Top Ten Tuesday: Top ten books on my TBR list for winter 2020/2021

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is about our winter reading plans.

There are so many new books on the way that I can’t wait to read! My list this week is focused on upcoming new releases — some stand-alones, and a few new books in ongoing series. Here are the top 10 books I’m most excited for:

1) Across the Green Grass Fields (Wayward Children, #6) by Seanan McGuire: I love this series so much, and I was thrilled to see a recent announcement that there will be at least 10 books in total, if not more!

2) Calculated Risks (InCryptids, #10) by Seanan McGuire: Yes, another by my favorite author, who seems to release new books every time I blink. The InCryptid series is so much fun, and I’m excited for this next adventure.

3) Wild Sign (Alpha & Omega, #6) by Patricia Briggs: A new book in the Charles and Anna saga, which is a spin-off from the awesome Mercy Thomspon series. I love these characters so much! Can’t wait to see what happens next.

4) Dear Miss Kopp (The Kopp Sisters, #6) by Amy Stewart: Hurray for our favorite lady detective (and her sisters)!

5) The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey: Sounds creepy and amazing!

6) The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan: Historical fiction from an author whose previous books I’ve loved!

7) In the Garden of Spite by Camilla Bruce: A novel about a real-life serial killer from the early 1900s. Sounds great!

8) Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales: I need something bright and upbeat to offset some of these heavier reads, and this may be the one! It looks adorable.

And a couple that I already own, but haven’t read yet:

9) We Came Here to Shine by Susie Orman Schnall: This is my book group book for January, and I’ve heard good things already.

10) One by One by Ruth Ware: Look at that cover! Reading about an avalanche seems like a good winter choice for a year when I won’t be anywhere near a ski slope.

What books will be keeping you warm this winter? Share your links, and I’ll come check out your top 10!

14Dec2020

The Monday Check-In ~ 12/14/2020

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

My Monday tradition, including a look back and a look ahead — what I read last week, what new books came my way, and what books are keeping me busy right now. Plus a smattering of other stuff too.

Life.

We’re halfway through Hanukkah, and despite COVID restrictions, so far it’s been a good one! We’ve had delicious latkes, played dreydel, and have done some creative family Zooming so we could light candles with our loved ones around the country.

Looking forward to being able to celebrate in person together next year!

What did I read during the last week?

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones: Powerful, unique horror. My review is here.

The Wicked King by Holly Black: Finished book #2 in the Folk of the Air trilogy (an audiobook re-read). Just as great the second time around!

West End Girls by Jenny Colgan: Fun, light contemporary fiction. My review is here.

Pop culture & TV:

I binge-watched all of season 1 and most of season 2 of The Spanish Princess this week, and got completely hooked. For the most part, I’m loving it — despite the ridiculous maternity armor. And also, isn’t maternity armor kind of awesome?

Puzzle of the week:

I didn’t actually work on any puzzles this week, but a terrific family member who apparently really gets me gave me a puzzle and a puzzle mat for Hanukkah!

Fresh Catch:

A couple of weeks ago, I attended an online event featuring Rachel Bloom and Yael Grobglas, and this week, the book that came with the ticket arrived:

I’m so excited! Can’t wait to start reading this!

(And PS – it was an awesome event! Here’s a screenshot, which doesn’t nearly capture how much fun it was to hear these two actors in conversation):

What will I be reading during the coming week?

Currently in my hands:

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig: I bought a copy a few weeks ago, and I’m just finally getting started. And what do you know — it’s the 2020 Goodreads Choice Award winner for fiction!

Now playing via audiobook:

The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black: Book 3! Such an amazing trilogy.

Ongoing reads:

Outlander Book Club is re-reading Outlander! We’re reading and discussing one chapter per week. This week: Chapter 27, “The Last Reason”.

Our current classic read is part 2 of Don Quixote. My book group is reading and discussing three chapters per week. Plugging along…

So many books, so little time…

13Dec2020

Book Review: West End Girls by Jenny Colgan

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: West End Girls
Author: Jenny Colgan
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Publication date: January 5, 2021 (originally published 2006)
Length: 336 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

They may be twins, but Lizzie and Penny Berry are complete opposites. Penny is the life of the party—loud and outrageous, while quiet and thoughtful Lizzy is often left out of the crowd. The one trait they do share is a longing to do something spectacular with their lives, and as far as these two are concerned, there’s no better place to make their dreams come true than London.
Presented with a once-in-a-lifetime house-sit at their grandmother’s home in a very desirable London neighborhood, it finally seems like Lizzie and Penny are a step closer to the exciting cosmopolitan life they’ve always wanted. But the more time they spend in the big city, they quickly discover it’s nothing like they expected. They may have to dream new dreams…but are they up to the challenge?

