by Annabel Monaghan Read by Hillary Huber Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Or listen at Libro.fm Content: Oh, well, it’s a romance book. Infer what you will. It’s in the romance section of the bookstore.
Nora is fine. She has a fairly successful career writing scripts for romance movies for the Romance Channel. When her husband left, she was sad, but he was also an asshole, so it wasn’t that bad. And then she wrote a script about their story and sold it to an actual movie studio and it got made into a movie. The studio spent a couple of days filming at her actual house – and the star, Leo Vance, is charmed by her home. After the filming is done, he sticks around, wanting to experience normal life for a bit (in order to process his mother’s recent death). He helps Nora with the shopping and cooking and with her kids… and eventually, they fall in love.
But things are not perfect; when Leo has to jet away to deal with a film contract, he promises he will come back. But he doesn’t. Nora’s heart breaks, and life goes on, and suddenly those romance movie scripts with predictable outcomes seem trite. Will Nora be able to get her life back on track after the second man in as many years has walked out on her?
Oh, I liked this one. It was delightful on audio – Huber does a fantastic job, keeping me engaged in the story. Which was a lot of fun as well. It seems that the current trend in romance books is to be the thing while critiquing the thing, so while I knew the beats of the story, there was some depth to it. I liked how the focus was more on Nora’s ability to be resilient and vulnerable to others, as well as making her children her priority. I liked the relationship between her and Leo, and even the conflict felt real. It was a solid romance book, and I’ll be happy to read whatever Monaghan writes next.
by Emily Henry First sentence: “A cottage on the rocky shoreline, with knotty pine floorboards and windows that are nearly always open.” Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Release date: April 25, 2023 Content: There are a couple sexytimes and swearing, including multiple f-bombs. It will be in the romance section of the bookstore.
Harriet and Cleo and Sabrina have been friends since their freshman year of college. They’re an unlikely trio from vastly different backgrounds with different ambitions, but they make it work. As they get older they add more: Parth, whose house they moved into their junior year, and then Wyn, Parth’s friend, got folded in. Except Harriet and Wyn felt an almost-instant attraction. They eventually got together, thinking it would last forever.
Fast forward 8 years and Wyn and Harriet have broken up. Harriet’s in a medical residency in San Francisco, and Wyn just… wasn’t happy. So he left. Then he broke it off. But, they’re both at Sabrina’s family’s cottage in Maine for a week in the summer, with everyone, for one last fling. Can they pretend everything is fine, for the sake of old times?
This one is less focused on the romance, though Henry intersperses chapters of Wyn and Harriet’s getting together and falling in love, with the present week in Maine. It was an effective tactic: we got to see the fallout before we read about how they got together. But it worked. Mostly because this book is less about the Romance Tropes than it is about friendship – as important as Wyn and Harriet’s breakup is, the feeling that the friendships are falling apart because everyone is getting older, and things are Changing – and about making your own happiness.
It was the last thing that struck me the most. Harriet had spent her life trying to make her unhappy parents happy, making the choices that landed her in San Francisco. But, over the course of the novel, she realizes that she can’t do that, that the one thing she can control is her own happiness and her own choices. It was something that resonated with me.
So, while this was not my favorite Henry (that remains Book Lovers), it was a very, very good one, one that resonated with me quite a bit.
by Deya Muniz Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Release date: May 9, 2023 Content: It is, at its heart, a romance. It will be in the Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.
Lady Camembert just wants to live her life. She doesn’t want to marry a man, which is required in order for her to inherit her father’s lands and wealth. So she does the unthinkable: she disguises herself as a man and moves away to a distant kingdom to start over as Lord Camembert.
But then she (he? the pronoun preference isn’t clear) meets Princess Brie and is immediately taken. Brie thinks Cam is a man and is taken with him, but Cam knows it’s impossible for them to be attached because of the laws of the country. It’s a push and pull as they slowly fall in love. Until Brie discovers Cam’s secret.
