To Read or Not To Read

What would it be like, to belong to no one, to truly be free? Freedom and the ability to belong to no one is exactly what Addie LaRue wants, and is what exactly makes her invisible. V. E. Schwab builds a whimsical and exhilarating story that begins with just one woman's desire to say no, and to make her own path. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is not only inspiring, but heart-breaking and genre-bending, following one woman's path through three hundred years, and also the paths of so many women before and after her. If you are looking for a story that spans years but takes only days to read, if you are looking for a story with a slow-burn romance and love-at-first-sight, then you will find it all within the pages of V. E. Schwab's newest masterpiece. Victoria "V. E." Schwab is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty books, including the acclaimed Shades of Magic series, the Villains series, and the Monsters of Verity duology. Her work has re...

For fans of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood  is another true crime classic written brilliantly by journalist Erik Larson. Telling the parallel stories of two men with blue eyes, Daniel Burnham and H. H. Holmes, as they occupy the same city, Larson weaves a tale of greed, wealth, and murder. With so much detail you will also feel like you are in 1893 Chicago, Larson crafts a story for the ages, one that will bring us back to history, in a way history hasn't been before. Erik Larson, author of the international bestseller Isaac's Storm , has written for Harper's , The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, and Time , where he is a contributing writer. He is a former staff writer for The Wall Street Journal . Larson lives in Seattle with his wife, three daughters, and assorted pets, including a golden retriever named Molly.  Bringing Chicago circa 1893 to vivid life, Erik Larson's spellbinding bestseller intertwines the true tale of two men--the brilliant architect behind the...

Sabaa Tahir truly wrote the most "jaw dropping finale" that I have ever read. Full of moments that completely shocked me, with an ending that felt both bittersweet and completely inspiring, A Sky Beyond the Storm is a tragic, phenomenal, shocking, uplifting, brave, and utterly fulfilling finale for the fantasy quartet that has taken the world by storm.  Sabaa Tahir is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the An Ember in the Ashes series, which has been translated into over thirty-five languages. She grew up in California's Mojave Desert at her family's eighteen-room motel. There, she spent her time devouring fantasy novels, raiding her brother's comic book stash, and playing guitar badly. She began writing An Ember in the Ashes while working nights as a newspaper editor. She likes thunderous indie rock, garish socks, and all things nerd. Sabaa currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family. You can find Sabaa at her website SabaaTahir.com o...

I think all of us are aware of the failures of dystopian trilogies: they lag in the middle, we lose sense of the world somewhere in between, and the ending is usually unsatisfying. The occasional hero trilogy will break through, but dystopia is pretty messy. Fantasy is anything but. It combines a world we can escape into with characters we feel intimate connections with. There is no lagging middle, no losing sense of the world, and definitely never a dull moment. Sabaa Tahir is one of the best fantasy writers, as her third novel is a heart-stopping, breath-taking, soul-shaking tribute to humanity, suffering, love, and so much more. With plot twists that will make you gasp and a cliff hanger that leaves you on the edge of your seat, you don't want to miss a single word from A Reaper at the Gates.  Sabaa Tahir is the #1 New York times bestselling author of An Ember in the Ashes series, which has been translated into over 35 languages. She grew up in California's Mojave Desert at ...

An almost impossible quest can set one on the path to inevitable destruction. Sabaa Tahir's second novel, A Torch Against the Night details three such quests and three such destructions. But humans are warriors, and destruction can only mean rebirth--and there are three of those here, too. Laia, Helene, and Elias are powerful characters, created by Sabaa Tahir, a force to be reckoned with. With her signature inspiring characters, a plot full of unexpected twists, and a world that feels frighteningly real, Sabaa Tahir reveals truths about ourselves, and our world, that remind us who we have the power to be, so long as we remember who we want to become.  Sabaa Tahir is the New York Times bestselling author of the young adult fantasy An Ember in the Ashes , which has been published in thirty-four languages. She grew up in California's Mojave Desert at her family's eighteen-room motel. There, she spent her time devouring fantasy novels, raiding her brother's comic book stas...

Brave people don't start that way. The dream of freedom morphs as the people and world around you changes. Sabaa Tahir's protagonists know this all too well, in the first novel of her Ember in the Ashes series. Sabaa Tahir's writing, world building, and character development skills take writing fantasy to a whole new level. With characters you cheer for and relate to, in a brutal world you can't believe they'll survive, reading An Ember in the Ashes  brings a certain sense of hope, a healthy does of fear, and a shout of excitement. Because the story of an enslaved girl growing brave and a trapped soldier finding freedom is not a story one can easily tear their eyes from.  Sabaa Tahir grew up in California's Mojave Desert at her family's eighteen-room motel. There, she spent her time devouring fantasy novels, raiding her brother's comic book stash, and playing guitar badly. She began writing An Ember in the Ashes  while working nights as a newspaper edito...

A girl chasing her dreams no matter what faces obstacles of all shapes and sizes. Some of them in the form of misogynist judges. Others in the form of being paired with an ex-magician. And the biggest obstacle of all is accidents galore . . . on-stage and behind the scenes. Enter the world of magic, competition, and intrigue in the city of Glorian. Janella Angeles crafts an exquisite novel full of mystery, romance, and ambition, surrounding one girl who is taking her powers back. This magical, attention-pulling, lush debut demands your attention just as much as the lead does, and you will close the novel demanding more.  Janella Angeles is a Filipino-American author who got her start in writing through consuming glorious amounts of fanfiction at a young age, which eventually led to penning a few of her own and, later on, creating original stories from her imagination. A lifelong lover of books, she's lucky enough to be working in the business of publishing them on top of writing th...

Weddings are one of the happiest occassions in one's life--well, if you're the bride or groom of said wedding, usually. If you're the ex of the bride, or a stranger, the amount of fun you'll have is dependent on the relationship. Alexa Monroe and Drew Nichols know this all too well when they walk into the one wedding that changed their lives. Jasmine Guillory's The Wedding Date  was an absolutely splendid read. Guillory's writing is so fun and warm, she writes about topics rarely talked about with tropes we've seen before with expert ease. Her characters are so easy to relate to that we can't help cheering for them. If you want a feel good read to kick off the new year, look no further than Jasmine Guillory's The Wedding Date , or any of her Wedding Date novels.  Jasmine Guillory is a lawyer, a graduate of Wellesley College and Stanford Law School, and a Bay Area native who lives in Oakland, California. She has been published in The Toast and The Hai...

The phrase coup de foudre is one that has stuck with me past high school French. It means something along the lines of "when lightning strikes," an unforgettable moment that you want to keep close to your heart forever. And, of course, it usually has to do with love at first sight. That's what Laurie, Josie Silver's heroine, experiences within the opening pages of this insightful novel. Laurie and Jack's love story indeed takes twists and turns after that moment, through other lives and other searing moments. Overall, Josie Silver crafts a novel from a beautiful coup de foudre moment that at times was hard to stick with, but had a rewarding ending for sure.  Josie Silver is an unashamed romantic who met her husband when she stepped on his foot on his twenty-first birthday. She lives with him, her two young children, and their cat in a little town in the Midlands.  Laurie is pretty sure love at first sight doesn't exist anywhere outside of the movies. But then,...