Kingdom of the Feared

It's hard to review Kingdom of the Feared for a few reasons. I mean, it's the last book in the series and it honestly ties up all the questions from the first two books.

Now, I don't read smut at all but Kerri Maniscalco said this was going to have some explicit scenes, more so than Kingdom of the Cursed. So I was preparing myself for the ick. Even reviews I've read talk about how this book is straight sex and I'm just wondering if we read the same book???

 

Yes, there's sex and some explicit scenes I could have gone without. But the story itself really launched itself into new and exciting dimensions, literally. The Shifting Isles revelation made my jaw drop. The secrets, the curses, the First Witch, all of that drove this story home.

What's even more exciting is that Kerri Maniscalco announced a spinoff series where each brother is getting his own book!!! Prince Envy's is set to come out in October and I am READY.

Looking for the rest of the series?

Kingdom of the Wicked (KOTW #1)

Kingdom of the Cursed (KOTW #2)

 

Looking for other books by Kerri Maniscalco?

Stalking Jack the Ripper (SJTR #1)

Hunting Prince Dracula (SJTR #2)

Escaping from Houdini (SJTR #3)

Becoming the Dark Prince (SJTR #3.5)

Capturing the Devil (SJTR #4)

A Cigarette Lit Backwards

Words cannot describe to you how much I love this book.

It felt like this book was written for me. Like it was written about the teenage version of myself. The girl who wanted to be cool by standing out. I know this book is not going to hit with everyone, because it takes place during a time, a scene, and era that I still hold onto very tightly.

A Cigarette Lit Backwards follows a group of teens in the early 2000s. Not just any teens though, a group of burnouts, nobodies, punks, and poseurs. Main character, Kat freaking resonated with me. She read books, went to concerts, and hung out with the party kids without going too far herself. She still had dreams of art school saving her from herself. But that didn't stop her from shoplifting, dealing drugs, and dating the bad boys. If anything, she felt like her life finally had meaning.

At 16, Kat was everything I wanted to be.

At 27, she made me cringe.

This book was just all too relatable. I was constantly reading my own teenage shenanigans and texting my friends who made it out of it alive.

I have nothing but good things to say about this book.

I love it.

The Houseguest and Other Stories

I was walking through the bookstore last week when this cover caught my eye. I flipped to the back cover and took it all in; "Like those of Kafka, Poe, or Shirley Jackson," "a writer obsessed with obsession," "nightmares come to life." It was everything I was looking for.

It's essentially a book of short horror stories. There were a few that stuck out to me, Fragment of a Diary, Musique Conrete, Tina Reyes, The Breakfast, and The Funeral. For some reason these stories spoke to me the most. Fragment of a Diary really resonated with me. It was raw and uncontrollable. Each of these stories spoke on love, lust, isolation, and fear. I've been in an incredibly vulnerable place lately so I can't even begin to describe the emotions I felt while reading all 122 pages of this book.

This is Amparo Davila's first book to be translated into English. It's my understanding that all of these desperate themes are found throughout her work. If more of her work isn't translated soon.....I'm going to pull out my high school Spanish lessons and do it myself!

Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing

Could I be more excited for this book?!

I know, I know, Matthew Perry is tired of that cadence but I just couldn't help myself.

I pre-ordered this book as soon as it was announced. As a die hard Friends fan, I knew I needed Matthew Perry's book in my life. But if you're looking for a celebrity tell all, this is not the book. While Hollywood has been such a big part of his life, there was always something bigger. He calls it "the big terrible thing," but the rest of the world knows it's his lifelong battle with addiction.

What I enjoyed about this book was the honesty. He didn't shy away from the fact that he had everything, literally everything. The biggest television show on the planet, the biggest movie, the best life that money could buy but that didn't stop him from wanting to escape. An escape that he could only find through drugs an alcohol. Addiction is no joke and it was absolutely heartbreaking when he joked about how this disease is going to kill him.

I went into this knowing that he wasn't going to be sharing fun antidotes from his time on set. I knew he wasn't going to be the fun loving version of Chandler Bing that we all know and love. But I wasn't prepared for the absolute terror that he endured while trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

He mentions hoping that his story will bring addiction into a different light and hopefully it will help others get clean and stay clean. He's one of the lucky ones who actually made it through.

Looking for other books about Friends?

I'll Be There For You

Just Like Home

I love book boxes. I had my eye on Just Like Home for awhile, so I snatched up a Halloween themed box from Once Upon a Book Club!

I'm not going to lie, I thought this was going to be soooooo much darker than it actually was.

The premise is simple; a man builds a strong, sturdy house for his family, his daughter starts hearing noises from the basement, the cold, distant mother calls said daughter on her death bed to come home.

Oh, but maybe I should mention, the dad is a serial killer and the daughter was witnessing all of the deaths through a peep hole under her bed. Which in itself is weird, but obviously there's something more supernatural lurking beneath the surface.

I thought maybe it was a slow burn, but it really just never picked up.

It's worth reading, especially if you're new to the supernatural horror genre. But overall, I got kind of bored with it. However, I feel it's important to tell you that I read the first half of this book in a day and then hit such a slump in my personal life that reading kind of fell to the back burner for me and that may have swayed my opinion a little bit.

The book box was super cool though. It came with a Ouija Board throw, a cute ass water bottle, and a handy dandy floral pattern screwdriver (super excited because I can use it at work!!)

