I’m reading a little slower than normal lately; my Goodreads Challenge says I’m two books behind and I am concerned! But I managed to read a handful of terrific books—including a five-star one—these past few months.
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune • ★★★★☆
Talk about a pleasant surprise! A friend gifted me The House in the Cerulean Sea via Libro.fm (a nice surprise on its own) and I was really wowed by how much I loved this book. Do I nudge it to five stars?
At any rate, this was exactly the right book at the right time. This is a mood lifter of a listen.
Oh you wanted any details at all about this book? OK: Linus is a caseworker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth where he inspects orphanages and schools for magical beings. One day he’s assigned to a particularly remote and classified location. THAT’S ALL YOU’RE GETTING FROM ME.
The Gown by Jennifer Robson • ★★★★☆
I’ve had this book floating around on my Kindle for a long while now, and I never really felt particularly drawn to it. After last month’s The Duchess, I was sort of over Windsor history (at least for a bit).
But this book won me over almost instantly. It was clear from the start that Elizabeth and the rest of the royals weren’t going to feature prominently in the book. Instead, The Gown centers around two coworkers turned friends, Ann and Miriam, who work on Elizabeth’s wedding dress. Ann’s granddaughter Heather also figures in here; she is pleasant but not particularly interesting.
What was so interesting to me, though, was the fact that Ann and Miriam were embroiderers! A BOOK ABOUT EMBROIDERY ARTISTS! I was instantly won over.
Not only were the descriptions of the work terrifically accurate and detailed, but the characters themselves were also tremendous joys.
The Hunger by Alma Katsu • ★★★★☆
I love what Alma Katsu does: She takes historical events and weaves in supernatural elements. I really enjoyed The Deep, a spookier take on the sinking of the Titanic, and figured that The Hunger would scratch the same itch.
So essentially The Hunger is Katsu’s take on what happened to the Donner party on their journey West. Despite the subject matter, this novel wasn’t overly gruesome, but it was definitely intriguing!
City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert • ★★★★★
Why did I resist such a charming book for so long? City of Girls has been on my to-read list for a while but I kept pushing it off because I feel like WWII-era fiction is everywhere and I am not in the mood. But I was definitely in the mood for this one.
Here, a 19-year-old Vivian gets kicked out of college and is sent to live with her eccentric aunt in New York City (what a punishment!). Her aunt, Peg, runs a small theater company and Vivian dives right into this new lifestyle of showgirls and late nights and costuming and really just wonderful hijinks.
Must Love Books by Shauna Robinson • ★★★☆☆
I had such high hopes for this book! I wanted it to be a People We Meet on Vacation or A Season for Second Chances, but it fell a little flat for me.
But the setup is great: Nora is an editorial assistant at a publishing house. Here pay’s been cut but her employer is dangling a promotion in front of her nose if she can land an important author. This author is, of course, very charming.
The work strife here was maybe too close to home in some ways and that prevented me from enjoying this one fully. And maybe it lacked a little pep and levity?
The Guilt Trip by Sandie Jones • ★★★☆☆
Domestic thrillers are a must for any plane trip or vacation if you ask me. So I snagged The Guilt Trip, a British domestic thriller (the best kind) for a work trip to Sonoma. The gist here: six people go on a trip together and only five come home.
Sounds great, right? But for some reason, I had a hard time getting into this one. I kept confusing the characters (three couples). And there’s one character that everyone else seems to dislike because she’s… trying hard to be liked by her spouse-to-be’s friends? Seems flimsy to me!
As always, you can follow along with my progress and see what I’ve read over on Goodreads!
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