Book Review: Clover Hendry’s Day Off by Beth Morrey

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Clover Hendry’s Day Off
Author: Beth Morrey
Publisher: G. P. Putnam’s Sons
Publication date: January 30, 2024
Length: 336 pages
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

A hilarious and empowering perimenopausal Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, about Clover Hendry, 46, and the day she decides to stop keeping the plates spinning, say F@#! it all, and finally get hers.

Today is not the day to mess with Clover Hendry.

Clover hasn’t said “No” a day in her life. Until today. Normally a woman who tips her hairdresser even when the cut is hideous, is endlessly patient with her horrendous mother, and says yes every time her boss asks her to work late—today, things are going to be very different. Because Clover is taking the day off. Today, she’s going to do and say whatever she likes, even if it means her whole life unravels.

What made Clover change her ways? Why doesn’t she care anymore? There’s more to this day than meets the eye.

Clover Hendry’s Day Off is a joyful, raging, galvanizing story about putting life on pause, pleasing yourself, and getting your own back. Whatever it takes. Because when Clover stops caring, she can start living.

Cute, upbeat writing elevates this story of a 40-something-year-old woman who decides to just… be different one day.

Clover Hendry works in television, has a loving husband and twin 16-year-olds, and has never not been nice, not a single day in her life. She brings donuts to work so her underlings will like her, and does their work for them so she’s not seen as asking too much. She never objects, never confronts, never makes a fuss. She takes up as little space as possible, and manages to move through her life.

After an unexpected email sends her reeling — and after taking a couple of expired Vicodin with a chaser of Benadryl — Clover decides that she just needs a day to herself. Most importantly, she also decides that she needs a day of not worrying about everyone else.

Chaos ensues. She breaks the rules at a private social club. She doesn’t meekly give in when a group of yoga moms want her space at the park. She acts out — strongly — when an old woman at a cafe makes homophobic comments. She provokes her (admittedly awful) mother into a truly outrageous public display. And that’s only some of what Clover gets up to on her day off.

There are some very funny observations about corporate life:

There are endless echelons of MDs and CEOs, CFOs and presidents and global heads and elusive chairmen of parent corporations above me, and what unites them is that they love meetings. They live for meetings. The more obscure the point of the meeting, the better. Utterly pointless is by far the best.

Yup.

We eventually learn what sets Clover off at the start of the day, and see her take her life back from the various fears and years of put-downs that have kept her so passive and accepting of whatever comes her way. I was happy to see that her husband is not one of the bad elements in her life, and neither are her kids. It’s refreshing to see someone standing up for herself who can also appreciate the good people who have her back.

Clover Hendry’s Day Off is amusing and a quick read, and while there were parts that made me want to cheer — I mean, yes, stick it to the patriarchy!! — Clover’s actions are so over the top and often just plain mean that I couldn’t really get behind a lot of it. Yes, she gets away with it all and manages to improve her life by the end of the day, but I didn’t actually find her day believable, especially with the lack of any real consequences for the ridiculous (nasty, illegal, disrespectful) things that she does.

Overall, this wasn’t a bad read. It kept me entertained, and was easy to speed through. That’s not a rave review, I know — it was okay, not fabulous.

16Jan2024

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Goals for 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 Bookish Goals for 2024.

OK, I’m more or less repeating what I’ve written in past years. I’m not a big fan of resolutions, so let’s consider this instead that I’m setting some basic intentions. Whether or not I’ll stick to these as the year progresses remains to be seen… and I’m fine with that.

These are a few general concepts I hope to apply to my reading this year:

Read whatever I feel like. I say this every year… and every year it’s worth repeating! Other than book group reading commitments, I’m always happiest when I read without a plan. It’s a wonderful feeling!

Keep ARCS manageable. I have a lot of ARCs on my plate for books releasing in the first half of the year, but many of these are books I’d want to read no matter what. I intend to slow down my requests from this point forward — so I can get back to the point above!

Spend some time reading (or sampling) at least a few of the books/series I highlighted in my series-to-read post for this year.

