Archives for June 2022

HOLY, MOTHER COVER! • US vs UK: Loveless by Alice Oseman

June 30, 2022 Leave a Comment

holymothercover

Inspired by What She Reads, Pure Imagination Blog, and Stacked.

I admit I’m a book cover snob. Who isn’t though?

Book covers are the first thing that attracts readers to a book. A good cover can draw someone is, just as a bad cover can easily draw someone away. It can essentially make or break a book. Holy, Mother Cover! is where I showcase the book covers that stand out (or make me cringe), and discuss cover changes.

(A big special thanks to Georgie at What She Reads for bestowing me this fabulous name and to Charlotte at The Simple Tales for creating the beautiful feature banner you see before you.)

**US vs. UK: Loveless by Alice Oseman**

Reviews

REVIEW • Let the Tiles Fall (Queen of the Tiles by Hanna Alkaf)

June 27, 2022 Leave a Comment

Queen of the Tiles by Hanna Alkaf • April 19, 2022 • Salaam Reads / Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

CATALYST
13 points
noun: a person or thing that precipitates an event or change

When Najwa Bakri walks into her first Scrabble competition since her best friend’s death, it’s with the intention to heal and move on with her life. Perhaps it wasn’t the best idea to choose the very same competition where said best friend, Trina Low, died. It might be even though Najwa’s trying to change, she’s not ready to give up Trina just yet.

But the same can’t be said for all the other competitors. With Trina, the Scrabble Queen herself, gone, the throne is empty, and her friends are eager to be the next reigning champion. All’s fair in love and Scrabble, but all bets are off when Trina’s formerly inactive Instagram starts posting again, with cryptic messages suggesting that maybe Trina’s death wasn’t as straightforward as everyone thought. And maybe someone at the competition had something to do with it.

As secrets are revealed and the true colors of her friends are shown, it’s up to Najwa to find out who’s behind these mysterious posts—not just to save Trina’s memory, but to save herself.

myreview

I received this book for free from Simon & Schuster for Young Readers for review consideration. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

First sentence: “Most people play casual games of Scrabble in their living rooms, squabbling good-naturedly for points over sets their parents bought them in the hopes that it would be “educational.””

Scrabble can be a cut-throat game—especially when you have competitors who are all vying to reign supreme in the Scrabble tournament. They can’t walk away from something that’s important to them, and for Najwa, she can’t—not when there’s a lot of stakes involved.

After being away from that world for a year because of Najwa’s best friend Trina Low’s sudden death, Najwa is ready to come back and honor her best friend by winning the tournament. However, things are thrown into a loop when she starts receiving cryptic messages alluding that Trina’s death may have been on purpose and has to figure out what exactly happened to Trina during her last day by confronting friends and foes.

Discussion

CURATION BY CEE • Fiction Books for Pride!

June 23, 2022 Leave a Comment

Curation by Cee is a series where I have carefully selected books that fit a specific theme, in order to set up tables and endcap displays for readers to peruse. This is something thing I already do at work, and find a lot of joy curating books that I want readers to pick up.

These are the books on my bookstore’s PRIDE display for teens this year:

FICTION

Discussion

CURATION BY CEE • Graphic Novels for Pride

June 20, 2022 Leave a Comment

Curation by Cee is a series where I have carefully selected books that fit a specific theme, in order to set up tables and endcap displays for readers to peruse. This is something thing I already do at work, and find a lot of joy curating books that I want readers to pick up.