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I did wonder at the omission of what felt like a key character who might have been an integral and heartwarming

woman-centric account of events surrounding the Trojan War; and Under the Whispering Door, TJ Klune's upcoming heartwarming Whispering Door is by the author of The House in the Cerulean Sea, and here, TJ Klune offers another heartwarming

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading The Guncle, Steven Rowley's sassy, heartwarming fiction about an 01 The Guncle by Steven Rowley In Steven Rowley's fun, funny, and heartwarming fiction The Guncle, aging

There's an unusual mix of adventure and heartwarming self-examination in this debut. #nordic, #heartwarming, #series, #fourstarbookreview

#timetravel, #alternatereality, #heartwarming, #fourstarbookreview

#memoir, #nonfiction, #heartwarming, #fourstarbookreview

#youngadult, #LGBTQ, #heartwarming, #fourstarbookreview

In Steven Rowley's fun, funny, and heartwarming light fiction story The Guncle, aging former sitcom star

The Books I'm Reading Now Two of these books are largely about redemption, two focus on the twisted blessing-and-curse of technology, and all three touch on identifying some version of a new reality. Where's my Venn diagram to map out all of these intersecting themes? Which books are you reading and enjoying these days, bookworms? 01 A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor is Hank Green's sequel to An Absolutely Remarkable Thing and the final book in his Carl saga. It features the fantastic characters from book one, and the plot picks up with a new version of the fight to save humanity from interfering extraterrestrials. Green tells his funny, poignant, tech-focused story through characters' alternating viewpoints, and it feels like April May--who died at the end of book one--may be about to reemerge. The characters' desires for reinvention and redemption are really interesting to me, as is the continued examination of the two-sided blessing and curse of social media and of technology in general. 02 A Song for the Road by Kathleen Basi Miriam lost her husband and teenage twins a year ago and, unsurprisingly, since then she hasn't been able to face any semblance of moving forward with her life. When she stumbles across her daughter's elaborate road trip plan she created for her then-soon-to-be-empty-nester parents, Miriam feels compelled to take the trip. She brings along her family members' musical instruments, envisioning a sort of musical pilgrimage, and she meets unexpected characters along the way, encounters dangerous weather, and begins to come alive again--despite her reservations and guilty feelings about breaking from her dedicated mourning. So far Basi is managing what seems like an incredible feat, as this is purely lovely and not maudlin or sappy at all despite the tragedy at the book's heart. I admit I Bossily feared that painfully sentimental tones might creep in, but in cases like this I love realizing that I'm incorrectly aiming my coldhearted prejudgment. I received a prepublication copy of this book, published May 11, 2021, courtesy of Alcove Press and NetGalley. 03 No One Is Talking about This by Patricia Lockwood No One Is Talking about This is fiction from Patricia Lockwood, the author of the memoir Priestdaddy. This book somewhat defies labeling--so far it's essentially a satire about media and society, and it's told in short snippets. In No One Is Talking about This, a social media darling undergoes an existential crisis and wonders if her thoughts are being controlled externally. She is compelled to continue trying to engage and often shock those reading her posts, and she frequently wonders what is real and what is constructed reality--and what it's all for, anyway. This feels like a book that will inspire a lot of spirited discussion and possibly passionate opinions.

