Sphere by Michael Crichton

Title: Sphere

Author: Michael Crichton

Publisher: Ballantine Books 1987

Genre: Scifi

Pages: 371

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Seasonal - Leftover from 2025; Cover Lover - Does not include the words “and” or “the”

Where I Got It: Library

A classic thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Michael Crichton, Sphere is a bravura demonstration of what he does better than anyone: riveting storytelling that combines frighteningly plausible, cutting-edge science and technology with pulse-pounding action and serious chills. The gripping story of a group of American scientists sent to the ocean floor to investigate an alien ship, only to confront a terrifying discovery that defies imagination, Sphere is Crichton prime - truly masterful fiction from the ingenious mind that brought us Prey, State of Fear, and Jurassic Park.

It had been probably 20 years since I had read Sphere. I had decided that 2025 was the year to reread but never got around to it. Finally accomplished it this week. This is definitely in the top of Crichton books. It’s no Jurassic Park. or The Andromeda Strain, but it’s still a very solid scifi adventure story. Crichton is definitely an ideas man with his books. I don’t come for the characters or the dialogue. I come for the interesting questions he raises through adventure stories. In this one, we get an interesting take on reality and power with some great twists and turns. J and I rewatched the movie. till holds up!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Tourist Season by Brynne Weaver

Title: Tourist Season (Seasons of Carnage #1)

Author: Brynne Weaver

Publisher: Slowburn 2025

Genre: Horror Romance

Pages: 368

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Seasonal Winter - Romance; Romanceopoly - Secret Stacks Club (Plot Twist Pages); Cover Lover - Weapon from the board game Clue

Where I Got It: Library

Spice Rating: 6

Welcome to Cape Carnage! Visit Once, Stay Forever.

You can hide in the farthest reaches of the deepest hell, and I will still drag you out. Even the devil can’t save you from me.

Cape Carnage is a seaside town of colorful houses, quirky shops, and an unusually high body count. With tourists comes trouble, and Harper Starling won’t let anyone ruin her picture-perfect home. A skilled gardener with killer instincts, Harper protects her sanctuary—and her aging mentor with a fading memory—at any cost. Troublesome tourists don’t check out of Carnage. They compost beneath Harper’s award-winning flowerbeds.

But Nolan Rhodes isn’t your average tourist. Devilishly handsome, disarmingly charming, and skilled with a blade, Nolan is relentless in the pursuit of revenge. On every anniversary of the hit-and-run accident that fractured his life, Nolan slays another target. And he’s saved the best for last: the undeniably beautiful Harper Starling. The problem? Harper isn’t the monster he expected. And she won’t go down without a fight.

When an amateur true crime investigator comes to Cape Carnage on the trail of a long-lost serial killer, Harper and Nolan strike an uneasy truce. If Nolan helps Harper protect her town, she’ll keep quiet about his hunting habits . . . for now. But their alliance soon spirals into obsession, one that threatens to shatter every secret in Carnage—including their fragile love.

Not quite to the level of the Ruinous Love trilogy, but I did thoroughly enjoy this book full of more murder than spicy scenes. I enjoyed the strange cat and mouse game the leads played throughout the chapters. We get to see two very broken people deal with traumatic pasts and find romance along the way. The murder scenes were delightful. My favorite was the hands clapping. Morpheus the murder bird was a great addition to all of those scenes. I loved the interactions between Harper and Arthur. The few spicy scenes were very strong. But I felt that the chemistry between Nolan and Harper was lacking a bit. I would have liked some more conversations and/or pining from either of them. The ending does have a cliffhanger, but Nolan and Harper gets a HEA or at least a happy-right-now. I will definitely be picking up the next book when it releases in June.

