Book Review: "Be More Chill: The Graphic Novel" by Ned Vizzini; adapted by David Levithan and illustrated by Rick Bertozzi

The Broadway musical Be More Chill was based on a YA novel of the same name by the late Ned Vizzini.

Now, in that magical way the entertainment world has about adapting adaptations, the book that became a musical has now been adapted into a graphic novel, by noted author David Levithan and illustrated by Rick Bertozzi. I never saw the musical or read the book, but after reading the graphic novel, I'd love to do both!

Nobody pays much attention to Jeremy in high school, other than to make fun of or spread rumors about him. He's so used to this occurring that he keeps score of the insults and jibes he sustains in each class. The only person who really talks to him is his best friend and fellow misfit, Michael.

Jeremy has a crush on Christine, but of course she’s dating a popular boy and Jeremy will never have a chance with her. He can barely sustain a conversation with her half the time. But somehow he hopes that things might change someday.

And then he gets a “squip”—a pill-sized supercomputer that you swallow. The squip transforms Jeremy into a confident, handsome heartthrob. It tells him how to dress, how to act, what to say, and whom to avoid. Suddenly Jeremy is cool and can have any girl he wants—but he still only wants Christine.

Of course, getting everything you wish for, especially because of a supercomputer, is fraught with disaster and never turns out quite like you think it will. I mean, does anything turn out well when you let a digestible supercomputer take control of your life?

Be More Chill was a fun, poignant read, although it was shorter than I would've liked. (How often do you say that about books?) I'm guessing the actual novel developed the characters and the situations more, but I enjoyed this tremendously. I definitely found myself wondering what parts might have led into a song in the musical adaptation.

Disney Books and Storygram Tours provided me a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!

Book Review: "You Have a Match" by Emma Lord

Emma Lord's upcoming book, You Have a Match, is a cute story about family, identity, friendship, and love.

Abby only agreed to do the DNA test as a show of support for her best friend (and serious crush) Leo, who was adopted. Things between her and Leo have been weird since the BEI (Big Embarrassing Incident) occurred between them.

The last thing Abby is expecting to discover from the DNA test is that she has an older sister. Wait, what? And it turns out her sister is Savvy—Savannah Tully, Instagram influencer and all-around perfectionist, and she’s only 18 months older than Abby.

Neither know what would have led to her parents putting Savvy up for adoption. But instead of asking their parents outright, they decide to go to summer camp together (Savvy was already planning to be a counselor there) and figure out a scheme to uncover the truth. Of course, agreeing to go to camp with someone you barely know isn’t the smartest idea, especially when that person turns out to be a rule-follower and a narc.

To complicate matters further, this is the same camp Leo goes to. (The camp changed its name, so Abby had no idea it was the same camp.) Suddenly Abby has to decide whether to confront her feelings for him head-on, or just let them remain a secret. But secrets have a way of making everything else complicated, too...

I thought You Have a Match was cute, but honestly, nearly the entire story was people avoiding discussing the things that bothered, worried, or frustrated them, and not asking the questions that would solve everything. I get that it happens in real life but it dragged on in every aspect of the story and it just didn’t work for me. There’s so much running away, holding grudges, lying...I’m all for drama and angst but okay.

I loved Lord’s first book, Tweet Cute, so maybe I was just cranky?

NetGalley and Wednesday Books provided an advance copy of You Have a Match in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!

The book publishes 1/12/2021.

Book Review: "The Thursday Murder Club" by Richard Osman

Twisty, warm, and funny, Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club was just a terrific mystery!

The four friends—Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim, and Ron—are residents of a posh retirement community. They meet each Thursday—in the room designated for jigsaw puzzles—to discuss old unsolved murder cases, an interest fueled by an old friend who used to be a policewoman.

But when a builder/contractor with an unsavory past gets murdered, suddenly the quartet has a real murder to solve. And just because they’re in their 70s, they shouldn’t be underestimated—this group is smart, accomplished, and not above manipulating situations (or the police) to fit their needs.

