But there’s really no other way to describe Tara Conklin’s style (she is, after all, the person who wrote a romance about falling for a ghost).
This time around we get a “maybe you can go home again” story. After Darcy’s husband leaves her for a skydiving instructor and she’s put on sabbatical from her job, she decides to return to the comfort of her familial home in Murbridge, MA to lick her wounds. When she arrives, however, she finds she is not greeted by her parents’ loving embrace, but instead an empty house while said parentals try out retirement life in Arizona for a year. She does find a stockpile of Chef Boyardee that could get the entire fam through a zombie apocalypse and a seriously quality WiFi connection where she can peruse the “Community Board” while fully leaning in to her new hermit lifestyle, though.
Told via Darcy, the aforementioned community message board, draft emails and texts, this is a story about moving on, adapting to change and finding your people. It won’t be for everyone, because like I said . . . . quirky, but I like originality and Conklin delivers in that respect. 3.5 Stars and rounded down because at only 250 pages this one had a bit of drag in the flow. Don't let the low rating steer you away - I assume it's mainly because most people gave it threes rather than ones. ...more
I get she’s a BookTok sensation who has outsold Jeebus, but just stahhhhhhhhp.
Only Love Can Hurt Like This is the epitome of a Lifetime romance movie. It is sappy in all the best Nicholas Sparksy sorts of ways and will probably make a lot of people who have functioning human hearts shed some tears. For me, I was 100% in as soon as I got a movie montage sort of makeover featuring a 1960s Airstream?
For fans of Big Little Lies! Okay, so I have yet to find a neighborhood stabby I enjoyed quite like I did Liane Moriarty’s take on things, but this isFor fans of Big Little Lies! Okay, so I have yet to find a neighborhood stabby I enjoyed quite like I did Liane Moriarty’s take on things, but this is a pretty decent selection if you’re looking for some poolside fun this summer.
The story here takes place in a village about an hour away from Cork City. Ciara is the Instagrammer with the most influence, and all the other mammies in the ‘hood follow her parenting, style and child-rearing advice religiously. Oh, and also she’ll be dead before the end of the prologue. The remainder of the story is figuring out just who did the whodunit where . . . .
And I had no idea who it was going to be because it could have been anyone.
This didn’t have the humor or snark or likeability factor when it came to the characters like others I have loved in this sort of category, but it certainly kept me turning pages!
If you don’t watch Below Deck that was probably all just *wordswordswordswords*, but if you DO watch it then you know this was the moment that made Kate a true Bravolebrity and ensured she would always have a paycheck if Andy Cohen had any say-so in the matter.
When Vanessa finds her employment terminated due to her “face” she doesn’t even get a chance to make a penis towel as revenge. Instead, she discovers she had potentially been working for a Jen Shah sort of telemarketing company. If you’re asking yourself how many Bravo reality series references I can make in one review, here’s a spoiler . . . .
So she and her fellow co-workers decide to dabble a bit in The Art of War in order to bring down the company.
If you enjoy zany antics, this one will probably be more of a winner for you than it was for me. It wasn’t bad by any means, just not really my style. ...more
Fatal Fungi! I didn’t even know this was such a trend until I saw Powell’s Books’ Instagram yesterday and they had an entire shelf dedicate
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Fatal Fungi! I didn’t even know this was such a trend until I saw Powell’s Books’ Instagram yesterday and they had an entire shelf dedicated to this theme. My notes to myself simply said “Mexican Gothic meets The Fall of the House of Usher and that’s about all you need to know before picking this up. While I didn’t find this latest release to be as good as Nettle and Bone, Kingfisher’s voice is certainly entertaining and I love that her main characters have a wit about them.
Fatal Fungi! I didn’t even know this was such a trend until I saw Powell’s Books’ Instagram yesterday and they had an entire shelf dedicated to this theme. My notes to myself simply said “Mexican Gothic meets The Fall of the House of Usher and that’s about all you need to know before picking this up. While I didn’t find this latest release to be as good as Nettle and Bone, Kingfisher’s voice is certainly entertaining and I love that her main characters have a wit about them.
