Before I explain to you how disappointing one of my most anticipated books of 2023 was, I need to put it out there that Elizabeth Acevedo is one of my favorite authors of all time. When she announced Family Lore, her first novel for adult readers, I lost my mind with excitement and anticipation. And when August 2023 came, I was sick with worry because no bookstore here was stocking it. You know why? Because the Australian book market is weird like that. Half the global book releases are postponed Down Under and the same was the case with Family Lore.
Category Archives: Book Reviews
Roman Stories by Jhumpa Lahiri | Book Review
Roman Stories is Jhumpa Lahiri’s latest work, a return to her roots, if you will, because this is a collection of short stories like her Pulitzer Prize winning Interpreter of Maladies. I’ve been a fan of Jhumpa Lahiri’s writing for a bit and when this book was announced, I promptly lost my mind. But before I get into what I think of her new book, I have to take a step or two back to tell you how I fell in love with her words.
November 2023 Reading Wrap Up | Books I Read in November 2023 | Recent Reads
Today’s blog post is my November 2023 reading wrap up. I read 11 books in November and although I wanted to read a bunch of nonfiction books for Nonfiction November, there were only a few that I managed to actually read. I will also be withholding sharing one of the books I read in November because I’m saving them for vlogs that I want to be putting up soon. I mean, I’ve been waiting for a few books to arrive at the library and only 2 of the 3 have become available, so all I can do is continue to wait. But I’m very excited for these vlogs to go up!
Recent Reads – October 2023 Edition | Books I Read Recently | 10 Mini Book Reviews
My previous Recent Reads blog posts were reading wrap ups in which I talked about ALL the books I read in the mentioned months. But today, the content in here, while being a collection of mini book reviews, is also a random collection of books that I’ve read in recent times. I’ve reviewed these books on Instagram, also where these reviews are from. Yeah, I know, I’m a genius, reusing my content across platforms. 😛 The point is, I’m really proud of these reviews and wanted to share them with you here.
Aashiqui Forever by Yashesh Rathod | Book Review
The year 1990 saw the release of Aashiqui, a Bollywood romance starring Rahul Roy and Anu Aggarwal as Rahul and Anu, two lovers trying to live their love while the world tries to bring them down. It was a runaway hit and its music is well-loved to this day. Yashesh Rathod pays tribute to this movie, as the title might suggest, in a new, short romance novella called Aashiqui Forever.
Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto | Book Review
Books with quirky titles like Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers have always caught my eye. They always have me rooting for them because come on! Who wouldn’t want someone quirky to win the day? I have had some success with this in the past, with books with quirky titles turning out to be some of the best I’ve ever read. And when a book starts with: “Vera Wong Zhuzhu, age sixty, is a pig, but she really should have been born a rooster,” take it from me it’s a sign of ensuing hilarity that remains unparalleled.
Fourth Wing (Empyrean #1) by Rebecca Yarros | Book Review
Every now and again, a book comes around that takes readers by the collar and pulls them in, making them obsessed with it. We see everyone gushing about it and praising it to high heavens. But then that crest begins to plateau and the disappointments start rolling in. The whole ‘Booktok lied to me’ and ‘Finally here’s an honest review’ thing starts, which is a rather questionable stand to take (a discussion for a different day, perhaps). The same thing happened with Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros and I obviously wanted to get in on the action. One, because of it being everywhere and hard to miss. Two, because of that GORGEOUS cover! And I did read it.
Love That Story: Observations from a Gorgeously Queer Life by Jonathan Van Ness | Book Gush
Because of how truly fabulous this book is – not just because of Queer Eye or because of my love for JVN – I thought I should come here and tell you/gush about it. A rare 5-star for me this year.
Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid | Book Review
Sometimes there comes along a book, like Carrie Soto is Back, that addresses such a specific set of issues and questions, that it makes you wonder why you’d never thought of it in detail before. Questions like: Why is it okay for a man in the public eye to be aggressive but not for a woman? Why is it okay for a man to be unsmiling and intense but when a woman does it, she’s labeled a b*tch? Why is it that an ambitious man is seen as just that but an ambitious woman becomes callous and unfeeling in the eyes of the public? And this sexism is turned around and slapped back onto the woman’s shoulders, calling it her overreaction, that she can’t take a joke.
Carrie Soto is Back is a smack in all these faces. Taylor Jenkins Reid, through Carrie Soto’s story, takes us through the unfairness that the world pulls out every time a woman takes center stage. And it is proof, yet again, that even though things have gotten a lot better, we still have a long way to go.
Heresy by Yashesh Rathod | Book Review
Yashesh Rathod, in his short, aptly titled nonfiction book called Heresy shares his opinions on a range of topics. I say ‘aptly titled’ not because I think what he’s saying is heresy, but because these are thoughts that to some will be nothing but heresy.
The Melodramatic Bookworm 