Trigger Warnings: descriptions of extreme violence, torture, insinuations of rape, sex trafficking, and pedophilia, animal cruelty It’s a cold, snowy night when Darby is making the trip she never imagined herself taking — she’s driving home to tell her mother she loves her. Darby and her mother have never gotten along, but now, her mother’s been diagnosed with cancer, and Darby has to make amends for all the horrible things she said to her mother on Thanksgiving. So, that’s why Darby is driving through the worst blizzard she’s seen in her life. That’s why Darby is forced to pull over and wait out the storm at a highway rest stop with…
Malibu Rising | A Book Review
Taylor Jenkins Reid’s latest published work on shelves now, and you’d be a fool not to pick it up. If you’ve been here for a while, you know how much I loved The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones & the Six, and Malibu Rising is another Reid hit to add to the shelves. The Riva family is kind of famous. Not only are a few of them pro-surfers and models, but they throw the wildest beach party every summer that anyone who is anyone always makes sure to attend. This year though, things are different. This year, by 8 a.m., everything is up in flames. Reid tells the timeless story of…
Book Review: Big Magic
Courage. Enchantment. Permission. Persistence. Trust. Divinity. The six components of creativity according to Elizabeth Gilbert’s book Big Magic. Big Magic is one of those books you read, and it changes or affirms your perspective on everything. Gilbert has a unique approach to creativity and inspiration that I think most people can benefit from reading. Rather than viewing creativity as this painful, elusive entity, Gilbert thinks of it as a gift that flits in and out of your life only if you let it. I’ve always struggled with calling myself a creative person, and the way Gilbert approaches the topic makes it possible for anyone to live creatively as long as they give…
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle: A Book Review
Warning: There may be spoilers in this review. Evelyn Hardcastle is going to die. She is going to die again and again until Aiden Bishop can figure out who her killer is. Only when he figures out who is behind her untimely death will he be freed from the loop of reliving the day of The Masquerade Ball hosted at Blackheath. Aiden wakes up every day in a different person’s body. Each person is supposed to bring him more clues to piece together who is behind Evelyn’s death. But, Aiden is sidetracked when the only person he can remember before his time at Blackheath is Anna. Who is Anna, and…
Tell Me Lies: A Review
WARNING: There may be spoilers in this review. We all have that one person we know doesn’t treat us right, but we can’t help being in love with them. For Lucy, that person is Stephen. Stephen is mediocre at best, but Lucy can’t help going back to him time and time again. Tell Me Lies starts out in present-day New York with Lucy working a so-so job heading off to her best friend’s wedding. Lucy is a jumble of nerves because she knows her ex-boyfriend, Stephen, is going to be there. The rest of the book is mainly told in flashbacks to the pair’s college days reliving their tumultuous relationship. This book…
The Girl He Used to Know: A Book Review
Imagine grocery shopping after work; looking for the perfect microwaveable meal so you get enough nutrition but don’t have to work too hard. Now picture running into your ex. Not just any ex, but the ex you haven’t seen since you tragically broke up ten years ago after a traumatic life event left you both feeling lost and confused. The ex you always wanted to rekindle things with but never knew how. That’s what happens to Annika in The Girl He Used to Know by Tracey Garvis Graves. Annika and Jonathan meet at chess club during their senior year of college. Annika doesn’t make friends easily and is surprised when, after being…
Educated: A Review
Educated is the story of what happens when you have nothing to rely on but yourself, a book, and some very willing loved ones to get you out of a tough situation. Tara Westover was raised in a strict Mormon household in the mountains of Idaho. In addition to being conservative, traditional parents, Tara’s parents were also survivalists. Tara, along with her six other siblings, was homeschooled for the majority of her life, worked either in the junkyard with their father or in the kitchen putting together homeopathic remedies with her mother, and was always prepared for the second-coming. At 17, Tara was convinced by her older brother, Tyler, to leave…
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Daisy Jones is a force to be reckoned with, and The Six had no idea what it was getting into when they asked her to join the band. It all started out as an innocent co-writing session, and it ended in the best band of the era. Daisy Jones & The Six is the oral history of the greatest band there ever was. Their time together was short, but their impact lasted for generations. The story begins with Billy and his brother starting a band. They go through the regular crap a band does (members that quit, writing woes, etc), but eventually, they end up as The Six — Billy, Graham,…
Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win: A Book Review
Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win. It’s a book title and a powerful statement in one. Charlotte Walsh is on the ride of her life. She’s running for a Senate seat in her home state of Pennslyvania, and she’s running against an old, white, incumbent, male. Nothing about this race is going to be easy for her, but she wants to fix what she believes to be past mistakes. I can relate a lot to Charlotte, and I think a lot of other women can as well. She’s responsible for taking care of everything — her career, her employees, her kids, her spouse, and herself when she has the time. She’s got…
Ghosted: A Review
Sarah doesn’t think she will ever find love again, but then Eddie comes around. Sarah is from California, but she is back in London after her recent divorce for her yearly trip home when she meets the man she knows she could actually spend the rest of her life with. She doesn’t know Eddie for long, just one week, but she knows it’s different than anything she’s ever felt before. Until he ghosts her. Ghosted is about feeling a love that is so real you can’t explain it — it’s a love you can feel in your bones — a love you’re willing to look absolutely crazy to find, but you…
