We've been having email issues for... a year? Hopefully this gets to folks.
Time to play Review Catch Up! It's a (hopefully) fun game for you and a memory exercise for me. This edition includes reviews of Ravenous, Reap & Sow, Grim Tidings, It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Murder, and Broken Rival.
Ratings are based on whether or not I recommend them to fellow readers - DNF (Did Not Finish), Pass, YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary), Read It, Read It Soon.
Ratings are based on whether or not I recommend them to fellow readers - DNF (Did Not Finish), Pass, YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary), Read It, Read It Soon.
If you'd like to purchase a copy of this book, please consider buying locally or using this link to support the site: Amazon
A Southern small-town romance about the visibility of Black women’s voices in country music, perfect for fans of Beyonce's Cowboy Carter and The Final Revival of Opal & Nev. "The best romance I've read all year." —The New York Times Every Thursday night, former country music heartthrob Luke Randall has to sing “Another Love Song.” God, he hates that song. But performing his lone hit at an interstate motel lounge is the only regular money he still has. Following another lackluster performance at the rock bottom of his career, Luke receives the opportunity of his dreams, opening for his childhood idol—90’s era Black country music star, JoJo Lane, who’s being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. But the concert is in Arcadia, Arkansas, the small hometown he swore he’d never see again. Going back means facing a painful past of abuse and neglect. It also means facing JoJo’s daughter, August Lane—the woman who wrote the lyrics he’s always claimed as his own. August also hates that song. But she hates Luke Randall even more. When he shows up ten years too late to apologize for his betrayal, she isn’t interested in making amends. Instead, she threatens to expose his lies unless he co-writes a new song with her and performs it at the concert, something she hopes will launch her out of her mother's shadow and into a songwriting career of her own. Desperate to keep his secret, Luke agrees to put on the rogue performance, despite the risk of losing his shot at a new record deal. When Luke’s guitar reunites with August’s soulful alto, neither can deny that the passionate bond they formed as teenagers is still there. As the concert nears, August will have to choose between an overdue public reckoning with the boy who betrayed her, or trusting the man he’s become to write a different love song.
To those of you seeing this newsletter pop up in your inbox after many months, thanks for sticking with me! I re-upped my commitment to the ALA awards committee I served on last year, so I was very busy evaluating hundreds of books and not necessarily writing about them. I had less time to read in my favorite genres, and spent a lot of time reading K-comics (manhwa) to avoid my responsibilities. I also took on a larger role at work, etc. All that said, I'm love reading annual favorites lists from my reader friends, and I figured it was time to pull my own list together again.
As you may have noticed, I lost my blogging energy for several months. I became Director of a public library, signed on to an ALA awards committee and hey, my home country is in crisis. No promises going forward, but here are some overdue reviews of FIVE Red Tower romantasy series-starters I read in the last few months.
Below I talk about Games Gods Play, Bloodguard, The Last One, The Never List and The Half King. A couple of duds and three I enjoyed! I didn't make content notes as I read, but most do have darker themes or scenes.
Ratings are based on whether or not I recommend them to fellow readers - DNF (Did Not Finish), Pass, YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary), Read It, Read It Soon.
Happy September! Let's eat some apple pie and read some books.
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It's August! There are new books!
I'll be honest, everything feels like a lot right now. School is starting, my partner is starting a new job, my workplace is going through some big change, plus I'm still reeling from the latest floods.
There's a lot to be worried and angry and sad about in our personal lives and in our communities (local, national, global). If you're here in the dread and doom pool with me, I urge you to take some action. It's proven to make you feel better, which is pretty cool. I've been reading the book Bowling Alone in prep for a library event I'm running and it's got me motivated to fight this "epidemic of loneliness." The Surgeon General's report linked in that article is worth reading. This fall I'm postcarding for the Environmental Voter Project and continuing to write for Postcards to Voters, volunteering in my city, etc. Little steps.
In other news, yesterday was my wedding anniversary and we went camping with the kids. If this post doesn't make sense, it's because I managed about 3 hours of sleep and I'm in a post-s'mores energy crash. It was quite lovely to hang out with my favorite people in the woods.
Happy end of summer, friends! Enjoy the new books.
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Look, I'm sharing the July list in July! Turns out I'm capable of making links while I have COVID and can't do much else. It finally got me after 4.5 years. I resent it immensely.
Here's a list of promising-to-me books releasing in July 2024 and a couple short reviews of books I read a bit early.
Happy reading!
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Continuing our new tradition of publishing the month's TBR way after the month is over, here are some June picks that I've already read and more I'm looking forward to!
July's list should be coming soon. Hope you've been reading something great.
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If you'd like to purchase a copy of this book, please consider buying local or through this link to support the site: Amazon