Make a dent in my classic reading plans. I’ve been participating in the Classics Club spins for the past couple of years, which I love — but I have a big list of classics yet to read, and I’d like to carve out some time for at least one or two outside of the “spin cycle”.

Decide what to do with the books I’ve pulled from my shelves but haven’t yet removed from my house. I keep fantasizing about installing a Little Free Library, but I’m not sure that where I live is really conducive to having one of those. So, I need to start doing some sorting – some nicer books to try to sell, some to trade it an a used bookstore, and some to go to my library’s donation center.

Do a big audiobook reread: I’ve been planning to do audio rereads of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, and also want to do the same with the Green Creek series. Both will take a lot of time, and are probably multi-year projects. I want to at least get started in 2024.

Mostly, for 2024 and always, this pretty much sums up my attitude:

What are your bookish goals for 2024? Whatever they may be… wishing you lots of bookish delights!

15Jan2024

The Monday Check-In ~ 01/15/2024

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.

I bet y’all can relate…

I had an hour left in the audiobook I’d been listening to all week — perfect for the walk I was planning for Saturday. And then it rained… and rained… and rained. As you might know about me, I really only listen to audiobooks while driving or walking; otherwise, I get easily distracted and miss pieces of the story. In any event, when there was a brief break in the weather, I headed out for a walk, only to have the rain start up again after 20 minutes… but by then I was committed!

I finished the book, and came home absolutely soaked, with a useless broken umbrella that snapped with the first gust of wind.

But hey! I finished the book, and that’s what mattered! I came home wet but happy, and felt perfectly content snuggling into dry clothes and making myself a hot cup of tea.

What did I read during the last week?

Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett: Loved it! I think I’ll be spending my gift card balance on treating myself to hardcover editions of the two Emily Wilde books. My review is here.

Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman: Such an enjoyable audiobook. My review is here.

The Parliament by Aimee Pokwatka: Awww, cute owl! Kidding. This story of murderous owls trapping a group of adults and children inside a library is scary, powerful, and impossible to put down. My review is here.

Pop culture & TV:

I finished Crash Landing on You on Netflix… and I’m not over it! I think it’s going to take me a while before I’m recovered enough to start something new. I’ll write up some thoughts to share a bit later in the coming week.

Other than that, I’m enjoying the new season of All Creatures Great and Small, and my husband and I have just started All the Light We Cannot See — although he doesn’t like to binge, so despite there only being four episodes in all, it’ll probably take us weeks to finish.

Puzzle of the week:

It’s been a while, but I took out my puzzle table once again and did this very fun puzzle over the weekend! The puzzle was a Hanukkah gift, and I really had a good time with it:

Fresh Catch:

A few new books arrived this weeks — all books that I’d read as ARCs or library books, and loved enough to want my own copies.

What will I be reading during the coming week?

Currently in my hands:

Clover Hendry’s Day Off by Beth Morrey: I haven’t gotten far enough to have an opinion yet, but it seems like it’ll be a light and breezy read.

Also, at some point this week, I need to start my book group’s January book, since our discussion is only a week away:

Now playing via audiobook:

The Guncle by Steven Rowley: I loved the last book I read by this author (The Celebrants), and this one is off to a great start.

Ongoing reads:

My current longer-term reads:

Outlander Book Club is doing a group re-read of Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander, #2), reading and discussing two chapters per week. Coming up this week: Chapters 32 and 33 (of 49). Progress: 57%.
Daniel Deronda by George Eliot: My book group’s current classic read! We’re reading and discussing two chapters per week. We’re back starting today, after a two-week break for the holidays. Progress: 36%.

What will you be reading this week?

So many books, so little time…

14Jan2024

Book Review: The Parliament by Aimee Pokwatka

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Parliament
Author: Aimee Pokwatka
Publisher: Tordotcom
Publication date: January 16, 2024
Length: 361 pages
Genre: Horror/fantasy
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

The Birds meets The Princess Bride in this tale of friendship, responsibility, and the primal force of nature.