It’s a cute enough graphic novel. I do love the art, and the representation is excellent. Cam is into fashion, and no one blinks an eye at a masc-presenting person being into dresses and furs and clothes. But, in the end, it just didn’t work for me. I thought the ending was rushed, and even though I believed in Brie and Cam’s romance, I thought the fight and the eventual makeup were a bit stereotypical. So, while really pretty, it wasn’t quite there for me.
by Terry J Benton-Walker Read by Bahni Turpin, Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Torian Brackett & Zeno Robinson Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Or Listen at Libro.fm Release date: April 4, 2023 Content: There is a lot of violence, a lot of swearing, including many f-bombs, and an on-screen sex scene. It will be in the Teen (grades 9+) of the bookstore.
The basic plot? Clem and Chris Trudeau are practitioners of Generational magic – a branch of magic along with Light and Moon and Necromancy. But their family hasn’t had the best history with it. Their grandmother was the leader of the Gen magic council but was framed for murder and killed by an angry mom. Their father was killed after something went wrong with a spell Chris cast. And their mother was slowly dying until they found the cause: a hex doll. Chris and Clem are determined (in spite of adults telling them to stay out of it) to figure out why their family has had such a run of bad luck with magic and fix it.
Truth be told, it’s a LOT more than just that. This book has everything. Family drama? Check. Solving multiple murders? Check. Stupid white people with grudges and guns? Check. Authorities refusing to help because the Trudeaus are black? Check. Zombies? Check. (Seriously.) Wonderfully sweet gay love? Check. Complicated gay love? Check. This book has EVERYTHING. It’s so much.
That’s not to say it was bad. It wasn’t. The audio is especially good – the narrators pulled me in and kept me coming back for more, even as I wanted to cringe and pull away because it’s a LOT. But, I really liked the magic system Benton-Walker dreamed up, and I liked the way he wove the challenges and triumphs of Black people into the book. There’s surprisingly a lot to talk about. (There’s just a LOT. Period.)
In the end, I think it was good? I’m still reeling from the end, and I want to know if there’s another, so at the very least, it hooked me.
by Beth O’Leary First sentence: “You’ve got to say this for desperation: It makes you much more open-minded.” Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Content: There is lots of swearing, including f-bombs, and some almost on-screen sex, as well as talk of sex. There are also references to emotional abuse. It’s in the romance section of the bookstore
Tiffy has just broken up with her on-again-off-again boyfriend, Justin. This time it was because he got engaged to another woman, and even though her heart is broken, she knows she needs to get out. The problem is her job working for a small publishing house isn’t going to get her anything fancy in London, and everything in her price range is, well, unsafe for habitation. That is until she finds an ad: Leon, a night nurse, is looking for someone to share his flat. The deal: he gets it during the day, and Tiffy will get it nights and weekends. Sounds ideal. But, then Tiffy and Leon start leaving each other notes, and over the months they realize that they’ve formed a sort-of relationship that actually blossoms into something more when they actually (well, accidentally) meet face-to-face.
There’s more to the story than that: Leon’s brother is in prison for something he didn’t do, and it’s Tiffy’s barrister friend who helps with that. Tiffy’s ex-boyfriend turns out to be abusive, and it’s Leon who helps (along with a therapist, yes) Tiffy process and deal with the emotional trauma. And there are side jaunts involving Welsh castles, knitting and crocheting, and a search for a lost love of a dying man.
i heard a lot of good stuff about this one when it came out in 2019, but I stuck it on my shelf and said “I’ll get to it eventually” and then never quite did. It was only when I let my social media friends choose my current TBR pile that it actually made it on there, and I’m so glad it did. O’Leary is a good romance writer, hitting the tropes, but also giving us characterizations beyond the tropes. I liked that Leon and Tiffy seemed like real people and that O’Leary surrounded them with an excellent support system. It was all a big, happy found-family, and I adored it.
I’m so glad I (finally) got around to reading it.