Heaven's Gate

Wow, this book was a lot.

I've always been intrigued by cults like Waco, Jonestown, and the most out of this world cult, Heaven's Gate. Heaven's Gate was led by Marshall Herff Applewhite and his wife, Bonnie Lu Nettles. Their group was significantly different from the others for a number of reasons. Let's start with the belief in UFO's. At the time of writing this post, it's 2022. We've now been told that there are other life forces out there (which, duh), but the government has actually acknowledged it now. But when Heaven's Gate formed in the 1970's, people were skeptical of UFO's and aliens. Heaven's Gate didn't just believe in these things, they also believed that they would be taken upon a spacecraft and transported to another world.

They also practiced celibacy, going as far as castrating several male members of the group including Applewhite himself. That alone sets them apart from many, many cults or fringe religious groups. Some people believed that Applewhite struggled with his sexual identity and this was his way of dealing with it. That seems a little extreme to me, but it was mentioned in the book.

Heaven's Gate: Cult Suicide in San Diego presents some bizarre theories that I feel need mentioning. Since it's publication in 1997, the internet has absolutely exploded. But at the time, the "World Wide Web" caught a lot of heat after the mass suicide of 39 members of the Heaven's Gate Cult. Many called the group things like "UFO Computer Cultists," "Computer Cult," "Internet Wackos." The internet was blamed for creating a forum for Applewhite to attract new members into his wild group.

This book also really needed a proofreader. There were so many basic grammatical errors and misspellings. But if you can move past that, there is valuable information about Heaven's Gate within it's pages. But there's also a slew of misinformation given what we know now.

The Two Lives of Sara

Two years ago I snagged an ARC of Saving Ruby King from NetGalley.

 

The world Catherine Adel West built with her words was a world I wanted to jump back into as soon as possible. The Two Lives of Sara helped me do just that.

 

In my review of Saving Ruby King, I talked about how I got a little turned around when I realized all the main character's grandparents were friends. But as soon as I started reading Sara's story, I realized we finally had a prequel. We had answers to all the secrets that had been hidden for decades.

 

Sara's story is a sad one.

But it's also a hopeful one.

 

While Ruby's story takes place in Chicago churches, Sara's story takes place in a Memphis boarding house. When Sara turns up at The Scarlet Poplar, unwed and pregnant, Mama Sugar doesn't ask any questions. She welcomes Sara and puts her right to work. At The Scarlet, they take care of each other and always look out for their own. For Sara, that meant letting them help her sort out her feelings about motherhood on her own terms. There was always someone there to hand Lebanon off too, and she did without a second thought. That is, until she met Jonas.

Jonas lit up her world and somehow broke through her icy exterior. They had big plans for their future, but it all came crashing down. Sara had finally opened her heart and everything fell apart.

As we know from Saving Ruby King, Lebanon goes on to have a child of his own....Ruby. While both Ruby and Sara's stories delves into topics like racism, gun violence, domestic violence, and suicide; Sara's story has more hope, more growth, more resilience. But I think the cities and era's fit both narratives. Sara was in Memphis in the 1960s, the civil rights movement was in full swing and everyone had hope for a better life. But then Ruby was in the midst of 1990's Chicago, a time when violent crime was on the rise and not looking to back down. Racial profiling, police brutality, and riots were the norm. Both of these stories fit in beautifully with the drastically different worlds they were set in.

Looking for the rest of the series?

Saving Ruby King

None of This Rocks

Okay, listen.

I'm a little biased when it comes to Fall Out Boy.

I saw them on tour with their Infinity on High album when I was 12, and again on their American Beauty/American Psycho tour when I was 19, and again this past May at 26. They're literally my favorite band of all time and my little emo heart skips a beat every time I hear their music.

Joe Trohman markets himself as "the other guy" in Fall Out Boy. There's Patrick, Pete, Andy, and the other one. But I am hardly joking when I say I spent my teen years obsessing over Joe's curly ass hair (literally my weakness).

Joe talks about his childhood, his time with the band, and even discovering himself through other artistic venues. He talks about life on the road, and life as a parent. He even lets us in on his all too relatable struggles with mental health and addiction.

The story itself is a little scattered but it felt like a conversation between friends where one just goes off on a tangent and the other just follows along. It was honest and relatable, even if he is a rockstar. It was incredibly interesting to read about their work on FOB albums. I've always considered myself a die hard fan and was shocked to hear that some of my favorite albums are the ones other fans considered flops. Folie is still in my top 3 favorite albums and I can't believe other people might not like it. Joe even talks about their debut EP/album, An Evening Out with Your Girlfriend and how it should never be spoken of again. But honestly, it's still strong. I listened to their E N T I R E discography while reading the book and honestly, it was so enjoyable.

All the Living and the Dead

I don't know about you guys, but I'm obsessed with the macabre.

 

When I saw a book titled All the Living and the Dead: From Embalmers to Executioners, an Exploration of the People Who Have Made Death Their Life's Work, I immediately pre-ordered a copy.

 

Hayley Campbell threw herself straight into a world filled with life's darkest moments. Nothing was off limits. The first chapter has her holding hands with a dead man while the mortuary workers change his clothes. She meets with everyone from funeral home directors to embalmers, executioners to crime scene cleaners, death mask sculptors, crematorium operators, gravediggers, even bereavement midwives.

