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It’s love at first haunting in a seaside town that raises everyone’s spirits from USA Today bestselling author Jen DeLuca.
Small Florida coastal towns often find themselves scrambling for the tourism dollars that the Orlando theme parks leave behind. And within the town limits of Boneyard Key, the residents decided long ago to lean into its ghostliness. Nick Royer, owner of the Hallowed Grounds coffee shop, embraces the ghost tourism that keeps the local economy afloat, as well as his spectral roommate. At least he doesn’t have to run air-conditioning.
Cassie Rutherford possibly overreacted to all her friends getting married and having kids by leaving Orlando and buying a flipped historic cottage in Boneyard Key. Though there’s something unusual with her new home (her laptop won’t charge in any outlets, and the poetry magnets on her fridge definitely didn’t read “WRONG” and “MY HOUSE” when she put them up), she’s charmed by the colorful history surrounding her. And she’s catching a certain vibe from the grumpy coffee shop owner whenever he slips her a free slice of banana bread along with her coffee order.
As Nick takes her on a ghost tour, sharing town gossip that tourists don’t get to hear, and they spend nights side-by-side looking into the former owners of her haunted cottage, their connection solidifies into something very real and enticing. But Cassie’s worried she’s in too deep with this whole (haunted) home ownership thing… and Nick’s afraid to get too close in case Cassie gets scared away for good.
For the Reading Challenge(s): N/A
The Reason
Erin @ Cracker Crumb Life featured this book in her Top Ten Tuesday Beachy Reads post a couple of weeks ago and I was intrigued! I’ve been craving more romance and I love haunted house stories. Thanks for the rec, Erin!
The Narrator(s)
Jeannie Sheneman. Wonderful narration, I was fully immersed.
My Thoughts
It was so much fun! I finished it within 24 hours because it was just so easy to read and I couldn’t put it down. The romance itself is sweet, maybe a little cheesy, but honestly, the ghost story was so good! Most of the time when I read romances with side ghost stories, I don’t expect a good story because I see it only as a plot point, but in this case, I got really invested in the ghost story.
I love that it’s also a found family story, and finding a place of belonging among people who care about you and accept you for you. It scratches a lot of itches for me, and I love it more than I expected I would. It makes me so happy to see that there’s going to be another book in the series featuring a secondary character in this book. I can’t wait to get my hands on that when it comes out!
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
A dark and electrifying novel about addiction, fanaticism, and what might exist on the other side of life.
In a small New England town, over half a century ago, a shadow falls over a small boy playing with his toy soldiers. Jamie Morton looks up to see a striking man, the new minister. Charles Jacobs, along with his beautiful wife, will transform the local church. The men and boys are all a bit in love with Mrs. Jacobs; the women and girls feel the same about Reverend Jacobs—including Jamie’s mother and beloved sister, Claire. With Jamie, the Reverend shares a deeper bond based on a secret obsession. When tragedy strikes the Jacobs family, this charismatic preacher curses God, mocks all religious belief, and is banished from the shocked town.
Jamie has demons of his own. Wed to his guitar from the age of thirteen, he plays in bands across the country, living the nomadic lifestyle of bar-band rock and roll while fleeing from his family’s horrific loss. In his mid-thirties—addicted to heroin, stranded, desperate—Jamie meets Charles Jacobs again, with profound consequences for both men. Their bond becomes a pact beyond even the Devil’s devising, and Jamie discovers that revival has many meanings.
This rich and disturbing novel spans five decades on its way to the most terrifying conclusion Stephen King has ever written. It’s a masterpiece from King, in the great American tradition of Frank Norris, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgar Allan Poe.
“That’s how you know you’re home, I think, no matter how far you’ve gone from it or how long you’ve been in some other place. Home is where they want you to stay longer.”
“People say that where there’s life, there’s hope, and I have no quarrel with that, but I also believe the reverse. There is hope, therefore I live.”
“Religion is the theological equivalent of a quick-buck insurance scam, where you pay in your premium year after year, and then, when you need the benefits you paid for so—pardon the pun—so religiously, you discover the company that took your money does not, in fact, exist.”
