One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus- Reshelved Books

Who is ready for a new review on a new book?! 

I hope you all are eagerly waving your arms up in the air! haha.

I don't know how old the majority of our readers are but if you fall into the mid to late twenties and up, you should know about all of those classic John Hughes films from the 80s! 

Sixteen Candles! Pretty in Pink! St. Elmo's Fire! The Breakfast Club!

And this 90s baby does love Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club   :)

Let me know what you're favorite John Hughes movie is!  You can post down below OR find us on Facebook! FortheLoveofDewey is now a group and we'd love it if you joined!

But onward to the good stuff...   

One of Us is Lying is Karen McManus' debut novel.   As a YA fiction story, One of Us is Lying is a story about five teenagers, one who mysteriously ends up dead in detention.  The "who done it" and the why are what you as the reader are trying to figure out.  

This book is a mash up between the game of Clue and The Breakfast Club.

From what I could find out there on the great internet, it seems like McManus was influenced by the writings of Agatha Christie for her debut novel.  According to Book Club Babble, McManus used The Breakfast Club as her primary inspiration. 

Which is something I can totally see... Take for example Brian and Simon.  For anyone who has seen this movie, do you think that McManus loosely based Simon on Brian?? Brian had the intentions of suicide but was never success.  Simon actually *dies*...

Tabitha Lord of Book Club Babble did an *amazing* review with Karen McManus. I strongly recommend to everyone to go and check out her review!  Another good review on the book was done by The Big Thrill- you can check out that review here.

Lord brings up great questions that included awesome points.  I love how she brings up how nowadays, teenagers don't have a sense of privacy (which is true, when I was in high school, TEXT MESSAGES were just becoming a thing! and I am by no means old!).  How social media has taken over and made things that were once private, public.  (Not only that, but suicide is something that's increasing in teenagers :(  )

I very much liked the delivery of the story!  I liked how as the reader got deeper into the novel, the plot became more twisted.  The police were pitting Bronwyn, Nate, Cooper and Addie against each other- something that should have pulled them apart, made them stronger together in the end.  You slowly learn about Simon's life and 

As, I said before (because for anyone who knows me, I love to repeat myself) I liked how the book was a spin on The Breakfast Club: you had the athlete, the criminal, the brains, the outcast and the pretty girl.  While the five of them were able to walk out together at the end, One of Us is Lying loses the outcast. 

There was a twist at the end of the story that I was not expecting.  I could see how the "killer" was who they were, but I would never have imagined who was helping them.

I give this book 5 out of 5 coffee beans.  It held the right amount of suspense and it answered all of the questions that it laid out.  I didn't get tired of the characters and I didn't find them to be annoying.  The book progressed in a way that didn't leave you feeling ripped off. 

~ Jillian

Julia's Daughters by Colleen Faulkner - Reshelved Books

Guys, I think I found a new favorite author!

I stumbled across Julia's Daughters by Colleen Faulkner in the dollar store where I was looking for a bucket.  As someone who is in the process of moving and renovating a home, did I need a new book? No.  Should I be buying a new book? No.  Do I have the money for a new book?  Not really... I need housewares.  But I was drawn to this book not only because the cover is gorgeous and #bookstagram worthy, but because it sounded SO good and authors like Susan Wiggs, Holly Chamberlin, and Cathy Lamb have raved about Faulkner's other work. So I came home with both a bucket and a new book.  

Isn't this book just beautiful? 

  

Imagine you had a daughter who died as a passenger in a tragic car accident because the person driving ran a stop sign...But what if the person driving was your other daughter? 

Julia's Daughters explores the story of a family who lost a daughter to this type of tragedy, following the grief, guilt, and healing that parallels a journey of a mother and daughter road trip from Las Vegas to Maine.  The premise for this book sort of reminded me of Night Road by Kristin Hannah. (It's an awesome and gut wrenching read. You should definitely check it out!) Anyway, Julia's Daughters switches between the voices of the mother, Julia, and her two remaining daughters, Haley and Izzy, to show not only how grief effects them individually but also how they come to heal together. Lately I have been reading a lot of young adult fiction and have been in a reading slump regarding adult fiction.  Reading a novel like this, with both adult and young adult character perspectives, was a surprising and nice transition between genres.

This novel was such a quick read.  I started it on a Sunday evening and finished it on a Tuesday.  When I wasn't reading it I was WISHING I was reading it.  Aren't those the best kind of books?

And so I leave you my dear For the Love of Dewey readers, with a rating of 5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.

And the best part?  Faulkner's other novels look just as good.  

~Jessica       

Everything, Everything By Nicola Yoon - Reshelved Books

Hello fellow For the Love of Dewey Readers!  *Woof, Woof!* I just read an amazing book that left we with a complete and utter book hangover.  This book, just like the photo below, is EVERYTHING. 

Dogs and books are everything. 

I stumbled upon Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon while I was scrolling through Facebook one evening before bed.  Someone had shared a trailer to a movie that was coming out and it looked good. I don't really watch movies, but when I found out it was also a book I got SO excited.  I immediately placed it on hold at my library, and it was everything I hoped it to be and more.   

I LOVED photographing this book. 

