Author: The Novel Girl

Milk and Honey

Posted on by The Novel Girl

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Author: Rupi Kaur

Genre: Poetry

Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing

Pages: 204

 

This book of poetry is written around the central theme of survival. It is about surviving pain, loss, violence, hurt, and abuse and healing from it. It is divided in to four different parts: hurting loving, breaking, and healing. Each chapter is meant to help the reader on a different part of their path and pain.

I decided to start the new year off with a lovely book of women’s poetry. There were many poems in this little book that I could really relate to. It was raw, real, and emotional. Much of it is not poetry in the traditional sense that you would expect when picking up a book of poetry, but it is beautiful nonetheless. If it is what you are needing at the time, it has the capacity to tear you apart and put you back together again.

2016 Wrap-Up!! Best of….

Posted on by The Novel Girl

As we say goodbye to 2016, and usher in 2017, I can honestly say that it has been a good year in the book world! We have had some amazing books published this year, and some awesome new authors have emerged. We have also suffered some great losses. It was a wonderful reading year for me, personally, as well. I think that I read more this year that I ever have in a single year before, and I was introduced to some wonderful new authors that I look forward to reading much more from in the future.

I have taken the majority of this week to try and determine what was actually my best of this year, and I had a very difficult time with it! I had to break it down in to categories, because I wasn’t able to pick just one!

Here goes!!!

Favorite Overall Read of the Year: There was a tie in this category!

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

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Blood Curse by Quincy J. Allen

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Favorite Thriller of the Year: In A Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

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Favorite YA of the Year: Looking for Alaska by John Green

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Favorite New Author of the Year: J.D. Spikes

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I’m looking forward to an awesome new year with all of you!! I hope you all have a wonderful new year!! As always, thanks for reading!!

-T

 

The Evil Locked Within

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Author: P.J. Mayhair

Genre: Horror/Psych Thriller

Publisher: Independent

Pages: 230

Jeremiah really wants to helps the girls that he finds. They should be more clean, more pure. There’s only one problem, he keeps killing them in the process. His latest target, Rachel, may be the perfect girl. Jeremiah believes that she may be just the woman that he has been looking for, that is until she turns the tables. Suddenly Jeremiah may become a victim of his own madness.

I’ll start this review by saying that the premise for this book is fabulous! This is a story that I don’t think that I have heard written in another way, so it was fresh, and I love that. That being said, Mayhair is a relatively new author, and that shows a bit in this book. The story jump a bit in some places, so it could have been helped a little more editing to even out the flow a little more. It also could have used another round of proofreading. Overall, though, I would definitely say that it was an enjoyable read. I really look forward to seeing what will come out of this young author in the future. He has a great mind!

The Princess Diarist

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Author: Carrie Fisher

Genre: Memoir/Humor

Publisher: Blue Rider Press

Pages: 272

 

I have been a fan of Carrie Fisher for a very long time. I have always thought that she represented a lot of what I wanted to be as a woman- intelligent, outspoken, hilarious, fiercely unashamed to be who she is, and f*ck ‘em if they can’t take a joke! She had her struggles, and never hid that. In fact, she put them right out there in the hopes that she could help others. That was just another one of her amazing qualities. I read this book before her passing, and I can honestly say that it made me love her even more. Carrie was a very gifted author. This memoir was based on her journals that were kept during the making of the original Star Wars film. Rather than just a copy of her journal entries (although some of those are included for your reading pleasure), she tells the story in her own words based off of those journals. She is honest, straightforward, and hysterical in her storytelling. If you love Star Wars, Carrie, great memoirs, or all the above read this!!!

RIP Carrie. The Force will always be with you.

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Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist

Posted on by The Novel Girl

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Author: David Levithan & Rachel Cohn

Genre: YA

Publisher: Knopf

Pages: 192

 

Nick, the straight bassist for a “queercore” punk band, is onstage when he sees his ex walk in to his performance with a new guy. When he realizes that avoiding her is not an option, he asks Norah (a girl in the midst of heart break, there to see the show with a friend) a question that will change both of their nights, and possibly their lives, completely: “Will you be my girlfriend for five minutes?”. This leads to a roller coaster of a night for the two of them that leads through all the ups and downs of teenage (and quite frankly adult) emotions- love, heartbreak, anger, lust, disappointment, and forgiveness. This one very long night ends up in a place that neither of them had ever imagined.

