I read it all by myself. I love the princesses!

This book’s plot started out seeming like a well-known rom-com plot of “fake dating leads to real love”. That is the basic theme, but the book is entertaining along the way with a lot of pieces to the plot. I really enjoyed the book.

I have mixed impressions of and feelings about this novel. I found the plot intriguing, and enjoyed Serafina's narrative voice in her alternating chapters, as compared to Sara's, which disappointingly tended to fall more often into cliché turns of phrase. I understand the need to set the characters' "voices" apart and distinguish the eras in which they are living, but wonder if this could have been done with a bit more finesse for Sara's chapters. Some plot revelations were telegraphed and therefore more predictable, while others felt more satisfyingly surprising. At times, the events and interactions themselves seemed to draw on stereotypes, though I appreciate that the author appears to have researched the book quite thoroughly. There were also some unexpectedly graphic passages in the book, so readers who are especially sensitive to intimate and/or violent imagery may wish to be aware of this before reading. Overall, though it would be missing a meaningful modern dimension, I think I might have preferred this as a purely historical fiction novel, set entirely in Serafina's time period. All that said, I would still be interested to read other novels by this same author, in the hopes that they are more of the quality of Serafina's chapters than Sara's.

I got to meet the author of the Penderwick series and I got to ask questions like do you speak Latin because there was Latin in the Penderwicks? She said it was fun the add different languages into it but she doesn’t speak Latin. It was so cool to meet my favorite author in the world everyone should read her books and she has a new book The Library of Unruly Treasures

I read this book as an adult, in preparation for giving it to our nephew at Christmastime. I wanted to make sure that the book would be well-suited to him, and also was eager to refresh and deepen my own basic chess skills. I found the writing to be clear and approachable. The sections and chapters of the book are thoughtfully structured and well organized. Illustrative examples and opportunities for practice and application of concepts and skills are interspersed throughout the book in a timely and helpful manner. The author provides a list of resources for further learning and practice as well. I highly recommend this book as a great starting point or refresher for children and adults who wish to play chess!

Set in the fashion world, primarily in the 1970s but also present day and early 1940s. This is historical fiction but definitely a blend of history and fiction, as the author details at the end. The main characters are fictional but real people abound. Beyond an entertaining story and a mystery, the book is a commentary on how people are portrayed in the media, how their stories and history in general can be shaped by the offhand comments when people don't look further. Good book.

I was so excited to hear Ali released a fantasy-based romance, and it absolutely lived up to my expectations.

Another typical Gabriel Allon book. This one was very long though. There is a lot of information about the Temple Mount and history that makes you wonder how much is true.

Frog and toad are super silly friends that try to be good friends

Frog and Toad get so confused. It is very funny