Stronger Within (Silver Lakes #1) by Coral McCallum- Reshelved Books

You guys... This post has literally taken me a month to write... 
I am the worst slacker EVER.

Stronger Within (Silver Lakes #1) is one of the books that we have been graciously offered to read.  I am going to admit that I am a little 
Thank you guys, you rock!! :))))

Of course, we said yes; we couldn't turn it down!

Stronger Within tells the story of Lori and Jake.  Lori is a graphic designer who does merchandising for musicians.  Jake is an musician (I want to call him aspiring but that just doesn't seem right...)  When Lori and Jake meet, Jake comes to Lori's rescue- she had fallen and was unable to get up! Having had a serious accident months before, Lori sought convalescence in Rehoboth Beath, DE (which is a great place to spend time). 

Throughout the course of the novel, we find out what happened to Lori and we get to see if Jake is able to achieve his dreams of rock and roll stardom. 

The best thing about this book (for me at least) was that it takes place in Rehoboth Beach, DE.  I've been there many times over the last several years and it's a great place to visit the beach! 

You're near the outlets where you can shop.  You're near the beach where you can swim and tan.  You're near Maryland- where you can visit Ocean City and go to the boardwalk or where you can find *amazing* seafood. Plus (!!) you're able to find the BEST donuts EVER.


It's close enough to New Jersey but far enough from New Jersey when you're looking for a quick getaway (haha). 


It was fun to envision the main street in Rehoboth and imagine where the characters were walking and the places that they were going to. I felt like I knew exactly what resturants McCallum was referencing when Lori and Jake went to the sushi restaurant or “the Turtle”.

Coral did say that she also has vacationed to Rehoboth Beach many times in the past and that it was a spot she did love to visit.

When I asked Ms. McCallum what her inspiration was behind Stronger Within; she said that she received advice many years ago from an English teacher of hers, who said to write about what you love and passionate about. (Which sounds like some pretty solid advice if you ask me!). By taking the love she has for both rock music and the beach, McCallum was able to curate a story that was packed with both love and tragedy.

The things that I didn’t like are small and silly. I'm going to be honest when I say that I'm not really drawn to the rocker type of guy.  I had a hard time with the fact that Jake has this long flowing hair. The tattoos, I was on board with (especially if the tattoos are like the ones that Michael Ray has ;) ). Jake was all bad boy exterior with a great big heart of gold.

Part of me would have liked to see Lori end up with Grey. You could totally see the special connection that Lori was developing with Becky.  I thought it would make for a good twist and turn, if Lori and Grey had some sort of torrid love affair and ended up together.  It seemed to me like the relationship between Lori and Becky was developing to be very strong.

There were some moments that were heavy- when you see that Becky’s mother gets fatally injured and when Jake gets shot. Looking back on it, I thought it was packed with too much tragedy.  In a way, I felt that the reader was left to process a lot.

If you're interested (and you have to time to read!) and wanted to read Stronger Within (The Silver Lake Series Book 1), you can find it on Amazon! :))

Over the course of the next few months, Jess and I will be posting the reviews from the books that we are so kindly sent. (As you saw with Jess’s review from this week. Which, if you haven’t read- you should go check it out!)


Thank you again to all of the authors who are willing to share their wonderful books with us!
~ Jillian

The Good Neighbor by Amy Sue Nathan - Reshelved Books

Hello Deweys!

Yes, that is our P.O. Box key!

Today I finished a book that I had found on the bargain table at Barnes and Noble.  I brought this novel home with me, not because I needed to buy another book.  Really, I should NOT be buying books.  I brought it home because the main character's situation reminded me of us, and such brings me to my review of The Good Neighbor by Amy Sue Nathan.  

This is a classic women's fiction / chick lit novel.  We meet Izzy Lane who is a divorced single mother of a little boy who's ex-husband, while he's there for is son in theory, is flighty and can't be trusted.  When Izzy's ex husband tells her that he doesn't have the money to help pay for their son's daycare and that he is leaving the state with his new girlfriend to "look for work," she is faced with quite a dilemma.  To make a little extra money, Izzy begins blogging for Philly Over 40, specifically about dating over 40.  The only problem is that Izzy hasn't gone on a date since her divorce.  Izzy's nights out consist of visiting her elderly neighbor who has become a dear friend and confident.  But that's not going to help her meet any men, and quite frankly Izzy doesn't seem like she wants to go out and meet any men.  Sure, the idea of dating is interesting in theory, but why be bothered? Men are just too messy and there are SO MANY weirdos out there....So, Izzy begins to invent herself an imaginary boyfriend named Mac with whom she writes about for her blog purposes.  

But you see, the small blog begins to become more and more successful.  & Izzy can't tell anyone that Mac is made up, because if her secret is out, the blog will tank.  Even her best friends think that Mac is real.  Throw in a deeper secret that Izzy's elderly neighbor has been hiding for years, and you get one messy (yet light) novel about truth, love, family, and blogging.  

So dear Dewey Readers, if you like blogs (which if you are reading this we're assuming you do!) go pick up this book and give it a read!  And dear readers, I leave you with a rating of 3.75 out of 5 Coffee Beans.  

Until the next read!
~Jessica

The Existence of Pity by Jeannie Zokan - Reshelved Books

Hey there Dewey Readers! I just finished an absolutely AMAZING book that I COULD NOT put down!  What is this amazing book, you ask?  Jeannie Zokan's The Existence of Pity.  

The cover has coffee beans! 

The Existence of Pity was one of the first books For the Love of Dewey was sent with a request to review on the blog.  Being relatively new bloggers, I'm not going to lie, I was little apprehensive  to do a review request.  It seems like a lot of pressure.  But the premise of this book interested me, and Zokan is a library science person...so needless to say, I jumped on it. 

Now, about the book.  This novel takes place in 1976 Colombia and is told from the perspective of 16 year old Josie.  Josie and her family are missionaries who are in Colombia to spread the Baptist Gospel, but just because they're serving God does not mean that everything within their family dynamic is right and holy.  In fact, the secrets that linger within the family are anything but.  Josie's father is keeping a huge secret, as is Josie's mother, and her brother.  Josie too is keeping a secret, although not as large.  Josie, plagued with horrible nightmares, is beginning to find comfort in visiting a Colombian Catholic church and praying the rosary.  This turns out to be something that her parents find to be the most blasphemous sin of all (even though I think to most people's standards, the sin's of Josie's parents are far worse). --This actually made me think of my collection of healing crystals and how I hold them for comfort / pray with them.  My mom thinks it's weird. 

Josie's family has hired help in the form of Blanca, a native Colombian woman in her 20's who is dating a police officer named Juan Fernando.  I found Blanca's character to be my favorite part of the novel.  I loved the way that Zokan incorporated her accent into the English text, giving the reader a real sense of being immersed in Colombia.  I also liked how Zokan not only successfully portrayed her to be an employee, but also as a big sister figure, a friend, and an intelligent woman who knew what was going on with each family member before they knew themselves.  Blanca doesn't miss a beat.        

Now for those of you who aren't big Christian-fiction readers, do not be turned away from this book!  While religion plays a large part in the novel, it is not preachy.  Rather it uses religion to show how people can find comfort in different ways, which is done primarily through the Catholic / Protestant divide.  Being Protestant, I understand the differences but I also realize the similarities.  Unfortunately not everyone does, and Josie's parents are an example of this.  This novel is just as much a piece of Christian-Fiction as it is a thriller, a drama, and a coming of age young adult cross over / love story.  I wish my library consortium owned enough copies of this novel so that I could have it as a book club choice in my I Read YA book group.  I think the adults in the group would really enjoy it.  And Jeannie, if you're ever visiting northern NJ, I would love to set up an author visit with you!  So Dewey Readers, I leave you with a rating of 5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.  READ THIS BOOK! 

~Jessica 

The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P by Adelle Waldman - Reshelved Books

Hello Dewey Readers!  

Tonight I bring you a lovely review for Adelle Waldman's novel The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.   This isn't a book I would normally pick up to read on my own, as it seemed a little *gasp* too literary.  However, in my bookish adventures I've decided to join a books & brunch book club with complete strangers! Because as you know, I like books but I LOVE brunch.

Do you see that pretty little gold key?  It's to our
For the Love of Dewey P.O. Box.  See below.

