My Life As Lotta: A House Full of Rabbits by Alice Pantermuller is an advanced copy of a children's book first published in Germany and now translated to English that I received. I read a fair amount of middle grade fiction these days, and I'm always mindful I'm not the target audience. Oftentimes, I still find the stories relatable and enjoyable. This is one that's definitely for kids, particularly with its tone, format and illustrations. So, if you're a kid and/or know a kid, try this out? I will say the one storyline I really liked revolved around recorders. Y'all remember recorders? Those were some kind of experience, right?!? It was fun to remember that instrument and to see that some things never chnage. So, for that nostalgia, it was neat. Overall, this one was built on stories and scenarios that would make kids chuckle. Thanks go to Sterling Publishing for the early look at this October release.
Read this book if - You're looking for a light-hearted kid's read. You want something for a kid that reads like a kid wrote it - in a good way.
Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds is an upcoming short story collection that y'all are going to need to read. This is my second Jason Reynolds book (the first being Long Way Down), and I"m absolutely amazed how he crafts words to tell stories. This is ten stories (one per block) of students as they walk home from school. What impressed me most about the stories was how he was able to change the tone with one sentence. You could think you knew the characters and direction of a story, and then in a moment of magnificence, words changed it all. It was absolute brilliance. Sometimes I struggle with short stories because there's not enough there for me to feel connected. Y'all, this is not that. There are ones that days later I can still recall because they were so wonderfully told. Some of these are stories of the everyday - variances of the realities of middle school we all know, while others peel back layers to reveal challenges these kids are navigating. With those challenges, there's a wonderful heart to these stories. It's this depth that makes these stories that form a connection. I also really liked how there were threads that tied these stories together. They were very subtle moments, but that also made this a cohesive collection. Overall, this is another wonderfully written piece by this author. This author is masterful with how he uses words in such a unique way, and I will continue to devour anything he puts out into the universe. Thanks to NetGalley for the early look at this October release!
Read this book if - You're looking for a read that is just a masterful use of language. You are looking for something that's just unexpected - in a good way.
No Hard Feelings: The Secret Power of Embracing Emotions at Work by Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy was just a really good reflection of what work is and what it really should be. Here's the deal y'all, I'm an emotional human. It's who I am, and it's always I'm always going to be, so this was a book that was really my jam. This book acknowledges the existence of emotion, takes the time to break down how they can work for you, and more importantly, it looks at how they don't. Rather than advocating for turning off emotions (which is impossible), this is about how to make your feels work for you, and how to navigate the feels of others. The book further breaks this down into several areas of work to again make emotions work for you. Oh, and the illustrations in this book are so, so great. They are this blend of reality and humor that just work. I resonated with so many of them, and I'd love to have them posted in my office as regular reminders. This is a book that I want to go back and read again. There were so many tips I dug, and there are ones I want to be sure to revisit and keep in mind. I love that this was a book about finding balance and taking care of you in the workplace. So many books about work and "business" leave out the human who is doing things, and I appreciate that this book unapologetically put the feels right where they need to be!
Read this book if - You want a book about work that is focused more on the human element. You want a book about (literal) emotions of what we do.
When She Returned by Lucinda Berry was quite the thriller that I could not read fast enough because I had to know what was going to happen. Eleven years ago, Kate Bennett vanished. She left behind a husband and daughter who had to make sense of life after. Eleven years later, her daughter Abbi is sixteen, and her husband Scott has remarried Meredith, a widow he met in a support group. And then, Kate returns. Where has she been? Who is she now? And what does everyone do with this development? Y'all, this one is a ride. Told through the now of Meredith and Abbi's perspective, as well as the then of Kate's, this story pieces together what each of these women feels and has felt, and how they all are trying to move forward (and/or in the past). I don't want to give too many plot details, as the thrills come from the way the pieces of the puzzle start to come together, and y'all, those pieces come up until a big ol' twist at the end! That said, I do want y'all to know that Kate's disappearance does have some connections to a cult. You'll see that hinted at in the description, and the way the author tells this part of the story builds a unique psychological story. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me peak at this page turner due out in October.
Read this book if - You like a thriller that has some unexpected twists - I mean, that's every thriller, but this is a unique one. You like a thriller that builds suspense through the present and the past.
Until the next round!
