Tag: #shannonhale

  • When Charlotte Kinder treats herself to a vacation at Austenland, she happily leaves behind her ex-husband and his new wife, her children, and the rest of her recently upended life in America. It’s been a long time since Charlotte has felt hopeful, let alone loved. Maybe doing something as outrageous as donning a bonnet and…

  • Jane Hayes is what some might call a hopeless romantic. Normal life (and men) continuously disappoint her. Why can’t she find anyone remotely like literary heartthrob, Mr. Darcy? Why can’t real life feel like a novel? When a wealthy relative bequeaths Jane a trip to an English resort for Austen superfans, Jane’s fantasies become realer…

  • I know, I know, I said earlier this year I’d cut back on the reading. I didn’t reach a thousand, but I clearly didn’t stick to my goal. I blame the economy for not giving me a job to fill my time. Currently stands at 839 Any who, reading is better than drugs and I…

  • What is it about them that draws people in? Is it that there is a enclosed space where you have your friends, enemies, and frenemies all in one place making it a perfect breeding ground for conflict and hijinks? Is it because it harkens to the author and readers’ nostalgia of the glory days? Is…

  • 1, 212 books! Or 1, 213. I forgot if added The Making of Gone with the Wind to my count as the last book of the year, and I’m too tired to recount everything again. Still, you read that right. Over a 1,000 books in one year. If you don’t believe look down below at…

  • Last year, I read an amazing 500 books so this year it was only reasonable that I reach a little more and try to get to 600. I didn’t. I got to 700 books!! And yes, maybe it’s considered “cheating” if you count those graphic novels and lower grade books that are easy to read…

  • If you like Westerns and if you like fairytales, these are for you! Really, they should be everyone cuz comics are cool but that’d be too after-school special. However, I just found it amazing because the fairytale genre just doesn’t have a lot of western AUs. School or towns full of fairytale characters, yes. Erotic…

  • Well then, I think I finished the Shannon Hale fairytale catalogue and like Gail Carson Levine, she should be applauded for her creative twists on classic tales while paying homage to the darker elements of the originals and bringing her vivid descriptions of nature blending in with magic.

  • Fatima Tate Takes the Cake by Khadijah VanBrakle Fatima Tate is a good Muslim daughter although her desire to become a professional pastry chef and opening a bakery is not on her parent’s agenda for their daughter’s good future. But that’s just the start of Fatima chafing against the rules. She’s going to be going…

  • The last novel of The Books of Bayern focuses on Razo’s little sister, Rin, in a novel that brings things full circle with plenty of magic, nature and more danger. In fact, I’m tempted to put a “Water, Trees, Fire, Wind, the four languages lived in harmony until the Kingdom of Kel attacked” quote at…