Blog Tour—Little Excavator by Anna Dewdney

Most of you know from Twitter that I have a “Little,” as I like to call him in “public.” Well, for the very first time, here I am reviewing a book I requested just for him!

Review—Difficult Women by Roxane Gay

It’s no secret that I admire Roxane Gay for her ability to write (An Untamed State broke me, and Bad Feminist was at turns funny, raw, and made me be so reflective it hurt to think). Her new collection of short stories out today, Difficult Women, shares the story of women—women too strong for life, who keep secrets, who give too much of themselves or choose to keep enough of themselves sacred and untouchable. It tells the story of women as we are—not how other people wish we would be.

Blog Tour and Review—The Shadow Hour by Melissa Grey

In Melissa Grey’s The Shadow Hour, Echo is a different person. This is to be expected after the events of The Girl at Midnight, which I discussed my love for here. But there was more to it than just a physical/metaphysical transformation. No, in this book, Echo has learned and done so much more than she wanted to.

Review—The Fifth Avenue Artists Society by Joy Callaway

The Fifth Avenue Artists Society by Joy Callaway was a lovely book. In it, Callaway manipulates the history of Virginia Lynch (whom she remakes into Virginia—Ginny—Loftin), and weaves a story as heartfelt as the novel Ginny writes, The Web.

Review—The Tumbling Turner Sisters by Juliette Fay

In Juliette Fay’s The Tumbling Turner Sisters, Gert and Winnie Turner narrate the tragedies and triumphs of their lives, and everything in between. Fay’s gorgeous prose lends itself to this touching story of the four Turner girls, their mother Ethel and father Frank, and the extended family they acquire as they take the stage during the vaudeville era.

Review—The Gallery of Lost Species by Nina Berkhout

In Nina Berkhout’s The Gallery of Lost Species, Edith Walker comes of age in the shadow of her older sister, Vivienne (Viv). Viv, whom Edith always characterizes as more talented and more beautiful, was trotted around to beauty pageants by their mother Constance, while Henry, their painter and artist father, encouraged the artistic tendencies in both of the young girls. In addition to being a pageant beauty, Viv was also an accomplished artist and painter, and Edith always felt as though her gift for collecting and categorizing items paled in the shadow of Viv’s talent.

Review—The Crown’s Game by Evelyn Skye

In this fantastical re-imagining of Russian history, Evelyn Skye places two potential Imperial Enchanters, Nikolai and Vika. Mentored from childhood, both magicians must now compete in The Crown’s Game, and find out who will become the Tsar’s Enchanter, and who will lose more than just the game.

Review—All of Us and Everything by Bridget Asher

Bridget Asher’s All of Us and Everything tells the story of Augusta Rockwell, her three daughters Liv, Ru, and Esme (and Esme’s daughter Atty), and the complicated relationship they all have not only among the four of them, but that they all have with Augusta’s husband, Nick Flemming.

Review—No One Knows by J.T. Ellison

In No One Knows by J.T. Ellison, Aubrey Hamilton must learn how to live after the mysterious disappearance and presumed death of her husband Josh. However, as in every situation involving a husband and wife, not everything is as it seems, and the truth of Josh’s disappearance—and the truth about the lives of other characters in the novel—is something, as the title says, no one knows.

Review—The Gates of Evangeline by Hester Young

In The Gates of Evangeline, Charlotte Cates puts her life back together after a divorce that left her a single mother, and after an unexpected tragedy that leaves her alone, apart from her aging grandmother that lives in an assisted living facility.