As they work with/lead the police to catch a killer (or killers), things get even more complicated. This is both a mystery and a reflection on aging, loyalty, undying love, grief, trying to find the strength to start again, and, of course, how far we’ll go for those we care about.

I enjoyed The Thursday Murder Club tremendously. I loved how Osman didn’t make his characters doddering old people, but vibrant and funny and lively. It's so good to see older people as main characters when they're not lovable curmudgeons or on the verge of dying.

I honestly had no idea how everything was going to be resolved, and as always when I read mysteries, I suspected everyone for a time. These characters were such fun, both the friends and the police, and I can’t wait for the sequel.

I read this as part of a buddy read on Bookstagram, which made it more fun. Luckily we’ve not yet decided which character everyone matches!⁣

Book Review: "Take a Hint, Dani Brown" by Talia Hibbert

Talia Hibbert's Take a Hint, Dani Brown is a steamy, fun, and tremendously sensitive rom-com with terrifically memorable and diverse characters.

Danika Brown isn’t looking for love: she’s looking for a friend with benefits. She doesn’t do love, or romance of any kind, and that has doomed recent dalliances with lovers of both genders. But she puts her request out to the universe to help her find someone with the same needs and wants that she has.

And the universe seems to hear her when hunky Zafir Ansari, a security guard at the university where Dani works, rescues her from an incident during an emergency drill. They’ve already been flirting up a storm, but when video of Zaf carrying her goes viral, they even get shipped on the internet as #DrRugbae (Zaf used to be a professional rugby player).

Surprisingly, it is Zaf who comes up with a request: that he and Dani fake a relationship to help generate more publicity for his children’s sports charity. Dani figures this is the perfect way to get what she wants and help Zaf, but she doesn’t realize he’s an actual romantic at the same time. Won't love just complicate things yet again?

As Zaf tries to break down Dani’s resistance to romance, both are struggling with their own emotional issues. But will love—and stubbornness—help them overcome their problems and point them toward happy-ever-after, or will everything fall apart first, including them?

Take a Hint, Dani Brown was a romantic, enjoyable, emotional, and immensely steamy story. I love the diversity that Talia Hibbert brings to her characters and appreciate how she’s willing to tackle emotional issues while entertaining and generating some heat. I also love that she gives her male characters real depth, too. (If you’ve not read her first book, Get a Life, Chloe Brown, featuring one of Dani's sisters, check that out, too.)

If you like your rom-coms with extra steam and some depth to boot, take a hint with Dani Brown!!

Book Review: "What Happens in Paradise" by Elin Hilderbrand

In the cold of January, a book that takes place in the Caribbean is good for what ails you, which is one of the reasons I chose Elin Hilderbrand's What Happens in Paradise!!

It still seems unbelievable to Irene Steele that her husband Russ was killed in a helicopter crash on New Year’s Eve. But more unbelievable is the fact that he was in the Virgin Islands at the time, ostensibly on "business"—but it was all part of a double life he was apparently leading without Irene or anyone else realizing.

To add insult to injury, now the FBI has come around to investigate some possible financial improprieties Russ may have been involved in. Who was this man she was married to for so long?

Each adrift for different reasons, Irene and her two adult sons, Baker and Cash, all decide to return to the island of St. John, where Russ had been living while away from home. The island paradise is certainly welcoming, but it also brings its own set of questions.

Was Russ involved in something illegal and/or unethical? Was the helicopter crash an accident or was it murder? Was he happier with his life on the island instead of at home in Iowa with Irene? If so, how did that happen?

Hilderbrand is an author I just started reading over the last few months although many have loved her for years. I so enjoy her ability to immerse you in her books—whether set on Nantucket or St. John—and create characters whose lives and struggles you care about.

What Happens in Paradise is the second book in her Paradise series (following Winter in Paradise) so I’d recommend you read them in order. I’m ordering the third and final book as soon as I’m done with this review!!

Book Review: "The Fortunate Ones" by Ed Tarkington

Ed Tarkington's new book, The Fortunate Ones, was a great book to start off 2021 with!

