I'm so glad Claudia Gray is writing for the new Star Wars canon. It did take me a part of the book to wrap my head around my memories of the now "non-canon Leia" and this new version, but I'm very pleased. I also enjoyed the secondary characters and Leia's foil, the Centrist senator Ransolm Casterfo, who was just as "correct" in his political views some ways as Leia was in her's.

My only sadness so far with the new canon is the utter lack of lightsabers thus far. I understand WHY, but I am ever hopeful Episode VIII will be cock full of my favorite weapon.
SPOILERS

Spoiler

Ben is still Ben, not Kylo Ren! This book is only five years prior to The Force Awakens, so he hasn't turned yet and is off on some sort of elusive quest with Luke. I WANT MORE. We get a little more of Han, and he and Leia are also still married, and reasonably happy. So, still no clues as to how all hell apparently broke loose.

A fun, breezy collection of summery tales from some of YA's best and most promising authors. Some selections I enjoyed more than others, and it was lovely to see a continuation of Stephanie Perkin's two character's story from [b:My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories|20309175|My True Love Gave to Me Twelve Holiday Stories|Stephanie Perkins|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1459353572s/20309175.jpg|28143699].

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

A fictional tale loosely based on Margaret Mead's time in New Guinea. Set in the 1930s, a tale of passion (educational and erotic) as well as possession and betrayal, this will be a great book to discuss in my upcoming Book to Art Club.

A short read, but chock full of beautiful imagery, difficult subjects, and burning questions.

Wow, this was a cluster of craziness. Billed as a horror/fantasy read for fans of [b:A Discovery of Witches|8667848|A Discovery of Witches (All Souls Trilogy, #1)|Deborah Harkness|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1322168805s/8667848.jpg|13190160], the premise revolves around a serial killer and a woman who are both part of a prophecy set in motion during the time before Jesus's birth. Intriguing, but the story never went "enough" in any one direction. I never quite understood the point of the prophecy, the supernatural elements weren't present enough to make them necessary, and the "horror" was just raping/slashing up random women victims as practice to the killer's ultimate goal, killing the main character to fulfill or stop the prophecy.

Also, I figured out who the serial killer was right away, and the "love story" was more scary than lovely or touching. I was compelled to finish, and the ending was creepy, so two stars instead of one!

As indicated in the title, this is the charming story of a 69 year old man who finds a charm bracelet among his deceased wife's belongings as he prepares to finally clean out her things on her one year death anniversary. Sparking a journey to discover who his wife was before they met, this story is often a bit convenient, but for those looking for a cozy mystery that celebrates family, relationships, and common human decency, this is a nice book to pick up.

I'm considering this for a future Book to Art Club selection, as I enjoyed the charm bracelet imagery and the different locations.

We pick up with the Bradford family right where we left them in book one, and while apparently the "focus" of this book is Edward, the rest of the characters have about the same amount of page time. The sheer amount of narrative shifts was enough to make me need a glass of bourbon to steady myself as I read, and some of the story lines are more preposterous than others, but still a fun, soapy, summer read.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

I never read any Lloyd Alexander as a kiddo, so thought I would try this series out because apparently Disney may be re-doing the film AND the 50th Anniversary editions are a marvel and lovely to hold in your hands.

I enjoyed the tale for the most part, but as an adult reader I found the writing very choppy and lacking on important world-building details that I personally crave. I'm going to set this series aside until I can read them aloud to my daughter.

One of NYC's finest ad executives is brought on board to launch a tourism campaign for small town Hudson Valley. A city girl through and through, Natalie soon finds herself falling for both the town, and its smokin' hot cheese maker Oscar.

It was nice to see a full figured leading lady, but some of the "big ass" jokes grew a bit tired for me by the end.

Silly, sexy, and fun. I would recommend for fans of [a:Christina Lauren|6556689|Christina Lauren|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1352246550p2/6556689.jpg].

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Wow. That was super erotic.

High drama, but with much feeling a bit contrived, Allegiant closes the Divergent series. Some lingering questions are answered, with varying satisfaction for me the reader. While I enjoy that Roth has avoided the cliche "love triangle" between Tris and Four, an inordinate amount of pages is spent with them involved in petty arguments there mainly to create tension. With much at stake, I doubt that this is really what these folks would (or should) be worrying about. When Tris and Four are solid, Roth's writing really shines.

Still not too sure how I feel about the revelations that led to the factions and Chicago being segregated from the rest of the world, but the ending did tie things up pretty neatly. Book 1 is still by far the shining star in this series.