The novel's greatest strength lies in the compelling characterization that doesn't falter once from start to finish. The plot is reasonably unbelievable & enticing. Honestly, this book is worth a read just for the absolutely startling characters & the hilarity that is their unraveling throughout the plot.The story does some weaving between past/present which can get a bit confusing & I had a pretty good idea about where things were going. 3.5⭐️

A solid family saga spanning almost a century in Korea/Japan. Lee‘s writing was intentional and vivid in a concise manner, never wasteful or too sparing with details. If you enjoy multigenerational family stories and writing that focuses on ideas like race/belonging, self-identity, cultural disillusionment, and the role of women—this one is for you. A beautiful tome, to be sure. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I‘m mostly enjoying this book, but having a hard time believing in the MC. He seems incredibly unintelligent for a 16-y.o. who was accepted into a private boarding school. For reference—he‘s never read Robert Frost & doesn‘t know what slant rhyme is. 🤨

Part III is doing a number on me. I am sick to my stomach but cannot stop reading. 😩😭🖤💔

A tale of despair, childlike optimism, innocent jealousy, sibling rivalry, & unwavering adoration. I was mesmerized by the unfolding of June‘s character, who readers will cherish from start to finish. I desperately wanted to wrap her in a warm embrace & hold her close throughout the entire gut-wrenching novel, along with Toby, & Greta, &, hell—why not the whole family? Gorgeous, stirring, & brilliantly original, TTWIH won‘t soon be forgotten. 5🌟

FriYAY read + yoga FTW. 🙌

This little bug helped me with my photos for my Dec reading wrap-up on the blog. Isn‘t he the greatest? 😍 Anyway, check out my latest post & enjoy some cute pics of Henry! ☺️

“Watching people is a good hobby, but you have to be careful about it. You can‘t let people catch you staring at them. If people catch you, they treat you like a first-class criminal. And maybe they‘re right to do that. Maybe it should be a crime to try to see things about people they don‘t want you to see.”

When you‘re gearing up for Christmas AND The Last Jedi. 😍

Oh, my heart! What a bittersweet, tender tale of loss & hope, sorrow & joy. Jack & Mabel leave their home Back East to begin anew on the Alaskan frontier in the 1920s. Discouraged at their inability to have a child, they seek solace in being alone; but before long, a mysterious child comes to them from the edges of the snowy wilderness & changes everything. Based on the Russian fairytale of Snegurochka, The Snow Child is utterly magical. 5⭐️

Check out this fantastic mug from the Ideal Bookshelf! It‘s Novels of the 1900s, which is perfect, bc I am a huge fan of classics from the last century. Fantastic picks, @JessNevertheless
I‘m so happy I participated in this exchange and so grateful for the generosity of my match & the organizational efforts of @Avanders @MrBook & @BookBabe ❤️

I just spent 20 minutes unwrapping everything & just totally basking in the glory of all this bookish brilliance. @JessNevertheless hit it out of the ball park, y‘all! I absolutely love Tana French, & Towles‘ Gentleman is one of my all time favorite novels—can‘t wait to read Rules! The Zevin recently popped up on my radar & it looks so delightful. & that listography book is going to be super fun to fill out. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Jess!

EEEEEEEK!!!!! It‘s time! It‘s 9:30 and I‘ve finally packed the Jeep, attended my husband‘s family Christmas, finished household chores, and showered (thank God...#momprobs). This has been a much anticipated treat all day and it‘s taking all kinds of restraint to post this pic before tearing into these goodies. I‘m loving this bookish-themed wrapping paper, @JessNevertheless ! #ssgp #wintersolsticebookexchange

My #SSGP box has been calling my name all morning but my life is basically a shit show today—running around like a decapitated chicken, trying to get things ready for my journey home tomorrow. So, I‘m saving this much-anticipated box until this evening, when I can sit down and really savor it. ☺️

I went on a bit of a book-buying spree on Black Friday, and scored these 9 books + 2 others for a mere $41. Check out my most recent blog post for a quick blurb on each—link‘s in my bio!

