nomadreader

So long, 2018! You were my worst year of reading and blogging to date. I managed to read only 54 books, and I've reviewed almost none of them, but I have the urge to start fresh in 2019, so today I'm sharing with you my favorites and clearing my LibraryThing To Be Reviewed shelf. I hope I've (finally) found my reading and blogging momentum again, but I've learned not to make promises I hope to keep. Despite my disappointment in the amount of reading and blogging I did, I read some great books, and I'm excited to share them with you. Best Comic The Prince and the Dressmaker  by Jen Wang I devoured this delightful young adult comic in a single sitting, and it was a delightful, heartwarming tale. It's the kind of book I'm so glad exists for those growing up as it addresses gender identity in great ways without it being a book that's about gender identity; it's simply part of a wonderful story, as it is in real life. Jen Wang is one to watch. Be...

The backstory: The Chalk Man  is the debut psychological thriller from British author C.J. Tudor. The basics: Told in dual narratives in 1986, when Eddie and his friends discover the dismembered body of a young girl in the woods, and 2016, when Eddie and his friends each receive a cryptic chalk drawing in the mail. My thoughts: I didn't order The Chalk Man  as my December Book of the month, but judge Kristin Iverson's blurb did make me immediately start the egalley I had on my Kindle. This mystery wasn't even on my radar, and I'm so glad she convinced me to read this one. (Want to try Book of the Month? I'd love it if you use my referral link !) The Chalk Man  is a crime novel, but it doesn't necessarily read like one, as the crime is only part of the story. To be sure, there is a body discovered, and her head remains missing (how eerie is that?), but part of the benefit of the two timelines is the very ordinariness of life that infuses this story too. The...