Seasons of Carnage

• #1 Tourist Season

• #2 Harvest Season

• #3 TBD

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Wildest Things by Andrea Hannah

Title: The Wildest Things

Author: Andrea Hannah

Publisher: Wednesday Books 2025

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: 320

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fairytales - Snow White; Cover Lover - Palindrome (Author Name); Winter - Fairytale

Where I Got It: Library

When her glass coffin unexpectedly shatters, Snow White awakens to anything but a dream. The land is rotting. The animals have mutated. In the twenty years that have passed since Snow bit into the poisoned apple, the kingdom of Roanfrost has transformed from a luscious wild land to a blight-ravaged nightmare. In search of answers and a way to restore her kingdom to its former glory, Snow sets out on a dangerous journey that will test the strength she never knew she had.

Friends will become foes.

New alliances will form.

The Queen with the blood red lips will stop at nothing to seize her power as well as her heart.

If Snow has any chance to survive and restore not only her kingdom, but all of Garedenne, her only option is to become the Seasonkeeper and access the life-giving magic that will heal the plague. But the path to becoming the Seasonkeeper is more treacherous than she could ever imagine―because the wild things have awakened and Snow’s darker impulses yearn to set them free.

I was hoping for a fun dark fairy tale retelling with a sapphic twist. Instead, I got a plodding tale devoid of fun or adventure and definitely no sapphic relationship. My first book of 2026 was definitely a disappointment. I just couldn’t get behind Snow at all as a character. She was too naive for her own good even after the audience learns more about their world and the things she should figure out much more quickly than she does. The entire process of becoming a season keeper was just pretty boring. Nothing exciting to really hold my attention. And do not get me started on the fact that she never really interacts with the Queen’s daughter in person. I wanted so much more! The only thing that saved the book was the chapters told from the mirror’s POV. Those were at least interesting!

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Light in Hidden Places by Sharon Cameron

Title: The Light in Hidden Places

Author: Sharon Cameron

Publisher: Scholastic Press 2020

Genre: YA Historical Fiction

Pages: 400

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Winter TBR

One knock at the door, and Stefania has a choice to make...

It is 1943, and for four years, sixteen-year-old Stefania has been working for the Diamant family in their grocery store in Przemysl, Poland, singing her way into their lives and hearts. She has even made a promise to one of their sons, Izio -- a betrothal they must keep secret since she is Catholic and the Diamants are Jewish.

But everything changes when the German army invades Przemysl. The Diamants are forced into the ghetto, and Stefania is alone in an occupied city, the only one left to care for Helena, her six-year-old sister. And then comes the knock at the door. Izio's brother Max has jumped from the train headed to a death camp. Stefania and Helena make the extraordinary decision to hide Max, and eventually twelve more Jews. Then they must wait, every day, for the next knock at the door, the one that will mean death. When the knock finally comes, it is two Nazi officers, requisitioning Stefania's house for the German army.

With two Nazis below, thirteen hidden Jews above, and a little sister by her side, Stefania has one more excruciating choice to make.

Not a bad book, but I am definitely not the intended audience for this one. I came into this book not knowing Stefania’s story, but knowing many stories from the Holocaust. Put those together with general knowledge about the time period and I had a strong basis before the story begins. And therein lies my biggest issue with this book. There is so much education about the general situation that I was bogged down by education instead of story. I skimmed a few sections not feeling the need to read every word printed. As for the story itself, it was interesting, but something about the writing style got in the way. I wonder if it was the perspective or the word choices. This is a young adult book. If I was 13, I might have really gotten into this book. Instead, I would have preferred to read the nonfiction account or a collection of nonfiction accounts about this geographic place.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Title: The Beautiful and Damned

Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald

Publisher: 1922

Genre: Classics

Pages: 422

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Winter TBR; Unread Shelf - Enough; 52 Book Club - Set in Roaring Twenties

The Beautiful and Damned, F. Scott Fitzgerald's second novel, tells the story of Anthony Patch, a 1920s socialite and presumptive heir to a tycoon's fortune, the relationship with his wife Gloria, his service in the army, and alcoholism. Anthony and Gloria are young and gorgeous, rich and leisured and they dedicate their lives to the pursuit of happiness and we follow the intimate story of their marriage as it disintegrates under the weight of their expectations, fuelled by dissipation, jealousy and aimlessness.

