#berkley books

[basicallyanotherwitchesthing]

Francine Prose - Marie Laveau - Berkley - 1978

[the25centpaperback]

The Trouble Twisters by Poul Anderson, cover by David Egge (1977)

[mudwerks]

(via Pulp International - Berkley Books cover for One for the Money by Elliott Chaze)

[theblackestofsuns]

Dune Messiah (1969)

Frank Herbert

Berkley Books

[thehauntedrocket]

Vintage Paperback - Beelfontaine by Saliee O’Brien

Art by John Duillo

Berkley Medallion (1974)

[driveintheaterofthemind]

Vintage Paperback - Buffy's Cookbook by Jody Cameron

Berkley (1971)

[whimsicaldragonette]

Blog Tour: The Bump by Sidney Karger

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Publication Date: June 1, 2024

Welcome to The Bump Blog Tour with Berkley Publishing Group. (This Blog Tour post is also posted on my Wordpress book blog Whimsical Dragonette.)

Synopsis:

Two men expecting a baby via surrogate go on the road trip of a lifetime in this hilarious and poignant novel by Sidney Karger, author of Best Men. Wyatt Wallace is a practical, super organized director of TV commercials. Biz Petterelli is a child-actor-turned-magazine-writer who thrives on spontaneity. Though polar opposites, they are fully committed to their relationship and their life in Brooklyn with their dog, Matilda. They’re also about to have a baby together. And they’re freaking out. They’ve both dreamed of becoming parents, but now that it’s happening, they’re doubting everything. Their baby is due in a few weeks and instead of flying to California just before the birth as planned, Biz has a better idea. They could use one last hurrah, along with some serious “us-time” to mend the issues they’ve been having lately—before they get tied down by fatherhood and its impending responsibilities. So the daddies-to-be load up their 1992 Volkswagen Cabriolet and embark on an epic cross-country babymoon. They attempt to recharge at the beach in Provincetown, stumble through their impromptu baby shower in Chicago, and endure a Star Wars -themed wedding in Colorado before heading west for the baby.   But when they take several unexpected detours, old wounds are reopened and secrets spill out that could change their relationship for better or for worse, forcing the couple to reexamine the meaning of family while building their own. After all, what’s a road trip without a few bumps along the way?

My Rating: ★★★

*My Review below the cut.

My Review:

This was good, if a bit over the top for me. It was campy in a way that just doesn't appeal to me because it didn't really feel authentic and I could never get behind the characters 100% even though I did find many parts amusing.

What I really did appreciate was the topic. Road trip? Been done. Two men on a save the relationship road trip to reconnect before their baby is delivered? I haven't seen that before. If it had been slightly less over-the-top and I'd found the characters more relatable, I would have absolutely loved it.

As it was clearly intended to be a humorous and somewhat campy road trip, the situations and characters encountered, including Wyatt and Biz's family members and friends, were all over the top to the point that they felt like stereotypes. But then sometimes they would break through the stereotype and feel more real, and that I did enjoy.

It was told in alternating POV style, but for some reason whenever we were in Wyatt's POV and Biz said something, the dialogue tag would be Wyatt saying how Biz felt about it. The same happened in Biz's POV when Wyatt spoke. It was really strange and kept taking me out of the story because it didn't make sense for the characters to know what the other person was thinking, so maybe it was all assumptions? But it happened just about every time anything was said.

Wyatt and Biz also argued and were resentful and childish toward one another for the entire book. I was hoping they'd work things out, and a couple times thought they might, and then they'd revert to sniping at each other. It didn't give me a whole lot of confidence about their ability to handle actually raising a child together. The way it's told it's as if seeing the baby delivered magically fixes everything, cue the adorable 6 years later epilogue.

I liked it enough to continue to read the whole book, however, and I think it will appeal to a lot of people. Especially those who enjoy campy over the top humor.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for providing an early copy for review.

[theartisticendeavor]

Vintage Paperback - It Could Happen To Anyone by Margaret Maze Craig

Berkley (1970)

[sarah-hawley]

Look at this gorgeous UK cover for A WITCH’S GUIDE TO FAKE DATING A DEMON!!! I’m obsessed 😍

[misforgotten2]

A book you very likely don’t have on your shelf #256

Cover by Richard Powers  --  1962

[retrogirlsbooks]

Sunwaifs by Sydney J. Van Scyoc

Cover illustration by David Plourd

ISBN 0-425-04645-1

[the25centpaperback]

The Trouble Twisters by Poul Anderson, cover by Angus McKie (1977)

[quirkycatsfatstacks]

Review: Local Gone Missing by Fiona Barton

Author: Fiona BartonPublisher: Berkley BooksReleased: June 14, 2022Received: NetGalley I enjoyed Fiona Barton’s The Child, so I knew I had to grab Local Gone Missing when I saw it available. You guys know I can’t pass up a good thriller! Elise has always been an ambitious person. She had high hopes for her career as a detective, but her medical leave is forcing her to take a step back from that…

[theblackestofsuns]

Dune (1965)

Frank Herbert

Berkley Books

[thehauntedrocket]

Vintage Paperback - Algorithm by Jean Mark Gawron

Berkley (1978)

[doodlesink]

The Knife Before Christmas by Kate Carlisle -- A Book Review

Happy Tuesday!  The Knife Before Christmas by Kate Carlisle is a festive cozy mystery.  Stop by to learn more about the latest A Fixer-Upper Mystery.  Happy Reading!

https://bibliophileandavidreader.blogspot.com/2024/10/the-knife-before-christmas-by-kate.html