Jenny Colgan has become a go-to author for me for when I need something bright and uplifting to cheer me up or lighten my day. West End Girls, to be published in early 2021, is actually a re-release of a book from earlier in her career, and it shows.

Lizzie and Penny are non-identical twins who at age 27 live with their mother in a cramped apartment, work at dead-end jobs, and have no prospects. When their paternal grandmother, with whom they’ve had no contact since their childhood, moves into a care facility, she offers her Chelsea flat to the girls, provided they protect her stuff while she’s away.

Jumping on the opportunity, Lizzie and Penny show up at their swanky new address, only to discover that Gran was basically a hoarder. Still, while the inside of the flat is a mess, they’ve arrived in an exclusive London neighborhood and are determined to launch new lives.

Penny is obsessed with looks and landing a rich man, and sets out to do so by going to clubs, being outrageous, dressing provocatively, and throwing herself into a wealthy crowd. Lizzie, the shy one, just wants a job, and ends up being hired by a cafe owner who’s large, gregarious, and a true talent in the kitchen.

During their time in London, both Penny and Lizzie experience romantic ups and downs, disappointments, career opportunities, and awkward social scenarios. They’re often in opposition to one another, but when push comes to shove, they have each other’s backs.

West End Girls is a fairly predictable rags-to-riches story, with each sister getting what she needs by the end — which isn’t necessarily what she thought she wanted at the start. It’s cute and light, but not problem-free.

Some of the pop culture references are dated (which makes sense, considering this book was first published in 2006), but thankfully, there aren’t enough of these to be seriously distracting. The book is much less body positive than it would be if written today, I suspect. Lizzie is overweight at the start of the story and dresses drably to hide her pounds, having survived on microwaved dinners for two many years. As Georges, the cafe owner, teaches her how to find her way around a kitchen and appreciate quality food, she ends up slimming down and getting healthier, and toward the end, even gets a wardrobe, hair, and makeup makeover. Which, good for Lizzie if she feels better about herself, but I felt like I was hearing about Lizzie’s weight and how much better she looked slimmer a bit too often for my taste.

Jenny Colgan’s more recent books have a depth and richness that I love, with wonderful settings, quirky and funny characters, and some true emotional heft. Here, I got entertainment, but not that much more.

Still, West End Girls was a fun way to spend my weekend reading hours, and I had a good time with it. It just made me look forward to summer 2021, when Jenny Colgan next new book will be released!

11Dec2020

Book Review: The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Only Good Indians
Author: Stephen Graham Jones
Publisher: Gallery / Saga Press
Publication date: July 14, 2020
Length: 310 pages
Genre: Horror
Source: Library
Rating:

A tale of revenge, cultural identity, and the cost of breaking from tradition in this latest novel from the Jordan Peele of horror literature, Stephen Graham Jones.
Seamlessly blending classic horror and a dramatic narrative with sharp social commentary, The Only Good Indians follows four American Indian men after a disturbing event from their youth puts them in a desperate struggle for their lives. Tracked by an entity bent on revenge, these childhood friends are helpless as the culture and traditions they left behind catch up to them in a violent, vengeful way.

Best friends Ricky, Lewis, Cassidy, and Gabe grew up together on a Blackfeet reservation. Then, in their 20s, they went their separate ways, after an even they refer to as the Thanksgiving Classic. One week before Thanksgiving, the friends went hunting in forbidden territory and illegally brought down many elk, before getting caught by the game warden and being forced to throw away all the meat they’d claimed as their prize.

Now, ten years later, strange events begin to occur. First, Ricky is killed in what the newspapers call a bar fight, but it’s much more involved than that. Next, Lewis appears to have a mental breakdown, in which he seems to be hallucinating visions of an elk in his living room and experiencing violent episodes that he may or may not be responsible for.

Up to this point, I wasn’t sure whether the characters were actually having supernatural experiences or if Lewis in particular was having some sort of psychotic break. But, it soon becomes clear that this is not all in their minds. Cassidy and Gabe are also soon the victim of a vengeful spirit coming back to punish the men for their part in slaughtering a vulnerable member of the herd.

The Only Good Indians is both a terrifying horror tale and a sad, straightforward look into the lives of Native Americans on their reservation as well as the lives of those who leave. (I can hear Gabe laughing right now — to him, “Native American” is an affectation of the younger generation. He considers himself Indian.)

It’s really questionable whether any of these men deserve what happens, and there are certainly some innocent victims as well — although to the elk spirit, I suppose none of the two-leggeds who hunt the herds are actually innocent. We get inside the spirit’s head as well as the main characters, and it’s all quite sad and disturbing.