This one was a slog! I absolutely adore The Great Gatsby, and was wanting to cover Fitzgerald’s other major works. Everything about this one feels so clunky. We are bogged down in lots of chapters detailing Anthony’s life before the meat of the story starts. Once he mets Gloria, things become marginally better. But Fitzgerald really takes too many tangents and asides. The core of the story gets much too muddled and confusing. He definitely became a much more concise writer later. I finished this one, but would not recommend to others.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Death in the Air by Kate Winkler Dawson

Title: Death in the Air: The True Story of a Serial Killer, the Great London Smog, and the Strangling of a City

Author: Kate Winkler Dawson

Publisher: Hachette Books 2017

Genre: Nonfiction - History

Pages: 352

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Winter TBR

London was still recovering from the devastation of World War II when another disaster hit: for five long days in December 1952, a killer smog held the city firmly in its grip and refused to let go. Day became night, mass transit ground to a halt, criminals roamed the streets, and some 12,000 people died from the poisonous air. But in the chaotic aftermath, another killer was stalking the streets, using the fog as a cloak for his crimes.

All across London, women were going missing--poor women, forgotten women. Their disappearances caused little alarm, but each of them had one thing in common: they had the misfortune of meeting a quiet, unassuming man, John Reginald Christie, who invited them back to his decrepit Notting Hill flat during that dark winter. They never left.

The eventual arrest of the "Beast of Rillington Place" caused a media frenzy: were there more bodies buried in the walls, under the floorboards, in the back garden of this house of horrors? Was it the fog that had caused Christie to suddenly snap? And what role had he played in the notorious double murder that had happened in that same apartment building not three years before--a murder for which another, possibly innocent, man was sent to the gallows?

The Great Smog of 1952 remains the deadliest air pollution disaster in world history, and John Reginald Christie is still one of the most unfathomable serial killers of modern times. Journalist Kate Winkler Dawson braids these strands together into a taut, compulsively readable true crime thriller about a man who changed the fate of the death penalty in the UK, and an environmental catastrophe with implications that still echo today.

Overall, this was a fairly interesting history narrative that failed due to clarity of writing. I was intrigued by the juxtaposition between a literal serial killer and a killer fog. I vaguely remember reading some short article about the killer fog, but didn’t know much. I did learn a lot abut the fog, but the book seemed to meander a bit and really go deep into the minutiae of politics in Parliament. The other side of the story involving the serial killer was introduced in a strange detached way. I wasn’t pulled into the story that I thought I would. Dawson doesn’t quite have the narrative talent of Erik Larson and such. The book just didn’t hold my attention from chapter to chapter.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Timemaster by Robert L. Forward

Title: Timemaster

Author: Robert L. Forward

Publisher: Tom Doherty Books 1992

Genre: Scifi

Pages: 301

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Winter TBR

Read the tale of Randy Hunter, billionaire industrialist, who communicates with aliens, achieves interstellar flight and explores far-flung worlds in a future filled with technological wonders. The future physics is mind-boggling but firmly grounded in the science of today, and the action never stops.

This was a recommendation from J that ended up really not landing for me at all. I was intrigued by the science included in this book. We get some interesting sections detailing various new scientific ideas and inventions. Unfortunately, in between all those sections was an appalling collection of characters and interactions. The misogyny is rampant with some very offensive dialogue. I kept thinking that this book was written in the 1950s. Imagine my surprise when I realized that the book was actually written in 1992! Seriously, I just couldn’t get over this fact and very quickly soured on the book.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Babel by R.F. Huang

Title: Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution

Author: R.F. Huang

Publisher: Harper Voyager 2022

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 545

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Winter TBR; Unread Shelf; BOTM Cleanout

Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.

