After Forever Bound came out, I went on a time-slip novel kick.
I started hearing good things about The Echo of Old Books after it came out this spring, and so I picked it up (the absolutely stunning cover also helped pull me in. I’m a little jealous of it!) Echo has a little bit of everything I love in it: old bookstore, dual timelines, second-chance love stories, rich history… I ate it up. It can be a little dense at times (as a fair warning), but the history nerd in me even loved that aspect.
Highly recommend this one for all the book/history/romance lovers out there.
A novel about the magical lure of books and summoning the courage to rewrite our stories by the Amazon Charts bestselling author of The Keeper of Happy Endings and The Last of the Moon Girls.
Rare-book dealer Ashlyn Greer's affinity for books extends beyond the intoxicating scent of old paper, ink, and leather. She can feel the echoes of the books' previous owners-an emotional fingerprint only she can read. When Ashlyn discovers a pair of beautifully bound volumes that appear to have never been published, her gift quickly becomes an obsession. Not only is each inscribed with a startling incrimination,…
Okay, this one is definitely not light reading (trigger warning for just about any type of abuse you can think of) but Girls and their Monsters was an amazingly well-written and researched book that covers so much about how mental illness has been treated in the US throughout the decades.
It follows the story of four sisters all eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia and brings you into their world through all the good and bad to the point that (even with the heavy topics) I managed to get this one back to the library within a few days of checking it out.
With my own experiences with mental health (though not schizophrenia), it really hit home. 110% of my top nonfiction of the year.
For readers of Hidden Valley Road and Patient H.M., an “intimate and compassionate portrait” (Grace M. Cho) of the Genain quadruplets, the harrowing violence they experienced, and its psychological and political consequences, from the author of The Unfit Heiress.
In 1954, researchers at the newly formed National Institute of Mental Health set out to study the genetics of schizophrenia. When they got word that four 24-year-old identical quadruplets in Lansing, Michigan, had all been diagnosed with the mental illness, they could hardly believe their ears. Here was incontrovertible proof of hereditary transmission and, thus, a chance to bring international fame…
Another book from my time-slip novel kick (though I’d read the previous two in the series before this year).
The time travel aspect is much more complicated than in Echo (or Forever Bound for that matter) but Dean does a great job throughout the series being able to keep all the splintered timelines and jumps consistent and really grounded.
The entire series also felt like a very fresh take on some tropes that would be so easy to feel worn out in time-travel romance (brothers in a love triangle, that isn’t a love triangle, but is? Yeah, would have been so easy to do poorly but it had me wrapped up throughout all three novels). If you are looking for a lesser-known time travel romance out there, highly recommend this entire series.
Don't miss the explosive conclusion to the Flames of Time series.Ava Flynn walked through flames to erase the past and bring her little brother, Josh, back from the dead. But the reboot doesn't come without strings. While navigating her new reality, Ava must avoid Maddox... without fracturing the timeline. If she fails, she may never find Laith again.With her own heart at stake, Ava scours time for the key to unraveling the curse binding her soul to both Laith's and Maddox's. One brother is the love of her life. And the other... not even death will stop him from keeping…
Set among the Irish hills, Kelkerry Castle is something out of a fairy tale. For hotelier Bridget Marshall, however, it's a dream come true. Only, this breathtaking castle has far more secrets than expensive repairs. While someone—or something—desperately wants Bridget to give up and walk away, there’s another force tugging her to stay. Whenever she’s with her curt (if utterly gorgeous) new neighbor, Liam, the past comes to life, sweeping them along in a story they’re destined to relive. Now, caught up in a long-ago tale filled with love, danger, and betrayal, Bridget and Liam will have to uncover the truth of what happened all those centuries ago before history—and tragedy—repeats itself.
With her father being a comic book nerd, he picked up a lot of Superhero-themed books from the time our daughter was an infant (bonus: My Dad is a Superhero is his favorite DC Comics board book).
As she’s moved out of board books, The Big Book of Girl Power has become the number 1 request for bedtime stories this year. If you have a superhero lover as well, this is a great one for learning both about some of the DC Superheroines and getting a good dose about how strong women can be.
DC's awesome super heroes are terrific role models for young girls. This colorful picture book, illustrated with DC Comics classic art, details the inspiring qualities that make Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Supergirl and their friends so powerful.
Wonder Woman knows the importance of telling the truth. Bat Girl reads a lot and has impressive technical skills. Supergirl is the only girl to survive from the planet Krypton. Black Canary persuades people to do things with the power of her voice. Illustrated with cool, classic DC art, this fun, colorful book shows how these and other amazing female super heroes use their…
Dolphins have been a recent-ish special interest around the house (thank you trip to the National Aquarium over the summer for that one!)
Following that trip, we ended up checking out basically every child-friendly book on Dolphins there was in the local library. Baby Dolphin’s First Swim became a vast favorite from that stack of books.
Meet a baby dolphin and see how he spends his first day! Developed with the American Museum of Natural History, this nonfiction picture book follows a dolphin from birth as he swims with mom; learns to eat, jump, and play with his pod; and even escapes a shark. With its beautiful ocean photography, this sweet story will make a splash with children.
(Are you getting the sense that we have a bit of a daddy’s girl around here?)
But anyway, adorable illustrations, a cute story about different animal dads hugging their kids/pups/chicks that human dads can act out, and simple sentences that are structured to be easy enough for early readers to help pick out some of the words has made this one a favorite all year.
It was so well loved that we ended up having to buy a copy from Amazon so that we didn’t have to keep renewing it from the library.
All across the woodlands, animal daddies and their little ones cuddle up together. From furry bear hugs to silky hare hugs, Nancy Tafuri celebrates all the hugs that are extra special because they are just-daddy-and-me hugs. A special author's note includes a list of critters to seek and find on each page, along with their scientific names.
