Hello beautiful people! How are we doing this fine Tuesday? Me, I’m fine. I seem to finally be over being sick, which is wonderful. The way things were going I thought I would be sick forever. Seriously. I’m still having some lingering COVID fog, but it is nowhere near as bad as it was when I was sick. Thank goodness. I can read again!
Speaking of reading, this weeks Top Ten Tuesday is all about authors you discovered in 2021. I read quite a few books by new to me authors, so I figured I could give this a shot!
Brendan P Bellacourt
This isn’t the author’s debut novel, as it’s a nom de plume and he normally writes under the name Bradley Beaulieu. I absolutely loved this book. And the more I think about it, the more I think this is one of my favorite books of last year. I loved the writing and the way he left me guessing all the way until the very end.
Hannah Whitten
This is a debut novel for this author, so I discovered her along with everyone else. She wrote a rich and wonderful world that was full of compelling characters. Yes, I have preordered the second book.
Gail Carriger
This new to me author was such a fun read. I enjoyed watching this world unfold. I haven’t finished the series yet, I got distracted by other books, it happens with me. But I have purchased this full series.
TJ Klune
I read two TJ Klune books this year and fell in love with his writing style. It made me curious to see if his other books are just as well done. I’m hoping to read more by him in the future.
Matt Haig
This book was a great read for me. The concept and the writing style felt really fresh. I really loved the character growth. It just spoke to me. Another book that makes me want to read more by the author.
Erin Sterling
This is author Rachel Hawkins’s pen name. I’ve never read anything else by her, but some of her books do sound interesting. Not sure if I will pick them up, but I did really enjoy the writing and the story of The Ex Hex.
Garth Nix
This colorful romp around London was exactly the book I needed at the time. It entranced me with its world-building and colorful characters.
Jenny Colgan
The Christmas Bookshop was a surprise hit for me last year. I had never heard of this author before, and I now hope to read more by her. Her characters were unexpectedly nuanced and complex. I loved the setting. And apparently, I’m a sucker for a Christmas book.
Lana Harper
Another pen name, this time for YA author Lana Popovic. I really enjoy the world and characters the author created. The plot was also pretty fantastic too. I might have pre-ordered the sequel already. Maybe.
Maggie Knox
Maggie Knox is the name of the writing duo Karma Brown and Marissa Stapley. This also happens to be their debut novel, and I enjoyed the heck out of it. It was a perfect holiday read and I can’t wait to see what they do next!
Turns out I read a lot of books by authors I already knew in 2021. I’m going to make an effort to read more new to me authors in 2022. I have quite a few of them that I want to pick up!
Did you pick up any of these authors for the first time this year?
Thank you to NetGalley and Tordotcom for this copy of the Servant Mage by Kate Elliott. As always, I will provide you with an honest review.
They choose their laws to secure their power.
Fellian is a Lamplighter, able to provide illumination through magic. A group of rebel Monarchists free her from indentured servitude and take her on a journey to rescue trapped compatriots from an underground complex of mines.
Along the way they get caught up in a conspiracy to kill the latest royal child and wipe out the Monarchist movement for good.
But Fellian has more than just her Lamplighting skills up her sleeve…
I’m going to start this review off by saying that I have a soft spot for Kate Elliot. The Crown of Stars Series is some great reading if I do say so myself. That being said this book was not my favorite.
Fellian is a servant mage. A sort of indentured servant who is taken from her family and only taught the most basic of magic skills so as to be of use to the person who purchases her for work. When we first meet Fellian, she is engaged in an illegal activity, teaching someone how to read. When she is approached by those who appear to be soldiers, she knows her life will never be the same.
Fellian is swept away on an adventure knowing nothing about what’s happening, as a result, you as a reader know nothing about what’s going on as well. We learn as Fellian learns. And I found myself as frustrated as Fellian was by the little bits and pieces that she was being fed.
The other characters weren’t particularly compelling. This could be partly because of how Fellian sees them, but I feel they might have been more interesting if I felt any of the urgency towards saving them that she did.
I did find the magic system fascinating. It is elemental based, but not the same way we have seen in the past. For example, Fellian is a fire mage, she can create Lamps of light to guide the way, and Water mages can change their appearance. I enjoyed that each mage had a part to play, but I wish the gifts they possessed had been explored a little more.