It's gruesome and intriguing to read about the people who often go unnoticed until a tragedy strikes. It seems the one thing they have in common is wanting to ease the pain of the families still living. Each person has their own limits when it comes to what they can handle. The author had a traumatic experience while writing this book and can't seem to shake the image from her head. Even I have chapters that I know are going to stick with me. Like I said, nothing is off limits in this book. There are cancer diagnoses, suicides, child deaths, every kind of death is mentioned in this book and it goes into immense detail.

One thing the author set out to do was ease the idea of death. For many of us, myself included, the fear of the unknown or the beyond is worrisome. But I'll say, reading about the way these people treat the dead makes all the difference. Their jobs are only needed during the worst parts of our lives. They know families need closure in different ways and most of them are fully prepared to ease your pain without a second thought.

You Will Get Through This Night

Chances are if you're looking up reviews for mental health books, you're probably not in the best head space. But that's okay.

I found this book when I needed it the most.

I've spent nearly a month combing through the pages, highlighting, dog-earring, and force feeding it into my brain. I went back and forth about how honest I want to be in this review, but I've decided complete honesty might help someone going through the same things as me.

I've struggled with my anxiety for a very long time. It's not just an anxious feeling, but a spiraling thought. It's something that gets stuck in my head and I just can't stop thinking about it, even if nothing has happened. Anxiety is the reason why I have insomnia. I've always said the reason I can't fall asleep is because my brain won't turn off. I would stay awake until 3, 4, 5 o'clock in the morning just thinking. Then the panic attacks started. My doctor said, "Oh, it's just heart palpitations. Most people don't even feel them." And then she sent me home.

The way my concerns were just discredited really made me believe I had to just handle it on my own. I mean I have a psychology degree. I know how to help someone in my exact shoes. But let me tell you, that just wasn't enough.

I am very proud to say that while reading this book, I sought out therapy and started taking medication to help balance out my thoughts. The stigma behind mental health is slowly fading and that's a big part of why I wanted to share my story with you guys.

If you're not ready to take the next step of seeking out professional help, at least get this book. You Will Get Through This Night by Daniel Howell is broken up into three parts: This Night, Tomorrow, and The Days After That. Each section is filled with personal stories from Dan, along with exercises to help you better understand your emotions without discrediting them.

This Night is for immediate help. It has information on breathing exercises, how to ground yourself during a panic attack, and even how to process your immediate feelings. Tomorrow is for learning how to positively change your environment. It breaks down how your environment, eating habits, friendships, and even sleep affect your day to day life. Why fill those spaces with negativity? The Days After That is for understanding and becoming your best self. It's about being your genuine self. I've started using this book in my every day life. Each section has brought me peace and I know that sounds absurd, but it's true. I personally have found that focusing on my breathing, acknowledging my thoughts, and not discrediting the way I'm feeling is the best way for me to ground myself. Sometimes it's okay not to be okay. It's okay to ask for help. It's okay to feel.

 

I hope that by sharing my personal story, it encourages others to share theirs too.

People Person

I was genuinely surprised at how much I enjoyed this book.

People Person follows the lives of 5 half-siblings whose lives are thrust together following a freak accident. They had only met once before, when their absentee father picked them all up for a visit to the park. He left them with one piece of fatherly advice....."This is so none of you ever buck up with each other on the road and fall in love or have sex or any of dem tings. Because that, my children, would be illegal."

Throughout the years, the siblings ran into each other without ever really knowing them. But when Dimple calls Nikisha for help, the whole lot of them show up. In a weird way, this helped Nikisha, Danny, Dimple, Lizzie, and Prynce all find their way back to each other. I wouldn't same the theme of the book is dark, it's just filled with secrets. It's more about the dysfunctional, yet unbreakable, family bond. It felt believable, the emotions were raw and genuine without making me roll my eyes. It's about friendship and family, about finding yourself while uncovering your past.

I haven't read Candice Carty-Williams debut novel, Queenie yet but after reading this I definitely want to find a copy.

Huge thanks to Simon & Schuster and Scout Press for sending me an advanced copy!

 

People Person is out now!

Babysitter

I reallllllllly wanted to like this book.

I don't know what it is about Joyce Carol Oates, but damn she's wordy. All throughout this book she just continuously repeats herself, not just a line here or there but whole passages. It's almost like she thinks we've forgotten something from two chapters ago.

Babysitter was described as a "a novel about love and deceit, and lust and redemption, set against a backdrop of child murders in the affluent suburbs of Detroit." 

 

That description drew me in, child murders in the 70s in Detroit? Yeah, sounds like something I'd pick up. But apparently that loosely translates to "40 year old, wannabe socialite has an affair." The main character, Hannah, starts an affair that goes on for literally the entire book. I mean it's a central part of the story and it's BORING.

I just really don't have a lot of good things to say about this book. There's a lot of masochism mixed with sexual assault, racism and police brutality, and a weird mix of religious undertones. It just wasn't something that I enjoyed.

 

Looking for other books by Joyce Carol Oates?

Blonde

One Hundred Saturdays

This cover is gorgeous.

All the illustrations throughout the book are even more incredible to look at.

But I am 100% not the target audience for this book.

One Hundred Saturdays chronicles the life of Stella Levi. This woman is well into her 90s, and she has lived an absolutely remarkable life. She been through it, back, and through it again. But somehow she never lost hope. Stella's story is much bigger than the numbers that were once tattooed on her skin.

