“Most of the time, there is no truth, only various levels of interpretation. Fact is a construct we provide to the public.”

The Ashford Affair 
by Lauren Willig

I really enjoyed Lauren Willig's Pink Carnation series and thought I would give one of her stand alone novels a try.  I was not disappointed.  Wonderful historical fiction spanning the 1920's to 2000, and taking place in Africa, New York, and England.  I enjoyed this a lot more than I was expecting, with the story sucking me in in the very first chapter and not letting me go right up until the very last page.  Romantic, mysterious, and just plain fun; this is what I look for in historical fiction.

As a lawyer in a large Manhattan firm, just shy of making partner, Clementine Evans has finally achieved almost everything she's been working towards - but now she's not sure it's enough.  Her long hours have led to a broken engagement and, suddenly single at thirty-four, she feels her messy life crumbling around her.  But when the family gathers for her grandmother Addie's ninety-ninth birthday, a relative lets slip hints about a long-buried family secret, leading Clemmie on a journey into the past that could change everything...

What follows is a potent story that spans generations and continents, brining an Out of Africa feel to a Downton Abbey cast of unforgettable characters.  From the inner circles of WWI-era British society to the skyscrapers of Manhattan and the red-dirt hills of Kenya, the never-told secrets of a woman and her family unfurl.

"Heartbreak was a luxury too costly for a single parent."

One Plus One by Jojo Moyes

This is my favourite Jojo Moyes book to date.  This quirky family dramedy made me laugh, cry (as per usual with a Jojo Moyes book), and cheer for these characters.  The perfect read for rainy afternoons, lounging on the beach, or just wanting to escape with a good book.  For fans of the film Little Miss Sunshine.

Suppose your life sucks.  A lot.  Your husband has done a vanishing act, your teenage stepson is being bullied and your math whiz daughter has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that you can't afford to pay for.  That's Jess's life in a nutshell - until an unexpected knight-in-shinning-armor offers to rescue them.  Only Jess's knight turns out to be Geeky Ed, the obnoxious tech millionaire whose vacation home she happens to clean.  But Ed has big problems of his own, and driving the dysfunctional family to the Math Olympiad feels like his first unselfish act in ages...maybe ever.

More Books I'm Excited For - February 2016

There are so many great books coming out in February that two posts were required!  This post features a debut that's been getting lots of great buzz, plus a new novel by one of my favourite 9-12 authors!

The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig
Time Travel, Pirates, and Hawaii.  Put all that together with a snazzy cover and you've already hooked me.  Really looking forward to this debut YA novel and seeing if it lives up to all the buzz it's been getting!

Sixteen-year old Nix Song is a time-traveller.  She, her father and their crew of time refugees travel the world aboard The Temptation, a glorious pirate ship stuffed with trees both typical and mythical.  Old maps allow Nix and her father to navigate not just to distant lands, but distant times - although a map will only take you somewhere once.  And Nix's father is only interested none time, and one place: Honolulu 1868.  A time before Nix was born, and her mother was alive.  Something that puts Nix's existence rather dangerously in question...

Nix has grown used to her father's obsession, but only because she's convinced it can't work.  But then a map falls into her father's lap that changes everything.  And when Nix refuses to help, her father threatens to maroon Kashmir, her only friend (and perhaps, only love) in a time where Nix will never be able to find him.  And if Nix has leaned one thing, it's that losing the person you love is a torment that no one can withstand.  Nix must work out what she wants, who she is, and where she really belongs before time runs out on her forever.


The Key to Extraordinary by Natalie Lloyd
Natalie Lloyd is one of my favourite 9-12 writers.  Her debut novel, A Snicker of Magic, knocked my socks off with its beautiful writing, quirky characters, and heart.  I'm so excited to see what she's come up with next!

Everyone in Emma's family is special.  Her ancestors include Revolutionary War spies, brilliant scientists, and famous musicians - every single one of which learned of their extraordinary destiny through a dream.

For Emma, her own dream can't come soon enough.  Right before her mother died, Emma promised that she'd do whatever it took to fulfill her destiny, and she doesn't want to let her mother down.

But when Emma's dream finally arrives, it points her towards an impossible task - finding a legendary treasure hidden in her town's cemetery.  If Emma fails, she'll let down generations of extraordinary ancestors...including her own mother.  But how can she find something that's been missing for centuries and might be protected by a mysterious singing ghost?

Books I'm Looking Forward To - February 2016

Here are a few sequels / continuations of series that I'm looking forward to that come out in February!

