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Book Reviews
As a kid, I spent many a day in the library, helping out and talking to the librarian {Hi, Mr. Wolford}. When there was nothing for me to do, I’d grab a Danielle Steel novel {she got me through so much adolescent angst and fueled my desire to become a combat reporter – Message from Nam, anyone?} and head to the girls’ bathroom. Yep, I’d grab my coat and sit on the floor of the girls’ bathroom and read. I was weird. I don’t read nearly as much as I did as a kid {I can’t remember the last time time I picked up anything by Danielle Steel and reading in…
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My Book Rating System
I finished my first two reads of 2025 last week and started to post my reviews when I realized that I’d updated my rating system and hadn’t shared it with you all. But before I go into detail, let me preface this by saying reading and rating books is very subjective. I’ve read reviews where people have deducted points because they were reading outside of their usual genre {and out of their comfort zone}, and didn’t “get” the subject matter. I try really hard not to do that. My goal is to read and rate each book on its individual merit {unless it’s series, then you have consider continuity between…
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{Audiobook Review} Untethered by Angela Jackson-Brown
As the blogger and photographer behind Living Outside the Stacks, I independently select and write about stuff I love and things I think you’ll enjoy too. Living Outside the Stacks has affiliate and advertising partnerships so I get revenue from sharing this content and from your purchase. Thank you for your support. Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Focus | Harper Muse for providing me with a free audio version of this book for review. BOOK DETAILS Title: Untethered Author: Angela Jackson-Brown Narrator: Karen Murray Publisher: HarperCollins Focus | Harper Muse Publication Date: 3 December 2024 Genre: Historical Fiction, Multicultural Focus, Family Drama Format: Audiobook Listening Time: 10 hours, 51…
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{Audiobook Review} The American Queen by Vanessa Miller
As the blogger and photographer behind Living Outside the Stacks, I independently select and write about stuff I love and things I think you’ll enjoy too. Living Outside the Stacks has affiliate and advertising partnerships so I get revenue from sharing this content and from your purchase. Thank you for your support. Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for providing me with a free audio version of this book for review. BOOK DETAILS Title: The American Queen Author: Vanessa Miller Narrator: Angel Pean Publisher: Thomas Nelson Publication Date: 30 January 2024 Genre: Christian, Women’s Literature, American History, African American Literature Format: Audiobook Listening Time: 9 hours and 53 minutes…
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Book Review: The Vanishing Half: a novel by Brit Bennett
As the blogger and photographer behind Living Outside the Stacks, I independently select and write about stuff I love and things I think you’ll enjoy too. Living Outside the Stacks has affiliate and advertising partnerships so I get revenue from sharing this content and from your purchase. Thank you for your support. Happy New Year! Y’all, when I say 2023 is already off to a bumpy start, I’m not kidding. I spent part of New Year’s Eve in the ER because my oxygen levels dipped courtesy of Covid. If I’ve ever wondered how my family would fare should I take seriously ill, I know they’ll be OK. The Hubs rushed…
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Book Review: The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
As the blogger and photographer behind Living Outside the Stacks, I independently select and write about stuff I love and things I think you’ll enjoy too. Living Outside the Stacks has affiliate and advertising partnerships so I get revenue from sharing this content and from your purchase. Thank you for your support. Earlier this month I made a goal to try to read at least one book per month. Actually, I made the decision as a result of this post because, as I was going through my reading list, I realized a lot of my book choices were dated. Not that literature ever goes out of style, but that I…
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Book Review: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
As the blogger and photographer behind Living Outside the Stacks, I independently select and write about stuff I love and things I think you’ll enjoy too. Living Outside the Stacks has affiliate and advertising partnerships so I get revenue from sharing this content and from your purchase. Thank you for your support. It has been a long time since I’ve written a book review. Honestly, it has been a long time since I’ve read a book. Usually by the end of the day, I just want to veg in front of the TV and play Bejeweled on my phone. Focusing on words is the last thing I want to do.…
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Book Girl Magic Reading Challenge
This post contains an affiliate link. If you make a purchase using that link, I will make a commission at no extra charge to you. Along with improving my photography skills, I want to read more this year. You’d think that I’d read a lot since I’m a librarian, but I don’t. I mean, I buy books, start them, put them down to watch This Is Us and never pick them up again. This year, I’m going to meet my goal of 12 books for the year. Baby steps, y’all. BOOK GIRL MAGIC READING CHALLENGE I discovered the Book Girl Magic Reading Challenge on Carla’s blog, Rae La Soul. The…
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Banned Books Week Review and Giveaway: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee {CLOSED}
I firmly believe in the right to free access to information. There are many books that I simply will not read for religious and/or personal reasons but I do not believe I have the right to ban those books from being read. If I censor your speech and your ideas, it’s just a matter of time before someone censors mine. This is not my normal book review but more of a discussion about some of the reasons why To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee has been challenged and/or banned over the years. SYNOPSIS OF TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD BY HARPER LEE Published in 1960, To Kill a Mockingbird is…
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Book Tour: Merry Christmas Stories by Jeff R. Spalsbury
BOOK DESCRIPTION (FROM THE BACK OF THE BOOK) These 25 short stories for the Christmas season will make you laugh, smile and just feel good about this magical time of year. These delightful stories, written in a variety of genre, all reflect Christmas love, hope, and charity. Detective Nick Tracer just wants to get drunk over the holiday season but an eight~year~old hires him to find Santa, and it changes his life. A magical Christmas bus enriches the lives of a veteran and his young daughter. The last S~2, an indestructable android, is given the toughest assignment of his long existence. A Christmas ghost discovers the real magic of Christmas,…
