nomadreader

Dear Taylor, A year ago, I didn't know who you were. A couple of your book covers were vaguely familiar, but I hadn't read any of them. In July 2017, I read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo , and I fell in love, with Evelyn and with your writing. It's a book I've recommended to many, many people over the last year, and they all report back how much they love it too. It was my favorite book of 2017 . It's a book that made me want to read our backlist in order. I devoured Forever, Interrupted  and After I Do  in fall 2017 (they both made my top 10 fiction reads of 2017 ), and then I made myself slow down because I didn't want to live in a world where I didn't have more of your books to read. Instead I enjoyed following you on Instagram and Twitter . I read books you recommended and was recently thrilled to discover how much we both love The Bold Type . When I saw you were speaking at the American Library Association conference, I was ecstatic. Your speec...

Update: A winner has been drawn. Congratulations, Andy B! Today I'm thrilled to celebrated the publication of Rebecca Makkai's latest novel, The Great Believers , by giving away a copy to one of you. It's already received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly , Kirkus , and Booklist .  Here's a synopsis: "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. One by one, his friends are dying and after his friend Nico’s funeral, the virus circles closer and closer to Yale himself. Soon the only person he has left is Fiona, Nico’s little sister. Thirty years later, Fiona is in Paris tracking down her estranged daughter who disappeared into a cult. While staying with an old friend, a famous photographer who documented the Chica...

Dear readers, Hi, there. I haven't been around much this year. Remember how I managed to blog so much in January that I wrote more posts than I wrote in all of 2017? That was awesome. Then I got home from Thailand and blogging fell apart again. Reading fell apart for awhile too. I've been seeing a lot of movies, and that's fun too. But I miss this space. I miss writing. I miss the comments and conversations. I miss the accountability to write about what I'm reading (and watching, doing, eating, and seeing.) I've been thinking about how to find my way back to regularly writing and posting, and today I decided just to jump in and do it honestly. Tomorrow, I'm back with an awesome giveaway for y'all. Thanks for still being here, Nomadreader As an affiliate, I receive a small commission when you make a purchase through any of the above links. Thank you for helping to support my book habits that bring more content to this blog!

Four years ago I bought the audiobook of Crazy Rich Asians when it was the Audible daily deal. This month, I finally listened to it. These are the things I learned: 1. There are A LOT of characters. Don't let it worry you. In the first chapter featuring all of the mothers, I almost gave up or started over. Keep listening. The more important characters emerge, and I wasn't confused. Part of that is due to: 2. Lynn Chen's narration is excellent. She utilizes voices so well, I wasn't even aware of them. I soon could tell who was talking simply through her performance, which makes me sad because: 3. She doesn't narrate the next two books in the series. This book is the last one she narrated. I hope it's because her acting career has really taken off and she doesn't have time. 4. Speaking of the next two books, this book's ending is: abrupt and unsatisfying. I looked at my phone and couldn't believe the book was over. It begs the reader to start ...

Last week I shared the two February releases I'm most excited about from authors whose work I already know and love . Today I'm excited to share with you two new releases from I don't (yet?) love.  The Queen of Hearts   is Kimmery Martin's debut novel about two best friends, one a trauma surgeon and one a pediatric cardiologist. Martin is a doctor herself, and I'm intrigued at a glimpse inside the lives and loves of two doctors. It's being billed as a novel in the style of Grey's Anatomy , which sounds pretty great to me. Pre-order it now ( Kindle version .) It releases February 13, 2018. She Regrets Nothing   is Andrea Dunlop's third novel. I first saw this novel on Taylor Jenkins Reid's Instagram , and when I looked it up, I was hooked by the first line of its blurb: "In the tradition of The Emperor’s Children and The House of Mirth , the forgotten granddaughter of one of New York’s wealthiest men is reunited with her family...

Livia Lone, the first in a series featuring the titular character, was my favorite mystery of 2017 . I've been looking forward to The Night Trade  since I finished Livia Lone . I loved Livia Lone  so much that I also wanted to read Eisler's other books, and I read the first in his John Rain series, A Clean Kill in Tokyo , earlier this month. I knew from the blurb that Livia returns to Thaiand in this book, and I managed to wait until I was in Thailand to read it. The Night Trade  picks up shortly after Livia Lone , and, as should be expected, there are tons of spoilers from the first book. It's clear this series is not one that can be read out of order. Livia Lone is a critical foundation for both the characters and story of Livia. Eisler recaps the highlights well in The Night Trade  in case you've forgotten, but there's no substitute for reading the book itself. What I wansn't expecting in The Night Trade  was Dox, a character from the Rain books. I didn...

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...