Willodeen by Katherine Applegate

Who read Katherine Applegate's The One and Only Ivan and didn't love it? No one that I know. Applegate is fantastic at getting into the hearts of her readers. Her most recent release, Willodeen, is a fantasy novel that follows a young girl named Willodeen whose life has been devastated by a fire. Taken in by a couple of lovely old women, she is nursed back to health and loved just as she is, quirks and all. Rounding out their odd family is an injured hummingbear, a sweet little creature covered in light fur, but whose wings no longer fly. Willodeen is obsessed with learning about the beast everyone in town hates, the screechers. When the fragile ecosystem supporting the town begins to fail, it is Willodeen and her new friend Connor who uncover the cause.

This book was cute and a short read, but I didn't connect with it the same way I did with Ivan. There is a clear message about preserving the environment and how our actions affect the world around us. I think that is really good for children to learn in a way that isn't too harsh. There is plenty of charm within these pages.

 

The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis

In Fiona Davis's The Lions of Fifth Avenue, we meet Laura, a wife and mother in 1913 whose family is living in the recently opened New York Public Library. We also meet her granddaughter, Sadie, eighty years later who is a curator at the same library. The two never met but Sadie is intrigued with her grandmother's reputation as a famous feminist essayist. When books begin going missing in Sadie's timeline, she is surprised to find that there were also book thefts at the time her grandmother and mother lived in the library. She dives headfirst into the mystery with the hope of rescuing some of the world's most important pieces of literature.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick read and I was very curious where the mystery would lead us. Davis did an excellent job balancing the two different timelines and points of view and each chapter ending had me wanting to keep the pages turning. I loved reading about turn-of-the-century feminism and the challenges that women of the time faced in their desires to pursue their own passions. I also enjoyed hearing about the NY Public Library and now it is on my list of places to visit. This was my first Fiona Davis novel, but I can't wait to read more!

 

If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy

I have really enjoyed Julie Murphy's books, especially Dumplin', and her latest offering may be my favorite yet. If the Shoe Fits is a Cinderella retelling set in a Bachelor-type matchmaking television show. Cindy has recently graduated from fashion school where her focus was shoe design, but with no job prospects, she moves back home to live with her stepmother, two stepsisters, and triplet half-siblings. When the last-minute opportunity arises to appear on the show, Cindy doesn't let herself consider if her curves will make her a target for trolls. Instead, she focuses on the exposure her designs will receive... and the cash prize at the end. It's a risk, but one she's willing to take.

This was an adorable adventure into a very familiar fairytale. The characters were darling and I really enjoyed the relationships between the women. The real world is a bit chaotic right now and this was a sweet escape into fantasy land. I highly recommend you add it to your list of fun reads.

 

Falling by T.J. Newman

In T.J. Newman's Falling, veteran airline captain Bill Hoffman boards his flight as usual. Nothing seems out of place except that his wife was upset he had picked up the trip when he was supposed to be at his son's baseball game. When he gets a call from her in-flight, the face time image that comes through doesn't make any sense: she is strapped to a suicide vest and she and their children are gagged. A terrorist has taken his family hostage and presented Bill with a choice: his family or the plane full of passengers.

This book was a thriller true to its name. I could NOT put it down. I had so many things to do yesterday, but I was convinced that if I stopped reading the plane would fall right out of the air. Newman is a flight attendant and her experience shows through in the details of this breath-catching adventure. I don't usually love thrillers, but this one really had me. The characters were wonderfully written and impossible not to love. As a reader, I was genuinely concerned for their survival. The whole time I kept thinking if they don't turn this into a movie they are just throwing money away. I was happy to read that the film rights have been awarded to Universal Pictures. I will be anxiously waiting with money in my hand at the box office window.

Read this book, but be sure to fasten your seatbelt first!

 

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

It's February and even here in the Sunny Southwest, it's a bit chilly and gray. What could be better for that than a super fun vacation read?! (Other than an actual vacation, obviously.) This month's book club pick is Emily Henry's People We Meet on Vacation and it was great! Poppy and Alex have been best friends since college, and they've built a tradition of going on summer trips. Some of those trips have been on a shoestring budget and some have been quite luxurious, but they've all been memorable and fun until the last one when something terrible happened and they didn't speak for nearly two years.

Henry makes us wait a really long time before revealing what happened, but the tension is well-woven throughout the story without being over the top. Poppy and Alex are both wonderfully drawn characters, and they are joined by a darling crew of people they meet along the way. Poppy is funny and sarcastic while Alex is tightly controlled but comes loose with Poppy's prodding.

I really liked this book. It was cute. It was fun. It got me through a few dreary winter days dreaming about how it is time to plan a Girls' Trip. This book would be great for reading by the pool or at the beach this summer, but there is really no need to wait. I really think you're going to like it no matter where you read it.

 

Dava Shastri's Last Day by Kirthana Ramisetti

Oh, SmartGirls! I have just finished reading the most wonderful book! Dava Shastri's Last Day by Krithana Ramisetti is absolutely fantastic. Dava Shastri is a wealthy philanthropist whose life's purpose has been to make her own name synonymous with giving and making the world a better place. When the time comes for the end of her life, she gathers her family around her and reflects on whether or not she has been successful. Her four children, their spouses, and their children are all together on the family island in the year 2044. There is love, there is disagreement, there is grief.

These are the most wonderfully written characters. They are all beautifully flawed and all trying to live up to the extremely high expectations of Dava, herself included. Told in memories and flashbacks to the early twenty-first century that feel more like current events, the reader is pulled into an easily imaginable world that hasn't quite happened yet. This book is beautiful and thought-provoking, and it had me wondering what my own "going away party" might be like if I were given the opportunity to plan it someday. 

I know we are only midway through February, but this could easily be the best book I read all year. My only regret is that I didn't save this for a book club selection. The discussion among friends would be magnificent.

I love this book and I hope you will, too.

 

It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover

A friend at work had just finished reading Colleen Hoover's It Ends with Us, and she could not stop raving about how good it was. The Goodreads reviews were also out of this world, so when she brought it to me the day after she finished and said I needed to read it, too, I couldn't say no.

Lily is a thirty-year-old woman living in Boston and dreaming of opening her own business when she meets Ryle. Their chance encounter on the rooftop of a building where she does not live eventually leads to an unexpected relationship. This story alternates with Lily reading her own journals from when she was sixteen. We get to see both young Lily and grown Lily. She makes some of the same mistakes; she's learned a lot and become an independent woman. When things in her own relationship begin to mirror some of the dark parts of the home in which she grew up, it is hard for her to accept.

I don't want to give any spoilers, but I do want to give a warning that there is a fair amount of physical domestic abuse portrayed in this book. It was hard to read those parts, but they felt very real rather than dramatized for the reader's entertainment. 

Overall, I thought this was a good book. I was worried at the beginning because the writing felt a little superficial. The first half of the book could be categorized as a romance which isn't a genre I usually enjoy. And I know I'm going to catch flack for this, but Ryle... is a stupid name. Why do books like this always have characters will stupid names? I know- I'm no fun, but I stand by this statement. Names aside, the characters were well developed and really likable. I was especially fond of Lily's new best friend Alyssa. This was a very fast read and if you think you can handle reading the scenes with violence, it will be worth your time.