Same, Chewie. 🙌
Immediately after I finished Ng‘s first novel, I started impatiently lusting after another & LFE did not disappoint. Rife with tension & familial drama, LFE is a portrait of a utopian community nestled in the outskirts of Cleveland in the 90s. I savored this story from start to finish, relishing the recurring imagery of fire & rich emotions of remorse, desperation, & loyalty. Ng is the queen of writing trainwrecks-in-waiting. 5⭐️

I hate zombies, y‘all. Can‘t HANDLE blood & guts or gore of any kind. The Walking Dead gave me nightmares. BUT—I 👏 loved 👏 this 👏 book. Carey manages to put a refreshing spin on the flesh-eating trope and crafts a main character that is endearing and inspiring all at once. The novel moves along at a quick clip and resolves in a hopeful (but open-ended) manner. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Stuck between a so-so and a pan. Erdrich has great intentions with this work of dystopian/speculative fiction, but execution is rushed/poor. Cedar isn‘t a terrible MC, but she‘s not altogether enjoyable, either. Other characters lack depth, the storyline is tedious, and those journal entries leave a LOT to be desired. 😩 Not a total waste of time, but definitely not one that will stick with me. ⭐️⭐️

I *might* be the last one sending my #SecretSantaGoesPostal #WinterSolsticeBookExchange package🤦‍♀️ I just saw the other day that my match bought one of the books I‘d purchased for her box, so I had to do a quick swap. And the post office is only open a few hours each day (#smalltownproblems) which conveniently coincide during Henry‘s naps🙄 Sending out today w/ a few other goodies. If your package hasn‘t made it yet, don‘t fret! It‘s on its way.

I‘m pretty much loving this book right now...which is surprising, since I‘m not usually one for zombies. I love that they‘re dubbed “hungries” in TGWATG!

Eeek! My #SecretSantaGoesPostal package arrived! (Technically, it arrived yesterday, but my husband didn‘t bring it home till today.) It‘s the only present under our (still undecorated) tree thus far! And I‘m not 100% sure who my match is...🤔 So excited to get this book mail, though...and now I‘m very impatiently waiting for a couple things to come in so I can send off my #WinterSolsticeBookExchange package!

I received this copy as my first official ARC, and it did not disappoint! I wasn‘t crazy about the Christian Grey-esque behavior of the lead male character, but the authors did a fantastic job of weaving a complex and thrilling narrative. I guessed a few of the plot twists, but most caught me unawares.

The premise was promising, but this might have been some of the least engaging published writing that I‘ve ever read. Dialogue, characters, and conflicts all felt juvenile (though the novel dealt with middle-aged men and women), and there were some unforgivable plot holes. Not my cup of tea, at all.

As a Catholic, I find these moments of Cedar‘s personal reflections interesting. Also, on point. “We need a god who sides with the wretched. One willing to share misery.” 😔❤️

So, I kinda deviated from my #SecretSantaGoesPostal match‘s TBR list...😬 I hope s/he loves the titles I picked! I‘m kinda nervous bc this is my first ever exchange & I keep seeing these pics of incredible piles of gifts...feeling a little anxious that my package will be a letdown. 😕 I need a pep talk, peeps! (Also, if you‘re my match & you figure out the titles from this pic, you‘re a literary god(dess) and I‘m in awe of your genius ways.)

Although a few of my hunches were correct, I missed the big curveballs altogether—& the epilogue SATISFIES. I haven‘t been this pleased w/ a suspense novel in some time. The best part? Brown composed a thrilling and mysterious narrative w/o resorting to the drug/alcohol-addled female lead trope that is so prevalent. I haven‘t loved to hate (strong word...maybe “judge”?) a female lead so much since Gone Girl. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Guys. This book is SO. BAD. 😭 The writing is just ridiculously juvenile & overdone at the same time. The premise is intriguing, but characters are so poorly written & there are so many plot holes, it‘s taking sheer willpower to keep going. This really bums me out, too—that first page was so promising. Are you a finisher or a quitter when it comes to boos you don‘t care for?

I got these books + A Good Country from Book Outlet for $40. 11 books. 40 bucks. Oh my gosh, y‘all—this discovery will not be beneficial to my wallet 😩😬

Anyone else do some Black Friday book splurging?!
#blackfriday #bookhaul

“So do I love him at last? Child, I need him. It is hard to tell the two apart.”

I was tagged by @JacintaMCarter so here goes...
1. Contemporary/literary, historical, dystopian, fantasy, thriller/suspense fiction; narrative NF (think Grann & Hillsnbrand).
2. Rowling, bc she‘s so diverse—love her Galbraith works & Casual Vacancy.
3. Smutty romance/50 Shades of anything
4. Memoirs—but NOT celeb.
5. Behind Her Eyes. Too similar to Niffenegger‘s book, ending felt contrived for shock value.
6. I tag @BriBie8888 & @britt_brooke

Cracking up a bit at Eddy‘s shared writings in this book. So far, I‘m intrigued but also a bit frustrated by the veiled references to the Doomsday-esque circumstances in Cedar‘s world & the lack of concrete information about what‘s really going on.