Tiffy has just broken up with her on-agan off-again boyfriend, Justin. This time it was because he got engaged to another owman, and even though her heart is broken, she knows hse needs to get out.
by Talia Hibbert Read by: Amina Koroma & Jonathan Andrew Hume Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Or listen at Libro.fm Content: There is talk of sex and lots of swearing including multiple f-bombs. It’s in the Teen section (grades 9+) of the bookstore.
Celine Bangura is a driven person. She wants to succeed, be the best, and — not least on her list — show her deadbeat dad who left her, her sister, and their mother to start a new family that he’s better than he is. So, she signs up for an elite scholarship opportunity that will not only allow her to study law but will also give her that prime opportunity to show up her dad. But when her ex-best friend-turned-traitor Bradley Graeme decides to do the program as well? It’s just become that much more important that Celine get one of the coveted golden compasses.
However, once they get into the program, Celine and Bradley discover that not only do they work together well, their old friendship – once everything has been explained and forgiven – just might be something more.
This one was super cute. I liked that both characters were driven and smart, and that they didn’t sacrifice their goals for the sake of “being together”. I liked that neither character was perfect: Celine was dealing with the trauma of her dad leaving, and Bradley has OCD and anxiety and has to deal with at. But, most of all I adored listening to the narrators. They were delightful to listen to, and made an already fun story even more entertaining.
Highly recommended, and I may go check out some of Hibbert’s adult books too!
by Alex Aster Read by Suzy Jackson Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Or listen at Libro.fm Content: There is violence, including multiple deaths and one (mostly off-screen) sex scene. It’s in the Teen Section (grades 9+) at the bookstore.
Lighlark is in a world that has been plagued ed with a curse for the past 500 years. Isla knows this: as the Wildling ruler, she has been raised to go to the Centennial, compete, and win – all to break the curse and get the power she has been wanting. But, once she gets to the competition, she realizes that it’s not as simple as all that. There is love, pain, betrayal, and a twisting, winding path to get to the end, and hopefully break the curse.
Is this book a good one? Well, if you mean well-written, with a tight plot that kept me guessing? No, it’s not. But it is fun. I guessed the twist about a quarter of the way into the book, and the love story was SO smarmy. There’s a love triangle between an 18-year-old girl and two 500-year-old men! Ugh. But, it hit every single YA trope you can think of, and it was fun getting to the end of the book – the narration was excellent – even if it wasn’t a good book. Am I clamoring for the next one? Not really. But I don’t regret listening to this one.
by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, Nicola Yoon Read by Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Dion Graham, Imani Parks, Jordan Cobb, Shayna Small, A.J Beckles & Bahni Turpin Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Or listen at Libro.fm Others in the “series” Blackout Content: There is some mild swearing and one almost on-screen sex scene. It’s in the YA section (grades 6-8) of the bookstore.
Much like Blackout, this book has an overriding premise: a snowstorm has hit Atlanta and has shut down everything (which, to be honest, I’ve experienced. It’s not fun.). People are stranded all over town, from the airport to the stadium to the local music venue. And everyone has a purpose: to help their friend apologize to her girlfriend and win her back.
It’s kind of a silly premise, but then this is not only a YA romance, but it also is a Christmastime/holiday YA romance, so of course, it’s a bit implausible. Everyone ends up with their happily ever after, though the authors do leave you guessing for a bit as to whether or not it will actually happen. It’s a whole lot of spectacle, though not a whole lot of falling in love. Instead, the authors chose to focus on established relationships: whether they are friends looking to level up, or old flames, or making up after a fight. It made the whole story smoother, knowing that these teenagers all had a past together. Additionally, there was so much gay in this book, it was wonderful.
On top of that, the full-cast recording made the whole book just a pleasure to listen to. I really loved this one.
Hollow by Shannon Watters, Branden Boyer-White, and Berenice Nelle Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Content: There are some scary moments with a ghost. It’s in the Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.