“Murder owls are extreme,” Jude said. “What’s more extreme than murder owls?”

Madeleine Purdy is stuck in her home town library.

When tens of thousands of owls descend on the building, rending and tearing at anyone foolish enough to step outside, Mad is tasked with keeping her students safe, and distracted, while they seek a solution to their dilemma.

Perhaps they’ll find the inspiration they seek in her favorite childhood book, The Silent Queen….

With food and fresh water in low supply, the denizens of the library will have to find a way out, and soon, but the owls don’t seem to be in a hurry to leave…

The Parliament is a story of grief and missed opportunities, but also of courage and hope.

And of extremely sharp beaks.

Awww, look at the cute owl on the cover!

Kidding. That’s a murder owl. Not cute!

And ignore what the synopsis says about The Princess Bride — that might seem to indicate that this book is full of whimsy and silliness, and it’s nothing of the sort.

Let’s get back to the murder owls.

When Mad Purdy agrees to teach a kids’ chemistry workshop — making bath bombs — as a favor to her former best friend who works at the local library in their hometown, she has no idea what she’s in for. She’s already moved away to put distance between herself and the site of her worst memories, but in the name of friendship, agrees to do this one thing.

But that one thing, meant to just be one brief event, turns into days of waking nightmares, as the library is surrounded by millions of tiny owls. Maybe one on its own is cute. This swarm is far from it, as the trapped inhabitants learn after watching the owls descend on the first person to venture outside. It isn’t pretty.

Mad expected to be in and out in one hour, boundaries firmly in place. Instead, she’s thrust into the role of protector, keeping the kids physically and emotionally safe, or as safe as they can be, given that food, water, and medicine are running out, and the outside world seems to have no clue how to rescue them.

To keep the kids distracted, Mad begins to read to them from her favorite book, The Silent Queen — which seems to show up in the library just when needed. No one has ever heard of it before, but for Mad, it was a lifesaver through the worst days of trauma during her childhood. The story of a young queen who isolates herself in a tower, but finally has to step out of her safe zone to save her people, may seem a little on the nose, but it doesn’t feel heavy-handed. The story gives the kids something to focus on, and meanwhile starts forcing Mad out of her own inner fortress.

The Parliament can be terribly frightening, and while there are several scenes of gruesome attacks when a few people are foolish enough to venture outside, much of the horror is psychological. The people inside the library are trapped, cut off (there’s no wifi or cell service, thanks to the owl swarm), and utterly reliant on one another and whatever scraps of supplies they can scavenge. Meanwhile, the few attempts at solutions that come from outside the library seem doom to failure, and worse, put the people inside the library in even greater danger.

This book is fascinating, and the story-within-a-story approach (chapters of The Silent Queen alternate with chapters focusing on the library) keeps us on the edge of our seats with both pieces of the narrative. The Silent Queen reads like a fairy tale/fantasy quest, and it’s both lovely and dramatic. The main story, within the library itself, conveys all the terror and claustrophobia of being trapped with a bunch of strangers, with a clock ticking and no rescue on the way.

Mad herself survived a terrible incident at age eleven, and that’s impacted every aspect of her life ever since. She’s taught herself a thousand useless, random tricks and survival skills, but at the expense of allowing herself to connect with others or let anyone really know her. This may make her the perfect person for helping the children in the library, but she has to get past her own trauma before she can truly start connecting with them.

My only quibble with The Parliament, and it’s a minor one, is that there are too many adult characters in the library to keep track of. We have Mad and her best friend Farrah and her former friend and love interest Nash, but there are also librarians and a book group and some seniors and, well, they start blurring together. Ultimately, I was more interested in the kids as individuals than in the glimpses we get of the adults, and so I didn’t bother trying to keep most of them straight in my mind. Like I said, this is a pretty minor issue, and ultimately didn’t keep me from being totally engrossed in the book.

