2025

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.

My husband and I celebrated our 27th anniversary over the weekend! We treated ourselves to a lovely dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, and they added a nice touch to our dessert:

Blogging.

In new WordPress weirdness, the ability to copy an old post and save it as a new one seems to be working… but for some random reason, the menu choice is now “duplicate” instead of “copy”, and it took me a minute to realize it (before just thinking that the ability to copy was entirely gone). Why, WordPress, why? I don’t understand the need to change something that’s already fine.

Around the blogosphere:

I enjoyed a discussion on the Pages Unbound blog about reading challenges. It’s interesting to see so many opinions on the topic!

What did I read during the last week?

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore: Posted a review from my previous week’s reading. 5 stars! My review is here.

Three Days in June by Anne Tyler: Short, sharp fiction by a masterful writer. My review is here.

Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell: Excellent middle grade fantasy adventure. My review is here.

Black Woods Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey: Atmospheric story with a gorgeous Alaska setting. Parts left me baffled, but it’s a reading experience I can’t stop thinking about. My review is here.

Pop culture & TV:

I really haven’t watched much this past week, other than new episodes of Ghosts and Abbott Elementary. Too busy reading, I guess…

Fresh Catch:

My lovely hardcover edition of The Bones Beneath My Skin arrived. It’s so pretty!

My Little Free Library has seen quite a bit of action this past week, despite the awful rainy weather day after day. Lots of new additions, lots of books taken that had been there a while. I don’t typically take books from the LFL for my own collection… but I made an exception when a copy of a Carley Fortune book showed up over the weekend!

What will I be reading during the coming week?

Currently in my hands:

Annie Bot by Sierra Greer: My book group book for February! It grabbed my attention right from the first page, and it’s been hard to put it down. I’m close to the end — should finish up today.

Next up:

Either a book for a reading challenge, or one of my two remaining ARCs for February new releases:

Now playing via audiobook:

Equal Rites (Discworld, #3) by Terry Pratchett: I’ve had very mixed results with my forays into Discworld thus far, but I decided to give the witch books another try, after seeing strong recommendations for the audiobooks. The narrator is Indira Varma, and she’s fantastic! I’ve listened to about half so far, and it’s lots of fun.

Ongoing reads:

My book group’s classic read is Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. We’re reading and discussing two chapters per week. Progress: 34%. Up next: Chapters 18 and 19.

What will you be reading this week?

So many books, so little time…

9Feb2025

Book Review: Black Woods Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Black Woods Blue Sky
Author: Eowyn Ivey
Publisher: Random House
Publication date: February 4, 2025
Length: 320 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

Pulitzer Prize finalist and New York Times bestselling author of The Snow Child Eowyn Ivey returns to the mythical landscapes of Alaska with an unforgettable dark fairy tale that asks the question: Can love save us from ourselves?

Birdie’s keeping it together; of course she is. So she’s a little hungover, sometimes, and she has to bring her daughter, Emaleen, to her job waiting tables at an Alaskan roadside lodge, but she’s getting by as a single mother in a tough town. Still, Birdie can remember happier times from her youth, when she was free in the wilds of nature.

Arthur Neilsen, a soft-spoken and scarred recluse who appears in town only at the change of seasons, brings Emaleen back to safety when she gets lost in the woods. Most people avoid him, but to Birdie, he represents everything she’s ever longed for. She finds herself falling for Arthur and the land he knows so well.

Against the warnings of those who care about them, Birdie and Emaleen move to his isolated cabin in the mountains, on the far side of the Wolverine River.

It’s just the three of them in the vast black woods, far from roads, telephones, electricity, and outside contact, but Birdie believes she has come prepared. At first, it’s idyllic and she can picture a happily ever after: Together they catch salmon, pick berries, and climb mountains so tall it’s as if they could touch the bright blue sky. But soon Birdie discovers that Arthur is something much more mysterious and dangerous than she could have ever imagined, and that like the Alaska wilderness, a fairy tale can be as dark as it is beautiful.

Black Woods, Blue Sky is a novel with life-and-death stakes, about the love between a mother and daughter, and the allure of a wild life—about what we gain and what it might cost us.

Black Woods, Blue Sky is a creative take on motherhood and the longing for freedom, set in the remote mountains of Alaska, with a fairy tale feel that lends the story a dark, otherworldly undertone.

Birdie is a young single mother working at the bar of a roadside Alaska lodge, often drinking too much, hooking up with random men, and mostly just getting by. She’s devoted to six-year-old Emaleen, even though she sometimes leaves Emaleen sleeping alone in their cabin while she works. She’s doing the best she can, but life is hard and full of frustration. Birdie aches for something more — and daydreams about the mountain peaks she sees from the picnic table out back of the lodge.

