Librarian's Next Chapter

Didn't You Used to be Queenie B

4/24/2025

The Wheel of Titles did well this spin. I loved this book. I did not want to put it down. I want to know what happens next, even though I am a firm believer that every story does not need to become a series. Five stars.

Well, now that I have that out of my system I can tell you more about Didn’t You Used to be Queenie B by Terri-Lynne Defino. As an avid watcher of all types of food competition shows, just reading the blurb about this book had me hooked. What I did not expect were the honest and raw portrayals of addiction, recovery, and the wide swath of fall-out that accompanies both of those things separately and together.

Gale, our protagonist, has settled into an uneasy recovery. A tragedy has launched him onto this path, and he has not forgiven himself for being a survivor where his friend Sean was not. He enjoys his work as a chef, the only place where he can lose himself, and has secret aspirations but little confidence to act upon them.

Queenie B, after fame, fortune, addiction, and a rather nasty fall from grace, has reinvented herself as Regina. She becomes invisible, hiding in plain sight. When her world and Gale’s collide, they recognize each other as kindred souls and when Gale gets a chance to seize a dream, they collaborate.

The character development in this novel was so real I felt as though it could be a memoir. Various threads of the plot were both resolved and unresolved, reflecting the complexity of life, experience, and relationships. This read was much more than I anticipated. Thank you to NetGalley for the Advance Reader’s Copy.

All That Life Can Afford

4/23/2025

Confessions:

I ditched the Wheel of Titles to scarper off and read All That Life Can Afford by Emily Everett due to the press it was getting as Reese’s Book Club’s May selection.
I read the reviews whilst taking a break from reading said novel.
Though class and privilege are the anchors on which this story tethered and Jane A. herself is an integral part of the story , I did not consider this to be a retelling of Pride & Prejudice.

Though perhaps not as deep in poverty as Anna, most of us live outside the world of the jet-set elites. We wonder at their privileged existence and imagine what our own lives might be like given the advantages of money and status. Anna is given a peek at this world via her tutoring jobs and the opportunity to immerse herself when one of her students talks her parents into having Anna tutor over Christmas break.

Once inside this world, Anna’s moral lines begin to blur as she wants to reinvent herself. Wandering down this path of deception, her true friends are left behind and we readers are left to wonder if Anna will succeed in her charade or will it all end rather badly.

I enjoyed this book and felt that the characters were fleshed out fully. It resonated well in that there are no entirely happy endings, life is, after all, quite messy.

A solid 4.5 star read. Thank you to NetGalley for the preview copy.

The Love Hypothesis

4/13/2025

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood was exactly the book I needed after a very deep and emotional last read. Olive's missteps and blunders endeared her to me. Who hasn't made a bad decision with unforeseen mortifying consequences? Though Olive is portrayed as someone with a lack of confidence, her quick wit and pointed barbs rounded out her character nicely. Her friends were good ancillary characters, but were not fleshed out enough to understand some of their actions. Adam was a bit of a mystery, but as Olive chipped away at his facade his motivations slowly came into focus. The ending wrapped up a bit tidily for my taste, life is messy so too should it’s written reflection. Conclusion notwithstanding, I thoroughly enjoyed this read.

When We Ride

4/10/2025

When reading novels-in-verse by Rex Ogle, I have come to expect the truth. Ogle includes life’s small triumphs along with the raw emotions of life on the edge of poverty. His newest book did not disappoint. The main characters, carved out of cloth I’ve seen over the years as a teacher, were so realistically portrayed that I felt I knew them. The dynamics of their friendship had me talking to the pages as I read them, a sign that I was truly invested in the outcome of the story. Ancillary characters were also well fleshed out, adding nuance and depth to the story. I do not want to say much more, no spoilers from me. Just know that I had to process the book for almost a week prior to writing a review. Added thanks to NetGalley for the electronic preview copy.

Sunrise on the Reaping

4/6/2025

I’ve been struggling with writing a review for this novel. I’m not sure why as I eagerly anticipated it and read it in two days. Haymitch is a complex character and after the Hunger Games trilogy I was left with many questions: How did he win his games? Why was Katniss his bet when he liked Peeta? Did he recognize echoes of himself in Katniss?

The story answered so many questions, provided background and insight into many of the things I liked in the original trilogy. I love how the past, present, and future are artfully woven together through characters rather than a timeline of events. However, I felt that the author’s quotations from Edgar Allan Poe, though seminal to the story (and a lovely reference to the time before Panem), interrupted the flow of the story. This could be due to the fact that I have read many of his works on my own, and had to use a different voice in my head to get through those parts, a gear shift so to speak, or it could be that the quotations seemed to be hammering home the reference with more force than was necessary. Perhaps the author employed this literary device for those who are not familiar with the works of Poe, giving them a base from which to build understanding.

