To Read or Not To Read

A delectably light and romantic read, Talia Hibbert's sophomore novel is sure to delight. Unafraid to tackle some of the truly emotionally devastating events in peoples' lives, Take a Hint, Dani Brown is charming without compromising on humor. Talia Hibbert is a Black British author who lives in a bedroom full of books. Supposedly, there is a world beyond that room, but she has yet to drum up enough interest to investigate. She writes sexy, diverse romances because she believes that people of marginalized identities need honest and positive representation. Her interests include beauty, junk food, and unnecessary sarcasm. You can find her online at  taliahibbert.com . You can find more of my reviews of her works here .  Danika Brown knows what she wants: professional success, academic renown, and an occasional roll in the hay to relieve all that career-driven tension. But romance? Been there, done that, burned the T-shirt. Romantic partners, whatever their gender, are a distrac...

A refreshing, fun, honest contemporary romance novel, Get a Life, Chloe Brown does basically everything right. Strong, positive portrayals of people recovering from both physical and mental illnesses, who have the power to make one another laugh and eventually fall in love, Hibbert creates not only fun characters, but also a strong, diverse, and necessary narrative. Talia Hibbert is a Black British author who lives in a bedroom full of books. Supposedly, there is a world beyond that room, but she has yet to drum up enough interest to investigate. She writes sexy, diverse romances because she believes that people of marginalized identities need honest and positive representation. Her interests include beauty, junk food, and unnecessary sarcasm. You can find her online at taliahibbert.com . You can find more of my reviews of her works here .  Chloe Brown is a chronically ill computer geek with a goal, a plan, and a list. After almost—but not quite—dyings, she's come up with six direc...

More than anything, Ali Hazelwood's Love on the Brain feels like a love letter to life. While there is no shortage of things to hate (specifically in STEM-academia), Love on the Brain feels like a love letter to life—from all the good, and to all the bad for it teaches us to appreciate the good. Hazelwood's sophomore novel is packed full of top-tier references and an achingly satisfying romance that will leave fans like myself impatient for fall 2023, for sure!  Ali Hazelwood is the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis , as well as writer of peer-reviewed articles about brain science, in which no one makes out and the ever after is not always happy. Originally from Italy, she lived in Germany and Japan before moving to the US to pursue a Ph.D. in neuroscience. She recently became a professor, which absolutely terrifies her. When Ali is not at work, she can be found running, eating cake pops, or watching sci-fi movies with her two feline overlords (and her sl...

Christina Lauren books always hit the right notes. In The Honey-Don't List , there's a fun concept with excellent execution, combined with the right amount of romance and character growth, and ends on a beautiful high note. All of this makes The Honey-Don't List my absolute favorite Christina Lauren novel to date!  Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of longtime writing partners/besties Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, the New York Times, USA Today, and #1 internationally bestselling authors of the Beautiful and the Wild Seasons series, Twice in a Blue Moon, The Unhoneymooners , My Favorite Half-Night Stand, Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating, Love and Other Words, Roomies, Dating You / Hating You, and Autoboyography . You can find them online at ChristinaLaurenBooks.com and @ChristinaLauren on Instagram and Twitter. You can find more of my reviews of their works here .  Carey Duncan has worked for home remodeling and design gurus Melissa and Rusty Tripp fo...

Alana Quintana Alberton's Ramón and Julieta is the perfect rom com retelling: with elements recognizable from the original Shakespeare story, it is still one of the most unique reads I've had this summer. A mouthwatering and refreshing romance, Albertson folds in community, culture, and growth this captivating read. Don't read it on an empty stomach—definitely have some tacos handy! Alana Quintana Albertson has written thirty romance novels, rescued five hundred death-row shelter dogs, and danced one thousand rumbas. She lives in sunny San Diego with her husband, two sons, and too many pets. Most days, she can be found writing her next heart book in a beachfront café while sipping an old milk Mexican mocha or gardening with her children in their backyard orchard and snacking on a juicy blood orange. You can find Alana online at AuthorAlanaAlbertson.com , or on Instagram @AuthorAlanaAlbertson.  Ramón Montez always achieves his goals. Whether that means collecting Ivy League ...

Sara Desai's third novel, The Singles Table , is just as much a fun, light read as its predecessor. Utilizing new tropes and very personable characters, The Singles Table— and surely all of Desai's works—are a must-read for all lovers of contemporary romance. Sara Desai has been a lawyer, radio DJ, marathon runner, historian, bouncer, and librarian. She lives on Vancouver Island with her husband, kids, and an assortment of forest creatures who think they are pets. Sara writes sexy romantic comedy and contemporary romance with a multicultural twist. When not laughing at her own jokes, Sara can be found eating nachos. You can find her online at  SaraDesai.com . You can find more of my reviews of Sara's works here . After a devastating breakup, celebrity-obsessed lawyer Zara Patel is determined never to open her heart again. She puts her energy into building her career and helping her friends find their happily ever afters. She's never faced a guest at the singles table sh...

In this vibrant novel about a wedding of convenience, nothing comes easy—from a bathroom mishap to a boardroom fail, Liam's and Daisy's romance seems off to a tumultuous start, for sure! But these characters are instantly lovable from the first pages, and readers will be invested in their happily-ever-after even when the going gets bleak. Sara Desai knows how to craft a romance that is both trope-y and grounded, entertaining and thought-provoking all at once. Sara Desai has been a lawyer, radio DJ, marathon runner, historian, bouncer, and librarian. She lives on Vancouver Island with her husband, kids, and an assortment of forest creatures who think they are pets. Sara writes sexy romantic comedy and contemporary romance with a multicultural twist. When not laughing at her own jokes, Sara can be found eating nachos. You can find her online at SaraDesai.com . You can find more of my reviews of Sara's works here . Daisy Patel is a software engineer who understands lists and l...

