Sink into a good book.
Literary Quicksand
  • Book Reviews
    • Book Reviews

      Book Review: Take Me With You When You…

      August 8, 2022

      Book Reviews

      Review: The Guncle by Stephen Rowley

      August 6, 2022

      Book Reviews

      Review: War and Me by Faleeha Hassan

      August 4, 2022

      Book Reviews

      Review: Fox & I by Catherine Raven

      August 3, 2022

      Book Reviews

      Review: The Boys by Katie Hafner

      July 26, 2022

  • Book Lists
    • Book Lists

      What We Read in July 2022

      August 1, 2022

      Book Lists

      4 YA Books Set in the Middle Ages…

      July 29, 2022

      Book Lists

      5 YA Books Featuring Characters with Bipolar Disorder

      July 10, 2022

      Book Lists

      What We Read in June 2022

      July 6, 2022

      Book Lists

      5 Funny Sci-Fi and Fantasy Novels: Humorous Reads…

      July 3, 2022

  • Browse by Genre
    • Chick Lit
    • Children’s
    • Cooking/Food
    • Crime/Mystery
    • Fiction
    • General Non-Fiction
    • Historical Fiction
    • Humor
    • Literary Fiction
    • Memoir/Biography
    • Romance
    • Sci-Fi/Fantasy
    • Self-Help
    • Suspense/Thriller
    • Young Adult
  • Contributors
    • Ashley
    • Becky
    • Caleigh
    • Cathy
    • Jessica
    • Joli
    • Katie
    • Megan
    • Rebecca
  • About
    • Write for Us
    • Contact Us
    • Book Review Submissions
Author

Amber

Amber

I'm a northern Minnesota gal who loves long runs along Lake Superior followed by a large light roast and a stack of books. I'm in digital marketing by day, blogger by night. Always dreaming up my next adventure—whether that's in a book or across the globe.

  • Book ReviewsLiving Life Bookishly

    Review: History at a Glance

    by Amber January 6, 2020
    by Amber January 6, 2020

    I was looking forward to adding another National Geographic book to my collection and happy to report History at a Glance didn’t disappoint! Three words: Beautiful. Educational. Historical. As a big fan of historical fiction, it’s been a goal of…

    Read more
  • Book Reviews

    Review: Visual Galaxy

    by Amber October 29, 2019
    by Amber October 29, 2019

    Five words: the perfect coffee table book! I have recently been fascinated about the bigger universe beyond the earth and because I regret not paying more attention in my freshman year astronomy class,  I was excited to have the honor…

    Read more
  • Book ReviewsMemoir/Biography

    Book Review: Becoming Superman

    by Amber August 1, 2019
    by Amber August 1, 2019

    I tend to stick with fiction, but it’s always refreshing and satisfying when I throw a non-fiction read into the mix. Becoming Superman was right up my alley: reading & superheroes. This book goes beyond the incredible things J. Michael…

    Read more
  • Book ReviewsLiterary Fiction

    Review: The Last Romantics

    by Amber March 1, 2019
    by Amber March 1, 2019

    I added The Last Romantics to my TBR list as soon as I heard it was similar to Commonwealth, one of my favorite reads from 2017. This book is full of love. The love between friends, family and with ourselves.…

    Read more
  • Book ReviewsCooking/FoodGeneral Non-Fiction

    What to Eat When

    by Amber January 22, 2019
    by Amber January 22, 2019

    What to Eat When isn’t the type of book I usually crave, but I’m glad it landed on my plate — no pun intended. Two doctors approaching food and not only telling us what to eat, but focusing on the…

    Read more
  • Book ReviewsFiction

    Review: Christmas Camp

    by Amber October 29, 2018
    by Amber October 29, 2018

    My Review I requested this book from TLC Book Tours because Christmas is my absolute favorite time of the year. In Minnesota around early November, the temperatures drop to a cozy 30° and we begin to dream about a white Christmas.…

    Read more
  • Book ReviewsSuspense/Thriller

    Book Review: The Last Thing I Told You

    by Amber July 26, 2018
    by Amber July 26, 2018

    If you’re looking for a well-written dark and twisty thriller, The Last Thing I Told You is a must read. I haven’t read any of Arsenault’s other books, but I have always been a fan of psycho-thrillers. This story revolves…

