Abigail wants to read

 3/5 Stars In  The Mysterious Romance of Murder , the poet and critic David Lehman explores a wide variety of outstanding books and movies--some famous ( The Maltese Falcon ,  Double Indemnity ), some known mainly to aficionados--with style, wit, and passion. This book was incredibly well researched by someone who clearly has a lot of love for the genre, however, It was mostly just a list of romances in Murder mysteries, which I wasn't expecting it to be and I know that if I had known that going in I would have liked it more as it would feel less like a lesson which I don't enjoy in books. 

 This March I've decided will be the month i will get to the books that have been on my TBR for too long. 1) These Violent delights  Micah Nemerever When Paul enters university in early 1970s Pittsburgh, it's with the hope of moving past the recent death of his father. Sensitive, insecure, and incomprehensible to his grieving family, Paul feels isolated and alone. When he meets the worldly Julian in his freshman ethics class, Paul is immediately drawn to his classmate's effortless charm. 2) Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare Cordelia Carstairs is a Shadowhunter, a warrior trained since childhood to battle demons. When her father is accused of a terrible crime, she and her brother travel to London in hopes of preventing the family's ruin. Cordelia's mother wants to marry her off, but Cordelia is determined to be a hero rather than a bride. Soon Cordelia encounters childhood friends James and Lucie Herondale and is drawn into their world of glittering ballrooms, secret ...

 Thank you to NetGalley for the EArc in exchange for an honest review 3.5/5 Stars At a time when women were supposed to leave politics to men they spoke, wrote, marched, organized, asked questions, challenged power structures, sometimes went to prison, and even died. History has not usually been kind to them, and they have frequently been pushed into asides or footnotes, dismissed as secondary, or spoken over, for, or through by men and sometimes other women. In this book, they take center stage in both their own stories and those of others, and in doing so bring different voices to the more familiar accounts of the period. These women and many others played a part in developing political ideas and freedoms as we know them today, and some fought battles that still remain to be won or raised questions that are still unresolved. These are their stories. One thing I love reading about is women from all throughout history who have been forgotten or ignored and this book showed me a lot...

4/5 Stars Thank you to NetGalley for the EArc in exchange for an honest review  Now that college is over, English graduate Ben Cook is on the job hunt looking for something…anything…related to his passion for reading and writing. But interview after interview, hiring committee after hiring committee, Ben soon learns getting the dream job won’t be as easy as he thought. Proofreading? Journalism? Copywriting? Not enough experience. It turns out he doesn’t even have enough experience to be a garbage collector! But when Ben stumbles upon a “Now Hiring—No Experience Necessary” sign outside a restaurant, he jumps at the chance to land his first job. Plus, he can keep looking for a writing job in the meantime. He’s actually not so bad in the kitchen, but he will have to pass a series of cooking tests to prove he’s got the culinary skills to stay on full-time. But it’s only temporary…right? This book was so cute, it was very fast-paced and wonderfully written. The illustrations were gorgeo...

 I've done a few posts talking about my favorite books of all time and I want to make a series of my more specific favorites starting with historical fiction. I won't be including The Miseducation of Cameron Post on this list as It is on my last favorite list. 1) Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco Seventeen-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth was born a lord's daughter, with a life of wealth and privilege, stretched out before her. But between the social teas and silk dress fittings, she leads a forbidden secret life.  Against her stern father's wishes and society's expectations, Audrey often slips away to her uncle's laboratory to study the gruesome practice of forensic medicine.  2) The Devil in the Marshalsea by Antonia Hodgeson London, 1727, and Tom Hawkins is about to fall from his heaven of card games, brothels, and coffee-houses into the hell of a debtors' prison.  The Marshalsea is a savage world of its own, with simple rules: those with family ...

 5/5 stars  Kim Jiyoung is a thirty something woman living in the outskirts of Seoul. She has recently left her job in order to take care of her new born baby, but soon starts to show worrying behaviour. This book shows Jiyoung's entire life from the moment she was born in 1982 to the birth of her daughter. This book was beautiful and amazingly written. It showcases the misogyny that so many woman are faced with in Korea, how they are more often than not forced to leave their jobs in order to have a family. This is a book that I think everyone needs to read ASAP even if you aren't a woman living in Korea. 

