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Meg Recommends!
What book from your childhood had the biggest impact on you as a reader?
I have fond memories of Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling. I wasn't tangibly aware of the powerful sensation at the time, but this is one of the first memories I have of being transported to places I've never been by the words in a book.
What was your favorite 'adult' book that you read as a teenager?
I remember being fascinated with A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. With these great caricatures of society all woven together in this complex story spanning two cities, I was struck by his sheer art of storytelling.
After years spent as a bookseller, what is a hidden gem that you wish more people knew about?
Man-eaters by Chelsea Cain (now 3 volumes of it!) Hilarious & creepy- a must-read feminist satire.
Who is an author that you have just recently discovered?
V.E. Schwab. I just read The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, and now I need more.
What is a book that you enjoyed unexpectedly -- whether because of subject matter, genre, style, etc?
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. "Kids killing each other in an arena? While the rich citizens cheer? No really, it's great." And it is. It was the first book in a while where I went from the last page of one book to immediately cracking open the next, in one sitting. And since the heroine turns everything around in the end, there's a "you can change the world" message in there.
What was the best book you've read during quarantine, or during the pandemic in general?
The Guest List by Lucy Foley did a great job of getting me out of my own head and making me forget the state of things for a bit. Just a really good mystery to get lost in.
Read below for book recommendations from Meg...
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No offense to the others, but this might be my favorite Austen retelling yet. While it appears to be inspired by a few different Austen stories, it’s the Pride & Prejudice gang you’ll recognize the most. Beatrice Steele is our Elizabeth Bennett, who keeps her love of solving crimes a secret, because that’s not what ladies do. Vivek Drake is our Mr. Darcy, the snarky private detective, Mr. Grub is the best/worst Mr. Collins yet, and sister Mary literally shows up in the footnotes, because no one notices she’s even in the room.
While mid-minuet at the annual ball at Stabmort Park (yup), a rich bachelor faints (gasp), but wait! he’s dead!, and he appears to have been (hand to forehead, bigger gasp) murdered! Can Beatrice and Drake find a way to work together to bring the murderer to justice?! dun dun dun…
With absurd situations, hilarious dialogue (I started laughing out loud on page 2), and the most extreme caricatures, this is the best tip of the hat to Austen. And maybe the funniest murder mystery you’ll ever read (even with its expected, though not very Austen-like, ending)."
-Meg, Longfellow Books
Mika Moon pretty much keeps to herself, as witches are supposed to. Those are the rules. OK, so she posts videos of spell casting online, but no one actually believes she’s a witch, right? But when she gets a cryptic invitation to come train three young witches, everything changes. Having lived in solitude for so long, she reluctantly accepts, and suddenly finds herself part of a motley crew trying to help these wild children. If only one of this motley crew wasn’t the serious and “devastatingly handsome” librarian, her life would be a lot simpler.
And when the path this crew is on leads to danger, she’s forced to question all the boundaries she’s lived within. But is that always a bad thing, to change the way of things?A “cozy witchy book” is a genre I didn’t know existed, and now it’s all I want.
This one is quick and sweet, witchy and romantic. I read it in a day, and it was the perfect thing to get me out of my reading slump."
—Meg, Longfellow Books
If you’re an Austen fan of any age, and even remotely grabbed by a good murder mystery, read this book! Set in Austen’s time and including all your favorite Pride & Prejudice characters (and thankfully, none of them the murder victim), with a little liberty taken on what the beginning of feminism could have looked like, this adaptation is a refreshing take on the beloved classic.
Lizzie Bennett longs to work at her father’s law firm, she just has to prove herself worthy of the task. And this new murder case could be just the ticket. But with Mr. Collins claiming all her work as his own, and Darcy being all conceited and judgy and shooing her out of the way, finding the killer is going to be harder than she imagined.
I found myself giggling while recognizing some of Austen’s best Pride & Prejudice dialogue sprinkled throughout in slightly altered contexts, but Price made it so seamless, I think even those unfamiliar will be entertained.
This is also the first of a planned Austen trilogy, and Sense and Second-Degree Murder is next in my pile!"
--Meg, Longfellow Books
This is an impressive debut, beginning a great YA series about magic, friendship and righting the wrongs of history.
Our narrator is the granddaughter of the Black Witch, the infamous witch who saved their people in the Realm War. But her uncanny physical resemblance is where the similarities end. Plain & ordinary Elloren is perfectly happy to just start her training as an apothecary, but the university brings more challenges than she ever expected.
There she is thrown amongst all the other races and creatures of the realm (elves, shapeshifters, selkies, demons and more- all those she was brought up to see as both inferior and dangerous) and slowly learns all is not as she believed. Whose history book tells the truth? Does she herself have magic after all? Why aren’t the creatures trying to kill her, isn’t that what they do??