The main character annoyed the heck out of me.  Seriously, I wanted to shake him.  Part of his psychological personality remind me of a relationship gone wrong that I experienced, but really that's stretching it quite a bit.   Nathaniel P. was an asshole.     

Before I continue my rant let's have a little back story.  This novel, as you may have guessed by the title, is about the many love affairs of Nathaniel P.  Now, Nathaniel is a writer.  He went to school for literature, he has a book published, and he's a total book and writing snob.  In my first paragraph where I wrote "Because as you, " would probably piss him off.  But this is a blog and grammar rules are blurred.  Actually, they're nonexistent.  Let's make them up as we go.  Just because Nathaniel P. has love affairs, does not mean that he hasn't had lengthy relationships.  He lived with one girl shortly after college, but that tanked, and his main and most recent love interest, a six month relationship with Hannah, takes up a good portion of this novel.  But this relationship also fails because Nathaniel P. is really just a jerk.  He claims to be proactive with women's rights, but he gets annoyed with Hannah for wanting to "talk" or when her arms jiggle in a way he finds unflattering, which causes him to distance himself and then return.  These little disgust-ions (I made that word up. Take that Nathaniel P.) continue throughout this novel, causing a continues ebb and flow of Nathaniel being really into the relationship and then pulling back.  To quote Taylor Swift, he would "give love and take it away." So it's not a surprise that Hannah gets frustrated.  

So Dewey Readers, I give you a rating of 2.5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.... because you know... brunch.  

~Jessica

P.S. 
Some 20-somethings, photograph keys to new apartments, we photograph keys to our P.O. Box!  Yes, you read that right!  You can now send Reviewer's Copies to P.O. Box 1481 Clifton, NJ 07015.  

Friendly Disclaimer: We can't guarantee that it will make the blog, but we WILL read it and put it on our bookstagram!  

 

36 Questions That Changed My Mind About You by Vicki Grant - Reshelved Books

Hello everyone! 

So, let's talk about love.  Specifically, do you think that love can be formed through a survey of 36 questions answered together by two complete strangers? Well, Vicki Grant and her novel 36 Questions That Changed My Mind About You thinks it just might be possible.  

This kind of kills the mystical and spiritual idea of love, no?  Well according to Grant, there was a study by Dr. Arthur Aron that suggests the love can be engineered through such a survey.  I took Psych 101 in college, not that I remember much of it other than that I had to color - yes, color - a picture of the brain, so I can't really say that I am familiar with the study  Actually, I could be a good reference librarian and research the study, but I'm doing laundry and painting cats right now...and don't really feel like it, so we'll just go with what the novel proposes.

The premise of this novel is a study with the hopes of proving or disproving Dr. Arthur Aron's hypothesis.  Can love be engineered between two strangers through 36 questions.  The two strangers that we meet are Hildy and Paul.  Both from two very different economic and familial backgrounds.  We have Hildy, the child a stereotypical nuclear family and who's mother is a doctor, and we have Paul, the child of a single mother who is poor and lives on his own.  Hildy signs up for the study because she feels honor bound by science, and Paul signs up because he wants the $40 it pays. 

What I liked about this novel is that it is written as an epistolary, where we have the question and answer/dialogue form.  This makes the novel read rather quickly.  What I didn't like about the novel is that Hildy and Paul do not answer the questions within the domains of the study room.  They leave the room!  They answer them through online messaging! In coffee shops! And God knows where else!  They have days to answer these questions! AND they have days to talk about other things that stem off of the questions, so of course love is possible.  Their potential love is not just based off the survey alone.  It's a learning process, just like any other relationship would be.  

So dear readers, I give you a rating of 3 out of 5 Coffee Beans.  I read this book within a day and I DID enjoy it, but besides the study not really being a study, Hildy annoyed me.  

Until the next read!
~Jessica 

1 Year Anniversary Giveaway!

Can you believe that For the Love of Dewey is turning 1 year old?  No?? Well, neither can we!  To celebrate and say thank you, we are hosting a giveaway for a gift card to Barnes & Noble!  

Here's how you can enter to win:
1) Follow the blog (You're reading this, so that's a great start!)
2) Comment on your favorite post

It's that easy.  

For an additional entry, follow our Instagram and repost our giveaway photo #ForTheLoveOfDeweyYearOne 

Happy reading!

