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Half Baked Harvest, by Tieghan Gerard
I have a daily ritual: every morning, when it's still too early for me face the news, I skim glossy cookbooks while I groggily eat my breakfast. Sure, my actual breakfast is totally boring (black tea and an English muffin), but I find looking at pictures of beautiful food to be extremely soothing. That is why I am so fond of the popular website Half Baked Harvest, and why I decided to review author Tieghan Gerard's new cookbook...
Hand-Drying in America, by Ben Katchor
For one brief, glorious moment, I thought Ben Katchor's Hand-Drying in America was actually a nonfiction graphic novel about the development of electric hand dryers, like an American version of this. Little known fact: I am obsessed with hand dryers, and have long dreamt of having one installed in my bathroom, so I was ridiculously excited at the idea. Sadly...
Hanging By a Thread, by Sophie Littlefield
Sophie Littlefield's novel Hanging By a Thread bills itself as a murder mystery, but the lion's share of the story centers around the heroine's interest in re-purposing vintage clothing. The end result still boasts its fair share of action and violence, but the blood-splattered cover is a wee bit misleading...
Happily Ever After, by Nora Roberts
Earlier this month, Nora Roberts released Happy Ever After, the final novel in her Bride Quartet. I've grown fonder of this series with each book, so I trotted out to my local bookstore—this ti...
Hark! A Vagrant, by Kate Beaton
We rarely recommend buying something that can be enjoyed for free, but Kate Beaton's book Hark! A Vagrant is well worth your hard-earned $19.95—and not just because we want Ms. Beaton to earn...
Harriet the Spy: 50th Anniversary Edition, by Louise Fitzhugh
Before I get started, I should make something clear: this is a review of a specific edition of Louise Fitzhugh's Harriet the Spy, not the book itself. I am constitutionally incapable of saying anything about the actual story beyond “If you haven't read it, seriously, drop everything and do so IMMEDIATELY...
Hate to Want You, by Alisha Rai
I have strong romance novel preferences. I only willingly read books about characters who routinely bathe. I like sex scenes to feature clearly expressed consent. And, as long-time readers of the site know, I want protagonists to pass my...
The Hating Game, by Sally Thorne
Sally Thorne's The Hating Game borrows heavily from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. I applaud Ms. Thorne's taste in inspirational material, but her book serves as a reminder of how much more there is to Pride and Prejudice than than the romantic storyline. Don't get me wrong: I'm as big a Lizzy/Darcy shipper as the next nerd, but if you stripped their story down to a series of squabbles, mistakes, and inept courting, it wouldn't be nearly as satisfying...
Haunted Love, Vol. 1: Tales of Gothic Romance, by assorted authors
When I ran across a copy of Haunted Love #1 (first published in 1973) at a local antique store, I was hoping for something enjoyably terrible. In my head, I was picturing an illustrated vintage Harlequin novel, but with, like, vampires or whatever. Sadly, the contents were neither as trashy nor as entertaining as I expected, and never came close to living up to the cheeseball promise of that cover...
Heart of Glass, by Sasha Gould
YA author Sasha Gould recently released Heart of Glass, the sequel to last year's well-received historical novel Cross My Heart. I found this installment less interesting than Gould's first, but it was still well-written and solidly researched (and blessed with much less Vegas-y cover art)...
Heart of the Storm, by Michael Buckley
Heart of the Storm is the final volume in Michael Buckley's Undertow trilogy. All of the books in this series have been a mixed bag—at times wildly imaginative and exciting, at others just a overstuffed mess—and this last installment is no different...
Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go, by Dale E. Basye
Dale E. Basye, author of Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go, may not be the first person to write a book about an eleven-year-old boy with dark hair and glasses getting shipped off to a bizarre boarding ...
Heir Apparent, by Vivian Vande Velde
While many fantasy fans will enjoy Vivian Vande Velde’s YA novel Heir Apparent, it will resonate most with readers that are familiar with fantasy-based computer games. If you’ve ever happily played a Sierra game into the wee hours of the night...
Hello Stranger, by Lisa Kleypas
Hello Stranger, Lisa Kleypas's fourth Ravenels book, has an unexpected virtue: it makes me much fonder of Marrying Winterbourne, the second installment in the series. When I first read Marrying Winterbourne, I complained about...
Hero in the Highlands, by Suzanne Enoch
I rarely pick up Scottish romance novels. I have no beef with Scotland, but I have never understood what makes it such a rich source for romance novel fetishization. (I mean, why not Ireland? Or Wales? Is it the kilts?) But my inability to appreciate the appeal of itchy, smelly, difficult-to-clean wool skirts is offset by my faith in Suzanne Enoch, one of the few romance novelists I find consistently entertaining, so I decided to give her recent novel Hero in the Highlands a shot...
Hero Tales (Yen Press Extravaganza Part VI), by Jin Zhou Huang
Hero Tales is the story of Taitou, a powerful young warrior with a legendary sword and a hot temper. When his sword is stolen and he discovers he is one of the seven heroes prophesied to save the world, Taitou sets out with his little sister Laila and his friend Ryuukou on a quest to hone his powers—with the ultimate goal of defeating the evil general who controls the nation's child emperor...
Heroes of the Valley, by Jonathan Stroud
For my money, Jonathan Stroud’s Bartimaeus trilogy was the best young adult fantasy series of the past decade. Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass was better than any individual book in Stro...
Hexed, by Michelle Krys
The publisher's introduction for Michelle Krys's debut novel Hexed describes the story as “Bring it On meets The Craft”, and they're not lying: this book is uncannily like a late-90s teen movie—snarky, satisfying, and (it must be said) frequently totally ridiculous...
