Welcome back to Get Rec’d! This is where I talk about reading recommendations that I’ve given or that have come across my path recently.
This time around, we have some nonfiction, a dystopian sci-fi novel, a contemporary romance that flew under the radar, and some for YA soft fantasy lovers.
Have you received any great book recommendations lately? Want to recommend one?
The Herbwitch’s Apprentice
This one came across my Instagram algorithm and considering I loved Ella Enchanted growing up, they got me. This is YA and might be a little too tame or young for my current reading tastes, but may appeal to others or if you have reading kiddos! The author is also a talented illustrator.
Jane Austen meets the early Barbie movies in this Regency-inspired fantasy…
In the kingdom of Olderea, dabbling in witchcraft is a sure way to the guillotine.
When sixteen-year-old debutante Amarante Flora finds out she’s half witch, all she wants is to get rid of her magic. After all, zapping Prince Ash in the midst of high society’s Season certainly won’t help her troublemaking reputation.
But the more her powers grow, the more she realizes magic—and the witches who possess it—are not as dangerous as she was led to believe. When the queen falls mysteriously ill, Amarante knows there are far more dangers lurking in the palace than in Witch Village.
Among potion-brewing and glittering receptions, Amarante joins Prince Ash in an investigation before innocent witches are condemned. However, uncovering the culprit’s schemes could mean exposing her magic. And exposing her magic would mean her very life—and the contempt of the prince she is trying to help.
Perfect for fans of Ella Enchanted and the early 2000’s Barbie animated films.
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The Memory Police
If you love Orwellian sci-fi novels, I really enjoyed this Japanese dystopian mystery. Also, I don’t begrudge you for wanting to avoid surveillance state books.
A haunting Orwellian novel about the terrors of state surveillance, from the acclaimed author of The Housekeeper and the Professor.
On an unnamed island off an unnamed coast, objects are disappearing: first hats, then ribbons, birds, roses—until things become much more serious. Most of the island’s inhabitants are oblivious to these changes, while those few imbued with the power to recall the lost objects live in fear of the draconian Memory Police, who are committed to ensuring that what has disappeared remains forgotten.
When a young woman who is struggling to maintain her career as a novelist discovers that her editor is in danger from the Memory Police, she concocts a plan to hide him beneath her floorboards. As fear and loss close in around them, they cling to her writing as the last way of preserving the past.
A surreal, provocative fable about the power of memory and the trauma of loss, The Memory Police is a stunning new work from one of the most exciting contemporary authors writing in any language.
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Mickey Chambers Shakes It Up
My dear friend Tildy, (Hi, Tildy!) staff picked this one at the bookstore where I used to work. Definitely forgot about this one coming out over the summer!
“A heartfelt opposites-attract romance…” — Publishers Weekly
Total opposites. Totally irresistible.
Mickey Chambers is an expert at analyzing modern literature. But when it comes to figuring out her own story, she’s feeling a little lost. At thirty-three, she’s an adjunct instructor with a meager summer class schedule and too many medical bills, courtesy of her chronic illness. Picking up a bartending gig seems perfect. Sure, Mickey’s never done this before, but the gorgeous, grumpy bar owner, Diego Acosta, might be the perfect man to teach the teacher…if he wasn’t so stressed.
Diego is worried he’s running his late wife’s bar into the ground. Add the pressures of returning to college part-time at forty-two, and it’s no wonder he’s making rash decisions. Like hiring the sunny, sexy woman who looks more at home in a library than slinging beers to rowdy barflies, and who turns out to be teaching his online writing course, a complication neither was expecting…
It’s not long before Mickey starts reenergizing The Saloon with cocktails, karaoke and an optimism even Diego can’t ignore. They need to fight their feelings if they want to keep things professional, but all it takes is one sip, one kiss, to shake both their worlds forever…
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The Secret Lives of Color
Our designer at the lab recommend this one! If you love niche history, this one features stories and anecdotes about particular colors.
A dazzling gift, the unforgettable, unknown history of colors and the vivid stories behind them in a beautiful multi-colored volume.
“Beautifully written . . . Full of anecdotes and fascinating research, this elegant compendium has all the answers.” —NPR, Best Books of 2017
The Secret Lives of Color tells the unusual stories of seventy-five fascinating shades, dyes, and hues. From blonde to ginger, the brown that changed the way battles were fought to the white that protected against the plague, Picasso’s blue period to the charcoal on the cave walls at Lascaux, acid yellow to kelly green, and from scarlet women to imperial purple, these surprising stories run like a bright thread throughout history.
In this book, Kassia St. Clair has turned her lifelong obsession with colors and where they come from (whether Van Gogh’s chrome yellow sunflowers or punk’s fluorescent pink) into a unique study of human civilization. Across fashion and politics, art and war, the secret lives of color tell the vivid story of our culture.
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This book is available from:
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in
our posts, as well. Thanks!