Seriously, though, go read other reviews because I have no words. I love Lehane and I stand by my opinion that he is one of the greatest writers of this generation and this is one of his best....more
Unfortunately for Jeannette Walls (at least when it comes to this review) is that nothing fictional that she writes could ever come close to the nonfiUnfortunately for Jeannette Walls (at least when it comes to this review) is that nothing fictional that she writes could ever come close to the nonfictional accounts of her own family history. I’m currently 80+ reviews behind, so I’m going to keep this real short. Basically, I expected a real humdinger of a time when picking up a story about a female rumrunner in Prohibition Era America. Sadly, I never felt much of any connection with the story or its characters and the writing seemed very . . . . sterile? I’m not sure that makes sense, but to me it was very devoid of much emotion and I basically just continued reading simply to be done with it. It wasn’t baaaaaaad – it just wasn’t great.
I went into this one blind. All it takes sometimes is a snappy title, folks! I had not read this author before (because Kitchens of the Great MidwestI went into this one blind. All it takes sometimes is a snappy title, folks! I had not read this author before (because Kitchens of the Great Midwest was a title that did NOT grab my attention, but I’ll be rectifying that shortly). To keep it brief and without any spoilsies, just know things all start off with a mom who needs a ride home from the church pancake breakfast from the daughter she has been estranged from for years who is prevented from said Ubering thanks to getting in a head-on with the local fauna.
We then timehop back to 1934 to Florence’s story – then to the 1980s and Ned’s and eventually back to the present with Mariel . . . . and her mother who has now been holed up in the church waiting for that ride for over two months.
If you are familiar with me at all you know that I am a sucker for a family story and when it comes to dramedies that also involve restaurant ownership? Well . . . .
If you enjoyed Marrying the Ketchups or The Chicken Sisters or We are the Brennans run, do not walk to get a copy of this one. And serve it with a relish tray . . . .
In case you are new here with me, I have a diagnosis of chronic C.R.S. disease (that’s can’t remember $hit, if you aren’t familiar with the term). It In case you are new here with me, I have a diagnosis of chronic C.R.S. disease (that’s can’t remember $hit, if you aren’t familiar with the term). It is a fairly non-debilitating condition that makes you question things like “did this book get put on my TBR after watching The Florida Project and The Motel Kids of Orange County or was it already there and it’s simply a coincidence that they kind of brought the same vibes???”
Lullabies for Little Criminals is Baby’s story – and boy is it a bleak one. Born to a couple of 15-year olds and raised solely by her father after her mother died when she was only a baby, Baby’s life is certainly no fairytale. Her father is a part-time drug addict, full-time untreated mental illness suffer who bounces her from long-stay hotels to cheap roach trap apartments to foster care and group homes when necessary. The story follows Baby from 12 to 13 as she strays further away from “normal” and gets involved with a pimp, starts turning tricks and doing drugs.
As I said, B.L.E.A.K., but the delivery is not of the tragiporn variety – in fact it’s so matter-of-fact and observational in style that I only kept turning pages because I wanted to see what was coming next, not because I was so emotionally invested. Maybe it was because the two films referenced above made me cry the ugly cry so hard that I just didn’t have anything more in the tank to give, or maybe the lack of a cohesive storyline was the issue. Who knows? ...more
The premise here is a simple one: Liz accidentally sees a text on her husband Arno’s phone and spirals out of control for the entire book. That’s it. The premise here is a simple one: Liz accidentally sees a text on her husband Arno’s phone and spirals out of control for the entire book. That’s it. As the quote below states . . . .
“Nothing crazy, just a text thanking Arno for all his help on some major project and then a stupid kissy-face emoji. From someone named ‘Viv’ who I’ve never met before.” Tracy’s eyebrows lift even higher. “What else?” “Huh?” “I mean, what else?” “That’s it. Nothing else. The text is what made me feel suspicious.” “That’s it?” “Er, yeah.” “No suspicious phone calls late at night? Maybe from an unfamiliar name that sounds fake, or just an initial, like ‘F’?” “No.” “No weird receipts for lingerie that he never gives you, or designer chocolates?” “Nope.” “No unexplained work trips to Miami that get extended because of ‘bad weather’?” “No.” “No burner phones?”