This short read was a bunch of fun! It’s filled with all of those angsty teenage emotions that we can all remember having, but that can still be applied to relationships at any age. It will remind you of what it’s like to meet someone and feel that instant connections with them, but still have doubts because of your past, and want to work through them anyway. These authors have created a fun environment and filled it with a great cast of characters. It’s a great book for anyone looking for an easy, quick read that will make you reminisce a little a pick you up.

Happy Holidays 

Posted on by The Novel Girl

Happy Holidays to all of you!! 

I’m sorry that circumstances have caused me to be a little lax in posting recently, but I promise to do better in the near future. I’m so thankful for each and every one of you, and thank you for sticking with me. I hope that you all have an amazing holiday!! 

Best wishes, 

-T

In a Dark, Dark Wood

Posted on by The Novel Girl

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Author: Ruth Ware

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Publisher: Gallery/Scout Press

Pages: 320

 

Crime fiction author Leonora (Nora, as she now goes by) is taken aback to be invited to the hen of an old school friend, Clare, whom she hasn’t seen in ten years. She is really debating as to whether she is going to go, but decides that she will go if another of their school friends whom she has kept in touch with goes as well. When they arrive, they soon begin to regret their decision as they are thrust in to a glass home in the middle of the woods, in an unfamiliar area, with people that they do not know. Nora decides to go for a run, and meets Clare in the drive as she is returning to the house. While in the car, Clare informs her of the reason for her invitation. This drags up many old memories and hard feelings that make Nora want to bolt from the house immediately, but she doesn’t have her own vehicle, and she would have to contend with Clare’s new BFF who is just a touch on the insane side! She, instead, joins in the party and drinks and drugs her way in to dealing with the weekend. Throw in one home invasion, one murder, one car accident, and one bout of amnesia (Nora’s), and you have the rest of In a Dark, Dark Wood.

I will admit that this book began just a bit slow for me. It took me a couple of chapters to really get in to it. Once I did, though, I didn’t want to put it down! I had to know what happened. Ware’s writing in this novel has been compared to Christie, and I guess that I can see where they were coming from in some areas of her writing- she placed the characters in a contained space where it would be difficult for them to escape, etc. She has her own style, though, and I really enjoyed it. The suspense was drawn out, and had me changing my mind about who I thought the murderer was until the last couple of chapters, which is rare for me. That was incredibly enjoyable. If you’re looking for a fun psychological thriller, I would recommend this one!

Scrappy Little Nobody

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Author: Anna Kendrick

Genre: Memoir/Humor

Publisher: Touchstone

Pages: 304

 

Confession time: I am a bit in love with Anna Kendrick. I have followed her work for years, and her Twitter feed cracks me up on a regular basis. She is witty, funny, charming, and just the right amount of crazy….so….relatable! In this collection of stories, she recounts her life experiences starting as a young girl beginning on Broadway, to the false start of beginning her dating life, to really trying to launch her career. I am so glad that AK decided to “let the crazy out” in this memoir, because it was in many parts laugh-out-loud funny, which was just what I needed. If you are a fan, you will hear her voice loud and clear in this book and love every second of it! If you just need a good laugh, pick it up!

Curious Minds (Knight and Moon #1)

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Author: Janet Evanovich

Series: Knight and Moon

Genre: Mystery

Publisher: Bantam

Pages: 336

 

Riley Moon, a native Texan and recent Harvard grad, has landed the job of her dreams working for the esteemed Blane-Grunwald company. She’s low on the totem pole, and her first “big job” ends up being basically a babysitting job to the eccentric recluse (but incredibly wealthy), Emerson Knight. Knight decides that he would like to see his gold that is supposedly being held at Blane-Grunwald. When it can’t be produced, along with a missing Grunwald brother, an investigation ensues. The head of that investigation: Knight and Moon. Their investigation leads them running for their lives, across the country, underground, in to the federal reserve, and more before they uncover the true plot.

I have always been a big fan of Janet Evanovich. Her Stephanie Plum series is one of my all-time favorites, I love Lizzie and Diesel, and I have long thought that she should have kept her Barnaby and Hooker series going. This one fell kind of flat for me. The premise was good, I just wasn’t as invested in these characters as I usually am, and it didn’t hold my interest. Was it worth reading? Absolutely! Am I glad that I borrowed it instead of buying it? Yes, because I most likely will not be re-reading it. Will I read the next one in the series? You bet! I love this author, so I will definitely give this series a second chance to make a good impression.