Orphaned Jane Eyre grows up in the home of her heartless aunt, enduring loneliness and cruelty. This troubled childhood strengthens Jane’s natural independence and spirit—which prove necessary when she finds employment as a governess to the young ward of the brooding Mr. Rochester. As her feelings for Rochester develop, Jane gradually uncovers Thornfield Hall’s terrible secret, forcing her to make a choice. Should she stay with Rochester and live with the consequences, or follow her convictions - even if it means leaving the man she loves? 

An other @bookishswiftiesclub January read! I loved Jane Eyre as a high schooler/early college student, and I must have read it at least five times before this. It has been ten years since my last read, so I was very glad to revisit this classic and encounter things that I didn’t glean from previous reads. In my younger years I read this more as a romance story, but now that I’m older I can also admire Bronte’s creation of a strong female protagonist searching for independence and equality in the nineteen century, and that makes me love the book all the more. At first glance Jane seems meek, but her strength and self-worth are very subtly developed throughout her formative years, so much so that the reader hardly even notices that she talks back to Rochester in a way that would have been unheard of for the era. Her character goes through real trials and triumphs, making her relatable and lovable. I also loved that Bronte creating a situation in which Jane still got her happy ending while maintaining her integrity and independence. I love the gothic, moody atmosphere of the book as well. This book is so much more than a romance, and I am so happy that I was able to enjoy it again!

Shea’s beloved Italian grandmother had a list of rules for a happy life—namely, to never accept a proposal that includes an heirloom engagement ring. So naturally, Shea panics when her fiancé John proposes with an heirloom engagement ring. She says yes, but her inherited superstitions send her on mission to meet the ring’s previous owners to make sure the ring doesn’t carry and bad vibes for her new marriage. With help from her sister and a nosy journalist, Shea’s search for answers leads her to three different countries and a history of women who had worn the ring before her. 

Thank you @netgalley for the ARC. The premise of this book was intriguing and I was excited to read it, but unfortunately I had a hard time with Shea’s attachment to her superstitions and her decision to chose those over her relationship with John so many times. This made her really difficult to relate to and unlikable for me. I also don’t appreciate stories where a character is clearly in a committed relationship and then all of a sudden a new potential love interest is thrown into the mix. I wish John had more facetime in the story as his character didn’t really seem fully developed to me and I wanted to know more about him. The story with the multiple owners of the ring was an exciting mystery at first, but then became a bit of a drag and I just wanted to know where the book was going. I do appreciate how the book ended and Shea’s introspection towards the end, but overall this just didn’t work for me.

From the roots to the crown and back to the seeds, Richard Powers’s twelfth novel unfolds in concentric rings of interlocking fables that range from antebellum New York to the late twentieth-century Timber Wars of the Pacific Northwest and beyond. There is a world alongside ours―vast, slow, interconnected, resourceful, magnificently inventive, and almost invisible to us. This is the story of a handful of people who learn how to see that world and who are drawn up into its unfolding catastrophe.

This Pulitzer Prize winner has been on my shelf for a while, and I admit I was drawn to this book by its pretty cover. The first 40% or so of the book consisted of introducing the reader to all of the different characters, and there are many. Because of this, the beginning of the book was quite slow and read like character studies. All of the characters were very multilayered and complex, and the writing was beautiful, so for me this wasn’t an issue, but if you’re a reader that needs a plot to move along quickly you’ll definitely struggle with this. The plot structure was quite unique and built over time with all of the characters’ storylines eventually converging. The book felt a bit long winded and dense at times and was a bit redundant. However it was beautifully written with a lot of poignant messages about environmentalism, conservation, activism, and resistance. I feel like I need to plant a tree or two after reading this lol. 

