Hobbies & Happiness

Book Reviews

  • Every Sweet Thing is Bitter

    Although Every Sweet Thing is Bitter, a literary fiction (of sorts) from debut author Samantha Crewson, isn’t a book I’m likely to pick up again, I’m glad it exists in the world. It follows… Read more

  • The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

    Read Gabrielle Zevin’s The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry if you need a hug. Set on a fictional New England island, the contemporary novel follows independent bookstore owner A.J. Fikry as he navigates grief,… Read more

  • All the Light We Cannot See

    “Beautiful” and “quietly devastating” are the descriptions I’d use when talking about Anthony Doerr’s historical fiction All the Light We Cannot See. The lives of a blind French girl, Marie-Laure Leblanc, and an orphan… Read more

  • The Ninth Rain

    The Ninth Rain, a fantasy novel written by British author Jen Williams, introduces the reader to an intricate and colorful world, Sarn, which has suffered several brutal attacks by an alien army, the Jure’lia.… Read more

  • The Wrath & The Dawn

    The murder of Shahrzad’s best friend, Shiva, by the Caliph of Khorasan is just the latest death in a devastating pattern of executed brides, so she concocts a lethal plan: volunteer to be his… Read more

  • Necessary Lies

    Necessary Lies, a literary fiction written by Robert Hoskins, follows four protagonists in Kentucky and England through two generations. As the title suggests, their lives are impacted by lies they can’t escape despite their… Read more

  • Homegoing

    Homegoing is an important book. Yaa Gyasi’s historical fiction novel tells an unflinchingly brutal story of two West African families connected through a pair of half-sisters, whose lives are forever altered by colonialism and… Read more

  • Since You’ve Been Gone

    Since You’ve Been Gone is Morgan Matson’s ode to the introverted teenage girl. The YA contemporary fiction novel follows one summer in the life of 17-year-old Emily, who has awoken one morning to find… Read more

  • Daisy Jones & The Six

    Taylor Jenkins Reid obviously enjoys exploring the consequences of fame. She has transported readers to 1950s Hollywood in The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and onto the competitive courts of a professional tennis player… Read more

  • Mexican Gothic

    Mexican Gothic had exciting potential. If the beautiful woman on the cover didn’t catch your attention, then the gothic mansion filled with shadows, secrets, and a mysterious sickness, as well as the 1950s Mexican… Read more