Pan is wonderfully honest, appealingly thoughtful, and often so so funny. I was so happy spending time in her point of view throughout this book. I loved it. Jessica Pan was an introvert out of a job. Her closest friends had moved away, and she found herself lonely, living in another country, and feeling too reliant on her husband for her entire social life. Although she wasn't trying to change her status from introvert to extrovert, she did want to open up to new experiences, broaden her horizons and meet new people, a few of whom she could hopefully in time call true friends. Pan decided to deliberately put herself into extremely uncomfortable social situations for a year, and she fully commits. She does improv, approaches strangers on the Tube, goes on friend dates, attends networking events, takes a vacation alone (to a destination she doesn't learn until she's at the airport), and more. She regrets her one-year plan almost instantly but feels compelled to continue her terrifying exercises. My book club is reading this book, and we were recently saying in anticipation of our upcoming discussion that Pan's concept reminded us somewhat of a book we read years ago, MWF Seeking BFF: My Yearlong Search for a New Best Friend (although that book had a premise that didn't really make sense, since the author seemed surrounded by family, friends, work friends, and didn't seem particularly lonely). Pan is earnest about and determined to see through her gutsy path, which is often horrifyingly frightening for her, frequently not at all what she bargained for, and which gradually pays off in fits and starts of personal growth that are meaningful for her. Her interviews and experiences with others who mentor her journey in different ways could have felt disruptive or jarring but didn't; they added a layer to her story that I found interesting and often revelatory. Pan is wonderfully honest, appealingly thoughtful, and often so so funny. I was so happy spending time in her point of view throughout this book. I loved it and I'd read another book by her in a second. Any Bossy thoughts on this book? Have you read this one? It was the right book at the right time for me. I'd happened to read multiple books in a row in which grim circumstances drove the plots, and this book felt like a breath of fresh air. I first mentioned this book along with The Exiles and The Comeback in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 10/22/20 Edition.

In a Holidaze is a romantic holiday time twist with sexy interludes and a reliably happy ending. Twentysomething Mae is spending the holidays yet again with her parents' college friends and their families. She's not satisfied in her job, she's unwillingly single, she still lives with her parents--and she just kissed the wrong boy, the younger brother of her true obsession. In despair about having had a rotten holiday and realizing that future holidays at her favorite place in the world are now in jeopardy, Mae makes a plea to the universe to show her what would truly make her happy. Suddenly she's plunged back in time to begin the holiday anew and try to get things right, Groundhog Day-style. I fought a little irritation at the start with what felt like too-cute in-process inside jokes between the characters--I'd rather watch interpersonal intimacies unfold than be thrust into scenes serving as shorthand for "this is idyllic and you should love it." But I easily suspended my disbelief regarding Mae's being whisked through time, and I loved that the issues she explored about her life and how she wanted to live it were substantial, thoughtful, and interestingly complicated. The authors offer a brief but intriguing foray into faith and fate as well. I read In a Holidaze during Christmas week, and it was a romantic holiday time twist with sexy interludes and a reliably happy ending. Any Bossy thoughts about this book? I reviewed Lauren's The Unhoneymooners a couple of weeks ago. The author duo also wrote the fun and romantic Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating as well as Love and Other Words and the lovely, lovely Autoboyography. I mentioned this book in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 12/22/20 Edition.

