Can we get Anna and James’s novel please? What a beautiful collection of love stories that included establish couples from her former novels, as well as fun new people. Of course, Beth, Jennifer and Lincoln, and the whole plot of attachments, continues to be a favorite.

I read this aloud to the kids (ages 8 and 10). Wild I’ve read 8 of these start to finish out loud. Their reviews:

Eleanor’s review: my favorite thing was the funny parts when Peril thought about how much easier it would be to burn people. My favorite character was Moon because she seems like an all knowing wizard character.

Max’s review: I really liked it and it made me like Peril more. My favorite character was Turtle because he’s super funny and smart.

Campy fun

These books are what they are, and I enjoy the hell out of it! This series is a step above some similar ones out there. Tropes are still there (one bed) but deployed in a fun and easy way.

Solid Mystery

Audiobook on the road. I like this author and I enjoyed this book quite a bit. The mystery is pretty sound. Note, if you’re looking for fantasy romance this will start to scratch the edge, but it’s real slow burn so just recognize that you need to be there for the mystery and the plot first - which are great!

It was a legit struggle to not stay up till 3AM to finish this last night and wait until tonight. It must be my month to read uniquely written or styled novels and I’m thankful for it! This book is written as a oral history of all of the band members and their team. It’s like watching an old VH1 “behind the music” in print. This is to say I loved it. Clearly doesn’t hurt but I’m a big Fleetwood Mac fan, but even if you’ve never listened to anything from the 70s this is charming. Billy and Daisy are equal parts annoying and frustrating and magical and perfect. I found myself so invested in Karen and Graham too, and I appreciate how the author dealt with their story.

I went back-and-forth on this book, chapter to chapter and even paragraph to paragraph. It definitely had some laugh out loud moments but it’s also very much written in that snarky style that was so popular on the Internet from the late 90s until around 2010. That tracks because that’s literally what she did for a living, but it was problematic then and there’s spots in this book it’s problematic now. It has this tone of simultaneously being self deprecating but also acting above everyone. Much of the humor comes from putting down others, which still has some funny bits, but mostly comes across as really defensive. I’m 37 which puts me around 15 or so years younger than the author, and I’m sure she would say that all of my criticism is because I’m a millennial… which could be true? Mostly I got bored and got some whiplash going between chapters that were endlessly about her weight and then about feminism.

2023: just finished reading this out loud to both kids. It’s more dense and complex than most of the other fantasy novels we read together. The 10 year old followed along with no issues, and is also an avid reader of fantasy, but the eight year old struggled some. When they used language that is specific to being a trader or merchant I often found myself changing it to help ensure that my daughter understood what was happening. That said they both really enjoyed it and Eleanor reports that her favorite character is Briar because she loves plants just like him.

2019: I was a bit “too old” for these books when they came out in the 90s. When discussing the books of our youth with a friend she mentioned this series (and others by this author) as definitive in her love of fantasy and female inspiration, so obviously I had to give them a try. I think Max would love these read aloud and I’ll keep reading. Its a quick read.