Shannon

Rewitched was a perfect October book. It literally took place in October, and had a wonderful combination of cozy magic with darker mysterious elements. There was a small amount of romance as well, but most of it was about personal development, family, and friendship. 

Seasonal Vibe: Fall (October specifically)
Travel Location: London
Historical Time: It doesn't specify this, but I feel like this book takes place in the 1990's because pagers are mentioned.

I saw the Rewitched special edition on the Waterstones website and was so taken with the cover and adorable cat on the edges. I preordered it along with the upcoming Percy Jackson book. This edition of Rewitched is so adorable, and it was fun to track my reading progress by how far into the edge cat I was. (I'm past the ears! Now I'm at the tail!)

Rewitched Features
Witches
A Bookstore
A Cat
Lots of coffee
A Magical Mystery
Family Secrets
Best Friends
London in the Fall
A bit of romance

Fantastic. Reminded me a bit of a not-fantasy Matilda, where the mother and daughter are both Matildas. It's not literally the story of Matilda, but gave Matilda vibes.    Location: California  Historical Time: Mostly 1955-1962

I was delighted to find another variant in the Howl's universe. It had new characters and a new country, but it did tie into the second book, and you do get to see Sophie and Howl.

I liked how each book was a bit different. I was sad to come to the end of my reading in this universe.

After re-reading Howl's Moving Castle, which I turned out not to have remembered practically at all, I decided to read the sequel. I had not read it previously, possibly because it did not seem to be much of a direct sequel. I decided to read it, and Howl and Sophie do eventually appear.

I loved the new characters and different type of fairytale world. It reminded me a bit of The Horse and His Boy in the Chronicles of Narnia, where the book starts out with a character in a very different place, but it does give some information on your main characters from the previous books eventually.

Seasonal Vibe: Summer! Takes place on June 20
This Night is Ours was a wonderful book about understanding yourself with friendship, some romance, and art. The characters and relationships feel very authentic. The book takes place all in 24 hours, on the Summer Solstice. It's a wonderful book I happily recommend for teens and up. 

Reading this book was like hanging out with a group of friends and exploring New York with them for the summer.    Seasonal Vibe: Summer  Starts with a high school graduation and takes place during the summer after graduation.  Travel Location: New York City    There is a romance, but mostly this is a story about a group of friends figuring out what they love and what they want to do next. There's also a really nice theme about books and writing, with the main two characters having bonded over a beloved(fictional) children's fantasy series as kids. This is realistic YA fiction that touches on how people can use fantasy stories to navigate the real world and their relationships. There was also a theme about coding and app development that I was surprised to discover.    I started reading The Getaway List on the perfect day for me. I had just been to my youngest daughter's preschool graduation and it was the last day of school for my older two kids, with my oldest daughter singing in the choir at the promotion for her middle school's 8th graders. It had a perfect vibe for the end of the school year and looking forward to summer, and was a nice easy read for my tired mom brain. 

My daughter's sixth grade class was reading Holes by Louis Sachar. I decided to read it too since I had never read the book, but liked the movie.    This is a really wonderful book. It touches on so many important themes in really accessible ways. It's easy to read, but still compelling. I love the way everything works together in each character's backstory for a really satisfying connection.    My daughter, who is usually an all-fantasy reader, really liked it too.    It occured to me that this book might be considered magical realism. It's mostly realistic fiction, with interspersed historical fiction, but the element of the “curse” could be a bit of magical realism.  

The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery is one of those backlist classic books I've meant to read for years. I've loved the Anne of Green Gables book series since I was a young girl, but I haven't read many of her other books. I read this mostly from an actual paperback book.

I think The Blue Castle is as good a classic romance as a Jane Austen book, though it takes place about a hundred years later.  It's one of the few adult novels that L.M. Montgomery wrote.

This book has social commentary, humor, tears, romance, and a wonderfully written cast of characters. Plus cats! This is a cat-friendly book. The chapters are short. There are 45 chapters in this book that's about 250 pages long. If you're looking for short chapters, this book has them.

 “Fear is the original sin,” wrote John Foster. “Almost all the evil in the world has its origin in the fact that some one is afraid of something. It is a cold, slimy serpent coiling about you. It is horrible to live with fear; and it is of all things degrading.”

I thought that the rose bush Valancy “attacked” at the beginning of the book would be blooming at the end, and it was.

I cried big tears at Cissy Gay's story of her baby's death, then for her own death a few pages later. 