Aren't young adult books just the best? Young adult is one of my favorite genres to read for fun and to edit. The main protagonists are often figuring out the world, their place in it, and who they are and want to be. They're making mistakes and realizing where they draw their own lines in the sand. Things are big, and young people's feelings about all of it understandably vacillate between joy, dread, confusion, and wonder. I could have listed so many fantastic young adult titles here, but I picked these varied, wonderful six. Some other Bossy Bookworm Greedy Reading Lists you might like featuring young adult books: Six Royally Magical Young Adult Series, Six Magical Fairy Tales Grown-Ups Will Love, and Six Dystopian and Post-Apocalyptic Novels. You can search to find alllll of my young adult posts on this site--some are part of a series, others stand on their own--by going to the Bossy Book Reviews part of the site menu and then to Search by Category, then choosing Young Adult. What are your favorite young adult books that make you delight in feeling all the feelings? 01 Believarexic by J.J. Johnson I guess I should preface this glowing review by noting that I worked on this book before it was published. (And I had an uncharacteristically tough time noting any editorial issues because I was so captivated by the story and kept having to go back to force myself to read it with an editor's eye.) I also have a t-shirt with this book title on it. And I also adore the author. So why the Believarexic obsession? In Johnson's book, fifteen-year-old Jennifer struggles with an eating disorder and enters a residential treatment program to try to heal physically and emotionally. The center and its methods aren't what she'd imagined, and she must cope with more than she could have predicted, including accusations, stressors, confusion, the challenges and joys of various interpersonal relations, physical and emotional discomfort, and important realizations that come about in unexpected ways. Johnson transports you to her late 1980s teenage bubble and allows you to live through her sharply life-changing experiences alongside her. Her young voice is honest and lovely and funny and powerful. I wanted to abandon everything to tear through this book. Johnson also wrote the wonderful books The Theory of Everything and This Girl Is Different. 02 A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi It's been a year since the events of 9/11, and Shirin, a sixteen-year-old Muslim girl who lives in the United States, has been living with the uncomfortable, sometimes frightening fallout. She's judged and suspected everywhere she goes because of the way she looks. Shirin has learned to brace herself against prejudice because she wears a hijab, or because of her religion. She sticks with her brother, coping with her stress by break-dancing (this part is, of course, glorious) with her brother and focusing on music. But then Ocean James comes along. It's like Ocean is living in another world from Shirin, but he sees her, really sees her, and she finds herself wanting to let someone into her own world for the first time in a long time. Oh, I loved this book! Mafi provides such excruciating teen angst and an unfolding first love with rich layers of diversity--plus prejudice, fear, and ignorance that complicates everything. The ending felt rushed, but my love for this book outweighs any disappointment about the ending by a mile. 03 All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven Violet is still reeling from her sister's death. She's eager to graduate from high school and escape her small Indiana town, but the days are interminably long. Theodore Finch considers his balance between life and death every day, weighing the factors that entice him to keep going and those that tempt him to stop. When Violet and Theodore encounter each other, they find that they can finally let down their guards, showing each other the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of themselves. Could what's between them even be love? Or are they simply linked by their pain and their honesty--and is that bond enough to bring them peace? In All the Bright Places, Niven offers a lovely, wonderfully odd, sometimes sad story, with vivid characters, hope, devastating loss, and love. (I see from the Netflix logo on the cover that this is a movie now! Have you seen it? Any thoughts?) 04 Far from the Tree by Robin Benway In Far from the Tree, Benway examines the pain of a young woman’s pregnancy and her permanently changed life; an emotionally barricaded, lifelong foster child’s involuntary and ongoing compulsion to sabotage familial stability; and the ambivalent search for a parent who left her children behind without any answers or history to help anchor them in the world. Some elements in Far From the Tree felt too unrealistically easy (although I admit that cruising along with the story made me happy at the same time): the lack of conflicts (or any real missteps) and the instant camaraderie between the stranger-siblings, the full parental acceptance of teen pregnancy, the maturity of the pregnant teen herself on all fronts, and my most nitpicky issue, which was admittedly tiny yet pulled me out of the story each time it occurred: the just-met siblings’ jarring (to me) use of nicknames otherwise only used by their intimate people. I know they yearned for connections with each other, but this didn't seem to fit. I loved the various nerdy parents the most. And I realize that I am therefore old. The premise, the discovery of family, the exploration of what "family" even means--I loved all of these aspects of Benway's novel. 05 Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner Carver's life was rocked after he sent a text to his three best friends friends moments before the car they were in crashed, killing them all. Now everyone--Eli's angry twin sister with her attempts to freeze out Carver at school; Mars's father with his push for a criminal investigation-- seems to be blaming Carver for his beloved friends' deaths. But Carter is taking self-loathing to another level all by himself. Can a new therapist; an unlikely, grieving girlfriend; and Blake's grandmother help Carver come to terms with what's happened and help him find a way to move forward? In Goodbye Days, we get what feels like a genuine peek into the boys’ friendship via their really funny banter and their endearingly oddball, silly, spot-on, laid-bare-honest train-of-thought discussions, as well as through their plausible, Carver-imagined exchanges. I adored all of this. This isn’t the point, but I admit that I was distracted by no one even temporarily slinging some of the immense amount of potential blame toward the person who answers a text while driving rather the person that sent it. I expected this to be touched on, if only in the heat of the moment. When wild and awful, heartbreaking thoughts are flying after a tragedy, and when some people are focused on settling responsibility (and while Carver is being vilified), this felt like something that might come up. Carver’s plunge into the penance he feels he needs to experience, especially with Mars’s dad, slayed me. Goodbye Days is so very very sad and so very very funny. This is a gem from Zentner, who also wrote The Serpent King and Rayne and Delilah's Midnite Matinee. His book In the Wild Light, a book about best friends set in Appalachia, will be published in August. 06 Driving by Starlight by Anat Deracine Leena and Mishie are sixteen-year-olds living in Saudi Arabia. They listen to forbidden music, secretly wear Western clothing, and otherwise rebel in small ways against the Saudi cultural police. Driving by Starlight is a story about family, independence, gender inequality, and a youthful yearning for freedom. I loved the strong female protagonists and their fire and grit and growth. Both of the more modern-day storylines were wrapped up neatly with a bow. I would have been in favor of having the romantic element being tied up without the Eve aspect, or having neither of them tied up at all. The “end of movie”-type closure for both felt too convenient, and even a little dismissive of the complexities of the time and of the specific difficulties of the characters' situations. However, I love love loved this book. Driving by Starlight is a deep, lovely, meaningful story with a vivid Saudi Arabian setting and conflicts related to religion, friendship, gender, and family. With true friendship, loyalty, and fantastic, clever, clever ladies overcoming obstacles in their paths.

