This Week I Recommend Pretty As A Picture

Have you ever heard of an author named Elizabeth Little? I hadn’t. Her first novel, Dear Daughter, received rave reviews and even won her an award. Today, I am here to tell you about her recently released second novel. I came upon Pretty as A Picture at a book convention. With no knowledge of its author, I picked it up at random. The quotes and blurbs on the cover caught my attention immediately: “A twisty story, a cinephile’s delight, a knockout of a heroine...”, “An egomaniacal movie director, an isolated island, and a decades-old murder...”. With only a general idea of what to expect, I cracked the cover and just dove in. The prologue introduced you to the protagonist without letting you know who she was. As any good prologue does, it gave you a taste of what was to come while staying a bit cryptic. In this case, it put you in the mind of the main character and showed you how she thought. The story is told from her perspective, which after reading the prologue you know is a good thing. Marissa Dahl doesn’t fit in to the Hollywood scene where she makes her living and that makes you trust her more. She is an integral cog in the Hollywood machine but doesn't buy in to all the hype and glamour of it all. She is awkward and honest and tells you how it is; things you usually want in a narrator. From the start, you are pulling for her to succeed. You want everything to turn out ok for her. She goes into a meeting for a job and as it goes on, you can tell things are fishy. It may not seem that way because, as regular folk, what do we know about Hollywood right? Maybe this is really how things are done. But trusting Marissa as a true guide, you can tell things are weird but she goes along with it because she needs the gig. As the story draws out, you learn more and more questionable details. But at the same time, the author keeps your interest piqued. She drops just enough breadcrumbs that you are dying to know what is going to happen without actually giving anything away. All the while, you are focused on what is going on with Marissa as she gets in to trouble and delves deeper into the great mystery. The job is a film telling the story of a local murder on an island, but it is one that has never been solved. That alone raises red flags and causes so many questions. The whole affair brings out the amateur detective in two young girls on set. The inserts throughout the book of later interviews with Grace and Suzy add to the pile of breadcrumbs without revealing the ending while also allowing brief glimpses into the truth of some characters. They also endear you to the girls in the real time action of the story. The behind the scenes look in to what Hollywood could be like is great too. How some of the characters are perceived by the public vs how they really are behind the scenes is something you know has to be legitimate in real life. I don’t want to say any more in case I give too much away. This book is truly a great read. It is insightful, suspenseful, endearing and funny as hell. I think that the author found a way to take a dark and twisty story and give it a lightness that allows the reader to rip right through it. In these troubled times of being locked in our homes, I very much recommend this story as a way to escape. I may even go back and read her first novel now, because if the writing is anything like this, it must be good!

Fun Facts: - The photo in the post was taken from the Instagram feed of @Vikingbooks 

- Pretty as a Picture by Elizabeth Little was released on February 25th so is still a relatively new book.

-You can find this book anywhere books are sold but I strongly urge you to buy local and help a bookstore out in need. 

-Don't forget to check out @LittleCityBooks in the Hoboken, NJ area - they are on Instagram, Facebook and online LittleCityBooks.com

- You can follow me on Instagram as well - @Bookworm1820 

My First Book Review!! - Pretty Things by Janelle Brown

Well everybody, as promised I am giving you a book review. It is my first on this blog and this happens to be the most recent book I have just finished. This book actually just came out this past Tuesday and I encourage you all to go out and find it. It is the perfect story to lose yourself in while stuck at home. It has love, action, adventure, con artists, rich people, and an all around great story. For more information, obviously read the rest of the review. And away we go!