The Stolen Marriage by Diane Chamberlain - Reshelved Books

Hello Dewey Readers!

I just finished an absolutely amazing book.  It was just the book I needed to distract myself from my life. I could NOT put it down.  What was this magical book, you ask?  Diane Chamberlain's The Stolen Marriage.  


I love Diane Chamberlain.  She blends suspense with women's fiction (and this time historical fiction) in a way that just makes you keep wanting more. 

In this novel we meet Tess, a young woman who is studying to become a nurse and who is engaged to a newly minted young doctor named Vincent.  Tess and Vincent grew up together in Baltimore's section of Little Italy, both as devout Catholics and both with families who love the couple and each other dearly.  It is also1943, the middle of WWII, and  the beginning of a large polio epidemic, which at this point is hitting it's hardest in Chicago.  Vincent, being the good man and enthusiastic new doctor he is, goes to Chicago to volunteer his time.  What he claims to be a few weeks turns into a few months and Tess is well... she's upset and lonely.  So, rather than sit home and sulk, Gina and Tess take a girl's weekend trip to Washington D.C.  Only Tess makes one large and horrifying mistake that changes EVERYTHING.  

Now, while I absolutely adored this book I did have one complaint.  I wanted more.  I felt that the ending was too abrupt, and prior to the epilogue, I was hoping that this novel would continue into a sequel.  WHY DID IT HAVE TO END SO QUICKLY!?!? 

So Dewey Readers, I give you a rating of 4.5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.  (But, I gave it 5 on GoodReads.)  

Until the next read!
~Jessica  

The Witchfinder's Sister by Beth Underdown - Reshelved Books

Hello everyone!  

In honor of the spooky pumpkin spice latte season, I bring you a review that's rather witchy, at least in the historical sense.  When we think of historical witches, we often think of Salem, Massachusetts and the Salem Witch Trials that took place in the 1690's.  Beth Underdown's The Witchfinder's Sister takes us to pre-Salem overseas in England in 1645 where like in Salem, women were hunted, tried, and murdered for being a suspected "witch." 

This novel follows the story of Alice Hopkins, who after becoming a recent widow when her husband dies in an accident, is forced to return to her childhood home, which is now owned by her brother Matthew Hopkins.  Alice, after miscarrying and losing many children while her husband was alive, is pregnant once again.  This is both a blessing and a curse.  It is a blessing because it is something that she has yearned for, for so many years and because it is the last physical tie she has to her deceased husband, but it is also a curse because now it will be so much harder for her to remarry.  It appears as though her future lies with being a single mother under the rule of her brother's home.  But then Alice loses this baby as well.    

One night, Matthew comes home late and terribly frightened.  He saw something, but when questioned by Alice he will not speak of it.  Alice herself had felt something... animal and dog-like come inside with Matthew that night but she cannot explain the phenomena and wishes to forget it.  It is after this, that Matthew begins to hunt women, especially those without family, children, or who have had children recently  pass, as well as those who may be suffering from mental distress and tries and kills them for being witches.  According to this Wikipedia article, the real life Matthew Hopkins is believed to have murdered 300 women for suspected witchcraft.  Isn't that crazy?

I always had a fascination with the witch trials, which I why I decided to pick up this book.  That being said, historical fiction isn't always my thing.  While I found this book interesting, I wasn't overly blown away with it, especially towards the end.  So dear Dewey Readers, I leave you with a rating of 3 out of 5 Coffee Beans.  

Until the next read!

~Jessica 

  

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige -- Reshelved Books

Once upon a time a girl went into a book store with thou who shalt not be mentioned.  The girl got a strange urge to purchase 3 books that all somehow spin off of or relate to the Wizard of Oz.  This review is on one of those books.  

Behold 3 Wizard of Oz-esc books in the ever growing to-read pile! 

Hello there Dewey Readers!  I told you I was going to start getting back into the swing of things, and I am!  My last review was of Stephanie Perkin's new horror novel, which is quite fitting for October.  Today's review is along those lines... not horror, but the Wizard of Oz.  We are talking about Danielle Paige's novel Dorothy Must Die.  

Amy Gumm lives in Kansas in a trailer park with her single mother, who after an accident has become addicted to pain medication.  On a day that a tornado is supposed to rip through the trailer park, Amy's mother gets up off of the couch to go out to a bar, leaving Amy home with her mother's pet rat.  Next thing you know, Amy's trailer is lifted into the sky and transported into the Land of Oz... which isn't as magical and vibrant as one would think.  When Amy and the rat step out of the trailer, the trailer falls into a deep, dark pit.  The land around them is barren, and the munchkins she meets are fearful and depressed.  This is because after being given the ability to have magic, Dorothy has become greedy and in her greed she has become truly the Wicked one.  To save Oz and to save magic, Amy is recruited by the order of the Wicked to KILL Dorothy.  

This book was a fun read, and while I wasn't sure why I picked it up (it's not something I'd usually go for)  I'm glad I walked home with this one and it's sequel.  The characters, well besides Dorothy, are likable, the writing flows and is easy to read, and the plot isn't dull or boring like a series sometimes could be.  Plus, the whole ninja-esc Amy / rat companion reminds me of my early 2000 days watching Kim Possible on the Disney Channel. 

So Dewey Readers, I leave you with a rating of 3.5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.  It's definitely a series worth checking out.   

Until the next read!
~Jessica 

Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer- Reshelved Books

Happy Monday everyone!

It's very gray here in the Tri-State area today.  Gray days make the best reading days!

My book for this week is Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer. A review that is short and sweet.

This book is sheer perfection. (Which is why my review is so short.  I don't want to take away from the book.)

Juliet Young is a seventeen year old who lost her mother in May.

Declan Murphy is a seventeen year old who lost his little sister at the hands of his alcoholic father 4 years before. 

Both Juliet and Declan lost themselves. 

Brought together by lose and grief; Declan and Juliet are able to find themselves in each other. 

The reason why this is sheer perfection is how Kemmerer is able to tell the story- bringing two characters together in a way that is unconventional.  Kemmerer was able to keep Declan's secret from Juliet and as a result, Juliet never ran away from Declan.  Juliet's feelings for Declan only grew, even after finding out who he was. 

Through the power of honesty and words, Declan and Juliet are able to heal. 

This book is worth all 5 coffee beans. Hands down. Without a question. 
Kemmerer told a wonderful story that came full circle.  There weren't any holes.  You weren't left wondering what could have been when it was over. 

~ Jillian

Hello Dear Dewey Readers!


Today I am writing to you from inside the local coffee shop while working on my #ToRead pile and trying to figure out life...  One of my new goals is to try to figure out where people actually hang out.  What do people do?  Where can I find these people in their mid 20's - early 30's... and do you think they will want to come to my library book clubs? Usually I like to sit home with my books in between loads of laundry... but today is the beginning of a new reading era!

I was not forgotten! 

About a year ago (Can you believe it has been that long already!) I wrote about reading in strange places... like the Stop and Shop Pharmacy.  I even took a #bookstagram photo of a book within a case of yogurt! Obviously the coffee shop is not strange, but today I am going to give you a quick snap shot of my experience. 

The experience: 
I am sitting in the corner with my back to the wall.  There are about 4 other girls sitting on their computers typing, and small groups of people scattered about just hanging out. Many of the men in here are with their respective dates.  I feel sort of guilty for taking up a small bistro table that could theoretically fit 3 people for me & my clunky purse...  but oh well.  I have also been waiting quite a while for the barista to take my order... but that's probably just my anxiety...No. I think she really forgot about me.      

So Dewey Readers, while I wave down the barista and try to overcome my table guilt, tell me, do you read in public? & Where do you hang out?  

Until the next coffee bean review! 

~Jessica 


P.S. I am currently re-reading Delirium by Lauren Oliver. My November book club choice for I Read Ya.  Is it better to love and to suffer than to have never have known love at all? 
    

There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins - Reshelved Books

Hello everyone.  

The past two weeks have been difficult, and as a result I've been suffering from a gigantic reading slump.  For someone who loves books, this has really sucked.  But I have been trying to power through and get back to it! 

So dear Dewey Readers, today I'm going to give you my take on Stephanie Perkins' new novel, There's Someone Inside Your House.  I loved Anna and the French Kiss.  It was a cute romance set in Paris, who wouldn't like it? Right?  Well, this novel is a totally different direction for Perkins because it's a horror story. While parts of the novel border on gore, I wouldn't say it's scary or grosteque.  Rather, it is Perkins' take on the movie Scream.  To say I was excited to read this novel would be an understatement.   

