Shelf Control #315: Happy Doomsday by David Sosnowski

Shelves final

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: Happy Doomsday
Author: David Sosnowski
Published: 2018
Length: 445 pages

What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):

The end of the world is the weirdest time to come of age.

Welcome to the end of the world. One minute, people are going about their lives, and the next—not. In the wake of the inexplicable purge, only a handful of young misfits remains.

When it all went down, “Wizard of Odd” Dev Brinkman was seeking shelter from the taunts of his classmates. Goth girl Lucy Abernathy had lost her best friend and had no clue where to turn. And Twinkie-loving quarterback “Marcus” Haddad was learning why you never discuss politics and religion in polite company—or online.

As if life when you’re sixteen isn’t confusing enough, throw in the challenges of postapocalyptic subsistence, a case of survivor’s guilt turned up to seven billion, and the small task of rebuilding humankind…

No one said doomsday would be a breeze. But for Dev, Lucy, and Marcus, the greatest hope—and greatest threat—will come when they find each other.

How and when I got it:

I picked up the Kindle edition a couple of years ago.

Why I want to read it:

This book came to my attention thanks to social media praise and a blurb by one of my favorite authors, Maria Doria Russell. Not only that, but David Sosnowski wrote one of the most inventive yet under-the-radar vampire novels I’ve read in the last 20 years (Vamped, published 2004). So how could I resist?

Now, you may be tempted to shrug and say, “seen one apocalypse novel, seen ’em all”. Fair. I do feel like I’ve read my share (and then some) of end-of-the-world books, filled with plucky survivors, weird post-apocalyptic new realities, and the fate of humanity at stake.

Still, the synopsis sounds pretty charming and funny, and — this can’t be emphasized enough — Mary Doria Russell loved it! So it must be pretty darn awesome.

What do you think? Would you read this book?

Please share your thoughts!


__________________________________

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!

Top Ten Tuesday: Authors I Haven’t Read, But Want To

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 Authors I Haven’t Read, But Want To, and I definitely have a bunch of those!

In no particular order, my list includes:

  1. Jess Kidd: I own two of this author’s books, and I’m especially interested in reading Things in Jars, but just haven’t gotten around to it yet.

2. Jesse Q. Sutanto: The “auntie” books look so cute!

3. Stacey Lee: I have one of her books, and love the sound of at least one more.

4. Mike Chen: I keep picking up Kindle books by this author because they sound so good, yet I haven’t read any of them (yet).

5. Elizabeth Acevedo: I own one of her books, and know there’s another that I need to read as well.

6. Sarah Pinsker: The sci-fi award-winning author’s books sound really intriguing to me.

7. Sarah Moss: Another author where I own one book, and have another on my wishlist.

8. Peng Shepherd: And again — I have the first book below (unread), and I’m wishing for the second.

9. Kate Quinn: I feel so behind when it comes to this author! I have copies of three of her books, and have yet to read a single one.

10. N. K. Jemisen: I’ve been wanting to read both her Broken Earth and Inheritance series, but have never quite found the right time to start.

Have you read books by any of the authors on my list? If so, which do you think I should make a priority? What authors were on your TTT list this week?

Share your links, and I’ll come check out your top 10!

Shelf Control #314: Home Baked: My Mom, Marijuana, and the Stoning of San Francisco by Alia Volz

Shelves final

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: Home Baked: My Mom, Marijuana, and the Stoning of San Francisco
Author: Alia Volz
Published: 2020
Length: 436 pages

What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):

A blazingly funny, heartfelt memoir from the daughter of the larger-than-life woman who ran Sticky Fingers Brownies, an underground bakery that distributed thousands of marijuana brownies per month and helped provide medical marijuana to AIDS patients in San Francisco—for fans of Armistead Maupin and Patricia Lockwood

During the ’70s in San Francisco, Alia’s mother ran the underground Sticky Fingers Brownies, delivering upwards of 10,000 illegal marijuana edibles per month throughout the circus-like atmosphere of a city in the throes of major change. She exchanged psychic readings with Alia’s future father, and thereafter had a partner in business and life.

