Posted on by Maureen

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

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I first read The Secret History twelve years ago when one of my very best friends from college sent me the book for my birthday. Since then, it has become one of the books I read over and over again. Recently, Audible had a sale featuring ten editors who picked ten books apiece. The Secret History was one of those books, and I was very excited about the opportunity to experience one of my favorite books in a new medium.

The Secret History is Donna Tartt’s first book. One could argue that it is a mystery, but what makes things interesting is that it is not really a whodunit. We know who killed Bunny- narrator Richard and his friends are responsible- but the mystery lies in why they felt that they had no choice but to kill Bunny. Read more

Posted on by Maureen · 1 Comment

Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll

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I first heard about Luckiest Girl Alive a couple of months ago, and I requested it from the library network. Luckiest Girl Alive, the debut effort of Jessica Knoll, seems to be one of the most popular books of the summer because I waited for over a month for my copy to arrive.

As the story begins, we are introduced to Ani FaNelli, who writes sex articles for a fictional version of Cosmopolitan. She’s engaged to the handsome son of an American blueblood family, and everything should be perfect, but it’s not. Ani has a dark side to her personality that lurks so close to the surface; the possibility of her revealing her inner monologue seems like it could happen at any point. Read more

Posted on by Maureen

Heart of Ice by Sibelle Stone

I received this book from Netgalley/the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I was not familiar with Sibelle Stone, but when I had the opportunity to read her novel Heart of Ice, I was intrigued by the premise and the combination of several genres. The story is set in 1910- in Iceland, which is rather unique. Lucinda Stafford is a young woman who is not ready to return to her home in New York. She applies for the position of governess. She has never worked as a governess before, but she had one growing up, and that’s pretty much the same thing, isn’t it? Read more

Posted on by Maureen

Little Girls by Ronald Malfi

I received this book from Netgalley/the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I was not familiar with Ronald Malfi’s work when I received the opportunity to review Little Girls, but the premise was intriguing. By the end of the book, I had become a fan and will be seeking out more of Malfi’s books.

Little Girls is the story of Laurie Genarro, who has returned to her childhood home after her father’s passing. He was an old man, but there was nothing natural about the manner in which he died. Laurie moves into the house with her husband and daughter, with the intention of preparing the old home for sale. Her father’s caretakers tell Laurie about her father’s ranting in the throes of his dementia, and she can’t help but wonder if there was any truth to his fear. What if something was trying to get into the house? Laurie is also unsettled by her daughter’s new friend; Abigail looks exactly like her own childhood friend Sadie, who died thirty years ago. Read more

Posted on by Maureen

China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan

Two years ago, I read Kevin Kwan’s debut novel, Crazy Rich Asians. It was a delightful romp through Singapore (and other locations) that featured some of the wealthiest people in the world. When I found out that a sequel was coming out, I placed a request at the library months in advance. China Rich Girlfriend arrived about a week after its release, and I was very excited about diving right into the book.

China Rich Girlfriend features an ensemble cast of characters, most of whom appeared in the first book. While there are many subplots, the main story features Rachel Chu. In the first book, she was forced to dodge accusations that she was a marrying her fiancé for his money. How could this be true when she had no idea that Nick belonged to one of Singapore’s wealthiest families? Nick’s mother Eleanor has returned, and she has managed to track down Rachel’s father. Even though Rachel and Nick are content to live typical American lives (they both work as professors), they find themselves flying to Shanghai to get to know Rachel’s father and his family. Read more

Posted on by Maureen · 2 Comments

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

Rainbow Rowell is one of my favorite authors. I first fell in love with her books when I read Fangirl, and I was equally captivated by Landline. I had purchased Attachments during an Audible sale, and I recently got around to listening to it.

Attachments is the turn of the century (1999-2000) story of a young man named Lincoln. He’s shy, and a little socially awkward, and he works in IT for a newspaper. His responsibilities include monitoring the employees’ email for anything inappropriate. The correspondence between Beth and Jennifer, two of his coworkers regularly lands in his filters. Lincoln knows that he shouldn’t continue to read the emails, and he should either report them for personal correspondence during work hours or ignore them because they aren’t actually inappropriate. But he doesn’t do either of those things- he continues to read the emails, and as he does, he realizes that he genuinely cares about what the ladies are talking about, and he begins to fall in love with Beth. Read more

Posted on by Maureen

The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

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As soon as I heard about The Royal We, I knew I wanted to read it. I submitted a request through the library network, and it arrived quickly. I started to read, and I was enjoying myself so much that I decided to use an Audible credit to purchase the audiobook version.

The Royal We is a collaborative effort from Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan, the women behind the fashion blog Go Fug Yourself. This is the story of Rebecca Porter, who is preparing for her wedding to Prince Nicholas at the beginning of the book. There is an official biography, but Bex assures us that it is highly inaccurate. She then proceeds to tell the reader the real story behind the courtship. Seven years ago, Bex was an American college student spending a semester abroad at Oxford University. She ends up living on the same hall as Prince Nicholas, third in line to the British throne. They bond over a weird American soap opera and American junk food, and they fall in love, even though neither of them intended for that to happen. Their relationship is often tumultuous, and involves an ensemble cast of characters including Bex’s twin sister Lacey, Nick’s wild brother Freddie, stuffy aristocrat Lady Bea, and more. Read more

Posted on by Maureen

Finders Keepers by Stephen King

I am a big fan of many of Stephen King’s books. I prefer the ones that are not horror stories, like 11/22/63 and novellas like The Body and Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. When Entertainment Weekly published an excerpt from King’s latest novel Finders Keepers, I knew I had to get my hands on a copy. I placed a hold through the library network, but so did 186 other people. Luckily, I stopped at the library last Friday and found the book on the special 7 Day Checkout shelf. These books can only be checked out for a week, and they can’t be renewed. I had several books in my reading queue, but I bumped Finders Keepers to the top. Thanks to my children being distracted by the video game Splatoon, and a mini road trip to the Lacrosse Jamboree an hour away, I was able to finish Finders Keepers in a couple of days.

Finders Keepers opens in 1978, with reclusive author John Rothstein’s home being invaded by three masked bandits. They are not only after his money; Morris Bellamy, the ringleader, is convinced that the aged author has a vast collection of unpublished writings. The hunch is correct- they load the Moleskine notebooks into a trunk, and Bellamy shoots Rothstein before leaving.

Thirty-five years later, a teenager named Pete Saubers discovers the trunk with the notebooks and cash. They have gone untouched for all those years because Morris Bellamy has been in prison, but for a different crime than Rothstein’s murder. But then Bellamy is released, and he goes back to his home (that the Saubers family is now living in) and when he realizes that his treasures have been stolen, he is determined to recover what (in his mind) is rightfully his, no matter the cost. Read more