Michael Frank spent nearly six years with Stella while writing this book. They spent a hundred Saturday's together, where she told him her entire life story. Beginning to end. Starting her story as a young girl in Rhodes, navigating friendships and romances. Then, onto her time in the camps and dealing with the aftermath of losing most of her family. Of course, Stella couldn't leave out finding her way in America and inevitably her way back to Rhodes.

Those few sentences I just wrote will never encapsulate the stories Stella shared with Michael. I wish I enjoyed this book more, but like I said I'm not the intended audience for this book, at all. It's a great story that is written very well. But without knowing the history of where Stella grew up, it was hard for me to envision. This book is for History Readers. Entwining the rich cultures while also discussing a traumatic event definitely helped move the story along, but all in all, I didn't love it.

Huge thanks to Simon and Schuster and Avid Reader Press for sending me an advanced copy!

One Hundred Saturdays: In Search of a Lost World by Michael Frank hits shelves September 6, 2022!

The Menendez Murders

A few months ago I became infatuated with the Menendez Murders.

For years, I had heard about the boys who had killed their parents. But that's kind of all I knew about it and I wanted more. I started watching documentaries and reading articles about their two trials. I couldn't believe what I was reading.

I've never understood why we allow men and women to be held to different standards when it comes to abuse. It's hard for me to understand how people can view abuse of a man different from abuse of a woman. Abuse is abuse. As for these boys, (and yes I'm going to be calling them boys because they were younger than my 26 years of age when this happened), they believed after years of abuse their parents were conspiring to kill them. The sexual and physical abuse from their father continued throughout their childhoods up to the point of Jose's death. Not to mention the constant verbal abuse from their mother. I've seen the trial, I've seen the transcripts, I don't believe they did this with malicious intent. 

It's interesting to me that we can support a woman killing her husband, claiming self defense under the assumption of battered wife syndrome, but we can't apply that same scenario to two sons whose parents were abusing them.

As for this book, Robert Rand makes it apparent very early on that he supports both the Menendez Brothers. That being said, the views portrayed in the book are very biased, aside from the trial transcripts included throughout the text. I was completely unaware of his stance before picking up this book, but it is similar to my own.

 

I don't believe we will ever truly understand what happened that fateful night in August 1989.

I'm Glad My Mom Died

THAT TITLE, MAN.

Honestly, I love Jennette McCurdy. When I first saw her on iCarly, I wanted to be her. I wanted to be the unapologetic girl who wears converse and hates everything. I even wanted her clothes, which makes me cringe so hard because when I rewatched iCarly earlier this year...... let's just say I'm pretty sure we had the same pair of plaid bermuda shorts.

So obviously, I pre-ordered this book as soon as she announced it. I know the title feels like a sucker punch, but she has every single right to feel this way. It made me sad to be reading about a girl who was only a few years older than me. A girl who was going through some of the same shit, just for different reasons. A girl whose childhood revolved around pleasing the people around her, specifically her mother. It's not my place to detail the things she went through, but trust me when I say you can feel the emotions behind her words.

 

 

So many celebrities write memoirs about their public persona, or their personal lives, or where they came. I've never read a book that morphs those topics so drastically. Her story felt so raw yet incredibly relatable. This book is not a Nickelodeon tell all, it's not even about exposing her secrets. This book was about healing, growing, and becoming who she wants to be. It's phenomenal.

American Animals

This book has everything I could ever want.

It's true crime about college kids robbing their library, AND Evan Peters is in the movie adaptation.

I usually don't talk about movies here, but I watched American Animals years before I read it. It's a quick read, less than 200 pages. Eric and two of his friends, Warren and Spencer concocted an elaborate heist that they believed might actually work. The idea was simple, they were going to rob the Rare Books Room at the Transylvania University Library. They had a contact in Amsterdam who was willing to purchase The Birds of America and several other rare books. If they would have gotten off with all the books they intended on stealing, they were looking at a 12 Million Dollar payout.

It boggles my mind that these 19 and 20 year old kids really tried to pull this off. It's even crazier to think that authorities believed it could have been a professional hit. It took roughly two months before the boys were caught with the books unharmed and still in their possession.

I know this feels like a weird thing to enjoy but I've began collecting rare books myself. Just the thought of holding something worth so much gives off such a powerful feeling. I can only imagine the power, the rush, and the terror of pulling off a heist like this.

Genuine Fraud

Call me crazy, but this book is way better than We Were Liars.

 

Genuine Fraud is written so uniquely....I mean, it's backwards. The whole story is told in reverse which is a treat for someone like me who reads the endings first. Reading the story in reverse was such a cool experience because it's all hindsight. As soon as you read the next chapter, you're immediately going, "Ohhhhhhh, okay. I see."

Not to mention the unreliable narrator, Jule. I can honestly say she kept me guessing what was happening the entire book without ever landing on the right answer. But somehow everything fit together so well.

 

The premise of the book is simple, Jule is grieving the apparent suicide of her friend Imogen. But if that's all that happened.....why is Jule running? Things tend to have a way of getting buried, especially when everyone involved has money. The drama, the elitism, and the unreliability really make the story.

Looking for other books by E. Lockhart?

