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Book summary and review of The Therapist by BA Paris. Click here for spoiler discussion for The Therapist by BA Paris.

Again but Better book review plus a collection of the fiction and non-fiction books I read in January 2021, from Michelle Hickey Design.

January || February || March || April || May || June || July || August 7th Your Life Has Been Delayed by Michelle I. Mason Past and present, friends and crushes collide in a YA debut about a girl w…

In her new memoir, 'Educated,' Tara Westover recounts how she left an isolated childhood behind to go to college and beyond. A 4-star review.

When I first heard about Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid I was ecstatic, especially after reading The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo a...

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Release Date: February 9, 2021 Genre: Women's Historical Fiction It was Indiana, it was the dirt she had bloomed up out of, it was who she was, what she felt, how she thought, what she knew.” As a girl, Zorrie Underwood's modest and hardscrabble home county was the only constant in her young life. After losing both her parents, Zorrie moved in with her aunt, whose own death orphaned Zorrie all over again, casting her off into the perilous realities and sublime landscapes of rural, Depression-era Indiana. Drifting west, Zorrie survived on odd jobs, sleeping in barns and under the stars, before finding a position at a radium processing plant. At the end of each day, the girls at her factory glowed from the radioactive material. But when Indiana calls Zorrie home, she finally finds the love and community that have eluded her in and around the small town of Hillisburg. And yet, even as she tries to build a new life, Zorrie discovers that her trials have only begun. Spanning an entire lifetime, a life convulsed and transformed by the events of the 20th century, Laird Hunt's extraordinary novel offers a profound and intimate portrait of the dreams that propel one tenacious woman onward and the losses that she cannot outrun. Set against a harsh, gorgeous, quintessentially American landscape, this is a deeply empathetic and poetic novel that belongs on a shelf with the classics of Willa Cather, Marilynne Robinson, and Elizabeth Strout. PURCHASE LINKS: Amazon | B&N | Goodreads | Bookbub | BAM! | Book Depository My Review 💚 Reading someones life story in less that 200 pages is a feat in and of itself, but to have the characters so well developed, and the reader completely immersed is just incredible. Perfect in its simplicity, the flow almost poetic, nothing inherently special about the story itself, yet you feel privileged that you get to witness the life of Zorrie Underwood from such an intimate vantage point. There is something uncommonly refreshing about this novel, and is an enigma to me as to why. Could it be my obsession with the radium girls? I have read quite a bit about the radium rage, and fallout, quite a bit, the stories of the girls still haunting my mind to this day, but I haven't read much about the women that continued to live a seemingly normal life after working as dial painters. In Zorrie, we get to witness one woman's sad and simple journey, spending her life isolated, yet not alone, a life most likely reflecting the life of many women that grew up in that era, especially if they came from, or lived in, a farming community. There isn't any extraordinary or even special about Zorrie. It is ingeniously the journey of a woman who simply lived, worked hard, loved, and yet at the same time lived a pretty desolate life, reminiscent in her thoughts, and overwhelmed by her memories and the path she had taken in her lifetime. It is a fable we can all relate to the older we get and leaves enough curiosity about where Zorrie will end up to keep the reader engaged until the end. The writing itself is sublime and is the perfect length, in my opinion, and incredibly easy to get lost in. A must read that will lead you through the life of a remarkably unremarkable woman. My Rating: ★★★★★ ABOUT THE AUTHOR Laird Hunt is an American writer, translator and academic. Hunt grew up in Singapore, San Francisco, The Hague, and London before moving to his grandmother's farm in rural Indiana, where he attended Clinton Central High School. He earned a B.A. from Indiana University and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University. He also studied French literature at the Sorbonne. Hunt worked in the press office at the United Nations while writing his first novel. He is currently a professor in the Creative Writing program at University of Denver. Hunt lives with his wife, the poet Eleni Sikelianos, in Boulder, Colorado. ♡ CONNECT WITH LAIRD: Facebook | Twitter *I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from Bloombury Publishing through NetGalley. All views and opinions expressed are completely honest, and my own.

These are the best books of 2021, my reading year in review: including Empire Of Pain, One Last Stop, and more...

January || February || March || April || May || June || July || August 1st One Great Lie by Deb Caletti When Charlotte wins a scholarship to a writing workshop in Venice with the charismatic and br…

Wait For It by Jenn McKinlay is a page turning romcom with some steam.

May 2021 book recommendations. Check out mini reviews of all the books I'm currently reading. Find out whether to read or skip these books.

Playful, majestic, dazzling. These 20 titles stole our hearts.

See which books took home this prestigious prize.

I was so excited to write this book review recap as a wrap up for all the books I read this year. During the pandemic, I fell back in love with reading so I rea

January || February || March || April || May || June || July || August 6th The Murder Game by Carrie Doyle What if your best friend and roommate killed a teacher at your prep school? Or what if he …

From Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros to Class by Stephanie Land, here are the best new books out in November 2023 to add to your reading list.

Clarke fans waited 16 years for this follow-up to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. Here, Clarke limns a magic that is part of the very fabric of the universe.