Mar is a nonbinary transmasculine  teen pirate hiding a magical ability to manipulate fire and ice. But their magic isn't enough to reverse a wicked bargain made by their father, and now el Diablo has come to collect his payment: the soul of Mar's father and the entire crew of their ship. When Mar is rescued an other pirate crew in the Caribbean, el Diablo returns to give them a choice: give up their soul to save their father by the harvest moon, or never see him again. Mar refuses to make a bargain, and there's no way their magic is a match for el Diablo. But Mar finds the most unlikely allies: Bas, an infuriatingly arrogant and handsome pirate and the captain's son; and Dami, a gender-fluid demonio whose motives are never quite clear. For the first time in their life, Mar may have the courage to use their magic. It could be their only redemption—or it could mean certain death.

An other @bookishswiftiesclub January read! The theme for this month was pirates and this was the YA read. This isn’t a book I would have picked up on my own, but I really enjoyed it! I listened to in on Audible and the narration was great. The story was fast paced and full of adventure. There was a lot of suspense and tension, so I had difficulty putting this. Down! Pirates, secrets, magic, action, and romance—this book has something for everyone. I also really loved Mar’s character and how they were able to come into their power. Mar was a great representative of a young nonbinary teen and I also appreciated how the characters were overall very accepting of them. I loved the diversity and found family among the whole cast of characters. This is a fun and fast story with great themes and LBGTQ+ representation. Definitely recommend! 

Dominic worked his way from foster child with nothing to Wall Street billionaire. But no matter how much he’s accumulated, it’s never enough. In his endless quest for more, he’s driven away the one person who was always there for him without even realizing it—his wife Alessandra. Tired of being the trophy wife, Alessandra asks for a divorce. But it’s not until she’s gone that Dom realizes he would do anything it takes to fight for his marriage. 

If you want to get drunk fast, read this and take a shot every time Alessandra mentions Dom’s chiseled jaw and golden blonde hair. 🥴 It was a little much for me lol. This book didn’t have the same spark or great relationship building that Huang’s other books do. I think I like the idea of second chance romances more than I do in actuality, but maybe that has something to do with the execution. At times the book felt more like a friends with benefits vibes than a marriage in crisis/second chance romance. The characters were fine, I just didn’t find myself invested in them or any other problems. Probably because Dom’s only personality traits were rich and workaholic, and Alessandra was just kind of boring. I liked the side story with Dom’s foster brother, but his story line felt like it was thrown in to make the plot more interesting and didn’t really have anything to do with the rest of the book. Overall this one just missed the mark for me. 

Elatsoe—Ellie for short—lives in an alternate contemporary America shaped by ancestral magics and knowledge of Indigenous and immigrant groups. She can raise the spirits of dead animals—most importantly, her ghost dog Kirby. When her beloved cousin dies, all signs point to a car crash, but his ghost tells Ellie otherwise: he was murdered. Who killed him and how did he die? With the help of her family, her best friend Jay, and the legend of her six great grandmother, Ellie must track down the killer and unravel the mystery of the creepy town where her cousin died and it's dark past.

This book has been on my TBR for some time, and I’m so glad I finally got to it! This was a great read to start off the year with. The best way to describe this book was like a supernatural murder mystery with a fierce teen as the lead detective, and it was so unique and engaging! I loved how Little Badger used Lipan Apache lore and traditions to inform the fantasy elements of the book. They were super unique but also didn’t feel crazy out of reach or difficult to understand. The plot was really exciting and engaging, and I didn’t want to put this book down. Such a creative story, I definitely recommend Elatsoe! Can’t wait for Little Badger’s next book that comes out in April!

Annis, sold south by the white enslaver who fathered her, is the reader’s guide through the hellscape that is slavery. Forced to walk from the Carolinas to Louisiana after she is sold, Annis turns inward, seeking comfort from memories of her mother and stories of her African warrior grandmother. Throughout her journey, she opens herself to a world beyond, one teeming with spirits. But some spirits nurture and give, while others manipulate and take. As she descends further south, what unfolds is a story of rebirth and reclamation.

Final Phyllis’s Former Students Book Club Reas of 2023! This was my first book by Ward and the writing was breathtaking. I am interested to read some of her other works as her writing is so beautiful. Some of the fantasy/magical realism elements were a little confusing to me, so at times when I was reading this book I was a bit clueless about what was happening, which spirit is which, and where the line between the present and remembering was drawn. Annis was such a strong character who ensured so much hardship, and the novel’s ending was beautifully empowering. I think I would have liked this book better if the magical realism elements were a little bit more attainable or explained a bit more clearly, but overall this was a heartbreaking and beautiful story.

