This book came onto my radar via NetGalley. I was lucky to receive an ARC for review. Katie Beudert provided excellent southern narration that provided the perfect ambiance for a beauty pageant and murder mystery. I thought this book was a lot of fun. The characters were colorful. This is a good summer read to escape from the real world day-to-day. Read if you’re a fan of Miss Congeniality.

This illustrated chapter book was such a delight! In this meta collab between two powerhouses, fifth graders J and K go from rivals butting heads to friends who work together to win the annual writing contest. This book is insanely clever, fun for readers of all ages, and memorable. Some moments have just the right amount of cringe- other moments are surprisingly tender and kind. I loved the dialogue, the vocab infusion, the art, and the humility of it all. This is just the book I wanted to read with my elementary daughter!

Not that easy to follow along with the pictures and instructions, even with a lot of the basic sewing skills.

Pulse quickening! Mo Hayder truly out did herself with this one!

Real streak of winning books lately, absolutely incredible work on display, the large size and gorgeous illustrations really help you get lost in the paranoid, anxious, and nothing-ness of an unproductive Sunday. Firmly planted some James Brown in my ear despite being a book--also proof that you can have a protagonist that is being incredible unlikeable from start to finish and you can still see yourself in them, or maybe just seeing yourself see yourself in them. Good stuff. Been reading lots of graphic novels that are acclaimed lately that I actually don't like so it's nice to read one that WAS actually enjoyable.

It was a very detailed and amazing book with lots of twists and turns awaiting you around every bend.

This book is like a warm chocolate chip cookie- warm, sweet and brings a smile to my face! This is my favorite full-length Ali Brady book, which I listened to on audio via Libby. If you’re a fan of You’ve Got Mail and Book Lovers, read this great feel-good romance. Josie manages a literary fiction bookstore while Ryan manages a romance bookstore. The mutual owner merges the spaces and forces them to compete for the sole managerial role. Rivalry ensues and chemistry starts crackling! I enjoyed this quite a bit.

good reader, great characters both primary and secondary

At the insistence of her ex, writer Lucy Barton leaves NYC at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and moves with him to a seaside house in Maine. There they spend weeks in lockdown, visiting their children only sporadically. We see pandemic restrictions through their eyes: empty store shelves, masking, washing hands - and clothes after a trip to the grocery store - and distrust of outsiders. As weeks turn to months, each ponders their shared future, their past in NYC, and the complications and unhappy surprises as 2020 becomes 2021. Readers need not have read other Strout novels to enjoy this book, but those who have already met Lucy will appreciate this deep dive into her life.

This is the kind of book I know will have a happy ending and I like to read these in between heavier content books.