Of course she never bothered asking and OF COURSE he’s probably cheating and OF COURSE Liz has not only a generalized anxiety disorder but is also a pretty solid drunk once the baby goes to bed. But the biggest problem? This could have been some poolside fun in the sun if it had been approached as a dark comedy. Around the 40% mark Liz goes in for a total makeover and I’m telling you I laughed out loud. And then I realized . . . .
I picked up Tinfoil Butterfly when I saw it on The ‘Gram and thought it had been posted by one of my Goodreads’ friends. Turns out I was wrong (go figI picked up Tinfoil Butterfly when I saw it on The ‘Gram and thought it had been posted by one of my Goodreads’ friends. Turns out I was wrong (go figure) and I should have saved myself the library checkout because this just wasn’t for me.
The premise was great – girl hitchhiking through the Badlands winds up with the wrong stranger. This could have went anywhere from . . . .
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(Have y’all seen Freeway? Highly underrated film.)
And I would have been totally satisfied. In fact, at some point a Bigfoot reference was made and I thought “hell, I liked Devolution so a Sasquatch story would maybe be A-okay as well. But that was not the case. This was a “horror” in the same sort of way I’m Thinking of Ending Things was – a/k/a I’m too dumb to appreciate it. ...more
Whether your vibe leans toward Heathers or Mean Girls or the Pink Ladies, know that The Honeys also rule the school . . . errr, I mean the Aspen Conservancy Summer Academy.
I was FEEEEEEEELING this one. I’m all down to clown when it comes to some culty ish and errrrybody knows you better not be killing off the honeybees! If you’re looking for some YA summertime fun that might give you the creeps, this one shouldn’t be left unread.
But then the same night I picked up this library hold I came across a news article where one twatty mother had managed to ban over a dozen books in a local high school. So basically near children are allowed to fight and die for our country, but they can’t read about sex and/or gender whatsoever. Got it. Oh, and also the state decided keeping conversion therapy legal is also A-Okay so I live in a shithole.
Ziggy, Stardust and Me tackles conversion therapy in an aggressive One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest sort of way as it is set in 1973. I’ll be honest and say this story didn’t 100% work for me (the Ziggy Stardust parts served as more of a gimmick and a distraction to a solid narrative), but I always love a coming-of-age story and this was an important one to tell – touching not only on the aforementioned conversion therapy and being an outcast to your family for the way you were born, but also mistreatment of Native Americans and the Wounded Knee Occupation, realizing being gay doesn’t mean you’re “broken” so there’s absolutely nothing to be fixed, etc.
The Virgin Suicides meets Bunny. If that sounds like your idea of a good time you should check this one out - otherwis"You girls sure are creepy."
The Virgin Suicides meets Bunny. If that sounds like your idea of a good time you should check this one out - otherwise steer clear. A new take on the missing girl story told via a combo of the Greek chorus as children and individual narratives as adults. This is a time where the purple writing really worked for me …..
Imagine for a second there is inside you something like a soul. This soul is like a bowl of still water. It sits, a clean and precious thing, balanced in your chest. The water is cool. Holy. It is entirely itself. It is like water before water was a word. Now, imagine a syringe. The vial is brown and, as you look at it, you realize it is full of human shit, the tiniest, foulest amount. And imagine this needle being pressed, slowly, into the skin of your sternum, injected, as you watch helplessly, into this bowl of balanced water. How quickly it spreads and stinks and fouls this cleanest thing at your center. And in seconds the bowl is ruined. And you look at the bowl and feel terrible you were unable to protect it, this precious and fragile and perfect thing. And you recognize the life’s work it will take to wash and repair the bowl, and it is not fair, because it is not you who dirtied it. So you tip the bowl over and it breaks. You pretend it does not exist.
But then there are times when a feeling crawls across you. The feeling is all the sadder and truer because you cannot name it. You can live a happy enough life with a broken bowl inside you. But you will always be wanting, a feeling as keen and common to you now as thirst.
