I have been wanting to read this for so long because people talk about how frightening it is and hold it up as an ideal piece of gothic literature. I haven’t read a ton of gothic literature so I was really excited to finally finish this highly revered work.

And it was good and creepy. I loved Manderley, the sprawling mansion that is owned by Maxim de Winter – isn’t that just the perfect name? Mr. de Winter meets his new bride, the story’s narrator, on holiday in Monte Carlo. She is shy, inexperienced, and working as a lady’s maid for a horrible woman that is humiliating to be around. Much to the narrator’s surprise, they fall in love with each other, get married, and he whisks her off to Manderley.

Along the way, she learns minimal details about the tragic death of Rebecca, his first wife. And as soon as she walks in the doors of Manderley, she can feel Rebecca’s touch everywhere. Could she still be in the house?

This book is totally atmospheric. I could imagine myself sitting in Rebecca’s morning room and writing letters, reading the newspaper, and going over menus. I desperately want my own room like that!

This book wasn’t as terrifying as I’d hoped it would be but it was thrilling, nonetheless. It was a great read for the Halloween season!

Fangirl is a YA book that centers on identical twins, Cath and Wren. They are on their way to college and each is looking for their own unique experience. Wren wants to meet new people and date boys and go to parties – but she’s always been like that. The hard part is that Wren is so set on meeting new people that she doesn’t want to room with Cath, which leaves Cath in the roommate lottery.

Cath is a textbook introvert – she is witty and smart, but feels awkward talking to other people. She is much more comfortable in her online world where she is a famous fanfic writer. She writes about Simon Snow, which is a sort of Harry Potter-type world.

While Cath is the narrator of this story, we watch both girls find their own ways in their new lives. Cath has a couple of great love interests along the way and there are some really sweet romantic scenes that made me feel like a teenager, which was a great way to lose myself.

I had a hard time putting down this book, which hasn’t happened to me in a while. I felt transported into this world and it motivated me to read and to write more. It was just a lot of fun.

Eleanor & Park is the story of two teenagers. Eleanor is new in school, has big beautiful red hair (although, at that age, you can guess how the kids at school react to it), and has a heart breaking home life. Park has been going to this school and living in the same neighborhood all of his life. His father grew up here and is a big hulking Korean War veteran; his mom is from Korea and is a tiny, beautiful, elegant woman.

Eleanor and Park bond on the school bus over music and comic books. Slowly, each becomes the center of the other's world. You remember that feeling, right? Their minds are always on each other, and neither can really believe that the other really likes them.

If this was what the whole novel was about, it would be too mush-gushy, even for me! But Eleanor's home life is interwoven throughout this story in ways that are powerful and thought provoking. She is living with her mother and her abusive and alcoholic step-father with four siblings. All five of the children are sharing a single room with one bunkbed, which means that some kiddos are sleeping on the floor. They have no money - Eleanor's most prized possessions fit into one wooden grapefruit box, which is where she hides her life with Park.

This looks like a fat book, but you will speed right through it. Rowell is fabulous with dialogue and carries you through sweeping ideas and engages you without looking back. This book is thoroughly 80s and a mix of Pretty in Pink and The Breakfast Club - with a dash of your own first love.

The Raven Boys is something that I thought I would never read. I've seen people gushing about it on social media so my interest had been piqued, but I always thought that it wasn't really my thing. But I decided to pick it up because I wanted something light and fun - and I really enjoyed it!

The Raven Boys refers to a gaggle of high school guys that are attending a prestigious prep school in town. One of the boys is particularly interested in an obscure occult belief and the other three guys are along for the ride.

Blue Sargent is a local girl going to the public school in town. Her mother and nearly all of the women in her life are psychics or have some sort of clairvoyant power. She's always been told that if she kisses her true love, then he will die. Through strange circumstances, she becomes one of the gang on the magical quest and her own powers help the Raven Boys in unexpected ways.

There are some truly frightening scenes in this novel, so watch out! One of the things that was difficult for me is how the characters accepted the paranormal aspects of this story without question - it didn't seem very realistic to me. But I'm not a person that requires my reading to be realistic, so it wasn't a deal breaker! It's a super easy and engaging read, and by the time I was about 50% through the book, I couldn't imagine putting it down. I was left with a lot of questions, so I'm hoping that they'll be addressed in future books and that I didn't just overlook them in this one.

While I don't harbor any sincere fantasies of becoming a writer, this was still a fantastic read. Much of this book features small snippets of King's life that are written in an engaging style. I have been an off and on King reader since junior high but have never given a lot of thought to the man behind the books that caused me to run to my mom and dad's bedroom from time to time (not kidding here... I really think "It" scarred me); this gave me an opportunity to get to know him, if only slightly. The sections about writing were interesting as well, but like I said, I don't really see myself as a writer so I didn't dwell on them very long. The best parts were the ones about him, which proves one of his theses, "write what you know."

