Rachel Kovaciny's Blog, page 98

"The Jane Austen Guide to Life" by Lori Smith

It's I Love Austen Week!  Most of the festivities are over on my other blog, Hamlette's Soliloquy, so please check out all the fun stuff going on over there, like the blog tag and the giveaways.


It is a truth universally acknowledged that people look to famous persons for wisdom and advice.  We ask actors and actresses for their opinions on every subject imaginable.  We want to know what books and movies our political leaders like.  We ask athletes for their tips on how to...

"That Part was True" by Deborah McKinlay

I picked this up at the library because the title intrigued me, the back said it was semi-epistolary, and I felt like reading something set in the modern world, as I've been reading a lot of fantasy and historical fiction lately.  I gobbled this book up in one day, as it was a quick read, albeit not quite what I was expecting.

I expected it to be a sort of cheery story of people becoming friends by exchanging letters about food and books, based on the cover blurbs and the inside of the du...

"A Flame Shall Spring from the Embers" by Heidi Pekarek

This is a lovely retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story.  It's set in a fantasy realm, but there is minimal magic involved -- only female members of the royal family who are gifted with the ability to foresee future events.  Aside from that, everything is grounded in reality, which makes overcoming obstacles a lot more interesting, in my humble opinion.  I really dislike stories where people can just magic their way out of things.  

Dissension sweeps the land ruled by King...

"Dani Noir" by Nova Ren Suma

Eva (of Coffee, Classics, and Craziness) recommended this to me a few weeks ago, since we share a love of film noir and YA fiction.  Dani Noir is about thirteen-year-old Danielle, or Dani, whose parents are newly divorced, who hates being stuck in a small town with no cell phone reception, and who seeks refuge in the local art-house theater that is showing classic noir films all summer long.  She tries to do a little detective work like what she sees onscreen to figur...

My Review of "Pew Sisters" by Katie Schuermann on Sister, Daughter, Mother, Wife

Just dropping in for a minute or two to let you know that I've written a review of this awesome Bible study book aimed specifically at women, and you can read my review right here on one of my favorite blogs, namely Sister, Daughter, Mother, Wife.  

Pew Sisters was written for small-group Bible studies, but you could also use it on your own for personal devotions.  

"Song of the Ean" by Emily Nordberg

I read the last two hundred pages of this yesterday.  That was partly because, now that my brain has rested from finishing the first draft of my own WIP, I'm hungry for fiction.  Ravenously hungry.  And it was partly because my kids were being really nice and playing together without much fighting.  And it was partly because I know Emily Nordberg, and I've felt so bad that it's taken me so long to finish reading her book.  I bought it a couple of months ago, when she...

"Whimsical Gardens" Coloring Book by Alexandra Cowell

Yes, it's true:  I am an Adult Coloring Enthusiast (ACE).  And I've decided to start reviewing my adult coloring books, sharing what I do and don't like about them and so on.  Today, I'm going to review the very first adult coloring book I ever bought, Whimsical Gardens, artwork by Alexandra Cowell.

I bought this sometime in 2015.  I'd been intrigued by the adult coloring books I kept seeing in the bookstores, but never found one that really made me want to color it.  ...

What My Kids are Reading #8

Time to talk about the books my kids are reading and having read to them lately :-)  We've found some good stuff at the library lately, and also pulled some things off our own shelves to enjoy.


Sarah (6) and Eggnog (5)

Dewey:  There's a Cat in the Library by Vicki Myron and Bret Witter, illustrated by Steve James -- This is the true story of a kitten who was left in the book drop at the public library in Spencer, Iowa, adopted by the head librarian (Vicki Myron), and proceeded to...

Top Ten Tuesday: Hidden Gems

This week's prompt from The Broke and the Bookish is "Top Ten Underrated/Hidden Gem Books We've Read In The Past Year Or So."  I've decided to follow their lead and narrow this down by only including books I've read in the past year that have fewer than 500 ratings on Goodreads.  


I'm listing them alphabetically by title, and all but one of the titles is linked to my review of that book, if you want to know more about them.  And I've included my movie-style rating in parentheses...

My Fifty Favorite Novels

About four years ago, I posted a list of my 40 favorite novels right here. I have read roughly 40 novels a year since then, possibly more, which means I've read at least 150 since I made this list. I've found a lot of new favorites. I've reread more than a dozen on my original list of 40, and reconsidered others -- there's been a good deal of shifting within the list, in other words.

And so, today, I present you with My Fifty Favorite Novels (and a bunch of pictures from Pinterest). I love eac...