1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel.

Babel is the world's center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as its knowledge serves the Empire’s quest for colonization.

For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide…

Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?

This is going on my Top Ten of 2023! It was truly an amazing masterpiece of a book. And one that I am still processing. Thankfully I have a Nerdy Bookish Friends Zoom this weekend to talk all of it through with other bookish people.

The book gets labeled as fantasy, but don’t let that scare you. This is more literary fiction than fantasy. The crux of the book is about the intersection of translation and language and colonization. We follow Robin as he attempts to create a home for himself at Babel in Oxford.  But will he ever really be accepted into society in England? And what’s the real purpose of Babel? And does Robin want the life that has been laid out in front of him? As the story progresses, we see Robin made friends and enemies, discover his love of languages and translation, and come to realize the true horrors of colonization. I am having trouble succinctly writing a review as my mind is still very much stuck in that world grieving for Robin and Ramy and Letty and Victoire. And realizing that Victoire was my favorite character and now knowing it until the very last page.

“Translation, speaking, is listening to the other and trying to see past your own biases to glimpse what they’re trying to say. Showing yourself to the world, and hoping someone understands.” (pg. 535)

Next up on the TBR pile:

Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Title: Take My Hand

Author: Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Publisher: Berkley 2022

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 359

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Winter TBR

Montgomery, Alabama, 1973. Fresh out of nursing school, Civil Townsend intends to make a difference, especially in her African American community. At the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic, she hopes to help women shape their destinies, to make their own choices for their lives and bodies.

But when her first week on the job takes her along a dusty country road to a worn-down one-room cabin, Civil is shocked to learn that her new patients, Erica and India, are children—just eleven and thirteen years old. Neither of the Williams sisters has even kissed a boy, but they are poor and Black, and for those handling the family’s welfare benefits, that’s reason enough to have the girls on birth control. As Civil grapples with her role, she takes India, Erica, and their family into her heart. Until one day she arrives at their door to learn the unthinkable has happened, and nothing will ever be the same for any of them.

Decades later, with her daughter grown and a long career in her wake, Dr. Civil Townsend is ready to retire, to find her peace, and to leave the past behind. But there are people and stories that refuse to be forgotten. That must not be forgotten.

Because history repeats what we don’t remember.

I gave this book three stars on the strength of the actual historical story alone. I just had so many issues with the characters and construction of the plot in this one that I had to struggle to finish it. I definitely would like to read more about the actual story this novel is based on. I know a lot about events like the Tuskegee Syphillis experiments, but little about the forced sterilizations in the 1970s (only the ones previous). The story itself is brought down by clumsy characters and random side plots that seem to have little place in this story. My biggest complaint is the weird dual timeline. Why does Civil keep insisting that the story is so incredibly important and yet never told her daughter until right now? It’s so clunky and not needed. Just set the story in the 1970s and leave it there. We don’t need a “connection” to our modern times. That was just one of my issues. I also had problems with the abortion storyline (why was it hammered into our heads over and over again). weird romance with the girls’ father (just why?), the constant reminder of the socio-economic differences between Civil and the girls, and the insistence of researching the dangers of the birth control shot that was then dropped immediately after the sterilization happened (why focus so much energy just to switch gears so completely?). I was bored and annoyed throughout most of this book.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Never Fall for Your Fiancée by Virginia Heath

Title: Never Fall for Your Fiancée (Merrill Sisters #1)

Author: Virginia Heath

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin 2021

Genre: Historical Romance

Pages: 368

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Winter TBR; Romanceopoly - The Cobbles (Historical romance with a rake)

Spice Rating: 4

The last thing Hugh Standish, Earl of Fareham, ever wants is a wife. Unfortunately for him, his mother is determined to find him one, even from across the other side of the ocean. So Hugh invents a fake fiancée to keep his mother’s matchmaking ways at bay. But when Hugh learns his interfering mother is on a ship bound for England, he realizes his complicated, convoluted but convenient ruse is about to implode. Until he collides with a beautiful woman, who might just be the miracle he needs.

