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The “Spicification” of YA Novels
If you’ve been on Goodreads lately (or any other book-reviewing website), you may have seen a lot of reviews mentioning a book’s “spice level.” Most commonly seen in YA or romance novel reviews, the “spice level” is the amount of sexy or erotic scenes in the book. Essentially, the spice level lets you know if…
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Scary Books I’m Reading for October
I am one of the many people who looks forward to the month of October every year. I don’t know if any other part of the year has such a stark transition. One month, it’s summer time with weekends at the beach, and the next month people are drinking hot pumpkin spice lattes and wearing…
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Publishing Work Posthumously: Yay or Nay?
I’ve been on this thought-train since I read Ariel, which is a collection of Sylvia Plath’s poetry that was published after she died. To publish something posthumously means to publish it after a person has passed away, and it is a pretty common concept for a lot of popular authors. Life is messy, and we…
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Standalone Fantasy Novels (for When You Don’t Want to Read a Full Series)
I can’t begin to recount the amount of times I’ve picked up a book, hoping to dive into a one and done fantasy novel, only to realize it’s the first book in a series. There’s nothing wrong with this, of course, and sometimes it’s exciting to realize there’s only more of the story to come.…
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Book Review #25: Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne du Maurier
I’ve certainly mentioned before that I’m a huge fan of Daphne du Maurier. I like her descriptive and mysterious writing style, her focus on tragic female characters, and her tantalizing plots. Frenchman’s Creek, published in 1941, has most of the markers of a signature du Maurier novel. While Frenchman’s Creek is one of du Maurier’s…
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My Personal Favorite Books
Note: I ended up skipping last week because this post is so egregiously long, and I didn’t have anything to post in its place. My apologies to the five people who consistently read my blog. Recently I’ve been thinking about an argument I had with my boyfriend. He claims that the story told in The…
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Book Review #24: Ariel by Sylvia Plath
Welcome to my first ever poetry review! To start, let it be known that I don’t read very much poetry. This is actually the first time I’ve read an entire collection cover to cover. Typically, if I’m reading poetry, it’s a singular poem that Rattle has sent me in my email. I initially bought Ariel…
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Book Review #23: One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig
Today I’m reviewing a recent book! It’s quite rare that I stumble upon a recently published book because my TBR list is SO backed-up, but I managed to snag this 2022 release from the library last week. One Dark Window is about a young woman with a secret. Taking place in a mystical Victorian setting,…
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Do Book Reviews Matter, and How Much Should You Listen to Them?
Seeing as I write a blog where I review books, it feels appropriate (and slightly meta) to discuss book reviews and what purpose these reviews really serve. When I reach for a new book, I often look up the Goodreads page. I’ve done this ever since I found out about the website, and I find…
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Book Review #22: Unmask Alice by Rick Emerson
After finishing Unmask Alice, I am in shock. In this book, Rick Emerson gives a detailed account of the history behind what would now be considered a “viral” novel, Go Ask Alice. For those who are unfamiliar with this book, it was initially published as the absolutely true diary of a real-life, troubled teen. The…
Thank you for reading.