The only problem with this romance is that Barney Snaith is perhaps the worst name for a romantic lead I've ever heard. 

I'm interested in how much detail is on the page compared to what we're supposed to understand is going on off-page. In my experience, intimacy is rarely mentioned in a book like this. A “respectable” book published in 1926. 

To “make love” means romantic speech or “sweet nothings” and seems to have no “bedroom” implications. I've read this in “older” books before, but it was especially noticeable here that this was still accurate. On the drive home after they get married, Valancy says she doesn't “want him to make love” to her, and suggests that she just wants him to talk to her like usual. 

But I wanted you to talk. I don't want you to make love to me, but I want you to act like an ordinary human being.

Then as soon as they get to the island, they have their first kiss. I think we are to understand from this first kiss, that they have an intimate physical relationship. 

Barney lifted Valancy out of the canoe and swung her to a lichen-covered rock under a young pine-tree. His arms were about her and suddenly his lips were on hers. Valancy found herself shivering with the rapture of her first kiss. “Welcome home, dear,” Barney was saying.

And a bit later, this line.
And that little kissable dent just between your collar bones.

That sounds quite intimate to me. Interestingly, none of the “marriage of convenience” style tropes such as sleeping apart happened. That's not where the romance is. A sweet and wonderful relationship is described for them, from companionship to implied physical intimacy. The conflict comes from the unknowns in his past as well as her assumed quickly approaching death. 

All this, and still Valancy does not believe he loves her. She truly thinks he's just been pitying and humoring her. This is frustrating to the reader but is not unbelievable given her emotionally abusive upbringing.

Thankfully, they sort it all out in the end.

The hypocrisy of her family! Ugh!

I read this book 10 years ago, and thought that I remembered it, but I really didn't. I think I was confusing it with one of the author's other books. I'm surprised that I didn't remember more, as I'm also the eldest of three sisters.

My Contrary Mary was a delightful expansion of the Lady Janies series to include Mary. The book is wonderfully funny with its combination of historical fact, fiction, and humorous commentary. I particularly enjoyed the “future predictions” that were actually movies. The characters were likable, and I enjoy how the arranged marriages actually contain people who like each other.

I highly recommend My Contrary Mary, along with all of the Lady Janies series. I look forward to the next Mary as well!

I truly love Rainbow Rowell's New Year's Eve themed short story, Midnights, and already have it in two other volumes of her short stories. This year, I was delighted to enjoy the story in this adorably small paperback, which also has unique illustrations that are not in the other volumes.    I also enjoyed Kindred Spirits, a story about camping out to see Star Wars Episode VII in 2015. I'm now somehow nostalgic for 2015.

I decided to start reading this book when I saw someone on Twitter describing it as the ultimate slump buster. I thought that sounded like just what I needed!
This book was so fun and funny. I loved the narrator's voice and tone of the book. The alternate history mixed with fantasy was very engaging.
I was also struck with the realization that I didn't know anything about this period of British history. I had never heard of Jane Grey, and while I had heard the name Tudor, I didn't really know what it was.
SpoilerThough, one of my favorite bits was the suggestion that G was really Shakespeare. I noticed that pretty quickly.

I read this but didn't review it. I had a 3 month old at the time, so maybe I should reread it. I remember that I did manage to finish it in 2 days even with the baby.

Chalice of the Gods is the coziest possible Percy Jackson book. It was reflective, sweet, and hopeful. It was funny, in the traditional style of Percy's narrative voice.    It was a book of low stakes questing with no world-ending peril. It had really strong themes of family and friendship. 

This was a super fun read. It was kind of like a teen Ocean's 11. The characters were likable and it was a great story. Actually, I liked this book so much that I read it a second time almost immediately.

I read this book, but forgot to rate it or mark it as read. I liked it.

I was intrigued when I saw Every Duke Has His Day by Suzanne Enoch described as Bringing Up Baby, in the style of Jane Austen. I love Bringing Up Baby, which is a 1938 movie starring Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, and a Leopard. I grew up watching it, incorporated the song from the movie(I Can't Give You Anything But Love) into my wedding ceremony, and had a framed Bringing Up Baby poster in my living room. I also like Jane Austen books.

In Every Duke Has His Day, an eccentric, scientifically minded Duke is watching his aunt's pet poodle. He's taking the poodle for a walk when a young woman's near-identical poodle runs at them, knocking the duke and his poodle into a stream. They accidentally switch dogs, dogs are stolen, and adventure and romance proceed from there. The story takes place during the summer in London during the “Season”.

