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October 27, 2015 book reviews, reading

(Audio)Book Talk: NEVERWHERE by Neil Gaiman, read by the author

Neverwhere: The Author’s Preferred Text Neil Gaiman (Twitter) Audiobook read by the author William Morrow (2015), hardcover reprint (ISBN 0062371053 / 9780062371058) Fiction: fantasy, 336 pages Source: Purchased audiobook (Harper Audio, 2007, ISBN 9780061549113, Audible ASIN B000XSAXXS) for the Neverwhere Readalong (#NeverwhereRAL), October 2015 This post contains affiliate links to Indiebound. —————————————————————————————————– My official line is that I rarely read “genre” fiction. I’ve recently realized that my only real support for […]

October 13, 2015 book reviews, reading

(E)Book Talk: LUCKIEST GIRL ALIVE by Jessica Knoll

Luckiest Girl Alive: A Novel Jessica Knoll (Twitter) (Facebook) Simon & Schuster (May 2015), hardcover (ISBN 9781476789637) Fiction: 350 pages Source: Purchased ebook (iBooks, ISBN 9781476789651) This post contains affiliate links to IndieBound. The discussion contains potential spoilers for the novel Luckiest Girl Alive. High-school humiliation, shocking tragedy, personal reinvention, the conviction that the “right” old-money marriage will change your life; we’re all pretty well acquainted with the plot points of Jessica Knoll’s first novel, […]

October 8, 2015 book reviews, reading

Book Talk: PRESCHOOLED by Anna Lefler

Preschooled: A Novel Anna Lefler (Twitter) (Facebook) Full Fathom Five Digital (2015), trade paper (ISBN 1633700712 / 9781633700710) Fiction, 336 pages Source: ARC provided by the author I have known Anna Lefler since 2008, when we met as contributors to the Los Angeles Moms Blog, and consider her a friend. I was happy to be offered an advance copy of her first published novel, and while I admit to being predisposed in its favor, I […]

October 6, 2015 book reviews, reading

(Audio)Book Talk; SECONDHAND SOULS by Christopher Moore, read by Fisher Stevens

Secondhand Souls: A Novel Christopher Moore (Twitter) (Facebook) Audiobook read by Fisher Stevens William Morrow Books (August 2015), hardcover (ISBN 0061779784 / 9780061779787) Fiction, 352 pages Source: Audiobook borrowed from Los Angeles Public Library via Overdrive (Harper Audio, August 2015; ISBN 9780062374103) ————————————————————————————————————- There’s a colony of ghosts inhabiting the Golden Gate Bridge, and they’ve started talking to Mike Sullivan, the bridge painter. A banshee—harbinger of death—has been visiting retired police officer/reluctant soul-recoverer/bookselling Death […]

September 24, 2015 book reviews, reading

Book Talk: THE ADMISSIONS by Meg Mitchell Moore (via Shelf Awareness)

The Admissions: A Novel Meg Mitchell Moore (Twitter) (Facebook) Doubleday (August 18, 2015), Hardcover (ISBN 0385540043 / 9780385540049) Fiction, 320 pages A version of this review was previously published in Shelf Awareness for Readers (September 4, 2015). Shelf Awareness provided me with a publisher-furnished galley to facilitate the review, and compensated me for the review they received and posted. This post contains affiliate links to IndieBound. The Admissions is Meg Mitchell Moore’s account of a very eventful autumn for the Hawthornes of Marin […]

September 22, 2015 book reviews, reading

Book Talk: WHO DO YOU LOVE by Jennifer Weiner (via Shelf Awareness)

Who Do You Love: A Novel Jennifer Weiner (Twitter) (Facebook) Atria Books (August 11, 2015), Hardcover (145161781X / 9781451617818) Fiction, 400 pages $27.00 A version of this review was previously published in Shelf Awareness for Readers (August 28, 2015). Shelf Awareness provided me with a publisher-furnished galley to facilitate the review, and compensated me for the review they received and posted. This post contains affiliate links to IndieBound. ————————————————————————————————————— In Who Do You Love, Jennifer Weiner […]