What is the shape of ideas? In Grant Snider’s new book, the comic artist uses pen and ink to draw the creative process from “inspiration” and “contemplation” to “desperation” and “daily frustration.” We’ve featured Grant Snider’s beautiful and thoughtful comics in the past, and are happy to publish three excerpts from the new book here. […]

Book Title: Linger Author: Maggie Stiefvater Genre: Fantasy / Paranormal Romance Summary: This is the second book in a trilogy that I’ve seen referenced as the Shiver Trilogy and The Wolves o…

i really loved Americanah - let's just get that out the way - best novel i have read in a long, long time. Also it was written by a black African woman and so ticks a whole lot of the boxes of the majority of books i am trying to read these days - different

Escape to 1906 San Francisco, Chicago in the Jazz Age, Austen-era England, and more.

Book summary and review of Make Up Break Up by Lily Menon. Click here for spoiler discussion for Make Up Break Up by Lily Menon.

Hey all! I figured if you’re like me, you will do a lot of reading during this quarantine and might run out of good, clean books to read. So, I thought I would share some of my favorite books with you. I’m going to try and post a book review a day :-). Today’s book ... Read More about Mysterious Benedict Society Book Review!

January || February || March || April || May || June || July || August 3rd A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee For fans of Wilder Girls …

From spooky fantasies to cozy romances, there are autumn books to suit every taste. Snuggle up with some of our favorite new books to read in the fall.

Insomnia by J.R. Johansson Book One of The Night Watchers series Publisher: Flux Publication Date: June 8, 2013 Rating: 5 stars Source: eARC from NetGalley Summary (from Goodreads): It’s been four years since I slept, and I suspect it is killing me. Instead of sleeping, Parker Chipp enters the dream of the last person he’s had eye contact with. He spends his nights crushed by other people’s fear and pain, by their disturbing secrets—and Parker can never have dreams of his own. The severe exhaustion is crippling him. If nothing changes, Parker could soon be facing psychosis and even death. Then he meets Mia. Her dreams, calm and beautifully uncomplicated, allow him blissful rest that is utterly addictive. Parker starts going to bizarre lengths to catch Mia’s eye every day. Everyone at school thinks he’s gone over the edge, even his best friend. And when Mia is threatened by a true stalker, everyone thinks it’s Parker. Suffering blackouts, Parker begins to wonder if he is turning into someone dangerous. What if the monster stalking Mia is him after all? What I Liked: I knew I would like this book, but oh my gosh! I loved it so much! I do not usually read these types of books, that are horror-like and creepy. But this book was not overly creepy. If I could handle it, anyone will be able to! I loved that this book is written completely in a male's first-person point-of-view. We only read Parker's thoughts, which is very different and very fresh, considering the amount of novels in a female'a first-person point-of-view. Parker was fun to follow, and he wasn't crazy and arrogant and cocky like most YA males seem to be. Parker is a calm, rational young adult (most of the time), and he is not ridiculously impulsive. I really like him! The plot of this novel is quite fun to follow. And creepy. And fun. I was never bored while I was reading, and I didn't see some of the plot twists and turns. I usually have a good radar for crazy twists, but Ms. Johansson had me guessing throughout the novel/ The supernatural/paranormal aspect of the book is fantastic. I don't think I've read many books with dream-watching powers, except sort of Pretty Dark Nothing, so this concept was pretty new and pretty original to me. I like the dark twist that Ms. Johansson took with Parker's powers. I really like the romance in this book. It seems like it's going to be straightforward, based on the synopsis, right? Well... not really. I would not say there is a love triangle, because we know who Parker cares about definitively throughout the book and by the end of the book. But at the same time, there COULD be a love triangle. And if that were to happen, I honestly wouldn't know which way to go with it. On the one hand, I like the girl that I originally would be the primary love interest, and I do NOT like the girl that is the actual love interest. But Parker really likes the girl that IS the primary love interest. The ending says that the romance is settled between the pair, but that the pair isn't really together, and the secondary love interest could really be a secondary love interest. See my hesitance? I don't really know what to think of the romance. And that's not a bad thing. What I Did Not Like: As I stated before, I don't really like the primary love interest. I know that Parker really does, but she rubbed me the wrong way. She's younger than Parker, and that is obvious. She is one of those girls that act like they are better than you, but we all know that she isn't. By the end of the story, I could tolerate her more, but I still didn't like her. Otherwise, I was fine with this book! Would I Recommend It: YES! Don't let the "creepy" cover deter you (is it really that creepy? I didn't think so when I first saw it, or even now). I promise you that this is a debut you do NOT want to miss! Rating: 5 stars. It's amazing how many 5-star-rated books I've read recently - usually it's not so many in even a year! But all of them, especially this one, deserve 5 stars from me! Author Blog | Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble Was this review helpful? Please let me know in the comments section!

Join us for this tour from Jan 25 to Feb 5, 2021! Book Details: Book Title: I Can Handle It! (Mindful Mantras) by Laurie Wright Category: Children’s Fiction (Ages 3-7), 32 pages Genre: Ch…

Occasionally, I read something so poignant and so profound that it speaks to my soul. Mandy Robotham’s debut novel, The German Midwife, is such a story. Set in Germany during the final years …

No One Cares About Crazy People by Ron Powers has an overall rating of Positive based on 8 book reviews.

From the desk of Sophia Rose: “If adventures will not befall a young lady in her own village, then she must seek them abroad.” Jane Austen says of Catherine Morland in the beginning pages of North…

V.V. James' Sanctuary is one of my favorite books this year. In the modern-day United States created in this book, witches are accepted...