Minerva Merriwell has had to struggle to support herself and her two younger sisters ever since their feckless father abandoned them. Work as a woodcut engraver is few and far between, and the Merriwell sisters are nearly penniless. So when Hugh asks Minerva to pose as his fiancée while his mother is visiting, she knows that while the scheme sounds ludicrous, the offer is too good to pass up.

Once Minerva and her sisters arrive at Hugh's estate, of course nothing goes according to his meticulous plan. As hilarity and miscommunication ensue while everyone tries to keep their tangled stories straight, Hugh and Minerva’s fake engagement starts to turn into a real romance. But can they trust each other when their relationship started with a lie?

A bit of a disappointment. I was hoping for a good historical romp with lots of banter. Instead, I got a book that mostly bored me. The two main characters don’t show enough sparkle or wit early on. (Seriously the best friend and sister steal every scene they are in. Guess I should just read the sequel…) The conversations all the characters had seemed to repeat themselves over and over again. I was just pretty bored overall. The big trope of fake fiancee felt very forced and not fun. I just didn’t really enjoy reading this one.

Merriwell Sisters

• #1 Never Fall for Your Fiancée

• #2 Never Rescue a Rogue

Next up on the TBR pile:

Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack

Title: Anya and the Nightingale

Author: Sofiya Pasternack

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2020

Genre: MG Fantasy

Pages: 416

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Winter TBR; 52 Book Club - Written in Present Tense

It’s been a year since a violent Viking terrorized the small village of Zmeyreka and Anya and her foolish friend Ivan saved a friendly dragon from being sacrificed for his magic.

But things still aren’t safe in the kingdom of Kievan Rus’. 

After embarking on a journey to bring her papa home from war, Anya discovers a powerful forest creature terrorizing travelers. But she soon learns that he’s not the monster the kingdom should fear. There’s an even greater evil that lurks under the city. 

Can Anya stop the monster, save her papa, and find her way home? Or will the secrets of Kiev leave Anya and her friends trapped beneath the city forever?

Another decent, if not super exciting book for this series. I wanted to love this book more than I actual loved this book. I think this is a case of the book not being written for me. If I was 12 and reading this one, I think I would have given it 5 stars. It just felt a little too juvenile for me. I wanted to Anya to dive a little deeper into the culture and the stories. Instead, we get lots of angst and a very transparent mystery.

Anya

• #1 Anya and the Dragon

• #2 Anya and the Nightingale

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Dollhouse Family

Title: The Dollhouse Family

Author: M.R. Carey, Peter Gross, Vince Locke, Chris Peter

Publisher: DC Black Label

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 144

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Winter TBR

On Alice's sixth birthday, her dying great-aunt sent her the birthday gift she never knew she always wanted: a big, beautiful 19th-century dollhouse, complete with a family of antique dolls. In no time at all, the dollhouse isn't just Alice's favorite toy...it's her whole world. And soon, young Alice learns she can enter the house to visit a new group of friends, straight out of a heartwarming children's novel: the Dollhouse family.
But while the Dollhouse family welcomes her with open arms, in the real world, her family life is becoming much more complicated...and deep within the Dollhouse's twisting halls, the Black Room waits, with an offer to Alice. The house can fix all this, the Black Room says. All she has to do is say the words...
From there unfolds a twisty, surreal, multigenerational horror tale that echoes into centuries past, into Alice's tormented future, and into the beating heart of the madness that makes up our world...literally. Collects The Dollhouse Family #1-6.

Horrific story! Just what I want in my horror comics. We travel with Alice throughout her life getting some glimpses of the past history of the family. When things really ramp up, I was riveted to the page. The action comes fast and heavy with very graphic panels. But such a great story of tragedy and sacrifice.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Lady Mechanika Vol. 7

Title: Lady Mechanika Vol. 7

Author: Joe Benitez, Beth Sotelo

Publisher: Benitez Productions 2022

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 106

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Winter TBR; UnRead Shelf

In a Victorian asylum full of grotesque inmates, sadistic guards, and a fanatical doctor, a young lady wakes to find her arms and legs have been replaced with mechanical limbs. But who among this gruesome menagerie is the true Monster of the Ministry of Hell? The origins of the notorious adventuress known as Lady Mechanika!

Collects LADY MECHANIKA: THE MONSTER OF THE MINISTRY OF HELL #1-4

Oooff This was such a hard trade. We finally get to see part of Lady Mechanika’s past; the trauma that she endured as a child. There were a few panels where I literally gasped out loud at the events depicted. So tough! And yet, it was get to explore her background to inform her current life and outlook. Plus we get some important information about a big bad in the universe. I cannot wait to see what happens next.

Next up on the TBR pile:

It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey

Title: It Happened One Summer (It Happened One Summer #1)

Author: Tessa Bailey

Publisher: Avon 2021

Genre: Romance

Pages: 416

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Winter TBR; Romanceopoly - Summer

Spice Meter: 5

Piper Bellinger is fashionable, influential, and her reputation as a wild child means the paparazzi are constantly on her heels. When too much champagne and an out-of-control rooftop party lands Piper in the slammer, her stepfather decides enough is enough. So he cuts her off, and sends Piper and her sister to learn some responsibility running their late father’s dive bar... in Washington.

Piper hasn’t even been in Westport for five minutes when she meets big, bearded sea captain Brendan, who thinks she won’t last a week outside of Beverly Hills. So what if Piper can’t do math, and the idea of sleeping in a shabby apartment with bunk beds gives her hives. How bad could it really be? She’s determined to show her stepfather—and the hot, grumpy local—that she’s more than a pretty face.

Except it’s a small town and everywhere she turns, she bumps into Brendan. The fun-loving socialite and the gruff fisherman are polar opposites, but there’s an undeniable attraction simmering between them. Piper doesn’t want any distractions, especially feelings for a man who sails off into the sunset for weeks at a time. Yet as she reconnects with her past and begins to feel at home in Westport, Piper starts to wonder if the cold, glamorous life she knew is what she truly wants. LA is calling her name, but Brendan—and this town full of memories—may have already caught her heart.

I finally found a Tessa Bailey book that I didn’t hate. I was hoping for a good enemies to lovers trope. We don’t exactly get that here, but I still enjoyed the story of Brendan and Piper. The story went a lot deeper than I was expecting and we get into issues surrounding grief. I was very on board with more serious relationship talk. Ultimately we get a nice romance with a great setting and fun side characters. The sex scenes felt a bit forced in places, but were ultimately decent. I was really just wanting much more banter. I may even read the next book.

It Happened One Summer

• #1 It Happened One Summer

• #2 Hook, Line, and Sinker

Next up on the TBR pile:

Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack

Title: Anya and the Dragon

Author: Sofiya Pasternack

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2019

Genre: MG Fantasy

Pages: 394

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Winter TBR

Anya and the Dragon is the story of fantasy and mayhem in tenth century Eastern Europe, where headstrong eleven-year-old Anya is a daughter of the only Jewish family in her village. When her family’s livelihood is threatened by a bigoted magistrate, Anya is lured in by a friendly family of fools, who promise her money in exchange for helping them capture the last dragon in Kievan Rus. This seems easy enough, until she finds out that the scary old dragon isn't as old—or as scary—as everyone thought. Now Anya is faced with a choice: save the dragon, or save her family.