High Anxiety, by Charlotte Hughes
Charlotte Hughes' High Anxiety is her third book to feature accident-prone psychologist Kate Holly (following What Looks Like Crazy and Nutcase). At this point in the series, Kate's life is about ...
The Highest House: Issue #1, by Mike Carey
I recently asked the owner of my local comic book store if I should buy the new Books of Magic reboot. He hesitated, but then (very diplomatically, I thought) said that while he was pleased the Vertigo reboots were driving traffic into the store, he thought he could recommend some more interesting fantasy titles. I trust his taste, so...
Hilo: The Boy Who Crashed To Earth, by Judd Winick
According to the press materials for Hilo: The Boy Who Crashed to Earth, series creator Judd Winick set out to create a genuinely kid-friendly superhero comic. School librarians rejoice: the end result is perfect for your 9-year-old reluctant readers (even the ones with super-conservative parents)...
History Lesson for Girls, by Aurelie Sheehan
Aurelie Sheehan writes with delicate, lyrical precision, her characters are memorable and three-dimensional, her sense of time and place imbues every page... and if she'd shown the tiniest bit of self-restraint...
The Hollow Boy, by Jonathan Stroud
I absolutely loved The Screaming Staircase and The Whispering Skull, the first two installments in Jonathan Stroud's horror/adventure series Lockwood & Co. The third book in the series is more problematic than the first two...
Homecoming, by Patricia Briggs and David Lawrence
I have never read Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson books, but if Homecoming—the first entry in a projected series of graphic novel tie-ins to the series—is any indication of her storytelling abilit...
Hooked, by Jane May
As our longtime readers know, we here at Wordcandy rarely turn down a re-told fairytale, even when it’s just another teen-girl-friendly version of Cinderella. We’re particularly excited when the fairytale in question is an unusual one, which is why we were all a-flutter over Jane May’s Hooked, a modern retelling of The Fisherman and His Wife...
Hot Mess: Summer in the City, by Julie Kraut and Shallon Lester
In honor of the first Monday of summer, we’re devoting today’s posts to beach reads. Sure, it might be cloudy where you are, or raining, or hotter than the ninth circle of Hell, but any one of the...
The House of Binding Thorns, by Aliette de Bodard
Aliette de Bodard's The House of Binding Thorns is the sequel to last year's The House of Shattered Wings, a book I described as “more The Godfather than... sword-and-sorcery adventure”. In this installment, a handful of characters from the first book are still struggling to survive the mafioso-style wars between the various Houses of Paris...
The House of Shattered Wings, by Aliette de Bodard
Aliette de Bodard's novel The House of Shattered Wings looks like a standard fantasy novel, but has more in common with The Godfather than your typical sword-and-sorcery adventure. In an alternative universe/post-apocalyptic version of 20th century Paris, fallen angels periodically drop from the sky, stricken with amnesia but chock-full of magic. Those who survive Paris's magic-hunting street gangs usually join one of the Great Houses, mafia-like organizations...
How (Not) To Have a Perfect Wedding, by Arliss Ryan
It wouldn’t be smart to give Arliss Ryan’s novel How (Not) To Have a Perfect Wedding to anyone planning to get married in the near future. Ryan’s book (which she based on her experiences as a professional wedding hostess) is witty, well-written, and occasionally touching, but she ruthlessly strips every last drop of glamour and romance from the wedding experience...
How I Lost You, by Janet Gurtler
In a world overflowing with books about teenagers killing one another, it's always nice to discover a well-written YA novel about normal teen drama—one that limits itself to figurative (rather than literal) back-stabbing. This real-world premise wasn't the only thing we liked about Janet Gurtler's How I Lost You, but it definitely helped...
How Rocket Learned to Read, written and illustrated by Tad Hills
How Rocket Learned to Read, the latest picture book from bestselling author and illustrator Tad Hills, is an engaging, attractively illustrated story about a small dog who transform...
How To Abduct a Highland Lord, by Karen Hawkins
Karen Hawkins had a good thing going when she began How To Abduct a Highland Lord. The story had solid dramatic potential, the characters were appealing, and she’s a decent writer. Unfortunately...
How To Create the Perfect Wife: Britain's Most Ineligible Bachelor and His Enlightened Quest to Train the Ideal Mate, by Wendy Moore
Most of the critical coverage of Wendy Moore's How To Create the Perfect Wife: Britain's Most Ineligible Bachelor and his Enlightened Quest to Train the Ideal Mate, a stranger-than-fiction account of the life of the 18th century radical Thomas Day, has focused on the biggest scandal of Day's life: his attempt to transform a 12-year-old orphan into his ideal of the perfect woman. This is totally understandable—that element of the story is pretty juicy...
How To Lead a Life of Crime, by Kirsten Miller
Kirsten Miller's How To Lead a Life of Crime is the junior-division version of Catherine Jinks's novel Evil Genius. Both stories are about unhappy boys with a gift for criminal behavior who are approached by shady older dudes offering them a chance to attend schools for budding supervillains, but Jinks's take on the material is far weirder...
Humpty Dumpty Jr.: Hardboiled Detective, by Nate Evans, Paul Hindman, and Vince Evans
There’s a certain age—say, six to eight—at which most young boys really enjoy books about mucus, leaking diapers, and/or questionable odors. Unfortunately, few authors (Dav Pilkey aside) appear to...
The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
I’ve had a copy of Suzanne Collins’s novel The Hunger Games since September, but there are two reasons I’m just reviewing it now: one, I’m still recovering from the massive let-down that was ...