little easier to bear. The Lost Girls of Devon includes these themes in the best of ways. While When We Believed [...]
Fredrik Backman's writing first captured me with My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry, and I've since read nearly all of his work and am equally enamored with each moving piece of fiction. His latest novel, Anxious People, is due out September 8, 2020 from Atria. Net Galley and Atria provided me with an advanced copy [...]
Did it feel a bit odd to read a book set in Antartica while reading poolside? Nope, not even a little. You see, How the Penguins Saved Veronica is so utterly absorbing, it doesn't matter where you read it. Hazel Prior, author of Ellie and the Harpmaker, has once again crafted incredibly nuanced characters and mastered their voices [...]
Way back in 2008, I was working at Barnes & Noble and found myself in the mystery section. Now, back in those old days I didn't really stray from my general fiction section. The mystery covers were often, quite frankly, terrifying. While we all say the adage don't judge a book by its cover, I often [...]
Author Katherine Center grabbed my attention with Things You Save in a Fire. She has a knack for thoroughly developed characters, and her latest novel is no exception. Both the characters and the world they inhabit are impeccably crafted. Maybe too well, as it sent me virtually house hunting in Galveston! It may or may [...]
The Elephant's Girl by Celesta Rimington has swept me off of my feet. I read the full novel within twenty-four hours of reading the first word. It is magical and wonderful and quite definitely in the top five books I've read this year. Yes, technically it's target audience is middle grade, but I can guarantee you [...]
What if one fact could turn your entire world upside down? The Sweeney sisters, still reeling from their esteemed author-father’s death, find themselves in this very situation upon their discovery that there is a fourth sister out there. Well, half sister. But this family doesn’t do anything by halves. With a big cast of characters, [...]
Paw Prints in the Sink 