Tag: book review

The Autobiography of Santa Claus – A Book Review

Lauren8 Comments

So I’m just gonna say it: This book is freaking adorable.

It really, truly is.

It follows the story of Santa Claus, from his humble beginnings as Nickolas the priest, to his later life as Father Christmas. It covers the course of about 1700 years so we get to see some of human history through his eyes. Which is fascinating!

His adventures take you all over Christendom, as Nickolas is a priest after all. And Santa does only go where the legend of Santa spreads. You watch as he encounters historical figures (most real, one or two not so much), places, and events. You see and experience these things through his eyes.

Now the book does shy away from some of the harsher realities that take place but also embraces others. Like the persecution of early Christians by the Roman empire. It’s not graphic though.

It’s very much a work of fiction but would stand up to some of the autobiographies I have read. It reads very much like a true story, and you find yourself getting swept up into the world of Saint Nickolas as a result.

I loved the way quiet way Nickolas moved through this world, just wanting to give gifts to those less fortunate than he. He was so determined to remain anonymous that he was well and truly shocked when gifts kept being given in his name.

His helpers are a ragtag bunch of interesting historical figures. From former slaves to warlords to priests to writers and many more! To give just one of them away would take the fun out of finding out for yourself.

You can tell Jeff Guinn, the author really did his research on various topics, religious beliefs, and peoples. He also happens to have a reference list in the back of the book just in case you wanted to doubt that he put in any research time on this book.

Cause he did.

And this book reads like a love letter to Santa Claus as a result.

To sum up, I truly loved this book. I thought it was well written and well researched. The characters were bright and vibrant. The world was colorful. The pacing was consistent throughout, which was nice. I can’t say it enough, I loved this book! 5 out of 5 stars.

What I Read in November 2020

Lauren1 Comment

Well, here is my list of books I read this month. You’ll notice it’s quite short. It took me days to get through each book. Even the ones I loved.

It just wasn’t a good reading month for me.

I blame TicTok.

Also, how cool is Storygraph? I found out about it through Kristin Kraves Books. Much love to her for sharing this cool site with everyone.

So here, thanks to Storygraph, are my rather miserable stats for the month.

I love that I like to read adventurous books. Also, challenging books. And the one book I did not finish was challenging, for sure. I mean, I know that’s not what Storygraph means, but still, challenging.

I am really surprised with the pacing here, mostly because I don’t always pay as close attention to pacing as I should.

I’m assuming this breakdown will change in months I read more books. I read a variety of page lengths. Keeps ya sharp.

This website separates books into their different genres for you, and the books can have more than one genre, so that explains, while I read 5 books, the stats say I read 7. Even I got confused there for a minute.

And without further ado, here are the books I read this month!

Cursed by Thomas Wheeler, art by Frank Miller

This is the story of Nimue and the legendary sword of power. I loved this YA story. The only thing I wasn’t a fan of were the black and white illustrations. Sorry Frank. I gave this book 5 stars!

The Road Not Taken by Susan Rubin

The story of a widow who travels the space time continuum with a alien race known only as the Lost. I’m not gonna lie, I would barely say I read this book. I made it only 25 pages in before the writing style and easy acceptance of certain things just drove me bonkers and I quit. 1 out of 5 stars.

Old Man’s War by John Scalzi

When you turn 75 you are eligible to join the Colonial Defense Forces, and that’s just what John Perry does after visiting his wife’s grave for the last time. I read this book for book club #2 and I didn’t expect to enjoy it (or laugh) as much as I did. 4 out of 5 stars.

The Postmortal by Drew Magary

John Ferrell recieved “The Cure”, which means old age won’t kill him. Everything else still can. This was one of the most interesting books I read this year. It covers the social, economical, and environmental impact of what would happen if humanity all of a sudden never aged. I’m still thinking about this book days after I read it. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars.

The Defiant Heir by Melissa Caruso

Amelia and her mage-marked Falcon, Zaria, must head behind enemy lines into the kingdom of Vaskandar as they prepare for war. I love this series. I find the writing compelling and the magic system to be very unique. And for someone who doesn’t always like hugely political plots, I don’t mind them in this book. 4 out of 5 stars.

November 2020 Round Up

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Well hello. How are you? Did you have a good Turkey Day? Was your Black Friday shopping fruitful? I hope you got all the good deals.

I don’t really do Black Friday shopping unless its online from my couch. Cyber Monday is my jam.

What I Read in October 2020: We have to put those monthly qualifiers on everything, don’t we? This post was, obviously, a list of everything I read in October.