Romance writer Penelope Banks can write the perfect love story, but when it comes to family, all she’s got is a rough draft. Penny shelved the idea of fitting in with her high-achieving family years ago, but when her new business venture―a romance bookstore―is at risk of closing before its doors have opened, she’s forced to ask for help from the one place she never expected. Home. Penny’s prepared for the usual Thanksgiving lineup: her perfect sister, meddling nana, matchmaking mother, and workaholic father. The guest she didn’t anticipate? Her ex-husband, Smith. After an awkward rideshare with Smith leaves Penny questioning why the romance in her life exists only in her novels, Penny adds some fiction to reality and turns her father’s colleague into the perfect fake boyfriend.

With only four days to mend damaged relationships, and her bookstore’s future at stake, all the stars must align for Penny to finally write a happily ever after for herself and her family.

Thank you @netgalley and @aka.brooke.abrams for the ARC! This was a hilarious read full of heart and family drama. I love thanksgiving so the setting during thanksgiving was very enjoyable, and with Penelope spending the first holiday at home in quite some time, it also set the scene for some hilarious and dramatic family moments. The flashbacks to past thanksgivings helped set the drama as well. Penelope was a super relatable character, striving for perfection but always falling short of both her own dreams and her family’s wishes for her. She was earnest and was able to address her own shortcomings.  I loved the reconciling that finically happened between everyone. And Nana’s character was hilarious. For as much as this book was felt with tender family moments, it was also laugh out loud funny. Quick and quirky read that I recommend! Penelope in Retrograde is available now! 

Lana Farrar is a reclusive ex–movie star and one of the most famous women in the world. Every year, she invites her closest friends to escape the English weather and spend Easter on her private Greek island. But as Lana and her friends are trapped overnight in the island cut off by a wind storm, a murder occurs, spurred on by old friendships, concealed hatred, and a desire for revenge. What follows is a game of cat and mouse―a battle of wits, full of twists and turns. 

As always I am grateful to @netgalley for the ARC! I’m sad to report I was disappointed by this book; on its own it was a good mystery but compared to the author’s other two works I found this one lacking. I still enjoyed it, but for me it was missing the twists and literary devices of The Silent Patient and the suspense and dark academia smartness of The Maidens. The characters were all flawed in their own ways and many layers of secrets were revealed throughout, which kept the reader guessing who the killer and who the victim were throughout. The setting on the private Greek island with a haunted past in the middle of a wind storm was the perfect setting for a murder mystery to unfold. If I hadn’t read Michaelides’ other works first I probably would have rated this higher, but in knowing what the author is capable of this book fell flat for me.

In an effort to save the Christmas tree farm she’s loved since she was a kid, Stella enters a contest with Instagram-famous influencer Evelyn St. James. With the added publicity and the $100,000 cash prize, Stella might just be able to save the farm from its financial woes. There’s just one problem: to make the farm seem like a romantic destination for the holidays, she lied on her application and said she owns Lovelight Farms with her boyfriend. Only…there is no boyfriend. Enter her best friend Luka. He just stopped by for some hot chocolate and somehow got a farm and a serious girlfriend in the process. But fake dating his best friend might be the best Christmas present. 

I feel like everyone is reading this book right now so I’m jumping on the bandwagon lol. This was a cute little Christmas read! The setting was so cozy and perfect for the holidays. I felt like I could perfectly picture the holiday spirit in this small town and it was adorable. Fake dating is one of my favorite troupes and it was fun to have a friends to lovers layer added to this. Luka’s character was pretty swoon-worthy and the tension between him and Stella was delicious. Sometimes Stella bothered me with her refusal to ask for or accept help, but I loved that she and Luka brought out the best in each other and she was able to open up and trust others through their relationship. Overall this was a super cute Christmasy read!