I don't tend to read books set outside of North America and I'm not sure why. I'm a social worker and am very conscientious about diversity, but if you look at my bookshelf (or even my virtual bookshelf here at LT), you'll see mostly authors from the US and Canada. After reading Half of a Yellow Sun, I'm going to be change to this. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie told such a compelling story about a part of the world and during a time that I know close to nothing about. And I believe that part of her argument in this novel was exactly that: the US and other "major" countries tend to be very ignorant about what's going on in the world and look at other countries' struggles through a very simplistic lens.returnreturnThis novel was set in Nigeria during the 60s. Because of interference by the British government, different regions of Nigeria hated each other. Southeast Nigeria seceded from the rest of the country to become the independent nation of Biafra. This book switches back and forth between very different characters and chronicles their pain and their struggles throughout the war. returnreturnI won't go into describing the characters, because you can get that from simply reading the back of the book, but there is one character that I'd like to mention. Richard is a white Englishman who has fallen in love with the country and one of it's inhabitants. He so desperately wants to be considered a Biafran, but that will never happen because of his white skin. There is one passage that really struck me, which happened right as the massacres were beginning. He was in an airport and watched the brutal murders of several people. Afterward, he realized that he was living his life the same as before and he had these thoughts (page 211 in my edition):returnreturnBut he couldn't let himself be. He didn't believe that life was the same for all the other people who had witnessed the massacres. Then he felt more frightened at the thought that perhaps he had been nothing more than a voyeur. He had not feared for his own life, so the massacres became external, outside of him; he had watched them through the detached lens of knowing he was safe. But that couldn't be; Kainene would not have been safe if she had been there.returnreturnIt was this realization that he knew he wouldn't have been hurt simply because of the color of his skin, so he couldn't be one of the people that was being targeted. He could not be an Igbo, so he would be fine. I believe this is an important part of Adichie's story: when we are not the ones being targeted, we're not as affected and we're more willing to turn a blind eye or be silent. returnreturnNow, I realize the irony of singling out the only white person in this entire story, but I think he was put in the story for that very reason - to point out that there will always be people who won't be affected by war and injustice, but that is not reason to be silent or complacent.returnreturnThis was a very powerful book and I recommend to everyone, regardless of age, sex, or nationality.

Since watching The Crown on Netflix, I have been wanting to dive into the world of the British monarchy. The best way that I know to do that is with Philippa Gregory, so I picked back up on the Tudor series with The Boleyn Inheritance. The inheritance that the title references is what was passed to Jane Boleyn - Anne Boleyn's sister in law. Jane is one of the women that gave evidence against Anne and her brother George (Jane's own husband) that led to their deaths. Jane inherited a title and a small pension, but since the death of her husband she has been living in a village and she desperately misses the court. But luckily, her conniving uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, has found a place for her with the new queen.

Henry VIII's latest wife, Jane Seymour, has died in childbirth and he is on the hunt for his latest conquest. He takes his bids and then sends an artist out to draw sketches of the top contenders so that he can make his final choice. When I type it out, this sounds like a reality show! But really, becoming the next queen of England on the Tudor court usually takes all of the feminine wiles that you see displayed on The Bachelor - and then some.

Henry surprisingly chooses Anne of Cleves - a twenty-something from Germany who is desperate to get away from her controlling and abusive brother and mother. Anne is different than the typical queen who Henry is drawn to, and their relationship is a challenge from their very first encounter.

New to Anne of Cleves' court is little Kitty Howard, a fourteen year old related to the Duke of Norfolk and Jane Boleyn. She quickly becomes a pawn in the Duke's chess game and the family once again seeks the throne. And of course, at this point Henry is nearing 50 and is no longer the handsome man that he was when he became King and married Catherine of Aragon. He stinks, literally. He has a festering wound on his leg and his teeth are rotting out of his head. He's gorged himself on whatever food he wants, so he's gained an enormous amount of weight. These women are subjected to his every whim of desire and it's how they react to it that determines their fates.

One of the things that I like about Gregory's work is that she repeats facts multiple times; normally that would drive me crazy in a book, but it's so helpful in these because the story line can quickly get confusing and it's hard to remember who's who. I have to admit that I LOVE these books. They're a bit risque, but I just fall into this opulent world of beauty and power. While these women actually led miserable and fearful lives, I do wonder what it would have been like to be dripping in pearls and diamonds and wearing the latest fashions. But I can be superficial at times. In fact, after watching The Crown and reading this, I went on a pinterest spree and pinned a ton of royal interior decorating pictures, trying to figure out how to make my house look like a palace (which is impossible).

All in all - this was very enjoyable and I intend to pick up the next in the series at the library ASAP.