“This is how we bring about our own damnation, you know-by ignoring the voice that begs us to stop. To stop while there’s still time.”
The Narrator(s)
David Morse. It was perfectly fine and I enjoyed it very much.
My Thoughts
I liked it very much but I’d hope to like it more. I’d heard so many people hype it up so maybe I went in with overly high expectations. The story itself was really good but not what I expected. I thought it was going to be some kind of church horror in the vein of the movie Midnight Mass, but it wasn’t. Which is completely fine, I like where the story went too!
It was very slow burn, taking fifty years to come to fruition, and it was very interesting to see the characters develop over that time; the way they grow up and grow old, the way their beliefs and values evolve, everything they do to bring them where they end up. I’ve said it before that one of the reasons I love SK’s books so much is because he’s so good at character study. This book was amazing for that, and it’s still one I really enjoyed reading, even if I don’t love it as much as SK’s other books.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
If there’s one trait that makes someone well suited to comedy, it’s being able to take a punch—metaphorically and, occasionally, physically.
From growing up in a family of firefighters on Staten Island to commuting three hours a day to high school and “seeing the sights” (like watching a Russian woman throw a stroller off the back of a ferry), to attending Harvard while Facebook was created, Jost shares how he has navigated the world like a slightly smarter Forrest Gump.
You’ll also discover things about Jost that will surprise and confuse you, like how Jimmy Buffett saved his life, how Czech teenagers attacked him with potato salad, how an insect laid eggs inside his legs, and how he competed in a twenty-five-man match at WrestleMania (and almost won). You’ll go behind the scenes at SNL and Weekend Update (where he’s written some of the most memorable sketches and jokes of the past fifteen years). And you’ll experience the life of a touring stand-up comedian—from performing in rural college cafeterias at noon to opening for Dave Chappelle at Radio City Music Hall.
For every accomplishment (hosting the Emmys), there is a setback (hosting the Emmys). And for every absurd moment (watching paramedics give CPR to a raccoon), there is an honest, emotional one (recounting his mother’s experience on the scene of the Twin Towers’ collapse on 9/11). Told with a healthy dose of self-deprecation, A Very Punchable Face reveals the brilliant mind behind some of the dumbest sketches on television, and lays bare the heart and humor of a hardworking guy—with a face you can’t help but want to punch.
For the Reading Challenge(s): N/A
The Reason
I really like him on SNL and Pop Culture Jeopardy.
The Quotes
“I’m a creature driven by a combination of guilt and FOMO, which often overrides any sense of self-preservation.”
“What I realized was: I might never have this chance again. In fact, I almost certainly would never have this chance again. Did I really want to look back and think: I could have done more, but I was afraid people would think I was lame for trying too hard? I decided to try really hard.”
“That’s two lessons I learned very quickly: (1) You don’t need to do anything in life—if it feels wrong or unnatural, it probably is. And (2) I had no one but myself to blame for not trusting my own instincts and pushing back when I felt something was wrong.”
“That’s what Harvard was like: thinking you’re pretty good at something, then meeting someone who is really good or even one of the best in the world. And that doesn’t mean they get good grades. A lot of the most famous alumni left without graduating because their work became more important than school. People like Bill Gates, Matt Damon, and Mark Zuckerberg. And you know who did graduate? The Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski. The point is: Never graduate from Harvard.”
The Narrator(s)
The author himself. It was great!
My Thoughts
I really enjoy watching him on SNL and Pop Culture Jeopardy, then I came across his book, thought the title was funny, and decided I wanted to learn more about the guy. It was actually quite fascinating because I know nothing about him other than his recent public works, and I have so much more respect for him now seeing how hard he worked to get where he is. Especially in the entertainment business.
One of the things that surprised me most was learning about his family background and his firefighter mom. I thought that was really cool. It got real when he talked about his mother working during the Twin Towers’ collapse, and I could tell how impactful that experience must have been for his mother and his family. I like him more now than ever, and I’m glad I read this book.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
Katie Vaughn has been burned by love in the past—now she may be lighting her career on fire. She has two choices: wait to get laid off from her job as a video producer or, at her coworker Cole’s request, take a career-making gig profiling Tom “Hutch” Hutcheson, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer in Key West.