Decades before cannabusiness went mainstream, when marijuana was as illicit as heroin, they ingeniously hid themselves in plain sight, parading through town—and through the scenes and upheavals of the day, from Gay Liberation to the tragedy of the Peoples Temple—in bright and elaborate outfits, the goods wrapped in hand-designed packaging and tucked into Alia’s stroller. But the stars were not aligned forever and, after leaving the city and a shoulda-seen-it-coming divorce, Alia and her mom returned to San Francisco in the mid-80s, this time using Sticky Fingers’ distribution channels to provide medical marijuana to friends and former customers now suffering the depredations of AIDS.

Exhilarating, laugh-out-loud funny, and heartbreaking, Home Baked celebrates an eccentric and remarkable extended family, taking us through love, loss, and finding home.

How and when I got it:

I picked up the Kindle edition about a year ago.

Why I want to read it:

Just last week, I mentioned that I often add non-fiction books to my shelves, yet somehow never find myself motivated to read them. And yet here I go again, featuring a non-fiction book as this week’s Shelf Control book!

This book got a lot of buzz here in San Francisco when it came out in 2020. I remember seeing not just reviews in the arts section of the paper, but also profiles, interviews, etc. And honestly, doesn’t this just sound fascinating?

San Francisco is not my hometown, but I’ve lived here since the mid-90s. Since moving here, I’ve been eager to learn more about SF’s recent and more distant history — and what better and more exciting times to read about than the 70s and 80s? The blurb mentioning Armistead Maupin (author of Tales of the City) doesn’t hurt a bit, and I’m also eager to see how this edibles business transformed into a cause supporting AIDS patients needing medical marijuana.

What do you think? Would you read this book?

Please share your thoughts!


__________________________________

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!

Shelf Control #313: The Radium Girls by Kate Moore

Shelves final

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: The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women
Author: Kate Moore
Published: 2017
Length: 404 pages

What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):

The incredible true story of the women who fought America’s Undark danger

The Curies’ newly discovered element of radium makes gleaming headlines across the nation as the fresh face of beauty, and wonder drug of the medical community. From body lotion to tonic water, the popular new element shines bright in the otherwise dark years of the First World War.

Meanwhile, hundreds of girls toil amidst the glowing dust of the radium-dial factories. The glittering chemical covers their bodies from head to toe; they light up the night like industrious fireflies. With such a coveted job, these “shining girls” are the luckiest alive—until they begin to fall mysteriously ill.

But the factories that once offered golden opportunities are now ignoring all claims of the gruesome side effects, and the women’s cries of corruption. And as the fatal poison of the radium takes hold, the brave shining girls find themselves embroiled in one of the biggest scandals of America’s early 20th century, and in a groundbreaking battle for workers’ rights that will echo for centuries to come.

Written with a sparkling voice and breakneck pace, The Radium Girls fully illuminates the inspiring young women exposed to the “wonder” substance of radium, and their awe-inspiring strength in the face of almost impossible circumstances. Their courage and tenacity led to life-changing regulations, research into nuclear bombing, and ultimately saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

How and when I got it:

I added the Kindle edition to my e-library in 2017, a few months after the book’s release.

Why I want to read it:

I’ve heard about the “radium girls” many times over the years, in the context of history websites, mentions in TV profiles, and even through a weird but amazing speculative fiction novella (The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander). The sheer horror of what these women went through is astonishing.

I’ve heard so many great things about The Radium Girls, and have been meaning to read it ever since I got a copy! Sadly, as I seem to always mention, I just don’t gravitate toward reading non-fiction — which is something I need to change. I have so many non-fiction books on my shelves that sound amazing, but I just never seem to be ready to pick them up.

Have you read or heard of The Radium Girls? Does this sound like something you’d want to read?

Please share your thoughts!


__________________________________

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!