We Were Liars (WWL #1)

Family of Liars (WWL Prequel)

Go Ask Alice

I know what you're thinking, "Why are you just now reviewing Go Ask Alice?" 

Well, turns out I read it many years before I started A Reader's Diary. So, I apologize for not being able to give my unfiltered preteen review of this book.

Pretty much everyone knows about this book. While at a party, a 15 year old's drink get laced with LSD and this journal, her journal, chronicles her descent into substance abuse. I remember reading this and becoming obsessed with finding other books like it, other books that could show me a world so incredibly different from my own. It led me to advocate for everyone, regardless of the situations they were in. I believe this was an important book for me, personally, to read even as young as I was.

The thing about Alice is that she's relatable.

Point blank.

She's a naive teenage girl in the '70s who is literally just trying to fit in. That's why every single generation since then has found their way to this book. I was 12 when I first read it, and I'm 26 now, but I still feel the same way about it. The only difference is we now have a far better understanding of mental health and addiction.

This book was obviously written for shock value. The most intense scenes sucker punch you with no warning or explanation. We now know that Alice never existed and that the "real diary" was a complete sham. But as fiction, it's still holds up.

Looking for the rest of the Anonymous Series?

Lucy in the Sky

Letting Ana Go

Calling Maggie May

Breaking Bailey

The Book of David

Looking for books that feature this series?

Unmask Alice

Unmask Alice

You guys remember how obsessed I was with published journals, right?

Well, turns out they were all fake.

 

I was a freshman in college when it came out that the Anonymous editor, Beatrice Sparks, had actually written each and every single one of these journals. For nearly 40 years, the general public believed these journals were written by real teenagers struggling with real issues. I was 13 when I first found a copy of Go Ask Alice. I absolutely devoured the traumatic diary of a teenage drug fiend. I still am absolutely obsessed with crisis lit, and if it's told in a diary format.....even better.

 

Unmask Alice by Rick Emerson is the a nonfiction counterpart to the Anonymous Collection. It delves into the fraud of a woman, Beatrice Sparks, not a doctor, not a youth counselor, not an advocate for young adults. But a woman who created her own success by exploiting those who believed in her work.

 

The bulk of this book focuses on Jay's Journal, mainly because his family is one of the only families to come forward saying Beatrice Sparks is a fraud. Marcella Barrett contacted her after the death of her son, Alden. She handed Alden's journals over in the hopes that other suicidal teens may find solace in her son's words. But instead, Sparks took that journal and twisted it into a story of witchcraft, sacrifice, and ritualistic deaths......it was released at the beginning of the Satanic Panic.

My jaw dropped several times while reading Unmask Alice because it's just insane the amount of people who just blindly followed Beatrice Sparks and allowed her to "recreate" the journals of the teens she supposedly was working with. This was honestly one of the best books I've read this year.

I do still love the Anonymous Series, and I plan on re-reading them with this new information in mind. Regardless of if they are real journals or not, many teenagers struggle with issues found within the pages. It doesn't discredit the story in my eyes. I am appalled at the exploitation, but if you take these stories and read them as fiction, they are still compelling stories.

Looking for the Anonymous Collection?

Go Ask Alice

Lucy in the Sky

The Book of David

Calling Maggie May

Letting Ana Go

Breaking Bailey

You're the Only One I've Told

I, like many of you, am pissed about Roe v. Wade getting overturned.

After that historic injustice last month, someone recommended the book, You're the Only One I've Told: The Stories Behind Abortion by Dr. Meera Shah. I immediately ordered it.

These people did not have to share their stories with anyone. But they chose to share their stories in the hopes of reducing the stigma surrounding abortion care. What many people fail to realize is that abortion is health care. I had a law professor once say, "If you are not willing to help everyone regardless of your differences, you should not be in this field." Which I think is incredibly relevant when working as a healthcare professional, as well as within the legal field.

This is a book everyone should read, regardless of your stance on abortion. It really drives home the idea that abortion care is not one size fits all. This book really humanizes the women who are forced to make life-changing decisions for themselves. It sheds a light on people of all ages and races. It has stories from the pre-Roe era, up to 2020 when it was published. Post-Roe is going to be dangerous for so many people.

 

You may not know it, but someone you know and love has had an abortion. While some of you were celebrating the overturning of Roe v. Wade, your loved one were reading or hearing your victory cries and realizing how unsafe they will be in your world.

 

I am afraid for what's coming.

 

Looking for other books on reproductive freedom?

I Know What's Best For You

Bookends

Boy, oh boy, this was written for a demographic of women that I am not even close to a part of.

Bookends: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Literature bounces around from teenage Zibby, to college bound Zibby, to mom of four Zibby. For me, I found the chapters about her best friend Stacey to be the most compelling. I honestly did not expect to cry but once I realized what was happening.....yeah thank god my kindle is waterproof.

 

This was like if Mommy Bloggers, Sunday Restock TikTokers, and the women from Girlfriends Guide to Divorce got together and wrote a book. That's not even a negative thing, because I catch myself wondering how they live lives so drastically different from my own.

It's very obvious that author, Zibby Owens came from a very privileged family. A family that has created a nest egg for generations to come. But Zibby set out to create her own personal brand....I just wished she would have talked more about her foray into the world of literature. It was interesting to hear how many publishers passed on her work for reasons like, "We aren't ready for a 9/11 story," or "Essay books just don't sell," even hearing "no one cares about this.' It almost felt like by publishing this book, she gave a big middle finger to everyone else and combined all of those negative remarks and did exactly that....AND IT WORKED.

