Tag: 2021 Release

Book Review:: People We Meet on Vacation | Emily Henry

How is everyone sleeping on People We Meet on Vacation?! This is the last book on Emily Henry’s backlist for me to read and you know what? I’m just going to say it. It’s my favorite.

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry Book Cover

Poppy is living her dream life as a travel writer in New York City but for some reason, she’s not happy. She hasn’t been, actually, since she and her best friend Alex had a falling out a few years back. They used to go on vacation every year, scraping together their pennies in college to go anywhere-but-here. That’s when she fell in love with travel. So she bites the bullet and sends that first awkward hey-haven’t-talked-to-you-in-years-but-what’s-up text and to her delight and surprise, things pick up as if no time at all has passed. Texting soon leads to planning a new trip, and this one will fix everything for good. Hopefully.

My god there is something about a years spanning will they won’t they best friends with a little something more MFEO romance novel. Seriously, send me every rec you can think of that follows this same trajectory because MY HEART IN THESE NOVELS JUST CANNOT. If you’re chasing that same feeling, read this one, but also In the Likely Event by Rebecca Yarros. That one is darker than this, but it’s the same can’t-put-it-down-gah-get-your-shit-together energy this one has. Both of these…they just have their own electricity.

Poppy and Alex are opposites. She’s talkative and friendly and wants to get the most out of life. Alex is quiet and reserved and is happy with the life he has at home with his brothers. They had a little when-harry-met-sally style meet-cute and a life-changing friendship was born. Poppy and Alex are more fun than Harry and Sally, if it’s not blasphemous to say (H&S is one of my favorite movies too – clearly I have a type), but their problems also run deeper and had my heart in my throat so many times.

I’m telling you, this book had me in a chokehold. The timing of the flashbacks building up all those ‘almost’ moments and the ones that were so close and personal and foundational to their friendship that also make the possibility of ruining what they have too much to risk…I mean, it was just *chef’s kiss*

It is turning into a movie (screenplay by Yulin Kuang who’s debut novel came out last year, How to End A Love Story), but I’m not sure if I can bear to watch it. This book has buried itself into my heart and has become a part of me. That’s what a good book feels like. And I’m going to sit with that awhile before I risk tainting it (ha!).

Seriously though, if you’ve been putting off reading People We Meet on Vacation because you haven’t seen it hyped at all compared to the great Emily Henry’s other works, stop it. Pick it up right now. It’s phenomenal. Get the audiobook, too. Julia Whelan makes everything better.

Details

Title:: People We Meet on Vacation
Author:: Emily Henry
Genre:: Contemporary Romance
Publisher:: Berkley
Length:: 400 pages
Audio Length:: 10h 46m
Audiobook Narrator:: Julia Whelan
Published:: May 11th, 2021
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

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If you liked this book, check out…

In the Likely Event | Rebecca Yarros
Funny Story | Emily Henry
It’s A Love Story | Anabel Monaghan (review forthcoming)
The Perfect Rom-Com | Melissa Ferguson
Wild Love | Elsie Silver

Book Review:: A Psalm for the Wild-Built | Becky Chambers

What is it that drives us?
What is our purpose?
What happens when we actually achieve what we set out to do?

What comes next?
A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers Book Cover

A Psalm for the Wild-Built is a unique experience of a book that I highly recommend. It is set in a futuristic world where robots in the long-past “Factory Age” became sentient, and an aspirational-level society decided to split the world territory in half and let them pursue their own desires. This is all in the past when we meet Sibling Dex, a genderless monk with a seed of discontent sprouting within themselves. They change their vocation from a garden monk to a tea monk who travels the land with an ox-cart listening to the troubles of others over a well-made cup of herbal tea. It suspends the growth of discontent for a while, but eventually it resumes its invasive presence, rooting down deep. Just when it becomes impossible to ignore, a chance meeting with one of the robots, who hadn’t been seen or heard from in generations, disrupts their plans and the two of them contemplate philosophy on the trip of a lifetime.