When quiet, scarred Arthur retrieves a lost Emaleen from the woods, his gentleness and strangeness appeal to Birdie. Their talks turn into more, and eventually, Birdie and Emaleen go off to live with Arthur in his remote cabin.

It was strange, no one knowing where they were in that immense wilderness. Like free-falling.

At first, it’s perfect. The cabin is in rough shape, and Birdie delights in turning it into a home, cleaning it and making it cozy and safe for the three of them. Sure, Arthur disappears at nights and won’t talk about where he goes, but when he’s home, he’s attentive and kind, and he introduces Birdie and Emaleen to the wonders of the land, the animals, and the wildflowers that surround them.

Birdie wanted to be at ease in her own skin. She wanted to be content. All those afternoons, she’d sat on that picnic table behind the lodge and daydreamed about taking Emaleen away, across the Wolverine River, up into the mountains. Now they were here, and she should be entirely happy. But the hours were circling and meandering and bleeding into each other, and it was like the wilderness had the pull of a dangerous eddy.

Their wilderness idyll takes a dark turn eventually, and the final third of the book follows Emaleen as a college graduate, returning to Alaska for the first time in over a decade, confronting her past and coming to terms with her memories and the truth of what happened up on their mountain.

Black Woods Blue Sky is a hard book to describe. It starts slowly, but a particular revelation about a third of the way into the book takes this book in an unexpected, startling direction. Without saying more about that, all I can share is that the grit and hard work of wilderness living is interspersed with a fairy tale-like element that makes the entire story feel every-so-slightly off-kilter: We’re in our own world, but not quite.

I loved the natural setting and the author’s evocative descriptions. The writing is stellar, and made me yearn for my own little cabin in the wilderness (but perhaps with fewer deadly animals and life-threatening hazards around every turn).

It was the golden hour, the low sun casting a glow that turned the colors to richer shades — the brilliant magenta of the fireweed blossoms, the leafy green across the hayfields and the dark green of the forest with it spruce and cottonwood and birch. In the distance, the evening light brought the mountains into heightened relief so that the rock faces and ravines and jagged, snowy peaks stood out vividly. The air was warm and gentle, and everything was quiet, except for the echoing, lovely trill of the hermit thrush songbirds.

The side characters who interact with Birdie and Emaleen are a mixed bag — they’re supposed to be important to the main characters, but I didn’t always have a very good sense of who they were as individuals. Birdie is a bit of an enigma; her ache for meaning in her life and her passion for living freely are clearly shown, but it’s hard to approve of the choices she makes when they so clearly put Emaleen at risk over and over again.

Black Woods Blue Sky is fascinating and tricky and moving. It’s a book that begs to be discussed — it would make a fantastic pick for a book group book. Readers who loved The Snow Child will love this book too. Its blend of nature and fantasy, plus its focus on parents and children, is affecting and thought-provoking, and it’s a reading experience that stays with you even after reading the final pages and closing the covers.

8Feb2025

Audiobook Review: Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Impossible Creatures
Author: Katherine Rundell
Narrator: Samuel West
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication date: September 10, 2024
Print length: 352 pages
Audio length: 8 hours 55 minutes
Genre: Middle grade fantasy
Source: Library (audiobook); purchased (hardcover)
Rating:

The day Christopher saved a drowning baby griffin from a hidden lake would change his life forever. It’s the day he learned about the Archipelago, a cluster of unmapped islands where magical creatures of every kind have thrived for thousands of years—until now. And it’s the day he met Mal, a girl on the run who desperately needs his help.

Mal and Christopher embark on a wild adventure, racing from island to island, searching for someone who can explain why the magic is fading and why magical creatures are suddenly dying. They consult sphinxes, battle kraken, and negotiate with dragons. But the closer they get to the dark truth of what’s happening, the clearer it becomes: no one else can fix this. If the Archipelago is to be saved, Mal and Christopher will have to do it themselves.

Impossible Creatures generated a ton of buzz when it was released last year… and now that I’ve read it, I can happily confirm that all the praise is justified: This middle grade fantasy adventure is outstanding.

Christopher and Mal are two young heroes from two different worlds. Christopher lives in the world we know, a perfectly ordinary boy (other than his strange ability to attract animals wherever he goes). His life changes dramatically when he goes to spend a school holiday with his grandfather in Scotland. There, he discovers an opening to a secret, magical world, of which his grandfather is the guardian — a role Christopher is meant to inherit someday when he’s older.

Mal is a spunky, adventurous girl with a coat that gives her the gift of flight, outsized bravery, and an insatiable curiosity. When a stranger attacks her for seemingly no reason, she’s set on a path that leads her to Christopher. Christopher is immediately captivated by the magical world she represents, and pledges to help keep her safe, escape the bad buys, and figure out why Mal’s world (the Archipelago) seems to be losing the magic that infuses it.

