If You Were Here, by Jen Lancaster

Very funny fiction from Jen Lancaster, the queen of funny nonfiction. This was a quick and amusing take on HGTV fantasies, the suburbs, John Hughes, and it was a fast and enjoyable light read.

American Heiress, by Daisy Goodwin

Fantastic absorbing historical fiction. From gilded age Newport to crumbling English estates, this was an impossible to put down juicy read. Cora Cash, the richest girl in America, goes to England to secure a title, and the classic America vs. Europe thing happens. Great read.

Ingenue, by Jillian Larkin

This excellent follow-up to Larkin's Vixen follows the fortunes of Clara, Gloria, and Lorraine from Chicago to thrilling New York City. While the reader really should read Vixen first, I think it would be possible to jump in to the series here, and still enjoy it tremendously.


Wonderful historical detail combined with raging melodrama combine to create a book that is impossible to put down- a one-sitting read! The fashions, the music, and the societal tidbits mixed in with a racy enthralling plot make for a winning combination. Can't wait for the next in the series!

She Makes It Look Easy, by Marybeth Whalen

This seemed at first as though it was going to be a standard domestic fiction summer read, but it was surprisingly heavy on Christian theme and messages. Interesting and well written characters rose above predictable plotting.


New neighbors Ariel and Justine have very different stay-at-home mom lives, but when Justine's past returns to haunt her, both she and Ariel find out that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

Sisterhood Everlasting, by Ann Brashares

Heartbreaking and lovely conclusion to the sisterhood of the traveling pants series.

Divergent, by Veronica Roth

OK YA dystopian thriller-type thing, but the plot was pretty meh. Pointless, actually, but fast paced action kept pages turning.

Endless Night, by Agatha Christie

Rather creepy Agatha Christie stand-alone.

The Psychopath Test, by Jon Ronson

Fascinating book by the funny and intrepid Jon Ronson. He ventures into prisons and psych wards to find out what exactly a psychopath is, and despite coming out with no clear answers, gives a great read with a lot to think about.

Deadly Appraisal, by Jane Cleland

Quick and cozy read.

Bright Lights, Big Ass, by Jen Lancaster

Quick and very funny. Jen Lancaster in chicago, don't really have much else to say about it.

Withering Tights, by Louise Rennison

As a HUGE fan of Louise Rennison's Georgia Nicholson series, I was so excited to read this, and even more so when I realized that Tallulah Cassey is Georgia's cousin, but I have to say that the book fell a little short of my high hopes and expectations.


Tallulah, whose parents seem inexplicably more up-market than Georgia's family, is off to Yorkshire to study dramatic arts for the summer, but it's never really clear why- she doesn't seem to really have any passion for theater, and never takes the program seriously at all. While there, she makes friends, and of course, boyfriends, but I felt her character fell into the "oh I'm SO TALL and SO THIN with SUCH GREEN EYES and SUCH SHINY HAIR, why, I'M A TROLL, and boys will never like me" trap- which is so annoying and overdone and at this point such a ghastly cliche. One of the things that made Rennison's voice so authentic in her other YA books was that Georgia came across as a real girl, and relatable, while Tallulah did not.

It is a shame, because the set-up had a lot of potential, and coming from such a talented author, could have been a great young YA read, but as it was, it was a bit grating, and Tallulah's silliness annoyed rather than enchanted.

In the Rooms, by Tom Schone

Drunk New York writers, and drunk New York literary agents. AA, manipulation, redemption- boring.

Clouds of Witnesses, by Dorothy Sayers

Super annoying Dorothy Sayers mystery. I would like her books so much more if it weren't for hero Peter Wimsey being such a supercillious ass.

The Magnolia League, by Kate Crouch

Southern debutante paranormal YA - interesting mix! Set in Savannah, this is the story of what happens when Alexandria Lee's mother dies in an accident in California, and she has to go to Savannah to live with her grandmother. Having grown up on an organic produce and weed farm in Humboldt county, Alex is initially very uncoomfortable with the white gloves and curtsies, but when she is fully initiated into the Magnolia League, she finds that it can be very tempting to join in the dark and glamorous world her mother fled.

The Patriotic Murders, by Agatha Christie

Pretty good Agatha Christie, a Poirot one with diplomatic complications with the evocative fictional Ruritania.

The Murder on the Links, by Agatha Christie

Solid Hercule Poirot mystery.

Elephants Can Remember, by Agatha Christie

Not one of Christie's best Poirot mysteries, and it included the bizarrely addled Ariadne Oliver, who rarely improves a book.

Bumped, by Megan McCafferty

YA dystopia with an interesting premise. Decline of fertility across the globe has led to teenage pregnancies being not only desirable, but highly rewarded. Melodie and Harmony, twins separated at birth, have been raised very differently, but both struggle with the pressure to get bumped. Melodie, a "pro", has been sponsored by a wealthy couple to carry their baby- a six-figure signing bonus, college tuition, and a car- while Harmony was raised by Godseekers in a cultish area called Goodside, and feels that only God should dictate breeding.
Interesting, and for the most part well done, but the end was so sequel-ready that it left me annoyed and unsatisfied.

Waiting: The True Confessions of a Waitress, by Debra Ginsberg

Pretty terrible book about (surprise) being a waitress. Much like Caitlin Kelly's Malled, this went on and on about what it is like to be a waitress (or a retail worker) with no surprises- you mean, waitresses bring food to people at tables? no way.
But, at least Ginsberg actually seemed to like, in many ways, what she did, and tried to make an interesting book out of it.
But stil, ugh.

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett

Quick but uninspiring and predictable read.