Smile - Raina Telgemeier

Title: Smile
Author: Raina Telgemeier
Genre: Graphic memoir, YA
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 224
Date read: November, 2024

Raina just wants to be a normal sixth grader. But one night after Girl Scouts she trips and falls, severely injuring her two front teeth. What follows is a long and frustrating journey with on-again, off-again braces, surgery, embarrassing headgear, and even a retainer with fake teeth attached. And on top of all that, there's still more to deal a major earthquake, boy confusion, and friends who turn out to be not so friendly.


Excellent story telling and great illustrations. I raced through it, and really enjoyed Raina's way of expressing herself. Parts of it were very uncomfortable to read (I have dentist-phobia, so those parts made me cringe), and other parts rang so true to me, that it felt like Raina was telling my story. Her description of finding a true group of friends to hang out with so closely mirrored my own experience in high school that I almost teared up.

Lovely graphic memoir, and I'm looking forward to reading the next in the series.

The Book Club Hotel - Sarah Morgan

Title: The Book Club Hotel (a.k.a. The Christmas Book Club)
Author: Sarah Morgan
Genre: Christmas, Chick-lit
Rating: 4.5/5
# pages: 330
Date read: November 2024

With its historic charm and picture-perfect library, the Maple Sugar Inn is considered the winter destination. As the holidays approach, the inn is fully booked with guests looking for their dream vacation. But widowed far too young, and exhausted from juggling the hotel with being a dedicated single mom, Hattie Coleman dreams only of making it through the festive season.

But when Erica, Claudia and Anna—lifelong friends who seem to have it all—check in for a girlfriends’ book club holiday, it changes everything. Their close friendship and shared love of books have carried them through life's ups and downs. But Hattie can see they're also packing some major emotional baggage, and nothing prepares her for how deeply her own story is about to become entwined in theirs.

In the span of a week over the most enchanting time of the year, can these four women come together to improve each other’s lives and make this the start of a whole new chapter?


Rounded up on goodreads because of the sheer delight it brought me to read. I would have read this in a single setting if it hadn't been for that pesky sleep getting in the way! As it was, I started it Sunday evening and finished it Monday morning before work X-D

More a "December-book" than a "Christmas-book", so not too christmassy to read in the start of November, but an excellent way to kick off the season. I actually hadn't realized it was christmassy at all when I picked it up, as neither the Danish title ("The Book Club in Vermont") nor the back blurb gave it away. It wasn't until I went to add it on goodreads, and discovered I already owned a kindle version called "The Christmas Book Club" that I realized I had once again been foiled by two different titles to the same book!

Fortunately it was an absolutely delightful book, so I really don't mind owning both an e-copy and a physical copy. Of course I had seen the ending a mile away, but I enjoyed seeing how the characters got there, and loved that there was no pesky "third act break-up" and no miscommunication. Instead what I got was a group of friends who'd clearly go through fire for each other, an established couple who made mistakes but TALKED about them, an adorable and precocious 5-year-old, and the most charming setting I could have wished for.

My only complaint is that I can't go visit Maple Sugar Inn myself now! This could easily become a Christmas stable for me.