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The House of Impossible Beauties by Joseph Cassara

April 12, 2018 Leave a Comment

15 hours 35 mins | Harper Audio | Adult Fiction | 02/06/2018

Spanning the late 70s to early 90s, The House of Impossible Beauties is a fictionalization of the real-life figures at the center of House of Xtravaganza–a Puerto Rican drag queen family.

If you’re wondering if this is the documentary Paris is Burning in book form, let me tell you–yes, yes, that is literally what this is. In interviews, the 28-year-old author Joseph Cassara has said he was inspired to write this book after watching the documentary. I really don’t know how to review a book like this, so I’m just going to do a feels dump and start with what I liked.

I came across this book because I was looking for something narrated by Christian Barillas after Jess gave him a glowing review last year.In this 15 hour behemoth of an audiobook Barillas gives a wonderfully emotional and varied performance. New York City is diverse and he was doing everything from old-school Italian accents to the “Nuyorican” accents to several dead on “white guy” voices.

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One Of Us Is Lying by Karen McManus

December 27, 2017 Leave a Comment

Release Date: 05/30/17 | 361 Pages | Contemporary | Delacorte Press

This breakout novel has been dominating the bestsellers list since it came out and it’s popularity is really interesting because you rarely see a debut author without a massive social media following or platform hang on the list this long. I think some of it’s popularity may have to do with it’s elevator pitch. Five high school students walk into detention; the nerdy girl, the criminal bad boy, the homecoming princess, the jock and the outcast—and only five come out alive.

I…I think I may be the black sheep when it comes to this book. It just wasn’t what I expected. I thought it was going to be crime solving teens but the characters don’t actively come together to try to solve the crime they’re accused of until about 80% into the book. For most of the story they’re just like “yeah, that thing was weird” and keep on keepin’ on with their lives and personal drama while off screen lawyers handle the intricate details of the case. This story is more about the characters deepest secrets being revealed than solving a murder.

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The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

July 13, 2017 Leave a Comment

Release Date: June 4, 2013 | Contemporary YA | 453 Pages | Viking (Penguin)

It’s the summer after high school graduation and 18-year-old Emaline is doing what she always does; working at her family’s beach rental business, spending time with her boyfriend Luke and having general ennui about what it means to live in the summer town of Colby, North Carolina. You know, the standard Dessen fare.

But summer’s never go as planned and Emaline finds herself mixed up with a crew of New York filmmakers making a documentary about Clyde Conaway, a reclusive artist who lives in Colby. And if that isn’t enough her estranged biological father is suddenly back in town.

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The School of Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

March 21, 2017 Leave a Comment

Release Date: May 2013
Hours: 13.75
Genre: Middle Grade/Fantasy
Publisher: HarperCollins

Every four years the villagers of Gavaldon will stop at nothing to protect their children from a shadowy figure who whisks them away to a magical school, never to be seen again. Except maybe in the pages of your favorite storybook.

This magical school us where students are trained to become the villains and heroes in your favorite fairytales. When best friends Sophie and Agatha find themselves on different sides of the divide, they must fight to hold on to their friendship and who they truly are.

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Before The Fall by Noah Hawley

January 25, 2017 Leave a Comment

Release Date: 5/31/2016

Pages: 391 pages

Genre: Suspense

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Ten people step onto a plane. Eighteen minutes later the plane drops out of the sky leaving only two survivors.

And one of those survivors, artist Scott Burroughs, wasn’t supposed to be on there. Who is Scott and more importantly. . . why did a perfectly operational plane fall into the ocean?

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Thieving Weasels by Billy Taylor

September 23, 2016 Leave a Comment

Cam “Skip” Smith is going to graduate from a prestigious prep school. Cam Smith is going to Princeton in the Fall. . . just as long as no one finds out Cam Smith is really Philips O’Rourke, the youngest member of a thieving, scheming family. Skip thought he left his family behind when he ran away at thirteen but they are pulling him in for one last job. This job could be the “big one”, but it could also be fatal.

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