As Christopher and Mal’s quest begins, they’re joined by her pet griffin, the last of its kind, as well as by a hardened sailor who’s more than what he seems and a scholar who also realizes the threat to their world. Together, they set out to save the magic and to understand Mal’s role and why dark forces seem to be aligned against her.

I’ll pause the story summary here to say that this book is glorious! The characters are wonderful — especially Christopher and Mal, who are everything we’d want in young heroes, but also the cast of humans and other creatures whom they encounter. Some are allies, some are obstacles, some are enemies, but all are created with careful detail and splendid heapings of imagination.

The quest itself follows what may feel like familiar beats, as the core group journeys from destination to destination within the Archipelago, solving riddles, finding missing objects, and carrying out difficult tasks along the route to confronting the ultimate big bad — yet the terrific writing makes it all feel fresh and fun. The quest is deliciously exciting and action-packed, but the action is never at the expense of character development. Mal and Christopher both get plenty of soul-searching and introspection along the way, as well as the opportunity to establish the deepest of friendships and to discover truths about themselves and their worlds.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by actor Samuel West (currently starring in All Creatures Great and Small as Siegfried Farnon). His voice is wonderfully suited to this tale; he fully embodies a large cast of characters, and is especially delightful as Mal, Christopher, and their protector Nighthand. I occasionally had trouble making out pieces of dialogue for certain non-human characters due to the accent and pitch of the voices used, but that was only for a fraction of the audiobook experience, and didn’t detract from the overall enjoyment at all.

A reading note: While I loved the audiobook experience, I strongly encourage anyone going that route to also follow along with a print edition. The book is filled with beautiful black and white illustrations by artist Ashley Mackenzie that add so much to the story — see below for a few examples!

Impossible Creatures is a terrific, hopeful, emotional book, and I loved every moment. A sequel, The Poisoned King, will be published later in 2025. There’s no cover yet, but I’ll be keeping an eye out for it, and I absolutely plan to read the book as soon as it’s available.

I had the pleasure of reading an earlier book by Katherine Rundell — Rooftoppers — last year, and loved it as well. This is an author to watch! I look forward to exploring more of her books, and meanwhile, will be counting the days until The Poisoned King is released.

A selection of illustrations from Impossible Creatures:

6Feb2025

Book Review: Three Days in June by Anne Tyler

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Three Days in June
Author: Anne Tyler
Publisher: Knopf
Publication date: February 11, 2025
Length: 176 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

A new Anne Tyler novel destined to be an instant classic: a socially awkward mother of the bride navigates the days before and after her daughter’s wedding.

Gail Baines is having a bad day. To start, she loses her job—or quits, depending on whom you ask. Tomorrow her daughter, Debbie, is getting married, and she hasn’t even been invited to the spa day organized by the mother of the groom. Then, Gail’s ex-husband, Max, arrives unannounced on her doorstep, carrying a cat, without a place to stay, and without even a suit.

But the true crisis lands when Debbie shares with her parents a secret she has just learned about her husband to be. It will not only throw the wedding into question but also stir up Gail and Max’s past.

Told with deep sensitivity and a tart sense of humor, full of the joys and heartbreaks of love and marriage and family life, Three Days in June is a triumph, and gives us the perennially bestselling, Pulitzer Prize–winning writer at the height of her powers

Three Days in June is a short, sharp tale of family and marriage. As the title promises, the story unfolds over three days — the days before, of, and after the main character’s daughter’s wedding. Really, all you need to know is that Three Days in June is prime Anne Tyler. If you’re a fan, you know already that you need to read this!

Gail is 61 years old, works in administration at a Baltimore private school, and has lived alone for over 20 years following her divorce. Her only child, daughter Debbie, is a 30-something lawyer about to get married. Gail is slightly befuddled by the wedding plans, which Debbie’s soon-to-be in-laws have taken charge of — combining their abundant money with copious Google searches on how to coordinate a wedding, to produce an event that’s simple yet by-the-book. Of course, it would have been nice if Gail had been invited to the Day of Beauty (not that she’d even known a Day of Beauty was a pre-wedding tradition)… but then again, would she really have wanted to be forced to socialize all day at the spa?

Sometimes when I find out what’s on other people’s minds I honestly wonder if we all live on totally separate planets.

Her work life is confusing as well. A successful staff member, or so she thought, Gail’s just learned that when her boss retires, someone else will get the job she expected to be promoted into — and what’s worse, that new person will be bringing her own staff, effectively replacing Gail entirely. When Gail’s boss tells her, as if it’s supposed to be obvious, that she lacks people skills, it throws her into a tizzy… which is compounded by the arrival of her ex-husband Max on her doorstep. Max has arrived with a foster cat and in need of a place to stay. What’s Gail to do? Determined to make the best of things for Debbie’s sake, she reluctantly lets Max into her home — and by doing so, reopens memories of their past together, and where their marriage went wrong.