Overall, The Parliament is a fascinating read, and once I started, I just couldn’t stop. The main story and the fantasy story within it work together in complicated and surprising ways, and as the tension ratchets up, I was on the edge of my seat. The author does a terrific job of keeping the action intense and frightening, while also letting us inside the characters’ experiences and providing a look at the long-lasting effects of trauma and survivor’s guilt.

Highly recommended.

13Jan2024

Audiobook Review: Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Funny You Should Ask
Author: Elissa Sussman
Narrator: Kristen Sieh
Publisher: Dell
Publication date: April 12, 2022
Print length: 352 pages
Audio length: 7 hours 52 minutes
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Library
Rating:

Then. Twentysomething writer Chani Horowitz is stuck. While her former MFA classmates are nabbing book deals, she’s in the trenches writing puff pieces. Then she’s hired to write a profile of movie star Gabe Parker. The Gabe Parker–her forever celebrity crush, the object of her fantasies, the background photo on her phone–who’s also just been cast as the new James Bond. It’s terrifying and thrilling all at once… yet if she can keep her cool and nail the piece, it could be a huge win. Gabe will get good press, and her career will skyrocket. But what comes next proves to be life-changing in ways Chani never saw coming, as the interview turns into a whirlwind weekend that has the tabloids buzzing.

Now. Ten years later, after a brutal divorce and a heavy dose of therapy, Chani is back in Los Angeles, laser-focused on one thing: her work. But she’s still spent the better part of the last decade getting asked about her deeply personal Gabe Parker profile at every turn. No matter what new essay collection or viral editorial she’s promoting, it always comes back to Gabe. So when his PR team requests that they reunite for a second interview, she wants to say no. She wants to pretend that she’s forgotten about the time they spent together, years ago. But the truth is that those seventy-two hours are still crystal clear, etched in her memory. And so… she says yes.

Chani knows that facing Gabe again also means facing feelings she’s tried so hard to push away. Alternating between their first meeting and their reunion a decade later, this deliciously irresistible novel will have you hanging on until the last word.

A restless young journalist with big dreams interviews a Hollywood heartthrob–and, ten years later, it’s clear that their time together meant more than meets the eye in this sexy, engrossing adult debut novel.

I’ve never considered myself a fan of the celebrity romance trope… but here I am, absolutely devouring my second book by Elissa Sussman, and I gotta say — it’s working for me.

In Funny You Should Ask, author Chani Horowitz gets her big break at age 26 when she’s assigned an interview with movie star Gabe Parker. He’s just been named the next James Bond, kicking off a media frenzy of negativity, and his publicists are hoping that a positive profile will turn things around. Chani has been writing about the film industry, but hasn’t really hit her stride yet, so this is an unprecedented opportunity for her. One interview turns into a weekend of movie premieres and parties, and the article she writes catapults her into the spotlight and does wonders for Gabe’s career. Yet after the two part, real-life scandals crop up, and they go their separate ways.

Ten years later, despite her success as a published non-fiction writer, Chani has never quite shaken the gossip that’s surrounded her ever since the Gabe article. And for Gabe, the ten years have brought success as Bond, a viral public downfall, rehab, and now sobriety. As his first new movie in years is about to be released, his team asks Chani to do another interview — a chance to put Gabe back in the spotlight and give him an opportunity to show who he’s become. Chani agrees, with trepidation, but is not prepared for the deluge of feelings and memories that being with Gabe again sparks.

This book has so much to love! The “then” and “now” plotlines are interwoven skillfully, so that we only see the past events in little bits and pieces, leaving the big questions about what exactly happened and what might have gone wrong unresolved until close to the end of the book. What’s clear is that Chani and Gabe connect with one another right from the start, and while she is plagued by doubts about whether he sees her as just another fawning fan, it’s obvious to readers how much more is going on between them.

Gabe is portrayed with sensitivity. He’s a gorgeous Hollywood star, but we’re shown his vulnerable side, as well as his alcoholism and the downward spiral he falls into. Chani is flawed as well — funny and talented, but quick to jump to conclusions or read a situation incorrectly. It’s lovely to see them connect, and heartbreaking to see them misread one another, time and time again.