The languid prose of this novel (novella?) gives the impression of an idyllic future where humans have made decisions for generations on the basis of morality and impact rather than efficiency and greed. The culture contemporary to the characters seems to be mostly one of leisure and desire. Currency is exchanged for goods and services, but neither the shop keepers nor the consumers are in any hurry. There are still traditional jobs somewhere, but we aren’t shown any examples outside of some complaints of visitors to Sibling Dex’s tea-wagon. I’ve heard this book referred to as both cozy and as a ‘hug-in-a-book’. I would have to agree. Both the setting and the language used to describe it is almost meditative in its attention to detail.

Where the book really shines in on the philosophy. When you give yourself space in your day/routine/life to think, thought usually occurs. It is a lesson we could all take away from it.

Sibling Dex is both curious and reflective. They have ambition; not for the sake of it, but because they feel it is their work is their calling and hope that if they succeed, their feelings of inadequacy might dissolve. They wonder about the good of the world and of nature and of people (past and present), sometimes almost in a way that sounds as if was prescribed to them in their early education. They have opportunity to ponder some foundational topics surrounding personal actions, moralit, consciousness, existence in general, and the motivation behind decisions made by figures long lost to the sands of time. It is an incredibly thought-provoking book I think is valuable for any reader.

My one complaint is with some of the jarring language choices surrounding Sibling Dex. At one point they are referred to having ‘hooked up’ with someone. They occasionally curse and say things like ‘my mom would be pissed’. It felt out of place among such an otherwise lullaby style writing. Then again, perhaps that was the point; an occasional reminder that humans have some sharp edges, no matter how hard we try to smooth ourselves out.

Details

Title:: A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot #1)
Author:: Becky Chambers
Genre:: Cozy Science-Fiction
Publisher:: Tordotcom
Length:: 151 pages
Audio Length:: 4h 8m
Audiobook Narrator:: Em Grosland
Audiobook Publisher:: Macmillan Audio
Published:: July 13th, 2021
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

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If you liked this book, check out…

Whale Fall | Elizabeth O’Connor
All the Water in the World | Eiren Caffall
Libby Lost & Found | Stephanie Booth

Book Review:: Finlay Donovan is Killing It | Elle Cosimano

What a treat this book is. Perhaps this specific flavor of mystery genre already existed before Finaly Donovan, but I’m having a hard time imagining a better execution than Finlay Donovan is Killing It. Snappy, smart, often unfortunate, but laugh out loud, gripping, and ridiculously layered, this book is a marvel of the contemporary murder mystery genre.

Things aren’t going well. Finlay is under a book deadline for a crappy contract that doesn’t even pay the bills anyway, and can’t summon the muse between dirty diapers, loose scissors (and unexpected haircuts), ailing minivan, and constantly struggling against her douchebag ex-husband who treats her like a sad woman who will be reliant on him forever. Did we mention he’s getting married again? And it’s only been a year.

Anyway, it’s a miracle she makes it to an important meeting with her agent on time, and while discussing some details about a potential murder mystery plot, a nearby voyeur mistakes her for a real life hit-woman and commissions her for a job. Despite trying to explain the misunderstanding, the woman on the other end of the phone calls doesn’t take no for an answer, and $50,000 could really turn things around for Finlay. She isn’t going to actually do anything, but she decides to hit the bar where she knows the target will be, just to see. She needs a night out, anyway. She deserves that much, at least.

From there it’s all a series of implausible but all-too-possible events that lead to a dead body in her garage, a nanny-accomplice, being a person of interest to a mob boss, and two kind-of boyfriends, both of which have the power to ruin everything. Did I mention the crochety old neighbor window-spy who misses nothing?

It’s like a game of cat and mouse except there are cats in every direction and it’s not a mouse, it’s a gerbil that was mistaken for a mouse and now has to pretend to be a mouse because she’s accidentally done a mouse-like thing and also wants to earn the money of a mouse to keep her scumbag ex-husband off her back and she just may be in mortal danger if she doesn’t keep up the mouse ruse at least a little while longer.