Birthday or October 2020 Book Haul: This is exactly what it says on the tin. A list of all the books I bought during my birthday month!

What to Read-My November TBR: This is my TBR for November! What a short list!

November 2020 New Releases I Want!: My list of new releases for November that I, or people that live in my house, want.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue-A Book Review: Spoiler alert, I liked this book. A lot. You can find the full review here.

Bookish Gifts to Give This Holiday Season: I complied a list of some of my favorite book related gifts to give! Because who wouldn’t want a candle that smells like a bookstore?

The Book Nook: What a fun little piece of art the book nook is. I loved finding this list of book nooks for you!

100th Blog Post: I put together a list of some of my favorite blog posts from the last 99 posts.

Happy Thanksgiving: I wrote a very, very short Thanksgiving day post.

This was a good month for blog posts it seems, except for book reviews. I need to do more of those.

How was your November?

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue-A Book Review

Lauren4 Comments

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab.

France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever—and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.

Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.

I had heard people describing this book as their new favorite. That’s a lot to live up to. What if it was just mediocre? What if I found it to be terrible? What if it was so bad I had to DNF it? That’s a lot of “what if’s”. So, what did I think?

We see Addie’s life unfold in both the past and the present as the author chose to alternate between both. Addie was compelling when moving about the past figuring out how to navigate through the world right after her bargain was struck. She could have been a classic damsel in distress, but she manages to be smart when faced with trouble.

Addie in the present is lonely but has adapted to her situation. She is clever when it comes to knowing where to stay and how to feed herself. Not to mention clothing herself.

Luc is an fascinating villain. He is compelling and interesting. He is also very driven towards his goal.

Henry, as the only human who can remember Addie, is wonderful. He’s well written and interesting. He helps Addie really reconnect with the world while she does the same for him.

I found the world building was exquisitely done. The moments spent between the past and the present where brilliant.

The pacing was slow, but consistent. And I mean it when I say the pacing was slow. This is a slow read. Didn’t stop me from reading it in a day and a half though.

I don’t have anything negative to saw about this book, at all. In fact, I would go so far as to say that this is in my list of top ten favorite books. An enthusiastic 5 out of 5 stars.

Monthly Wrap Up October 2020

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Happy Halloween everyone!

If you can’t tell, I got a PicMonkey membership for editing photos. So what do I do? I made that. Go me.

I thought I would try this thing that other bloggers do which is to wrap up their month of blog posts! What do you think? Does it help in case you missed something?

Everything I Read in September 2020

This is exactly what it says on the tin, a wrap up of what I read in September.

What to Read-My October 2020 TBR

The TBR of all the books I wanted to read in October. I managed to read them all! Go me!

The Priory of the Orange Tree-A Book Review

Political intrigue meets dragons! You can see what I thought about it here.

A Birthday Away

The hubs and I spent our 40th birthday’s at a charming B&B. The Elm Creek Manor was very picturesque and the food was great!

A Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires-A Book Review

So my book club read this one this month. The story about a Book club that faces off against a vampire that has moved into the neighborhood? I loved it.

A Little Re-Organization Never Hurt Anybody

I redid the book shelves in our library. They needed a once over.

Cemetery Boys-A Book Review

A trans teenager just wants to prove to his family that he can be a brujo. Plus, ghosts! And queer romance! I loved it!

Anxiety and Book Reading

I admitted that reading makes me anxious. One book in particular set me off. But which one?

And there you have it, a complete wrap up of everything I posted in October! Have a Happy and Safe Halloween!

Cemetery Boys- A Book Review

Lauren5 Comments

Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him.

When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his true gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free.

However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school’s resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He’s determined to find out what happened and tie off some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.

So I just finished up Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas and wow. I was not disappointed.

Which is great.

Because right as I started reading this my ADD started acting up and you would have thought I had never read a book before. I couldn’t sit still. I would read twenty pages then I would put the book down only to come back to the book two hours later and get yet another twenty pages read. I finally got past that hump when there about a hundred pages left in the book. Thank goodness!

And please don’t let my inability to sit still and read lead you to believe this book is anything other than good. Because it’s very great. I couldn’t play Animal Crossing for very long either, and I play that for at least an hour every day.

I have no life. Cause Covid.

Back to the book!

I enjoyed the world the author created. And given that it is our world, it was pretty easy. But the picture they painted of the graveyard and Yadriel’s place in it (and the world at large) was wonderful.

