Fantasy, Fiction, Historical, Young Adult

Gemma Doyle trilogy by Libba Bray

A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels, The Sweet Far Thing I first read A Great and Terrible Beauty shortly after it was first released many moons ago... in 2003 when I was a freshman in high school. I loved it from the very beginning - it was one of the first young adult fantasy books that… Continue reading Gemma Doyle trilogy by Libba Bray

Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult

Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor

Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Days of Blood & Starlight, Dreams of Gods & Monsters When I first saw the cover of Daughter of Smoke and Bone, I fell head over heels – love at first sight. Blue hair, dynamic fonts, intriguing synopsis, Prague as a setting, fantasy world. I was just coming off the… Continue reading Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor

Contemporary, Fiction, New Adult

Royally Matched by Emma Chase

Royally #2 I'm a hopeless royalist, so when the sequel to Royally Screwed was announced, and that the main female lead would be named Sarah and the prince, Henry (FYI, did you know Prince Harry's real name is Henry?), my seventeen year old self emerged after a decade to jump up and down excitedly. Synopsis Some men… Continue reading Royally Matched by Emma Chase

Book Club, History, Nonfiction

Dead Wake by Erik Larson

The Last Crossing of the Lusitania Every month, the Modern Readers discuss what types of books we collectively would like to be reading. In February 2016, one of our number mentioned that Erik Larson would be doing a talk in a nearby town, so we figured Dead Wake would make a great book club choice! This is… Continue reading Dead Wake by Erik Larson

Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult

The Young Elites by Marie Lu

Young Elites #1 First : Marie Lu is coming to the book store that I work at in less than a month!!! Second : At BookCon in the spring of 2015, I listened to a bunch of teenage girls tell Marie Lu during a panel how much they loved her books and how her characters… Continue reading The Young Elites by Marie Lu

Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Red Queen #1 Clearly I'm on a YA fantasy role here with reviews... Sometimes I get so thoroughly immersed in a genre it can be hard to pull myself out to switch to something else, something new and different. As I get to the end of a genre jaunt, however, my reviews tend to become… Continue reading Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Fantasy, Fiction, Historical, Young Adult

Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh

Flame in the Mist #1 Time for another beauty by Renee Ahdieh! She is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors and when the ARC  (advanced reader copy) of Flame in the Mist came into the store, my coworkers were nice enough to make sure it wound up in my hands! Synopsis There was only… Continue reading Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh

Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Six of Crows #1 / Grishaverse #4 It's been nearly two years since I read my first Leigh Bardugo book, Shadow & Bone, and was introduced to the Grishaverse. I enjoyed it greatly, but when I was reading it, everyone was talking about her newest book, Six of Crows, and how spectacular it was going to be.… Continue reading Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Fantasy, Fiction, Historical, Young Adult

The Wrath and the Dawn duology by Renee Ahdieh

The Wrath and the Dawn & The Rose and the Dagger The Wrath and the Dawn was a book I picked up after seeing/listening to a panel about diversity in books. Along with Sabaa Tahir, Marie Lu and Aisha Saeed, Renee Ahdieh shared some very insightful points about diversity in books. I've now covered three of… Continue reading The Wrath and the Dawn duology by Renee Ahdieh

Book Club, Memoir/Autobiography, Nonfiction, Photography/Art, Travel

My Holiday in North Korea by Wendy E. Simmons

The Funniest/Worst Place on Earth In January 2016, I went with my boss to an ABA (American Booksellers Association) event called "Winter Institute." It is the biggest gathering of independent booksellers and my boss reminded me that in addition to learning lots about the book world and being starstruck by all the authors present, I… Continue reading My Holiday in North Korea by Wendy E. Simmons