This was my first Sittenfeld and I am definitely going to find more by her. It was so much fun! This is a modern adaption of Pride and Prejudice, which I usually have absolutely no interest in. P&P is too perfect and nothing could hold a candle to it. But you must read this! All of the characters are named the same and their directions in the story are exactly the same, but they are modernized in the most perfect way. Lizzie is a big shot writer and editor and Jane is a yoga instructor in New York City when they are both called home to Cincinnati due to Mr. Bennett's sudden heart attack.

All of the daughters, except for Lizzie, depend on their father's inheritance heavily to make it through life and Mrs. Bennett is desperate for at least one of her daughters to find a nice, wealthy man to marry. And when Mr. Bingley comes to town, a recent reality TV star on a show that is very much like The Bachelor, it seems like the perfect opportunity for some matchmaking. Hilarity ensues. Seriously, this was laugh out loud funny in multiple places and I am so glad that I picked this up. I was looking for a fun, light read for the holiday season, and this was perfect.

The Paris Winter by Imogen Robertson is heralded as a fast paced thriller set in Paris in 1909-1910. Maud has moved to Paris to go to art school, but she quickly realizes how expensive Paris can be. The previous winter was very difficult for her - she ate too little and used very little heat in order to save money, but this led to an illness that never quite lifted and ended up costing her even more money.

A classmate, a wealthy girl from Russia, introduces her to a kind woman at a job agency that finds the perfect solution for her: a man is looking for a companion for his younger sister. He'd like someone to help her improve her English, and stroll through the streets of Paris looking at fine art. After meeting the pair, everyone quickly agrees that this is a match made in Heaven and Maud moves into their luxuriously warm and spacious apartment. But as soon as she moves in, she realizes that things are not as they seem and she gets swept into Paris' underground world of drugs and deception.

I enjoyed this book very much. I wouldn't describe it as a fast paced thriller, but there was a bit of a mystery about it all and it did feel like something of a whirlwind. What I loved about this book was the setting. Imagine yourself in a dusty attic studying with one of the greatest art teachers of all times; sacrificing every penny that you have to ensure that you get the best possible education before setting out on your own as an artist. Imagine walking through the streets of Paris in 1910 - it would be incredible! With this book, you get a little snapshot of that life, which I fell in love with.

What is it about these kinds of books? I think I can say that I loved everything about this book – wait, probably not everything. The characters were shady and I didn’t always like them. But their shadiness is what made the book work, so I guess I can say that I liked them.

Now I want to know everything about antiques and become a dealer. I want to be an art expert and open my own gallery. This novel was so descriptive that I felt like I was in a dusty old antique shop or roaming an art gallery with Theo and his mother.

But let me back up and try to give you a brief synopsis without giving anything away. This is the story of Theo Decker, a thirteen year old New Yorker living with his beautiful mother. Theo’s mother is killed in a horrific accident in which Theo is also injured. While waiting for help, Theo connects with an old man who encourages him to find his business partner, gives him a very special ring, and tells him to take a valuable painting and keep it safe.

This painting is The Goldfinch, a small but world renowned pieced. Throughout this novel, this becomes the one tie that he is able to keep to his mother while his life spins out of control.

The characters that Tartt created are unforgettable. The fabulously rich Barbours, who take Theo in when he has no one and no way to reach his father. His father, an alcoholic, drug addicted gambler who selfishly takes Theo away from the Barbours and moves him to Vegas and subsequently neglects him. Vegas is where he meets Boris, another young boy who lost his mother to death, and lives with his father who abuses and neglects him.

Boris and Theo are trouble on wheels. They consume so much alcohol that it boggled my mind. The drugs they take set Theo up for a lifetime of addiction. I had a love/hate relationship with Boris. He seemed to genuinely care for Theo, but he certainly showed it in odd ways. But, as I said earlier, Boris is unforgettable and he is a pivotal part of Theo’s life.

Without sharing any of the harrowing details, Theo ends up back in New York and has no idea where to go. Before leaving NY, he had struck up a friendship with Hobie, the business partner of the old man who he met during the accident. Hobie is still working in the antique shop and is probably the kindest man on the face of the earth. Hobie takes him in and there he lives, learning the antiques trade while continuing to be addicted to pills.

And still, the painting is always on Theo’s mind. He is obsessed with keeping it safe; and this obsession leads him down dangerous paths and to seedy characters.

While I loved the atmosphere of this book, I did think a lot about addiction and people that have addictions. Addictions have been around for eons, but it seems particularly relevant today. The northeast is experiencing a huge heroin epidemic and New Hampshire has seen a dramatic uptick in heroin overdoses. I always welcome the opportunity to see addiction in a new light, especially when it introduces a new way of thinking about how people become addicted.

Friends, I couldn’t put this book down. It was incredible. It was life changing (dramatic? yes, but true). It swept me up into a world that I know little about and kept me there, just waiting until 8pm every day when I could visit it again.