Last year, I loved reading Jenn McKinlay's 2020 novel, Paris Is Always a Good Idea. Now she has a brand new book, Summer Reading, and I was thrilled to be included in the book tour for it. With a neurodivergent heroine, a librarian hero, and a focus on family, this is a sweet and inclusive romance.... Continue Reading →
A few months ago, I reread my favorite classic novel, Jane Eyre. It's as perfect as I'd remembered, and I wanted to then explore some retellings of it. One such reimagining I was eager to read is Jane & Edward, the debut novel by Melodie Edwards. This book had been on my radar since last... Continue Reading →
One of the romances I've most been looking forward to this year has been Better Than Fiction by Alexa Martin. Although I haven't read her previous novels, this one looked adorable: A book-hater falling in love with a literal author? It doesn't get better than that! I was thrilled to get an early copy of... Continue Reading →
I always enjoy reading historical fiction about real-life figures, and especially about the people adjacent to someone more famous, so I was excited to read Godmersham Park by Gill Hornby. It follows the years that Anne Sharp worked as a governess for the Austen family at their home in Kent. While there, she met her... Continue Reading →
Earlier this year, I adored The Siren of Sussex by Mimi Matthews, the first in her Belles of London series. Ever since, I'd been looking forward to the next book, The Belle of Belgrave Square. Happily, I was able to read an advanced copy of the novel, and it not only lived up to my lofty... Continue Reading →
A few months ago, the summary of a new books caught my attention: This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub. With its focus on a father-daughter relationship, time travel, and getting more time with a loved one who is dying, I knew it was something I wanted to read as I reflect on my own dad's... Continue Reading →
In fall 2019, I read and loved Abbi Waxman's novel, The Bookish Life of Nina Hill. It was a fun read that highlighted a character I identified with in many ways. When I learned that it would have a sequel - Adult Assembly Required - I was thrilled. I was lucky to get an advanced... Continue Reading →
Two of my favorite romances in the last few years have been Emily Henry's Beach Read and People We Meet on Vacation, and I've been eagerly awaiting her third adult novel, Book Lovers. It's finally out, I tore through it, and it just may be her best book yet. Summary Two years ago, literary agent... Continue Reading →
Two years ago, Natalie Jenner released her debut novel, The Jane Austen Society. It became a bestseller, and now readers can enjoy her latest novel: Bloomsbury Girls. While it features some characters first seen in The Jane Austen Society - and references some events therein - it also works as a standalone. It's an inspiring... Continue Reading →
I've been growing more and more interested in Jasmine Guillory in the past year, and while I hadn't yet read any of her books, I was eagerly awaiting her 2022 novel, By the Book. It's the second in a multi-authored series called Meant to Be, published by Hyperion Avenue, an imprint of Disney Publishing Worldwide.... Continue Reading →
Since my husband is Peruvian, I'm always on the hunt for books set in Peru, written by Peruvian authors, and/or starring Peruvian characters. This led me to Mona by Pola Oloixarac. Although the author is Argentinian, the novel's protagonist is Peruvian. Mona was originally published in Spanish two years ago, while the English translation came... Continue Reading →
It was a full year ago when I read You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria, and I ended up really loving it. The first in her Primas of Power series, I was excited to read the second installment. Now A Lot Like Adiós is finally out, and I enjoyed it just as much as... Continue Reading →
Six months ago, I finished reading The Heiress Gets a Duke, the first in Harper St. George's Gilded Age Heiresses series. I really enjoyed it, and I was thrilled to learn that the second book in the series, The Devil and the Heiress, would be published so soon after. This followup has been one of... Continue Reading →
When The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany by Lori Nelson Spielman was selected as a November pick for Book of the Month last year, I had never heard of it. But its summary - and especially its setting - instantly drew me in. It was a bit of an impulse buy, the kind that you never... Continue Reading →
About one year ago, The Lost Book of Adana Moreau by Michael Zapata was just about to come out when I discovered it. I was immediately interested in reading this debut, especially when I saw comparisons to Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s The Shadow of the Wind. I do love books about books! Although I did buy The... Continue Reading →
It was fall 2019 when I first heard about The Ten Thousand Doors of January, the debut novel by Alix E. Harrow. It hadn't been on my radar until Book of the Month included it as a selection that September, but the book instantly captured my attention. Though it's been on my shelf for a... Continue Reading →
It's been nearly a month, but I've finally reached the end of Carlos Ruiz Zafón's Cemetery of Forgotten Books series! Following The Shadow of the Wind, The Angel's Game, and The Prisoner of Heaven, the series closes with The Labyrinth of the Spirits. At over 800 pages, this is not only the longest book in... Continue Reading →
For the past few weeks I've been working my way through the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series by the late Carlos Ruiz Zafón. Following The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel’s Game, the third novel is The Prisoner of Heaven. In contrast to the other books in the series, this one is fairly short, at only 278... Continue Reading →
I'm currently in the midst of reading Carlos Ruiz Zafón's Cemetery of Forgotten Books series. Following my reread of his beloved The Shadow of the Wind, I've now just finished the second book in the series, The Angel's Game. While it has much in common with the first book, The Angel's Game is also wholly... Continue Reading →
I first read Carlos Ruiz Zafón's The Shadow of the Wind four years ago. At the time, it felt like one of the most magical, immersive stories I'd ever read. It wasn't until a couple of years later that I found out it was the first in a series, and my mom was kind enough... Continue Reading →
I've devoted the past couple of weeks to reading Asian fantasies. Following Song of the Crimson Flower and The Night Tiger, my trilogy ends with The Library of Legends by Janie Chang. Published earlier this year, I discovered it when it was announced as a Book of the Month selection in April. Its magical description... Continue Reading →
I love it when a book not only meets your excited expectations, but actually exceeds them. That's what happened with Emily Henry's Beach Read, a sweet romance about two rival authors trading genres for a summer. Although this novel wasn't on my radar, as soon as it appeared as a pick for Book of the... Continue Reading →
I'm a sucker for a good haunted house story. While I'm a fan of horror movies in general, my favorites are always set in spooky old mansions that may or may not be inhabited by ghosts. So when I found out Riley Sager's new book would be a haunted house story, I was thrilled. I... Continue Reading →
I first came across Christine Féret-Fleury's The Girl Who Reads on the Métro while exploring a nearby Barnes & Noble. It instantly captured my imagination and drew up memories: I was once a girl on the métro (or rather, subway), reading during my morning and afternoon commutes between Queens and Brooklyn. Though I've never been... Continue Reading →
Amanda's Book Corner 