Also getting a bit of a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach from her Target baby-shopping spree...😰

#FutureHomeBuddyRead

Because it‘s 2:30 am and I can‘t sleep...😑 in case my #secretsantagoespostal buddy is watching...😉

1. I 💙 Tazo Passion tea + chai
2. Erm...neither.
3. Spiced scents.
4. ALL THE MILK CHOCOLATE!!!
5. Not particularly. Ya know, other than books. 🤣

I finished this #botm pick the evening Ward was selected as NBA winner—how cool is that? ☺️ This novel is beautifully written, lyrical in its miserable unraveling. Jojo‘s determination and somehow naïve nature are striking to behold as this road-novel gathers momentum for its inevitable climax. He‘ll become one of your favorite protagonists of 2017. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Next up...👆

“Home is about the earth. Whether the earth open up to you. Whether it pull you so close the space between you and it melt and y‘all one and it beats like your heart. Same time. . . . A song. The place is a song and I‘m going to be part of the song.”

Lunde offers a haunting narrative that echoes across the centuries, as 3 main characters seek to create a better future for their sons. Set against a backdrop of evolving agricultural practices, climate change, & socioeconomic degeneration, The History of Bees won't easily be forgotten. The novel does what so many well-written dystopian works have been known to do: it evokes a chilling sense of unease & seems an all-too-relevant warning.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This one was in the same vein as Practical Magic--a lot of "telling," not enough "showing." I was a bit annoyed with the f-bombs in both books--not because I'm against the word, but because it just felt unnecessary and out of place in the novels. The siblings were fun characters, but much of the novel felt like Hoffman was checking off items on a list. (I know--I'm in the unpopular minority here!) ⭐️⭐️.5

I read this one just in time for Halloween--the Litsy hype was so great, how couldn't I? ? Far better than its movie counterpart, Practical Magic still felt a bit...cliche?...at times, probably because I felt so often that Hoffman was "telling" instead of "showing." While I enjoyed the characters and the plot, the story was more miss than hit for me, sadly. ⭐️⭐️.5

My favorite tiny human + my favorite little beast. 😊💕 #BeastsBoxGiveaway

So glad I hopped on Litsy tonight and saw @MrBook 's post about #SecretSantaGoesPostal / #WinterSolsticeBookExchange! I've been dying to get in on one of these but always seemed to miss the deadline. So excited!

I've been a bit MIA since having Henry 5 months ago (5?!?), but I'm still reading, I swear! 🙃

This one is a captivating read this far...but I won't pretend I'm not totally freaked out. Had a really long conversation with the husband last night about bees dying off + the apocalypse. 😰

This was my first Rushdie, and lemme tell ya--I was unprepared for the exorbitant # of allusions in this novel! I had a hard time with the foreign and obscure film titles. Unfortunately, the book digressed...a lot. So much so that the sidebars became distracting and the work was hard to digest (but not in a delightfully-challenging way). I was largely disappointed, especially since I loved the Golden family & their story so much. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Well this is a pretty blatant error. 😶

This raw, painfully descriptive novel about a young girl's sexual/psychological/physical abuse and resulting internal war is difficult to digest and equally tough to rate. From a literary perspective, I found the work engrossing and artfully composed. As a friend, though, I'd have a very hard time gushing about the novel or recommending it to others. Captivating, repulsive, & provocative, all at once. ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

I was challenged by @JacintaMCarter to make #10AuthorRecommendations. With the exception of Bennett, who's only published one (phenomenal) work, I have read multiple works by each of these authors and find them to be savvy and worthwhile! I challenge @BriBie8888 and @shellielingo to make a list. 🤓

"The old stains like coffee stains dried to ragged outlines with their centers paled out. What reason there might be for this she does not know, perhaps the same reason tide pools leave their salt in concentric rings. Perhaps everything seeks its edge and flees its center and dies this way."

Meh. This one sat in my TBR stack for a long time--the title was EVERYWHERE I turned! Alas, the MC was lackluster, the mystery completely pissed me off--and not in a good way, and the conclusion was pretty bland. It wasn't a waste of my time...but I've read better books.

Cover: gorgeous. Writing: dreadfully pretentious and R A M B L I N G. It took me several attempts to meander my way through 8 pages, at which point I gave up. I could barely even summarize what happened in those 8 pages...so many meandering diatribes that were so full of trying-too-hard descriptions, it's difficult to stay connected. I felt my eyes glazing over like in the days of old, when forced to read a particularly draggy textbook.