Part of my issue with this book is because it is a novella. I found the plot to be interesting, but it could have benefited from some more fleshed-out world-building. What we do see of the world is intriguing, but not enough to hold my attention (full disclosure, I had COVID and COVID fog is real, but that wasn’t the full issue) for very long.
The ending was interesting. It was predictable, but not, all at the same time. You knew what was going to happen, but the reasons why were left a mystery until the very end.
After all was said and done, I had to give this book two stars.
Hello beautiful people! It’s the end of another week! I’ve actually started to feel like myself again, which is great. I’m not 100% yet, and that’s okay. I just have to remember not to push myself so hard. I’m bad at that.
What I Read This Week
Yeah, being sick and not being able to read is the worst. The cloud is clearing though, so hopefully I’ll be back to normal shortly.
Instagram Posts
I post what I read, and since I didn’t read anything, I didn’t post anything. I’ll get back to it, I promise!
Blog Posts
I managed to get four blog posts up this week. I should be back to my usual five next week.
Tuesday is one of my favorite blogging days. I really enjoy the challenge that Top Ten Tuesday brings. This week was 2021 new releases I was excited to read but didn’t.
Wednesday was the traditional WWW Wednesday post, and given how I haven’t finished a book this week, it’s not very exciting.
Thursday was a super long post of all the new releases this month. I’m sure there are more that I didn’t list, but I listed 22 of them so…
Friday was, naturally, First Lines Friday. It’s a book that has been on my TBR for a while.
In Other News
I’m trying to decide the best way to buy this book. I want it, and I want to support the author, but not if HE gets a cut of the profits. If you know, you know.
I’m also actively trying to find a therapist. This was hard pre-COVID times. It’s harder now, as a lot of doctors simply aren’t taking on new patients due to the recent increase in need. Mental health is important, and my current need is not pressing. It’s just that I told myself I would take better care of my mental health this year. Alas, no joy.
And that’s my weekly round-up for this week! How did your week go?
First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author, or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?
Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
Finally… reveal the book!
Hello beautiful peoples! Yesterday was an exciting day in my house! We got a new TV! This is only because the old one died. It made a popping sound, then the screen went dark, then nothing. The remote wouldn’t even turn it off. Alas poor TV, we knew ye well. The new one is now safely mounted on the wall and has a very nice picture. The Hubs spent quite a lot of time setting it up. My TV is smarter than I am.
Speaking of things that are smarter than me, I picked a book for First Lines Friday that has been on my TBR for a while. I bought it in an indie bookshop years ago and just never picked it up. A friend of mine told me it a was great read, so I’m hoping to get to it soon.
The Lines
Much later, Nora would learn magic for dissolving glue or killing vermin swiftly and painlessly or barring mice from the house altogether, but that morning-the last normal morning, she later thought of it-as she padded into the kitchen in search of coffee, she was horribly at a loss when she saw the small brown mouse wriggling on the glue trap in front of the sink.
Intrigued?
The Thinking Woman’s Guide to Real Magic by Emily Croy Barker
Nora Fischer’s dissertation is stalled and her boyfriend is about to marry another woman. During a miserable weekend at a friend’s wedding, Nora wanders off and walks through a portal into a different world where she’s transformed from a drab grad student into a stunning beauty. Before long, she has a set of glamorous new friends and her romance with gorgeous, masterful Raclin is heating up. It’s almost too good to be true.
Then the elegant veneer shatters. Nora’s new fantasy world turns darker, a fairy tale gone incredibly wrong. Making it here will take skills Nora never learned in graduate school. Her only real ally—and a reluctant one at that—is the magician Aruendiel, a grim, reclusive figure with a biting tongue and a shrouded past. And it will take her becoming Aruendiel’s student—and learning magic herself—to survive. When a passage home finally opens, Nora must weigh her “real life” against the dangerous power of love and magic.
Of course, if you know anything about me, you know I picked this book up because it was blurbed by Deborah Harkness. When I saw that on the cover, I grabbed it. Does this mean it was a total cover buy for me, or a blurb buy? Is there such thing as a blurb buy? Why am I asking such deep questions on a Friday y’all?
Well, I’m off to have a cup of tea and watch something fun on that new TV. I still have to finish setting some of it up!
