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Release date: April 10, 2018

Publisher: MIRA

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Blurb:

A delightfully quirky debut about family bonds and the chaos that ensues when nature and lack of nurture collide.

Emily Glass knows she’s neurotic. But she’s got it under control. Sort of. She dons compression socks when she flies (because, you know, deep vein thrombosis) and responds to people routinely overestimating her age with more Lifespin classes and less gluten. Thankfully, she also has David, the wonderful man she’ll soon call husband—assuming they can survive wedding week with her wildly dysfunctional family.

Emily’s therapist mother, Marla, who’s been diagnosing her children since they were in diapers, sees their homecoming as the perfect opportunity for long-overdue family therapy sessions. Less enthused are Emily and her two siblings: ardently feminist older sister Lauren, who doesn’t think the wedding party should have defined gender roles, and recently divorced brother Jason, whose overzealous return to singlehood is only tempered by his puzzling friendship with David’s Renaissance Faire—enthusiast brother.

As the week comes to a tumultuous head, Emily wants nothing more than to get married and get as far away from her crazy relatives as possible. But that’s easier said than done when Marla’s meddling breathes new life into old secrets. After all, the ties that bind family together may bend, but they aren’t so easily broken.

Laugh-out-loud funny and endearingly raw, Family and Other Catastrophes is as entertaining as your favorite sitcom and introduces Alexandra Borowitz as an outstanding new voice in humorous fiction.

Review:

If you think your family is slightly insane and highly dysfunctional then you probably haven’t met the Glass family. They are all SO messed up, reading this was like watching a train wreck, but I could not get enough of this bizarre family with dynamics and kooky behavior that simultaneously made me snort with laughter and shake my head in disgust.

Emily heads home the week before her wedding and this book is divided into sections, one for each day leading up to her wedding. Right from the start, you know you’re in for a good time, Emily may as well be the definition of neurotic and the rest of her family is just as unique and quirky. Her sister, Lauren was obnoxious, she takes the term social justice warrior to a whole new level, she’s contrary just for the sake of it and the stuff that came out of her mouth was horrifyingly hilarious. My other favorite character, (I use favorite loosely here, these people are no one I would actually want to meet, but they were amazingly entertaining) was Nathan, David’s brother. He was just such a weirdo, he spoke like some bizarre throwback to medieval times and had the social graces of a bull. I’m giggling again just thinking about his flirting.

This was laugh out loud funny with some heartfelt, endearing moments thrown in for good measure. Fun is the best way to describe my experience reading this little gem and the characters totally made the book for me, they’re insane and quirky and just what I needed to read over Easter weekend as I spent time with my own extended family! 😜

Family and Other Catastrophes in three words: Hilarious, Risqué and Eccentric.

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to the author for my review copy.

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Release date: April 3, 2018

Publisher: Lake Union

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Blurb:

Can you hide a secret with the whole world watching?

When an explosion rips apart a Chicago building, the lives of three women are forever altered.

A year later, Cecily is in mourning. She was supposed to be in the building that day. Instead, she stood on the street and witnessed it going down, with her husband and best friend inside. Kate, now living thousands of miles away, fled the disaster and is hoping that her past won’t catch up with her. And Franny, a young woman in search of her birth mother, watched the horror unfold on the morning news, knowing that the woman she was so desperate to reconnect with was in the building.

Now, despite the marks left by the tragedy, they all seem safe. But as its anniversary dominates the media, the memories of that terrifying morning become dangerous triggers. All these women are guarding important secrets. Just how far will they go to keep them?

Review:

Catherine McKenzie always comes up with unique and interesting premises that hook me in instantaneously and The Good Liar may be my favorite one to date. Three women, all connected by one terrible tragedy, and I had no idea who was being truthful or if any of them even were actually being truthful, the title of this one is SO fitting!

This is told from Cecily, Kate and Franny’s point of view. Cecily and Kate’s chapters are pretty standard as far as the structure but Franny’s story unfolds via an interview transcript which brought a fresh edginess to the plot, it almost moved things along at an even faster pace, and this was already a page turner. As I said before, none of them were altogether trustworthy or very likable, but McKenzie’s characterization is top notch making this a solid and engaging read.

This was a read that snuck up on me a little bit, as much as I was enjoying it, I did guess one of the plot points before it was revealed so I was slightly anxious that it would be easy for me to puzzle the rest out. WRONG! That tiny little piece I fit together was honestly not even the tip of the iceberg, this was more twisted than a pretzel which kept the plot moving forward at a rapid pace. The epilogue was amazing, you guys know an ending can make or break a book for me and this one just made the book that much better for me!

The Good Liar in three words: Unexpected, Tight, and Riveting.

Overall rating: 4.5/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

Goodreads|Amazon

Release date: April 1, 2018

Publisher: Lake Union

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Blurb:

Paige Moresco found her true love in eighth grade—and lost him two years ago. Since his death, she’s been sleepwalking through life, barely holding on for the sake of her teenage son. Her house is a wreck, the grass is overrun with weeds, and she’s at risk of losing her job. As Paige stares at her neglected lawn, she knows she’s hit rock bottom. So she does something entirely unexpected: she begins to dig.

As the hole gets bigger, Paige decides to turn her entire yard into a vegetable garden. The neighbors in her tidy gated community are more than a little alarmed. Paige knows nothing about gardening, and she’s boldly flouting neighborhood-association bylaws. But with the help of new friends, a charming local cop, and the transformative power of the soil, Paige starts to see potential in the chaos of her life. Something big is beginning to take root—both in her garden and in herself.

Review:

Based solely on the blurb I figured that Digging In would be a fairly heavy read, following Paige as she works through her grief after losing her husband. While grief is definitely at the core of this novel, it wasn’t depressing or bleak, instead it was full of humor, wit and heart which was just such a breath of fresh air.

Sadly, Nyhan lost her own husband so she has firsthand experience in the way a widow may feel and behave, and while she acknowledges that her situation wasn’t exactly like Paige’s, the authenticity is heavily apparent, Paige was incredibly well drawn. This isn’t a story about a bereaved woman who does everything perfectly and makes no mistakes. It’s a realistic portrayal of a woman living the unthinkable who is just doing her best. She’s trying, and at the end of the day, who can’t relate to someone who is simply trying to do their best?

This was an effortless read, I flew through it and loved every single page. Yes, there were sad moments especially watching Paige’s son, Trey deal with the loss of his father two years on, his struggle broke me. But ultimately this was full of life, vitality and humor, the messy side of life, the things that aren’t pretty, but it was honest and really beautifully done.

Digging In in three words: Wise, Witty and Affecting.

Overall rating: 5/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.