Jane Litte's Blog, page 84

REVIEW: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results.

But like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few ...

REVIEW: The Boxer and the Blacksmith by Edie Cay

Can London’s lady champion fight for love?

As London’s undefeated women’s boxer, Bess Abbott has the scars-both inside and out-to prove it. But when one of her boxing students, Violet, needs protection, Bess Abbott’s rock hard heart cracks open. And when a handsome blacksmith comes along, giving her compliments and treating her, well, like a woman, Bess doesn’t know what to do. She’s on the ropes in the face of love.

Os Worley was a child when he became an accidental stow-away. He grew up not ...

Open Thread for Readers for April 2022

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: Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales

Dear Sophie Gonzales,

Perfect on Paper was a finalist in the Goodreads Awards YA Fiction category and I thought it sounded interesting and different, so I picked it up.

(A warning to readers: the blurb for this book contains spoilers and I recommend avoiding it if you don’t want to be spoiled.)

Darcy Phillips is a high school junior and the daughter of a teacher at her school. This made it possible for Darcy to get a look at the lock combinations of the lockers, including the combination for th...

REVIEW: Four Aunties and a Wedding by Jesse Q Sutanto

The aunties are back, fiercer than ever and ready to handle any catastrophe—even the mafia—in this delightful and hilarious sequel by Jesse Q. Sutanto, author of Dial A for Aunties.

Meddy Chan has been to countless weddings, but she never imagined how her own would turn out. Now the day has arrived, and she can’t wait to marry her college sweetheart, Nathan. Instead of having Ma and the aunts cater to her wedding, Meddy wants them to enjoy the day as guests. As a compromise, they find the perf...

Newly Re-released Mary Burchell books and another Elizabeth Cadell on sale!

Happy Days!

CONVERSATION: More Thoughts on Anachronisms and Inaccuracies

Janine: In our last conversation post we discussed anachronisms. Some of the offshoots in our discussion were enjoyable so we hope that you will like them too. Here they are:
 

Author’s Notes
 
Jayne: If you don’t realize something is wrong or you couldn’t care less about it, does it bother you if someone points it out?

Janine: Whether that mars my enjoyment after the fact depends on how important my belief in the anachronistic thing was to my enjoyment. In an old Mary Balogh, Longing, the plot...

REVIEW: Revenge of the Beast by Jack Meggitt-Phillips

Lemony Snicket meets Roald Dahl in this riotously funny, deliciously macabre, and highly illustrated sequel to The Beast and the Bethany in which Bethany and Ebenezer try to turn over a new leaf, only to have someone—or something—thwart them at every turn.

Once upon a very badly behaved time, 511-year-old Ebenezer kept a beast in his attic. He would feed the beast all manner of objects and creatures and in return the beast would vomit him up expensive presents. But then the Bethany arrived.

...

REVIEW: Return of the Outback Billionaire by Kelly Hunter

The billionaire is back.

And he has a startling proposal!

Seven years ago, Judah Blake took the fall for a crime he didn’t commit to save Bridie Starr. Now his family’s land is in her hands, and to reclaim his slice of the Australian outback, he’s got an announcement!

Photographer Bridie has always idolized Judah, to whom she owes her life. Until the moment he springs a very public engagement on her! As they thrash out the terms of their new relationship, she will have to reckon with the untam...

Review: Nothing but Good by Kess McKinley

Special Agent Jefferson Haines puts the ‘order’ in law and order. Meal kits. Gray suits. Consistent reps at the gym. But all his routines are thrown into chaos when he’s called in to catch a serial killer whose M.O. is the stuff of urban legend: the Smiley Face Killer.

Dripping paint. Wicked slashes for eyes. The taunting curl of a smiling mouth. After years evading capture, the serial killer is back again. As Jefferson races to stop the next attack, the investigation leads to the one man he th...