I really enjoyed the writing, and especially the dialogue. I mean, how can you not love a book that includes lines like this:

“I thought we’d established that I’ve read everything you’ve written.”

It’s one of the hottest things anyone has ever said to me.

The romance is, of course, central to the plot, but It’s Funny You Should Ask is also both moving and keenly interesting when focusing on Chani’s writing career, the obstacles she encounters, the negativity she encounters from people who should be her biggest supporters, and the self-doubt that plagues her no matter how well her essays and books are received.

The “then” and “now” narrative is also sprinkled throughout with excerpts from Chani’s articles and blog posts, movie reviews, gossip columns, and inside-Hollywood thought pieces. These help ground the story and show how public perceptions feed into Gabe and Chani’s personal situations.

The audiobook, narrated by Kristen Sieh, is bright and engaging. It’s a fun, upbeat listen, and the narrator’s expressiveness captures the characters’ dynamics and their inner lives very well.

I picked up It’s Funny You Should Ask after listening to the author’s more recent book, Once More With Feeling, just a few months ago. It’s safe to say that I’ll be back for whatever Elissa Sussman writes next.

13Jan2024

Reading goals: Series to read in 2024

Posted in Bookish Thoughts by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Somehow, it’s already the middle of January. How did that happen! This post is maybe a little later than originally intended, but still: Happy New Year! Here’s hoping 2024 brings joy and health for one and all!

As is my annual tradition, rather than setting a bunch of reading goals that I probably won’t achieve, I prefer to focus my bookish intentions on series reading. There are so many series out there that I want to get to!

Right now, though, I’m not feeling like committing to reading any particular series from start to finish. I don’t have any in mind that I absolutely, positively want to binge my way through. But… there are a bunch that I’ve considered starting, so for 2024, I’m switching up my focus.

Instead of full-series commitment, my 2024 priorities will focus on series I’d like to start. Who knows? Maybe some will hook me right from the start and I’ll want to keep going, but at the very least, I want to give a bunch of first-in-a-series books a try. We’ll see — if I like them… I may dive in and binge to the end!

Of course, it’s still early in the year, so I may completely change my mind about some or all of these, but as of now…

My priority series to sample/binge/finish in 2024 will be:

Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery series by Mia P. Manansala: I own paperbacks of the first two books in the series, and the books as a whole come highly recommended, so I hope to at least get started!

A Stitch in Time series by Kelley Armstrong: I read the 1st book a few years ago and really liked it, but at this point, would need to start over at the beginning.

Innkeeper Chronicles or Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews: I feel like this author’s books are a gap in my fantasy reading! Both series have been recommended to me, so I may sample one or both, then see which (if either) grabs me enough to continue.

The Lady Janies series by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows: I read My Lady Jane in 2022, identified this as a series to continue in 2023, and then failed to make any progress. Hope springs eternal — maybe 2024 will be the year!

Eye of Isis by Dana Stabenow: I’m excited to read the first book in this series — Death of an Eye — with my book group next month. There are three books published so far, with a 4th in the works. If I like book 1 (and I’m confident that I will), I expect that I’ll want to keep going.

The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper: This is a repeat from 2023. I just didn’t get around to these books last year, but I still really want to. I’m thinking audio might be the way to go…

And now, all my “maybe” choices — these are all series starters that I’m interested in. Maybe I’ll get to some of these in 2024, and then maybe I’ll want to read more from the same series… or maybe not. In any case, here are the other series starters that I’m considering this year:

Something Fabulous by Alexis Hall
Pines by Blake Crouch (first in a trilogy, and I’m pretty sure I’ll want to read them all once I start)
Kitty and the Midnight Hour (Kitty Norville series, #1) by Carrie Vaughn
Green Rider by Kristen Britain
Infinity Gate by M. R. Carey
Legenborn by Tracy Deonn
Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
Arrows of the Queen by Mercedes Lackey (because I feel like I absolutely should have read the Valdemar books by now)
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky (which, yes, has been on my series-to-read list for a few years now, but I haven’t given up!)