Hello beautiful people! It’s WWW Wednesday! The day when we answer the three W’s: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next? It’s hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words but was previously hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm.
What are you currently reading?
The Servant Mage by Kate Elliot
I started this novella the other day and it’s taken me a while to read through it. That’s no fault of the book. That’s all on me. Cause COVID fog. I’m hoping to have this finished in time to have a review up for it next week.
What did you recently finish reading?
But for real, the COVID fog got the best of me here recently. Plus I had a book return to the library before I actually finished it. So there is no finished book for the last week. These things happen. We embrace them and move forward and hope the COVID fog goes about its business and leaves me alone!
What do you think you’ll read next?
A Letter to Three Witches by Elizabeth Bass
I got this one through NetGalley for review, so I do need to read that. It also helps that it sounds so cute! And apparently, I’m a sucker for those genre romances that sound cute. This is a new development in my life, and I have to say, I’m not mad about it.
I’ll try not to complain about COVID fog too much. It’s the most annoying of all my symptoms as it prohibits my ability to read all the things! I’m hoping to have at least one book read by the end of the week. Wish me luck!
Well hello, beautiful peoples! I’m back from my quarantine! I have not fully recovered from my bout of illness, but we followed all of the doctor’s instructions and the Hubs never got sick! Huzzah!
Alas, I did have the COVID fog, so I wasn’t able to do much reading like I had hoped. That’s life, I guess.
But that does lead me to today’s Top Ten Tuesday! This is not only a list of books from last year, it’s also a list of books I’m hoping to get to this year.
The Mask Of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick- January 19, 2021
FORTUNE FAVORS THE BOLD. MAGIC FAVORS THE LIARS.
Ren is a liar and a thief, a pattern-reader and a daughter of no clan. Raised in the slums of Nadežra, she fled that world to save her sister. Now, she has returned with one goal: to trick her way into a noble house, securing her fortune and her sister’s future.
But in the city of dreams, her masquerade is just one of many. Enigmatic crime lord Derossi Vargo, stony captain of the guard Grey Serrado, dashing heir Leato Traementis, and the legendary vigilante known as the Rook all have secrets that could unravel her own.
And as corrupt nightmare magic begins to weave its way through the city of dreams, the poisonous feuds of its aristocrats and the shadowy dangers of its impoverished underbelly become tangled—with Ren at their heart.
Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell- February 2, 2021
Prince Kiem, a famously disappointing minor royal and the Emperor’s least favorite grandchild, has been called upon to be useful for once. He’s commanded to fulfill an obligation of marriage to the representative of the Empire’s newest and most rebellious vassal planet. His future husband, Count Jainan, is a widower and murder suspect.
Neither wants to be wed, but with a conspiracy unfolding around them and the fate of the empire at stake they will have to navigate the thorns and barbs of court intrigue, the machinations of war, and the long shadows of Jainan’s past, and they’ll have to do it together.
So begins a legendary love story amid the stars.
The Guilded Ones by Namia Forna-February 9, 2021
Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in fear and anticipation of the blood ceremony that will determine whether she will become a member of her village. Already different from everyone else because of her unnatural intuition, Deka prays for red blood so she can finally feel like she belongs.
But on the day of the ceremony, her blood runs gold, the color of impurity–and Deka knows she will face a consequence worse than death.
Then a mysterious woman comes to her with a choice: stay in the village and submit to her fate, or leave to fight for the emperor in an army of girls just like her. They are called alaki–near-immortals with rare gifts. And they are the only ones who can stop the empire’s greatest threat.
Knowing the dangers that lie ahead yet yearning for acceptance, Deka decides to leave the only life she’sever known. But as she journeys to the capital to train for the biggest battle of her life, she will discover that the great walled city holds many surprises. Nothing and no one are quite what they seem to be–not even Deka herself.
The Absolute Book by Elizabeth Knox-February 9, 2021
Taryn Cornick believes that the past–her sister’s violent death, and her own ill-conceived revenge–is behind her, and she can get on with her life. She has written a successful book about the things that threaten libraries: insects, damp, light, fire, carelessness and uncaring . . . but not all of the attention it brings her is good.
