Top Ten Tuesday – Books I Loved But Never Reviewed
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!
This week’s TTT topic is Books I Loved But Never Reviewed. There was a time, back when I first started blogging, that I thought I would go back and review all of my favorite pre-blogging reads. And then I discovered ARCs and that idea went straight out the window, lol. If I were ever to revisit that idea, most of the titles on my list this week, especially books like The Night Circus and The Nightingale, would be beloved reads I would finally write a proper review for. Other titles on my list, like Crazy Rich Asians, Little Fires Everywhere, and Beartown, are books I’ve read and loved since I started blogging but just didn’t feel like I had enough to say about them to warrant reviewing them on the blog.
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Books I Loved But Never Reviewed
(in no particular order)
THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN by Garth Stein
THE KITE RUNNER by Khaled Hosseini
THE NIGHTINGALE by Kristin Hannah
THE NIGHT CIRCUS by Erin Morganstern
CRAZY RICH ASIANS by Kevin Kwan
LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE by Celeste Ng
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Have you read any of these?
Reviews: August Book Releases That Should Be on Your Reading List
I’ve been quiet on the blog for a few days because I found myself lost in some pretty amazing reads. If these three novels are anything to go by, August is going to be a fabulous month for new releases. I’m also a big mood reader and my mood was all over the place this week so there’s a little something here for everyone – a heartwarming contemporary, a suspenseful mystery/thriller, and a compelling work of historical fiction.
Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop Goodreads Author: Roselle Lim
Publication Date: August 4, 2020
Publisher: Berkley
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
Roselle Lim’s new novel, Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop is a heartwarming story about love, family, second chances, and most importantly, about finding one’s self. Vanessa Yu, the protagonist, is a fortune teller but wishes she wasn’t. For most of her life, Vanessa has been unable to control her “gift,” blurting out fortunes at random and driving away friends and potential boyfriends. Because the gift has been nothing but a curse her entire life, Vanessa longs to just be rid of it so she can live a normal life. That doesn’t appear to be an option so when her aunt Evelyn, the only other family member who can tell fortunes, offers to train her, Vanessa jumps at the chance, especially once she realizes it means she’ll be traveling with Evelyn to Paris where Evelyn is opening up a new branch of her popular tea shop.
One of my absolute favorite parts about this book were the author’s lush descriptions of the sights, sounds, and especially the FOOD of Paris. My mouth was watering with each turn of the page as I read about decadent French pastries and the like. Vanessa is also a very likeable character, so it was easy to root for her. I felt so much sympathy for her as she began to fear she would live her entire life alone if she didn’t get control over her abilities. I can’t even imagine that kind of pressure.
The story isn’t just about Vanessa though. There’s also a fabulous subplot involving Aunt Evelyn. She’s actually leaving the Yu family permanently and relocating to Paris. When it becomes clear to Vanessa that Evelyn’s trip to Paris isn’t a temporary one, she is dying to know why, and since Evelyn isn’t talking, she enlists the wonderful Yu Aunties, who are more than willing to go undercover and find out what Evelyn is up to. I adored the closeness of the Yu family overall and those Yu Aunties are a hilarious addition to what is already an entertaining story.
I don’t want to say much more but I will say that I think this is a story that romance fans are going to love. Love is in the air for several characters as Vanessa discovers that while she may hate fortune telling, she thoroughly enjoys playing matchmaker and bringing lovers together. If you’re in the mood for a charming and romantic story that will tug at your heartstrings and leave a smile on your face, be sure to pick up a copy of Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop. 4 STARS
The Night Swim Goodreads Author: Megan Goldin
Publication Date: August 4, 2020
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
With her latest thriller, The Night Swim, Megan Goldin explores the connections between two criminal cases that took place in the same small town 25 years apart. Rachel Krall, the protagonist of the novel, is a successful crime podcaster. For the first two seasons of her podcast, “Guilty or Not Guilty, the Podcast that Puts You in the Jury Box”, Rachel looked back at cold cases with a fresh set of eyes. Now that her show has become immensely popular, Rachel wants to up her game by going to court and sitting in on a live, ongoing trial to present and interpret the evidence to her listeners as it becomes available. The trial she has chosen in set in a small town and the accused is the town’s golden boy, a talented swimmer who hopes to make the Olympic team someday. He is accused of brutally raping a high school student who also happens to be the granddaughter of the sheriff. Tensions are high and opinions are very divided as to whether or not the young man is guilty.
Things take an odd turn, however, when she starts receiving mysterious handwritten letters imploring her to take a look at an old case from 25 years ago. The case was ruled a drowning because there were no witnesses aside from the victim’s nine-year-old sister who couldn’t really provide any information. The incident received little press at the time, but the letter writer, who turns out to be the younger sister of the drowning victim, swears her sister’s death was not an accident. Rachel is laser focused on the current case but the pleading tone of the letters get to her and so she starts to casually ask some of the townsfolk about what happened 25 years ago. When it becomes clear that no one wants to talk to her about it, Rachel starts to dig deeper and soon discovers some disturbing connections between the old case and the new case. Will Rachel discover the truth about both of the crimes and thus justice for the victims or will someone try to stop her from exposing long hidden secrets in this small town?