 Thank you to NetGalley for the Earc in exchange for an honest review Freshly divorced and grieving the death of her father, Josie Lauer has caged herself inside her home. To cope with her losses, Josie follows a strict daily routine of work, playing with her dog, Po, and trying to remember to eat a decent meal—and ending each night by drinking copious amounts of vodka. In other words, she is not coping at all. Everything changes when Josie wakes to find a small shrub has sprouted in her otherwise dirt backyard the morning after yet another bender. Within hours, the vine-like plant is running amok—and it’s brought company. The appearance of the unwieldy growth has also heralded the arrival of a busybody new neighbor who insists on thrusting herself into Josie’s life. The neighbor Josie can deal with. The talking skeleton called Skelly that has perched itself in Josie’s backyard on a throne made of vines, however, is an entirely different matter. I really enjoy the whimsical feel of...

February in the UK is LGBTQ+ history month. To celebrate I have created a list of LGBTQ+ books, as I don't read that much non-fiction these will all be fiction books and are a range of genres. 1) Me, My dad and the end of the Rainbow by Benjamin Dan When Archie sees a colorful, crumpled flyer fall out of his Dad's pocket, he thinks he may have found the answers to his questions about the secret that his parents are keeping from him. Only problem? The answer might just lie at the end of the rainbow, an adventure away. 2) Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can't get rid of him. When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his true gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free. 3) Carry On by Rainbow Rowell Simon Snow is the worst Chosen One who's ...

 2/5 Stars Rowan has worked for years in her mother restaurant and is hoping to expand the restaurant so she enters a completion in order to be able to expand. The problem? Her arch nemesis from culinary school Knox. Knox is restaurant royalty and, even Rowan hates to admit it, an amazing chef. Soon their rivalry sparks heat in and outside the kitchen. Before I start ranting about what I hate hate about this book (because it might go on for a while) lets talk about what I did like. I loved the recipes at the start of each chapter, it bought an amazing feel to the book and helped immerse myself into the book for at least a little bit. I also loved the talk of family and talk of how important it is and seeing how much love Rowan had for her family was lovely to see. Now onto what I didn't like. I hated the romance I didn't understand at all why Knox was interested in Rowan as all she did was act like he was evil for no reason, at least at the start but I'll get to that soon, ...

 3.25/5 Stars A young man named Levi McAllister decides to build a coffin for his 23-year-old sister, Charlotte--who promptly runs for her life. A water rat swims upriver in quest of the cloud god. A fisherman named Karl hunts for tuna in partnership with a seal. And a father takes form from fire. A tale of grief and love and the bonds of family, tracing a journey across the island of Tasmania. Flames is utterly fresh and original, with spellbinding descriptions of nature. This is going to be a pretty short review again as even though I read it only a couple days ago I'm not entirely sure what it was about or how to feel about it. I did enjoy the whimsical feel but I couldn't find myself caring about any of the characters or caring about what they were up to or if they were going to be ok. It was a short book so that's not overly surprising but I did want a bit more from the characters. 

 A Box of Stories is an amazing subscription service that is working to stop the destruction of over 77 million books per year. I've had this subscription for almost six months and it allows you to change the subscription rate so you can have it every month, every two months, three months or just skip a month or two if you are on a book buying ban. My January box has to be my favorite box so far, it contains one book that I have heard nothing but praise for and 3 new too me books that all sound fantastic. Book 1) Dial A For Aunties by Jesse Q.Sutanto When Meddelin Chan ends up accidentally killing her blind date, her meddlesome mother calls for her even more meddlesome aunties to help get rid of the body. Unfortunately, a dead body proves to be a lot more challenging to dispose of than one might anticipate, especially when it is inadvertently shipped in a cake cooler to the over-the-top billionaire wedding Meddy, her Ma, and aunties are working at an island resort on the California...

5/5 Stars Thank you to NetGalley for the EArc in exchange for an honest review.  This is a book that talks about greenwashing, the climate crisis and what we the consumers and the governments and corporations can do about it. One of my New Years Resolutions and I've seen some other people's New Years' resolutions this year is to become more environmentally friendly. I think that this book is a brilliant beginner's guide into how to be more environmentally aware when buying products and when living our lives without placing the blame of the environmental crisis solely on the consumer's shoulders which I've noticed a lot of people tend to do. This book explains how corporations and governments are responsible for the majority of global emissions but how they tend to push the blame onto the consumer instead of taking responsibility which I appreciated.  It also talks about what people who don't have a lot of time on their hands to research products before buyin...