Izzy Crane has recently moved to Sleepy Hollow from San Francisco and she’s getting used to the whole small-town feel of things. She’s kind of made friends with Croc, the class prankster, and she has a crush on Vickie Van Tassell, whose family has a Legacy in this town (and who is not supposed to be doing anything with someone whose last name is Crane!). Then a mysterious substitute shows up at school, and Vicky and Izzy realize that Vicky’s life is in danger due to a centuries-old curse on the family). It’s up to the three high schoolers (with the help of the Headless Horseman) to thwart the curse and save Vicky’s life.
I’m a complete sucker for riffs on classic literature, and this is a smart retelling. I liked Izy’s relationship with both Croc and Vicky and the way they worked together. I liked the Headless Horesmeent, and the knowledge the book had that it was playing on the classic story. It was smart, it was fun, and I loved reading it.
Welcome to St. Hell: My Trans Teen Misadventure by Lewis Hancox Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Content: There is teen drinking, and some nudity as Hancox tries to describe his gender dysphoria. It’s in the Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.
In this graphic memoir, Hancox chronicles his teen years and growing up in a small English community, which they affectionately (or not) dub “St. Hell”. It’s not pleasant growing up: Hancox suffers from intense gender dysphoria and is struggling with his body. He tries everything – from being anorexic to power-lifting – to get rid of what he finds disgusting: his body. As he navigates this, he has friends and family who, while more supportive than not, often make missteps. But then, it was the early 2000s, and no one really knew what they were doing.
The thing I liked best about this memoir was that Hancox inserted himself into the story as well. His present self would go back and interact with characters in the story, from his past self to his parents and friends. He assures his past self that things do eventually turn out, and he asks his parents what they were thinking and why they acted the way they did. it’s not only a good story, it’s a healing one, and not just for the author, I htink. I think – no matter if we are trans or not – we should look at our past selves with compassion; we didn’t alwyas know what was going on and what we were doing, and hindsight is always 20/20. But it’s also a good look into what is ogin on the brain fo someone who is trans, and how (at least for Hancox) that played out.
Crumbs by Danie Stirling Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Content: The characters are older – say in their late teens or early 20s, so it might not be too interesting to younger readers. It’s in the Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.
Ray is a witch, who has her sights on being a Council member. She’s gone to school, and she’s passed her examination to be n intern. Laurie is kind of aimless: he works at his aunt’s bakery, and is trying to be a musician, but keeps flopping at auditions. When they meet, there is an intstant attraction. As they start their relationship, they discover that having magic doesn’t really make relationships easier. They go through the ups and downs of establishing a relationship and communication and balancing that with their own interests and careers.
This was a very sweet graphic novel. I liked the magic system (the cell phones were really cool) ad I liked what Stirling created. I liked the way Ray and Laurie developed their relationship, and how it resolved in the end. It was charming and sweet and cute and fun, all those cozy words. There’s nothing deep here (though it is a good representation of a healthy relationship), but it was delightful to read.
Constantine: Distorted Illusions by Kami Garcia, illustrated by Isaac Goodhart Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Content: There is underage drinking and demons. It’s in the Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.
John Constantine has grown up in London, and his stepfather wants him to go to America and study under a magic master. John wants no such thing, but he does want to get out on his own. So he lies to his parents, heads to Washington, DC to live with a friend of his, and joins a band. He does meet with the magic master and it goes more than badly. But John steals a magic book and he and his friends start dabbling. They unwittingly summon a Greater Deamon which takes possession of Constantine’s friend and creates havoc.
I don’t have much of an attachment to the character of Constantine; I only vaguely know him through Sandman (only the TV show, really), and so I have no idea what Garcia is trying to do with this character. The story wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t really engaging either (there are only so many bad-boy stories you can read). I liked that Constantine’s stepfather was the real parent, being there for his stepson in ways that Constantine’s father wasn’t. I also appreciated that Constatine had a definite growth arc.
I think that those who are interested in the character would be more into this one than I was.