Writing books about books continues, except this time, Ashley Poston flips the script on all romance readers: what if the main romantic leads were dead ? Ashley Poston's powerful romance novel, The Dead Romantics , has earned every ounce of publicity, as it's able to combine a happily ever after with some of the most existential crisis questions of our time—is romance dead? How do we grieve? And, what is a legacy?  Ashley Poston writes stories about love and friendship and ever afters. A native to South Carolina, she now lives in a small grey house with her sassy cat and too many books. You can find her on the internet, somewhere, watching cat videos and reading fanfiction. You can find her online at AshPoston.com , or on Instagram @HeyAshPoston. You can find more of my reviews of her work here .  Florence Day is the ghostwriter for one of the most prolific romance authors in the industry, and she has a problem: After a terrible breakup, she no longer believes in love. It's...

Christina Lauren's superpowers include writing fantastic novels, a strength that has been proven time and time again. It was such a joy to take a deeper dive into their catalogue this month, with a free ebook from Simon & Schuster, Autoboyography . An emotionally compelling story written with a huge heart and that provides wonderful endings for all characters involved, Autoboyography is a heartwarming and hopeful read. Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of longtime writing partners/besties/soul mates/brain twins Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings. The coauthor duo writes both young adult and adult fiction, and has produced ten New York Times bestselling novels, including Beautiful Bastard and Sweet Filthy Boy from Gallery Books. Their books have been translated into more than twenty-three languages. You can find them online at ChristinaLaurenBooks.com , or @ChristinaLauren on Instagram. You can find more of my reviews of Christina Lauren's works here .  Three years ...

Elizabeth Wein's sensational  Code Name Verity is a different kind of historical fiction than we knew, and the genre—both young adult and historical fiction—are better for it. A story about resilience and friendship, this novel has affected thousands of readers across the world, and continues to have influence as a story focused on friendship. Elizabeth Wein is a recreational pilot and the owner of about a thousand maps. Flight inspires her writing for young adults, including her bestselling World War II thriller Code Name Verity  and her nonfiction book A Thousand Sisters: The Heroic Airwomen of the Soviet Union in World War II. Elizabeth lives in Scotland and holds American and British citizenship. She is married to games developer Tim Gatland, and they have two grown children. She invites you to visit her at elizabethwein.com . You can find more of my reviews of books on TIME's Top 100 YA Books of All Time list here .  A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied Franc...

An important and philosophical YA read, it is easy to see why Shaun David Hutchinson's We are the Ants is considered a necessary and top 100 YA novel by TIME. A novel that leaves me with more questions than answers guarantees that it will be on my mind for quite a while, and certainly its images of how the world can end will haunt me.  Shaun David Hutchinson is the author of The Deathday Letter , fml , and The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley . He lives with his partner and dog in South Florida, where he enjoys running, reading, and yelling at the TV whenever there are plot holes. Visit him online at ShaunDavidHutchinson.com .  Henry Denton has spent years being periodically abducted by aliens. Then the aliens give him an ultimatum: The world will end in 144 days, and all Henry has to do to stop it is push a big red button. Only he isn't sure he wants to. After all, life hasn't been great for Henry. His mom is a struggling waitress held together by a thin layer of cigarette sm...

This gritty and darkly funny young adult novel is entertaining and thought-provoking, all at once. Hello Girls written by the writing duo Brittany Cavallaro and Emily Henry dives deep into female friendships, and what two people would go to to build lives of their own.  Brittany Cavallaro is the author of the New York Times bestselling Charlotte Holmes series and the poetry collection Girl-King . She earned her BA in literature from Middlebury College and her MFA in poetry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She lives in Michigan. Find her at her website, www.brittanycavallaro.com, or on Twitter @skippingstones. You can find more of my reviews of Cavallaro's works here . Emily Henry is the author of The Love That Split the World  and A Million Junes . She studied creative writing at Hope College and the New York Center for Art & Media Studies and now spends most of her time in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the part of Kentucky just beneath it. She tweets @EmilyHenryWrites....

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known by his pen nam Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, and mathematician. His most notable works are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass (1871). He was noted for his facility with word play, logic, and fantasy. His poems Jabberwocky (1871) and The Hunting of the Snark  (1876) are classified in the genre of literary nonsense.  Below, find the best quotes from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass with their corresponding chapter numbers!  Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, "and what is the use of a book," thought Alice, "without pictures or conversations?" Chapter 1 For, you see, so many out-of-the-way things had happened lat...

American Street is the kind of book you read, enjoying it the whole way through, and then realizing its brilliance right as the last sentence hits you. The imagery in this book, the magical narration, and the gritty story all work together to create a story that is hard to forget.  Ibi Zoboi holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her novel American Street  was a National Book Award finalist and a New York Times Notable Book. She is also the author of Pride  and My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich , a New York Times bestseller. She is the editor of the anthology Black Enough . Born in Haiti and raised in New York City, she now lives in New Jersey with her husband and their three children. You can find her online at www.ibizoboi.net . You can find more of my reviews of books from TIME's Best YA Books of All Time here .  In this stunning debut novel, Pushcart-nominated author Ibi Zoboi draws on her own experience as a young Haitian immigrant, infusing this lyrica...