To Read or Not To Read

I'm breaking from my usual programming of contemporary romance novels and young adult fiction to review Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile , a book I read at the convincing of members of my sorority for our murder mystery themed book club! I was pleasantly surprised by Christie's installment in the Hercule Poirot mystery series, and after finishing Death on the Nile I find myself compelled to read even more of her entertaining, twisty murder mystery books!  Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Her books have sold more than a billion copies in English and another billion in a hundred foreign languages. She died in 1976, after a prolific career spanning six decades. To find out more, visit agathachristie.com  or @officialagathachristie on Instagram. The tranquility of a cruise along the Nile was shattered by the discovery that Linnet Ridgeway had been shot through the head. She was young, stylish, and bea...

Karen M. McManus's debut novel One of Us is Lying  is compelling, twisty murder mystery supposedly done by teens. Taking some cues from The Breakfast Club, while also adding in a lot of thoughtful voice while leaving lots of room for McManus's own creativity, One of Us is Lying  is an engaging read, and one that might surprise you just as much as it surprised me!  Karen M. McManus's debut novel is the New York Times  bestseller One of Us is Lying . She earned her BA in English from the College of the Holy Cross and her MA in journalism from Northeastern University. When she isn't working or writing in Cambridge, Massachusetts, McManus loves to travel with her son. To learn more about her, go to her website, karenmcmanus.com , or follow her @writerkmc on Twitter. On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention. Bronwyn, The Brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule. Addy, The Beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess. Nate, The Crimi...

It is clear why Sandyha Menon's When Dimple Met Rishi  was featured on TIME's 100 Best YA Books of All Time —a compulsively readable novel about two young people with completely different outlooks on just about everything overcoming obstacles to work as a team and fall in love makes for an inspirational, thoughtful, compelling, and timeless read. Sandhya Menon is the author of When Dimple Met Rishi and From Twinkle, with Love. She was born and raised in India on a steady diet of Bollywood movies and street food and blames this upcoming for her obsession with happily-ever-afters, bad dance moves, and pani puri . Now Sandhya lives in Colorado, where she's on a mission to (gently) coerce her husband and children to watch all 3,220 Bollywood movies she claims as her favorite. Visit her online at sandhyamenon.com .  Dimple Shah has it all figured out. With graduation behind her, she's more than ready for a break from her family—from Mamma's inexplicable obsession with he...

Marie Lu's sequel to Warcross, Wildcard , is another thought-provoking and twisty adventure into the world of the NeuroLink. Emika is now facing more than just one enemy, and a slew of philosophical arguments, making this novel a worthy sequel, as well as an exploration of thought on how to actually do the right thing. Marie Lu is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Young Elites series, as well as the blockbuster Legend series. She graduated from the University of Southern California and jumped into the video game industry as an artist. Now a full-time writer, she spends her spare time reading, drawing, playing games, and getting stuck in traffic. She lives in Los Angeles with her illustrator/author husband, Primo Gallanosa, and their dogs. You can visit Marie at Marielubooks.com . You can find more of my reviews of her work here .  Emika Chen barely made it out of the Warcross Championships alive. Now that she knows the truth behind Hideo's new NeuroLink algorithm,...

Marie Lu stuns with the first book in her Warcross duology, Warcross . A story that includes virtual reality, spies, billionaires, and high stakes, Lu knows exactly how to writer an entertaining and thematically complex novel, all with morally gray characters that drive the story forward.  Marie Lu is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling series The Young Elites, as well as the blockbuster bestselling Legend series. She graduated from the University of Southern California and jumped into the video game industry as an artist. Now a full-time writer, she spends her spare time reading, drawing, playing games, and getting stuck in traffic. She lives in Los Angeles, California, with one husband, one Chihuahua mix, and one Pembroke Welsh corgi. You can visit Marie at MarieLuBooks.com . You can find more of my reviews of Marie's books here .  The obsession started ten years ago and its fan base now spans the globe, some eager to escape from reality and others hoping to make...

Perfect for fans of Ninth House or for people who like to read books about women making bad decisions, Book of Night is a gritty, haunting, (dare I say) shadowy novel from the famed Holly Black. Her adult debut is just as enchanting as her young adult novels, but darker and more mysterious, providing for an entirely unputdownable fantasy experience. Holly Black is the #1 New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of speculative and fantasy novels, short stories, and comics. She has sold more than twenty-six million books worldwide and her work has been translated into more than thirty languages and adapted for film. She currently lives in New England with her husband and son in a house with a secret library. Book of Night is her adult fiction debut. You can read more about her on BlackHolly.com . You can find more of my reviews of Holly's works here .  Charlie Hall has never found a lock she couldn't pick, a book she couldn't steal, or a bad decision she wouldn...

The sequel to Julie Murphy's If the Shoe Fits , the second novel in the Meant to Be series is just as heartwarming and charming as the first. Jasmine Guillory, one of my absolute favorite romance writers, puts a fresh, modern twist on the Beauty and the Beast narrative. She does so while also incorporating candid conversations about the publishing industry, and how one can move forward from their less-than-perfect past. All-in-all, By the Book is an absolutely lovely read for all Disney-loving, book-hoarding people! Jasmine Guillory is a New York Times bestselling author of novels including The Wedding Date, the Reese's Book Club selection The Proposal , and While We Were Dating . Her work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Cosmopolitan, Bon Appétit, and Time , and she is a frequent book contributor on the Today show. She lives in Oakland, California. You can learn more at www.DisneyBooks . You can find more of my reviews of Guillory's works here .  Isabelle is comple...

Emily Henry has done it once again! But, who's surprised—of course she did! Book Lovers is a book about book lovers, for book lovers. But it's also a story about sisters, and about falling in love with yourself and the version of yourself you want to be. A powerful, heartwarming, charming romance, this one can only be written by Emily Henry—and every single self-prescribed book lover better pull this one from the shelf and read immediately!  Nora Stephen's life is books—she's read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laid-back dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister, Libby. Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina, for the month of August when Libby begs for her a sisters' strip away—with visions of a small-town transformation for Nora, who she...

A big-hearted romance that encompasses literally everyone's favorite tropes, it's easy to see why TikTok and social media exploded around Elena Armas's debut, The Spanish Love Deception . First originally published independently, and then picked up by Simon & Schuster, this Goodreads Awards finalist tackles the contemporary romance genre's most beloved tropes in a fun and entertaining way. Elena Armas is a Spanish write, a self-confessed hopeless romantic, and much to Mr. B's dismay, a proud book hoarder. After years of devouring stries and posting—okay, fine, yelling—about them on her Instagram @thebiblioteque, she has finally taken the leap and started creating some of her own. While she'd never describe herself as adventurous, having a degree in chemical engineering and being the Monica of her gorup of friends, this definitely qualifies as the most exciting yet terrifying project she has ever taken on. She's probably biting her nails as you read this....