Three Days in June is very much a slice of life narrative. The events portrayed are ordinary; they’re one family’s experience of a significant moment, but nothing that happens is terribly dramatic. The beauty of Three Days in June is, in fact, it’s ordinariness. Through Gail’s eyes, we see into the dynamics of a family, with its ups and downs, the relationships that change over time, the impact of divorce on a child, and the ways in which adult parents interact when they lead separate lives.

I loved the writing and the gentle storytelling in Three Days in June. Anne Tyler, as always, excels at showing the inner workings of a marriage, as the sad, complicated story of Gail and Max’s divorce unfolds, but also as we see the two of them reconnecting at this much different stage of their lives. Seeing the realizations that come with age and experience makes this book feel very relatable and real.

That’s something you forget when you’ve been on your own awhile: those married couple conversations that continue intermittently for weeks, sometimes, branching out and doubling back and looping into earlier strands like a piece of crochet work.

At a length of under 200 pages, Three Days in June is a short treat that can be read in one cozy, extended sitting. I felt that I really got to know the characters based on how they lived their lives over these three days. So many little moments ring true. It’s all quite human and lovely.

Over the course of my reading life, I’ve read many Anne Tyler books (this is her 25th novel!), although I don’t always stay on top of her new releases. (I was startled to realize that the last book I read by her, A Spool of Blue Thread, was published 7 years ago!). According to her biography, Anne Tyler is 83 years old. Clearly, she’s still going strong! Here’s to many more Anne Tyler novels yet to come!

For those who are fans, Three Days in June is obviously a must-read. For anyone new to this author, why not pick it up and give it a try? It’s a lovely example of her approach, and I’d imagine anyone reading this book as an intro to the author will be hungry for more by the time they’re done.

5Feb2025

Book Review: The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The God of the Woods
Author: Liz Moore
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Publication date: July 2, 2024
Length: 490 pages
Genre: Mystery/thriller
Source: Library
Rating:

When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide.

Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.

As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.

In The God of the Woods, an intricate timeline and multiple points of view bring to vivid life the story of missing children, a privileged family, and its influence over the working class people who depend upon them for their livelihoods.

The story opens at Camp Emerson, a summer camp located on the grounds of the Van Laar Preserve. The Van Laar family bought this vast property in the Adirondacks from loggers several generations back, and have turned it into their mountain getaway. Their huge house, named Self-Reliance, dominates the hilltop overlooking the lake; down the hill, the staff of the camp tend to the children of wealthy families each summer.

In the summer of 1975, 13-year-old Barbara Van Laar attends camp for the first time. She’s an independent-minded, punk rock-loving teen who’s happy to be out from under her parents’ control for the eight weeks of camp, and she quickly bonds with one of the other new girls in her cabin. But in August, Barbara’s counselor wakes up to discover that Barbara’s bed is empty, and fears the worst.

Fourteen years earlier, the first Van Laar child — named Peter (Peter IV, to be exact) but known as Bear, also went missing from the Van Laar Preserve and was never found, despite a huge search. Now, fears run high that the same fate has befallen Barbara, and news that a notorious serial killer has escaped prison and is on the lam in the Adirondacks only adds to the searchers’ desperation.

But there is so much more to the story than a missing person’s case. As each chapter begins, a different date is highlighted, and the narrative jumps between the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, as well as between different points in that fateful summer of 1975. The story is not told chronologically; confusing at first, but ultimately, adding to the depth of the character portrayals and giving readers plenty of clues and red herrings to chew over.

Beyond the dual mysteries surrounding Bear and Barbara, the book also is a portrait of the deep divide between haves and have-nots. The Van Laars are seemingly untouchable. They and their wealthy, powerful friends control the area, providing the only source of employment for the nearest small town since the paper factory shut down years earlier. No one can afford to get on the Van Laars’ bad side, even if it means looking away when bad things happen.

I was hesitant to pick up The God of the Woods, not sure that the genre and writing would appeal to me, based on comments I’d read here and there. I’m so glad I got past my concerns and gave it a try. After some initial struggles with the jumps between timelines, I became more comfortable with the book’s structure and ended up finding the chronology fascinating. As for the writing itself, it’s tense and illuminating, and doesn’t drag a bit — those 500 pages absolutely flew by.