Kingdom of Ashes by Rhiannon Thomas
I really enjoyed the first book in this series, A Wicked Thing, which is a retelling of one of my favourite fairy tales, Sleeping Beauty.  The book took some twists I didn't see coming and I'm interested to see where book two takes the story!

Asleep for a hundred years, awoken by a kiss, Aurora's life was supposed to be a fairy tale.  But since discovering that loyalty to the crown and loyalty to her country are two very different things, Aurora knows she can only dream of happily ever after.  Once the enchanted princess, saviour of her people, she is now branded a traitor.

Aurora is determined to free her home from the king's tyrannical rule, even if it means traveling across the sea to the kingdom of the handsome and devious Prince Finnegan - someone who seems to know far more about her magic than he should.  However, Finnegan's kingdom has perils of its own, and any help he gives Aurora will come at a price.

As Aurora and Finnegan work together to harness her power - something so fiery and dangerous that is as likely to destroy those close to Aurora as is it to save them - she begins to unravel the mysteries surround the curse that was placed on her over a century before...and uncover the truth about the destiny she was always meant to fulfill.


A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab
A Darker Shade of Magic was such fun and Delilah Bard was one of my favourite badass lady characters I read last year.  So excited for book two!

Four months have passed since the shadow stone fell into Kell's possession.  Four months since his path crossed with Deliah Bard.  Four months since Rhy was wounded and the Dane twins fell, and the stone was cast with Holland's dying body through the rift, and into Black London.

In many ways, things have almost returned to normal, though Rhy is more sober, and Kell is now plagued by his guilt.  Restless, and having given up smuggling, Kell is visited by dreams of ominous magical events, waking only to think of Lila, who disappeared from the docks like she always meant to do.  As Red London finalizes preparations for the Element Games - an extravagant international completion of magic, meant to entertain and keep healthy the ties between neighbouring countries - a certain pirate ship draws closer, carrying old friends back into port.

But while Red London is caught up in the pageantry and thrills of the Games, another London is coming back to life, and those who were thought to be forever gone have returned.  After all, a shadow that was gone in the night reappears in the morning, and so it seems Black London has risen again - meaning that another London must fall.

Brotherhood in Death by J.D. Robb
J.D. Robb's 'In Death' series is one of my favourite mystery series.  I always look forward to a new adventure with Eve Dallas and Roarke!

Dennis Mira just had two unpleasant surprises.  First he learned that his cousin Edward was secretly meeting with a real estate agent about their late grandfather's magnificent West Village brownstone, despite the promise they both made to keep it in the family.  Then, when he went to the house to confront Edward about it, he got a blunt object to the back of the head.

Luckily Dennis is married to Charlotte Mira, the NYPSD's top profiler and a good friend of Lieutenant Eve Dallas.  When the two arrive on the scene, he explains that the last thing he saw was Edward in a chair, bruised and bloody.  When he came to, his cousin was gone.  With the mess cleaned up the security disks removed, there's nothing left behind but a few traces for forensics to analyze.

As a former lawyer, judge, and senator, Edward Mira mingled with the elite and crossed paths with criminals, making enemies on a regular basis.  Like so many politicians, he also made some very close friends behind closed - and locked - doors.  But a badge and a billionaire husband can get you into places others can't go, and Eve intends to shine some light on the dirty deals and dark motives behind the disappearance of a powerful man, the family discord over a multimillion-dollar piece of real estate...and a new case that no one saw coming.

"I was as unburdened as a piece of dandelion fluff, and he was the wind that stirred me about the world"

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

My first Sarah J. Maas novel and I enjoyed in immensely!  Well written, lots of action, and very sexy.  As far as "Beauty and the Beast" retellings go, I thought that this one was well done.  I read a lot of mixed reviews from other readers of this book so I went into it a bit cautiously.  However, it worked for me.  I liked that there were slower, more contemplative portions of the novel, followed by badass action sequences.  The romance was, to me, believable, and not over the top like it appeared to be for some readers.  The characters were interesting and Maas has done a good job of creating and world I want to know more about.  I will definitely be picking up book two when it comes out later this year.

When nineteen-year old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it.  Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin - one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world. 

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae.  But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it...or doom Tamlin - and his world - forever.

Jane Austen + Football? Who knew?!

First & Then by Emma Mills

I snorted with laughter a few times.  I also found myself grinning foolishly at several parts.  I'm already contemplating when I can reread it.  Despite high school being a million years ago, why oh why are books that take place there oh so appealing?!  The description of "Pride and Prejudice" meets "Friday Night Lights" is actually pretty accurate and delightful.   Much book love.

