Search

bookish devices

from one book nerd to another

Open Search
Category

Randomness

Where Have You Been?

Where have you been is an excellent question, which has a two-part answer. One, where have I been because I haven’t posted to the blog for a while? Two, how did I not discover author Freida McFadden sooner?

It’s been more than a year since I last posted to the blog. Where have I been? Still reading as usual but mental exhaustion saw the posting of book reviews go by the wayside. The changes that COVID brought to our world plus two job promotions since 2020, meant something had to go and unfortunately, that was blogging. I don’t know that I’ll begin posting on a regular basis again, but I have missed it and would love to get back into the rhythm.

How had I never heard of Freida McFadden before 2022! I was scrolling through one of my Facebook book groups when someone mentioned how good McFadden’s The Housemaid was. McFadden is the author of numerous psychological thrillers. Mystery/thriller/suspense is my most read genre, so The Housemaid was right up my reading alley. The Housemaid was my only 5-star read in 2022! The sequel The Housemaid’s Secret releases in February and I can’t wait to read it.

Since October 2022, I have read eight McFadden books and those I haven’t read are on my TBR list ready and waiting. I don’t know what it is about her books, but each one leaves me feeling as if I’m hanging right on the edge waiting for the next thing. I wouldn’t say they are jammed packed with action, but that is not a bad thing! McFadden writes in such a way that a simple conversation or action by a character has me waiting anxiously for what’s next. Her stories are clever and always closed out satisfactorily.

Never read McFadden? Get on that immediately! All of her books are available with Kindle Unlimited. You can find a complete list of her books at https://www.freidamcfadden.com.

Until next time, which hopefully won’t be too long.

2

A Book Nerd and A Man Called Otto

My fellow book lovers will understand when I say hearing the news that one of your favorite books is going to be made into a film can lead to some mixed emotions. On one hand, you’re excited to know a story you’ve fallen in love with will be shared with even more people and that the author is seeing increased success and acclaim. On the other hand, you’re likely worried that the filmmakers will change everything you loved about the original and the end result will be, as are so many adaptations, a pale shadow of the original work. I’ll be the first to admit that I felt exactly this way when I heard that Fredrik Backman’s A Man Called Ove was going to Hollywood. Yes, it was going to star one of my favorite actors, Tom Hanks, in the lead role but they were also moving the story from Sweden to the US and CHANGING THE MAIN CHARACTER’S NAME?! Talk about a book nerd panic attack!

Then the trailers and clips started to come out. Backman began to talk about the thought and care that was going into the production. The song–the song was released (if you haven’t listened to it, it’s lovely) and I started to get my hopes up that this was going to be something, if not brilliant, at least not a disappointment. Well today I saw the film and I can very happily say I was wrong. A Man Called Otto is so more more than “not a disappointment” it’s one of the best page to screen adaptations I’ve seen in ages and one of the best movies I’ve seen full stop.

Everything about the film was spot on. Hanks’ Otto was true to the spirit of Backman’s Ove, a mix of curmudgeon and softie, you can’t help but love him. Mariana Treviño is simply wonderful as Marisol. She and Hanks have perfect timing and chemistry and give book readers exactly what they’d expect from Ove and Parvaneh brought to life. I don’t want to give too much away so I’m just going to say that like the book and the original Swedish film, A Man Called Otto is a story you need to make the time for–just don’t forget to bring tissues like I did. The napkins in the theater are a little scratchy and you’ll need something to catch those tears.

2

Knock Knock, Is Anyone Still Here?

Hi everyone! Well it’s safe to say it’s been a while. I don’t know about all of you but I feel like the last few years have been simultaneously the longest, most drawn out, chaotic, passed in a blur years of my life. From the dumpster fire that was 2020 into 2021 and then even into 2022, it’s been a ride that’s for sure.

Some of you may have noticed that we haven’t been posting book reviews and wondered if we gave up, others may not even remember who we are, and either of those is fair honestly. Basically though it’s just that life got away from us in one fashion or another and the blog was one of the things to get pushed to the side as much as it disappointed us to do it.

That said, things are starting to settle down a little bit for some of us and we’d like to try blogging again if anyone cares to listen. You might question why we just don’t join booktok since that’s where everything happens now, and speaking for myself I’ll just say that I’m old and camera shy and while I enjoy a mind-numbing scroll through my FYP as much as the next person it’s just not a medium I think works for me. But we’re here, in your inbox or on the wordpress app, maybe on Instagram or Facebook, or even the hot mess that is Twitter right now. Wherever and however you’re seeing this, we appreciate it and hope that you’ll join us for whatever this new version of Bookish Devices looks like. I hope you’ll give us a chance.


With Sincere Appreciation,
Jess

Featured post
4

Turning the Page to 2021

As we say good riddance to the year that, at times, seemed like it would never end, we’d like to take a minute to share some of our favorite reads of 2020 and a bit of what we’re looking forward to reading in 2021.

While 2020 wasn’t the year anyone wanted to be, for the Bookish Ladies, it wasn’t a total loss since we did get to read some pretty good books.

Continue reading “Turning the Page to 2021” →
1

Looking Back: My Favorite Reads of 2019

As I started thinking about the approaching new year, I wanted to take a look back at the books I read in 2019. What books earned the rare 5-star rating? Which stories could I still vividly recall months after reading them? So off to Goodreads I went to take a little trip back through my 2019 reading. Here’s what I discovered …

Continue reading “Looking Back: My Favorite Reads of 2019” →

1

Looking Back: My Favorite Reads of 2018

I’m closing out 2018 with a look back at my favorite reads for the year. In the past, I limited my list to a top 5 or so. But this year I’m going to chat a bit about each book that earned a 5-star rating. There were fourteen in total, 10 of which were re-reads.  Continue reading “Looking Back: My Favorite Reads of 2018” →

0

Mini Reviews

I’m going to be writing a series of a few mini reviews of books I’ve read over the past few months to catch up on some books I want to let you all know about! Continue reading “Mini Reviews” →

0

Blog Tour: Vampire With Benefits by E.J. Russell

I’ve been on a paranormal spree lately – vampires, witches, shifters – pretty much anything in this subgenre has been really doing it for me recently. And this cover just really sold it for me. The martini glass of blood combined with the dating website profile pic truly cracked me up. If I were scrolling through books I’d completely stop and grab this book! Continue reading “Blog Tour: Vampire With Benefits by E.J. Russell” →

0

One Tuesday Morning: My Trip to New York City

Today I’m taking a break from book reviews to tell you about my trip to New York City. I spent a few days there last week to help a friend and her son with their 9/11 project. Continue reading “One Tuesday Morning: My Trip to New York City” →

2

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑

%d bloggers like this: