Welcome to the Stacks
Fostering the love of reading, here are several reviews from myself.
Looking for grade-level recommendations for your kiddo? Click here
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Star Rating: ★★★★★
#fhtogglels/Read Review →/Close Review ✕/ib
My daughter chose The Book Thief for one of her summer reading books. I was interested in it as she read it, so I picked it up after she finished. This book is beautiful. A young girl living in Nazi Germany with foster parents befriends aa Jewish man her parents are hiding in the basement. The story is narrated by Death, which is so interesting as a character given the subject matter. But, it also becomes a character for which you have empathy for and even some respect in the end. This story is so moving and haunting and beautiful.
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Star Rating: ★★★★★
#fhtogglels/Read Review →/Close Review ✕/ib
Lessons in Chemistry is in the running for top pick of 2022 for me! I related to Elizabeth Zott so much (if you are an Enneagram 1, you will too!). Set in California in the 1960s, Elizabeth Zott is a gifted research chemist who is incredibly self-aware (but also self-assured at a time when females were frowned upon for acting so) and also quite immune to the conventions of her time. This book explores the beautiful flaws of being a woman who is passionate about work when life takes a detour. I loved reading the imperfectness of Elizabeth's character and how she wrestles with her own feelings vs. what society expects her to feel about seasons of her life. The audiobook is fantastic and has an interview with the author at the end that is not to be missed!
Without a Hitch by Mary Hollis Huddleston
Star Rating: ★★★★★
#fhtogglels/Read Review →/Close Review ✕/ib
A great summer read! A hilarious account of a young woman's days and weekends working in the wedding and events industry for Texan elites. I laughed out loud so many times.
Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau
Star Rating: ★★★★★
#fhtogglels/Read Review →/Close Review ✕/ib
Mary Jane - ahh, such a good book. I know there are so many coming of age stories but this one is my favorite. Mary Jane, raised in a prim and proper, county club member home is 14. She takes on a summer nanny job for a neighbor and ends up having an eye-opening summer to other ways of living. It's set in the '70s anf if you're of a certain age, your imagination will be filled with images while reading this great summer novel.
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
Star Rating: ★★★★
#fhtogglels/Read Review →/Close Review ✕/ib
Such a Fun Age is an interesting book. It is set on immediately diving into the plot, where a young, Black woman is wrongly accused of kidnapping while babysitting a white toddler. The story goes much further into the relationship Emira has with her employers from there and is not centered on this singular event. But, it does provide a satire of polite prejudices that are explored within the story. I enjoyed this story a lot, especially the sticky widget that is the transactional relationship of someone being employed in your home.
The People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
Star Rating: ★★★
#fhtogglels/Read Review →/Close Review ✕/ib
The People We Meet on Vacation was okay, but I couldn't help but think of how much it was basically a rewrite of When Harry Met Sally. It's cute, it's a light beach read, it's got some spicy parts...but it's just alright.
The Royals Next Door by Karina Halle
Star Rating: ★★★★
#fhtogglels/Read Review →/Close Review ✕/ib
The Royals Next Door is a little more spicy than I usually pick up. But, it was a great fun beach read!
The audiobook was a saving grace so no one could see the title :)
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Star Rating: ★★★★
#fhtogglels/Read Review →/Close Review ✕/ib
The Hate U Give is noted a YA book but it feels pretty heavy for my YA readers as of right now. When they are teens, I suspect it will be subject matter they can understand. Overall, I loved this book but it is not an easy read. But, I only had to read it. I don't have to live it. Imagine living this life as you read it. Because it is happening every day. It is all too common a story in our country.
The audiobook narrator is fantastic. A great job with tone and inflection and little character nuisances that I wouldn't have picked up on paper.
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Star Rating: ★★★★
#fhtogglels/Read Review →/Close Review ✕/ib
My daughter wanted to read A Wrinkle in Time and I realized I had not read it myself nor had I seen the movie. So, I listened to it on Audiobook. Very cute story and one I probably would not have appreciated as a child, to be honest. A classic tale of about good vs. evil and the power of love but through a visually different story lens.
The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller
Star Rating: ★★★★★
#fhtogglels/Read Review →/Close Review ✕/ib
At first, I thought The Paper Palace was going to be about a mid-life crisis of a mom stuck in her life. Thank goodness I kept going! It's totally not that book.