A policeman, Jacob Berger, questions her about a cold case. Then there are questions about a fire in the library at her grandparents’ house and an ancient scroll box known as the Firestarter, as well as threatening phone calls and a mysterious illness. Finally a shadowy young man named Shift appears, forcing Taryn and Jacob toward a reckoning felt in more than one world.
Malice by Heather Walter-April 13, 2021
Once upon a time, there was a wicked fairy who, in an act of vengeance, cursed a line of princesses to die. A curse that could only be broken by true love’s kiss.
You’ve heard this before, haven’t you? The handsome prince. The happily ever after.
Utter nonsense.
Let me tell you, no one in Briar actually cares about what happens to its princesses. Not the way they careabout their jewels and elaborate parties and charm-granting elixirs. I thought I didn’t care, either.
Until I met her.
Princess Aurora. The last heir to Briar’s throne. Kind. Gracious. The future queen her realm needs. One who isn’t bothered that I am Alyce, the Dark Grace, abhorred and feared for the mysterious dark magic that runs in my veins. Humiliated and shamed by the same nobles who pay me to bottle hexes and then brand me a monster. Aurora says I should be proud of my gifts. That she . . . cares for me. Even though a power like mine was responsible for her curse.
But with less than a year until that curse will kill her, any future I might see with Aurora is swiftlydisintegrating—and she can’t stand to kiss yet another insipid prince. I want to help her. If my power began her curse, perhaps it’s what can lift it. Perhaps together we could forge a new world.
Nonsense again. Because we all know how this story ends, don’t we? Aurora is the beautiful princess. And I—
I am the villain.
Son of the Storm by Suyi Davies Okungbowa-May 11 2021
IN THIS WORLD, THERE IS NO DESTINY BUT THE ONE YOU MAKE.
In the ancient city of Bassa, Danso is a clever scholar on the cusp of achieving greatness—except he doesn’t want it. Instead, he prefers to chase forbidden stories about what lies outside the city walls. The Bassai elite claim there is nothing of interest. The city’s immigrants are sworn to secrecy.
But when Danso stumbles across a warrior wielding magic that shouldn’t exist, he’s put on a collision course with Bassa’s darkest secrets. Drawn into the city’s hidden history, he sets out on a journey beyond its borders. And the chaos left in the wake of his discovery threatens to destroy the empire.
Beyond by Mercedes Lackey-June 15, 2021
Within the Eastern Empire, Duke Kordas Valdemar rules a tiny, bucolic Duchy that focuses mostly on horse breeding. Anticipating the day when the Empire’s exploitative and militant leaders would not be content to leave them alone, Korda’s father set out to gather magicians in the hopes of one day finding a way to escape and protect the people of the Duchy from tyranny.
Kordas has lived his life looking over his shoulder. The signs in the Empire are increasingly dire. Under the direction of the Emperor, mages have begun to harness the power of dark magics, including blood magic,the powers of the Abyssal Planes, and the binding and “milking” of Elemental creatures.
But then one of the Duchy’s mages has a breakthrough. There is a way to place a Gate at a distance so far from the Empire that it is unlikely the Emperor can find or follow them as they evacuate everyone that is willing to leave.
But time is running out, and Kordas has been summoned to the Emperor’s Court.
Can his reputation as a country bumpkin and his acting skills buy him and his people the time they need to flee? Or will the Emperor lose patience, invade to strip Valdemar of everything of worth, and send its conscripted people into the front lines of the Imperial wars?
Half Sick of Shadows by Laura Sebastian-July 6, 2021
Everyone knows the legend. Of Arthur, destined to be a king. Of the beautiful Guinevere, who will betray him with his most loyal knight, Lancelot. Of the bitter sorceress, Morgana, who will turn against them all. But Elaine alone carries the burden of knowing what is to come–for Elaine of Shalott is cursed to see the future.
On the mystical isle of Avalon, Elaine runs free and learns of the ancient prophecies surrounding her and her friends–countless possibilities, almost all of them tragic.
When their future comes to claim them, Elaine, Guinevere, Lancelot, and Morgana accompany Arthur to take his throne in stifling Camelot, where magic is outlawed, the rules of society chain them, and enemies are everywhere. Yet the most dangerous threats may come from within their own circle.
