Angieville

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...

Today marks the release of The Art of Theft ―the fourth installment in Sherry Thomas's superb Lady Sherlock series . I'm delighted to be participating in the blog tour with a giveaway courtesy of Berkley. My emotions regarding this gender-swapped Sherlock Holmes retelling are tangled and fathoms-deep. These characters are incredibly dear to me, and I return to each book so very happy to see them and to read the breathtaking empathy with which Sherry Thomas writes about the realities of the lives of Victorian women and the truths that are so difficult to speak. Fans of Deanna Raybourn and Anna Lee Huber should definitely search out this series if you've not yet made its acquaintance.  ABOUT THE BOOK Charlotte finds herself in  the  midst of an all-new debacle: how does a renowned detective, a super-sneaky sleuth, steal a piece of artwork?  The  crime-solver has uncovered missing persons, and even nabbed a murderer or two—but when an old friend of Mrs. Wat...

I've wanted to post about this for the last while, but . . . life. Ever since we took a family trip a few years ago and ran across one of these Little Free Libraries  somewhere in the wilds of Colorado, I've dreamed of putting one up in our yard and filling it with all the books. Since I am a serial book collector, it seemed as though it wouldn't be a hardship keeping one stocked. I can't even imagine the various ways my head would have exploded as a kid if I'd stumbled across one of these in any of the many neighborhoods where we lived when I was growing up. I would have absolutely  haunted it. And then my beautiful husband and his beautiful siblings went and gave me one. They even dug the hole and poured the concrete. I painted it, carefully selected the first books, and before I knew it there were actual people stopping. They were actually  browsing . And it was approximately one thousand percent as magical as I imagined it might be. So I threw caution to the...

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 ...

Guys. We are going on a trip―a trip we have been planning for years. And it is finally happening next week! We're going to visit my parents in France, and we are taking the whole gang. Or rather, all three kids but not the dog. Who  I am desperately sad about leaving and really hope he doesn't think we've up and given him to another family and proceed to forget all about us. It's just two weeks. But we've never left him that long before, and I am obviously emotional about it. Have I posted pics of Sodapop here before? I'm not sure that I ever have. Here he is on the day we got him: And here he is now in his natural habitat, which is to say in my library on laundry day: Ahem.  The actual point of this post is to get your reading recs for the trip! I'm completely torn over which physical books to take with me. Yes, I realize most of my reading will be done on my Kindle by necessity, but I always have to have some physical copies with me. For both ...

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...

Today marks the release of An Artless Demise ―the seventh installment in Anna Lee Huber 's excellent Lady Darby mystery series. I'm happy to be participating in the blog tour with a giveaway courtesy of Berkley. This is a series I've enjoyed from the very beginning (you can read my review of the first book here ). Be sure that Kiera and Gage are well worth your time, particularly if you are a fan of Deanna Raybourn or Tasha Alexander . ABOUT THE BOOK Kiera’s return to London is anything but mundane after fleeing in infamy more than two years ago. While Kiera expected the whispers and murmurs inspired by her reappearance, she wasn’t prepared to receive a letter of blackmail, threatening to divulge the secrets of her past and implicating her in crimes she didn’t commit. A gang of body snatchers is arrested on suspicion of killing people from the streets and selling the bodies to medical schools, and Kiera is a perfect suspect for their crimes―after all, she was previo...

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. ...

I can't resist with these three. I love a good illustrated cover so much, and these three are not only just beautiful but include a couple of delicious retellings, a debut novel, and at least three young women who sound as fierce and determined and real as I could hope for on this International Women's Day. Put them on your calendars. I'm feeling the good feelings. The Guinevere Deception   by  Kiersten White This cover, you guys.  This cover . . .  I love it so much. And I haven't read a good Arthurian retelling in far too long. In this version, Guinevere is not at all what she seems. Summoned by Merlin to keep Arthur safe, she is a changeling who gives everything up to protect Camelot. GOOD YES GOOD. Due out November 5th Wicked Fox   by  Kat Cho Set in modern day Seoul, this debut features a young woman who is actually an ancient being that must devour the souls of men in order to survive. Matters are significantly complicated when she saves a y...

I'm delighted to be a part of the blog tour for this first novel in  Julie Anne Long 's new historical series―The Palace of Rogues. I found my way to Ms. Long's writing in a bit of a piecemeal fashion. Her long-running Pennyroyal Green series is widely beloved and records the various and sundry escapades of the always-scheming, never repentant Eversea and Redmond families. Really, the series is worth the price of admission for the hilarious (and ever-evolving) "Ballad of Colin Eversea" alone (though Colin's is not actually my favorite book). But I've come to believe that this sweeping eleven-book series has something for every reader. You just have to dip your toes in enough times to find your favorites. And once you do, they will become instant and confirmed comfort reads. Spoiler alert: mine are It Happened One Midnight and What I Did for a Duke . I'm sorry, Colin, but the Duke of Falconbridge, you are not . You'll be just fine, though. Madel...

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...

The first review of the year! Writing this one always feels fresh and hopeful to me and like it may set the tone of my reading year in a way. This was a very good one to start with. And the moral of this story appears to be: I will never tire of Beauty and the Beast retellings. A fact I was not unaware of, but that I am happy to have confirmed once more, this time after reading Brigid Kemmerer 's A Curse So Dark and Lonely . My favorites tend to run the Robin McKinley way, with the most recent favorite retelling being Meagan Spooner's wonderful Hunted . But this is the first retelling of my favorite fairy tale that I've read that includes both traditional fantasy and modern contemporary settings. I didn't think it could work. Or, at least, I was skeptical that the one would interfere with the other or that the different dialogues might clash. How happy I was to find that the whole thing played out seamlessly. How happy I am to have discovered Brigid Kemmerer's w...