    Read more
  • Book ReviewsHistorical Fiction

    Review: Caroline

    by Amber July 2, 2018
    by Amber July 2, 2018

    Caroline is a lovely story for anyone that’s a fan of Little House on the Prairie and Laura Ingalls Wilder. I was surprised (happily) to see this title arrive in my mailbox because I’ve been trying to get out of…

    Read more
  • Book ReviewsSci-Fi/Fantasy

    Review: All The Ever Afters

    by Amber June 6, 2018
    by Amber June 6, 2018

    This one took me a bit to get into because while I was reading the first few chapters, I kept thinking it was Cinderella’s voice. I had to remind myself many times that this isn’t another story about a princess.…

    Read more
  • General Non-FictionLiving Life Bookishly

    Book Review: That’s What She Said

    by Amber April 11, 2018
    by Amber April 11, 2018

    The summary from Goodreads:  An artist and activist committed to the empowerment of women and girls has created a gorgeous illustrated volume, blending watercolor and short biography to showcase the contributions of more than fifty influential female leaders whose words…

    Read more
Load More Posts

Follow Us

Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest

Affiliate Disclosure
We earn a small commission for any items purchased through the Amazon or Bookshop.org links on our site at no extra cost to you. These earnings are put toward our website hosting costs. Thank you for supporting Literary Quicksand!

LQ Newsletter

Top Book Lists

  • 1

    Top Ten Tuesday: Books on my Spring 2021 TBR

  • 2

    7 Award-Winning Books by Pakistani Writers

  • 3

    Lazy Sunday TBR Roundup

  • 4

    What We Read in June 2022

  • 5

    5 Dystopian Novels That Read Like Literary Fiction

literaryquicksand

862 1,337

Literary Quicksand
Open
I just started Last Summer on State Street last night and almost stayed up too late. I couldn't put it down! Happy to have nabbed this one in a @goodreads giveaway.

Synopsis:
Even when we lose it all, we find the strength to rebuild.

Felicia “Fe Fe” Stevens is living with her vigilantly loving mother and older teenaged brother, whom she adores, in building 4950 of Chicago’s Robert Taylor Homes. It’s the summer of 1999, and her high-rise is next in line to be torn down by the Chicago Housing Authority. She, with the devout Precious Brown and Stacia Buchanan, daughter of a Gangster Disciple Queen-Pin, form a tentative trio and, for a brief moment, carve out for themselves a simple life of Double Dutch and innocence. But when Fe Fe welcomes a mysterious new friend, Tonya, into their fold, the dynamics shift, upending the lives of all four girls.

As their beloved neighborhood falls down around them, so too do their friendships and the structures of the four girls’ families. Fe Fe must make the painful decision of whom she can trust and whom she must let go. Decades later, as she remembers that fateful summer—just before her home was demolished, her life uprooted, and community forever changed—Fe Fe tries to make sense of the grief and fraught bonds that still haunt her and attempts to reclaim the love that never left.

Profound, reverent, and uplifting, Last Summer on State Street explores the risk of connection against the backdrop of racist institutions, the restorative power of knowing and claiming one’s own past, and those defining relationships which form the heartbeat of our lives. Interweaving moments of reckoning and sustaining grace, debut author Toya Wolfe has crafted an era-defining story of finding a home — both in one’s history and in one’s self.

#bookfeature #bookstagramfeature #bookstagram #booksofinstagram #booksbooksbooks #bookblogger #bookobsessed #bookhoarder #goodreadsgiveaway #readersofinstagram #readreadread #lastsummeronstatestreet #amreading #currentlyreading #currentread
Open
Breaking my summer hiatus for this fantastic memoir! It was so very good. It reads like immersive fiction, and I was so invested in Faleeha's life. I can't believe some of what she went through, and how she's been able to put it all into words. This book is so unique in that I've not read any other accounts like this of life in Iraq during the war and subsequent embargo. 

The whole thing is fascinating, brave, and inspiring. I highly recommend War and Me! 5 full stars.

Put it on your TBR now! It did take me a chapter or two to get used to the translation, but it worked. Just pick this up, her story will have you rapt.

Thank you so much to @otrpr for having me on the War and Me book tour!