Devon Tennyson wouldn't change a thing.  She's happy watching Friday night games from the bleachers, silently crushing on her best friend Cas, and blissfully ignoring the future after high school.  But the universe has other plans.  It delivers Devon's cousin Foster, an unrepentant social outlier with a surprising talent for football, and the obnoxiously superior and maddeningly attractive star running back, Ezra, right where she doesn't want them first into her P.E. class and then into every other aspect of her life.


ARC provided by Raincoast Books

Will it be fun? HELLO? It's a Lemoncello!

Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics by Chris Grabenstein

Chris Grabenstein is currently one of my favourite 9-12 authors.  I loved The Island of Dr. Libris and the first book in the Lemoncello series, Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library.  This book is fun, contains puzzles you can solve alongside the characters, and tackles important literary issues such as banned books and freedom of speech.  I'm excited to see what Grabenstein comes up with next!

Welcome, boys and girls, readers of all ages, to the first-ever Library Olympiad!  Kyle and his teammates are back, and the world-famous game maker, Luigi Lemoncello, is at it again!

This time Mr. Lemoncello has invited teams from all across America to compete in the first ever LIBRARY OLYMPICS.  Will it be fun?  Like the commercials say...HELLO? It's a Lemoncello!  But something suspicious is going on...books are missing from Mr. Lemoncello's library.  Is someone trying to CENSOR what the kids are reading?!  In between figuring out mind-boggling challenges, the kids will have to band together to get to the bottom of this mystery.

Now it's not just a game - can Mr. Lemoncello find the real defenders of books and champions of libraries?

"I am sometimes afraid that I will not know the feeling again, that I will never again know what it is to be a dog among dogs....Since the change, I have been alone with thoughts I do not want."

Fifteen Dogs by Andre Alexis

One of the more unique books I've ever read.  I get and agree with the comparison to Watership Down and Animal Farm.  A perfect pick for bookclubs since there is so much to talk about and the writing is lovely.  Definitely worthy of its Giller Prize win.

"I wonder", said Hermes, "what it would be like if animals had human intelligence."
"I'll wager a year's servitude, answered Apollo, that animals - any animal you like - would be even more unhappy than humans are, if they were given human intelligence."

And so it begins: a bet between the gods Hermes and Apollo leads them to grant human consciousness and language to a group of dogs overnighting at a Toronto veterinary clinic.  Suddenly capable of more complex thought, the pack is torn between those who resist the new ways of thinking, preferring the old 'dog' ways, and those who embrace the change.  the gods watch from above as the dogs venture into their newly unfamiliar world, as they become divided among themselves, as each struggles with new thoughts and feelings.  Wily Benjy moves from home to home, Prince becomes a poet, and Majnoun forges a relationship with a kind couple that stops even the Fates in their tracks.

Historical Romance at its Finest

Into the Wilderness by Sara Donati

I read this years ago and remembered really liking it.  Since I've been wanting to read the rest of the series (there are 6 books in total), I thought it was time for a reread.  And I LOVED it.  It hit all my book buttons and now i'm itching to start book two.  This book gets a lot of comparison to Diana Gabaldon's Outlander (Gabaldon herself wrote the blurb on the cover of Into the Wilderness!) and I think that is fair to a degree.  Both feature strong willed female characters, interesting (and somewhat similar) time frames and places, adventure, romance, and lots of drama.  A few of Gabaldon's characters even make cameo appearances!  Despite all this, they are very different novels and both highly enjoyable reads.  If you are a Gabaldon fan, or enjoy historical fiction, check this out!

When Elizabeth Middleton, twenty-nine years old and unmarried, leaves her Aunt Merriweather's comfortable English estate to join her father and brother in the remote mountain village of Paradise on the edge of the New York wilderness, she does so with a strong will and an unwavering purpose: to teach school.

It is December 1792 when she arrives in a cold climate unlike any she has ever experienced.  And she meets a man different from any she has ever encountered - a white man dressed like a Native American, tall an clean and unsettling in his blunt honesty.  He is Nathaniel Bonner, also know to the Mohawk people as Between-Two-Lives.

Determined to provide schooling for all the children of the village - white, black, and Native American - Elizabeth soon finds herself at odds with local slave owners.  Much to her surprise, she clashes with her own father as well.  Financially strapped, Judge Middleton has plans for his daughter - betrothal to local doctor Richard Todd.  An alliance with Todd could extract her father from ruin but would call into question the ownership of Hidden Wolf, the mountain where Nathaniel, his father, and a small group of Native Americans live and hunt.

As Judge Middleton brings pressure to bear against his daughter, she is faced with a choice between compliance and deception, a flight into the forest, and a desire that will bend her hard will to compromise and transformation.  Elizabeth's ultimate destiny, here in the heart of the wilderness, lies in the odyssey to come: trails of faith and flesh, and Nathaniel's own secrets and divided soul.