Shelf Control #312: Howards End by E. M. Forster

Shelves final

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: Howards End
Author: E. M. Forster
Published: 1910
Length: 302 pages

What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):

A chance acquaintance brings together the preposterous bourgeois Wilcox family and the clever, cultured and idealistic Schlegel sisters. As clear-eyed Margaret develops a friendship with Mrs Wilcox, the impetuous Helen brings into their midst a young bank clerk named Leonard Bast, who lives at the edge of poverty and ruin. When Mrs Wilcox dies, her family discovers that she wants to leave her country home, Howards End, to Margaret. Thus as Forster sets in motion a chain of events that will entangle three different families, he brilliantly portrays their aspirations to personal and social harmony.

How and when I got it:

I’ve had a dusty old paperback edition on my shelves for over a decade!

Why I want to read it:

I’ve been meaning to read this book for years now. I own it because it’s part of the two-in-one edition that includes Room With A View, which I actually have read. When I decided, earlier this week, to participate in the current round of the Classics Club Spin, Howards End seemed like a great choice to include… and although I won’t be reading it for this round, I was reminded (yet again) that I do intend to read this book eventually.

My interest in Howards End was renewed when the BBC adaptation (starring Hailey Atwell and Matthew Macfadyen) aired in 2018. I enjoyed it so much that I was determined to read the book ASAP… but oh well, the best of intentions and all that.

If I don’t get to Howards End sooner, then it’ll be on my list again for the next Classics Club Spin!

Have you read Howards End? If so, did you enjoy it?

Please share your thoughts!


__________________________________

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!

Shelf Control #311: Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya

Shelves final

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: Bless Me, Ultima
Author: Rudolfo Anaya
Published: 1972
Length: 297 pages

What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):

Stories filled with wonder and the haunting beauty of his culture have helped make Rudolfo Anaya the father of Chicano literature in English, and his tales fairly shimmer with the lyric richness of his prose. Acclaimed in both Spanish and English, Anaya is perhaps best loved for his classic bestseller …

Antonio Marez is six years old when Ultima enters his life. She is a curandera, one who heals with herbs and magic. ‘We cannot let her live her last days in loneliness,’ says Antonio’s mother. ‘It is not the way of our people,’ agrees his father. And so Ultima comes to live with Antonio’s family in New Mexico. Soon Tony will journey to the threshold of manhood. Always, Ultima watches over him. She graces him with the courage to face childhood bigotry, diabolical possession, the moral collapse of his brother, and too many violent deaths. Under her wise guidance, Tony will probe the family ties that bind him, and he will find in himself the magical secrets of the pagan past—a mythic legacy equally as palpable as the Catholicism of Latin America in which he has been schooled. At each turn in his life there is Ultima who will nurture the birth of his soul. 

How and when I got it:

I bought a used paperback edition a few years ago.

Why I want to read it:

I was aware of this book for many years — yet another modern classic that somehow passed me by back in my high school and college years. Bless Me, Ultima came back to my attention in 2018 when PBS presented its The Great American Read program.

Bless Me, Ultima came in at #91 on the Great American Read list of top 100 books. (You can see the rest of the list here.) After the list came out, I set myself a very loose challenge to read more of the books on the list, with five titles as my short-term goal. Bless Me, Ultima was one of my five, but sadly, I still haven’t gotten to it.

While I wasn’t particularly familiar with the plot, I knew that this book has won awards, been targeted for censorship, and is often considered a must-read when it comes to diverse coming of age stories. For all these reasons, I’m interested in learning more about it and would like to read it… and just need to break away from my focus on new and recently published books to make time for it.

Have you read Bless Me, Ultima? If so, do you recommend it?

Please share your thoughts!


__________________________________

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!

Shelf Control #310: Early Riser by Jasper Fforde

Shelves final

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: Early Riser
Author: Jasper Fforde
Published: 2018
Length: 402 pages

What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):

Every Winter, the human population hibernates.

During those bitterly cold four months, the nation is a snow-draped landscape of desolate loneliness, and devoid of human activity.

Well, not quite.

