January Recap

So...I don't really have a routine/schedule down yet for posting! I'm working on it...

I'm reading lots more than I review, so I decided to do a monthly recap...however, from now on, hopefully it won't be a week into the following month! Here's what I read in January:

What Happened on Fox Street by Tricia Springstubb - juvenile fiction - very good!

Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay - adult fiction - LOVED this! great choice for a book group

Happy Ever After by Nora Roberts - adult fiction - 4th in Bride Quartet series; a quick, fun read

The Good, the Bad and the Barbie: A Doll's History and Her Impact on Us by Tanya Lee Stone - juvenile nonfiction - lots of info on the history of Barbie; I had a few tiny issues, but enjoyed this. Best parts - the biography of the inventor and early history of Mattel, and the pictures of all the different Barbies.

Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen - young adult fiction - speakeasies, flappers - fabulously fun! I do feel like I should give a warning that there is a small scene with dead dogs (it came of nowhere)...which I have an issue with. But, I still recommend the book. Godbersen's Luxe series is also lots of fun. It's like Gossip Girl set in the late 1800s, only better.

No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman - juvenile fiction - Paisley's first pick

Fixing Delilah by Sarah Ockler - young adult fiction - Good, but I think I liked her Twenty Boy Summer better.

Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs - young adult fiction - on the Texas Lone Star Reading List; not my favorite, but it has been popular with teens. I will confess, the movie Splash is the standard by which I judge all other mermaid stories.

Sophie Simon Solves Them All by Lisa Graff - juvenile fiction - review here

The Confession by John Grisham - adult fiction - couldn't put this down! This is what Grisham does best, and it almost makes up for the time I spent reading Theodore Boone.

Penny Dreadful by Laurel Snyder - juvenile fiction - I absolutely loved this. Penny, when she gets bored, pulls a book off her shelf and opens it to find something to do, such as put on a puppet show. She references some of my favorite books, like The Penderwicks. And how can you not like a girl who, when seeing a girl her own age in her new neighborhood, thinks, "Maybe she was the friend of Penny's dreams, a Betsy to her Tacy." (p.106) If you get this reference, you will really love this book! And if you don't, and you are a girl, your childhood reading is lacking and you should email me so we can remedy this.

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins - young adult fiction - captures Paris so perfectly and made me want to go back!


Juliet: A Novel by Anne Fortier - adult fiction - I really wanted to like this, but when I finished, all I could think of was when Ramona gave her book report and ended with "I can't believe I read the whole thing." (Ramona Quimby, Age 8)


Maybe This Time by Jennifer Crusie - adult fiction - fun and quick - Just what I needed after the previous book.

Secondhand Charm by Julie Berry - young adult fiction - review here

Random Connection of the Month - I read the book Penny Dreadful, and then Anna and the French Kiss, which has a band in it called the Penny Dreadfuls.

Currently reading: The Candymakers by Wendy Mass and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen