In Pursuit of My Own Library

Can this be the sequel to The School for Good and Evil? Can we pretend A World Without Princes just never happened? Everything was back from book one that I loved. There was tension, adventure, and soul searching, oh my. Agatha has Tedros. Sophie has Rafal. Why is no one happy? Because to find your Ever After you really have to know yourself. The festering question of Agatha and Sophie originally being sorted into the correct schools is back at the forefront. They are both absolutely certain that the Storian made a mistake. And now they have a story with no end hanging above their heads as the sun slowly dies. Agatha and Tedros must break into the School for New and Old to extricate Sophie from what are, clear to everyone, bad life choices. Promises are made. Armies are formed. But at the heart of it all, two girls are finding out what it means to love a boy, love their friendship, and love themselves.  All while the revitalized Schoolmaster has a master plan to make the balance of...

We're back at the School for Good and Evil. Except now it's the School for Girls and Boys? Well, the disappointment I felt at the end of the first novel managed to become the glaring theme for the entire second novel. Bah. I skimmed rapidly through most chapters seeking a redeeming moment because my interest was quickly waning for this series. Fortunately, I found it in the last couple chapters.  Sophie and Agatha have been living their best happily ever after back in their hometown of Gavaldon after outwitting a horrifying School Master. They are idols with statues made in their honor. There are lines for autographs and storytelling. Or so they both think. But really the true wishes of the heart can't be outwitted.  Both girl makes a wish deep down inside, and they are instantly sucked back into the world of fairy tales.  Except this go around it has been remade based on their choice for friendship over true love. Now the school is divided between boys and girls with a D...

I was impressed enough by You're My I.T.  that when I had a chance for an advanced copy of Two-Damage My Heart  I had to say yes.  Our main protagonist Rue wrote letters to a missionary practically every day for a year. She fell in love with that boy before he completely ghosted her and shattered her heart. Fast forward nine years to a singles mixer in Salt Lake City where Rue and Landry clash head on. But guess what? He doesn't recognize her and things get weird. Super weird. At first glance, it seems that Rue doesn't appear to be concerned with social norms. She has pink hair in a conservative town, plays roller derby, and openly LARPs in a public park.  Then we have Landry, a handsome award-winning salesman who graces the amateur comedian stage in his spare time. A young man who just oozes charisma. Already their interests seem to have deviated them in different directions, but that letter writing campaign of their youth has a lasting connection. And it is that aw...

In the land of fairy tales, Sophie has been waiting to be kidnapped by the School Master and taken away from her dreary hometown where nothing good ever happens. Her good deeds include befriending the local witch, Agatha. When the night comes, Agatha stands guard to keep Sophie from being kidnapped. But stories write their own plots, and both girls get whisked away to the School for Good and Evil. Sophie is elated as they are whisked away from the good for nothing Gavaldon. Until the magical transport dumps her in the school for evil and Agatha in the school for good. As the two girls attempt to rewrite their fairy tale and balk against tradition, they learn a lot about themselves. The School Master even provides them with a chance at an Ever After happy ending if they can solve his riddle.  There is plenty of action as Agatha and Sophie dash about trying to right the wrongs of their school assignments. There is wit and sass and romance. The essence of a fairy tale is completely ca...

I binge read the first two novels in a weekend. I was wallowing from a very soul-crushing novel (which I DNF before I lost my sanity), so I started digging forlornly through me TBR pile. A heavy fantasy or non-fiction were out of the question. My psyche could not take any more punches. Then I scrolled to Trouble is a Friend of Mine. When did that get there? The curiosity was piqued and my library had it. Perfect storm. The description seemed upbeat and most capable of raising my mood.  I was hooked by the first chapter. I couldn't stop reading until I ran into trouble (haha) finding Trouble Never Sleeps  from my library. I maybe should have seem that as a sign. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Trouble is a Friend of Mine  stars Digby. Because everything in life stars Digby. He is an incredibly intelligent, troubled youth. His sister was kidnapped right in front of him nine years ago. On his stakeout for some potential suspects, he meets Zoe. There is no turning back....

Such an excellent follow up to an excellent movie. Maggie Stiefvater really knows how to capture the magic of a story. I couldn't pass up checking this out from my local library. This became a favorite novel of mine by the closing sentence.  Unfortunately, all the other reviews--without having ever picked up the book--got me aggravated. I needed to walk away from all the woke pity parties to recapture the impressions this novel left to give it a review that justified the greatness of the storytelling. I've had that time, so here we go: Merida has been out wandering the hills of Scotland in a restless pursuit of adventure. I'm not even sure she is aware that she is trying to find that missing piece of herself. But she has some pretty neat stories when she heads home. Which she is now doing at Christmas because there is a wedding at DunBroch. However, being back in the castle gives her a feeling of restraint in an unchanging household. The routines are the same, the castle is...

Romances are not usually my thing. But when you read everything else the author publishes, you give it a shot. Especially if you get an advanced copy. So today I want to give a big shout out to the launch of a new romance series by C. N. Holmberg. You can now go check it out for yourselves.  Honestly, I was impressed. This is a standard, sweet rom-com. Blaine has had terrible luck in love and buries her feelings in roller derby. A bookworm in a super corporate job, there is no surprise when she falls in love with the socially awkward, D&D IT guy. The real surprise is what a sabbatical in California can do for a dude.  I have not suddenly been transformed into a romance reader, but I now easily have a series that I can recommend to those I know love the genre. While you get your standard rom-com plot line, this was a good story that I wanted to keep reading until the very end. The whole beginning to end made my heart happy. Characters openly dealing with body image standard...