Quarterly BC Picks

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan GHM Rating: 5 of 5 stars It’s Downton Abbey crossed with Meangirls swathed in couture on an exotic cerulean sea that is unzipped just enough to peak into a world we have never seen…unless maybe you are reading this from your 140 million dollar yacht. Crazy Rich Asians by Houston-transplant, Kevin Kwan, is fun and predictable in all the right ways!  Rachel and Nick are professors in New York.  When he invites her to travel with him on their summer break to his homeland of Singapore she wonders if this is the type of trip that leads to a march downRead More →

Sometimes I Lie

Sometimes I Lie, by Alice Feeney GHM Rating: 5 of 5 stars Overall, I really like this book and could easily recommend it. It’s a solid four stars but could be a five if you were in the right mood – and, I was! It follows Amber as she “wakes” up and realizes she’s in a coma. The narrative changes from her cognizant but fading state trying to remember what happened, to scenes from the previous month to excerpts from childhood diaries. Each point of view slowly adds more to the story. First we come to suspect Amber is probably a bit depressed, certainly dealsRead More →

The Hazel Wood

The Hazel Wood: A Novel, by Melissa Albert GHM Rating: 3 of 5 stars I was going to post The Hazel Wood as my next “to read”…but I read it. #thatescalatedquickly. I mean, that cover! How could you not!? The Hazel Wood is a modern-day fairy tale following that begins when Alice’s grandmother, the reclusive author of a cult-classic book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate, the Hazel Wood. Upon her death, her mother is abducted by a figure who claims to come from the Hinterland, the cruel supernatural world where her grandmother’s stories are set. Alice’s only lead is the message her mother left behind:Read More →

How to be Married

How to Be Married, by Jo Piazza GHM Rating: 4 of 5 stars In ‘How to be Married: What I Learned from Real Women on Five Continents about Surviving My First (Really Hard) Year of Marriage‘ Jo Piazza looks into marriages around the world whole embarking on her own adventure – becoming a newlywed. She manages to tell her own story while gleaning information from the men and women she met. From a jungle sweat lodge to to the top of a mountain if anyone can say they’ve gone to the ends of the Earth for marriage it is she – and we, thankfully, got toRead More →

Winter Book Club 2018

“Nothing burns like the cold.” ― George R. R. Martin, A Game of Thrones It’s cold – as if I needed another excuse to stay in and read! This winter in Houston is being especially wintery (excuse my technical jargon).  It is so cold. My nose is cold. My toeses are cold. I’m so cold.  If my family would let me I would just sit right here in my comfy house until summer.  Remember summer?  Ahh, heat, I miss you.  And, for good measure, humidity, I miss you too. My hair looks great but, dang, I don’t want to go anywhere!  Good news, here areRead More →

Fall Reading

“Designers want me to dress like Spring, in billowing things. I don’t feel like Spring. I feel like a warm red Autumn.” ― Marilyn Monroe Fall. Ahh, I just sigh. The whole season is just cozy. Even though I still have a million things to do it’s the season of anticipation.  Around the South, we’re just waiting for a chill. And, wonder of wonders, that has already happened, so perhaps I’m a bit more ready for the autumn take over. (lalalalalalala, I can’t hear you telling me it’s going to get warm again!) Maybe, I just like a good excuse to curl up with aRead More →

Houston WInter the most wonderful time of the year

“Outside, snow solidified itself into graceful forms. The peace of winter stars seemed permanent.” ― Toni Morrison, Beloved Oh, the website redo has really cut into my reading time!  I have read two of the Fall books and I am half way through the other three, but, alas, I have yet to have time to chat about them.  So, I’m going to bring them into winter with us and just add a few more! (The book covers use referral links. Read our disclosure policy for more info.)   The Non-Fiction:    Nurture Shock: New Thinking About Children, by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman A book that confrontsRead More →

Hello, Summer

Ah, 2016…I’m a bit behind but I plan on dragging summer out to the fullest extent.  What to read?  There are lists.  So many lists.  So here’s mine!  I like a mix.     (The book covers use referral links. Read our disclosure policy for more info.) The Fluff: These are sort of like a lady from another generation excusing herself because she needed to go watch her “stories.”  No excuses here, but probably not on the average summer list. The One (Book 3 of The Selection Series), by Kiera Cass Finally, we find out who Maxon chooses!  What America wants!  Will the rebels findRead More →