1. Into the Wilderness

2. Dawn on a Distant Shore

3. Lake in the Clouds

4. Fire Along the Sky

5. Queen of Swords

6. The Endless Forest

Books I'm Looking Forward to - January 2016

New books are published every month so every month I have something to look forward to!  Here are a few titles I'm excited to read that are hitting the shelves in January 2016:

To Helvetica and Back by Paige Shelton
I do love a cozy mystery with a pun-tastic title.  Plus it's book related and features a cat on the cover.  Sold.

Star City is know for its slopes and its powder.  But nestled in the valley of this ski resort town is a side street full of shops that specialize in the simple charms of earlier eras.  One of those shops is the Rescued Word, where Chester Henry and his adult granddaughter Clare lovingly repair old typewriters and restore old books.  Who ever thought their quaint store would hold the key to some modern-day trouble?

When a stranger to town demands they turn over an antique Underwood typewriter they're repairing for a customer, Clare fears she may need to be rescued.  A call to the police scares the man off, but later Clare finds his dead body in the back alley.  What about a dusty typewriter could possibly be worth killing for?


Passenger by Alexandra Bracken
I'm been hearing a ton of buzz about this YA novel and, as always, am interested to see if it lives up to the hype.  The fact that Parnassus Books has named it as their January pick for Parnassus Next, a  YA first editions club, definitely feeds the fire.  Plus I'm usually a sucker for novels involving time travel so there's that.

In one devastating night, violin prodigy Etta Spencer loses everything she knows and loves.  Thrust into an unfamiliar world by a stranger with a dangerous agenda, Etta is certain of only one thing: she has traveled not just miles but years from home.  And she's inherited a legacy she knows nothing about from a family whose existence she's never heard of.  Until now.

Nicholas Carter is content with his life at sea, free from the Ironwoods - a powerful family in the colonies - and the servitude he's known at their hands.  But with the arrival of an unusual passenger on his ship comes the insistent pull of the past that he can't escape and the family that won't let him go so easily.  Now the Ironwoods are searching for a stolen object of untold value, one they believe only Etta, Nicholas' passenger, can find.  In order to protect her, her must ensure she brings it back to them - whether she wants to or not.

Together, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and contents, piecing together clues left behind by the traveler who will do anything to keep the object out of the Ironwood's grasp.  But as they get closer to the truth of their search, the early game the Ironwood's are playing, treacherous forces threaten to separate Etta not only from Nicholas but from her path home...forever. 

What January releases are you looking forward to?

A New Year, New Goals

The start of the new year is always exciting for readers because there is so much possibility ahead of you.  Debut novels, series continuing or concluding, finally getting to that book you've been meaning to read forever...the world is your oyster.

The beginning of every new year starts, for me, with setting my Goodreads Reading Challenge.  This year I've set my goal to read 130 books in 2016.  My 2015 goal was 120 books which I more than succeed, reading 151 books last year.  But besides setting a numerical goal, I ask myself, what other reading goals would I like to accomplish this year?

I would like to read more non-fiction.  I said this last year and while it happened to an extent, my plan of reading one non-fiction title per month just didn't happen.  So, instead of beating myself up about it, I think this year I need to be more realistic.  Just try to read more non-fiction.  What does that mean exactly? .... I think i'll have to figure that out as the year progresses.

Last year I started reading multiple books at the same time and I found that it really worked well for me.  In my line of work, I not only need to be reading lots in all different genres, I enjoy it!  Here is my usual book lineup:

The Breakfast Book - I read this every morning over tea and toast, for any where from 30-45 mins.  I often pick YA novels since they are usually fast paced and easy to jump right into.  Last year, I read a number of Star Wars novels in this time slot which was a fun way to start the day.

The Bath Book - If I'm reading in the tub it needs to be light (both physically and mentally) and fun.  Cozy mysteries and Nora Roberts often fill this niche quite nicely.

The Bus Book / Audiobook - I skytrain to and from work every day, plus I have 30 mins for lunch.  I keep a book in my bag that I only read during these time slots.  It is something physically and mentally light and easy to read in small frames of time.  Mysteries and 9-12 novels I have found  are perfect.  I also always have an audiobook on the go which I often listen to on the train.

The 'Real' Read - The latest literary prize winner, the book that everyone is talking about, an ARC that is getting published next month, the newest novel by a favourite author...the list goes on and on.  I usually read this book in the evening when I get home from work and often right before bed.

My system worked for me last year so hopefully it will continue to do so in 2016!

What are your reading goals for 2016?