Your name is Charlie Worthing and it’s your first season with the Winter Consuls, the committed but mildly unhinged group of misfits who are responsible for ensuring the hibernatory safe passage of the sleeping masses.

You are investigating an outbreak of viral dreams which you dismiss as nonsense; nothing more than a quirky artefact borne of the sleeping mind.

When the dreams start to kill people, it’s unsettling.

When you get the dreams too, it’s weird.

When they start to come true, you begin to doubt your sanity.

But teasing truth from Winter is never easy: You have to avoid the Villains and their penchant for murder, kidnapping and stamp collecting, ensure you aren’t eaten by Nightwalkers whose thirst for human flesh can only be satisfied by comfort food, and sidestep the increasingly less-than-mythical WinterVolk.

But so long as you remember to wrap up warmly, you’ll be fine.

How and when I got it:

According to my Kindle records, I added this book to my collection in 2019.

Why I want to read it:

I’ve only read one book by Jasper Fforde up to now: The Eyre Affair, which was weird and funny and quirky, a totally fun reading experience. I’ve always meant to read more! Somehow, I haven’t ever gotten around to continuing that series (Thursday Next), but when I first read about Early Riser back when it was released, I thought it sounded like a book for me.

I often like my science fiction books with a heaping dose of humor, and Early Riser sounds like it has plenty of silliness mixed in with a clever plot. How could this not be fun?

What do you think? Would you read this book?

Please share your thoughts!


__________________________________

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!

Shelf Control #309: The Starlit Wood edited by Dominik Parisien & Navah Wolfe

Shelves final

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: The Starlit Wood (New Fairy Tales)
Author: Dominik Parisien & Navah Wolfe (editors)
Published: 2016
Length: 400 pages

What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):

An all-new anthology of cross-genre fairy tale retellings, featuring an all-star lineup of award-winning and critically acclaimed writers.

Once upon a time. It’s how so many of our most beloved stories start.

Fairy tales have dominated our cultural imagination for centuries. From the Brothers Grimm to the Countess d’Aulnoy, from Charles Perrault to Hans Christian Anderson, storytellers have crafted all sorts of tales that have always found a place in our hearts.

Now a new generation of storytellers have taken up the mantle that the masters created and shaped their stories into something startling and electrifying.

Packed with award-winning authors, this anthology explores an array of fairy tales in startling and innovative ways, in genres and settings both traditional and unusual, including science fiction, western, and post-apocalyptic as well as traditional fantasy and contemporary horror.

From the woods to the stars, The Starlit Wood: New Fairy Tales takes readers on a journey at once unexpected and familiar, as a diverse group of writers explore some of our most beloved tales in new ways across genres and styles.

How and when I got it:

I bought a copy back in 2016.

Why I want to read it:

I originally bought this book after seeing a mention of it online, which listed the contributing authors.

According to Amazon, authors with stories in The Starlit Wood include: Charlie Jane Anders, Aliette de Bodard, Amal El-Mohtar, Jeffrey Ford, Max Gladstone, Theodora Goss, Daryl Gregory, Kat Howard, Stephen Graham Jones, Margo Lanagan, Marjorie Liu, Seanan McGuire, Garth Nix, Naomi Novik, Sofia Samatar, Karin Tidbeck, Catherynne M. Valente, and Genevieve Valentine

With a line-up like that, how could I resiste? I was especially drawn to this book because of Seanan McGuire, but there are so many other writers here whose work I love too.

As an added incentive, the editors later released another story collection, Robots vs. Fairies, which I actually read — and loved! My review of that book is here.

What do you think? Would you read this book?

Please share your thoughts!


__________________________________

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!

Shelf Control #308: Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots

Shelves final

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: Hench
Author: Natalie Zina Walschots
Published: 2020
Length: 401 pages

What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):

Anna does boring things for terrible people because even criminals need office help and she needs a job. Working for a monster lurking beneath the surface of the world isn’t glamorous. But is it really worse than working for an oil conglomerate or an insurance company? In this economy?