The catch? Katie’s not exactly qualified. She can’t swim—but fakes it that she can.
Plus: Cole is Hutch’s brother. And they don’t get along. Next stop paradise!
But paradise is messier than it seems. As Katie gets entangled with Hutch (the most scientifically good looking man she has ever seen . . . but also a bit of a love hater), along with his colorful Aunt Rue and his rescue Great Dane, she gets trapped in a lie. Or two.
Swim lessons, helicopter flights, conga lines, drinking contests, hurricanes, and stolen kisses ensue—along with chances to tell the truth, to face old fears, and to be truly brave at last.
“Reading love stories isn’t frivolous. It’s profound. It’s not escape, it’s the opposite. Trust me, and trust yourself: love stories are the best kinds of therapy. They aren’t shallow, they’re deep. Start looking and you’ll see it, too. Love stories make us better at love. In all directions. And getting better at love of course, means getting better at life.”
“The funny thing about the internet is that it is basically a collective hallucination. If you don’t join in, it doesn’t exist.”
“Every time you have to be brave, you get to be a little braver next time. That’s what life is for.”
“If you don’t reject the harsh things people say to you, then I guess, at some point, that means you accept them.”
My Thoughts
This was so perfectly charming and fun to read! I love Katie and Hutch’s chemistry, and I love the story and how their relationship unfolded. Katie was adorable and awkward and so relatable. I couldn’t help but love her. Hutch was portrayed as the strong, silent type, but he’s just as awkward and I love it! It was such fun reading this, I even learned some things about helicopters and how rescues work.
I also love that there was a found family element to the story with Rue and her friends. Katie was being cared for and I love that for her. I didn’t like Cole so much, I thought he was wildly unprofessional and what he did was basically workplace sexual harrassment. It might not have been so bad if they were friends, but as he was Katie’s superior at work, I really didn’t like that part of the story.
The main part of the story was sweet though, and I love the dog. He was the funniest wingman! This was such a fun and enjoyable read, and just what I needed.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
‘Everything is finished. I have nothing but you now. Remember that’
Anna Karenina seems to have everything – beauty, wealth, popularity and an adored son. But she feels that her life is empty until the moment she encounters the impetuous officer Count Vronsky. Their subsequent affair scandalizes society and family alike and soon brings jealously and bitterness in its wake. Contrasting with this tale of love and self-destruction is the vividly observed story of Levin, a man striving to find contentment and a meaning to his life – and also a self-portrait of Tolstoy himself.
This has been on my TBR for a while. I had a few false starts last year but there was a buddy read this year that motivated me to finally finish it.
The Quotes
“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”
“If you look for perfection, you’ll never be content.”
“He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.”
“Rummaging in our souls, we often dig up something that ought to have lain there unnoticed.”
The Narrator(s)
Maggie Gyllenhaal. She was great! I enjoyed her narration a lot more than the one I tried last year (forgot who the narrator was, but it wasn’t Maggie!).
My Thoughts
I honestly love Tolstoy’s writing and the way he keeps me invested, interested, in suspense, never knowing what’s coming next, but I also didn’t like the characters and the over-the-top drama and toxicity, and I’m just so happy it’s over!
I thought I would like Anna’s character more, but I couldn’t stand her once we got to know her more and I really hated her by the end of the book. In fact, I didn’t really like any of the characters much, but funny enough, I loved the character study and I was very impressed by the way Tolstoy kept me interested in them throughout the whole book.
There was so much to explore with the different characters; their behaviors, motivations, growth or non-growth. I never knew where they were going to go or what they were going to do, but it also never felt unrealistic to me. I just love Tolstoy’s writing and I definitely want to read more, but I feel like I never want to read this book again because I’m so sick of Anna and I never want to see her again. Fortunately, Tolstoy has got several other books I can read, so I’m looking forward to those!
