2017 Archives - Novel Visits

Oh, Mom! The Best & Worst in Books | More

Susie — Thu, 07 May 2020 12:30:55 +0000

“A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.” Tenneva Jordan
OR
She eats all four pieces!

I’m at it again, re-sharing a post from a few years ago. With Mother’s Day on Sunday, the timing is perfect! This features books where moms (the good, the bad, and the ugly) play a prominent role. We all know that moms in literature are as varied as books themselves. Some make you want to pack your bags and move into their warm, loving homes. Others are moms from your worst nightmares: selfish, abusive, or just plain inept. Most often, moms are a mixture of both, falling somewhere near the middle on a good versus evil scale. Whether I thought the mom was awesome or awful, I enjoyed each of these books, and my three heart system shows you where I think each mom falls on that good vs. evil scale. As a bonus since all these great books are a few years old, they’re probably easily available on Libby or your local library’s electronic/audiobook app. …

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Mini-Reviews: A “Clearing the Shelves” Edition, Volume 3

Susie — Thu, 27 Dec 2018 11:00:02 +0000

I’ve read several books over the last couple months that I have yet to review. With the year wrapping up soon, I realized it’s time! Today I’ll briefly share four books published either this year or last. Some I liked very much and others? Not so much. I also read a couple of older backlist books, The Department of Speculation by Jenny Offill and Loving Frank by Nancy Horan. I’m not going to be reviewing either of those, so I’ll just leave it at skip the first one, but read the latter!…

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PAIRING FICTION WITH NONFICTION | #NonficNov

Susie — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 11:00:52 +0000

I don’t know about everyone else, but my nonfiction TBR list has exploded after just one week of Nonfiction November. I can only imagine what it will be like by the end of the month. This week’s challenge is my absolute favorite, pairing fiction and nonfiction books that share a common topic or theme. With so many possible combinations to share, it was a real struggle to limit it to the five I selected!

Nonfiction November is a fabulous month dedicated to all things nonfiction. We’re all lucky to have a different blogger hosting each week’s topic: Katie at Doing Dewey, Rennie at What’s Nonfiction?, Julie at Julz Reads, Kim at Sophisticated Dorkiness, and this week, Sarah at Sarah’s Bookshelves. Head on over to her blog to link up your own book pairings!…

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10 Hyped Books I Just Couldn’t Finish | More

Susie — Tue, 05 Jun 2018 10:00:24 +0000

You might remember that last month I reached a bit of a crisis point (or as much of a crisis point as books can cause!) when I realized that the quality of books I’ve been reading seemed to have deteriorated. I wrote about it in my post Heading Down the Rabbit Hole With Books. One of the “fixes” I talked about there was to DNF books more often and sooner. That can be a challenge for me because I often feel like if I read one more chapter the book will suddenly become amazing. Not finishing a book is a skill I’m still working to get better at. Despite that, I didn’t have much trouble coming up with ten recent books I just couldn’t finish.

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Mini-Reviews: The Counterintelligence Edition

Susie — Fri, 19 Jan 2018 11:00:12 +0000

Need to Know by Karen Cleveland (debut)
&
American Radical by Tamer Elnoury (nonfiction)

Last week I found myself deep in the world of American counterintelligence. Driving to and from work, I spent time with an undercover FBI agent fighting terrorism. At home on the couch, I joined a CIA analyst working to uncover Russian sleeper cells in the U.S. Though I’m a big fan of both Homeland and The Americans, law enforcement and the spy game are not places I typically go to with books, so I was delighted to find both these working well for me.

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Everything Here is Beautiful by Mira T. Lee | Review

Susie — Thu, 18 Jan 2018 11:00:10 +0000

Everything Here is Beautiful by Mira T. Lee (debut)
Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books
Release Date: January 16, 2018
Length: 368 pages
Amazon

{A Bit of Backstory}

Single Sentence Summary

Mira T. Lee delivers a gorgeous story of the fragile love between two sisters and the mental illness that divides them….

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Books I Meant to Read in 2017, But Just Never Did | More

Susie — Tue, 09 Jan 2018 11:00:13 +0000

So many great sounding books come out every year that it’s impossible to get to all of them. I’m something of a mood reader, so sometimes when a book gets released, I’m just not in the right frame of mind for it. I always mean to get back to those books, but too often that just doesn’t happen. In 2017, I actually have fewer books I’ve missed than usual, but as part of this week’s Top Ten Tuesday I didn’t have much trouble coming up with 10 I’d still really like to get to.

American Radical by Tamer Elnoury – Renee @itsbooktalk, raved about this nonfiction account written by a Muslim FBI agent working in the fight against terrorism. I can say with absolute certainty that American Radical will make it off this list because I’m currently listening to the audio. The narration by Peter Ganim is top notch and I’m completely captivated by this memoir….

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New-To-Me Authors of 2017 | More

Susie — Tue, 02 Jan 2018 11:00:59 +0000

You know that feeling when you finish a book with great writing and you just want more? Then you realize that the book you just finished wasn’t the author’s first and you’re left wondering, “Where have I been?!?” Today as part of Top Ten Tuesday I’m looking at ten established authors who were new-to-me in 2017. Some I want to go back and read their earlier books, and all I’ll be keeping on my radar to see what they do next!

10 Stellar New-To-Me Authors of 2017

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Novel Visits: Looking Back at 2017 and Forward to 2018 | Musings

Susie — Sun, 31 Dec 2017 11:00:59 +0000

Happy New Year! The older I get, the faster time flies, and I suspect it’s the same for most everyone else. I can’t say 2017 was my favorite year ever, but it was the first full year for Novel Visits and in that way filled with wonder and new experiences. In the new year, I’ll continue my blogging journey making tweaks and improvements along the way, and best of all connecting with so many other book lovers!.

Looking Back at 2017 Goals

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Wrapping It Up! December 2017 | More

Susie — Sat, 30 Dec 2017 11:00:28 +0000

Wow! It’s hard to believe that the end of December is already here and with it the end of 2017. Personally, I’ve had much happiness in the year, but still I’m happy to see 2017 come to an end. I read more books than I expected to in December, though many were 2018 releases, so will be reviewed later. If all goes according to plans, December will be the last wrap up in this format. Starting in January, I plan to make a few changes to provide a more useful monthly summary. I hope the holidays were good to you and that everyone is staying warm!

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