Rachel Reads & Reviews
Sharing books for everyone
Category: Book/Author Highlight
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Last year I went on a historical fiction binge, completing my reads of the Dear America series for the fourth time, and reading the Dear Canada series in its entirety. Then I go to wikipedia, and I found out Scholastic has Australian/New Zealand equivalents. What’s more, they are still publishing books. They didn’t stop their…
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Want to read a book, but unsure of committing to buying? I’ve been there. Some books you can tell are just one and done. But others, you’re unsure. That’s why libraries are great. You can borrow without having to buy. But sometimes libraries don’t have the book you want. Interlibrary loans are a great resources.…
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I’m sure many know of the Ripley’s Believe It or Not compendiums that come out every year, but did you know the company also released a lower school adventure series (plus a cartoon!)? I found out because of the CA store where they were selling them in the gift shop. Of course I gravitate to…
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One thousand posts after four years of hosting this blog. What a ride. It’s been a joy to get to interview some of my favorite authors, share my thoughts on new books, challenge myself to try new genres and start a book club with my friend. I also want to take the time to thank…
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Marjorie Lennox is the youngest daughter of a powerful automotive dynasty, a family known for money, not manners. Artistic, impulsive, and always slightly out of step, Marjorie has long been dismissed by her controlling father and self-absorbed siblings. But when she secretly applies to an exclusive arts program funded by an elusive benefactor, she sees…
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Let It Shine/Let Us Dream by Alyssa Cole Sofronia Wallis knows that proper Black women don’t court trouble by upending the status quo, but it’s 1961 and the Civil Rights movement is in full swing. Sofie’s spent half her life being prim, proper, and reserved—as if that could bring her mother back—but the nonviolent protests…
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“For years, rumors of the ‘Marsh Girl’ have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. She’s barefoot and wild, unfit for polite society. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark. But Kya is not what they say. Abandoned at age ten,…
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Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict London, 1930. The five greatest women crime writers have banded together to form a secret society with a single goal: to show they are no longer willing to be treated as second class citizens by their male counterparts in the legendary Detection Club. Led by the formidable Dorothy L.…
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If you could live inside one Taylor Swift song for a day, which would you pick? In this shimmering anthology, thirteen best-selling and acclaimed authors do just that, reimagining some of Taylor’s most iconic songs as love stories. Whether you’re in an era of fairy lights and folktales or diss tracks and dance floors, here’s…
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Author, Fred Van Lente and illustrator, Ryan Dunlavey’s Action Presidents are condensed illustrated biographies of four major presidents. Informative, with some very bad humor (bad quality, not crass), Van Lente shows the triumphs and failures of Washington, Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and JFK, and to an extent the American experiment. Van Lente connects how each president…