I had checked this out months ago, but never got to it before it was due at the library. I remembered that I had wanted to read it and checked it out again. I wasn’t quite expecting the story I got, but enjoyed most of it. I loved following Anya through her adventure involving many magical creatures and a friendly dragon. Once the story finally got going, I enjoyed the adventure. The problem is the story takes way too long to really get going. We spend too much time listening to Anya whine about life. I would have loved to meet the dragon much sooner or even diving more into Ivan’s life much sooner. I am wondering what will happen in the sequel and will probably read that one soon.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Lore Olympus Vol. 3 by Rachel Smythe

Title: Lore Olympus Volume 3

Author: Rachel Smythe

Publisher: Random House Worlds 2022

Genre: Fantasy Comic

Pages: 384

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Winter TBR

All of Olympus—and the Underworld—are talking about the God of the Dead and the sprightly daughter of Demeter. But despite the rumors of their romance, Hades and Persephone have plenty to navigate on their own.

Since coming to Olympus, Persephone has struggled to be the perfect maiden goddess. Her attraction to Hades has only complicated the intense burden of the gods’ expectations. And after Apollo’s assault, Persephone fears she can no longer bury the intense feelings of hurt and love that she’s worked so hard to hide.
 
As Persephone contemplates her future, Hades struggles with his past, falling back into toxic habits in Minthe’s easy embrace. With all the mounting pressure and expectations—of their family, friends, and enemies—both Hades and Persephone tell themselves to deny their deepest desires, but the pull between them is too tempting, too magnetic. It’s fate.

Another wonderful collection of Smythe’s story of love between Hades and Persephone. It was lovely to revisit the story even though I have read farther in the Webtoons. Smythe’s coloring and illustrations add beautiful atmosphere to the story. I especially love the differences in coloring between all the characters. I cannot wait until the fourth volume publishes.

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Literary Education by Emily Cook

Title: A Literary Education

Author: Emily Cook

Publisher: Build Your Library Publishing 2017

Genre: Nonfiction - Education

Pages: 202

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Winter TBR

Have you researched Charlotte Mason’s philosophy of education but discounted it as old-fashioned and overtly religious? Then this is the book you need to read. In A Literary Education, Emily Cook lays out how she has brought Miss Mason’s ideology into the modern age for secular homeschoolers. In conversational prose she discusses the key tenants used in Charlotte Mason homeschooling and explains how to make them work for your family. You’ll read about: · Living books and how to use them · Reading aloud: the why and the how · Nature study in the 21st century · How to inspire creativity in your children · How to get the most out of the preschool years · How to combine children of multiple ages · And much more! In A Literary Education, Emily shares her 14 year homeschool journey and how she has learned to take Charlotte Mason’s method of home education into the 21st century to give her children a beautiful living books education.

Finally borrowed this from a friend and read it in one sitting. We are eclectic homeschoolers, but a big part of that is Charlotte Mason philosophy. I love the concept of living books, read aloud, and getting out into nature. Unfortunately, the pure Charlotte Mason philosophy is very Christian and we just aren't. I love how Emily Cook distills CM’s philosophy devoid of religion or mid-1800s mindsets and perspectives. Cook details how exactly she implements the philosophy into her everyday homeschool routine. Many of the things she highlights we already do. But I did get a few new ideas and more importantly, ways to view what we are already doing.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Me You Love in the Dark by Skottie Young and Jorge Corona

Title: The Me You Love in the Dark

Author: Skottie Young and Jorge Corona

Publisher: Image 2022

Genre: Horror Comic

Pages: 128

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Winter TBR

Writer SKOTTIE YOUNG (I HATE FAIRYLAND, DEADPOOL, STRANGE ACADEMY) and artist JORGE CORONA (NO. 1 WITH A BULLET, SUPER SONS, FEATHERS) follow up their critically acclaimed series MIDDLEWEST with a brand new haunting tale. An artist named Ro retreats from the grind of the city to an old house in a small town to find solace and inspiration without realizing the muse she finds within is not what she expected. Fans of STEPHEN KING and NEIL GAIMAN will enjoy this beautiful, dark and disturbing story of discovery, love and terror.