The Night Swim is a riveting mystery that kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. The podcast aspect of the novel was also very well done. As Rachel produces each episode, we then get to listen to it before returning to the courthouse to hear more. I was completely invested in both mysteries and dying to learn the truth as the clues were slowly revealed. Be forewarned that because this story does deal with rape, there are some violent and heartbreaking scenes as we get closer and closer to the truth. I found myself near tears a couple of times as the truth came to light.
I enjoyed Megan Goldin’s last thriller, The Escape Room, but I have to say that with her latest effort, The Night Swim, she really knocks it out of the park. 4 STARS.
The Lions of Fifth Avenue Goodreads Author: Fiona Davis
Publication Date: August 4, 2020
Publisher: Dutton Books
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
I love historical fiction and I love New York City, so I’m always drawn to the novels of Fiona Davis because she sets each one in an iconic NYC location. This time around, Davis has selected the beloved New York Public Library as her setting.
In 1913, Laura Lyons is living in the library with her two young children and her husband, who is the Superintendent of the library. She aspires to be a journalist and enrolls at Columbia University’s Journalism School. Her journalism classes take her to the doorstep of an all-women’s club called the Heterodoxy Club. While attending club meetings and listening to “radical” women discuss women’s issues like suffrage and birth control, Laura begins to question her own existence as little more than wife and mother. There’s a whole world out there she wants to experience. Her thoughts of taking an alternative path in life are cut short, however, when rare books start disappearing from the library and it’s thought to be an inside job, which places her husband squarely on the suspect list.
In 1993, we meet Sadie Donovan, who also works at the New York Public Library. Everyone at the library knows Sadie loves her job and is passionate about books, so it’s a given that she’s the best choice to curate the library’s next big exhibit featuring rare books. What everyone doesn’t know about Sadie is that she’s actually the granddaughter of Laura Lyons. With her family’s muddled history regarding the library and missing books, Sadie figures the little said about that the better, especially when, to her shock and dismay, rare books she plans to use in her exhibit start to disappear from the library. As only a small handful of people have keys to the rare books room, it’s considered an inside job and Sadie finds herself on the suspect list. Sadie becomes determined to find out how the books are being stolen and who is responsible and also hopes deep down that she can somehow redeem the Lyon name and legacy with respect to the library.
What intrigued me the most about this story is that we learn early on in Sadie’s timeline that Laura Lyons, although now deceased, had become a famous feminist essayist at some point in her life. In addition to being eager to find out how the book thefts were being pulled off in each timeline, I was also even more eager to find out what had transpired in Laura’s life to transform her from wife and mother on the verge of tragedy to world renowned author. I loved how the author wove these two timelines together to gradually reveal the answers to both questions.
It actually surprised me how emotional I found myself getting as I was reading this book. I actually gasped a few times when certain beloved rare books went missing and in one case, where a page was torn out of a beloved treasure. If you are passionate about books, libraries, New York, and historical fiction, The Lions of Fifth Avenue is the perfect book for you. 4.5 STARS
Review: EIGHTY DAYS TO ELSEWHERE by K.C. Dyer
Eighty Days to Elsewhere by K.C. Dyer 
Published by Berkley Books on August 11, 2020
Genres: Contemporary Fiction, Romance, Women's Fiction
Pages: 480
Source: Netgalley
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository
Goodreads
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
Thanks so much to Brittanie from Berkley for inviting me to take part in their 2020 Romance blog tours. Today I’m excited to share my thoughts on K.C. Dyer’s new novel, Eighty Days to Elsewhere with you.
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K.C. Dyer’s new novel, Eighty Days to Elsewhere, is an entertaining romp around the globe that reads like a mash up of the Jules Verne classic, Around the World in 80 Days, The Amazing Race reality TV show, and Eat Pray Love. The novel follows Ramona (Romy) Keene, a young woman who lives in New York City and works with her uncle in his bookstore in the Village. Although Romy dreams of being a photographer and of traveling, she instead sticks close to home, the charming bookstore a safe haven from the world. When an evil new landlord arrives on the scene, jacks up the rent on the bookstore, and threatens to evict them, Romy is desperate to do whatever it takes to save the bookstore.