In short, it’s a delight, and I think you should read it. Once you start turning pages, I dare you to stop. And the best part? There’s more where that came from. This is just the start of Finlay’s adventures.

Details

Title:: Finlay Donovan Is Killing It (Finlay Donovan #1)
Author:: Elle Cosimano
Genre:: Contemporary Mystery/Thriller
Publisher:: Minotaur Books
Length:: 355 pages
Audio Length:: 9h 59m
Audiobook Narrator:: Angela Dawe
Audiobook Publisher:: Macmillan Audio
Published:: February 2nd, 2021
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

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If you liked this book, check out…

How to Solve Your Own Murder | Kristen Perrin
I Did Something Bad | Pyae Moe Thet War

Book Review:: The Wife Upstairs | Rachel Hawkins

One of my top books of all time is Jane Eyre, so do I think you should read this modern, exaggerated, twisted novel that heavily draws upon it for inspiration?

Hell yes.

The Wife Upstairs Rachel Hawkins Book Cover

Jane has run away from her old life in Arizona and has taken a job as a dog walker in the ultra-chic suburban neighborhood of Thornfield Heights (already getting good, amiright?). One day she runs into a new man, Eddie Rochester. When she finds out he’s a widower and at least intrigued by her, she decides to wiggle herself into his life, which she convinces herself she deserves. His wife, B(ertha), and her BFF Blanch Ingram, disappeared from a boat on a trip to the lake several months back (hello nod to Rebecca). The investigation is ongoing, but Jane doesn’t let that stop her. Eddie gets a new dog (Adele) and hires Jane to walk her. Before long, their affair is hot and heavy and the neighbors are talking. She’s moved out of her dingy apartment she shared with her foster brother John Rivers and has installed herself into Eddie’s house. But that’s not enough. The other women in the neighborhood won’t accept her as one of them until she has a ring on her finger…

I forgot just how many Jane Eyre references there are in this book until I recently reread it. Each one is like a little Easter Egg, but the kind that’s just thrown on the lawn for the youngsters to find instead of actually hidden. This book is loud and proud about what it is. If you have any familiarity at all with the classic gothic romance, you’ll catch on pretty quickly. And we all know the twist from that book…

The Jane in The Wife Upstairs is the exact opposite of Our Lady Jane. She is a kleptomaniac and obsessed with how others perceive her. She manipulates and gaslights and convinces herself when all is said and done, she will be happy. And she gets what she wants…somehow, things come a little too easily to her.

Rachel Hawkins is so good at mastering a tone of something-just-isn’t-right-here. The investigation of the two women’s disappearances put off Daphne DuMaurier’s Rebecca vibes both in the suspicions and manor of…what happened. If you haven’t read Rebecca – come on. That is gothic lit Required Reading (But be forewarned, you won’t get that first read back, so savor it the first time!). Being in a relationship with B’s husband, she begins to wonder what actually happened to her out there. Was it Blanche’s husband? Was it her own?

I am a big fan of Rachel Hawkins, and it all started with this gem of a book right here. The balance of suspense and intrigue and mystery and f***ed up s***…it’s delicious. Feast yourself.

Details

Title:: The Wife Upstairs
Author:: Rachel Hawkins
Genre:: Mystery/Suspense
Publisher:: St. Martin’s Press
Length:: 290 pages
Audio Length:: 8h 57m
Audiobook Narrator:: Emily Shaffer, Kirby Heyborne, Lauren Fortgang
Audiobook Publisher:: Macmillan Audio
Published:: January 5th, 2021
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

Linky Links!!