          Pretty Things by Janelle Brown is a great read. My copy of the book has a quote calling it a page turner and I can honestly say that description is not wrong. Following a trend I have noticed recently, this book is told from two different perspectives. It is incredible to see how much perception changes an event. Something so simple as a conversation can be explained in different ways by different people experiencing it. This book demonstrates that in such a subtle way, and yet it is impossible to miss. The narration goes back and forth between the two main women of the story. It doesn’t always completely overlap so that you are experiencing everything twice which is great because that would make the story drag. But it goes back a little in each retelling almost like the recap at the beginning of a new television episode. So the story progresses at a good pace but you still see some of the events from both characters’ perspectives. It also helps to confuse the reader as to who the true villain of the story is. This is a book filled with suspense but it is also a tale of how one tiny piece of information can change the trajectory of a person’s entire life. Not even just the piece of information though, simply how the information is perceived. These two women circle each other in a way that makes you want to scream at them to just have an honest conversation. Yet this story unfolds in a way that you almost root for both women to succeed and as a reader you can’t put it down until you get to the resolution. There are twists and turns and unexpected revelations that make it a true novel of suspense. I can say that I did predict some of the hidden surprises but I also never saw some of it coming which I enjoyed. As an avid reader, and a fan of the genre I have been able to foresee the outcome of many tales. It doesn’t take away from the story for me, but it is always fun when I don’t see an ending coming. Janelle Brown gave me things that were hinted at and thus I could predict them, but at the same time I was still pleasantly surprised at some twists as well as the overall ending. This book is a true gem, and one I highly recommend.

You can Purchase the book anywhere that books are sold but I would like to take this time to encourage all readers to continue to shop local. In these tough times, independent bookstores are getting hit. Those that are able to remain open are only able to because their customers are shopping on their websites. So for those of you in the New Jersey area I recommend ordering this books from Little City Bookstore in Hoboken (LittleCityBooks.com), they are the best. In the Nashville area The Book Shop or Parnassus are two good ones. Wherever you are, order this book from your local store and save a business in these troubling times!!!

Welcome Back... Again!

          Welcome everybody to the most entertaining place on Earth. HA just kidding! But I have decided that since I have so much downtime I will start to write in my blog again. What is interesting is that I actually planned to start back up a couple months ago. My life has taken some turns and I have been reading a lot more. AND I have been reading different books. So I had decided that I was going to start writing book reviews for what I was reading. This was especially cool because I have been reading advanced copies of books so I was going to write about them before they came out. It was a great plan. The only downside was that I was working around 60 hours a week and in my downtime there we so many things I wanted to accomplish that I just never got around to writing. So now, I have nothing but downtime. Like most of the world right now, I am out of work. The restaurant where I was working is obviously shut down. And the bookstore where I work is only doing online orders. Which sucks for me because it is a bare bones staff but I am so glad they are managing to stay afloat in this tough time because they are great people and it is an awesome place. So I’m ok with being laid off especially because I know that when this is all over, they will welcome us (the staff AND customers) back with open arms. When this ends, things will be good.

            This blog, therefore, will be something I can do with my time. Now, I am still going to give you book reviews. Even if the books I have read have already come out, many of them are still relatively new so that means a review will still be welcome. Although who knows, maybe I will review the Harry Potter books since that is what I have been reading this week. They are comforting and familiar and therefore I have been reading them. I am a bit bored of them but I think I am just a bit bored of reading. That is primarily what I have been doing for about a month now. And while I LOVE to read, it has started to wear a bit thin. Which brings me to something else. I think this blog, since it is my compendium of concepts anyway, will touch on everything. I think it is a good place to vent my feelings, fears and frustrations with the state of the world. So my posts will vary. I will use this as part journal, part book review, and part passing of information that I know. I will also probably share happy things like what this rest is doing to the environment. My brain is a cacophony of thoughts most days. Why should my blog be any different? I know that not everybody thinks in a chaotic manner like me, and that is perfectly ok. But the great thing about the chaos in my brain is that different posts will appeal to different people. And they will all be read by my most loyal fan, my aunt haha. She knows I am crazy and she will therefore read every post I write, even if she doesn’t read the books I review. So hold on to your hats ladies and gentlemen, and stay tuned for a glimpse inside the insanity that is my brain.