I’m going with 3.5 Stars because it seems that’s my go-to in 2023 when I come across something fresh but can’t say I looooooved it. Personal growth that I’m only talking about how much I hate this cover and not deducting points for it ; )
EDIT: Because the blurb calls this "The Virgin Suicides meets The Florida Project" (which I had not watched prior to today). That's accurate as far as the "Greek chorus" portion which is what is only witnessed through the childrens' eyes. The Florida Project is quite possibly one of the best films I've ever seen and a real punch in the throat if you are capable of watching truly depressing shit in your free time....more
My real-life friend recommended this to me and as soon as I heard “husband – murdered after his own birthday party – head nearly cut off from the neckMy real-life friend recommended this to me and as soon as I heard “husband – murdered after his own birthday party – head nearly cut off from the neck wound” I immediately requested it from the library. Now that I’m done, I only have one thing to say . . . .
First, for something with a starting point as promising as a near decapitation this sure was boooooooring. This could have easily been a short story for the lack of plot. And what plot there was? Yikes. Talk about throwing in the kitchen sink with the “superbadawful from the past” dun dun dunnnnnnnnn. And if that wasn’t enough – a dead body coincidentally pops up making the deceased a potential murder suspect? If you like the Lifetime Stabby Stabs movies of the week maybe this will be a winner for you.
1.5 Stars and rounding down because I will NEVER get the hours I wasted on this one back. ...more
I picked this up despite the dreaded face cover when I kept seeing people all over Instagram giving it high ratings and saying “Hank Philli
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I picked this up despite the dreaded face cover when I kept seeing people all over Instagram giving it high ratings and saying “Hank Phillipi Ryan does it again!!!” To which I now say does what again? Writes one of the stupidest things I’ll read this year and bores the crap out of me in the process? Way to go!
The premise here is Alyssa meets Bree at a local hotel bar. After one drink Alyssa offers up her guest house to this complete stranger so already it’s the dumbest shit I’ve ever laid eyes on. Then nothing happens for about eleventy-seven pages aside from Bree making it with another complete stranger who also ends up over at the house all the time. Then the big secret is revealed and Alyssa gets a happy ending . . . . even though if it were real life she would end up destitute because the Feds would have seized all of her assets. The end. I award you zero points and someone smack me if I ever pick up another book by this author again. ...more
Here’s the thing. Jojo Moyes needs zero of my help selling her books and since I loved Me Before You, Still Me and One Plus One I am not su
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Here’s the thing. Jojo Moyes needs zero of my help selling her books and since I loved Me Before You, Still Me and One Plus One I am not super interested in dissecting all the reasons this one didn’t work for me. Some books just aren’t for some people and for me that has a lot to do with the characters. I didn’t much care for doormat Sam at all and thought Nisha was a real See You Next Tuesday throughout the entire story (even though an attempt was given at providing her a redemption arc). The plot didn’t really tickle my fancy either and it was waaaaaaay too long (especially when things went all “Three’s Company” while attempting to steal back the shoes in the hotel). So that’s that and on to the next.
This was most definitely an “Instagram Made Me Do It” selection. Before Taylor Swift concert pics took over my feed, it was all about the hype surrounThis was most definitely an “Instagram Made Me Do It” selection. Before Taylor Swift concert pics took over my feed, it was all about the hype surrounding the Daisy Jones series. Since I had been so early to that party I decided to take a dive into Taylor Jenkins Reid’s backlist and was guaranteed this one would make me cry the ugly cry. Have no fear, friends . . . .
That being said, if you are looking for a sappy sucker, this one DELIVERS. Brief plot summary is girl loves boy, girl marries boy, boy’s helicopter goes down and he is presumed dead, girl reconnects with other boy from her youth, girl loves that boy and then DEAD BOY RETURNS FROM THE DEPTHS OF THE OCEAN! And not like in a zombie way which would be my typical fare. Maybe it was simply right place/right sort of headspace. Maybe it was because I had a hard copy, nice weather and was able to read this on the deck without drowning in my own underboob sweat while the mosquitos sucked my soul right out of my body. Maybe I was on my period. I don’t know but this worked for me.
Kelly (and the Book Boar)
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