One of the best characters in the book, in my opinion, is Gabe’s daughter Denorah, a middle school basketball star who takes over for the final section of the book, and is pretty astounding with her skill and courage.

I don’t feel like I’m capturing how powerful this book is, yet I don’t want to disclose too many details. The writing is evocative, sometime funny, and the characters are sharp, well-drawn, and memorable. Be warned that there are some very violent and gruesome aspects to the story, so if you shy away from books with blood and guts, this might not be a good choice for you.

Tammy at Books, Bones & Buffy wrote one of the best reviews of this book that I’ve seen, and I think she says it all better than I do! Check out her review (here), which is what convinced me that I needed to read this book.

I’m so glad my library hold finally came through! I’ll definitely want to read more by this talented author.

I never considered elk scary before… but I’ll never look at them the same way again.

For more, check out this NPR interview with the author:

Visit the author’s website at https://www.demontheory.net/

9Dec2020

Shelf Control #246: When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka

Posted in Shelf Control by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Welcome to Shelf Control — an original feature created and hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies.

Shelf Control is a weekly celebration of the unread books on our shelves. Pick a book you own but haven’t read, write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up! For more info on what Shelf Control is all about, check out my introductory post, here.

Want to join in? Shelf Control posts go up every Wednesday. See the guidelines at the bottom of the post, and jump on board!

Title: When the Emperor Was Divine
Author: Julie Otsuka
Published: 2002
Length: 144 pages

What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):

On a sunny day in Berkeley, California, in 1942, a woman sees a sign in a post office window, returns to her home, and matter-of-factly begins to pack her family’s possessions. Like thousands of other Japanese Americans they have been reclassified, virtually overnight, as enemy aliens and are about to be uprooted from their home and sent to a dusty internment camp in the Utah desert.
In this lean and devastatingly evocative first novel, Julie Otsuka tells their story from five flawlessly realized points of view and conveys the exact emotional texture of their experience; the thin-walled barracks and barbed-wire fences, the omnipresent fear and loneliness, the unheralded feats of heroism. When the Emperor Was Divine is a work of enormous power that makes a shameful episode of our history as immediate as today’s headlines.

How and when I got it:

I bought a used copy about 2 – 3 years ago.

Why I want to read it:

This book was a required summer reading assignment for my son right before his junior year of high school. No big surprise — he didn’t end up reading it. (I don’t think he’s clear on the meaning of “required”.) But once we had a copy in the house, I knew I’d need to read it eventually.

I’ve always been interested in learning more about the horrific treatment of Japanese Americans during WWII. I’ve read both historical and fictional accounts of the experiences of those sent to the internment camps. I know When the Emperor Was Divine is highly rated, although I don’t know anyone directly who’s read it.

I’m glad to have stumbled across our copy while looking for a Shelf Control book this week! I’m going to try to make it a priority in 2021.

Have you read this book? Would you want to?

Please share your thoughts!

Literary Potpourri

__________________________________

Want to participate in Shelf Control? Here’s how:

Write a blog post about a book that you own that you haven’t read yet.
Add your link in the comments or link back from your own post, so I can add you to the participant list.
Check out other posts, and…

Have fun!

8Dec2020

Top Ten Tuesday: Home for the holidays

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is a Holiday Freebie, where we each come up with our own holiday-themed top ten list.

I was drawing a blank, until I started thinking about holiday celebrations in books, and from there, I started thinking about great fictional families that I’d want to celebrate the holidays with.

So, ta-da! Here are ten fictional families who I wish would invite me over for some holiday cheer…

The Weasleys (Harry Potter series): I mean, obvious, right? I love the entire Weasley brood, and I hope if I went the Burrow for the holidays, I’d get one of Molly’s traditional sweaters.
The Bennets (Pride and Prejudice): Or really, one of several families in Jane Austen novels, mainly because I’d like to dress up and go to one of their balls.
The family of All-of-a-Kind Family (All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor): I loved these books as a kid, and always wished I could celebrate Hanukkah or any of the Jewish holidays with them! Even living simple lives, they make everything seem like such fun.
The children of Marsyas Island Orphanage (The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune): Let’s hear it for found families! I love this book, and love the way the children and their headmaster form such a warm and wonderful family. I think opening presents with this group would be all sorts of fun.
The Columbia Basin Pack (Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs: Here’s an entirely different sort of found family — the werewolves of the Mercy Thompson series. The pack house seems like such a fun place to be, even though it’s usually crowded, loud, and bit out of control. I can only imagine how wild Christmas morning must be. (I kind of hope it’s a tradition for all the big wolves to wear Christmas jammies too…)
The Covey family (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han): I love Lara Jean’s family dynamic and how awesome her dad is, and you just know that the food will be amazing — especially if Lara Jean is doing the cookies!
The March family (Little Women by Louisa May Alcott): Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents! But hanging out with Jo and Beth (my faves) and Marmee would be awesome anyway.
All the characters in In a Holidaze (by Christina Lauren): To be honest, I’m not sure if I’m more interested in the people or in their Christmas cabin, but either way, I’d love to be there.
The Murry family (A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle): Hanging out with Charles Wallace and Meg would be fun, and I bet their Christmas would be all science-y and also filled with witches.
Emily & Simon and everyone else in Willow Creek (Well Met by Jen DeLuca): I know the Willow Creek Renaissance Faire is a summer event, but can you imagine how amazing it would be as a Christmas celebration? All those fabulous costumes and revelries in the snow?