Are you planning to start any new series this year? If you’ve read any of the series on my list for 2024, please let me know what you thought and if you have any recommendations!

10Jan2024

Book Review: Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands
Author: Heather Fawcett
Publisher: Del Rey Books
Publication date: January 16, 2024
Length: 342 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

When mysterious faeries from other realms appear at her university, curmudgeonly professor Emily Wilde must uncover their secrets before it’s too late in this heartwarming, enchanting second installment of the Emily Wilde series.

Emily Wilde is a genius scholar of faerie folklore—she just wrote the world’s first comprehensive of encylopaedia of faeries. She’s learned many of the secrets of the Hidden Folk on her adventures . . . and also from her fellow scholar and former rival, Wendell Bambleby.

Because Bambleby is more than infuriatingly charming. He’s an exiled faerie king on the run from his murderous mother, and in search of a door back to his realm. So despite Emily’s feelings for Bambleby, she’s not ready to accept his proposal of marriage. Loving one of the Fair Folk comes with secrets and danger.

And she also has a new project to focus a map of the realms of faerie. While she is preparing her research, Bambleby lands her in trouble yet again, when assassins sent by Bambleby’s mother invade Cambridge. Now Bambleby and Emily are on another adventure, this time to the picturesque Austrian Alps, where Emily believes they may find the door to Bambley’s realm, and the key to freeing him from his family’s dark plans.

But with new relationships for the prickly Emily to navigate and dangerous Folk lurking in every forest and hollow, Emily must unravel the mysterious workings of faerie doors, and of her own heart.

Emily Wilde is back! Last year’s Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries was a smash hit — it seemed like everyone was talking about it! Book #2 picks up relatively soon after the first book ended, with Emily and Wendell back in Cambridge, immersed in the world of scholarship and academic competition.

And while Emily is still herself, putting her studies above everything else, she now has Wendell to temper her scholarly obsessions. Her gorgeous Faerie king (and university colleague) is determine to keep Emily comfortable and do what he can to take care of her, even when she clearly doesn’t care much about being pampered. She does care about Wendell, though, and her qualms about accepting his marriage proposal have nothing to do with whether she loves him and everything to do with how dangerous she knows the Fae to be.

When Wendell’s life is threatened and Emily starts receiving mysterious visitations, they set off to the Alps to chase down a lead, hoping to finally locate Wendell’s missing door back to his own Faerie realm. Nothing is easy, though, and there are dangers galore… along with an interesting assortment of both adorable and hideous magical creatures.

This second book is a total delight, living up to the promise of the first and delivering a terrific mix of nerdy scholarship and enchanting magic. Emily is a wonderful main character, following her own path no matter where it takes her, never willing to compromise when a new discovery beckons. (Who knows, maybe she’ll even write a paper about it!)

The adventure is lots of fun, the writing is funny and fast-paced, and the overall atmosphere combines a throwback to Victorian times with a heaping dose of magical intrigue and dangers. I did feel that the climax and resolution of the quest came about almost too quickly, after a lengthy build-up, but I still felt satisfied and engaged when I got to the end, and will definitely be back for more.

The Emily Wilde books are oodles of fun, with terrific characters, a novel approach to storytelling, captivating magical worlds, and plenty of geeky delights. If you enjoy the fantasy genre, you’ll definitely want to check out these books.

9Jan2024

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 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 Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2024.

There are so many to choose from — but since I already featured a bunch in my winter TBR post, I’ll focus on a different set of books this week.

Here are (just some of) the books I can’t wait to read in 2024!

Listed in order of release date:

The Women by Kristin Hannah (2/6/2024)
To Woo & To Wed by Martha Waters (2/6/2024)
The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden (2/14/2024)
The Prisoner’s Throne by Holly Black (3/5/2024)
Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle (3/5/2024)
Studies at the School by the Sea by Jenny Colgan (3/26/2024)
The Princess of Las Vegas by Chris Bohjalian (3/26/2024)
The Good, the Bad, and the Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto (3/26/2024)
The Evolution of Annabel Craig by Lisa Grunwald (4/16/2024)
Funny Story by Emily Henry (4/23/2024)

What upcoming new releases are you most excited for? If you wrote a TTT post, please share your link!

