Lost in My Library

OUR YEAR OF MAYBE Rachel Lynn Solomon 384 pages Simon Pulse, January 15, 2019 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ I don't have the words to fully express my love for this book. My expectations were kind of ridiculously high; Rachel Lynn Solomon's first book, YOU'LL MISS ME WHEN I'M GONE , was one of my most anticipated books of 2018 and one of my favorite books of 2017 (thank you, NetGalley!). It felt like I'd have to wait so long for OUR YEAR OF MAYBE, but Edelweiss made all of my hopes and dreams come true by granting my request last summer. And this book absolutely lived up to my expectations - and shattered a few to boot! Let's start with what I think Rachel Lynn Solomon's greatest strength as an author is: the characters. Sophie and Peter were both exceptionally written, and I was invested in both of their stories by the end of the prologue. Their relationship is so complicated, and is navigated with such nuance, but they both have parts of their story that exist ind...

THE SPY WITH THE RED BALLOON Katherine Locke Balloonmakers #2 (companion series) 368 pages Albert Whitman Company, October 2, 2018 Diversity: both main characters are queer and Jewish; major characters include queer, Jewish, and black characters ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ I had pretty high hopes for this book. I really enjoyed the companion novel, THE GIRL WITH THE RED BALLOON , and the synopsis for this one seemed even more interesting. THE SPY WITH THE RED BALLOON exceeded all of my expectations, and then some. I'm going to be recommending this at every opportunity for the foreseeable future, because it absolutely deserves it. I liked Ilse and Wolf from page one. They make such a great team, and even though (very slight spoiler) they spend most of the book separated from each other, their connection is really what drives this book forward. I love good sibling relationships in books, and I think this one took it to a whole other level. And the representation in this book! So many ...