The Mall by Megan McCafferty

The year is 1991. Scrunchies, mixtapes and 90210 are, like, totally fresh. Cassie Worthy is psyched to spend the summer after graduation working at the Parkway Center Mall. In six weeks, she and her boyfriend head off to college in NYC to fulfill The Plan: higher education and happily ever after.

But you know what they say about the best laid plans...

I think everyone wants to escape 2020 right now. Travel back in time 1991 and check out The Mall by Megan McCafferty. I loved this book, I could actually smell the Parkway Center Mall and relished riding the wave of 90s nostalgia all throughout the novel. Despite being set in a simpler time, the themes of finding yourself and learning who your true friends are is timeless. While Cassie is the star of this novel, I thought it was her friend Drea who really shined the most here and I would love, love, love  if McCafferty gives us a follow-up novel starring Drea.

🌟🌟🌟🌟/5 

Visit the publisher’s website for ordering info and pick up The Mall today!!

Special Thanks to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

P.S. - Anyone know where I can get a Pineapple Orange Julius that tastes as good as it did in the 90s? 

Meme Crush Monday

Forget about “Man Crush Monday’s,” here #MCM means Meme Crush Monday! For those who don’t have access or don’t wish to use Instagram, I’ll share a bookish meme right here weekly on the blog.

This Week’s #MCM Meme Crush Monday:

I hope you’re all staying safe out there. What are you currently reading? Share with us! 

Quarantine Watch List

We're not only big readers - we all enjoy narratives through television and movie as well! Here are some of the things we've been watching recently.

Rebecca T: I just finished a grand rewatch of all 4 of the Hunger Games movies. I reread the book and then rewatched the movie and I was really blown away by how faithful the movies are to the books - there are whole sections of dialogue lifted straight from the books! Obviously, there are a lot of things missing. That's just what happens with movie adaptations. But these are some of my favorite and, in my opinion, some of the best done book to screen adaptations. Now I'm ready to read The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes!

rachelyons: I discovered Chopped was on Hulu so I’ve been watching approximately 20 hours of it per day.

Jenn N: I have been watching a DVD box set of Cagney & Lacey gifted to me by my boyfriend. When I was a kid my mom was on a bowling league on Monday nights. For some reason I always wanted to stay up and watch Cagney & Lacey which came on at 10pm. My dad only allowed me to watch the opening credits before going to bed. The show holds a special fondness in my heart of a simpler time. I caught a rerun on an obscure cable channel a few weeks ago. It was awesome. Extremely well written, engaging and still relevant and relatable despite the passage of time. My boyfriend then surprised me by sending me the box set of the complete series to subdue the quarantine blues.
 
Melanie:
I'm watching Ugly Betty for the first time.
 
Alan:
In the last week, I've completely caught up on
Better Call Saul
The Good Place
Forged in Fire
Brockmire
I'm halfway through book 5 of 5 in Chris Fox's Void Wraith series. That's about 40 hours on Audible.

Now I'm sifting through Naked and Afraid, looking for unwatched episodes, while my wife and I are waiting for the new season of Dead to Me.

Albert:
Upload on Amazon, Also, I am catching up on Ru Paul's Drag Race.

NaomiRuth:
I just finished watching Bryan Fuller's Wonderfalls. I am planning on re-watching the first season of American Gods next.

Go-To Comfort Reads

We're back with another group post! A lot of us are returning to books that we enjoy or that give us a comforting feeling right now. Here are a few of ours:

Jenn N: " I always return to childhood favorites such as The Baby-Sitters Club where I can practically recite the whole book from memory and there’s always a happy ending."

Rachelyons: Anne of Green Gables "just makes me feel so cozy inside! It’s been a favorite since childhood so it’s just a great comfort read."

Rebecca T: "Mine is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. It makes me laugh and cry both sad and happy years and has so many sweet love stories, both romantic and platonic."

NaomiRuth: "Probably Pantheon by Hamish Steele. Mythology in comic form that's slightly inappropes." 


What are your go-to comfort reads? Share with us in the comments! 