Collects THE ME YOU LOVE IN THE DARK #1-5

I picked this one up off of a list of great horror comics and it sure did deliver. We get a very spooky slow-build story of an artist trying to find her muse in a creepy house. Of course, things are going to go badly, but not before they seem to go very well. I adored how the monster is revealed in little slivers throughout most of of the story. We don’t get to see the true horror until we’ve completely immersed ourselves in the setting. The art was done beautifully. I sped through this one and then went back and reread it immediately to really slow down and appreciate the construction of this story.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

Title: The Priory of the Orange Tree (The Roots of Chaos #1)

Author: Samantha Shannon

Publisher: Bloomsbury 2019

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 848

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Winter TBR; COYER; 52 Book Club - High Fantasy

The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction--but assassins are getting closer to her door.

Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.

Across the dark sea, Tané has trained all her life to be a dragonrider, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.

Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.

The Nerdy Bookish Friends club started 2023 with this behemoth! And what a story it was. I will admit that it took my about 100 pages to really get into the story. There are many people and places to keep track of and I had to orient myself to this world. This is high fantasy and definitely involves a lot of world-building at the beginning. Once, I settled in, I started to connect to some of the characters and began to see the big conflicts brewing. I really enjoyed how Shannon wove the stories of all these very different characters to highlight their prejudices and biases. By the end of the book, I was glad that I had read it, but I must say this wasn’t my absolute favorite. The pacing seemed very off throughout the book. I was extremely bored at many times throughout and then something would happen and I wouldn’t be able to put the book down. I may have been more satisfied if this book had been broken up a bit in two separate volumes. Still debating about reading the prequel that’s just about to be published…

The Roots of Chaos

• #0.5 A Day of Fallen Night

• #1 The Priory of the Orange Tree

• #2 TBD

Next up on the TBR pile:

One Foot in the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

Title: One Foot in the Grave (Night Huntress #2)

Author: Jeaniene Frost

Publisher: Avon 2008

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Pages: 357

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; Winter TBR; Finishing the Series

Spice Meter: 5 (albeit one with a vampire)

You can run from the grave, but you can't hide . . .

Half-vampire Cat Crawfield is now Special Agent Cat Crawfield, working for the government to rid the world of the rogue undead. She's still using everything Bones, her sexy and dangerous ex, taught her, but when Cat is targeted for assassination, the only man who can help her is the vampire she left behind.

Being around him awakens all her emotions, from the adrenaline kick of slaying vamps side by side to the reckless passion that consumed them. But a price on her head—wanted: dead or half-alive—means her survival depends on teaming up with Bones. And no matter how hard she tries to keep things professional between them, she'll find that desire lasts forever . . . and that Bones won't let her get away again.

After finishing the first book in the series, I just had to immediately start on the next one. This series is so much fun and full of action. The story dives right in and doesn’t let up until the last page. We get to see Cat four years after the events of the first book as she tries to navigate a new life away from Bones. Of course, he’s not going to stay away for the entire book. Thankfully he fairly quickly makes an appearance and we get the real action. The reader finally gets to learn more about the world and the history of the characters. Another great volume in this series. I’m definitely going to be moving on very soon.

Night Huntress:

• #0.5 Reckoning

• #1 Halfway to the Grave

• #1.2 The Other Half of the Grave

• #1.5 Happily Never After

• #2 One Foot in the Grave

• #3 At Grave’s End

• #3.5 Devil to Pay

• #4 Destined for an Early Grave

• #4.5 One for the Money

• #5 This Side of the Grave

• #6 One Grave at a Time

• #6.5 Home for the Holidays

• #7 Up from the Grave

• #7.5 Outtakes from the Grave

• #7.6 A Grave Girls’ Getaway

• #8 Both Feet in the Grave

Next up on the TBR pile: