The Wartime Sisters by Lynda Cohen Loigman - Reshelved Books

Hello Dewey Readers!

Lynda Cohen Loigman just wrote another new book.  If you avidly read our reviews, you know that Jillian and I both LOVED Loigman's novel The Two Family House, so when we heard that she was coming out with another novel we just knew that we had to read it. 


The Wartime Sisters follows the story of two sisters who were both very different.  Ruth, the older sister, was very bookish.  She got straight As, liked doing homework, and always strived for perfection.  The younger sister, Millie, was very different.  Actually, the two sisters sort of reminded me of my sister and I.  I'm the older and bookish one and my sister... well, she isn't.  We're both smart, but she definitely is more lax. I think because of this, the way that Loigman crafted the characters of the two sisters, and even the differences in how their parents treat and expect things from both of them, felt very much real to me.  

So a bit about the plot.  The two sisters grow up to marry different men and end up losing communication with each other after a falling out.  Millie, head over heels in love, marries a man who isn't a very wise financial choice, and Ruth marries a man similar to herself.  Then WWII begins.  Ruth's husband, a scientist, is important within the army, and Millie is now an army widow with a two year old son.  Ruth reaches out to Millie and offers her a place to stay with her and her husband at the army base.  

This novel explores the bonds of sisters, of family, and of love.  It allows the reader to dive into a historical time frame and develop and emotional connection to it through it's characters.  When you read this novel (because you definitely need to read it) you will end up devouring it.  

So Dewey Readers, I leave you with a rating of 5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.

Until the next read!
~Jessica    

Now That You Mention It and On Second Thought by Kristan Higgins- Reshelved Books

Hip hip hooray for a new review from moi!

Jess reviewed a book by Kristin Hannah earlier this week and today, you guys are getting my reviews on Kristan Higgins.
(No, this was not planned but hey! at least it's following alphabetical order! :-P )

This month, I give you two back to back reviews on books by Kristan Higgins. 
1.) Now That You Mention It
2.) On Second Thought

Now That You Mention It:

Here at FortheLoveofDewey, as I am sure you have been able to see, we give out alot of 4 coffee bean(ed) reviews.

I would like to think, however; that our 5 coffee bean reviews are far and few between (?) At least speaking from my reviews.

Now That You Mention It by Kristan Higgins is my first 5 coffee bean review of 2018! (It is also my first kindle book on my iPad).

Why? You might ask... Because duh, it's just that good. Because, I bought the kindle book on a Saturday and I finished it at 1 am the following morning on a Sunday.  (Which says a lot when you spend your days running after a 13 month old!)

It. Was. Just. That. Good.

I'm going to say it now that there are going to be spoilers in my review.  

SO. This title came to me when I was unwrapping interlibrary transits. (You know... BEFORE the fall of the interlibrary loan transit system here in NJ) Because I am horrible book person, I judge my pickings on cover art.... As awful as it sounds, it hasn't let me down!

This book brought me the kind of joy that Meg Cabot books brought me.  
I laugh a little (a lot acutally), I cry a little, I got a little frustrated... You get the gist. There were scenes in the book that involved Nora's encounters with her mother's bird, Tweety.  Some of these encounters had me laughing so hard that tears were falling down my face. 

I really really enjoyed this book and I would definitely recommend it. 

****--------------------- Full Spoilers Ahead!!! --------------------------****

First things first! 
You all thought that I would actually ruin this book?!

No way!

Go check it out for yourself!

Trust me, you won't be disappointed!!


On Second Thought:

Unfortunately for this Kristan Higgins book... I just couldn't like it as much as Now That You Mention It....

Why? I'm not quite sure.  I didn't find myself laughing out loud as much.  It was darker for sure, it didn't carry the same levity.  By all means, that's not a bad thing.  I mean the synopsis of the novel shows that it's subject matter is deeper and darker. 

Ainsley and Kate are half sisters, who are both encountering loss; Kate lost her husband and Ainsley lost her boyfriend. Nathan (Kate's husband) died when he hit his head; Eric (Ainsley's boyfriend) broke up with Ainsley after Nathan's untimely death. 

Both girls are learning how to move forward and live their lives by themselves again. 

I found Ainsley to be the comedic relief to Kate's sorrow.  I really really liked Ainsley, I can safely say that she was easily my favorite.  I liked how there was a happy ending for each girl at the end of the story.  It's always nice to read something that ends on a happy note!
I don't understand how Daniel the Hot Firefighter came into play... I was a little confused about where he came from.  I felt like he just appeared?  I wasn't impressed by him... But (I know you're not suppose to start a sentence with "but" :P ) poor Kate! Not only did she lose Nate but she had a few run-ins with his ex-wife, Madeline.  Who was not a nice person, at all.  

On a side note.... It seems like Kristan published a book before If you Only Knew that follows Jenny and Leo.  Jenny and Leo are two characters who come up in On Second Thought. 

In the way of coffee beans, I give this one a 3.5 coffee beans out of 5. 

Both books were easy reads and I would recommend both of them.  Just because I didn't like On Second Thought doesn't mean that someone else might not.  

~JB

Without Merit by Colleen Hoover - Reshelved Books

Hello Dewey Readers!

Those are clean tissues I crinkled up... I promise....

I'm sorry I've been M.I.A.  Life has been CRAZY, but I have been reading, just nothing review worthy.  My last review was on Colleen Hoover's It Ends With Us, which I adored.  Surprise, surprise, this review is also about a book by Colleen Hoover.  I'm in love with Colleen Hoover.  I can't get enough.  I'm bookishly addicted.  Maybe I need rehab...

Without Merit is Hoover's latest novel, which I found while perusing the new shelf at my public library.  Everyone should go to their library right now and look at the new shelf.  I know that Hoover writes New Adult Fiction (N.A.) but I wasn't sure that this novel quite fit that category.  To me, it seemed like more of a young adult (Y.A.) fiction novel primarily because instead of having characters in their 20s, Hoover has main characters who are 17-19 years old.   Interesting to me, because all of the local libraries had this book shelved with their adult fiction collection...

Anyway, back to the book.  In this novel we meet Merit.  Merit has a twin sister named Honor and the two are COMPLETELY different.  Honor is into makeup and boys who are near their death bed, and Merit is socially awkward, a little bit borderline depressed, and collects trophies in which she buys every time something bad or embarrassing happens to her.   So one day while Merit is skipping school and eyeing up a trophy at the local antique shop, she runs into this older guy who kisses her.  WHY DOES A STRANGE MAN KISS HER?  Well, he thought Merit was Honor.  *Ba da bum!*

But if that's not embarrassing enough, this man, who goes by the name of Sagan, moves into her home.  She can't escape the embarrassment.  He's eating breakfast at her kitchen table!  Her family is a mess!  Her mother, who had battled cancer lives in the basement after her father slept with her mother's nurse and got her pregnant / married her, the family is looked down upon by town members after her atheist father bought a church and renovated it into a home, none of the siblings actually talk to Honor, and Honor doesn't appear to like them very much either.  

So, if you're looking for a read that's part soap opera, part romance, and part individual and familial mental disorder, pick this novel up.   I would give it 5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.  

And until the next read, which I promise will be something different from Hoover... (even though I just bought a new one)... Happy Reading!        

~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 

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

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