 As a temp, she’s just a cog in the machine. But when she finally gets a promising assignment, everything goes very wrong, and an encounter with the so-called “hero” leaves her badly injured.  And, to her horror, compared to the other bodies strewn about, she’s the lucky one.

So, of course, then she gets laid off.

With no money and no mobility, with only her anger and internet research acumen, she discovers her suffering at the hands of a hero is far from unique. When people start listening to the story that her data tells, she realizes she might not be as powerless as she thinks.

Because the key to everything is data: knowing how to collate it, how to manipulate it, and how to weaponize it. By tallying up the human cost these caped forces of nature wreak upon the world, she discovers that the line between good and evil is mostly marketing.  And with social media and viral videos, she can control that appearance.

It’s not too long before she’s employed once more, this time by one of the worst villains on earth. As she becomes an increasingly valuable lieutenant, she might just save the world.

A sharp, witty, modern debut, Hench explores the individual cost of justice through a fascinating mix of Millennial office politics, heroism measured through data science, body horror, and a profound misunderstanding of quantum mechanics. 

How and when I got it:

I won a copy in a Goodreads giveaway in 2020.

Why I want to read it:

Because I won it and I feel like I should?

One the one hand, I like the sound of the some of the more sci-fi/dystopian elements. On the other hand, I’m not always wowed by books that focus on the workworld and office frustrations. Still, the mix of both makes this book sound like it could be fun, and at the very least, pretty different from most of what I’ve been reading lately.

I’m seeing everything from 2 to 5 star ratings on Goodreads, with an average of 4.06. I’m a little concerned that some of the reader friends I tend to be most aligned with in terms of reading tastes have given this book low ratings or even DNFd it.

So, I’m seriously on the fence about this one. I do feel a certain amount of obligation when it comes to reading books I’ve won… but I suppose it’s not that important anymore, given that a year and a half have now gone by.

What do you think? Would you read this book?

Please share your thoughts!

PS – And if you’ve read Hench, please offer some opinions as well!


__________________________________

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!

Shelf Control #307: When We Were Magic by Sarah Gailey

Shelves final

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 We Were Magic
Author: Sarah Gailey
Published: 2020
Length: 352 pages

What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):

A moving, darkly funny novel about six teens whose magic goes wildly awry from Magic for Liars author Sarah Gailey, who Chuck Wendig calls an “author to watch.”

Keeping your magic a secret is hard. Being in love with your best friend is harder.

Alexis has always been able to rely on two things: her best friends, and the magic powers they all share. Their secret is what brought them together, and their love for each other is unshakeable—even when that love is complicated. Complicated by problems like jealousy, or insecurity, or lust. Or love.

That unshakeable, complicated love is one of the only things that doesn’t change on prom night.

When accidental magic goes sideways and a boy winds up dead, Alexis and her friends come together to try to right a terrible wrong. Their first attempt fails—and their second attempt fails even harder. Left with the remains of their failed spells and more consequences than anyone could have predicted, each of them must find a way to live with their part of the story.

How and when I got it:

I bought the hardcover as soon as it was released.

Why I want to read it:

Um… because it’s by Sarah Gailey?

Seriously, ever since this author’s first American Hippo book (River of Teeth) came out in 2017, I knew they were an author for me! The hippo books were weird and wonderful in all the right ways, and since then, I’ve read and loved three other books by this author (Magic for Liars, The Echo Wife, and Upright Women Wanted).

So why haven’t I read When We Were Magic yet? No idea and no good excuse, other than the usual “my bookshelves are overflowing and I have a thousand ARCs to read and HELP” refrain. I just haven’t picked this book up to read yet, and I’m mad at myself for taking so long, because I know I want to read it!

Beyond the author, I just really like the synopsis — teens and witchcraft and friendship and love. What’s not to like?

One of the reasons I picked this book for this’s week Shelf Control post is just to remind myself that it’s about time to finally get to it.

What do you think? Would you read this book?

Please share your thoughts!


__________________________________

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!