#comingofage, #heartwarming, #faith, #nordic, #fourstarbookreview

#heartwarming, #lightfiction, #librarian, #Texas, #threestarbookreview

#comingofage, #siblings, #uniquePOV, #Vikings, #heartwarming, #fourstarbookreview

Here For It is refreshing and playful yet thoughtful. I loved spending time with the uproariously funny Thomas. In Here for It: Or, How to Save Your Soul in America, R. Eric Thomas, the creator of Elle's sassy and smart daily column "Eric Reads the News," shares his thoughts, experiences, and reflections about life and the world around us with honesty and humor. In essays that are sometimes heartbreaking, often inspiring, and that frequently made me laugh out loud, Thomas explores his sheltered youth, his growing realizations that he was different than most people he knew, his shame and fear about living as his authentic self, and his meandering path toward his current life circumstances, in which he is living as he once only dreamed: he is joyfully challenged professionally, he is unapologetically his own unique self, he is exploring his complicated relationship with religion, and he deeply loves and is loved by his (pastor) husband. I listened to this as an audiobook, and I adored hearing Thomas's voice take me through his essays. His voice and delivery are fabulous. Here For It is refreshing and playful yet thoughtful. I loved spending time with the uproariously funny Thomas as he recounts how he's navigated situations large and small in his life. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Thomas is also a host of The Moth storytelling podcast in D.C. and Philadelphia--and he certainly knows how to craft a compelling and full story out of a momentous moment. I mentioned this book (along with the new mystery The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins and the young adult book I'm reading with my book club for January, Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon) in my first Greedy Reading List of the year, Three Books I'm Reading Now, 1/1/21 Edition. My friend Katherine recommended this book to me last spring and despite how long it took me to get to it, I'm so glad she did!

#lightfiction, #heartwarming 02 Network Effect: A Murderbot Novel ​ Boy oh boy, this fifth book in the

It all makes for a heartwarming read in which everyone is trying to love and live and be happy.

#lightfiction, #heartwarming, #booksaboutbooks 03 A Good Girl's Guide to Murder ​ It's been years since

Heartwarming or quirky fiction are the types of books that have really been fitting the bill for me lately

#youngadult, #LGBTQ, #heartwarming, #fivestarbookreview, #autoboyography

It's nominally a mystery, but it's mainly a heartwarming story about determination and honoring old loyalties a cute--at times a little too cute for my taste--tale that always seemed sure to be headed toward a heartwarming

There's an unusual mix of adventure and heartwarming self-examination in this debut. #nordic, #heartwarming, #series, #fourstarbookreview 05 We, the Drowned ​ I own this book.