As visions are fulfilled and an inevitable fate closes in, Elaine must decide how far she will go to change destiny–and what she is willing to sacrifice along the way.
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao- September 21, 2021
The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn’t matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.
When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it’s to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister’s death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.
To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way—and stop more girls from being sacrificed.
Fanfiction by Brent Spiner-October 5, 2021
Set in 1991, just as Star Trek: The Next Generation has rocketed the cast to global fame, the young and impressionable actor Brent Spiner receives a mysterious package and a series of disturbing letters, that take him on a terrifying and bizarre journey that enlists Paramount Security, the LAPD, and even the FBI in putting a stop to the danger that has his life and career hanging in the balance.
Featuring a cast of characters from Patrick Stewart to Levar Burton to Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, to some completely imagined, this is the fictional autobiography that takes readers into the life of Brent Spiner, and tells an amazing tale about the trappings of celebrity and the fear he has carried with him his entire life.
I actually got each of these books with the full intention of reading them last year, but that didn’t happen. I’m hoping with my focus being put on my TBR backlog this year that I’ll be able to get to most, if not all of them. I do have a year, so I should be good. But I’m me, and TBR’s never go quite as planned.
Well hello, beautiful people! I hope you had a wonderful week! Mine has been…interesting, to say the least. As a result, my reading slowed down considerably this week. I started off so strong! I started and finished a novella and then finished another book I had started in December. I also started a new book!
What I Read This Week!
Once More Upon a Time by Roshani Chokshi
Once More Upon A Time was a lighthearted fairy tale/adventure novella about finding love and overcoming toxic families. I found myself laughing at the antics in this book more than I thought, and I thoroughly enjoyed the character interactions. And the loves story was first-rate. If you have Audible and don’t want to pick up the book, this was an Audible original back in 2020 that made it to print.
The Santa Suit by Mary Kay Andrews
This heartwarming tale is all about a woman who moves to a small town and finds a Santa suit in her new house. In the pockets, she finds a note and she sets out on a quest to find out who wrote the note. It’s such a sweet tale. I saw the ending coming a mile away, but that didn’t diminish my enjoyment of it at all. I’m just sorry it took me so long to finish it, as it was very much the perfect holiday read.
Instagram Posts
Most of my followers on Instagram are family (hi guys!), and they don’t often like my books posts. So go give my very sporadically posted account a try!
This last one got posted just this morning! I still don’t know what I’m doing on Bookstagram, but I have fun doing it.
Blog Posts
I posted five blog posts. Spoiler alert, that’s how many I usually post. I don’t have enough time to write more than that. And I need a day off for myself to practice self-care.
I started the week off with my Christmas Book Haul. I don’t know why, but of all the books I picked up (not the books I was given), I am most excited about The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki.
Tuesday saw me post the newest installment of Top Ten Tuesday. It was all about the most anticipated new releases in the first half of 2022. This was also my most liked post for the week!
WWW Wednesday was up next. That’s the meme where you talk all about what you are reading that week, among other things.
Thursday was all about the books I read in December.
Friday is all about First Lines Friday. This week’s selection is a book club pick!
In Other News
I’ve had an office since we moved into this house, but have very rarely used it, as I didn’t like the chair I had. I finally got a new desk chair.
This Captain Marvel gaming chair also came with lumbar support and headrest, but I don’t need those. You can find the chair here. They also make Deadpool, Captain American, Iron Man, Black Panther, and Spider-man chairs. And if you want something non-Marvel, they make other styles and colors too. It’s a very, very comfy chair, and I highly recommend it. Also yes, I am a big nerd.
A Discovery of Witches returns to Sundance Now today with a new episode every week for the next 7 weeks! I don’t watch a lot of TV, so I make an exception for this show. I’m so excited! More exclamation points! If you haven’t heard me rave about this book series in the past, I wrote a review on it here.
Well, I hope you’ve had fun with the new format. I’ll probably play around with it a little bit until I find something I’m super happy with. But I kind of like this one.
First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author, or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?
Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
Finally… reveal the book!
Well hello, beautiful people! It’s Friday! Huzzah! And I made new graphics because, quite frankly, I didn’t like the others I had made. That’s what happens when you are in a rush and don’t actually want to be creative.
What? It happens!
But today is First Lines Friday! It’s that day of the week when I pick some lines from a book and you try to guess what book they come from!
