Reading, Writing, and Me

Emergency Contact: Design: Lizzy Bromley Illustration: Ohgigue Who's That Girl: Design: Aurora Parlagreco Art: Jose Berrio Hot Dog Girl: Illustration: Jeff Ostberg To Kill A Kingdom: Design: Liz Dresner You Asked For Perfect: Philip Pascuzzo The Way You Make Me Feel: Design: Elizabeth H. Clark A Very Large Expanse of Sea: Art: Rodrigo Corral Design I was admiring the dust jacket on one of the books I'd recently bought when I realized that I had no clue who made it. I found my answer in tiny font on the back flap in the bottom corner under the author bio. While the author who poured their soul into the pages and created the book should be front and center, there's room to give props to the people who provided the art. Cover artists are really the unsung heroes of books and book sales. The quality of the cover can have the potential to make or break a book before the buyer even thinks about checking out the words. If I haven't already heard about a book, it's a ...

Her Royal Highness  by Rachel Hawkins (May 6)  Buy at Your Indie Bookstore* Overview: In a companion book to Prince Charming  (formerly known as Royals)  follows another American thrown into the world of the Scottish Royal Family. This time, it's Millie from Texas in the spotlight. After she wins a scholarship to the elite Scottish boarding school where the royals attend, the quickly meets Princess Flora who is set to be her roommate. Even though the Princess is a bit insufferable at the beginning, the better Millie gets to know Flora, the more romance becomes a possibility. Overall: 4  Characters: 4 Millie is super cute. She's excited about senior year in Scotland, and she's ready to leave her tedious friendship circle in Houston. While Scotland isn't full of unicorns and swoony love scenes like she imagined, she finds a genuine love for the place. Princess Flora has a character to play, and it's her shell against new people and a world that's ready to s...

If I'm Being Honest  by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegmund-Broka (April 23) To Buy at Your Local Bookstore  (Affiliate Link) Overview: Inspired by The Taming of The Shrew, Cameron's story starts with her as a mean girl with a sharp tongue and a problem beyond having no filter. She's horrible to everyone yet undeniably popular and surrounded by friends who are just like her at her super expensive LA prep school. But, then, she finds something she wants that she can't have: Andrew. He thinks that she's a "bitch". The word stings, and Cameron decides to make amends with everyone she's wronged to prove him otherwise. She finds that, maybe, she likes being... a decent human being? Overall: 3.8 Characters: 3 There are unlikable female characters that you love because they're strong, confused, or prickly on the outside, and then there's Cameron. I think that in their last book, Never Always Yours, Megan is a prime example of an unlikable charac...

Today's post is a little different. It's my first post by a guest writer! Claire Bartlett, author of We Rule The Night, out everywhere now. She talks about being a life long traveler and how that has impacted her and her writing. It's a lovely piece that I can't wait for you to read. So, without further ado... There are two things I love to do in this world: go places and write things. It’s not always easy to travel. It’s an expensive hobby between booking tickets and accommodations, and taking the time off work to go. But if you have the chance to travel outside your home country, do it. If you ever have the chance to live abroad, I recommend it even more. Reading gets compared to traveling a lot. A good book should transport you, right? Well, I think that if a good book has to transport you, a good author should understand the space they’re writing about. How it smells, how the ground feels underfoot. What kind of birds call out in the daytime, and how peop...

Izzy + Tristan  by. Shannon Dunlap (324 pages) Overview: Izzy and Tristan have a love story. When Izzy's family renovates a moves into a new house on a Brooklyn block their lives change. Her twin brother Hull almost immediately gets into a fight, pulling a knife on some neighborhood kids after a gambling chess match goes wrong. Izzy falls for Tristan, the boy who won Hull's match. With Hull away at a rehabilitation center, Izzy and Tristan are free to fall for each other until Marcus decides that he wants to take revenge on Hull by dating his sister. And even when that battle is overcome, police brutality draws a permanent line between the couple. Overall: 2 *Okay, I'm not really sure how to write a spoiler free review of this because the shocker ending is what I take the most issue with. I'll keep it spoiler free in the characters and plot section, but I will talk about the ending in the writing section. I still recommend you read it, even if you plan on reading ...