September 17, 2015 book reviews, reading

(Audio)Book Talk: STATION ELEVEN by Emily St. John Mandel, read by Kirsten Potter

Station Eleven: A Novel Emily St. John Mandel (Twitter) Audiobook read by Kirsten Potter Vintage (June 2015), trade paper (ISBN 9780804172448) Fiction, 352 pages Source: Audiobook borrowed from Los Angeles Public Library via Overdrive.com (Random House Audio, June 2014, ISBN 9780553397987) This post contains affiliate links to Indiebound. I’m inconsistent in my response to “everyone’s talking about it” novels, but more often than not, I tend to wait until the talk has died down a bit. Everyone was talking […]

September 15, 2015 book reviews, reading

Book Talk: EVERYBODY RISE by Stephanie Clifford

Everybody Rise: A Novel Stephanie Clifford (Twitter) St. Martin’s Press (August 2015), hardcover (ISBN 1250077176 / 9781250077172) Fiction, 384 pages Source: Ebook borrowed from Los Angeles Public Library via Overdrive (August 2015, ISBN 9781466889125) This post includes affiliate links to IndieBound ——————————————————————————————————————- “Work just gets in the way of life,” Camilla Rutherford observes to Evelyn Beegan somewhere near the halfway point of Stephanie Clifford’s debut novel, Everybody Rise. Who hadn’t felt that way […]

August 13, 2015 book reviews, reading

A Reader’s Journal: GO SET A WATCHMAN, by Harper Lee

Go Set a Watchman: A Novel Harper Lee Audiobook read by Reese Witherspoon Harper Books (July 2015), hardcover (ISBN 0062409859 / 9780062409850) Fiction, 288 pages Source: Public library/audiobook download via Overdrive (Harper Audio, July 2015, ISBN 9780062409898, ASIN B00TABW9Y0) NOTE: The following contains potential spoilers for Go Set a Watchman. The story of Go Set a Watchman’s publication has almost overshadowed the story it tells. It may or may not be the first draft of what, after […]

July 16, 2015 book reviews, reading

A Reader’s Journal: DIETLAND by Sarai Walker (audiobook read by Tara Sands)

I was a tiny child, small and thin. Pregnancy at the age of nineteen changed the “thin” for good—I never got any taller, but I did gradually get bigger. At several inches under five feet tall, I don’t have a lot of wiggle room on the BMI scale, and I’ve spent most of the last twenty years or so entrenched in the “overweight” bracket, occasionally tipping over into “obese”. I worked at achieving Lifetime Member […]

May 21, 2015 book reviews, reading

Book Talk: ONE THING STOLEN, by Beth Kephart

One Thing Stolen Beth Kephart Chronicle Books (April 2015), Hardcover (ISBN 1452128316 / 9781452128313) Fiction (YA), 272 pages Source: Publisher-hosted blog tour An articulate first-person narrator. A vivid sense of place (often a foreign one). Strong cross-generational relationships. The examination of an issue from an uncommon, unexpected perspective. These are some of the things I’ve found to be characteristic to Beth Kephart’s young-adult novels. These are some of the common elements I’ve come to […]

May 5, 2015 book reviews, reading

Book Talk: THE TURNER HOUSE, by Angela Flournoy (via Shelf Awareness)

The Turner House Angela Flournoy (Facebook) (Twitter) Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (April 14, 2015), Hardcover (ISBN 0544303164 / 9780544303164) Fiction, 352 pages, $23.00 A version of this review was previously published in Shelf Awareness for Readers (April 28, 2015). Shelf Awareness provided me with a publisher-furnished galley to facilitate the review, and compensated me for the review they received and posted. —————————————————————————————————————- The childhood summers she spent with her grandparents, and the stories of […]

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