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If you liked this book, check these out…

The Heiress | Rachel Hawkins
Wrong Place Wrong Time | Gillian McAllister

Book Review:: Malibu Rising | Taylor Jenkins Reid

Family is the most complex thing there is. The history. The responsibility. The everyday choices and the ones that come once in a lifetime. The mirrored features and gestures. The shared experience, or absence from them. All of these things cumulate into how we experience family. What are the expectations of being a parent, or a sibling, and what happens when those expectations aren’t met? Are blood ties enough to support relationships, no matter what? And what of marriage vows? Trust, betrayal, forgiveness? What do we owe those we’ve made promises to, and who created us?

I’m probably taking things too far here for an introduction, but Malibu Rising is a phenomenal work of literary fiction that had these very questions running through my head. It is an exploration of family in many forms, and an intriguing family saga that hooked me from page one and still hasn’t let go.

Malibu Rising Taylor Jenkins Reid Book Cover

The Riva family has been through a lot. Four siblings, bonded by love through hardship, are now on their way into adulthood. They have two things in common – their famous deadbeat father, and their deep love of surfing. Jay is a professional surfer, Hudson is the photographer who captures all his best shots, Nina is the older sister who got famous modeling on her surfboard, and Kit, the baby, might just be better than any of them at the sport. Every year they throw a party to close out the summer. Anyone who finds out about it can come. Celebrities of all shapes and flavors don’t dare miss it. It’s the talk of the town. But this year the party will leave the siblings changed forever.

Life is messy. In great novels, the mess happens all at the same time in a slow but relentless crescendo that keeps us riveted until the cacophonous finale. Each of the Riva siblings is at a crisis point in their lives, and we’re taken through their family origin story to help us understand how they got to this moment, and why they might be making the choices they make. One sibling is deeply in love with someone he’s not supposed to be, one is falling out of love, one thinks he’s found the one after a single night, and one is having doubts she has the capacity for romantic love at all. Their parents, Mick and June, had an explosive type of love that led to heartbreak when they were both unable to break the patterns of the families before them, leaving wounds and wreckage in a blazing trail behind them.

Taylor Jenkins Reid continues to astound me with her capacity for storytelling. I mean, the details she includes are just incredible. Her omniscient tendency allows her to showcase happenstance from all the interesting angles and explore human nature in all its nonsensical and sometimes beautiful inevitabilities.

I think I loved every single aspect of this story. The experience of reading was a pleasure in itself. Every sentence was interesting. Every facet of each character the author chose to showcase…so interesting. As in, it literally captured my interest. It kind of reminds me of the character of Vida Winter in The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, the disillusioned storyteller who isn’t interested in anything that doesn’t serve a story. Like the storyteller in Margaret Atwood’s The Blind Assassin. Crafting story is simple. Just make it interesting. This is how I imagine Taylor Jenkins Reid as she’s sifting through ideas for her stories. She’s on a higher plane of storytelling. She’s a weaver. She’s a curator. She’s a master.

This is the kind of story that begs to be appreciated. It’s not one thing that makes it stand out. It’s all of it together as one thing. One awesome, specific, thing. I hope you read it. But if you don’t like it, don’t tell me. I don’t think I could take it.

Details

Title:: Malibu Rising
Author:: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Genre:: Contemporary Fiction
Publisher:: Ballantine Books
Length:: 369 pages
Audio Length:: 11h 5m
Audiobook Narrator:: Julia Whelan
Audiobook Publisher:: Random House Audio
Published:: June 1st, 2021
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

Linky Links!!

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Author Website
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[Hardcover] [Paperback] [eBook] [Audible]

If you liked this book, check out…

The Most Fun We Ever Had | Claire Lombardo
Summertime Punchline | Betty Corrello

Book Review:: The Cheat Sheet & The Rule Book | Sarah Adams

Are you craving a sweet romance that will leave you with a big goofy smile? The Cheat Sheet series by Sarah Adams delivers on a low-stakes, pure bliss experience that serves as a perfect palette cleanser if you’ve been reading heavier things and need a little break. Did I mention there are sports? Because there’s just something about a good sports romance, amiright?