If Anything Happens I Love You by Will McCormack, Michael Govier, Youngran Nho Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Content: It deals with grief and the trauma of a school shooting. It’s in the Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.
An unnamed girl is dead and worrying about her parents’ grief. Her parents have been stuck since the moment they found out she was killed in a school shooting. But, through the magic of – something? – she is able to reconnect with them and remind them of the good things in her/their life before she was so brutally taken away.
I have no idea who this book is for. On the one hand, it shows the absolute grief of parents having their kids untimely taken away from them. It’s a horrible thing, and one I wish we could figure out how to address in this country. But, is it for kids? The girl is 12, but she’s not really a protagonist. Is it for parents who are grieving? Is it for kids who are in school, having to deal with lockdowns and shooter drills? is it to just raise awareness? Also: it’s not really a graphic novel, but more like a picture book for older kids/adults. It wasn’t a bad book, I just have no idea who it’s for.
Little Monarchs by Jonathan Case Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Content: There are some intense moments, fights, and possibly leaving people for dead. It’s in the middle grade graphic novel section of the bookstore.
In the near future, a sun sickness has killed off all mammals. What humans are left, have gone underground. But 10-year-old Elvie and her caretaker, Flora get live aboveground because of some medicine that Flora discovered: it comes from the scales off monarch butterfly wings. So they follow the migratory paths of monarchs to harvest and make medicine while Flora tries to make a permanent vaccination. That makes it sound very tame, but this has near death experiences, some pretty awful bad guys, and a lot of tension. There are some light-hearted moments, an it’s all about found family, and it’s full of STEM facts. I do have a slight issue with the author being white and the main character being Black, but that’s a minor one. Overall, it’s a remarkable book.
The Real Riley Mayes by Rachel Elliott Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Content: It deals with crushes, and there is some bullying and homophobia. It’s in the middle grade graphic novel section of the bookstore.
Riley just wants to be herself: Short hair, androgenous clothes, drawing as much as possilbe. But, her friend that “got” her moved away, and she’s having a hard time making new friends. One of the kids in class teases her for being a gay, calling her names and excluding her from all-girl events. The thing is, Riley’s not even sure she’s gay. She does make a couple of friends, but she’s not sure if they’ll stick especially after she makes smome mistakes. Maybe she’ll figure out this whole being a 5th grader thing out.
This one was super cute! I loved Riley, and her struggles felt like a real 5th grader’s struggles. Making and keeping friends, figuring out who you are, figuring out how to be a friend. it’s all there. I liked the art, and there wa seven some humor in it as well. Really really good.
Apple Crush by Lucy Knisley Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Content: It deals with crushes. It’s in the middle grade graphic novel section of the bookstore.
Jen is spending the week on her mother’s farm, after he divorce from Jen’s father. She’ getting used to living in the country, and going to school. But her new stepsiste, who visits on weekends, has other plans. One of them is super into boys, and all Jen wants to do is hang out, work on the pumplki patch next door, and draw. It’s a touch line to figure out how to walk.
This is a nice look at the different stages kids are at in middle school. Some are into relationships and “liking” other kids, others not so much. I appreciated the matter of fact way Knisley approaches the suject, and the way she woe a Halloween story in there as well. It’s a cute story and a cute book.
Bunnicula by James Howe, Andrew Dokin, illustrated by Stephen Gilpin Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there! Content: There is humorous “horror”, and sometimes scary moments. It’s in the middle grade graphic novel section of the bookstore.
Bunnicula is one of those books I’ve heard a lot about, but have never read. Things I didn’t know: it’s written suppsoedly, by the dog, who is telling the story of the vampire bunny. I didn’t know that the bunny only sucks the juices out of vegetables, turning them white (i had thought maybe it was a real vampre bunny). I didn’t know that it was the cat who goes pretty crazy tyring to prove that the bunny is a vampire. I thought it was scarier than it actually was.
Still, it wa a fun graphic novel and not a bad way to be introduced to this story
The Book Nut 