Beth Ellen

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Fluffy Young Adult Romance and Fun

Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins

January 14, 2020 by Beth Ellen 1 Comment

So I’m weirdly starting off my first review in almost a year with a sequel, but here we are. I read the first in this series, published under two different names: Royals or Prince Charming, towards the end of 2019. It was a light, fluffy, fun romp of a young adult-ish romance? No clue where the library would put these: nothing explicit, but still definitely romance and involving teenagers/early 20’s. So something like that. New adult? Somewhere in that range. Millie is a girl running […]

A Girl Coming of Age Story Full of Kicking *ss and No Romance

Mistress of the Storm by M. L. Welsh

January 14, 2019 by Beth Ellen Leave a Comment

Continuing my exploration of intermediate reader books this year is leading to a lot of, judging books by their cover. And this time I hit the jackpot. Verity Gallant is miserable. Her family doesn’t understand her, and she has no friends (she’s around 12-ish, I guess). She visits the library one day and sees a mysterious stranger. He steals a book so she chases after him. At the beach, before he sets sail, he hands her back the book and a round wooden ball with […]

Who’d a thunk a book with a train on the cover and set in the 30’s could actually be fun?

On the Blue Comet by Rosemary Wells

January 8, 2019 by Beth Ellen 1 Comment

Hi everyone! I’m back. Or attempting to be this year. And setting my standards way lower. Hello, quarter Cannonball, how you doin’? Anywho, I decided this year is going to be the year of seeing what’s up in kid’s books. Not BlackRaven’s level from last year (I read way too many kids books on repeat to actually analyze them), but intermediate readers. I go to the library every week, and spend my time wandering the children’s section, which at our library is ringed by the […]

A shrug and a yawn

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

February 23, 2018 by Beth Ellen 1 Comment

So I first read A Wrinkle in Time around 20 years ago. That’s my best guess. I remembered nothing about it, except that I did not like it at all, on a fairly strong level. So when I heard they were making a new movie I shrugged, but then it was directed by Ava DuVernay (yes), staring a diverse cast (YES), and then the trailer dropped. All in. Alllllll in. And it’s our bookclub book today! Reread commencing. I’m going to skip the plot synopsis […]

Figure Skaters Finding Love (literally all I needed to know to sell me on it, how about the rest of you?)

From Lukov with Love by Mariana Zapata

February 7, 2018 by Beth Ellen 7 Comments

Oh Mariana Zapata, I have such a love/please for the love of god find an editor relationship with you. She wrote my favorite slow burn romance ever, Kulti, and is back this time with a different set of athletes. Jasmine Santos is a world class figure skater trying to decide if it’s time to end her career after her pairs partner bailed a year before. Ivan Lukov is the current reigning pairs figure skating champion and all around taunting pain in Jasmine’s backside at their […]

Best Audiobook of the Year (Yes, it is only February, don’t care!)

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

February 5, 2018 by Beth Ellen 5 Comments

How can I have already listened to the best audiobook of the year? It’s only the beginning of February! But I have. It’s that good. Go listen. I didn’t even know much about Mr. Noah going in besides that he hosts the Daily Show, was from South Africa, and does stand up. Doesn’t matter, he tells you all you need to know. So when I told Mr. Beth Ellen what I was listening to his response was, “he’s too young to write a memoir”. And […]

narfna on And now, jump back hundreds and hundreds of years…#BlameMalin on this one for me, too, because she literally sent me a copy.
narfna on “And that very same evening—that very same evening—Lord Edgware dies. Good title that, by the way. Lord Edgware Dies. Look well on a book stall.”That's gotta be the new headcanon.
drmllz on “And that very same evening—that very same evening—Lord Edgware dies. Good title that, by the way. Lord Edgware Dies. Look well on a book stall.”I like to think the wife packs Hastings off to England to hang out with Poirot and enjoys having a whole ranch to herself...
Emmalita on And now, jump back hundreds and hundreds of years…Oh yay! Another #BlameMalin victim. That was an expensive miscommunication. I'm glad your grandmother is ok.
Emmalita on I liked this more as an exercise in boundary pushing for meI have to admit, I really liked this one. But Anita Kelly's whole vibe just works for me. I do have a couple of non...

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About Beth Ellen