That’s it! I wasn’t sure I could get to 10, but somehow I made it (mainly by including a couple of family-esque groups as well as more traditional families). I’d be happy to be invited to celebrate with all of these folks!

What was your holiday topic this week? If you wrote a TTT post, please share your link!

7Dec2020

The Monday Check-In ~ 12/7/2020

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Life.

What do you know? This happened, and I wasn’t even aware that I was close:

Reading three graphic novels in a row on Saturday pushed me over the top!

Looking ahead, Hanukkah will be here Thursday night… and while we’ll be pretty low-key this year, it’s always a favorite holiday at my house. If you didn’t see the amazing Hanukkah video I shared a few days ago, check it out here — my entire family has been watching it over and over again.

What did I read during the last week?

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata: A strangely charming little book. Worth checking out!

Watch Over Me by Nina LaCour: Beautiful YA novel. My review is here.

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black: I finished the audiobook! This was a re-read for me, and I loved it all over again.

And here are the graphic novels that got me to my reading goal over the weekend. Lumberjanes is a cute, girl-power series about best friends having wacky adventures at a bizarre summer camp. Charming — I need the next few from the library!

Pop culture & TV:

My royal historical binge-watching continues! I watched all of The White Princess this week, and while I was pretty often annoyed, it also made an impact — there are certain historical elements that I just can’t stop thinking about. Moving on to The Spanish Princess!

On a sadder note, I watched Diana: In Her Own Words on Netflix. It’s a very moving documentary, with recordings of Diana’s interviews providing the narration. She’s such a tragic character, and this made me quite emotional all over again.

Puzzle of the week:

Cute kitty alert!

Ugh, I can never get a decent picture of my puzzles. But you get the idea… so many kitties.

Fresh Catch:

I received a bookish gift – yay!

Meanwhile, I had an accumulation of gift cards and credits burning a hole in my pocket, so I treated myself (and went a little overboard):

What will I be reading during the coming week?

Currently in my hands:

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones: My library hold came in! I’m just getting started, but it’s grabbing my attention from page 1.

Now playing via audiobook:

The Wicked King by Holly Black: Continuing onward with my audio re-read of the Folk of the Air trilogy. I love these books!

Ongoing reads:

Outlander Book Club is re-reading Outlander! We’re reading and discussing one chapter per week. This week: Chapter 26, “The Laird’s Return”.

Our current classic read is part 2 of Don Quixote. My book group is reading and discussing three chapters per week. Plugging along…

So many books, so little time…

5Dec2020

Book Review: Watch Over Me by Nina LaCour

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Watch Over Me
Author: Nina LaCour
Publisher: Dutton Books for Young Readers
Publication date: September 15, 2020
Length: 272 pages
Genre: Young adult
Source: Purchased
Rating:

Nina LaCour delivers another emotional knockout with Watch Over Me, the eagerly anticipated follow-up to the Printz Award-winning We Are Okay.
Mila is used to being alone. Maybe that’s why she said yes to the opportunity: living in this remote place, among the flowers and the fog and the crash of waves far below.
But she hadn’t known about the ghosts.
Newly graduated from high school, Mila has aged out of the foster care system. So when she’s offered a job and a place to stay at a farm on an isolated part of the Northern California Coast, she immediately accepts. Maybe she will finally find a new home, a real home. The farm is a refuge, but also haunted by the past traumas its young residents have come to escape. And Mila’s own terrible memories are starting to rise to the surface.
Watch Over Me is another stunner from Printz Award-Winning author Nina LaCour, whose empathetic, lyrical prose is at the heart of this modern ghost story of resilience and rebirth.

This book was not what I was expecting. It’s so much more.