The Lines:
When the multiverse was confirmed, the spiritual and scientific communities both counted it as evidence of their validity.
The scientists said, Look, we told you there were parallel universes.
And the spiritual said, See, we’ve always known there was more than one life.
Intrigued?
The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson
Multiverse travel is finally possible, but there’s just one catch: No one can visit a world where their counterpart is still alive. Enter Cara, whose parallel selves happen to be exceptionally good at dying—from disease, turf wars, or vendettas they couldn’t outrun. Cara’s life has been cut short on 372 worlds in total.
On this dystopian Earth, however, Cara has survived. Identified as an outlier and therefore a perfect candidate for multiverse travel, Cara is plucked from the dirt of the wastelands. Now what once made her marginalized has finally become an unexpected source of power. She has a nice apartment on the lower levels of the wealthy and walled-off Wiley City. She works—and shamelessly flirts—with her enticing yet aloof handler, Dell, as the two women collect off-world data for the Eldridge Institute. She even occasionally leaves the city to visit her family in the wastes, though she struggles to feel at home in either place. So long as she can keep her head down and avoid trouble, Cara is on a sure path to citizenship and security.
But trouble finds Cara when one of her eight remaining doppelgängers dies under mysterious circumstances, plunging her into a new world with an old secret. What she discovers will connect her past and her future in ways she could have never imagined—and reveal her own role in a plot that endangers not just her world but the entire multiverse.
This has been on my TBR forever, but one of my book clubs is reading it this month. I’m assuming I’ll get to it before the actual meeting. A friend of mine read it and said it was worth reading, so I have high hopes!
Hello beautiful people! I hope you are having a wonderful day so far. I’m doing pretty well, except for the weather. It either wants to be 19 degrees or 55 degrees outside. It’s great. Really great. Love it. So much.
Speaking of cold, I read 4 books, for a total of 1,206 pages, in December. It’s a small amount compared to months past, but I read, and that’s all that matters.
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
A scientist and gentleman inventor in industrialized Victorian England claims to have irrefutable proof that time is not simply a concept—it’s a whole other dimension. When he reveals the prototype of a time-traveling machine to his peers, he’s met with skepticism at first . . . until he returns one week later, disheveled, bloody, and with a fantastic story to tell.
It’s classic sci-fi and I can see it absolutely entrancing people at the time it was written. That being said, the only female character was of a simple-minded race of people and that didn’t really sit well with me, alas the book is a product of its time. For that, I had to give the book 3 stars.
The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan
Laid off from her department store job, Carmen has perilously little cash and few options. The prospect of spending Christmas with her perfect sister Sofia, in Sofia’s perfect house with her perfect children and her perfectly ordered yuppie life does not appeal.
Frankly, Sofia doesn’t exactly want her prickly sister Carmen there either. But Sofia has yet another baby on the way, a mother desperate to see her daughters get along, and a client who needs help revitalizing his shabby old bookshop. So Carmen moves in and takes the job.
Thrown rather suddenly into the inner workings of Mr. McCredie’s ancient bookshop on the picturesque streets of historic Edinburgh, Carmen is intrigued despite herself. The store is dusty and disorganized but undeniably charming. Can she breathe some new life into it in time for Christmas shopping? What will happen when a famous and charismatic author takes a sudden interest in the bookshop—and Carmen? And will the Christmas spirit be enough to help heal her fractured family?
I wrote a whole review of this book. I really liked it. It was a nice cozy read that really warmed my heart. Although I did call who she was going to end up with when we first met him, I really do read too many books. I gave it 4 stars.
Absynthe by Brenden P. Bellacourt
Liam Mulcahey, a reclusive, shell-shocked veteran, remembers little of the Great War. Ten years later, when he is caught in a brutal attack on a Chicago speakeasy, Liam is saved by Grace, an alluring heiress who’s able to cast illusions. Though the attack appears to have been committed by the hated Uprising, Grace believes it was orchestrated by Leland De Pere–Liam’s former commander and the current President of the United States.
Meeting Grace unearths long-buried memories. Liam’s former squad, the Devil’s Henchmen, was given a serum to allow telepathic communication, transforming them into a unified killing machine. With Grace’s help, Liam begins to regain his abilities, but when De Pere learns of it, he orders his militia to eliminate Liam at any cost.