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
A wonderfully entertaining coming-of-age story, Northanger Abbey is often referred to as Jane Austen’s “Gothic parody.” Decrepit castles, locked rooms, mysterious chests, cryptic notes, and tyrannical fathers give the story an uncanny air, but one with a decidedly satirical twist.
The story’s unlikely heroine is Catherine Morland, a remarkably innocent seventeen-year-old woman from a country parsonage. While spending a few weeks in Bath with a family friend, Catherine meets and falls in love with Henry Tilney, who invites her to visit his family estate, Northanger Abbey. Once there, Catherine, a great reader of Gothic thrillers, lets the shadowy atmosphere of the old mansion fill her mind with terrible suspicions. What is the mystery surrounding the death of Henry’s mother? Is the family concealing a terrible secret within the elegant rooms of the Abbey? Can she trust Henry, or is he part of an evil conspiracy? Catherine finds dreadful portents in the most prosaic events, until Henry persuades her to see the peril in confusing life with art.
Executed with high-spirited gusto, Northanger Abbey is a lighthearted, yet unsentimental commentary on love and marriage.
“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.”
“There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature.”
“A woman, especially if she have the misfortune of knowing anything, should conceal it as well as she can.”
“If adventures will not befall a young lady in her own village, she must seek them abroad.”
My Thoughts
I’m not a big Jane Austen reader, I’ve only read Pride and Prejudice and now this book, but I’ve enjoyed both and very interested in reading more of her books. I think she writes very interesting characters, and her books have the best quotes! I had such a hard time limiting the quotes because there were so many that resonated with me!
The characters are the best thing about this book for me; I was completely appalled by the behavior of several of the characters here, I can’t believe how rude they were especially for the era, but on the other hand, I love Catherine, the MC of the book. I really admired how she handled herself in the face of other people’s bad behavior towards her, and considering how young she was, the poise with which she handled it. I don’t think I had the same fortitude when I was her age. Heck, I don’t think I have the same fortitude now!
To be honest, I’ve never felt the need to read more of Austen’s works after Pride and Prejudice because that was the most popular one and I thought it was enough, but I really enjoyed reading Northanger Abbey and now I’m compelled to read more of Austen’s other works!
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
Two writers compete for the chance to tell the larger-than-life story of a woman with more than a couple of plot twists up her sleeve in this dazzling and sweeping new novel from Emily Henry.
Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud. And they’re both on balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason: To write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years–or at least to meet with the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives. Tragic heiress, former tabloid princess, and daughter of one of the most storied (and scandalous) families of the 20th Century.
When Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period, after which she’ll choose the person who’ll tell her story, there are three things keeping Alice’s head in the game.
One: Alice genuinely likes people, which means people usually like Alice—and she has a whole month to win the legendary woman over.
Two: She’s ready for this job and the chance to impress her perennially unimpressed family with a Serious Publication
Three: Hayden Anderson, who should have no reason to be concerned about losing this book, is glowering at her in a shaken-to-the core way that suggests he sees her as competition.
But the problem is, Margaret is only giving each of them pieces of her story. Pieces they can’t swap to put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they’re in the same room.
And it’s becoming abundantly clear that their story—just like the tale Margaret’s spinning—could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad…depending on who’s telling it.
I have been craving some romance in my tbr and I enjoy Emily Henry’s books.
The Quotes
“There’s an old saying about stories, and how there are always three versions of them: yours, mine, and the truth.”
“Love isn’t something you can cup in your hands, and I have to believe that means it’s something that can’t ever be lost.”
“I find myself thinking that maybe every bit of heartbreak in life can be rearranged and used for something beautiful, that it doesn’t really matter whether I chose this path or I was born onto it, so long as I stop and appreciate the path itself.”
“Just because something doesn’t make money or win awards doesn’t mean it doesn’t have value.”
The Narrator(s)
Julia Whelan! I love her!!
My Thoughts
I generally enjoy Emily Henry’s books and she’s one of my go-to authors for books in the romance genre. Having said that, I don’t always enjoy the stories but I do like her writing, and the fact that Julia Whelan narrates this book cinched it for me.
