Tag: fiction

Book Reviews, Fiction

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman

by Ida1 Comment on The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman

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“Reading isn’t the only thing in the world, Nina.”
“It’s one of the only five perfect things in the world.”
“And the other four are?”
“Cats, dogs, Honeycrisp apples and coffee.”

Nina is a bookworm who works in a bookstore and lives a quiet and well planned life. She has her book club, trivia team, and loyal cat, Phil. But her world gets a little chaotic once she learns of the passing of her father, a man she never but but who has named her in his will. Now, she finds herself surrounded by a family she never knew she had, and one that consists of numerous siblings and nieces and nephews. While she is content with her life just the way it is, she finds that this new concept of family is not a totally unwelcome one, as she slowly starts to get to know all the strangers that feel so very familiar. Throw a potential new love interest into the mix and Nina has to figure out how it all fits into her carefully planned schedule. Continue reading “The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman” →

Book Reviews, Fiction

The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker

by Ida4 Comments on The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker

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“Life up here may be simple but it’s not easy, and it’s not for everyone. Water runs out; pipes freeze; engines won’t start; it’s dark for eighteen, nineteen hours a day, for months. Even longer in the far north. Up here it’s about having enough food to eat, and enough heat to stay alive through the winter. It’s about survival, and enjoying the company of the people that surround us. It’s not about whose house is the biggest, or who has the nicest clothes, or the most money. We support each other because we’re all in this together.”

Calla Fletcher left the Alaskan wild at only two years old when her mother took her to Toronto, leaving behind Calla’s father and a place she could never come to call home. Twenty-four years later all Calla knows is a busy, city life, when she learns of her estranged father’s diagnosis. Soon after, she finds herself back in the small Alaskan town where she was born and braving the unfamiliar terrain in an effort to finally get to know her father. While life in Alaska is a tough adjustment for her, it is the perfect fit for Jonah – the pilot who helps run her father’s plane company – who is convinced that the city girl is not cut out for the rural life. What begins as animosity eventually turns into friendship and possibly more. But going down that road may mean repeating her parents’ mistakes. Continue reading “The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker” →

Book Reviews, Fiction

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

by Ida2 Comments on The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

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“This crusade to fix herself was ending right now. She wasn’t broken. She saw and interacted with the world in a different way, but that was her. She could change her actions, change her words, change her appearance, but she couldn’t change the root of herself.”

Wow. This book. I ended up picking up The Kiss Quotient over the weekend on a whim, and ended up with a book that I absolutely loved. We are introduced to Stella, a thirty-year-old econometrician, who works with data all day, and usually everyday because it’s something she loves and finds a great amount of comfort in. She is incredibly successful in her career but not so much in the dating department. A big factor in her struggle with intimacy and relationships is that she has autism, which impacts those interactions. Convinced that she needs lessons on how to be good at sex and relationships, she hires Michael, a male escort. The interesting proposal is something Michael can’t afford to turn down, and the two find themselves in a practice relationship. But something that starts out as a fantasy starts to feel all too real. Continue reading “The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang” →

Book Reviews, Fiction

The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen

by Ida2 Comments on The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen

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“I’m homesick all the time,” she said, still not looking at him “I just don’t know where home is. There’s this promise of happiness out there. I know it. I even feel it sometimes. But it’s like chasing the moon – just when I think I have it, it disappears into the horizon. I grieve and try to move on, but then the damn thing comes back the next night, giving me hope of catching it all over again.”

Following the death of her mother, Emily Benedict moves to Mullaby, North Carolina to live with the grandfather she never knew. In fact, her mother’s past and life in Mullaby is one big mystery to Emily and upon her arrival she gets more questions than answers. Not only are the reactions to her by the townspeople somewhat strange, but there are bizarre occurrences that show that there is more to this little town than meets the eye: Unknown lights appear in the woods behind her grandfather’s house, the wallpaper in her room changes to suit the mood, and her next door neighbour, Julia, bakes hope in the form of cakes. As Emily slowly learns the stories behind the mysteries of Mullaby, Julia has to come to terms with her own past and hopefully find a sense of home she lost so long ago.  Continue reading “The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen” →

Book Reviews, Fiction

How to Stop Time by Matt Haig

by IdaLeave a Comment on How to Stop Time by Matt Haig

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“That’s the thing with time, isn’t it? It’s not all the same. Some days – some years – some decades – are empty. There is nothing to them. It’s just flat water. And then you come across a year, or even a day, or an afternoon. And it is everything. It is the whole thing.”

Tom Hazard may look to be in his forties, however he has actually been alive for centuries, the 1500’s to be more precise. As a result of a rare condition that slows down the aging process, Tom has lived through history, from performing with Shakespeare to having cocktails with F. Scott Fitzgerald. But life has also been one of challenges, pain, love, loss, and the desire for a normal life. Tom did fall in love and have a normal life for a period of time, however his unchanging appearance brought on unwanted attention, and he had to leave it all behind. Eventually he returns to London, the city that holds all his most treasured and painful memories, and he feels the possibility of a normal life once again. However, all of this is under the watchful eye of the Albatross Society, and its shadowy leader, Hendrich, who protect people like Tom through some questionable ways. And their main rule is to never fall in love. Continue reading “How to Stop Time by Matt Haig” →