#bookreview #warandme #faleehahassan #5stars #memoir #bookrecommendation #bookrecs #amreading #currentread #currentlyreading #bookstagram #bookstagramfeature #booksbooksbooks #bookish #bookishlife #bookblogger #bookblog #readersofinstagram #readreadread
Open
Look look 👀 at what someone left in my Little Free Library today 🤩😍! The Vanishing Half has been on my TBR list for ages!! I better try to read it soon so I can put it back in there 😁.

#littlefreelibraryfinds #littlefreelibrarystewards #littlefreelibrary #bookstagram #thevanishinghalf #amreading #booksbooksbooks #booksbooksandmorebooks #booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #readreadread #bookish #bookishlife #readinglife #tbrlist #tbr #bookworm #bookwormlife
Open
My library started keeping a big shelf area of newer releases and it gets me juuuust about 90% of the time I'd say 😅. I remember seeing GOD SPARE THE GIRLS on bookstagram and being intrigued 🤔. Anyone have read it or nah feelings on this one?

Synopsis:
A mesmerizing debut novel set in northern Texas about two sisters who discover a dark secret about their father, the head pastor of an evangelical megachurch, that upends their lives and community—a coming-of-age story of family, identity, and the delicate line between faith and deception.

Luke Nolan has led The Hope congregation for over a decade, while his wife and daughters patiently uphold what it means to live righteously. Made famous by a viral sermon on purity co-written with his eldest daughter, Abigail, Luke is the prototype of a modern preacher: tall, handsome, a spellbinding speaker. But his youngest daughter Caroline has started to notice the cracks in their comfortable life. She is certain that her perfect, pristine sister is about to marry the wrong man—and Caroline has slid into sin with a boy she’s known her entire life, wondering why God would care so much about her virginity anyway.

When it comes to light, six weeks before Abigail’s wedding, that Luke has been having an affair with another woman, the entire Nolan family falls into a tailspin. Caroline seizes the opportunity to be alone with her sister. The two girls flee to the ranch they inherited from their maternal grandmother, far removed from the embarrassing drama of their parents and the prying eyes of the community. But with the date of Abigail’s wedding fast approaching, the sisters will have to make a hard decision about which familial bonds are worth protecting.

An intimate coming-of-age story and a modern woman’s read, God Spare the Girls lays bare the rabid love of sisterhood and asks what we owe our communities, our families, and ourselves.

#bookfeature #librarybook #hclib #bookworm #bookwormlife #bookblogger #bookreviewer #bookish #bookishlife #bookobsessed #bookhoarder #booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #amreading #librarylove #godsparethegirls #amreading
Open
Historical fiction lovers, I've got one for ya! A Dress of Violet Taffeta was full of Gilded Age fashion and history, and reading about fashionista Lady Lucy Duff Gordon was a blast. My full review is on the blog - link in bio!

SYNOPSIS
Lucy Duff Gordon knows she is talented. She sees color, light, fabric, and texture in ways few other people do. But is the world ready for her? A world dominated by men who would try to control her and use her art for their own gain?

After being deserted by her wealthy husband, Lucy is desperate to survive. She turns to her one true talent to make a living. As a little girl, the dresses she made for her dolls were the envy of her group of playmates. Now, she uses her courageous innovations in Belle Époque fashion to support her own little girl. Lucile knows it is an uphill battle, and a single woman is not supposed to succeed on her own, but she refuses to give up. She will claim her place in the fashion world; failure simply is not an option.

Then, on a frigid night in 1912, Lucy’s life changes once more, when she becomes one of 706 people to survive the sinking of the Titanic. She could never have imagined the effects the disaster would have on her career, her marriage to her second husband, and her legacy. But no matter what life throws at her, Lucile will live on as a trailblazing and fearless fashion icon, never letting go of what she worked so hard to earn. This is her story.

#bookreview #bookfeature #historicalfiction #lucyduffgordon #adressofviolettaffeta #bookreviewer #bookblogger #bookworm #bookwormlife #amreading #readersofinstagram #booksofinstagram #booksbooksbooks #bookish #bookishlife
Open
I cleaned off my desk (which fits in a corner and has shelves) and made a shelf just for my @theglossbookclub books 🤩. It's fun to be a host and give away a book at every meeting 😊. 

July: The Guncle
August: The Ten Thousand Doors of January
September: The Messy Lives of Book People
October: The Bohemians

Are you reading anything awesome for a book club?