With so many point-of-view characters, it may feel almost overwhelming at first to keep track of them all, but ultimately, having so many perspectives — some accurate, some not — on the events of 1975 as well as the earlier disappearance, only adds to the depth of the story. The depiction of the Van Laars and their guests, lounging about in satin pajamas even when a child goes missing, is a chilling portrait of cold power and indifference. And then there’s the setting itself, the beautiful, dangerous forests of the Adirondacks — where campers are taught to immediately sit down and start yelling if they realize they’re lost. The Van Laar home may seem luxurious and civilized, but it’s surrounded by wilderness, which ultimately holds more power than the people who come there.

My only quibble with this book is that the title seems like an odd choice to me. Yes, it’s somewhat clearer by the end, but generally speaking, it seems pretty disconnected from the overall story. On the other hand, the cover is brilliant. It’ll make more sense once you read the book!

I can’t say enough good things about The God of the Woods. By the time I passed the halfway mark, I couldn’t put it down and wanted nothing more than uninterrupted time to read straight through to the end. Don’t miss this well-written, thought-provoking, surprising, twisty book!

4Feb2025

Top Ten Tuesday: 2024 Releases I Was Excited to Read but Still Haven’t Gotten To

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 2024 Releases I Was Excited to Read but Still Haven’t Gotten To, with the added question: will you be prioritizing these this year?

This was a surprisingly tough topic. I did a pretty good job in 2024 of reading the books I was most excited about. Of the remaining 2024 releases on my TBR list, I can really only name seven that fit the excited description — the rest are maybe, someday books, but not truly high priorities.

Here are my seven books for this week’s list:

1) Floating Hotel by Grace Curtis

Synopsis: Welcome to the Grand Abeona Hotel: home of the finest food, the sweetest service, and the very best views the galaxy has to offer. All year round it moves from planet to planet, system to system, pampering guests across the furthest reaches of the milky way. The last word in sub-orbital luxury—and an absolute magnet for intrigue. Intrigues such as: Why are there love poems in the lobby inbox? How many Imperial spies are currently on board? What is the true purpose of the Problem Solver’s conference? And perhaps most pertinently—who is driving the ship?

Priority for 2025? Yes, I do really want to read this one, and I’m on my library’s hold list.

2) The Naturalist Society by Carrie Vaughn

Synopsis: In this magical tale of self-discovery from New York Times bestselling author Carrie Vaughn, a young widow taps into the power that will change the world—if the man’s world she lives in doesn’t destroy her and her newfound friends first.

Priority for 2025? Yes. I’ve enjoyed so many of this author’s books, and bought a Kindle edition as soon as it was released.

3) The Prisoner’s Throne by Holly Black

Synopsis: An imprisoned prince. A vengeful queen. And a battle that will determine the future of Elfhame... From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black comes the stunning blood-soaked conclusion to the Stolen Heir duology.

Priority for 2025? Sigh. Unlikely. The Stolen Heir didn’t wow me the way the original Elfhame trilogy did, and by the time The Prisoner’s Throne came out, I barely remembered what had happened in The Stolen Heir. I’d need to reread the first book before reading the second, and right now, that’s not something I see happening.

4) My Salty Mary by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows

Synopsis: Perfect for fans of The Princess Bride and A Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue, New York Times bestselling authors Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows are back with a fantastical, romantical, and piratical historical fantasy remix that marries the story of The Little Mermaid with the life and times of infamous lady pirate Mary Read.

Priority for 2025: Yes! Or at least, I hope so. I have two other “Mary” books to read first (My Contrary Mary and My Imaginary Mary)… but I love the sound of all three, and definitely want to make an attempt!

5) The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields

Synopsis: The Honey Witch of Innisfree can never find true love. That is her curse to bear. But when a young woman who doesn’t believe in magic arrives on her island, sparks fly in this deliciously sweet debut novel of magic, hope, and love overcoming all.

Priority for 2025? Maybe. I’m interested, and I have a copy in my Kindle library… but I can’t say that it’s a burning priority at the moment.

6) Annie Bot by Sierra Green

Synopsis: Annie Bot was created to be the perfect girlfriend for her human owner, Doug. Designed to satisfy his emotional and physical needs, she has dinner ready for him every night, wears the cute outfits he orders for her, and adjusts her libido to suit his moods. True, she’s not the greatest at keeping Doug’s place spotless, but she’s trying to please him. She’s trying hard. She’s learning, too.

Priority for 2025? This is a big of a cheat, because this is coming up for me as a book group book, so I’ll definitely be reading it!

7) Storybook Ending by Poppy Alexander

Synopsis: From the author of The Littlest Library—a heartwarming novel about a widowed children’s book author who moves into a cottage in the English countryside and finds herself face-to-face with the handsome and brooding blacksmith who lives next door.

Priority for 2025? Yes! I only came across this book late in the year, but the cover drew me in right away, and I’m looking forward to curling up with it when I’m in the mood for a cozy romance.

