Kate Racculia

In 2015, I picked up Bellweather Rhapsody, by Kate Racculia, to check it out for my high school book club. It had just won an Alex Award, which is given to 10 books each year that are written… Read More

Laudable series

As I mentioned in my previous post, I recently spent some time re-reading the four books and two novellas Sharon Bolton wrote about Detective Constable Lacey Flint, who works for the London police, sometimes with a murder team,… Read More

Little Fire

I just finished reading Little Fires Everywhere, by Celeste Ng. I have had the e-book on reserve at the library for two months, because I saw that there was going to be a television show based on it… Read More

Going too far

I just read two books, both of which I would probably categorize as “relationship” fiction. I enjoyed both, but one receives a higher rating because the author knew when to stop. It wasn’t a total surprise that I… Read More

Home run

When I teach Young Adult Literature, one of the things we discuss at the beginning of the class is the concept of the “home run book.” Dr. Stephen Krashen is a leader in the field of reading, and… Read More

Reasons to re-read

On impulse, after finishing Once Upon A River, I picked up and re-read Jenny Colgan’s The Bookshop on the Shore, which I reviewed here when I first discovered it. Since I thoroughly covered all aspects of the book… Read More

Discussing appeals

Speaking of best opening paragraphs—or lines—I just rediscovered one of them: “I have been afraid of putting air in a tire ever since I saw a tractor tire blow up and throw Newt Hardbine’s father over the top… Read More