For the holidays this year, I had a lot of fun choosing book gifts for various family members (and supporting indie bookstores in the process). So I thought it might be fun for The Book Stop to offer personalized book recommendations. I know most of us already have too many books we want to read,…
I’ve been busier than usual lately, which is why you’re not seeing as many reviews. One reason is that I’ve been volunteering at my local library. I’m very fortunate to have a beautiful library, just blocks from my neighborhood. Every year, pre-COVID, they would hold a big fundraiser book sale from donated books. For the…
Rules of Civility is the debut novel of Amor Towles, also widely known for his book A Gentleman in Moscow. The novel is set in New York City, beginning in the 1960s but then jumping back to the last night of 1937. It centers around Katie, a 25-year-old secretary who is out for New Year’s…
This year I’m joining in the fun at Wyrd & Wonder, a month long celebration of all things fantasy. Part of this event is that every Sunday, the hosts at There’s Always Room For One More, A Dance With Books , Dear Geek Place, The Book Nook, and Jorie Loves A Story post a Fantastic Five list. This…
This book combined a lot of things I love about Jasmine Guillory, and a few things I didn’t love so much. Isabelle is a likeable character, sympathetic and fairly well-developed. She works as an assistant in a publishing house, and I found the description of the work fascinating. Izzy actually gets to coach, prod, and…
It’s May, and I’m enjoying the spring, though I’ve been impatient with the cold weather and I’m anxious to begin planting my garden. April was a mostly-good month, with a visit from my sister-in-law and niece and nephew. The Women’s Prize shortlist was announced, but the only book on it I’ve read is Ruth Ozeki’s…
I’ve loved all of Kingfisher’s books, and this one didn’t disappoint. Her books always seem original, even when they are playing on well-worn tropes, as this one does. Kingfisher blends really dark topics with humor and sarcasm in a way I always enjoy, just as she blends fantasy with modern-day realism. In Nettle & Bone, Marra…
Recently I discovered I no longer fit with the book club I’ve been in for 2-3 years. I love the theme of the book club, which is reading books by women around the world, and I’ve loved many of the books. But over the last six months, I’ve felt really out of sync with the rest of…
Stuart has written a second pull-your-heart-out-and-stomp-all-over-it book, one that did not disappoint for a minute, even considering how much I loved Shuggie Bain. Stuart manages to write about very ugly things so beautifully. These two books are similar in a lot of ways, so if I can criticize anything it’s that Stuart isn’t breaking new…
I’ve been interested in this book about introverts for a long time. Cain’s premise is that U.S. culture, from workplace to politics, prizes the qualities of extroverts over introverts. And as someone who’s pretty far on the introverted spectrum, that makes a lot of sense to me. It’s easy to oversimplify when you’re talking about…
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic (hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl) is about authors I haven’t read yet but want to. In fiction, here are some of the authors on my TBR list: Amor Towles: Rules of Civility, A Gentleman in Moscow, The Lincoln Highway – I keep hearing great things about these books.…
I loved Egan’s Pulitzer Prize-winning A Visit from the Goon Squad, although now, nearly 12 years later, I didn’t remember much about the book. Maybe I should have reread it before reading the sequel, The Candy House, but instead I read it much like a stand-alone book. Maybe that’s why I had trouble connecting with it. Both…
I was offered a review copy of Stacie Murphy’s new novel, The Unquiet Dead, a historical mystery set in 1893. Since it was a sequel, I decided to read A Deadly Fortune first. I loved both of them and highly recommend them for anyone who likes historical mysteries. A Deadly Fortune, Murphy’s debut novel, introduces…
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Based in Romania, reading all over the world. Mostly fiction, some memoires and a little bit of poetry.
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