The story had several twists and turns, some expected, some not and was overall a wonderful read. If you enjoyed The Hunger Games trilogy and/or The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, put this on your reading list. If you have not read those titles, I would recommend doing so before tackling this one, you'll not regret it.

Your Table is Ready

3/17/2025

Today's review is for Your Table is Ready by Michael Cecchi-Azzolina. I picked up this book because I saw it on someone's "To Read" list and I enjoy foodie/restaurant type books. This was a good, not great, read. It was great fun seeing names of chefs and restauranteurs that I recognized from watching (probably too many) food competition shows and reading the author's descriptions and impressions of them. One definitely gains a new respect for those who run food establishments and those who serve in them. With all the shenanigans described by the author, it's amazing that so many are successful at all.

I have no doubt that all kinds of debauchery took place during the time period described by the author, but again - repetitious - I received the message the first time or two. The storytelling was a bit disjointed in places as the author tried to connect the present with his past, a bit of editing might have fixed this. Definitely a well-informed peek behind the curtain of the food industry, but now I'm happy to let the curtain fall back into place.

Every Last Word

3/8/2025

My TBR pile and wheel has several YA novels leftover from my career as a school librarian. Oddly, my first spins yielded two titles from those selections. Perhaps fate’s way of easing me into reading post-teaching?

The novel I read yesterday was Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone. This novel explored a myriad of topics: OCD, depression, anxiety, friendship, and forgiveness. Samantha/Sam is a fringe member of her high school's “popular” crowd, but hides a near crippling OCD condition fearing that this will cause her to lose her friends. We see Sam through the lens of her swimming, appointments with her therapist, and interacting with her friends. At the beginning of the school year Sam meets a fellow student, completely different from her friends, who introduces her to a secret poetry group. Through this group, Sam begins to explore who she is and what truly matters to her.

There are several twists and turns in this story, a few of which I did not anticipate. The characters were the archetypical high school students, and it did feel as though some of the plot turns were a little too pat. A good read for those who enjoy high school angsty romance.

Shampoo Unicorn

3/7/2025

Very seldom have I thought, “I should have listened to the audiobook instead of reading this.” Shampoo Unicorn by Sawyer Lovett gave me exactly this feeling. Many of the chapters of this book were transcripts of podcasts and hearing them as such would have amplified both the story experience and emotional content of the episodes.

Brian, Greg, and Leslie’s lives are woven together via friendship (Brian and Greg) and a podcast (Brian and Leslie). All three of them are struggling to live with their sexuality, and the ramifications of the personal choice they have made to live out or closeted. The story is set in rural West Virginia and incorporates the magnified sense of isolation and fear that folks in the LGBTQ+ community may feel in such places.

Brian, Greg, and their friend Riley have known each other for years. Over time and choices, their friendship has morphed, events in the story cause it to shift yet again. Leslie, unknown to the others but tethered to them via the podcast, is struggling to make a decision on how to live as her authentic self. All the characters are well-fleshed out and multi-faceted and relate their story in their own voice. Getting into the head of the various characters adds so much depth to a story. In telling the story from multiple points of view, the author did a wonderful job of portraying a unique voice for each character, jumping from one to another with such ease I literally checked to see if the book was written by more than one person. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to the author’s future work. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

And so it begins...

1/29/2025

Welcome!

This site is undergoing a seismic shift as is my life. I am now a retired librarian. As such, I now have many more hours to read. I have been collecting books, both in print and digital in anticipation of this. I have reorganized the physical books, lovingly tucking all the new and new-to-me novels, memoirs, nonfiction, etc. onto shelves in my living room. It looks gorgeous. I have downloaded scads of books and ARCs onto my Kindle and read through the titles with eager anticipation. But I haven’t been reading.

I think I have been stymied by reader’s paralysis. In the face of so many varied choices I cannot decide what to read. In this state I have crocheted several blankets, telling myself I will make a decision as I hook yarn into cozy throws. But each time I finish off a creation, I am no closer to a decision. It’s frustrating and I feel like a collector, not a reader.

A friend of mine has been posting about the vinyl albums he listens to, choosing a new one each day using a randomizer. A lightbulb went off in my brain and I spent a couple of hours loading book titles into a file on a site called “Wheel of Names”. I typed in the titles of all physical books and a smattering of what I have downloaded. In all, there are 150+ titles on the wheel, representing 160 or so books (I have a few series included).

The premise is simple. I spin the wheel, then read the book that has been selected for me. With the decision out of my hands, I hope to jumpstart myself out of this reading slump. My first spin landed on Shampoo Unicorn. I’ll report back as I finish each book. Wish me luck!