One of the things that has been mentioned about this book is its similarities with The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I love TJR and I can see the similarities with the premise, but as far as vibes go, they are not the same at all. TJR’s book was much more mysterious and had a little bit more gravitas. This book is a little more lighthearted, and Margaret’s story for me was more of a plot device. It was an interesting story, but it’s not what I’m here for. As I said, I was craving romance, and I wanted romance!
Enter Alice and Hayden. I am completely charmed by Alice and her bright personality. I love that it’s addressed from the beginning and I like how she wins people over; she’s friendly and thoughtful, and says what she thinks, and I love that about her. As for the romance part, I love the way she wins Hayden over just by being her friendly, annoying, charming self. I love the non-sexual, intimate moments between them, the way they interacted with each other, but honestly, it’s mostly due to Alice’s personality. I find it hard not to fall for her myself! I would totally want to be BFFs with her if she was a real person!
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
When you’ve been set up to lose everything you love, what is there left to fight for?
As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes.
Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves.
When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He’s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.
I’m a huge fan of The Hunger Games, so obviously I had to read this!
The Quotes
“They will not use my tears for their entertainment.”
“You were capable of imagining a different future. And maybe it won’t be realized today, maybe not in our lifetime. Maybe it will take generations. We’re all part of a continuum. Does that make it pointless?”
“Fire is catching, she’d say, but if this one burns down the arena, I say good riddance.”
“In fifty years, we’ve only had one victor, and that was a long time ago. A girl who no one seems to know anything about.”
The Narrator(s)
Jefferson White. It was absolutely wonderful and I was fully immersed.
My Thoughts
I’m a huge fan of the original trilogy for The Hunger Games, but I was initially resistent when The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes came out because I wasn’t interested in President Snow’s childhood. I did end up reading it and enjoying it very much, and also really admiring Collins’ vision of how things started. So when this book came out, I was excited because I am much more interested in Haymitch’s story, and I also have a lot more confidence that Collins will do a great job with it.
Reading Haymitch’s story, I like getting to know him better. I like learning what really happened with him. I don’t think this story could work on its own but somehow I love THG enough that I want to know more, not just about him, but about other characters too. I’d love a book about Finnick as well, and Johanna, and Beetee, and Mags, and several other characters. I know a lot of people think additional books in THG universe aren’t necessary, and I agree somewhat that I don’t think any of these stories work on their own but I still want to know them!
Perhaps a happy compromise for me is an actual manifestation of that memorial book that Katniss and Peeta were working on, a sort of dictionary/encyclopedia type book with pictures and information about the Victors throughout the years, the people who loved them and whom they loved, anecdotes about them. I would love that!! In any case, at this point I’m not tired of THG world yet and I’ll probably read more if Collins wrote them!
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
One of the most remarkable true-crime narratives of the twenty-first the story of the world’s most prolific art thief, Stéphane Breitwieser.
In this spellbinding portrait of obsession and flawed genius, the best-selling author of The Stranger in the Woods brings us into Breitwieser’s strange world—unlike most thieves, he never stole for money, keeping all his treasures in a single room where he could admire them.
For centuries, works of art have been stolen in countless ways from all over the world, but no one has been quite as successful at it as the master thief Stéphane Breitwieser. Carrying out more than two hundred heists over nearly eight years—in museums and cathedrals all over Europe—Breitwieser, along with his girlfriend who worked as his lookout, stole more than three hundred objects, until it all fell apart in spectacular fashion.
In The Art Thief, Michael Finkel brings us into Breitwieser’s strange and fascinating world. Unlike most thieves, Breitwieser never stole for money. Instead, he displayed all his treasures in a pair of secret rooms where he could admire them to his heart’s content. Possessed of a remarkable athleticism and an innate ability to circumvent practically any security system, Breitwieser managed to pull off a breathtaking number of audacious thefts. Yet these strange talents bred a growing disregard for risk and an addict’s need to score, leading Breitwieser to ignore his girlfriend’s pleas to stop—until one final act of hubris brought everything crashing down.