I was EXTREMELY excited for this novel since I first found out that it was going to be published back at this year's BookCon.  When I placed the purchase order for the book at the library, I sat there with great anticipation waiting for the UPS man to arrive with a package.  Is it my YA order?  No? Maybe next week... 

I actually never watched the movie Scream, although I have seen bits and pieces of it while flicking through television channels once upon a time.  That being said, I basically know the way that the story plays out and was able to clearly say that, yes, this novel is Scream.  

But while reading it I became a little disappointed.  In the back of the novel, Perkins writes that she had wanted to read this book, so her friend suggested that she write it instead.  Isn't that what author's do?  Write the book you want to read. (I remember someone saying something alone those lines back during my undergrad creative writing courses.)  But anyway, I wasn't blown away with this novel, and I just expected something little bit more. 

So Dewey Readers, I leave you with a short review and short coffee bean rating of 2.5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.  

I also promoted this novel at my library in our YA Monday Book Talks before reading it.  If any of you have read it, comment below with what you thought! 

Until the next read.

~Jessica  

P.S.  Here is my YA Monday video. (I look tired. I'm putting on a face mask right now!)  More to come & suggestions are welcome! 

The Boy is Back by Meg Cabot- Reshelved Books

Guys... I haven't been this excited about a book in a long time...

I just started a new job in a library, and part of this new job is to take the books that patrons return and discharge them from their library card record.  Once you've discharged a book, they get placed on a shelf until they're moved back to their home within the stacks. 

It was in doing this process that I found my book for this week... The Boy is Back by Meg Cabot.  I looked at the cover of the book and thought "No way!" and then I checked the title page and saw that this book was published in 2016 (10 years after the first three books!!)! 

I almost fell over.

Yes, that is a ceramic cat... Once you read the book, you'll understand... :)

I kid you not.

The Boy Series has to be my absolute favorite series from Meg Cabot.  The way that these books are set up is the best.  In The Boy is Back, Cabot presents the story through text conversations, emails, chats and voice transcriptions.  Cabot used the same set up in the three books preceding The Boy is Back (except maybe she didn't use texts in those three.. I can't remember- I read those books about 10 years ago).

So.  I did want any reasonable and responsible adult would do.

On my way home from work, I signed up for a library card at my local library and I headed straight to the adult fiction stacks to find The Boy is Back!

That was this past Thursday night and I just finished the book this morning which is Sunday (the day that I am writing the review. Not the date that the review will be posted). Three and half days isn't bad when you work full time and have an 8 month old to take care of!                                    

Reed Stewart is the boy that comes back to his hometown- Bloomville, IN.  It seems that his parents got themselves into quite the jam with paying for dinner with a postage stamp... One thing leads to another and it's revealed that maybe, Reed's parents are in a little too deep with cats and judge's gavels...

After a plea from his sister-in law Carly; Reed comes back home to help his brother, Marshall and her with "The Judge" and Connie.  Reed hasn't been back home in 10 years, he was kicked out of town by his father and Reed never looked back.  When Reed left all of those years ago, he walked away from his high school girlfriend, Becky.  

Like all great love stories, there is a story behind what happened the night that Reed's father kicked him out of Bloomville for good.  The story involves Becky and Reed... Someone may have been injured after a golf cart may have crashed into a pool...

Becky, who is a true homegrown girl, took over her father's moving business and now helps seniors adjust and move into senior friendly homes.  Reed and his family hire Becky to help with The Judge and Connie. 

Will Reed and Becky re-connect??  Will the cats take over?? Was Becky really the one who drove the golf cart that fateful night into the pool?!

You'll have to read to see!!

The Boy is Back is every much of adorableness and awesomeness that The Boy Next Door, Boy Meets Girl and Every Boy's Got One are.  I found myself giggling when I was reading this book (like the uncontrollable kind).  Even though the book is written through messages and from the perspective where the characters are telling each other of their encounters with one another, it was easy for the reader to see the picture that Cabot was painting.  The book is a lighthearted and easy read- it quenches the thirst for those who want to be instantly satisfied. 