It goes back and forth and all around the span of 50 years in a woman's life and her years spent at her family's cape house, the paper palace. Fantastic read.
Majesty by Katherine McGee
Star Rating: ★★★★
#fhtogglels/Read Review →/Close Review ✕/ib
The sequel to American Royals! A very fast read. Did not end how I expected it to or really wanted it to but still SO good and entertaining!
The Lion's Den by Katherine St. John
Star Rating: ★★★★★
#fhtogglels/Read Review →/Close Review ✕/ib
A friend recommended this book after I read The Last Mrs. Parrish and this book delivered! The Lion's Den is so good! Super light and perfect beach read. I enjoyed the audiobook while running errands and cleaning things and dreaming of being on a yacht...just maybe not with this drama! It was a great escape and Katherine St. John is brilliant in her visual storytelling.
The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine
Star Rating: ★★
#fhtogglels/Read Review →/Close Review ✕/ib
If you're old enough to know Fatal Attraction and Single White Female, the first part of this book was definitely going that way. I was going to be annoyed if that's all this book turned out to be. The the script gets flipped and it gets interesting. But, then the ending fell flat (for me). It was just an okay book for me, personally.
American Royals by Katherine McGee
Star Rating: ★★★★★
#fhtogglels/Read Review →/Close Review ✕/ib
American Royals - what a fun, light, and engaging read!
What if American had a royal family? This book is set on the premise of George Washington being crowed King and American having its own monarchy after winning the Revolutionary War. Set in modern day, they are now looking forward to their first Queen after some modern rules were applied to allow a first born to be crowned.
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
Star Rating: ★★★★
#fhtogglels/Read Review →/Close Review ✕/ib
The author of American Dirt came under fire after Oprah chose this book for her Book Club. Putting critics' POV aside, the story of American Dirt was really good. I really enjoyed the audiobook. The fiction book centers on a woman of her 7-year-old son surviving a Cartel murdering her entire family in front of them in Mexico. They know they need to flee. The join the migrant migration to America in search of safety.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling
Star Rating: ★★★★
#fhtogglels/Read Review →/Close Review ✕/ib
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows wraps it up well. I still can't help but wonder why Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw exist. What did they really bring to the plot? I realize this may bring ire from readers LOL.
The audiobook was fantastic on 1.5x again and this was a great pandemic project to enjoy with my voracious reader of a daughter.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by JK Rowling
Star Rating: ★★★★★
#fhtogglels/Read Review →/Close Review ✕/ib
Audiobook on 1.5x for the win! The narrator for Harry Potter is really good. If you've not gotten into the books, give the audio a try!
This book. As someone who is 2 decades behind in Harry Potter lore, I still did not know this ending. After I finished the book, I went to my husband and he saw the look in my eyes and just knew that I knew the ending. This was my favorite Harry Potter book.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling
Star Rating: ★★★★
#fhtogglels/Read Review →/Close Review ✕/ib
I have found the key to Harry Potter - listening to the audiobooks on 1.5x :) The narrator is great, actually!
The Order of the Phoenix is really good. I like Harry showing his teen angst side; it made it all more relatable as he struggles with his 5th year at Hogwart's.
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
Star Rating: ★★★★★
#fhtogglels/Read Review →/Close Review ✕/ib
This book. THIS AUDIBLE. It's just so good. Tom Hanks should narrate more books. It was so comforting to hear him read Danny's story. The Dutch House is about two siblings who move through life together, relying on each other during the multiple decades that this book covers. It's a beautifully simple story about a brother and a sister and their life together while in the dutch house and after.
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
Star Rating: ★★★★
#fhtogglels/Read Review →/Close Review ✕/ib
Thank you to everyone for recommending this! The South in the midst of a civil rights reckoning, Louisiana and Maison Blanche (RIP), and family drama and secrets...this book was perfect and delivered on all fronts. The twins are thrilling to follow as they chose to flee their small town and go out into the world. It's always interesting to see characters develop from childhood into adults and how the lasting influences from their past shape their outlook and path in life. I listened to this book and the narrator was just okay. I would recommend reading the book instead.