The only thing that really disappointed me was how minuscule the bookish parts were. I was expecting more reflection through books and how each book helped her through a specific time in her life. But instead they are sprinkled throughout the book in only a line or two, usually just mentioning the book she was reading at that given moment.

But other than that, this was a quick, easy read!

Huge thanks for Amazon Early Reads for providing me an E-ARC!

Bookends by Zibby Owens is out July 1st!

 

Looking for books or authors mentioned in Bookends?

Tuesday's with Morrie - Mitch Albom

Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger

Room - Emma Donoghue

Seriously... I'm Kidding - Ellen Degeneres

The Happiness Project - Gretchen Rubin

Little Fires Everywhere - Celeste Ng

Where the Crawdads Sing - Delia Owens

The Devil in the White City

I've heard so many great things about The Devil in the White City over the years. So when my mom told me she was finally reading it, I decided it was time for me to read it too.

This is kind of two books in one.

While H.H. Holmes is what drew me to this book, I was pleasantly surprised when I realized I would be getting a backstory on The World's Fair. I was looking forward to the "murder, magic, and madness" which is written on the cover. And trust me, you get that. But then again, I now know more about architecture than I ever dreamed possible. But the way Erik Larson weaves the alternating stories together actually works. The architectural aspect of the fair parallels H.H. Holmes building his murder castle. Not to mention the steady influx of transients plays a big part in the both the success of the fair and his unsuspecting victims.

My mom and I both agreed, we expected more of H.H. Holmes story. But these two stories of great success and absolute turmoil really balance each other out. I just wanted a little more true crime and a little less history channel.

The Kingdoms of Savannah

If you guys haven't notice yet, I really love reading books that are set in places I've lived. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance to read The Kingdoms of Savannah by fellow Savannahian, George Dawes Green.

 

This book had all of the Southern Gothic aspects that I love. It had small town politics and local corruption. It even had detailed the dreary underground history of Savannah itself. I was enthralled in the story as I followed the streets I've wandered along myself. The deep seeded underground history of Savannah is what really drew me in. The lore, dramatics, and honesty really tied the story together.

The Kingdoms of Savannah follows one family that goes back for generations. The Musgroves have been a staple in the community forever. Everyone knows head of the house, Morgana took control of her late husband's investigative firm. They know about the feuding brothers, David and Ransom. Ransom started running with the homeless crowd and quickly found himself wanting to stay. Sisters Bebe and Willou became familiar faces when one became a nurse and the other a Judge.

But then there's granddaughter Jaq. The film student/bartender who just wants to know who murdered her friend, Luke. You'd think with a family like hers, they'd be able to get answers in a snap. But that's not always the case. Jaq begins searching for answers herself and uncovers some of the darkest secrets that the city wanted to keep hidden.

The privilege of this family seeps through the pages.

But the secret history of the Kingdom is what keeps you reading.

 

I absolutely loved this book.

I cannot wait to hear George Dawes Green speak next month!

 

Huge thanks to Celadon Books and NetGalley for sending me an ARC!!!

 

Kingdoms of Savannah comes out July 19, 2022!

I'd Like to Play Alone, Please

 

Tom Segura is hands down one of my favorite comedians.

When I heard he was writing a book, I immediately pre-ordered it.

I'd Like to Play Alone, Please is hilarious. If you know his voice and mannerisms, you'll love this book. If you could just read a transcript of his stand up specials, that's what this book is. Some of the stories are actual bits from his stand-up, but that didn't keep me from laughing. I have a habit of laughing just because I already know what's about to happen but the build up gets me, EVERY TIME.

I've been reading this while my new AC unit gets installed and I'm not even joking when I say I laughed so hard one of the maintenance guys asked if I was okay. It's just such a fun, quick read. Highly recommend his specials, his podcasts, and this book!!

Madame Bovary

I hate this book.

I don't care that it's a classic.

I don't care about Emma and Charles.

I don't care about the infidelity.

I just absolutely do not care.

I was leery when I found out Madame Bovary was the book in this month's Literary Book Club Box. There were a lot of things I didn't like about it, mostly being I thought it was a romance book. Which I mean, I guess it is, but like....not really. I'm also not a fan of reading about infidelity. If it's pertinent to advancing story then by all means include it, but this was literally the basis of the book.

I just found Emma and Charles to be the most boring people ever. The two of them should have never gotten together in the first place, and look how it ended....poorly for both of them and even worse for their child. I don't know how I powered through 400 pages of this nonsense, but I am so glad it's over.

Her Darkest Secret

I'm not gonna lie, I was a little on the fence about this book.

 

It's published by Love Inspired an imprint of Harlequin....which is far outside of my comfort zone. But the premise of the story really hooked me. Fiona became a Special Agent with the FBI after escaping from the Nursery Rhyme Killer when she was just 17 years old. Her case, like many others, went cold. But her search never stopped. When a goose feather is found at a recent murder site, they all know he's back and waiting for Fiona to find him.

 

The absurdity of some of the theories had my eyes rolling so hard. But it was written so well, that I honestly could overlook a little absurdity. It was just real enough to keep me guessing who the killer was, even if I did guess it fairly early on. The only thing that I really could have done without was the Jesus/Prayer aspect of it. I understand that Love Inspired is a faith based imprint, but it really just felt out of place with the rest of this story. But I mean, it is set in the South so it's believable.