I would totally recommend this book in a heartbeat. Which is why I can't help but give it 5 out 5 coffee beans.  Everything from the ceramic cats, to the gavels, to the feral cats and raccoons- it was a book that is capable of putting a smile on your face. 

   
See you all next week!
~ Jillian

The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle- Reshelved Books

**Jillian's Bonus Review**

This week's bonus review is brought to you by the letter "L"! "L" is for library and for the happiness that comes being surrounded by books all day :)

 I'm have some serious mixed feelings on this book... The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle

I never look at review of books, but this one was necessary.
(Note: I started to quickly skim through reviews about half way through the book)

The more reviews I found, the more I saw that readers felt the writing style was a rough, the plot was cheesy. One review even said the book was sexist!
I thought that the book presented the spark that brings two people together. Yes, they met by a weird happenstance but I don't feel that their relationship was unbelievable. 

This book is story about Wren and Charlie, two seniors who on their last day of high school, feel this instant connection to one another. Two people who never had true interaction with each other- are now pulled together!  They spend so much time together! They eat, sleep and breath each other!  They're enamored with one another and they can't get enough.  Now, I don't know about you; but that sounds like young love to me!

I liked this book in the beginning- I did! I got halfway through the book and then I decided that I was going to start writing the review. Which lead to Google. Which then lead to GoodReads, which lead to a mixed bag of feelings.

I was sad to see that many readers gave it such a low rating on GoodReads :(

Yet at the same time, I understood where they were coming from.

I felt like the emotions between Charlie and Wren were real.  I thought that their feelings were the ones that everyone has at some point in their life.

I'm a believer that young love is raw- it's something that's just as emotional as it is physical.  So to hear Myracle explained the actions in the manner that she did... I don't know, it didn't seem like it was that unbelievable.

THAT being SAID...!!

Once you pass the middle of the book, AFTER Wren's first time with Charlie, then the writing style used to describe their relationship is really rather adult.  (Think the teen version of Fifty Shades of Grey....Not my personal favorite...) Hot and heavy and something that you would read about in an adult novel. 

Not a YA novel.

I did find Charlie to be an adoring character, Wren...eh... She became needy and got on my nerves. (But what else is new??)

I give this book 2.5 coffee beans out of 5.  Two and a half because I only enjoyed the beginning of the book which was the only part that was worthy of the review.

~ Jillian

The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay by Kelly Harms - Reshelved Books

Happy almost fall everyone!

How has everyone been?? I am sorry for my absence but I am back and ready to go! 

Would you believe me if I told you that this book sounds *very* familiar to me and that I have read it before...?

Well, this book sounded very familiar to me and I felt like I've read it before. 

You guys also know that I've never given a novel a crappy review before but I suppose there's a first time for everything!

The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay by Kelly Harms is going to be my first review on a book that I did not like. 

The reader meets Lily Stewart, an artist who gets evicted from her apartment after missing one rent payment.  While Lily is cleaning out her apartment, we see that Lily finds annulment paperwork from her Las Vegas marriage. Annulment papers from TEN YEARS AGO! TEN (10) count 'em, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10, years ago!! HOW CRAZY!

After meeting with her best friend-divorce attorney, Renee, Lily decides that she's going to find Ben Hutchinson and tell him all about her delay in the paperwork and how it was all a big misunderstanding!!  (I'm still confused as to how you could even consider Renee to be a best friend when for most of the book, she's been a horrible person).

Ugh.

Then as the book continues we see the interactions between her and Ben; how the town of Minnow Bay tries to keep her and Ben together. Blah blah blah.

My issues with this book reside with Lily herself.

As a character, she is so flat! She does the same things over and over again and there is no change. (What's that saying? Doing the same things over and over again when the outcome is the same is the definition of insanity??) She's too stubborn to believe that anything new could be of benefit to her. 

I don't understand how helping Simone played any part of the development of Lily's character. Ben seemed like a big jerk and then he turned and became this tolerable person on a dime. He was mean and nasty to Lily YET everyone knew that they were perfect for each other.  (...What?)  I feel like there wasn't enough dialouge between the two of them, we didn't learn a lot about Ben. 

No one deserves to be treated like a jerk.  Even if it's a character in a book. 