But Liam’s abilities are expanding quickly. When Liam turns the tables and digs deeper into De Pere’s plans, he discovers a terrible secret. The same experiment that granted Liam’s abilities was bent toward darker purposes. Liam must navigate both his enemies and supposed allies to stop the President’s nefarious plans before they’re unleashed on the world. And Grace is hiding secrets of her own, secrets that could prove every bit as dangerous as the President’s.
I wrote a review for this book as well. I haven’t seen a lot of people talk about it, and it was so very, very good. It kept me guessing right up until the very end. This is no small feat, as I thought I had the twist figured out a few chapters in. I was wrong. I ended up giving this book 5 stars.
The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox
When chef Charlie Goodwin gets hit on the head on the L.A. set of her reality baking show, she loses a lot more than consciousness; she also loses her ability to taste and smell—both critical to her success as a show judge. Meanwhile, Charlie’s identical twin, Cass, is frantically trying to hold her own life together back in their quaint mountain hometown while running the family’s bustling bakery and dealing with her ex, who won’t get the memo that they’re over.
With only days until Christmas, a desperate Charlie asks Cass to do something they haven’t done since they were kids: switch places. Looking for her own escape from reality, Cass agrees. But temporarily trading lives proves more complicated than they imagined, especially when rugged firefighter Jake Greenman and gorgeous physician assistant Miguel Rodriguez are thrown into the mix. Will the twins’ identity swap be a recipe for disaster, or does it have all the right ingredients for getting their lives back on track?
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a fun read, a little predictable, but still fun. If you are looking for a good holiday book for next year, this one will do. 4 stars!
And hey, look at that! Not a DNF in sight! It’s a rare month when that doesn’t happen. I’m pretty pleased with myself.
And now for my favorite part! The stats!
Mysterious, lighthearted, and adventurous all tied for first place with 2 books each!
It was a medium-paced month with one book being faster-paced.
When you read four books the pie charts come out so neat and orderly. Only one book is under 300 pages.
In an unusual twist, I read no fantasy this month! None, nada, zip zilch! It feels weird. But I’ll take it.
Does it seem odd to anyone else that I have no 1 star ratings this month? No? Just me? Okay then.
December was hectic. You can see when I had the most time to devote to reading, and it wasn’t as much as I would have hoped. It happens. We read when we can.
Hello beautiful people! It’s WWW Wednesday! That most auspicious of days when we answer the three W’s: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next? It’s hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words but was previously hosted by MizB atA Daily Rhythm.
And how are you doing today? Me, I’m doing alright. Woke up to my cat’s screaming…again. She used to let me sleep, now she complains if I’m not up to pet her at an hour she deems appropriate. More time for doing things around the house I guess. Or I could just watch Encanto for the fiftieth time. It’ll probably be that last one because that movie is pretty awesome.
What are you currently reading?
How to Stop Time by Matt Haig
Alright, so technically this is a bit of a cheat as I haven’t started it yet. I finished my latest book last night before I went to bed and I need something new to read. This is a library hold through the Libby app so I have to give that a read. I was planning on starting it today anyway. And a story about immortals? I’ll read that.
The Santa Suit by Mary Kay Andrews
I was hoping to be able to finish this as an audiobook because I like the narrator, I just don’t have the time to listen to it right now. I do have time to read it though, so I’ll be finishing the rest of the book through its physical counterpart. Also, yes, I know the holiday season is over. I started this before Christmas and just didn’t have time to finish it.
What did you recently finish reading?
Once More Upon a Time by Roshani Chokshi
This cute story is about a prince and a princess who fall in love, only for the princess to become ill and have a witch heal her. The price? Their love for each other. And that’s only the beginning of this novella. This is a story about rediscovering love through living life, and I loved it. It’s also about overcoming toxic families, because wow.
What do you think you’ll read next?
Servant Mage by Kate Elliot
I got approved for this novella through NetGalley and am so excited to read and review it for you. Magic and rebellion and assassination plots! It sounds like so much fun! I don’t know how the author is going to squeeze all of that into a 169 page book!
I still can’t believe I haven’t finished that Christmas book. Today my friends! Today!
Lauren Corcur 