Great follow-up to the setup of the first, and much more satisfying as a fuller novel imo. Even the more secondary characters feel believable with their own goals, even if we don't fully understand what they are yet. Emma's viewpoint is always interesting and mostly realistic without being annoying. I'm not even a cat person and I still thought that whole aspect of the plot was fun. Can't wait for more! 

So interesting to learn about a male academic's initial resistance to reading Austen wear away enough that he writes a dissertation chapter about her! I really like recognizing that after all this time, Austen's work is SO relevant and there's still so much to discuss!

I was SO against Victoria

leaving her baby and not immediately trying to find him when her life stabilized enough that she could take care of him

but this book's beautiful prose and powerful ideas redeemed it enough to be a not completely frustrating read. I think I would probably love a different book by this author...

This was SUCH an intriguing Mansfield Park modern setting. I loved seeing both of the major settings come to life so richly. Liv was a great, realistic update to the less-than-sympathetic characters of Maria and Julia. Funke was an immediately powerful heroine while still fitting the quiet Fanny mold, impressively. And it was an interesting (if dramatic) read!

The best part of this book was the realistic sister dynamic, both with the little girls and with their mother and the protagonist. However, it's hard to get into the Christmas spirit when everyone has grief over deaths and abandonments - this tiny Idaho town has had way too much tragedy, and it stopped feeling relevant when the same backstory would get told, again. And if Natalie was really always in love with her brother's best friend, why don't we see any evidence of that in backstory/memories? It's a very "tell" rather than "show" story.

This book managed to be festive without being over-the-top, which was great. The characters felt largely believable for their ages, though it would've been nice for them to have more going on in their lives besides family, friend, and relationship drama. Where are their hobbies and considerations about the future? Similarly, there were so many POV switches but all the voices sound essentially the same - we started in Quincy's perspective and I was so confused because I thought he was the female character at first since I couldn't recognize his distinct voice and the name was ambiguous. I did like it overall - though I wanted the parent characters to be more nuanced rather than making decisions and saying lines only to serve the plot.

Read in one sitting - felt like a Hallmark Christmas movie with similar shallow characters and plot. Fine for what it was, without anything especially groundbreaking. The conflicts were all too-neatly resolved, including a rushed proposal. There were some distracting typos, like spelling "Mamma Mia" two different ways in the same paragraph. 

A retired math teacher has the adventure of a lifetime when she's left a house from an old friend in Ibiza, Spain. Overall this was an interesting read without being something I'll revisit. It's fun to have a protagonist later in life for a change - less fun when she mentions her age every two seconds. The frame narrative felt unrealistic - why would she write this to a random former student? Some super poignant moments, some repetitive ones.

Light airy read - you have to accept the premise that someone would draft all their private reactions, journal entry thoughts, etc., in their work email, but once you do, it's a good time, if predictable and with a too-perfect love interest and a too-easy-to-hate ex. The side plot with Millie's parents felt super harsh and sad to me. 

This was an interesting examination of the immigrant perspective going back to a country of origin generations later, showing the differences but mainly the similarities between the life of a granddaughter to her grandmother. I didn't like that the main couples described both fell in love instantly, and sometimes the historical overtones were heavy-handed, but this was a good read overall.