nomadreader

Dear Jasmine, After reading and enjoying your first two novels, The Wedding Date  and The Proposal , and hearing you speak at ALA last summer, I was excited to revisit those characters in your third novel, The Wedding Party, but also get to know new characters in this fictional universe. I wouldn't consider your books a series (would you?), but I do love seeing the characters pop up in the other novels. It's so much fun. This book features Maddie and Theo, the two best friends of Alexa, the heroine of The Wedding Date , but I admit, I didn't remember much about either one . Thankfully, your reminders helped me remember without feeling like you were re-telling key scenes from The Wedding Date .   And I fell so in love with both of them, but especially Maddie, that I might even go back and re-read The Wedding Date  knowing what I know now. I'm a reader who doesn't read many romance novels (perhaps I just haven't found the right ones?), but I love your romance ...

Dear Rebecca Makkai, The Great Believers is your fourth book, but somehow it's the first one I read. I found this fact to be particularly confounding considering your debut novel, The Borrower , is about a librarian taking a road trip. That premise is completely perfect for me, a librarian who loves road trips and all kinds of travel (well, except camping and exploring nature, but I digress.) But, somehow, it's languished on my TBR like so many other wonderful books. I'm so glad I picked up The Great Believers . The premise is ambitious: "In 1985, Yale Tishman, the development director for an art gallery in Chicago, is about to pull off an amazing coup, bringing in an extraordinary collection of 1920s paintings as a gift to the gallery. Yet as his career begins to flourish, the carnage of the AIDS epidemic grows around him. Soon the only person he has left is Fiona, his friend Nico's little sister. Thirty years later, Fiona is in Paris tracking down her estra...

Dear Alafair, I am so excited The Wife  is making its way into the world this week. It was one of my favorite books of 2017, and I've been impatiently waiting to talk about it since I read it over Thanksgiving. You're in my Hall of Fame , and I've read and enjoyed all of your books , from the Samantha Kincaid series to the Ellie Hatcher series , all of the standalones, and even the Under Suspicion series you write with Mary Higgins Clark . But, let's be honest, the books you write yourself are the best. And The WIfe  is your best book yet. Not only is The Wife  your best book yet, it's unbelievably timely. The titular wife, Angela, finds herself in a situation that has become all-too-familiar in recent months: her husband, Jason, an NYU economist who has found relative fame after a book that helped launch a media career, is accused of sexual harassment by an intern. Soon, an allegation of rape from a colleague follows. This novel offers sobering, and often de...

Dear Ariel Levy, Many years ago, I read and enjoyed your first book, Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture . For some reason, I didn't make the connection between the your books until I was listening to you read your memoir, The Rules Do Not Apply.  Granted, the books are very different, and I read them thirteen years apart. I wasn't even tracking my reading in 2005. Still: knowing you wrote both of these very different, thought-provoking books makes it clear I will be in line to read any book you write. I'm so glad you narrated The Rules Do Not Apply . It's such a personal story, and I can't imagine anyone else capturing the emotion, insight and thoughtfulness. Listening to this audiobook made me feel so close to you. When I decided The Rules Do Not Apply  would be my next audiobook, I didn't know one of the themes of the book would be your international travel. It was such a happy accident for me, as I listened to it while I'm tr...

Dear Caroline Preston, You hold a special place in my heart. I've always been a reader, but before I started blogging, I wasn't nearly as aware of all the new release books . When I was in high school, I discovered your first novel, Jackie by Josie , on the new release shelf at my local public library and checked it out. I loved it. I'm still drawn to fictional depictions of real women, and I loved that as much as the book was about Jackie O, it was more about Josie and her research. Your second novel, Lucy Crocker 2.0 , about a woman who designs video games despite having no knowledge of technology, lived on my shelves for years (and moved a few times) before I finally stayed up late to read it at my mother-in-law's house the week Mr. Nomadreader and I moved to New York in 2008. I love when books stick in my mind so clearly I remember where I was when I read it. When The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt  came out in 2011, I read it immediately and loved it . I gave my mo...

Dear Barry Eisler, Last year I read Livia Lone , the first in your new series about the badass titular character. It was my favorite mystery of 2017 . I knew I wanted to start the rest of your backlist from the beginning, and I couldn't resist waiting to read your first mystery, renamed A Clean Kill in Tokyo , while I traveled through Tokyo earlier this month, as I love to read books set where I'm traveling. I started A Clean Kill in Tokyo  around 4:30 in the morning in Des Moines. I expected it would keep me company as I flew first to Chicago, then Tokyo, and finally to my final destination of Bangkok, where, incidentally, Livia Lone spent some time. From the opening scenes (and the opening kill) of A Clean Kill in Tokyo , I knew I was in for a thrilling read. This book is relentless. As I read, I was impressed at how you balanced the pacing, character development, and setting. Tokyo (and to a large extent, Japan as a whole), is a character in this novel. As I read, I le...

Dear Reza, A couple of years ago, I listened to you read the audiobook of Zealot: The Life and Times of  Jesus of Nazareth . I found it fascinating, if somewhat disappointing at the lack of (understandable) lack of information about Jesus himself. I really enjoyed listening to the book and liked the emphasis and enthusiasm you narrate with. When I heard you had a new book, God: A Human History , I wanted to listen to it too. I, like many, have a complicated relationship with religion. I was raised in the United Methodist church. My father is a United Methodist pastor. Many of closest friends are also pastor's kids, and many more of closest friends are friends I met through church. About six years ago, I realized I didn't consider myself a Christian anymore. It was a big deal to me because being a liberal United Methodist was such a large part of my identity for so much of my life. It wasn't a big deal because I hadn't been actively attending church for a few years. ...

Dear Chloe, You probably don't remember me, but I was first in line for your galley signing of The Immortalists  at the American Library Association conference last summer. When you got there, you were surprised and excited to see so many people in line for you, a relatively unknown author who was already garnering serious  buzz about your sophomore novel six months before its publication. I admit, at the time, I thought it was your first novel because I didn't remember hearing about you. I'm sorry. I've requested your first novel, which was longlisted for a prize I follow very closely , from the library. I can't wait to read it. I didn't pick up The Immortalists  until December because I like to read books about a month before they're published. From the very first pages, I knew I was in good hands. I'm writing this letter because I want to thank you for writing the best book I've read in the last two and a half years. It's a really big deal...