The characters were rich and colorful. And I really felt for Yadriel on his journey to gain his family’s acceptance as a trans man. And Julian and Maritza are wonderful characters. I liked how alive Julian felt, you know, for a dead guy.

The magic system in this book is great. I really loved how the author used generational magic. It was such a large part of Yadriel’s journey in his struggle to be accepted.

I loved the plot, but I did have some problem with how certain things progressed here and there. I feel the book had some plot progression issues and that they kind of rushed us to the end of the story once we got there.

There were a few things I would tweak here and there, mostly to do with the writing style and the plot progression issues. And that’s why this book gets 4 out of 5 stars.

What? It’s a great book! It also happens to be the authors debut novel and I’m really excited to see what they do next.

A Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires- A Book Review

Lauren4 Comments

Patricia Campbell’s life has never felt smaller. Her husband is a workaholic, her teenage kids have their own lives, her senile mother-in-law needs constant care, and she’s always a step behind on her endless to-do list. The only thing keeping her sane is her book club, a close-knit group of Charleston women united by their love of true crime. At these meetings they’re as likely to talk about the Manson family as they are about their own families.

One evening after book club, Patricia is viciously attacked by an elderly neighbor, bringing the neighbor’s handsome nephew, James Harris, into her life. James is well traveled and well read, and he makes Patricia feel things she hasn’t felt in years. But when children on the other side of town go missing, their deaths written off by local police, Patricia has reason to believe James Harris is more of a Bundy than a Brad Pitt. The real problem? James is a monster of a different kind—and Patricia has already invited him in. 

Little by little, James will insinuate himself into Patricia’s life and try to take everything she took for granted—including the book club—but she won’t surrender without a fight in this blood-soaked tale of neighborly kindness gone wrong.

Holy cow. What a ride this book was.

I have to say, I was not expecting to enjoy that as much as I did. I mean, I had heard great things about this book, but that doesn’t always mean a book is good.

But this book was great. I mean really. I couldn’t put it down.

Except I did put it down because I didn’t want it to end. Anyone else do that?

There are some trigger warnings for this book, so be aware of that. A hazard for any vampire book these days it seems.

The characters where great. I mean really, the author does a great job of painting Patricia as a woman who is is both uncovering the truth and seemingly coming unhinged to the people around her.

The world building was strong. Grady Hendrix’s world of the North Carolina suburbs in the 1990’s was really well done.

I loved our villain. James was wonderfully written. He was both charming and creepy all at the same time.

And that ending. Oh my goodness that ending! I loved it!

At the end of the day I had to give this book 5 out of 5 stars. How could I not? It was brilliant.

The Priory of the Orange Tree – A Book Review

Lauren2 Comments

The Priory of the Orange Tree was written by Samantha Shannon

As I sat down to write this review, which was right after finishing the book, I realized that I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about it.

The premise: The kingdom of Inys has stood for a thousand years, and at it’s heart lies it’s queen, Sabran. Now it’s time for Sabran to do her duty and conceive an heir, but evil lurks in the shadows. A plot to undo her kingdom is at hand, and an ancient Dragon awakens in the deep.

This 800 page fantasy book is 3 parts political drama 1 part fantasy story. With a little queer romance thrown in just for good measure. And I’m not the biggest fan of pure political drama if I’m going to be honest. To much real political drama in the world, thank you very much!

The world building is the book was excellently done. Like, superbly done. The author paints a chaotic landscape in fear of the apocalypse to come.

The character building was well done. Sabran, Ead, Margret, Tané, Loth, Nicklays, and all the rest are very well fleshed out with strong backstories. They all have growth, if not all in the ways that you expect (here’s looking at you unexpected queer relationships!).

The plot, well that, that is where I have some problems. Overall, it’s good. The story is engaging and the world is thriving. But I had some problems with the little bits. Some things happened too slowly, some too quickly. There was an awful lot of “if it could go wrong, it will go wrong” happening here. But again, overall, it’s a good plot, with plenty of momentum to pull the story forward.

On the whole, the book was pretty good. I gave it 3.75 out of 5 stars.

Everything I Read in September 2020

Lauren3 Comments

So I thought I’d give this a try, sharing with you everything I read this past month.

Everyone likes a nice recap, right?

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

A story about Kingdoms with huge religious differences and dragons. Not to mention positive queer representation. I ended up giving this book 3.75 out of 5 stars.

The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennett

The story of two black sisters from a small southern town. I found myself liking this book a lot more than I anticipated, which was nice given all that I had heard about it. I gave it 4.5 of of 5 stars, You can read my review here.

