Sep 2, 2020
Did you pick up any new books today?
THERE. ARE. SO. MANY. BOOKS. OUT. TODAY. 😱 I’m especially excited for RECOMMENDED FOR YOU, a swoon-worthy, holiday romcom set at an independent bookstore! Happy book birthday, @ljsilverman1!
seen from Albania
seen from Singapore
seen from China
seen from Malaysia
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Türkiye
seen from United States
seen from Germany
seen from Maldives
seen from Malaysia
seen from Brazil
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from Taiwan
seen from China
seen from Maldives
seen from United States
seen from Australia
seen from Maldives
seen from Albania
Did you pick up any new books today?
THERE. ARE. SO. MANY. BOOKS. OUT. TODAY. 😱 I’m especially excited for RECOMMENDED FOR YOU, a swoon-worthy, holiday romcom set at an independent bookstore! Happy book birthday, @ljsilverman1!
“Technically, I’m a murderer, but I like to think that’s one of my better qualities.”
Shadow Girl by Liana Liu
When Mei arrives on Arrow Island, she can’t help feeling relieved. She’s happy to spend the summer in an actual mansion tutoring a rich man’s daughter if it means a break from her normal life—her needy mother, her delinquent brother, their tiny apartment in the city. And Ella Morison seems like an easy charge, sweet and well behaved.
What Mei doesn’t know is that something is very wrong in the Morison household.
Though she tries to focus on her duties, Mei becomes increasingly distracted by the family’s problems and her own complicated feelings for Ella’s brother, Henry. But most disturbing of all are the unexplained noises she hears at night—the howling and thumping and cries.
Why did I want to read? 40% the cool synopsis, but like, 60% the amazing cover
Shadow Girl seems, from the blurb, to be a ghost story. Mei is a tutor who is hired to look after the quiet and solemn Ella Morrison for the summer. Ella claims that her summer house is haunted by the ghost of a Eleanor Arrow, an undocumented daughter of the Arrow family who founded the island.
However, I don’t really feel like it’s correct to call this a ghost story after reading it. Partly because the reasons I enjoyed it had nothing to do with the ghost elements at all. But also because it’s more of a coming of age story with a mystery running through it, rather than the other way around.
So basically, this is a really cool, well written story about a complex Chinese American heroine and her experience of a summer working for a rich family, that happens to have a ghost in. It’s very different from what I would normally read, but I loved the writing style and the honesty of the poverty rep.
Rating: 4/5
Read the full post here!!
10 #quietYA books you may have missed in February
[via YA Interrobang]
The traditional definition of #quietYA is books that aren’t very action packed and slower paced, but I use it to talk about books that are not bestsellers, not award winners, and that don’t have any kind of book or TV deal. So often, the same books are discussed over and over again and unfortunately, some great books fall through the cracks.
American Panda by Gloria Chao
Ink, Iron, and Glass by Gwendolyn Clare
The Queen’s Rising by Rebecca Ross
Where I Live by Brenda Rufener
Hamilton and Peggy! : A Revolutionary Friendship by L.M. Elliott
The Traitor Prince by C.J. Redwine
I Stop Somewhere by T.E. Carter
Honor Among Thieves by Rachel Caine and Ann Aguirre
Between the Lines by Nikki Grimes
A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena
Click through to see more titles.
YA LIT MEME: Favorite Protagonists [1/5] → Yael, The Wolf by Wolf / Blood for Blood Duology by Ryan Graudin ↳“Once upon a different time, there was a girl who lived in a kingdom of death. Wolves howled up her arm. A whole pack of them--made of tattoo ink and pain, memory and loss. It was the only thing about her that ever stayed the same.”
“I am told how I will live, and I am told how I must die. I must be a man’s servant and a mare for his pleasure, or I must hide myself behind walls and surrender my flesh to a cold, silent god. I would walk into the jaws of hell itself, if it were a path of my own choosing.”
- The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
What tv shows have you been watching lately?
I’ve been obsessed with JULIE AND THE PHANTOMS! It’s such a fun, wholesome show and I love all of the music! If you’re looking for some music-filled books to add to your tbrs, you’re going to want to check out MORE THAN MAYBE, THE BRIGHTSIDERS, LOVE SONGS & OTHER LIES, NOTEWORTHY, and THE HEARTBREAKERS! Find out why these books connect to the show over on the blog today.
http://theheartofabookblogger.com/5-books-to-read-if-you-loved-julie-and-the-phantoms
What’s your favorite thing about fall?
I can’t believe yesterday marked the first day of fall! I’m looking forward to the weather cooling down so I can actually wear all the cozy sweaters. Until then, I’ll have to surround myself with fall colors—just like the covers for A TYRANNY OF PETTICOATS and THE RADICAL ELEMENT!