So, what would you do if you had a terrible illness that suppressed your immune system to the point where you had to live inside, be homeschooled online, only see certain visitors monitored for their health, and breathe filtered air?  What kind of person would you be?  Do you think that you would know what you were missing if you never knew it was there?  For Madeline Whittier this is her reality and the only life she has known.  Madeline  has a rare disease known as SCIDS, which the novel describes as a disease that surprises her immune system to the point where any "trigger" has the point to kill her.  I have never heard about SCIDS before, so I decided to learn more about it.  As a future librarian and person with anxiety, I probably shouldn't have Googled it but I did.  Did I mention that I wasn't feeling well when I read it?...  Anyway for those of you who are curious, here is a link to a website dedicated to SCIDS.    

Back to the book. 

One day, a new family moves into the house next door.  The boy, who is about her age, and his sister go to Madeline's house to bring over a bundt cake, but over course they can't come in and Madeline's mother cannot accept the cake.  This sparks an interest and  online friendship that blossoms into sneaky yet sterilized visits between Madeline and her new neighbor, ultimately causing Madeline to question her life, her dreams, and love.  

A For the Love of Dewey rating of 5 out of 5 coffee beans! This book is gripping, it is inspiring, and it's a bookish love story.  Check out the trailer to the movie to be released this year!

~Jessica

P.S.  Nicola Yoon liked our post on Twitter!

Thirteen Reasons Why (Th1rteen R3asons Why)-Reshelved Books

Five Coffee Bean Review!

You guys....

Last night I finished one of the best books I have ever laid eyes upon...

Let me tell you, it isn't not easy reading when you have a 7 week old. There's always laundry to be done, bottles to be washed and diapers to be changed. 

But you guys, this book was so good... I was reading when baby C was napping and before I went to sleep.  I traded precious sleep time to read this book! Low and behold, all of that paid off because I finished the book in less than 24 hours. 

Thirteen Reasons Why (Th1rteen R3asons Why) by Jay Asher would be the book. 

Yes, you're looking at the original cover art...not the 10th Anniversary cover art!

What did I like about this book you ask? Everything!
What did I not like about this book? Nothing!

I know that this book is going to be adapted into series on Netflix (premiering March 31st, in case any of you were wondering.  Comment down below if you're going to be watching!). Which prompted me to read the book. I never picked up this book in the past because I was judging a book by its cover (which is hypocritical on my part).

I will not deny that the trailer for the series looked really good and that's why I decided to read the book. (Otherwise I probably still wouldn't have read the book. And I'd seriously be missing out!)

The book follows Clay Jensen and the a set of 7 tapes that came into his possession.  These tapes accompany a map that mysteriously ended up in his locker. The tapes focus on the stories of 13 different people, while the map highlights specific areas in town. The tapes are narrated by Hannah Baker, a girl who took her own life days before. 

The set of tapes were sent to 13 different people, all of whom Hannah encountered and played a part in the downward spiral of her life.

Along side Clay, you hear the harrowing story of what happened to Hannah as she walks you down memory lane; starting from when she first moved in until her last days. 

As the reader, you can really feel for Hannah as she tells her story.  I felt like I wanted to jump into the book and help her before she took her own life. Hannah should have never felt like she was alone because in truth, she wasn't. 

Asher penned an emotional read and was able to build up a great story.  The back cover mentioned his inspiration for Thirteen Reasons Why, which is (I think) brilliant. I loved how from that inspiration, he fashioned a wonderful novel.  

Asher's ability to weave suspense, mystery and emotion is why I deem this book worthy of five (5) coffee beans.  




See you at the next book!
~ JBG

The City Baker's Guide to Country Living by Louise Miller- Reshelved Books

**Attention For the Love of Dewey Readers! 5 out of 5 coffee beans for this book!!!***

Hello everyone!

It's Jillian.

I am kicking off the first week of the new year with a solid book to recommend. 

The City Baker's Guide to Country Living by Louise Miller!

This was the first book in a long time that I actually read in one sitting (and that is big for someone who's about to have a baby any day now).  It was a fun and easy read.  Miller made sure that you weren't left with any questions, comments or concerns.  At the same time, she made sure that you felt a wide range of emotions throughout the entire story.  

Olivia (or Livvy) is a twenty-something baker, who had a slight mishap at work...one that resulted in a fire during a large anniversary event (but hey, that's something that we all can relate too, right?).

Out of embarrassment and fear, Livvy drives up to Vermont and ends up on the doorstep of her best friend, Hannah.  

After much persuasion from Hannah, Livvy goes and apply for a baker's position at the Sugar Maple Inn, a small local bed and breakfast.  After proving she's got what it takes to bake a good pie to Margaret, Livvy is hired!  She moves into a cabin on the property and starts her life with Salty (her trusy old pup; who ends up sleeping in the strangest of places) out in Vermont. 

During her time there, Livvy befriends an older gentleman named Henry, who is the husband to Margaret's best friend, Dotty.  Livvy also befriends Dotty and Henry's youngest son, Martin.  Livvy and Martin let their relationship slowly develop until tragedy strikes.

Remember how I said before that Miller makes it so that you feel many emotions throughout the book?  Well, this is the part in the book where I started to get weepy. (But it wasn't until the end of the story that I actually cried!)

I don't want to give too much of the book away, so I'll leave you with a cliffhanger at the tragedy!

Just know that I give this book FIVE coffee beans of FIVE!! (Say whaaaaa!?)

I loved it and I was sad when it was over!

Happy Reading in the New Year!

~ Jillian