She applies for a job at a company called ExLibris Expeditions, an unusual company whose mission it is to create custom adventures for clients based on scenes from their favorite books. (How cool does that sound?!) The custom trips involve a great deal of research, including actually traveling to each destination being considered to figure out transportation, things to see and do, etc. When Romy applies for the job, as part of her application process, she is tasked with doing the legwork on a custom trip that follows the route taken in Around the World in 80 Days. There’s a catch, however, a few of them actually: 1) Romy is given significantly less than 80 days to complete her task because of the timeline the client has given ExLibris, 2) Romy is not allowed to travel via commercial airline since that mode of travel didn’t exist at the time of the novel, and 3) Romy is competing against another applicant who is also applying for the job. Whoever successfully completes the trip first and by the stated deadline will win the job and a $10,000 bonus.
It’s best to watch the adventure portion of the book unfold for yourself, but I did want to share some highlights.
5 Reasons You’ll Want to Read Eighty Days to Elsewhere
- It’s a book of journeys. We follow Romy on her actual physical journey around the world, which is perfect for readers like me who love to travel but have been sidelined by the COVID-19 pandemic. Romy’s trip takes us through London, Paris, Mumbai, Singapore, and so many other incredible destinations. Even though Romy couldn’t stop at any destination for very long because of the contest, I still loved reading and learning a little something about each place she visited. In addition to the physical journey, we also follow Romy on a psychological journey. Romy has been grieving the loss of her parents and that grief has been holding her back from fully living her life. This trip gives her the opportunity to really live, learn, and grow as a person. The Romy who comes back to NYC after her journey is definitely not the same Romy who left.
- Romy’s misadventures. I don’t want to give away any spoilers so I’m just going to say that Romy must seriously have the worst luck of anyone on the planet. If something could go hilariously wrong at any of her destinations, it absolutely did. It got to the point where I couldn’t wait for her to get to the next country just to see what went wrong next and how she was able to recover from it. All I kept thinking the whole time I was reading these misadventure scenes was that this book would make a very entertaining movie or series.
- Serious topics are tackled as well. It’s not all fun and games on Romy’s trip. The author also takes on some serious and thought-provoking topics as well, as part of Romy’s journey of growth. Romy learns about the plight of Somali refugees, racism on a level she has never seen it before, her own privilege, and she even has an encounter with Greenpeace and whale hunters, just to name a few. These encounters make it a very eye-opening trip for Romy.
- Show stealers. Romy meets an adorably sassy Somali teen named Sumaya on her trip. When Romy meets her, Sumaya has lost both of her parents and is trying to make her way to find her aunt, who emigrated several years earlier. Sumaya is a force of nature, determined that no one and nothing will stand in her way, and she also has a pretty mean stand-up routine, as she wants to be a comedian when she grows up. Sumaya not only steals the spotlight once she joins Romy on her travels, she will also steal your heart.
- Romance. Speaking of getting your heart stolen, there is romance in the book as well. Be forewarned that it’s a slow burn and definitely takes a backseat to Romy’s psychological journey, but it’s still really nice to watch Romy finally let her guard down and let someone in. I’m not entirely sure what trope it falls under so I’m going to call it a mix of enemies to lovers and rivals to lovers.
Now I will confess that there were a few times along the way when I had to suspend disbelief. Seriously, no one could have the kind of consistently bad luck Romy has. Also, a few of the places in Around the World in Eighty Days are probably not places that Americans would be advised to travel to at this point in time. That said, I finally just told myself that this is fiction and that I needed to stop nitpicking unlikely scenarios and just enjoy the ride. Once I did that, I enjoyed Eighty Days to Elsewhere immensely and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for an entertaining adventure.
About K.C. Dyer
kc dyer loves to travel. When she’s not on the road, she resides in the wilds of British Columbia, where she likes to walk in the woods and write books. Her most recent novel, published by Berkley Books, is arriving in 2020. A romantic comedy, EIGHTY DAYS TO ELSEWHERE is the madcap story of a young woman so desperate to save her family’s bookstore that she undertakes a race around the world, but ends up falling for her competition.
She is the author of FINDING FRASER, an international bestseller in romantic comedy, and published by Berkley Books. US Weekly called FINDING FRASER a “humorous but relateable self-discovery tale”, and Bustle named it a ‘Must-Read for OUTLANDER fans”.
For teens, kc’s most recent work is FACING FIRE, a sequel to the acclaimed novel, A WALK THROUGH A WINDOW, published by Doubleday/Random House. kc is represented by Laura Bradford of Bradford Literary Agency.
kc has spoken before thousands of readers — both kids and adults — across Canada and the US, and in Europe and Asia. She is a director and long-time participant at the Surrey International Writers’ Conference. She has been writer-in-residence at New Westminster Secondary School, and a featured presenter at the National Council of English Teachers in both Philadelphia, PA and Chicago, Ill; YouthWrite in Penticton, BC; Young Authors in Kamloops, BC; WORD Vancouver, Canadian Authors’ Association in Victoria, BC; Ontario Library Association Super-Conference in Toronto, ON; Simon Fraser University Southbank Writers in Surrey, BC; WriteOn Bowen and many others.