What 2024 releases do you still hope to read in 2025? Have you read any from my list? If so, which do you recommend?

If you wrote a TTT post, please share your link!

3Feb2025

The Monday Check-In ~ 2/3/2025

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

Life.

A much mellower week… I was still busy with work, but I also had some good down-time over the weekend. It was gray and rainy, so I couldn’t get out much… but being stuck in the house with cups of tea, cozy socks, and good books was not bad at all.

Blogging.

I hesitate to say anything — don’t want to jinx it! — but the WordPress glitch that wouldn’t save new posts correctly seems to be fixed. I’m proceeding with cautious optimism. I’ve noticed that awkward workarounds haven’t been needed this past week. Maybe it’s actually fine now??

What did I read during the last week?

The Life Impossible by Matt Haig: My book group’s January book. I enjoyed it, although not as much as some of this author’s other books. My review is here.

Close Enough to Touch by Colleen Oakley: Last week’s audiobook. It was a very engaging listen with a unique premise. The ending was a bit unsatisfying, but otherwise, I really liked it. My review is here.

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore: Twisty, complicated, excellent read! Review to follow.

Pop culture & TV:

I gobbled up season 2 of XO Kitty on Netflix — just as cute and silly as the first season, and so much fun. Netflix hasn’t confirmed a season 3 yet… but they can’t really just end things that way, can they?

Fresh Catch:

I’m listening to this as an audiobook, but a quick peek at the library showed me that the physical book is filled with amazing illustrations, so I decided to treat myself to a hardcover copy of my own. It’s really fun to follow along and look at this edition while listening to the audio.

What will I be reading during the coming week?

Currently in my hands:

I finished The God of the Woods late Sunday, and while I haven’t picked up my next book yet, it’ll likely be one of these three:

Three Days in June by Anne Tyler
Black Woods Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey
Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett

I have ARCs for these three February new releases, and I’m excited to read them all!

Now playing via audiobook:

Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell: Not only is this a terrific middle-grade fantasy/adventure, but the audiobook is narrated by Samuel West (Siegfried from All Creatures Great and Small), and he’s amazing!

Ongoing reads:

My book group’s classic read is Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. We’re reading and discussing two chapters per week. Progress: 31%. Up next: Chapters 16 and 17.

What will you be reading this week?

So many books, so little time…

31Jan2025

Audiobook Review: Close Enough to Touch by Colleen Oakley

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Close Enough to Touch
Author: Colleen Oakley
Narrators: Candace Thaxton, Kirby Heyborne, Jonathan Todd Ross
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publication date: March 7, 2017
Print length: 352 pages
Audio length: 11 hours 38 minutes
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Library
Rating:

Can you miss something you never had?

Jubilee Jenkins is no ordinary librarian. With a rare allergy to human touch, any skin-to-skin contact could literally kill her. But after retreating into solitude for nearly ten years, Jubilee’s decided to brave the world again, despite the risks. Armed with a pair of gloves, long sleeves, and her trusty bicycle, she finally ventures out the front door—and into her future.

Eric Keegan has troubles of his own. With his daughter from a failed marriage no longer speaking to him, and his brilliant, if psychologically troubled, adopted son attempting telekinesis, Eric’s struggling to figure out how his life got so off course, and how to be the dad—and man—he wants so desperately to be. So when an encounter over the check-out desk at the local library entangles his life with that of a beautiful—albeit eccentric—woman, he finds himself wanting nothing more than to be near her.

Jubilee Jenkins achieved New York Times-level fame at age six, when her rare medical condition made her an object of wonder. After years of illness and endless tests, she’s finally diagnosed with an unusual form of contact dermatitis — she’s allergic to contact with human skin. And she doesn’t just break out in hives; inadvertent or even slight contact can literally kill her. A cruel prank in high school sent her into anaphylactic shock. For Jubilee, touching is a matter of life and death.

After her mother leaves her at age seventeen, Jubilee spends the next nine years secluded in her own home. She earns an online degree, attends interesting courses, reads a ton of books, and thanks to the internet, can get anything she needs without ever venturing past her front door. But when Jubilee receives word that her mother has died, she is also told that her stepfather will no longer support her and send her the monthly allowance she’s been relying on. She’s inherited her mother’s house, but has no income. If she wants to keep the electricity on and keep herself fed, she’ll have to do the unthinkable — step outside, rejoin the world, and find a job.

A fortuitous meeting with an old classmate leads Jubilee to an opening for a circulation assistant at the local library. Battling to overcome the agoraphobia she’s developed over the years, she bicycles to work each day, wears gloves and other protective clothing to stay safe from any threat of human contact, and slowly becomes acclimated to being around other people. When a dad and his young son come to story hour one day, a new connection is established, and Jubilee starts looking forward to seeing them again.