Shadows in Death by J.D. Robb

A deadly assassin is after Roarke and all he holds dear. Eve will protect Roarke with everything she has, even the full might of the NYPSD. I have been reading the In Death books for years and they are suffering a little from series fatigue. I gave this one 3 out of 5 stars. I’m gonna read the next one too!

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

A short novella about a robot that would rather watch it’s shows than perform it’s duties. What’s not to love? I gave this 4 out of 5 stars.

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

A modern exspansion of the Authurian legend and female lead who also happens to be a person of color? I’m down for that. I gave this book 3.75 out of 5 stars. You can read my review here.

Recursion by Blake Crouch

A mysterious pandemic is leaving people with memories of lives they have never lived. This book took me through it! I gave it 5 out of 5 stars!

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

All this villain wants to do is bring down his arch enemy, within the rules of course. Enter his new sidekick Nimona, who just wants to sow chaos. This graphic novel was so cute! I gave it 3.75 out of 5 stars.

The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart

A young girl looks to forbidden magics to save an Empire on the brink of revolution. I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. You can read my review here.

Kill the Farm Boy by Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne

In the kingdom of Pell you’ve never seen a Chosen One quite like this. I DNF’d this one. And I wanted so much to like it. Is no stars an option? No? I gave it 1 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.

The Refrigerator Monologues by Catherynne M. Valente, art by Annie Wu

A series of intertwined stories from hero/villain connected women who have been fridged (killed). If you love comic books this is for you! I gave this 4 out of 5 stars!

A Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

Patricia finds a vampire lurking in her small town and and the ladies of her book club are the only people she can trust. I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente

A band has to perform in a singing competition for the fate of humanity. In space! I wanted to like this book, as I loved The Refrigerator Monologues by this author, but alas, it was not to be. I DNF’d this frantic, hyperactive book. Sorry book. 1 out of 5 stars on Goodreads because you can’t give zero stars!

Fangs by Sarah Andersen

The adorable graphic novel about the love story between a werewolf and a vampire. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars.

Of everything I read this past month, I’d have to say I loved Recursion and A Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires the most. Obviously, I gave them both 5 stars!

What did you read in September?

The Bone Shard Daughter-A Book Review

Lauren1 Comment

The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart

The emperor’s reign has lasted for decades, his mastery of bone shard magic powering the animal-like constructs that maintain law and order. But now his rule is failing, and revolution is sweeping across the Empire’s many islands.
Lin is the emperor’s daughter and spends her days trapped in a palace of locked doors and dark secrets. When her father refuses to recognise her as heir to the throne, she vows to prove her worth by mastering the forbidden art of bone shard magic.
Yet such power carries a great cost, and when the revolution reaches the gates of the palace, Lin must decide how far she is willing to go to claim her birthright – and save her people.

Well, that surely was a read, wasn’t it. See I’m not so sure about the first half of this book. And the second half was good. But as a whole book, does it work?

I just don’t know. I’m so conflicted!

From the very beginning of this book I felt like I was jumping in at the middle of the story. Which as we all know from my review of Faith that it’s not my favorite thing to have happen in a story.

I also didn’t like how the character pov jumps happened by chapter. Don’t get me wrong, as the book went on I understood why the author chose the approach she did take on the time she spent with each character. It just really bothered me during the first half of the book. For example, she mentioned a character in the first 4 chapters that wasn’t heard from again until you were 30% of the way through the book.

Given all of my negative thoughts thus far, I very nearly DNF’d this book. But I decided to stick with it, and I’m glad that I did. I found myself really enjoying the second half of the book to the point where I was up until midnight reading because I had to know how it ended.

I will say the ending felt a little weird to me. I know its the first book in a series but I dislike when endings don’t actually end something. This felt like one big ole “see you next season”. I don’t particularly like when books try to be movies or tv series.

It irks me.

All that being said, I really enjoyed the bone shard magic system. It’s complex and, well, gross. I loved it.

The world the author created is of a nation on the brink of revolution, and it works, for the most part. I would be really interested to see how the world expands in future books in the series.

Pacing was slightly problematic for me, the first half of the book plodded along while the second half picked up speed. It’s part of my confusion at reading the book.

Character development was really well done. The authors characters really shine in this story. They were rich and complex, which is something other parts of the book were lacking.

As I don’t know that I’d pick up the next one in the series, I have to give this book 3 out of 5 stars.