Miss Lowe's Book Nook

There's nothing better than a proper sequel. I had been eagerly looking forward to Trouble is a Friend of Mine by Stephanie Tromly, and this week I finally got my hands on Trouble Makes a Comeback . It was just as great as the first one! It's been over five months since Philip Digby jetted out of Zoe's life. She's adjusted- friends and a boyfriend have been gained, people stare at her less, and she feels (mostly) prepared for the SATs. Then Digby reappears. He's still relentlessly searching for clues about his sister's case and still the same Old Digby - or is he? Henry is acting weird, and Sloane comes to Digby and Zoe for advice, Zoe's boyfriend feels threatened by Digby (with good reason), and Bill still won't leave Digby alone. In between hunting down long-cold trails in Sally's case, will another drug bust be on the horizon? Are there even richer snobs than the Blooms out there? What the heck is going on with Digby and how is Zoe supposed to...

Jane Austen's novels are some the best-loved of all time, most notably among the seemingly-condemned-to-spinsterhood group. What happens when one Darcy-loving spinster-to-be finds herself on the trip of a lifetime in Austenland ? I read Shannon Hale's take on a story of a girl thrown into the ultimate Regency fairy tale and I was utterly enchanted myself. Jane Hayes has bad luck with men. Her 13 ex-boyfriends exemplify that. But worse than her string of break-ups is her reaction to the break-ups. Every time, she turns back to the comforting fantasy of Mr. Darcy (as played by Colin Firth, of course). Jane sits at home, watching her hidden Pride & Prejudice DVD and mooning over Austen's heroes instead of real men. When Jane's great-aunt bequeaths her a trip to Pembroke Park, an immersive Austen experience, Jane is at first hesitant. Is diving fully into her fantasy the right choice? Or will having the full Regency lifestyle finally help her kick her Darcy habit an...

All good things must come to an end, even teenage serial killer hunter novels. I finally finished Jennifer Lynn Barnes' last Naturals novel, Bad Blood . It was so good, I nearly got whiplash from all the plot twists. After the crazy revelations of All In , Cassie and the rest of the Naturals gang are stressing out, hanging on to any microscopic lead to Nightshade's cult. When a childhood friend of Michael's disappears on a Fibonacci date, the Naturals head to New York state and encounter Michael's father. More leads appear, calling Cassie back to her forgotten past, dredging up old memories for more than one member of the team. With cults, murder, and twisted family histories merging all around, how can the Naturals separate the truth from the lies and stop the Masters? I've loved all the Naturals novels. Barnes, who has advanced degrees in psychology, has done such an amazing job with making everything in the novels believable and accurate. Her characters are i...

For long time, I've heard the buzz about Sarah J. Maas and her books. I figured it was time to give her a try, so this week I picked up A Court of Thorns and Roses , the first book in a trilogy. While I was a bit hesitant as first, I ended up being pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed ACOTAR (as the cool kids call it). Our heroine is Feyre, a poverty-stricken human girl. The sole provider for her family of a father and two sisters, she hunts in the woods to keep them off the harsh edge of starvation. One particularly brutal winter day, Feyre encounters a wolf in the woods. But with whispers of faeries crossing the wall and attacking humans, Feyre takes the risk, killing the wolf even though it may be a faerie in disguise. The next day, a vengeful faerie rips her from her home, taking her across the wall to Prythian, the land of the fae. Alone in a strange land, surrounded by those who could kill her in an instant, Feyre is constantly on her guard and fearing for her life. B...

Ahh summer! So much time for reading. This week I picked up the sequel to one of my favorite reads of the last year, A Study in Charlotte . The second book in Brittany Cavallaro's trilogy, The Last of August was a decent read, though I don't think that it lived up to the excitement and mysterious delight of the first novel. We reunite with Jamie Watson and Charlotte Holmes only a few weeks after the events of the first book, over Christmas break. The two young sleuths spend a few days in London with Jamie's family and then trek to the Holmes' family home, Sussex. We meet Charlotte's parents, Emma and Alistair, as well as her beloved uncle Leander. Several uncomfortable dinners later, chaos strikes, throwing Jamie and Charlotte into the thick of an art-forgery ring in Berlin, on the track of Moriartys and in the mix of Milo Holmes' guardsmen and eyes in the skies. As Watson and Holmes struggle with their personal relationship, with August Moriarty thrown in to...

Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become. - C. S. Lewis If you didn't know, I'm planning to become a high school English teacher. Since I will be in the classroom in a few short years, I have been doing my best to stay up on popular young adult literature so that I can discuss and explore contemporary works that my students will be able to relate to easily. In this search, I came upon Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E. K. Johnston. I finished this book in about seven hours. I just couldn't put it down. And I think it is one of the most important books I have read in a really long time. When I say a book is "important", I don't mean that it's pretentious and should be considered a classic. To me, a book is important when it tells a story that needs to be told in a way that can hel...

There's no business like show business! - Irving Berlin Being onstage is unlike anything else I've experienced in this world. There's something about waiting in the wings, shrouded in darkness, hushed in anticipation. About stepping into the light for the first time, projecting your voice out into the audience, telling a story. About taking a bow, feeling the sense of pride at what you have helped create in this specific moment in time. A few weeks ago, I got to experience the joy of performing for the first time in over a year and a half. I had still been involved in theatre- I had directed and assistant directed three plays in that time. But getting the chance to tell the story again myself- it was like discovering theatre all over again. Every child finds their escape. Many turn to sports, others to art, some to music. I found my escape in the theatre. It was the first place that I could be myself, surrounded by other kids like me. We all wanted the same things- t...