Watch Over Me is a gorgeously written story of survival, found families, and coming to peace with one’s past. It’s a story of suffering and recovery, of facing one’s fears and choosing a way forward.

Mila, at age eighteen, has finished high school, and after living with kind foster parents who are eager to start over with a new baby to care for, she needs a place to put down roots at the start of her life as a young adult. She’s thrilled to be offered a place at The Farm, a refuge run by a warm couple named Terry and Julia, who take in abandoned and hopeless children and give them a safe place to grow.

Mila will be one of three interns, young adults who teach school for the younger children and who work as part of the farm’s collective, cooking, cleaning, and taking the farm’s flowers and produce to the weekly farmers market. Meanwhile, she’ll be living in a small no-frills cabin heated by a wood-burning stove, sharing meals with the family in the big house, and participating in the simple, isolated life that the group enjoys, far from the nearest town.

Though she tries to fit in, Mila is constantly worried about her place. She has secrets from her past, and while she tries to reassure herself that she is good, she’s fearful that the family will turn her away if they know the truth about what she’s done. Still, she bonds quickly with Lee, the 9-year-old boy who she’ll be teaching. She recognizes that he’s been hurt in his past, and by sharing some of her own pain, she hopes to help him open up and start to be less afraid.

And one more thing: There are ghosts. Each night, shimmering ghostly children play on the fields of the farm, visible to all the farm’s residents. No one seems particularly freaked out by them — they’re just part of what makes the place unique.

As Mila settles in, memories of her past creep back in, slowly at first, then threatening to overwhelm her. The story of what she’s been through is horrible, and it quickly becomes clear that this is a girl who no one protected, and who was endangered by the person who should have put Mila’s safety first.

I won’t explain how the ghosts fit into the story, but the more I read, the more captivated I was by the farm, its people, and how Mila’s past comes to haunt her present. I loved the characters and the relationships, but most of all loved Mila, with her doubts and uncertainties and fears — but also because of her big heart and capacity for love, and how badly she needs a place to belong.

Watch Over Me is unsettling and beautiful, and I’m pretty sure I’ll want to go back to it and read it all over again, just to let it all sink in. Highly recommended.

4Dec2020

Puppy for Hanukkah!

Posted in Fun and Whimsy by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Someone shared this at work today, and now I can’t stop smiling. So… sharing here to brighten everyone else’s day too!

2Dec2020

Shelf Control #245: Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady’s Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners by Therese Oneill

Posted in Shelf Control by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Welcome to Shelf Control — an original feature created and hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies.

Want to join in? Shelf Control posts go up every Wednesday. See the guidelines at the bottom of the post, and jump on board!

Title: Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady’s Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners
Author: Therese Oneill
Published: 2016
Length: 307 pages

What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):

Have you ever wished you could live in an earlier, more romantic era?
Ladies, welcome to the 19th century, where there’s arsenic in your face cream, a pot of cold pee sits under your bed, and all of your underwear is crotchless. (Why? Shush, dear. A lady doesn’t question.)
UNMENTIONABLE is your hilarious, illustrated, scandalously honest (yet never crass) guide to the secrets of Victorian womanhood, giving you detailed advice on:
~ What to wear
~ Where to relieve yourself
~ How to conceal your loathsome addiction to menstruating
~ What to expect on your wedding night
~ How to be the perfect Victorian wife
~ Why masturbating will kill you
~ And more
Irresistibly charming, laugh-out-loud funny, and featuring nearly 200 images from Victorian publications, UNMENTIONABLE will inspire a whole new level of respect for Elizabeth Bennett, Scarlet O’Hara, Jane Eyre, and all of our great, great grandmothers.
(And it just might leave you feeling ecstatically grateful to live in an age of pants, super absorbency tampons, epidurals, anti-depressants, and not-dying-of-the-syphilis-your-husband-brought-home.)

How and when I got it:

I picked up an e-book copy of this book in 2017.

Why I want to read it:

I really don’t remember where I first came across this book, but doesn’t it sound amazing? As a fan of Victorian era fiction, I know I’ve found myself daydreaming about an idealized version of life in those times, with all the complicated clothes and social niceties and balls and courting rituals.

But oh, the reality! Just reading the description of this book makes me cringe (and makes me super thankful for running water, modern medicine, and the freedom to dress comfortably). I’m so curious about this book, and look forward to diving in and learning about the cold heart facts of intimate Victorian life.

Have you read this book? Would you want to?

Please share your thoughts!

Literary Potpourri

__________________________________

Want to participate in Shelf Control? Here’s how:

Write a blog post about a book that you own that you haven’t read yet.
Add your link in the comments or link back from your own post, so I can add you to the participant list.
Check out other posts, and…

Have fun!