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Continue reading →: The Witches of El Paso Has a Coven Full of… Nuns?
Authored by Luis Jaramillo; Published October 2024; Fantasy ⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️🏖️🏖️ I’m pretty sure The Witches of El Paso is the first fantasy novel that I read with a coven full of nuns. Nuns are not, I would say, the most natural friends of witches. The novel follows Marta and…
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Continue reading →: Gather Me
Authored by Glory Edim; Published October 2024; Memoir ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Just about the only nonfiction books that I read now are memoirs, and Gather Me is a perfect example of why. Glory Edim is brave and wise enough to write a vulnerable, honest recounting of her life experiences, and after reading…
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Continue reading →: Great and Precious Things is About Soulmates (Again)
Authored by Rebecca Yarros; Published 2020; Romance ⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️ It has been argued that romance novels are formulaic to the point of inducing boredom. While I don’t fully agree with that assessment for Great and Precious Things, it is certainly verging on that territory. In Great and Precious Things,…
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Continue reading →: The Mighty Red is Full of Misguided Teenagers
Authored by Louise Eldrich; Published September 2024; Fiction ⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️ I struggled with The Mighty Red the whole way through. Undeniably compelled by elements of the story, I could not help but be equally repelled by the treatment of the women in the novel and the reminder of just…
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Continue reading →: Blue Sisters is… Yes, About Sisterhood
Authored by Coco Mellors; Published May 2024; Fiction ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ When I was little, all I wanted was a sister. Plagued instead with brothers, it seemed to me that a sister would make me feel much less alone in the world. Blue Sisters proves and disproves my theory, showing both the…
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Continue reading →: The Historian Has Indiana Jones Vibes
Authored by Elizabeth Kostova; Published 2005; Horror ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️ The Historian is the Indiana Jones treatment for historians of medieval Europe. I have a hard time believing that in the real world, most academics bring stakes and silver bullets on their travels through the Balkans. The Historian follows Paul,…
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Continue reading →: Playground Will Make You Enjoy the Sea
Authored by Richard Powers; Published September 2024; Fiction ⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️🏖️🏖️ Playground drew me into the marine world. I’ve never gone scuba diving or even taken a marine biology course, but I was entranced by the many passages devoted to love of the ocean and its creatures. Playground is three…
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Continue reading →: The Lion Women of Tehran Both Inspires and Saddens
Authored by Marjan Kamali; Published July 2024; Historical Fiction ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️ Sometimes, I am amazed by the ability of novels to simultaneously bring me to tears and lift up my heart. The Lion Women of Tehran was one of those. The novel follows two Iranian women, Elaheh and Homa,…
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Continue reading →: The Silent Patient is Right on the Edge of Horror
Authored by Alex Michaelides; Published 2019; Thriller ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️🏖️ The Silent Patient forced me to wonder where exactly the line is between thriller and horror. This novel isn’t exactly full of jump scares, but I still can’t recommend listening to it while you’re at home alone. The Silent Patient…
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Continue reading →: We Solve Murders Wants You to Suspend Your Disbelief
Authored by Richard Osman; Published September 2024; Mystery ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️ We Solve Murders requires one thing of you before you pick it up: suspend your disbelief. Once you’ve accomplished this task, you’ll race through the mystery with gusto. We Solve Murders follows Amy, a bodyguard charged with guarding a…