This is a riveting story of art, crime, love, and an insatiable hunger to possess beauty at any cost.
“It isn’t action, he suspects, that usually lands a thief in prison. It’s hesitation.”
“Art is the result of facing almost no survival pressure at all. It’s the product of leisure time. Our big brains, the most complex instruments known in the universe, have been released from the vigilance of evading predators and seeking sustenance, permitting our imagination to gambol and explore, to dream while awake, to share visions of God. Art signals our freedom. It exists because we’ve won the evolutionary war.”
“In the eyes of the law, how a thief steals is more significant than what’s taken: robbing a candy bar with a gun is worse than carrying off a Cranach painting unarmed.”
“Knowing when not to take an item, however deflating, is mandatory for a thief expecting career longevity.”
My Thoughts
I’m not an art afficionado, but I do appreciate art very much and hold them very much sacred. Not just the famous works, but also the ones regular unskilled people like me do at home, and while regular people art isn’t very valuable, I still feel the pain when I hear of any art getting lost, stolen, or destroyed, because it’s not about the monetary value, but the emotional value of the art.
I have no inkling of the monetary value of most famous artworks but I’m sure their emotional value is priceless because of what they mean to so many people. Reading this book really helps me to appreciate the kind of passion that people can feel about art.
Breitwieser’s story was interesting to read about. He was such an intriguing person to read about; his upbringing, his obsession with artworks, his thought processes, his approach system to acquiring art… Seeing his relationship dynamics with his girlfriend and his mother was really interesting too. My emotions through the progression of this book was all over the place because the story was told so well!
The ending left me so angry at Breitwieser and so sad about the art, but I cannot deny that this was a great book, told so well by the author, and well worth reading.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
The Spellshop is Sarah Beth Durst’s romantasy debut–a lush cottagecore tale full of stolen spellbooks, unexpected friendships, sweet jams, and even sweeter love.
Kiela has always had trouble dealing with people. Thankfully, as a librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, she and her assistant, Caz—a magically sentient spider plant—have spent the last decade sequestered among the empire’s most precious spellbooks, preserving their magic for the city’s elite.
When a revolution begins and the library goes up in flames, she and Caz flee with all the spellbooks they can carry and head to a remote island Kiela never thought she’d see again: her childhood home. Taking refuge there, Kiela discovers, much to her dismay, a nosy—and very handsome—neighbor who can’t take a hint and keeps showing up day after day to make sure she’s fed and to help fix up her new home.
In need of income, Kiela identifies something that even the bakery in town doesn’t have: jam. With the help of an old recipe book her parents left her and a bit of illegal magic, her cottage garden is soon covered in ripe berries.
But magic can do more than make life a little sweeter, so Kiela risks the consequences of using unsanctioned spells and opens the island’s first-ever and much needed secret spellshop.
Like a Hallmark rom-com full of mythical creatures and fueled by cinnamon rolls and magic, The Spellshop will heal your heart and feed your soul.
“It wasn’t that she didn’t like people. It was that she liked books more. They didn’t fuss or judge or mock or reject.They invited you in, fluffed up the pillows on the couch, offered you tea and toast, and shared their hearts with no expectation that you’d do anything more than absorb what they had to give.”
“Books should be shared with everyone who wants to open their minds and hearts to them.”
“Of course knowledge is dangerous. But ignorance is even more dangerous”
“If there was a book involved, that automatically made any course of action much more sensible.”
The Narrator(s)
Caitlin Davies. I enjoyed it very much!
My Thoughts
This was such a fun book and I loved it! I love found families, I love magic, and I love books!! This story hit all the right notes for me. It just felt so cozy and inviting, and I love how imaginative it is. Caz is wonderful and I love him. There were parts that made me a little anxious but it’s mostly low stakes. There were also parts that were cute and convenient, but you know, it’s not a very serious book so I won’t take it too seriously either. I love the connections Kiela makes, I love the magical elements, and the very interesting ways they find solutions in this book. It’s just a nice, comfort read.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