8Jan2024

The Monday Check-In ~ 01/08/2024

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

Life.

Yet another ridiculously crazy workweek, during which I had my work projects on my brain pretty much every waking moment… which meant that my ability to relax and focus on books was… let’s say, strained and unreliable. I did manage to squeeze in some reading, but always in stolen moments and with my attention pretty scattered. Ugh… but at least there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, and I should get past this intense project within a few more weeks.

Other than that… it’s been quiet at the house, after our various holiday visitors headed back to their own homes. I’m trying to do a bit of cleaning and reorganizing… and yes, I’m even attempting teeny little bits of organizing when it comes to my bookshelves!

In terms of reading plans — I spent most of November and December reading randomly, according to my mood in the moment, but now that it’s January, I have (virtual) stacks of ARCs waiting to be read. Somehow, without intending to, I committed to lots of ARCs for January, February, and March, so I’m going to try my best to stay on track!

Oh, and here’s a kitty picture, just because:

I call this one “Astronaut Kitty”… but really, it’s just Benjy’s new backpack carrier, which he seems to enjoy a lot on his outings.

What did I read during the last week?

Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal: A fascinating story about mediums channeling the dead to support the British army during WWI. My review is here.

The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler: The revival of the mammoth species is at the heart of this tightly written novella. My review is here.

Get Lucky by Katherine Center: A light, enjoyable audiobook listen. My review is here.

Pop culture & TV:

I’m still watching Crash Landing on You on Netflix! Most episodes are about an hour and a half, so I’m only managing one per night. I have four left — it’s so good!

All Creatures Great and Small is back for a new season! It’s so nice to spend time with James, Helen, and the gang again.

It was very rainy over the weekend, and I was annoyed at being stuck indoors… and then decided to take my self to a movie. I ended up seeing The Color Purple, and I’m so glad I did. It’s really a terrific movie, and I appreciated the musical numbers much more than I did when I saw the stage version several years ago (which was in a theater with terrible acoustics). Has anyone else seen it yet? Here’s the trailer:

Fresh Catch:

No new books this week.

What will I be reading during the coming week?

Currently in my hands:

Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett: The follow-up to last year’s big hit, Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries. I’ve just passed the halfway point, and don’t want to put it down!

Now playing via audiobook:

Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman: This is my second audiobook by this author, and I’m loving it. I just wish I had more listening time — dying to see where the story goes!

Ongoing reads:

My current longer-term reads:

Outlander Book Club is doing a group re-read of Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander, #2), reading and discussing two chapters per week. Coming up this week: Chapters 30 and 31 (of 49). Progress: 54%.
Daniel Deronda by George Eliot: My book group’s current classic read! We’re reading and discussing two chapters per week. We’re back starting today, after a two-week break for the holidays. Progress: 34%.

What will you be reading this week?

So many books, so little time…

7Jan2024

Audiobook Review: Get Lucky by Katherine Center

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Get Lucky
Author: Katherine Center
Narrator: Morgan Hallett
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Publication date: April 6, 2010
Print length: 288 pages
Audio length: 8 hours 13 minutes
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Library
Rating:

How do you change your luck? Katherine Center’s marvelously entertaining and poignant new novel is about choosing to look for happiness—and maybe getting lucky enough to find it.

Sarah Harper isn’t sure if the stupid decisions she sometimes makes are good choices in disguise—or if they’re really just stupid. But either way, after forwarding an inappropriate email to her entire company, she suddenly finds herself out of a job.

