Things Are Good!

The past two months have been good.  Really good.  Not only did I finally get caught up with updating all of the book lists and links on this blog, but I got four new books, and a new bookcase to put them on!  On top of that, I somehow managed to read one great book after another.  See?

Okay, so I actually read Enchanted by Alethea Kontis way back in November, but it just didn't seem to fit with the whole vibe of  my last post, so I decided to save it.  Now, you can pretty much ignore the cover of this one, because it was obviously chosen during that period of time when every single book had a picture of a girl in a prom dress/evening gown on the cover, regardless of the time period in which it was set and the fact that the heroine probably never even dressed up once in the story.  This book is actually an amalgamation of half the fairy tales out there.  I wasn't really feeling it at first, but the further I got into it, the more I liked it.  It wove aspects of the fairy tales together and hung the bits and pieces on an original plot, with enough other original stuff thrown in to make it seem, well, original, but familiar in a whimsical way.  I loved it.  Soooooooo much better than some of those other takes on fairy tales that I've read (see my review here).  It ends in a way that makes it just fine as a standalone, even though it is the first part in a trilogy.   I haven't had a chance to check out the other two books yet, but in the meantime I am planning to buy a copy of this one for sure.  (Reading Level: 5.6 / Middle Grade +)

I grabbed Dangerous Alliance: An Austentacious Romance by Jennieke Cohen off the new releases shelf on a whim, because I didn't have a historical fiction book in my haul and thought I might be in the  mood for one.  I was a bit skeptical, since the title implied it had something to do with the novels of Jane Austen, and I am really, really NOT into 19th Century (or in this case, even older) literature.  Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised.  The story follows the independent-minded daughter of an earl who, due to unfortunate circumstances involving her sister, is forced to find a husband ASAP.  It has wit, and humor, and romance, and action, and intrigue, and is really a highly entertaining read.  Great for fans of historical fiction or romance novels!  (Reading Level: ? / Middle Grade +)

Let's Call It a Doomsday, by Katie Henry, is another book that I just grabbed off the shelf at the library without really knowing what it was supposed to be about.  It turned out to be the story of a Mormon girl from Berkeley, whose anxiety disorder has turned her into a doomsday prepper.  She meets a girl who believes she has seen the end of the world, and together they set out to find a 'prophet' who can help interpret her dreams.  The book tackles the sensitive topics of mental illness, homelessness, bisexuality, and the questioning of one's faith.  You would think it would be emotional, and it is, but it is also surprising and fun, with interesting characters, witty dialogue, and a twist at the end that left me absolutely dumbfounded.  I'm actually going to put up a longer post about this book soon, because I have some very specific things I'd like to say about what I did and didn't like in it, but overall, it was another great read.  (Reading Level: ? / Upper Grades)

I had been waiting to check out Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson ever since it was published back in 2018!  It is the first part in a new duology that is a companion series to the The Remnant Chronicles trilogy (see my review of the third book here).  The original books were so popular, that I guess everybody wanted to read the new ones, too, and it took a year and a half for people to stop putting holds on it!  Anyway, this book is Mary Pearson at her finest.  It has everything that made the original trilogy great (you know, action and intrigue and romance done perfectly), only I think this one might actually be better.  I read through the entire 505 page book in like, four days.  Yes, it was that good.  (Reading Level: 5.3 / Upper Grades)

After finishing Dance of Thieves, I made a special trip to the library the very next morning to check out the sequel, Vow of Thieves.  Then, I read all 480 pages in like, three days.  Then, I sat down at my computer and went to the Book Outlet website to see if they had any copies for sale, and yay! they have both books in the duology in stock!  I am so going to buy them as soon as I decide which other books to purchase in order to get free shipping!  If for some strange reason you haven't read this series yet, you need to do so at your first opportunity.  (Reading Level: ? / Upper Grades)

While I was at the library getting a copy of Vow of Thieves, I picked up a newly published book that I wanted to read: The Grace Year by Kim Liggett.  Now, I was so unimpressed with Liggett's first book, Blood & Salt, that I didn't even finish the trilogy, but this one . . . this one was AMAZING.  Now, I know it was intended to be and has been interpreted by those who have read it as some kind of  feminist manifesto against the 'patriarchy,' since it unapologetically portrays an almost cult-like society in which the men oppress the women in dramatic ways.  So, if you are the kind of person who wants to cheer when you hear "down with the patriarchy," this book is for you.  If, however, hearing that sentiment makes you want to give an eye roll to end all eye rolls, well, curiously enough, this book is also for you, because it manages to call out the ideology of male-dominated cultures without screaming about the evils of the 'patriarchy.'  In fact, the word patriarchy doesn't appear in the book even once.  And although near the end of the story she uses the phrase "speak my truth" instead of just saying "speak the truth," it feels more like Liggett is a product of progressive indoctrination than like she is trying to indoctrinate others.  The Grace Year is quite possibly the best book I've read in a long while.  It is an unbelievably breathtaking and compelling story that teaches a profound lesson about men and women.  Loved it, loved it, loved it.  (And I'm pretty sure you will, too.)  (Reading Level: ? / Upper Grades)

When my two year old nephew saw the cover of Wilder Girls, by Rory Power, he said "That book scary!"  I didn't think it was supposed to be a scary story, but it turns out that it was, kind of.  It was all about girls who live at a boarding school on an isolated island.  The girls, and the island, and all of the animals on the island get infected with some kind of something, and it makes all kinds of weird things happen to them, like one girl gets glowing hair, and one gets two heartbeats, and one grows a second spine outside her skin.  Stuff like that.  So of course they get quarantined and so on and so forth.  It is mostly science fiction, but it actually does have some pretty good horror elements here and there, along with plenty of suspense.  I didn't care for it so much at first, but then I started to enjoy the writing more and after awhile I just couldn't put it down.  The ending was a little bit disappointing, but not bad, so I would definitely encourage you to read it.  (Just a heads-up:  the book focuses a lot on the different kinds of relationships between the girls, some of which are non-traditional in nature.)  (Reading Level: ? / Upper Grades)


So I didn't read a whole lot of books in the past two months, but I was lucky enough to only read good ones.  Hopefully I fare as well next month!

My new bookcase with the overflow from my other bookcase plus my new books.