Not just your average YA fantasy with witches and demons, this series skillfully portrays widespread racism and sexism, while masterfully illustrating the power and importance of education, from both books and people. Everyone must face their prejudices, learn the truth, and cease judging anyone on where they came from, the clothes on their back, the people they love or the color of their skin. The fate of the world depends on it."
--Meg, Longfellow Books
A program for high schoolers at UNC is just what 16-year-old Bree Matthews needs to escape the grief of her mother’s death. But then she sees something she wasn’t supposed to. An attempt to erase her memory fails its purpose, and instead brings up memories of the night she actual wants to forget, and now she questions whether her mother’s death was even an accident at all.
Starting to unravel her mother’s past, Bree finds herself on a path of self-discovery she never expected, and is suddenly caught up in a secret society of wizards and (brilliantly reimagined by Deonn) the descendants of a certain ancient order of knights who sat at a round table.
This is a really solid fantasy debut, with some all-too real struggles of racism and classism, and Bree is a great new heroine for the YA fantasy-loving crowd."
--Meg, Longfellow Books
If you need a quick, entertaining read, this is it. I don’t usually gravitate towards mysteries, but after a friend (who doesn’t either) told me she couldn’t put it down, I thought I’d at least start it… and then I couldn’t stop.
A smallish group of people have gathered for a wedding on an island off the coast of Ireland. The usual crowd is there -- some family, some old school friends, lots of alcohol, and the storm that threatens to ruin it all. But we get the story from five different narrators, revealing through flashbacks that they all have secrets -- and that a lot of them are jerks, so really any one of them could be the murderer. And even though we know something happened near the beginning of the story, I realized at page 240 that, not only did I have zero inkling of whodunnit, but because of the way the pieces are unfolding, I don’t even know who’s been murdered!
I don’t want to give away anything else. Just know I, indeed, did have trouble putting this one down -- which is rare for me these days. This is a great one for the rainy days coming up."
--Meg, Longfellow Books
![Simple Cake: All You Need to Keep Your Friends and Family in Cake [A Baking Book] By Odette Williams Cover Image](https://images.booksense.com/images/books/427/581/FC9780399581427.JPG)
A great cookbook for truly simple (and delicious) cakes. Separate recipes for cakes and toppings make it easy to create any combination you crave, but the chart in the back with pairing suggestions is also very handy. I highly recommend both the Milk & Honey and the Chocolatey Chocolate cakes."
--Meg, Longfellow Books
This is my new favorite graphic novel series for kids. In this first installment, the Catstronauts are called upon to save the planet in a global energy crisis. The situation feeling vaguely familiar, I can’t help but wish they could help us with our current problems with as much, in the end, can-do determination. Packed with humor, and of course, cats in space."
--Meg, Longfellow Books
A great read-aloud, full of quirky animals, with wonderful illustrations!"
--Meg, Longfellow Books
A highly entertaining satire where girls turn into man-eating cats at puberty. Cain’s dystopia is masterfully laid out, including advertisements for anti-estrogen cleaner and safety tips for boys, making it all the more eerily conceivable. Hilarious, creepy and a must-read for feminists everywhere."
--Meg, Longfellow Books
The catawampus cat strolls into town, slightly askew. Slowly the residents begin to notice him, and tilt their heads trying to figure him out. And as they shift their perspective, they see the world from a whole new angle!
And then the cat does what only a cat would, stretches and straightens himself out and strolls right back out of town without a word.
Great Illustrations and a funny story."
--Meg, Longfellow Books
All of Leslie Patricelli's board books are adorable, but this one especially.
A great book of opposites!"
--Meg, Longfellow Books
Girl Waits with Gun is the first book in Amy Stewart's series about one of the country's first female deputy sheriffs. I had actually forgotten that it was based on a true story until the very end, but this makes it all the more enthralling for me.
Taking place in 1914, it definitely reads like a period drama (someone's got to buy the TV rights to this!), but this is just my cup of tea lately. An accident occurs where an automobile crashes into a horse & buggy, and what should be a normal resolution instead unravels to involve a nefarious gang and certain crimes of the past, while our narrator internally struggles with a secret of her own.
It took me a little bit to get hooked, because a lot of this book is "the set-up" of who our heroine is on her way to becoming, but the quick-witted narrator and her eccentric sisters were enough to keep me going until I was all-in.
I really needed something with a good heroine, some quirky characters, and just enough drama to keep it chugging along, but light enough to not be disturbing, and this more than hit the spot. Consider me hooked for the long haul!"
--Meg, Longfellow Books
A put-aside tractor discovers he's needed after all. Not only are the illustrations in this book utterly adorable, it's a heartwarming tale as well.
Check out the whole series of picture books and board books!"
--Meg, Longfellow Books
Follow along as our narrator navigates life, reminding everyone she is, in fact, a girl, despite the assumptions of others. Girls may like dolls, but they also like boats, and can be loud and fast, sweet and sour!
A great tale about being yourself and being proud of it, no matter what the stereotypes say."
--Meg, Longfellow Books