Charlie was growing up in a poor neighborhood in East Nashville with his single mother, and didn’t really think about what more life could offer. But when his mother gets him a scholarship to The Yeatman School, an exclusive private school, his life changes tremendously. Suddenly he realizes the ease by which people of privilege move through the world, seemingly impervious to problems and rules and consequences.

He quickly is taken under the wing of Archer Creigh, and the Haltoms, an affluent family. His relationship with Arch is part friendship and part hero worship, and he becomes a surrogate son to the Haltoms—a relationship complicated when they try to bring him and his mother even further into their circle.

But as Charlie is about to step into a life he could have only dreamed of, he realizes how tired he already is of the secrets and subterfuge that characterize the world of privilege. Yet too often, Arch’s magnetism pulls him back, so ultimately he has to decide whether he wants to live a life he is now expected to or one he wants to, and what implications that may have on his relationships with family and friends.

The Fortunate Ones was a great coming-of-age novel, one that almost felt like a book written years ago when stories were simpler, but with a modern touch. It’s a story of friendship and love, loyalty and family, privilege and responsibility. No one is 100 percent likable but how many people really are?

I’m a big fan of Tarkington; his first book, Only Love Can Break Your Heart was excellent, too. This story had me hooked from start to finish.

I was pleased to be part of the blog tour for this book. Algonquin Books provided me with a complimentary advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!

The book publishes 1/5/2021.

The Best Books I Read in 2020...

There's certainly no denying that 2020 was a year unlike any other. So much has been said already and now that it's passed us by (good riddance), I don't want to dwell on it for much longer. I will say, however, that the craziness of the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc with my sleep patterns so I spent a lot of extra time reading over the last 10 months.

I've done so much reading that in 2020 I read an unbelievable 306 books. Yes, that's insane. Yes, I read quickly. But I also don't watch television much and don't have kids so in a time period when we're pretty much tethered to the house, reading has been my prinary source of relaxation, decompression, and entertainment—and at times it also helped transport me away from a time of fear, political upheaval, grief, and anger.

Each year I choose the best books I've read. It's always difficult to narrow things down, but to whittle down a list of 306 books was even more challenging. Being the indecisive person I am I narrowed my list to 40 books. I've identified a top 11 (two books from one series) and then a top 27 (again, in two cases there were books from two series), and then an additional 13 books which are definitely worthy of mention. The title of each book is linked to my original review.

The Top 11

1. The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune: A gorgeous book about our tendency to fear what we don’t understand, the magic love can do, and the different meanings of family.

2. The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E. Schwab: Such a beautiful story—emotional, fantastical, gorgeous, and thought-provoking. What does a life consist of? Does a successful life mean being remembered? What is the price for happiness?

3. The Prettiest Star by Carter Sickels: A beautifully written, emotional book, perfectly capturing the struggles so many people with AIDS had to deal with, especially in the 80s.

4. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig: Sometimes the only way to leaarn is to live. Moving and thought-provoking.

5. The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emeze: A gorgeously written story of identity, sexuality, love, grief, friendship, and the need to live the life you want, even in a country where doing so might be deadly.

6. The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré: This was brutal and emotional and utterly beautiful, but the main character’s spirit is a shining light. She is honestly one of the most memorable characters I’ve ever read about.

7. Here the Whole Time by Vitor Martins, translated by Larissa Helena: From its dedication, which read, “For anyone who has ever gotten into a pool with their shirt on,” I knew this book was for me. I haven't found a book that spoke to me so directly in a while.

8-9. Wild at Heart and Forever Wild by K.A. Tucker: The second and third books in a fantastic series about a Canadian girl who falls in love with a gruff Alaskan pilot and moves there to be with him. (The first book, The Simple Wild, was one of my favorite books of 2019.) These books are steamy, romantic, and so much fun.

10. Foul is Fair by Hannah Capin: Dark, violent, and utterly crazy. If the characters from Mean Girls and Heathers teamed up for a retelling of Macbeth set at a modern-day Catholic school for rich troublemakers, you'd have this book.

11. Beach Read by Emily Henry: This isn't just another rom-com. It’s fun and sweet and sexy and romantic, populated by fascinating supporting characters, and it’s also surprisingly poignant and thought-provoking.