Full review, first posted on www.fantasyliterature.com:In May 1895, Elsbeth Grundy, a crotchety widow living in a cabin on the Kansas plains, sees a purple and gold-painted Victorian home that has unexpectedly appeared in her wheat fields. Elsbeth determinedly stalks over to the home to demand an explanation of this irksome addition to her back forty, but every time she goes to knock on the door, she’s immediately displaced back to the gate around the home. Incensed, she leaves a letter in the m...

I just finished this book about an hour ago, and I feel a bit scrambled in the heart and mind right now. I blame this wholly on Scott Wilbanks. His debut novel, this one here you’re reading about and trying to decide whether to pony up the cash to buy, is brilliant. I’ll give you some reasons why you absolutely must read it now. The LanguageIt seems so often when I read contemporary works these days that writers have forgotten the poetry and flow of language. The grand and beautiful topography o...

3.5 This is a romp, a fast paced mad-cap adventure story with some utterly enjoyable characters. I kept asking myself how I would feel if I woke up one morning and looked out my bedroom window and instead of my garden and flowers I saw a cornfield. Would probably think my medication was getting to me. But, that is what happens here to Annie.. Besides that there is a mysterious door, (and no this is not The Lion, The witch and the wardrobe) a magician, a delightful young man who stutters unless h...

There are a lot of readers out there who find a certain kind of story that they like and they want to stick to it. That's all fine and good but that has never been me. If I read something, I'm looking for a completely different story the next time. The more original a story is, the better. The synopsis of "The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster" sounded interesting to me and definitely off the beaten path, but when I opened this book, I was blown away by how unforgettable the storyline was. This boo...

4 1/2 STARSI finished this magical book last week and my mind keeps going back to the characters and story line. The characters were so endearing to me. They are quirky, flawed, and carrying their baggage in their own way. Like a slowly opening flower, their story and depth of character come out petal by petal. I could tell early on that their stories would come to be interconnected in special ways.One day Annabelle Aster looks out her back door in modern San Francisco and sees what turns out to...

Read on the WondrousBooks blog. What happened with this book is simple: It didn't tickle my fancy. I can't pinpoint the exact reason for it and because of that I'd assume that it was not so much as one thing, as it was all of the little things that I didn't particularly like.The good part of The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster is that it has a good idea behind it. Who doesn't love time travel, paradoxes and magic?Unless - after the author gets his great idea, he or she fails to deliver. Becaus...

I was lucky enough to get an ARC/be asked to blurb this one...my thoughts:
Readers will adore this heartfelt, one-of-a-kind debut and the charming, quirky characters tramping through its pages. Written in sly, quick-witted prose and filled with soul, THE LEMONCHOLY LIFE OF ANNIE ASTER will have you thinking, smiling, and wondering if you can find your own magic door.

Well, I do love my own book! :)

The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster starts with the eponymous Annie Aster opening her door, recently installed in her 1995 kitchen, and finding herself in an 1895 Kansas wheatfield. She promptly begins a pen-pal relationship with her spunky 1895 neighbor. As the story develops, Annie and her friend Christian begin to explore the history of the door, attempt to stop a murder, and find themselves dragged into a time-hopping adventure. I really, really wish I could have liked this book. I’m sorry, L...

To say that THE LEMONCHOLY LIFE OF ANNIE ASTER is a whip-sharp, zany adventure is an undeniable truth, but what made the ride so all-encompassing for me are Wilbanks’ thoroughly unique characters. Christian, a handsome, awkward stutterer with a heart of gold and an angel on his shoulder, elevated every page on which he appeared (which is many). I want an entire novel of Cap’n and her gang - the tough, little pickpocket who knew “every hidey-hole” in the city. Brazen yet conservative Annie with a...