About: My September TBR includes 7 books that I hope will get me in the mood for autumn. Included in my TBR is a recent Pulitzer Prize winner and a fun YA novel about a soccer prodigy I can’t wait to jump into!
(more…)April Wrap Up: 25 Books Read
About: My April Wrap Up unpacks my best reading month yet, and includes a mini-review of the 25 books I read.
(more…)Book Review: Weyward by Emilia Hart
The Gist: A whimsical historical fiction that explores feminist resistance to patriarchy over five centuries through magic and reclaiming autonomy.
Series: Standalone
Release Date: February 2, 2023
2019: Under cover of darkness, Kate flees London for ramshackle Weyward Cottage, inherited from a great aunt she barely remembers. With its tumbling ivy and overgrown garden, the cottage is worlds away from the abusive partner who tormented Kate. But she begins to suspect that her great aunt had a secret. One that lurks in the bones of the cottage, hidden ever since the witch-hunts of the 17th century.
1619: Altha is awaiting trial for the murder of a local farmer who was stampeded to death by his herd. As a girl, Altha’s mother taught her their magic, a kind not rooted in spell casting but in a deep knowledge of the natural world. But unusual women have always been deemed dangerous, and as the evidence for witchcraft is set out against Altha, she knows it will take all of her powers to maintain her freedom.
1942: As World War II rages, Violet is trapped in her family’s grand, crumbling estate. Straitjacketed by societal convention, she longs for the robust education her brother receives––and for her mother, long deceased, who was rumored to have gone mad before her death. The only traces Violet has of her are a locket bearing the initial W and the word weyward scratched into the baseboard of her bedroom.
Weaving together the stories of three extraordinary women across five centuries, Emilia Hart’s Weyward is an enthralling novel of female resilience and the transformative power of the natural world.
• R@pe
• Sexism
• Attempted murder
• Murder
• Abortion
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 5-stars
(more…)The Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag: 2023
Quick Take: My Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag explores twelve books, including my favourite 2023 read so far, a book that made me cry, and anticipated new releases. I also have a TBR list to read before 2024!
(more…)March Wrap Up: 37 Books Read
About: My March Wrap Up unpacks my best reading month yet, and extracts a quote from each of the 37 books I read.
(more…)Book Review: You’re the Only One I’ve Told: The Stories Behind Abortion by Dr Meera Shah
The Gist: An impactful and important nonfiction on the reproductive justice fight in the USA, told from the perspective of an abortion provider and patient experiences.
Series: Standalone
Release Date: September 1, 2020
For a long time, when people asked Dr. Meera Shah, Chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic, what she did, she would tell them she was a doctor and leave it at that. But when she started to be direct about her work as an abortion provider an interesting thing started to happen: one by one, people would confide that they’d had an abortion themselves. The refrain was often the same: You’re the only one I’ve told.
This book collects these stories as they’ve been told to Shah to humanize abortion and to combat myths that persist in the discourse that surrounds it. A wide range of ages, races, socioeconomic factors, and experiences shows that abortion always occurs in a unique context.
Today, a healthcare issue that’s so precious and foundational to reproductive, social, and economic freedom for millions of people is exploited by politicians who lack understanding or compassion about the context in which abortion occurs. Stories have the power to break down stigmas and help us to empathize with those whose experiences are unlike our own.
A portion of proceeds will be donated to promote reproductive health access.
• Written by a Gujarati Indian American author
• Racism
• Medical content
• Discussion of…
– miscarriage
– late-term pregnancy abortion
– grief
– parents deciding to end their pregnancy due to medical complications
– medical trauma
– r@pe
– child abuse
– gender-based violence abuse
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Format: Hardback
Rating: 5-stars
(more…)18 Books on My May TBR
About: My May TBR includes 18 books that I want to read in May, including four books by AAPI authors to celebrate AAPI Heritage Month!
(more…)February Wrap Up: 41 Books Read
About: In my February Wrap Up, I review all 41 books I read and get into the details of the top three books on my want-to-read and upcoming releases lists.
(more…)9 Reading Challenges to Join in 2023
One of the tools I use to read so much each year is reading challenges. They help me tackle books I’ve long been putting off and also inspire me to diversify my reading (in terms of genre and also character diversity).
(more…)King Arthur and Her Knights, A Series by K.M. Shea
The Gist: The series King Arthur and Her Knights is an entertaining and light-hearted gender-bent King Arthur retelling that follows Brit as she’s pulled back in time to unite Britain by assuming the position of King Arthur.
(more…)