Date Me, Bryson Keller by Kevin Van Whye
I don’t TikTok, so I am pretty sure that this hit my radar via Pajiba, and I am so glad it did. It’s a top ten read of the year. Bryson agrees to a dare whereby he dates the first person to ask him out each Monday, until the end of that week. The wording is nebulous – doesn’t specify a gender – so when Kai gets massively pissed at Bryson, he claims the week’s dates for himself. This is a sweet story with an […]
Ten Trends to Seduce your Best Friend by Penny Reid
When I read this, I’d been reading a lot of books that I picked up for free or for a dollar. My thumbnail says “oh, this is why we pay for good books.” I really enjoyed Ten Trends (notes: “I didn’t want this to end”). Winnie is a teacher, and Byron is an author of some renown. He’s clearly on the autism spectrum, but no attempt is made to “redeem” him, make him more “normal,” or suggest that he needs to change in any way. […]
Gild by Raven Kennedy
Glint by Raven Kennedy
Gleam by Raven Kennedy
Glow by Raven Kennedy
Wow, I got this one totally wrong. As the official Most Prolific Reader in the family, I pick books up all the time, and test them out. Maybe they’re right for my brother, maybe they’re for my sister. Perhaps someone is brutally murdered early on – then it’s for Nan. Lately, I’ve been screening books for Australia’s Best (10yo) Niece. I’d seen Gild around, and while I was (clearly) totally unspoiled, I somehow got the idea that it was YA fiction (maybe the price point?). […]
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
This was recommended to me by a local bookseller, when I asked her “What’s the best book you’ve read this month?” I consider it a solid strategy; I was introduced to Christopher Brookmyre this way back in the mid 90s, and have never had cause to regret it. The bookseller who recommended this said it got her out of a reading slump, and since I’d not long since read Beach Read, I was keen to give it a go. Its another winner from Emily Henry […]
The Tilt by Chris Hammer
I really enjoy Chris Hammer novels, which surprised me. I have that pesky Cultural Cringe factor around Aussie books in general, and I feel like Hammer specifically just throws every single thing he thinks of into each book. At a certain point, all 273.802 plot threads being miraculously interconnected starts to beggar belief, you know? So this new one, being described as his “most ambitious yet” was a bit concerning – what was he going to do, have Scarsden find evidence that put Trump away […]
Homecoming King by Penny Reid
Drama King by Penny Reid
I’m just going to admit up front that I find Penny Reid’s books totally delightful. I started out in the Knitting in the City series, and have read everything I could get my hands on since. So perhaps I’m not entirely objective when reviewing this latest series, but again, they’ve really worked for me. There’s a big focus on Found Family (as opposed to blood family) in her novels, and the Three Kings series (book three still pending) focuses on three friends from a small […]