#bookclubreads #bookclub #bookclubsofinstagram #bookclubpick #amreading #bookstagram #theglossbookclub #booksofinstagram #shelfie #booksbooksbooks #booksofinstagram #readreadread #bookobsessed #bookworm #bookwormlife #bookish #bookishlife  #booklover
Open
Well this book is just stealing my whole gosh dang heart, and today is its pub day!! I highly suggest adding this one to your TBR, book friends, if you're into quirky, big-heaeted, character-driven stories. I have only about 50 pages left and can't wait to see how this ends! The writing is superb, too. Thank you so much to @katiehafner, @spiegelandgrau, and @ehpmarketing for the ARC of THE BOYS.

Synopsis:
When introverted Ethan Fawcett marries Barb, he has every reason to believe he will be delivered from a lifetime of solitude. She fills his world with a sense of adventure, expanding his horizons beyond his comfortable routine. Because Ethan fears becoming a father, one day Barb brings home two young brothers, Tommy and Sam, for them to foster, and Ethan immediately falls in love with the two boys. When the pandemic hits, he becomes obsessed with providing a perfect life for them. But instead of bringing Barb and Ethan closer together, the boys become a wedge in their relationship, as Ethan is unable to share with Barb a secret that has been haunting him since childhood. Then Ethan takes Tommy and Sam on a biking trip in Italy, and it becomes clear just how unusual Ethan and his children are. This hauntingly beautiful debut novel—a bold and original high-wire feat—is "a treat with a surprise inside” (Publishers Weekly).

#bookreview #bookfeature #amreading #currentread #currentlyreading #bookstagram #bookstagramfeature #bookblogger #bookworm #bookwormlife #bookish #bookishlife #booklover #booksbooksbooks #readreadread #readersofinstagram #booksofinstagram #bookobsessed #arcbook #pubday
Open
Little Free Library find alert! Two Nights in Lisbon by @chris.pavone is now available! Thank you @littlefreelibrary for the opportunity to share this hot recent release with my community 🤩! Won this #thriller in their giveaway 😄

#twonightsinlisbon #littlefreelibrarystewards #littlefreelibraryfinds #lfl #amreading #booksbooksbooks #booksharing #booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #readreadread #bookworm #bookwormlife #bookish #bookishlife #readinglife
Follow LQ on Instagram

About Literary Quicksand

We’re a book blog based out of Minneapolis, MN. We feature a group of women writers from multiple countries who all come together over one thing: our love of books!
Learn more about us
hello@literaryquicksand.com

Join Us On Pinterest

@literaryqsand

Get The LQ Reader Weekly

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Home
  • About
  • Write for Us
  • Book Review Submissions
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy

@2021 - Literary Quicksand


Back To Top
Literary Quicksand
  • Book Reviews
    • Book Reviews

      Book Review: Take Me With You When You…

      August 8, 2022

      Book Reviews

      Review: The Guncle by Stephen Rowley

      August 6, 2022

      Book Reviews

      Review: War and Me by Faleeha Hassan

      August 4, 2022

      Book Reviews

      Review: Fox & I by Catherine Raven

      August 3, 2022

      Book Reviews

      Review: The Boys by Katie Hafner

      July 26, 2022

  • Book Lists
    • Book Lists

      What We Read in July 2022

      August 1, 2022

      Book Lists

      4 YA Books Set in the Middle Ages…

      July 29, 2022

      Book Lists

      5 YA Books Featuring Characters with Bipolar Disorder

      July 10, 2022

      Book Lists

      What We Read in June 2022

      July 6, 2022

      Book Lists

      5 Funny Sci-Fi and Fantasy Novels: Humorous Reads…

      July 3, 2022

  • Browse by Genre
    • Chick Lit
    • Children’s
    • Cooking/Food
    • Crime/Mystery
    • Fiction
    • General Non-Fiction
    • Historical Fiction
    • Humor
    • Literary Fiction
    • Memoir/Biography
    • Romance
    • Sci-Fi/Fantasy
    • Self-Help
    • Suspense/Thriller
    • Young Adult
  • Contributors
    • Ashley
    • Becky
    • Caleigh
    • Cathy
    • Jessica
    • Joli
    • Katie
    • Megan
    • Rebecca
  • About
    • Write for Us
    • Contact Us
    • Book Review Submissions
 

Loading Comments...