Meanwhile, in alternating chapters, we also spend time with Eric. The divorced father of a 14-year-old girl who refuses to speak to him (or even respond to his texts), Eric meanwhile has his hands full caring for the troubled boy he adopted — the son of Eric’s best friends, who died tragically and had named him as Aja’s guardian. Eric struggles to connect with Aja and help him with his grief, but makes little headway until a dramatic encounter with Jubilee changes all of their lives.

From there, we see how Jubilee and Eric start to know one another, how she forms a bond with Aja, and how she gradually opens herself to the idea that life can change for her. It’s a painful process for her to admit that being isolated and safe isn’t the same as being happy, and it takes a monumental amount of courage for Jubilee to allow herself to dream of something more with Eric.

Close Enough to Touch has a fascinating premise that’s impossible to stop thinking about. The author’s note at the end makes clear that Jubilee’s type of allergy doesn’t actually exist… but what if it did? What kind of life could someone have when the merest touch could kill them? I was completely absorbed by Jubilee’s medical condition, the way she’d adapted her life to protect herself, and then the cautious bravery she shows in trying to change her life for the better.

The chapters from Eric’s perspective are perhaps slightly less compelling, but I did appreciate his journey with Aja. Particularly moving is his attempt to reconnect with his daughter through books; when he finds her school reading journal, he starts reading the books she describes (Twilight, The Virgin Suicides, The Notebook), hoping to find common ground or at least understand what matters to her. At first, he’s completely stumped, but conversations with Jubilee help him start to see what a young teen might find moving or inspiring or relatable. Even when his daughter seems to ignore him, the books provide a way for him to communicate to her that he cares.

The audiobook narration is mostly strong. (I was baffled to see three narrators listed; it took me a bit to realize that one must be the person who reads the sections of the Times article interspersed throughout the book). The narrator for Jubilee does a great job conveying her self-doubt, her fear, and her courage. The narrator for Eric is mostly strong, although his voice tends to get screechy when voicing Aja’s more emotional moments.

Overall, I really enjoyed Close Enough to Touch. So why did I rate it 3.5 stars and not higher? It’s the epilogue. In Close Enough to Touch, the book really kept me going all the way through and had me invested in the characters and their lives. Without getting into spoilers, all I can say about the epilogue is that it ties up the book in a very pretty, sweet bow… but skips over so much time and so many occurrences, condensing everything into this neat little wrap-up that shortchanges the characters’ journeys. It baffled me, honestly. Why not tell more of the story that comes between the final chapter and the epilogue? Instead, the books ending feels tacked-on and rushed, and left me feeling let down.

Still… with a unique, engaging premise and characters we can really care about, Close Enough to Touch provides a warm, emotional reading or listening experience. Close Enough to Touch is one of Colleen Oakley’s earlier books, and while I’m glad to have read it, I’m also happy to note that her writing and storytelling have gotten stronger and stronger.

For more by Colleen Oakley, check out my reviews of:

The Invisible Husband of Frick Island
The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise

And stay tuned — her next book, Jane and Dan at the End of the World, will be released in March 2025, and I can’t wait to read it!

30Jan2025

Book Review: The Life Impossible by Matt Haig

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Life Impossible
Author: Matt Haig
Publisher: Viking
Publication date: September 3, 2024
Length: 324 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Purchased
Rating:

The remarkable next novel from Matt Haig, the author of #1 New York Times bestseller The Midnight Library, with more than nine million copies sold worldwide

“What looks like magic is simply a part of life we don’t understand yet…”

When retired math teacher Grace Winters is left a run-down house on a Mediterranean island by a long-lost friend, curiosity gets the better of her. She arrives in Ibiza with a one-way ticket, no guidebook and no plan.

Among the rugged hills and golden beaches of the island, Grace searches for answers about her friend’s life, and how it ended. What she uncovers is stranger than she could have dreamed. But to dive into this impossible truth, Grace must first come to terms with her past.

Filled with wonder and wild adventure, this is a story of hope and the life-changing power of a new beginning.

The Life Impossible was my book group’s selection this month, which suited me just fine — since I bought a copy when it first came out and hadn’t quite gotten around to reading it yet! I’ve loved several of Matt Haig’s books, especially The Midnight Library and How to Stop Time, so I felt perfectly primed to love this one too.

However, I can’t quite say that The Life Impossible worked for me as well as the author’s other books, and it’s a bit hard to say just why.

The Life Impossible is the story of Grace Winters, a 72-year-old widow who lives a quiet, isolated life in her small bungalow in England, still grieving and guilt-stricken over the death of her young son forty years earlier. Her story unfolds in response to a letter from a former student who remembers her kindness, and in a dark phase of his life, reaches out to connect with someone who’d once seemed to care. In response, she writes back to him and sends him a manuscript — her tale of what happened to her at a time when she thought life had nothing left to offer her.

