Sarah Addison Allen: The Sugar Queen

PURCHASED

Yay! Another book review! I'm finally getting into the routine of reading again, and it's great. The book today's post is about - The Sugar Queen (2008) by Sarah Addison Allen - is a book I've been meaning to read for a couple of months now, and I'm both sad and happy that I finally got around to it.

Sarah Addison Allen is an author that is fairly new to me, in a way, as I discovered her at the end of 2012. This is the third book of hers that I read out of the five that she has published, and it's this book that made me realize something. The anticipation of her next novel - whenever that is, since she just published one this past January - pretty much mimics that anticipation I have for all of Sakamoto Maaya's releases.

What I'm trying to say is, in the short time that I've known this author, and from the three books I've read of hers, I feel confident in saying that Sarah Addison Allen is my new favorite (living) author. The sadness that exists in this is the fact that, as I mentioned before, she only has five novels, and I'm now done with three of them. I almost feel forced to take my time getting to the last two because the thought of having none left to read is awful.

In any case, the reason I love Sarah Addison Allen's work enough to declare her my favorite author has much to do with The Sugar Queen, and the themes it shares with her other two books that I've read - The Girl Who Chased the Moon and Lost Lake. Which brings us to this post.

Sarah Addison Allen: Lost Lake

One of the seven limited edition postcards.

PURCHASED

Hi! Here is another product I preordered at the end of 2013 for a 2014 release date.

...It seems weird calling a book a "product."

Anyway, when I heard that Sarah Addison Allen, an author I just discovered last year (you can see my review of the only other book I've read of hers here) but whose style I've fallen in love with, was finally having her fifth novel published, I couldn't wait for January 21, 2014 to roll around. My boyfriend preordered it for me as a gift, and I received shortly before my trip to California. As such, it was the book I took with me for my flight.

After reading The Girl Who Chased the Moon, and the backs of the other few books Allen has published, I knew Lost Lake was the book I wanted to read on my trip to and from California. I knew I'd be sad and restless, and I knew that her books are ones with refreshing, warm, and comforting stories spread across the pages. I wanted to bring a book whose story would distract me from the emotions I would feel - a book that would pull me into another life.

Allen's work thus far has managed to do just that, and I'm happy to share my thoughts on this new novel with you. Since it's more often than not inevitable for book reviews to be scarce in pictures, I'm also happy to say that upon the preorder availability of Lost Lake, Allen's website sent out an email that mentioned a neat bonus for those who did choose to preorder the novel: the submission of a preorder receipt and some basic information gave readers a chance to receive a set of limited edition postcards (such as the one above) with artwork from the novel. Please enjoy the pictures of these postcards throughout my review!

Sarah Addison Allen: The Girl Who Chased the Moon

Hi everyone. I'm really excited about this post, because the book I'll be talking about is one by an author that I've never read before, but whose writing I've fallen in love with. It's the kind of excitement I usually experience when I discover new music artists that I want to follow. With books, the feeling is much rarer.

The book is The Girl Who Chased the Moon, and the author is Sarah Addison Allen. I actually came across this book while browsing the Barnes and Noble sometime last year. What caught my eye was the book's title, since I adore the moon, and its cover, which you see above and will see again below in just a bit. But I ended up not getting it for reasons I can't even remember - and didn't get it until I stumbled across it in person during my trip to San Diego.

And I'm so glad I did. I'm normally a mystery/horror reader, so I wasn't sure what to expect from this book. But the book's synopsis captivated me - more on that later - by presenting a world both realistic and fantastical, and the story was one I enjoyed thoroughly. I finished the book yesterday and was eager to review it as soon as possible so that I could begin reading a second novel by Allen that I just purchased on Friday!