So she goes home to Houston—and her sister, Mackie—for Thanksgiving. But before Sarah can share her troubles with her sister, she learns that Mackie has some woes of her own: After years of trying, Mackie’s given up on having a baby—and plans to sell on eBay the entire nursery she’s set up. Which gives Sarah a brilliant idea—an idea that could fix everyone’s problems. An idea that gives Sarah the chance to take care of her big sister for once—instead of the other way around.

But nothing worthwhile is ever easy. After a decade away, Sarah is forced to confront one ghost from her past after another: the father she’s lost touch with, the memories of her mother, the sweet guy she dumped horribly in high school. Soon everything that matters is on the line—and Sarah can only hope that by changing her life she has changed her luck, too.

After reading and loving Katherine Center’s five most recent novels plus one from her backlist, I decided to listen to another backlist book via audio when I stumbled across it on Hoopla. And while Get Lucky was a fun, engaging listen, it’s clear to see that this is an earlier work from an author whose books just keep getting better and better.

In Get Lucky, Houston-born Sarah is thriving at her New York ad agency. Well, okay, she got passed over for promotion in favorite of the less-qualified jerk she’d been dating… but still, her ideas have resulted in a huge campaign (more on this later) that’s getting loads of attention. Unfortunately, when an email from her sister has her spiraling in the middle of the night, she shares a link with the rest of the company (never hit Send on an all-staff email in the middle of the night!!) that’s deemed inappropriate, and she’s abruptly fired. By her jerky ex. Whose nickname is Mr. Dynamite, in case you’re wondering.

Getting fired right before Thanksgiving is not ideal, and things get worse for Sarah when she boards her flight back to Houston for the holiday and ends up seated next to her high school ex-boyfriend, who (a) has gotten incredibly hot and (b) has apparently never forgiven her for dumping him in a truly thoughtless and cruel manner (which she regrets, but of course, you can’t undo the past).

Arriving home, Sarah’s sister Mackie immediately informs her that she’s done with trying to have a baby. After yet another miscarriage related to endometriosis, Mackie is giving up on her dreams of becoming a mom. And Sarah — adrift, jobless, and without plans — has an idea. Her uterus is just fine, after all. Why not become Mackie and her husband’s gestational carrier? After a tiny pause to consider, Mackie and Clive are in, and in practically the blink of an eye, Sarah is living in Mackie’s nursery/guest room, and pregnant.

The book delves into Sarah and Mackie’s past, the death of their mother during their teen years, and how that’s affected (and continues to affect) their openness toward love, connection, and commitment. While their father continued to care for them after their loss, he was so befuddled by his own grief that his parenting was always distant and ineffectual, so the girls had to rely on one another for everything that mattered. As Sarah lives with Mackie and moves forward with the pregnancy, she also is confronted by the feelings from her past that bubble up, complicating an already complicated situation.

There’s also a love story, of sorts, which is more of a background plot thread than a front-and-center focus, which is why I wouldn’t classify this book as a romance. Sarah also deals with career choices, rebuilding a relationship with her father, and finding a new outlook on life thanks to the outrageous-but-awesome new woman in his life.

Get Lucky is enjoyable, but some elements feel especially dated or jarring, even though it was only published 13 years ago. The ad campaign launch that kicks off the story is truly atrocious — it’s a campaign for a new line of bras, and the tagline is “boob ’em”… and I won’t even go into all the ways this plays out and how awful it sounds. Later, there’s an extended plot element revolving around Sarah’s involvement with the young woman who was the ad campaign’s bra model — all of which feels unnecessary and distracting, and does nothing to move the plot forward.

Overall, I’m not sure that the story truly holds together. There are a lot of random plotlines, and Sarah’s journey sort of meanders through them all. That said, there’s also plenty of humor, some very funny dialogue, and sneaky little moments that are suddenly quite emotional and pack a punch.

Morgan Hallett’s narration is quite good, capturing Sarah’s inner voice, the zaniness of some of the side characters, and the array of voices and situations. I found this a light, entertaining listen that didn’t demand a whole lot of attention, which was perfect for my life this week.

If you’re a Katherine Center fan, or simply enjoy a sister-centric story, it’s worth checking out this backlist title.