All in all, it was a pretty good book and apparently there's another one coming!

Huge thanks to Love Inspired and Harlequin for sending me an ARC!

 

Her Darkest Secret by Jessica R. Patch is available June 28, 2022!

Stalling for Time

I've been wanting to read this book for awhile now.

Gary Noesner was the very first Chief Negotiator for the FBI and worked numerous high profile cases over his 30 year career. Noesner had a big part in creating the overall protocols used in hostage negotiation, most of which we still use today. Over the years, I've followed many cases that he's been involved with. Even if you don't know his name, I'm willing to bet you remember the Ruby Ridge and Waco Sieges, the Talladega Prison Riot, and the D.C. Sniper Attacks.

Being a hostage negotiator takes so much patience, willpower, and calming abilities. Reading about these cases was astonishing. I was caught off guard in the first chapter when deadly force was presented as the best outcome. It made me wonder if this book was actually going to be about negotiations, or if it was just cementing the terrible things that associated with government officials using deadly force. But I'm glad I powered through. This really is a book about creating an environment where both parties come out virtually unharmed.

Definitely a good read.

Looking for other books on cases mentioned in Stalling for Time?

The Federal Siege at Ruby Ridge

After the Fire

Waco

Not Everybody Lives the Same Way

This book was really, really average.

But that's what makes it so good.

Not Everybody Lives the Same Way follows Paul from the moment he's born to the moment he's released from prison. Told through a very interesting timeline, I found myself wishing more of the story was actually set in the prison. It starts with his birth and explores the basic familial complexities that we are all too familiar with. I think that's the beauty of this story, it could literally be any of us.

I know many people would scoff at that statement, but it's true. Paul lived an average life, with average parents, and average problems. He had a family, a dog, and a career. He lived his life with so much compassion for others. He did a bad thing, but he's not a villain.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the overall message it sent.

Huge thanks to Abrams Books for sending me an ARC!

The English translation of Not Everybody Lives the Same Way by Jean-Paul Dubois is out now!

Blonde

Today would have been Marilyn Monroe's 96th birthday.

  

I don't even know how to explain how attached I feel to this woman.

 

This behemoth of a book is nearly 800 pages of sadness.

It dives deep into the psyche of Norma Jeane Baker from the time she was a little girl right up to the end of her life. It talks about her tumultuous home life, the abuse she suffered at the hands of her mother and her acquaintances, her struggles at the orphanage, even her grossly sexualized teen years. It details her relationships (both real and fictionalized for the sake of literature), her horrific rise to stardom, and becoming a creation of The Studio.

The Studio seems to believe they created Marilyn Monroe, someone so vastly different from Norma Jeane's real life. They wanted a starlet, a sexpot, a blonde. Norma Jeane became Marilyn Monroe and Marilyn took over her life. I think the reason Marilyn Monroe has become such an icon is because we all see a little of ourselves in her. Not the glitz and the glamour, but the hurt and the trauma. The gross abuse that Norma Jeane went through at such a young age transcended into her life in Hollywood. She was used time and time again by high powered executives who did not care about her in the least. They knew how to sell sex, but they wanted a taste for themselves too.

I spent the last two months reading Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates.

I can't even tell you how many time I broke down while reading this book.

She deserved so much better.

 

Looking for other books by Joyce Carol Oates?

Babysitter

Looking for other books featuring Marilyn Monroe?

Music for Chameleons

Marilyn Monroe: The Last Interview

My Story

 

Looking for books with characters based on Marilyn Monroe?

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Valley of the Dolls

Death on Ocean Boulevard

You know those cases where it's obvious we're never going to know what actually happened? Well, that's how I feel every single time I get new information about the deaths of Max Shacknai and Rebecca Zahau.

I highly recommend watching the Dateline or 20/20 episode about this case before reading Death on Ocean Boulevard. So many of the people involved in this case have the same names, and I found it much easier to differentiate who was who having already seen them on Dateline.

Jonah and Rebecca spent their summers at Spreckels Mansion, in Coronado, California. Rebecca was gearing up for a beach day with her sister and Jonah's son, Max. That trip was over before it began when Max suffered a fatal fall from the banister. Two days later, Jonah and his ex-wife, Dina, were hearing their son's grim diagnosis, while Rebecca was living out the final moments of her life.

Rebecca was found nude, hanging from her balcony, hands and feet bound, with a tshirt fashioned into a gag in her mouth. Jonah's brother, Adam found this horrific scene the next morning and called the police. In his 911 call, Adam made the assumption that this was a suicide, police grasped onto that idea and have yet to let go.

Caitlin Rother's book is the first full-length true crime book to fully explore this case from all angles. Death on Ocean Boulevard was released in 2021 and contains the most current information about Max and Rebecca's deaths. It lays out new unbiased theories on both sides of the murder/suicide debate. It even details the findings of the civil lawsuit against Adam Shacknai in 2018.

I won't post my personal opinions about the case because I feel different people will take away different things from the information Caitlin provided in this book. But I will say, I have very little hope that this case will ever be reopened. My hope is that since then-Sheriff Bill Gore has finally retired, maybe someone will get to look at this case with a fresh set of eyes. Gore's questionable ethics and statements surrounding the case and other cases he's been involved with (see The Federal Siege at Ruby Ridge) irk me to my very core.

