All the Winters After Review

January 21, 2016February 7, 2016Leave a comment

This beautiful and haunting novel has already secured a spot on my best books of the year list. It’s not just words written on paper, but a multilayered story of a family and their grief over time.

Kachemak Winkel lost his family 20 years earlier in a plane crash. His aunt Snag and grandmother Lettie are still living in Alaska while he fled the cruel winters to lose himself in Austin, Texas. When he returns home to check on the family’s homestead, he discovers a frightened woman who has been seeking shelter there for 10 years.

As Kache begins to untangle his family history, we learn that this woman’s background isn’t so simple, either.

The setting is chilling and the story is full of hope and promise. Thank you to Sourcebooks for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. 4.5 stars.

White Collar Girl Review

January 13, 2016Leave a comment

There’s so much I liked about this novel and related to. It tells the fictional story of Jordan Walsh, a female reporter starting at the Chicago Tribune in the 1950s. All she wants is to be taken seriously as a reporter amidst all the men. She does whatever she can to report on the real news stories, not the society ones they assign to her. It was fascinating to see this perspective considering how different times are now with reporting. As a journalism major, I was intrigued to learn how it used to be in newsrooms where women had to fight just to be treated with respect. And growing up in Chicago, I also enjoyed the bits of history during that time period.

This is a must read novel for historical fiction fans and a great intro to the genre for those who enjoy women’s and contemporary fiction. If you need a suggestion for your book club, this will also prompt lots of discussion.

I look forward to reading Renee Rosen’s earlier novels. Thanks to Goodreads and Penguin Random House for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Shelter Review

January 11, 2016Leave a comment

[amazon text=&asin=1250075610]If there was ever a book with the lesson of “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” this is it. And no, I am not referring to this book’s cover, although I love it and think it’s a perfect representation of the story.

We have Kyung, a Korean-American professor, his Irish wife, Gillian, and their young son, Ethan. After spending beyond their means, they come to realize they can no longer afford their house. Meanwhile, in the wealthier section of their town lives Kyung’s parents, Jin and Mae. After a violent incident at Jin and Mae’s home, they have nowhere to go but Kyung’s home.

But as bits begin to unravel and secrets beg to be told, the reader realizes that one perfect young family and one wealthy family are not truly who they seem.

Is “shelter” truly a place to call home or just a structure with which to seek refuge? You’ll have to decide for yourself after finishing this compulsively readable book.

Thanks to Picador USA and Jung Yun for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Available for preorder now. Publishes March 15, 2016