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The Many Lives of Mama Love: A Memoir of Lying, Stealing, Writing, and Healing by Lara Love Hardin - a Book Review

Forgive me if I quickly blaze through my next few reviews. I’ve been moving lately and life has been so chaotic. I find myself at the final hour trying to finish my books and reviews for my reading challenge this year. I’m going to make it, but my reviews might not be quite as well-thought-out as I usually attempt. For my Oprah’s Book club selection, I chose this one. It’s a very highly-rated…

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Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment #1) by Rebecca Ross - a Book Review

In my quest to check off more titles on my reading challenge at the last minute, I’ll add this one for my alliterative author pick. It was also the book club selection for Read Between the Wines this month, chosen by me. I did a bit of double dipping, as you can see. Having been feeling a lot of weight in the things I was reading and experiencing, I decided a nice YA title would be a good choice.…

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James by Percival Everett - a Book Review

I hope you came here for unpopular opinions, because I’m about to throw one at you. I’m not a big Mark Twain fan. I know, I know, but hear me out… It’s not his ideas. I love the concept of his books. He was ahead of his time, and I think satire is a very effective tool as a force for change. Humor has healing properties, and writers like Mark Twain were positively revolutionary in the world of…

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Funny Story by Emily Henry - a Book Review

Yes, this will be an actual book review. While my last two reviews were stark reminders of how truly FORKED the United States is, this book is like basking in the warmth of the sun on a sandy beach with a margarita in hand and no worries in your head. In case you are in need of a respite from the perils of the world, look no further than this charming contemporary romance. Synopsis Daphne and…

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Somewhere Beyond the Sea (The Cerulean Chronicles Book #2) by T.J. Klune - a Book Review (and more random thoughts for society)

This is the second book that it makes me sad to read in the era of Donald Trump’s second reign of terror. But… this time, I’m going to take a different tone. Less “burn it to the ground” and more “let’s start rebuilding.” I’ve spent the last 24 hours reflecting on this book. I loved The House on the Cerulean Sea. This whole series is full of wonderful and quirky characters who I desperately wish…

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The Book of Thorns by Hester Fox - a Book Review (Sort of)

It makes me tremendously sad to review this book at the moment. Here we have yet another incredible work of literature that celebrates those women throughout history who toiled and fought for the respect they should be given only to be time and time again weighed down by the prejudices of men. And I’m reviewing it at a time in which more than half of my countrymen and women have once again turned…

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Sleeping Giants by Rene Denfeld - a Book Review

Real life has been a little daunting lately. As such, I have done quite a bit of reading but very little reviewing. I just can’t get my mind back in the game for some reason. I fear with how the next few months will go that will get much worse, but I’ll do my best. I am determined to finish my reading challenge, so I’m going to try my best for that final push. With so many reviews on deck, I’ve…

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WWW Wednesday - October 2, 2024

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House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng - a Book Review

W. Somerset Maugham is one of those writers who has always held a place on my to-read list but I have just never gotten around to reading him. That’s a real pity, because I feel that familiarity with his work would have been quite helpful in the reading of this novel. In part, it is an imagining of the people and historical events to which he was exposed on his trip to Malaysia in the 1920’s that…

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The Garden by Clare Beams - a Book Review

It’s 1948, and Irene Willard finds herself left at the doors of an old mansion-turned hospital. All women at this hospital, like her, have only ever experienced the heartbreak of lost pregnancy and are desperate to deliver to their husbands that gift of a child. Under the care of an enigmatic husband and wife duo of doctors, the women undergo experimental treatments that promise to bring their…

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The Opt-Out Family: How to Give Your Kids What Technology Can't by Erin Loechner - a Book Review

Are you one of those parents who has lots of anxiety over the effect technology is having on our kiddos, especially their obsessive need to have faces buried in tablets? Would you like even more stress and anxiety mixed with guilt over what you’ve allowed to happen? Then read this book. Ok, I’m sort of joking about that. I actually think this book presents some amazing points and amazing ideas…

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Those Empty Eyes by Charlie Donlea - a Book Review

As promised, here’s the second book of the Charlie Donlea journey I embarked upon recently. Of the two, I think this is the one I found the most compelling. Synopsis Alexandra Quinlan has gone to great lengths to separate herself from the night that changed her life forever, the night her entire family was massacred leaving her the only survivor and the initial prime suspect. Ten years after…

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WWW Wednesday - September 11, 2024

Welcome to WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme where bloggers answer three questions: What am I currently reading? What have I just finished reading? What will I read next? This meme is hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words. Be sure to visit her to see what she’s been up to this week! What am I currently reading? As usual, I have two books going. On audio, I’m listening to Tan Twan Eng’s The…

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The Girl Who Was Taken by Charlie Donlea - a Book Review

Just a warning, it’s going to be a very Charlie Donlea week up in here at A Librarian and Her Books because I inadvertently wound up reading two of his in a row thanks to him being a book club pick by one of our Read Between the Wines members. This one, The Girl Who Was Taken, was the one I chose independently without even realizing he’d also penned our book club choice. Synopsis Two girls,…

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Dragonfruit by Makiia Lucier - a Book Review

This title takes the place of my Young Adult fantasy read for my reading challenge. I pretty much chose it at the library off the new YA shelf because the cover was so compelling. It’s not rare to find fiction based on folklore and mythology, but it is rare to find titles based on the mythology of the Pacific Islanders. In this novel, we follow Hanalei of Tamarind, once a revered lady from a…

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In Pieces by Sally Field - a Book Review

I’m pretty much always behind the times, as evidenced by the fact that this memoir was a Goodreads Choice Award nominee for best memoir and biography back in 2018. I’m surprised I hadn’t read it yet, because I’ve adored Sally Field for about as long as I can remember. Even as a kid, I could feel how authentic and human she seemed, and I fully grasped her range and skill as an actor as I grew and…

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Know My Name by Chanel Miller - a Book Review

My reading selections have been a bit depressing lately. Honestly, they’ve been downright infuriating. You may not recognize the name of the author of this memoir, but you certainly know of her. We only knew her as Emily Doe in the rape trial that shook the nation back in 2015, a trial in which the sentence would anger millions and result in the subsequent recall of the Judge. Despite her victim…