Random Musings of a Bibliophile

It is time for the Quarterly Review Round-Up where I talk about the best of the best, the one's I couldn't finish, and the adult novels I'm reading that I don't review here. The DNFs' The Book Jumper  by Mechthild Glaser A Clatter of Jars  by Lisa Graff A Crown of Wishes  by Roshani Chokshi The Secrets of Hexbridge Castle  by Gabrielle Kent Adult Books Do You Want to Start a Scandal  by Tessa Dare (historical romance) Forever a Maverick  by Genevieve Turner (contemporary romance) The Girl With the Make-Believe Husband  by Julia Quinn (historical fiction) Her Best Worst Mistake  by Sarah Mayberry (contemporary romance) The Irish Prince  by Virginia Nelson (contemporary romance) The Thing About Love  by Julie James (contemporary romance) Trust Me  by Laura Florand (contemporary romance) Trust Me  by Farrah Rochon (contemporary romance) My Favorite Reads (links to my reviews unless otherwise noted) Th...

Here are some shorter musings on recent reads. Eat the Sky, Drink the Ocean  by Kirsty Murray I saw this at the library and decided it looked interesting. I had not heard about it before seeing it on display. It is a fascinating combination of narrative short stories and graphic shorts created by Australian and Indian authors and illustrators. The point of the book is to highlight struggles of teen girls with harassment. The book came out of a series of events that occurred close together in both countries where teen girls were the victims. Many of the stories depict a future where girls are still having to deal with the every day terrors of misogyny. All of them are empowering. The art in the graphic stories is all excellent. There were stories I enjoyed more than others, but they were all incredibly good. Geekerella by Ashley Poston This is super cute and adorable. It is told in alternating point of view between Elle and Darien so we get the perspective of both the Cindere...

Top Ten Tuesday  is a Meme hosted by  The Broke and the Bookish This week's TTT topic: Favorite Reads of 2017  (So Far) What are your favorite reads of the year so far?

J. Anderson Coats' debut novel, The Wicked and the Just , is one of my go to recommendations for historical fiction. When I discovered she had a new MG book coming out this year, I couldn't wait to read it despite being unsure of whether the premise would work for me or not. It completely did though.  The Many Reflections of Miss Jane Deming  is excellent. Jame Deming is not living her ideal life. Her father was killed in the Civil War and she lives with her incredibly young step-mother and two year old brother. She had to quit school at 9 to take care of her newborn baby brother while Mrs. D went to work in the Lowell factories. But now Jane has an opportunity for a new life. Mrs. D is taking them to live in Seattle, WA. They are going on a ship to start a new life. Mr. Mercer is taking a boat load of young ladies and some widows to the Washington territory. Jane has read Mr. Mercer's pamphlet so many times she nearly has it memorized. She can't wait to begin her n...

I am trying to read as many of the Own Voices debuts as I can this year. (There are many! Yay! Still not as many as there should be but YAY!) As a result, When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon went on my TBR as soon as I knew about it. As I saw more an more people finishing it, I grew more and more excited. That excitement was met and then some. This just may be my favorite YA romance of all time. I have a thing for prickly, ambitious heroines though so my love for this book is understandable. Dimple. Is. The. Best. Dimple Shah is over the moon that she not only convinced her parents to allow her to attend Stanford for college, but also that they are letting her spend a huge chunk of her summer at the prestigious Insomnia Con where selected students are given the opportunity to develop and code an app. The winner gets to consult with Dimple's idol in the programming world. She is surprised, but doesn't question it too much when her parents let her go. Rishi Patel is bou...

This is a feature I am starting to highlight upcoming books I'm particularly excited about. If you would like to join me, you are welcome. Please just link back to this post in your own. I've included a Mr. Linky at the bottom. Right now I'm only going to do it the 2nd Friday of the month, but I'm open to doing it more often if there is enough interest. If you haven't yet read this year's amazing Midnight Without a Moon , you really should. It is a wonderful story and Rose Lee Carter captured my heart fully. I can not wait to catch up on the next chapter in her life when the sequel comes out in January. After the murder of Emmett Till, thirteen-year-old Rose is struggling with her decision to stay in Mississippi. Torn between the opinions of Shorty, a boy who wants to meet violence with violence, and Hallelujah, her best friend who believes in the power of peaceful protests, Rose is scared of the mounting racial tension and is starting to lose hope. But...

Here are some shorter musings on recent reads. The Castle in the Mist  by Amy Ephron This is a story of sister and brother spending their summer vacation in England with an aunt because their father is a journalist in Afghanistan and their mother has cancer. They meet a young boy in a mysterious castle on the top of the hill. Odd things occur. It is all very typical, which isn't always bad as there are always new kids who need to discover books. The problem here is it's not new and it's not executed very well. There is almost no character development and there are a lot of holes in both the plot and the world building. I feel like Ephron got it into her head that writing a children's book would be easy and then didn't bother to read any of the genre to help her know what she was about. The Gauntlet by Karuna Riazi The concept of this is Jumanji in reverse-instead of the game coming to life around you, you are part of the game board. The fantastical elements a...