The title "The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay" is confusing because there were no matchmakers.  Unless Colleen and Jenny were the matchmakers.  But I don't feel like that can be said when all they did was make a flat tire, kept Lily from getting a new tire and throwing a birthday party for Ben's mom, Carla.

I mean... Really?

The only part of the book I found to be funny was when Lily attacked Renee with the bristles on the broom because there was a robber in her apartment. 

(I probably laughed waaaaay too hard at that.)

I am sad to say that I can only give this book 1 coffee bean out of 5...

I was able to snag a copy of this book on sale for $9.00 and I think that's a fair price.  I wouldn't go out of my way to read this book....

~ Jillian

Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart - Reshelved Books

Hello Dewey Readers!

I never read E. Lockhart before but I always felt like I had.  I liked her, even before I knew that I liked her.  Does that make sense? Probably not.

Anyway, I was super excited to read Genuine Fraud.  I was even more excited when it came in to the library, and being the librarian who places the ya book orders, got to check it out first. *happy dance!*

This book wasn't what I expected it to be, even though I'm not really sure what I expected.  For most of the book I wasn't sure if I liked it or not, but at the same time I couldn't put it down.   Maybe this post doesn't make much sense, but I think the whole premise of the book was to not make sense in the sense of hiding the true sense.  (what?)

 

So, for a brief summary of this book.  

There's a girl named Jule.  When Jule was little (7 or 8) her parents were brutally murdered.  They were spies, and Jule grows up to follow in their footsteps.  She's tough, she's beautiful, and she's not afraid to kill.  There's also a girl named Imogene.  She was / is Jule's friend, but she's been missing.  Is she dead?  Is she alive? Why is Jule pretending to be her?  How many people has Jule killed?  Is Jule even who we really think she is?  Are the romances that Lockhart suggests in the novel real, or are they part of Jule's games?

This is the uncertainty that encompasses this book.  

I'm not a fan of action novels, and sometimes the uncertainty of this novel threw me off.  However, there were some really interesting lines and prose made me keep wanting to read.  That being said, I had assumed that once I reached the end of the novel, everything would sort of tie together and fall into places, but I'm not quite sure that it really did. But I kind of liked it??

So For the Love of Dewey Readers, I give you a rating of 3.5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.  

Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan - Reshelved Books

Hello everyone!

As we enter fall, I leave you with my last beachy summer read... soon I'll be reviewing beachy winter reads (insert girl with hand-flip emoji here).  Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan is everything that a summer beach read should be.  It's light, but not air-headed, it's beachy, but not overly, and it talks about food in a way that doesn't leave you too hungry.  

I really wanted to take a cute picture of this book with a cupcake....
but here's my pumpkin iced latte and fish named Shamu Pitbull Bielen-Ward.  

This novel follows the story of Polly, a young woman in her twenties who recently separated from her husband after their advertising business tanks.  During this separation, Polly is forced to move onto an island off the Cornish coast called Waterford.  Waterford is a town strictly and primarily made up of locals.  There is a bridge connecting Waterford to the mainland, but this bridge goes underwater depending on the tides at various times during the day.  So it's safe to say that people don't venture out too often, nor do people venture in.  There is one bakery in town, which is run by a grumpy older woman who just so happens to be Polly's landlady.  

I'm not always crazy about novels that take place in other countries, at least with regards to chick-lit.  I always seem to have the Kinsella's Shopaholic series in my head when I read British slang within chick-lit novels.  However,  I wasn't put-off by that in this novel.  Colgan tackles tough issues such as death, tragedy, change, and growing old to realize that you might no longer be needed -- at least not in the same capacity you were before.  Throw in Polly's love for baking, her friendship with the local fisherman, a love interest with a beekeeper, a pet  Puffin, and wa la! 

On the back of this novel (the paperback  U.S. version) there are reviews by other authors such as Jane Green and Meg Donohue that proclaim this novel to be "delicious" and "cozy."  I can ascertain that yes, it is.  

So dear For the Love of Dewey Readers, I leave you with a review of 4 out of 5 Coffee Beans.  Colgan also has a novel called The Bookshop on the Corner (about a librarian who quits her job to drive a book truck!)  I think I'll be putting that on my to-read list!

Until next time!
~Jessica