The Book Woman's Daughter

This sequel was everything I hoped it would be.

We first met Cussy Mary in The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. Her story was not an uncommon one, she was constantly looked down upon because of the color of her blue skin. But that didn't stop her from becoming a Pack Horse Librarian who most people came to love. That love is even more apparent in The Book Woman's Daughter.

 

The Book Woman's Daughter picks up nearly 17 years later, following Honey's story. Cussy Mary and Jackson Lovett accept Honey as their own when her birth parents passed. But this story picks up when both Cussy Mary and Jackson are hauled off to prison for violating miscegenation laws. Their racial makeup meant nothing when it came to their love, but the state of Kentucky thought differently in 1953.

Honey is sent back to Troublesome Creek to live with Retta, a close family friend. After moving back to Troublesome, Honey begins to see the blatant misogyny and discrimination that casts a dark shadow over the town. The abuse, the corruption, the lack of freedom really makes Honey think she can change things. Obviously, she follows in her mother's footsteps and signs up to be a Pack Horse Librarian.

 

This story is less about the power of books and more about the power of women. It's illustrated a world where men are responsible for making what they believed were the "best decisions" for women. A world where women are assaulted at work. A world where women are expected to marry young, yet don't have the freedom to live on their own. It's a sad story, with a lot of the same things happening even now, in 2022. This quote from Honey's lawyer really resonated with me, "Thought it rarely happens fast enough and not near as quick as it should...I expect like all ugly laws, change will come."

Looking for the rest of the series?

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

We Were Liars

I decided to revisit The Liars after reading the prequel, Family of Liars.

 

I don't typically re-read books, but I felt like there was so much that still didn't make sense. So this re-read was necessary.

The first time I read We Were Liars I left with a meh feeling. It wasn't the worst but it wasn't the best either. There was just enough of mystery to keep me reading. But my review really showed how annoyed I was with main character, Cady. She's not even the annoying one though, it's the moms.

The dynamic between the sisters in Family of Liars really explains their behavior in We Were Liars. The privilege and entitlement is dripping off of them. The Sinclair Family is shrouded in secrets, because that's who they are....criminals, addicts, and liars.

 

Between the two books, I enjoyed Family of Liars more. It's written much clearer, but that may just be because we already know about the odd happenings on Beechwood. But there was a lot that I had forgotten about We Were Liars. My friend and I both remembered a character who wasn't even in the book. It was a trip re-reading this, but I'm glad I did.

Looking for my original review?

We Were Liars

 

Looking for other books by E. Lockhart?

Family of Liars

Genuine Fraud

Family of Liars

Ahhhh, elitism at it's finest.

I keep hearing about this 'tiktok phenomenon' surrounding the book We Were Liars. I don't know if that's the reason Family of Liars was published, but I'd be a-okay with that fact.

We all know the twist in We Were Liars, so I'm not really going to recap it here. But I will say, Family of Liars is written sooooo much better. It's set 27 years earlier on the exact same private island. We know the Sinclair Family is filled with liars, but it seems like they're really just trying to protect their own. The story is told through the eyes of Carrie, the oldest sibling in the original Sinclair Family. She happens to be Johnny's mom, so her story really sheds some light on the bizarre happenings on the island.

It's kind of exactly what I was expecting but better.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for sending me an e-ARC!

Family of Liars by E. Lockhart comes out May 3, 2022!!

Looking for other books by E. Lockhart?

We Were Liars

Genuine Fraud

Answers in the Pages

This book is kind of a book within a book, featuring the challenged book. Pretty typical for David Levithan.

Answers in the Pages is middle grade fiction that tackles topics like censorship and LGBTQIA+ inclusion in classrooms. David Levithan is no stranger to having his books land on a "challenged" or "banned" list. I think that's why Answers in the Pages feels so authentic.

It all starts when Mr. Howe assigns The Adventurers to his 5th grade class. Donovan and his friends have barely started reading the book when his mother decides it's inappropriate. She marches down to the principal's office and demands it be removed from the curriculum. *insert intense eye roll here*

 

If there's one thing I know about readers, it's this....if you ban a book, we're all going to read it to find out what's so bad about it. Which is exactly what the students in Mr. Howe's class do. They've been told that the main characters are gay, and not just two best friends going on adventures together. They argue that with the parental interruption, many of them never got to read the book from any other perspective.

There's talk of rallying the troops against this homosexual book. There are even accusations that the school board is allowing an openly gay teacher to indoctrinate their children. I don't know if it's like this everywhere, but I've heard those exact phrases when books at my own school were being challenged.

This book really shows who is affected when things like this are brought up in such a public forum. It hurts everyone when books are challenged or banned. It creates a stigma for LGBTQIA+ kids who are still trying to figure who they are. I have high hopes for the generation going through school in the 2020s. They're going to break the cycle.

Huge thanks to NetGalley, Random House Children's, and Knopf Books for Young Readers for sending me an e-arc of this book!

Answers in the Pages by David Levithan comes out May 10, 2022!

Looking for other David Levithan Books?

Every Day (Every Day #1)

Another Day (Every Day #2)

Someday (Every Day #3)

Will Grayson, Will Grayson (WG #1)

Hold Me Closer (WG #2)

The Realm of Possibility