Meme Crush Monday

Forget about “Man Crush Monday’s,” here #MCM means Meme Crush Monday! For those who don’t have access or don’t wish to use Instagram, I’ll share a bookish meme right here weekly on the blog.

This Week’s #MCM Meme Crush Monday:

Are you a fan of Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews?

Stay safe and watch out for those powdered donuts. 

Social Distance Reads

Hello! We hope everyone is safe and well. Since we're all in the north east, we've had to spend a lot more time at home, as many people have had to across the country. What better thing to get you through all the social distancing than a good book! We can get as close to fictional characters as we want, after all. Check out what we're reading now and feel free to share your current reads in the comments!

Jenn N. - I just read an Elin Hilderbrand book - What Happens in Paradise. Most of her books are set in Nantucket and I thought a virtual vacation was just what I needed. This book was set in the US Virgin Islands and provided a great escape to a beautiful beach destination that I needed.

Alan - I just started Out of the Dark, by David Weber, on Audible.

Eileen - I'm a little over halfway thru Brothers, by Yu Hua. It's a sad book but I'm learning a lot about a place and time period I didn't know before.

Rachelyons - I’m almost done with Legendary by Stephanie Garber! Then onto Finale!

Rebecca T - I'm listening to Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi - working my way through the series again in preparation for Imagine Me coming out next week! Even though it's a dystopia, it's such a fascinating world to return to, and it's the first time I've read all the way through the series since the 3rd book came out.

NaomiRuth - I am reading The Broken Kingdoms by NK Jemisin, the second in The Inheritance Trilogy. I am over halfway through and cannot wait to see what happens next. I love her world-building!

Meme Crush Monday

Forget about “Man Crush Monday’s,” here #MCM means Meme Crush Monday! For those who don’t have access or don’t wish to use Instagram, I’ll share a bookish meme right here weekly on the blog.

This Week’s #MCM Meme Crush Monday:

I saw this making the rounds on Facebook this weekend and had to laugh. I hope you’re all staying safe, practicing social distancing and taking care of yourselves. 

Now, tell us who is your favorite dystopian heroine and why? 

Meme Crush Monday

Forget about “Man Crush Monday’s,” here #MCM means Meme Crush Monday! For those who don’t have access or don’t wish to use Instagram, I’ll share a bookish meme right here weekly on the blog.

This Week’s #MCM Meme Crush Monday:

How long do you give a book you’re not really enjoying before picking up a new book? Share with us! 

Meme Crush Monday

Forget about “Man Crush Monday’s,” here #MCM means Meme Crush Monday! For those who don’t have access or don’t wish to use Instagram, I’ll share a bookish meme right here weekly on the blog.

This Week’s #MCM Meme Crush Monday:

Who are some of your favorite fictional characters that seem real to you? Share with us. 

Sweet Valley High: Academic All-Star? (Graphic Novel)

Written by Katy Rex, Art by Devaki Neogi

When Jessica falls in love with her Shakespeare teacher, she begins to act like her studious twin sister Elizabeth to impress him. Now it's up to Elizabeth to make sure that all's well that end well - but with Jessica playing her role, will anyone be able to tell which twin is which? dynamite.com

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Based off of Francine Pascal’s bestselling novels, . Sweet Valley High has been updated in a graphic novel format for 2019 (pub date July 2019) with social media and more risqué plotlines. However this is still Sweet Valley. Jessica is cooking up a crazy scheme that’s destined to fail with  and Elizabeth is martyring herself trying to rescue everyone in town as Lizzie always thinks she knows best.  I also loved the subtle nods to Sweet Valley Twins and Sweet Valley Kids that long time fans will appreciate.

The illustrations were adorably fantastic. Click on the publisher link in the summary above to see some of the pages. The artist truly captured the twins’ personalities and the Wakefield home in their work. It was also really cool to see new renderings of the twin's friends.

Don’t miss this delightful graphic novel adaptation. It’s perfect for long time favs and a fresh generation of fans to be. I can’t wait for the Part 2 that’s teased at the end.

🌟🌟🌟🌟/5

Special Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Dynamite for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.