The Cheat Sheet

The Cheat Sheet Sarah Adams Book Cover

Bree and Nathan have been friends since high school. Both serious athletes, they take up running together to keep up their fitness. They stay fast friends through high school, until Bree has an accident that leaves her unable to continue her sport (ballet), and Nathan is off to college. They lose touch awhile, until they end up in the same town where Bree runs a dance studio & Nathan is a professional quarterback. They reconnect and take up their habit of running again, and it becomes a sacred tradition. All this time they’ve each harbored a secret crush on the other they are too afraid to pursue, because their friendship is such an integral part of their lives. But now, for the first time since they met, each of them are single at the same time, and Nathan doesn’t want to let the opportunity slip through his fingers. With the help of his friends, they create a cheat sheet of romantic ‘plays’ to try to woo the girl of his dreams.

The Rule Book

The Rule Book Sarah Adams Book Cover

Being a sports agent has been Nora’s dream for as long as she can remember. Finally, in an industry dominated by men, she gets her chance to succeed – except her new (first) client is the one-who-got-away in college, (Nathan’s teammate) Derek Pender. She broke his heart, and now he’s out to punish her awhile before he drops her and gets a new agent – obviously there is a conflict of interest. Only thing is, Nora’s great at her job. In order to be professional, they make a set of ground rules to follow. But being near each other stirs up a lot of feelings, and after growing up a little more, they can recognize their own mistakes from the past. Will they be able to move forward as a team? Or will they need to part ways, for good this time?

Of the two, I rated The Cheat Sheet higher. Without giving anything away, The Rule Book used tropes that were a little too far-fetched to work well for me. The Cheat Sheet was so sweet and romantic, and I was just rooting for the two of them to be together. It was very low-stakes, and the only thing that bothered me was Bree’s inner monologue occasionally being a little too obnoxious. The Rule Book is a little more complex. Nora’s career is very much on the line, and Derek is holding onto a lot of anger from the past. The romance itself felt maybe more realistic (because of the complexity), but overall I just didn’t like it as much. They both have that Sarah Adams lighthearted tone, and while there is conflict, she never leaves you sweating for long.

They certainly fall into the romantic comedy umbrella. Plenty of antics ensue in both books of quirky situations the characters get themselves into that usually ultimately add to the romance. I found myself smiling so often while reading, and I honestly didn’t want to put them down!

The Cheat Sheet is completely spice free, and honestly? I didn’t even miss it. However, The Rule Book does have a dash of it. Both stories stand out to me as simply hopelessly romantic, not particularly sexy.

I like this series because I think it’s great for younger romance readers, and those who prefer less spice. Sometimes it’s nice to have something light and quick and enjoyable to read just for the joy of it. I’m learning Sarah Adams is a great place to turn to for that. I think When in Rome is still my favorite Sarah Adams book I’ve read though! It’s a celebrity small-town romance *swoon*.

Details

Title:: The Cheat Sheet (The Cheat Sheet #1)
Author:: Sarah Adams
Genre:: Romantic Comedy
Publisher:: Dell Books
Length:: 306 pages
Audio Length:: 8h 57m
Audiobook Narrator:: Renee Dorian & Teddy Hamilton
Audiobook Publisher:: Dreamscape Media
Published:: August 17th, 2021
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

Title:: The Rule Book (The Cheat Sheet #2)
Author:: Sarah Adams
Genre:: Romantic Comedy
Publisher:: Dell Books
Length:: 356 pages
Audio Length:: 10h 50m
Audiobook Narrator:: Hathaway Lee & Will Damron
Audiobook Publisher:: Random House Audio
Published:: April 2nd, 2024
The Litertarian Rating:: 3-Stars

Linky Links!!

Goodreads
Author Website
Amazon Affiliate Links
[Paperback] [eBook] [Audible]

Goodreads
Author Website
Amazon Affiliate Links
[Paperback] [eBook] [Audible]

If you liked this book, check out…

The Perfect Putt | Annah Conwell
Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake | Mazey Eddings
The Tourist Attraction | Sarah Morgenthaler