Jane Litte's Blog, page 131

REVIEW: Bones: Inside and Out by Roy A. Meals, MD

A lively, illustrated exploration of the 500-million-year history of bone, a touchstone for understanding vertebrate life and human culture.

Human bone is versatile and entirely unique: it repairs itself without scarring, it’s lightweight but responds to stresses, and it’s durable enough to survive for millennia. In Bones, orthopedic surgeon Roy A. Meals explores and extols this amazing material that both supports and records vertebrate life.

Inside the body, bone proves itself the world’s bes...

REVIEW: David Tung Can’t Have A Girlfriend Until He Gets Into An Ivy League College by Ed Lin

David Tung is a Chinese American high-school student in an upscale, Asian-majority, New Jersey suburb who works every day at his family’s restaurant and strategizes every homeroom about how to improve his class rank so he can get into an Ivy League college. His only release? Hanging with his “real” friends once a week at Chinese school in NYC’s working-class Chinatown. But when the pretty and popular Christina Tau asks him to a high school dance, David’s tightly regimented life gets thrown int...

REVIEW: Their Christmas Baby Contract by Shannon Stacey

Dear Shannon Stacey,

There are very few romance books where the main characters have bad sex but I appreciate every single one I’ve read. It helps balance the scale a little with all the simultaneous orgasms zinging about in Romancelandia.  In the case of Reyna Bishop and Brady Nash, their first sexual encounter was definitely nothing to write home about (do people ever do that I wonder??).  Reyna and Brady grew up together in the small town of Blackberry Bay and, one night after a few too many d...

REVIEW: Their Christmas Baby Contract by Shannon Stacey

Striking the deal was the easy part.

Brady Nash is handsome and anti-marriage. And with IVF completely out of her financial reach, Reyna Bishop is running out of time to have the child she so very much wants. Theirs is a practical baby-making deal: no emotion, no expectation, no ever-after. They’ll even “date” through Christmas to silence their hometown gossips. It’s foolproof…till the time she spends with Brady and his warm, loving family leaves Reyna wanting more than a baby.

Dear Ms. Stace...

REVIEW: Love Your Life by Sophie Kinsella

Call Ava romantic, but she thinks love should be found in the real world, not on apps that filter men by height, job, or astrological sign. She believes in feelings, not algorithms. So after a recent breakup and dating app debacle, she decides to put love on hold and escapes to a remote writers’ retreat in coastal Italy. She’s determined to finish writing the novel she’s been fantasizing about, even though it means leaving her close-knit group of friends and her precious dog, Harold, behind.

A...

Open Thread for Readers for November 2020

Got a book you want to talk about? Frustrated with a book or series? In love with a new one? Found a buried treasure? An issue that keeps popping up in the books you are reading? Just want to chat about stuff in general?

REVIEW: It’s Halloween, Little Monster by Helen Ketteman, illustrated by Bonnie Leick

Little Monster is going trick-or-treating for the very first time. There are going to be all kinds of creatures about, like witches and vampires and zombies. And lots of spooky noises too! As Little Monster makes his way around the neighborhood, Papa is there to help guide him through his fears as they encounter one scary thing after another…until they reach the last house of the night. It’s the spookiest house of all, and—YIKES!—there might be a surprise waiting for them. Will Little Monster ...

REVIEW: Kitty and Dragon by Meika Hashimoto

When Kitty looks for the perfect home, she makes an unlikely best friend—Dragon! From Epic! Originals, Kitty and Dragon is a lovable early reader series about finding true friendship when you least expect it.

Book 1 of this early reader series features three adorable stories about Kitty and Dragon—best friends, even when one of them is snoring, being messy, or having a sad day. Even though they are quite different from one another, Kitty and Dragon have learned that there’s nothing better than...

REVIEW: The Ruin of Evangeline Jones by Julia Bennet

Dear Julia Bennet,

Your book, set in 1888 London, sounded like something I would enjoy so I took a chance and bought it. The story starts with a séance. The titular heroine is a “medium” while the hero, Alex (a duke), has a passion for unmasking con artists. He is particularly interested in Evie; before meeting her he stumbled on an erotic picture of her at a printer’s shop and bought it. He is obsessed with the photograph and he carries it in his pocket. Alex is also broke; his father was a was...

REVIEW: The Butterfly Effect by Edward D. Melillo

A fascinating, entertaining dive into the long-standing relationship between humans and insects, revealing the surprising ways we depend on these tiny, six-legged creatures.

Insects might make us shudder in disgust, but they are also responsible for many of the things we take for granted in our daily lives. When we bite into a shiny apple, listen to the resonant notes of a violin, get dressed, receive a dental implant, or get a manicure, we are the beneficiaries of a vast army of insects. Try ...