It was a bit slow to get into, but once I did, I really enjoyed it. The dialogue and banter were funny and engaging. It had multiple points of view, giving the reader a full picture of what was going on. There was also a Gaston-level villain, and a bonus commoner romance for a bit of upstairs/downstairs action. Good “swooniness”.  Happily Ever After for everyone except the villain, even the pets. It had a 101 Dalmatians vibe too. It didn't really have a Bringing Up Baby plot, though it had screwball comedy elements.

I couldn't put it down and had to finish it before I could go to bed.

This is a “sweet” or “clean” romance with no “spicy” scenes.

Despite having read lots of classics throughout my youth, this may actually be the first contemporarily written “regency romance” that I've read. I actually had to look up British nobility rankings, because I wasn't sure about the difference between, say, a marquis and a viscount. I'm glad I looked it up instead of just wondering if I had it right the whole time.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's press for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Tea Dragon Society was so cute! I struggle a bit with graphic novels because I'm not very visual and have to actively remember to look at the pictures, but I really enjoyed this one. This was the sweetest concept and such a cozy story. I love the idea of tea dragons! I showed them to my daughter, and we agree that we both want one.

Enchanted to Meet You by Meg Cabot was a funny and enjoyable fantasy romantic comedy with excellent fall vibes in a cozy small town, perfect for the Halloween season.    Enchanted to Meet You stars a witch named Jessica who lives in a small Connecticut town and owns a cute clothing boutique. The fun begins shortly before Halloween when Derrick comes into her shop and tells her about a prophecy that might involve her.    This book had delightful main characters as well as great side character friends. It also has some flashbacks to events from Jessica's high school days, and has chapters from the perspectives of both Jessica and Derrick. Meg Cabot's narrative style is friendly, light, and funny.    If you're looking for a fun romantic comedy to read this fall, Enchanted to Meet You is a great choice.    Tropes/themes: fake dating, witches, small town in peril, Halloween season, forced proximity, mid-2000s high school flashbacks, dual timeline, multiple POVs, romantic comedy    Thank you to NetGalley and @Avonbooks for my digital Advance Reader Copy in exchange for my honest review. 

The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty is a great historical fantasy adventure.    Amina Al-Sirafi is a middle-aged piratey sea captain who is persuaded out of retirement and away from her daughter. What she thinks will be a fact finding and rescue mission to recover the daughter of a former crewman turns into a full scale supernatural adventure.    This book had a lovely, satisfying ending. Open ended with room for more stories, but not in a cliffhanger way.    I got my book from Book of the Month Club and read it in hardcover, as well as listening to the audiobook for some of it. 

I never marked this book as “reading”. My bad.

This has nothing to do with how good the book was, but this is the second time I've been reading a Riordan book thinking that it was the last in a series only to realize near the end of the book that it's clearly not the end of the series.

I enjoy this series, and liked this book too.

Fourth Wing was a wild ride. I enjoyed the dragon-centered fantasy adventure and the romance. The narrative style is a bit more crass and profane* than I prefer, but I was easily pulled in by the world, story, and characters. And, of course, the dragons! I think I hit the point of “can't put it down” at about the 60% mark. I flew through it and preordered the sequel.

It feels like the entire internet is reading Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros this summer, which is definitely part of the fun.



*The narrative style was a big contrast to the book that I read before this, The Secret Book of Flora Lee, which is more of a lyrical, atmospheric prose style of book.

I loved it! This book had...  • Delightful literary references.  • Scenes that moved back and forth between 1960 and 1939/1940  • Characters that I loved  • Descriptions of places that made me want to visit them.  • A resolution that I couldn't guess  Healing from trauma  A good “spring” book.

I was surprised to find that I'd reached the end of this book.

This is the second graphic novel memoir that I've read. The other was George Takei's They Called Us Enemy.    Some thoughts about Persepolis  • A story of something in the historically recent past that I knew very little about  • Told from a unique perspective  • The graphic novel format is interesting and tells the story at a fast pace  • A sad, difficult story with violence discussed  • A cautionary tale about fundamentalism  • Builds empathy for the people inside countries with oppressive governments who are engagedin war    I started reading Persepolis when there was a discussion about it among our district's school board. The book had been approved by our literature review committee and gone to a test class. The last step was for the board to give final approval, but some school board members expressed concern about derogatory language toward women. In the end, they approved the book.  I'm glad that this book will be part of core curriculum for 11th grade students.    The derogatory language? This happened maybe three times and always from the “bad guys”.