#comingofage, #heartwarming, #faith, #nordic, #fourstarbookreview What have been your favorite books

in Faizal's Blood and Tea series offers intriguing secrets, a swirling mystery, terrible betrayal, heartwarming A Tempest of Tea layers heartwarming found family, heartbreaking emotional barriers, and reluctant vulnerability

#timetravel, #alternatereality, #heartwarming, #fourstarbookreview 04 The Ten Thousand Doors of January

Lynn Painter delivers funny, charming banter and an opposites-attract tension in this heartwarming rom-com friendship, plausible missteps that keep the couple apart, heart-wrenching moments of vulnerability, and heartwarming

island community while illustrating the interconnectedness of grief, love, community, and nature in this heartwarming The ending section is lovely, with heartwarming promise, hope, resolution, and a fig-tree-related revelation

#memoir, #nonfiction, #heartwarming, #fourstarbookreview, #theunwindingofthemiracle 04 Maybe You Should

island community while illustrating the interconnectedness of grief, love, community, and nature in this heartwarming The ending section is lovely, with heartwarming promise, hope, resolution, and a fig-tree-related revelation Lynn Painter Lynn Painter delivers funny, charming banter and an opposites-attract tension in this heartwarming friendship, plausible missteps that keep the couple apart, heart-wrenching moments of vulnerability, and heartwarming bonds deeper than either could have imagined; the love story between the bridge and Gore is strange, heartwarming

beyond; a Norse-inspired fantasy saga; a fun young adult, queer, medieval adventure romance; and a heartwarming check out Not for the Faint of Heart . 06 We'll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida Ishida's offbeat, heartwarming My book club will be discussing this heartwarming novel next year. If you're looking for more heartwarming stories, you might like my Bossy reviews of books like these

like suicidal thoughts, grief, and loneliness with funny, quirky, poignant moments in this charming, heartwarming

pointless-seeming pushing onward toward mutual destruction--all of this serves as a backdrop for a heartwarming

setting and LGBTQIA+ representation in Ever After flips the traditional fairy tale in satisfying, heartwarming

encounters, fairytale-like turns of events, and decadent experiences with food and fashion are fun, heartwarming

Gracia's young adult debut digs into teenaged June's messy, sometimes disastrous, and ultimately heartwarming

unraveled--and then some (there's a windfall that seemed potentially unnecessary and overly convenient, if heartwarming

this is a cute--at times a little too cute for my taste--mystery that seems sure to be headed toward a heartwarming

like suicidal thoughts, grief, and loneliness with funny, quirky, poignant moments in this charming, heartwarming avoidance of punishment for our heroes' missteps when they tell the truth about others' wrongdoings, and a heartwarming a death and allows for a fresh start--which might push the bounds of realism but offers a hopeful, heartwarming

The relationship is complicated, sometimes marred by betrayal, and also beautifully heartbreaking and heartwarming

account of her love affair with her husband and the trauma of his sudden death in a heartbreaking, heartwarming

The story is heartwarming, the pacing moves along in both timelines, and the characters are explored

like suicidal thoughts, grief, and loneliness with funny, quirky, poignant moments in this charming, heartwarming jaunt--and along the way allow long-held vulnerabilities to fall away in this beautiful, heartbreaking, heartwarming bonds deeper than either could have imagined; the love story between the bridge and Gore is strange, heartwarming

No Cure for Being Human is beautiful, funny, heartwarming, practical, and Kate Bowler is so wise and This is a heartwarming, funny, poignant, sassy tribute to a life fully lived and to a determination love account of her love affair with her husband and the trauma of his sudden death in a heartbreaking, heartwarming

one of my all-around favorite reads last year. 02 Tom Lake by Ann Patchett Patchett's Tom Lake is a heartwarming is playful, brusque, bossy, and connects an unlikely cast of characters, all murder suspects, into a heartwarming A Quiet Life was lovely and heartwarming but didn't feel too easy and was never cloying.

Falk series offers procedural detail, a lush Australian setting, and character development I found heartwarming

ICYMI: This is a heartwarming book from the author of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow about books

The supporting characters are fantastically odd, fiercely loyal, and a heartwarming support for a girl

pointless-seeming pushing onward toward mutual destruction--all of this serves as a backdrop for a heartwarming

lovely and sweet, I adored the whole story, the characters, the growth, the banter, the heartbreaking, heartwarming wonderfully--to explore relationships, truth-telling and lies, assumptions, terrible realizations, and heartwarming didn't hamper my enjoyment of the celebration of friendship, circuitous routes to self-confidence, and heartwarming