The point of life is life. All life. We need to look after each other. And when it feels like we are truly, deeply alone, that is the moment when we most need to do something in order to remember how we connect.

Grace’s life changes when she’s notified that a former colleague has left her a house in Ibiza. Grace is shocked. She remembers Christina well — a teacher whom she invited home for Christmas many years earlier and offered support to when she most needed it — but after Christina moved away, they hadn’t kept in touch. And yet, apparently Grace’s kindness stuck with Christina. Grace hasn’t been able to truly feel happiness — or really, anything at all — for many years, but lacking a reason not to go to Ibiza, decides to see if maybe a change of scenery might be a good idea.

Once there, the mystery of why Christina chose to leave the house to Grace deepens. The house itself is shabby and run down. Upon arrival, Grace learns that Christina’s death is considered suspicious by local authorities, that Christina was very involved in protesting a major hotel development that would destroy natural resources, and that she often set up a stall in the hippie market telling people’s fortunes. Grace is skeptical, especially after finding a book on Christina’s shelves about ESP, but she’s curious enough to follow Christina’s clues and seek out a strange man named Alberto who promises that she’ll soon have the answers she needs.

You see, if you want to visit a new world, you don’t need a spacecraft. All you need to do is change your mind.

What follows is a tale of wonder, as Grace encounters something from beyond this world that opens her mind in new and unexpected ways. In contrast to her old life, where she felt nothing, she begins to feel everything, finding joy in the simplest of experiences and finding connection with everyone she meets. Grace realizes that she’s been given these gifts not just for her own sake, but to continue Christina’s mission, and sets out to finish the dangerous task of protecting Ibiza from the greedy, uncaring people who’d destroy it for their own gain.

The writing in The Life Impossible is often dreamy, as Grace gives voice to the strange and unexpected sensations and visions she experiences, and ruminates on the meaning of her own life, human life in general, loss and grief, and what being connected really means. What she conveys is odd, but the writing brings us into Grace’s world and lets us see through her eyes. We’re with Grace as things beyond her belief happen, and we see how her perception of the world is dramatically shifted in ways she could never have anticipated.

People say that love is rare. I am not so sure. What is rare is something even more desirable. Understanding. There is no point in being loved if you are not understood. They are simply loving an idea of you they have in their mind. They are in love with love. They are in love with their loving. To be understood. And not only that, but to be understood and appreciated once understood. That is what matters.

Grace herself is a lovely character, as are the various people she encounters on Ibiza. It’s inspiring to read about a woman of her age and stage of life finding new hope and engagement, after so many years believing that her life was essentially over and she was just waiting for the end.

And yet… I felt oddly unaffected through major sections of the books that should have been touching. Perhaps it’s the meandering storytelling style. This is a thoughtful, reflective book, and while there are scenes and incidents that have hints of excitement or action, much of the book is devoted to exploring Grace’s inner life. It’s often interesting, but still, there are more than a few interludes where the narrative bogs down in philosophizing and the entire forward momentum of the novel grinds to a halt.

By the end, I was ready to be done — hence my not-quite-stellar 3.5 star rating. Yes, I enjoyed this book as a whole, but didn’t fall in love with it… and despite it being a relatively short book, it still felt like more than what was needed to tell this particular story. If you enjoy Matt Haig’s writing, do check out The Life Impossible! There are enough lovely elements to make it a worthwhile reading experience.

End note: There are many wonderful passages about books and reading, and I simply can’t end this review without sharing a few:

I always think that the quickest way to understand someone is to look at what’s on their bookshelves.

I suppose that is one of the purposes of all reading. It helps you live lives beyond the one you are inside. It turns our single-room mental shack into a mansion.

All reading, in short, is telepathy and all reading is time travel. It connects us to everyone and everywhere and every time and every imagined dream.

Purchase links: Amazon – Bookshop.org
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28Jan2025

Top Ten Tuesday: New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2024

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 New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2024.

I did a Top 5 Tuesday post on this same topic at the end of December… but there are so many new-to-me authors I enjoyed in 2024, so why not highlight even more? Check out my previous post, here, and don’t miss the T5T fun with Meeghan Reads!

First, here are the five new-to-me authors I features on my T5T post:

Carley Fortune — I’ve now read all three of her available novels!
Ali Brady — Same — three read, eagerly awaiting a new release!
Meg Shaffer – Read two!
Emilia Hart – Read one, waiting for her upcoming release in March
Julie Leong – Read her debut, and hope there are more books soon to come

And now, even more! Here are ten more new-to-me authors I read in 2024 — all of whom are authors whose books I’ll be looking for in the future as well: