The Savior's Book Cafe Story in Another World Vol. 3

Title: The Savior’s Book Cafe Story in Another World Vol. 3

Author: Kyouka Izumi

Publisher: Seven Seas 2021

Genre: Manga Romance

Pages: 168

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series

Where I Got It: Library

After being transported to another world by an orb that calls itself "God," Tsukina used her newfound magical powers to open up a cozy book cafe. Now that she's settled in, she's started dating Il, a handsome soldier. However, Tsukina can't relax just yet. Othel's powerful neighboring countries are making some suspicious moves, and as tensions rise, a new savior arrives at the castle. Is he there to help the kingdom, or is he a new enemy for Tsukina to worry about?

This middle volume really does shift the story a bit. We get a new savior in Othel, a mysterious visitor to the cafe, and threats from a neighboring country. I really enjoy how much plot we get this in part. I’m really interested in seeing how Youta and Tsukina interact in the rest of the story.

The Book Savior’s...

• Volume 1

• Volume 2

• Volume 3

• Volume 4

• Volume 5

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Savior's Book Cafe Story in Another World Vol. 2

Title: The Savior’s Book Cafe Story in Another World Vol. 2

Author: Kyouka Izumi

Publisher: Seven Seas

Genre: Manga Romance

Pages: 160

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series

Where I Got It: Library

Since being transported to a new world Tsukina has made a cozy life for herself, doing magic and running a book cafe. She's even grown closer to Il, a handsome soldier who also loves reading. But Tsukina is keeping a huge secret from him: she is a Savior, sent to this world to help protect it. By hiding away in her book cafe, is she neglecting her duties? And will Il hate her for it when he finds out?

Such big developments in this volume! We get to see Tsukina and Il grow closely (even if most of it occurs off the page) and she grows in her own powers and confidence. I think that there might have been too much throw into this volume. I would have liked to see the story drawn out a bit more. But I still enjoyed this section of the story. The volume redeems itself with a great ending.

The Book Savior’s...

• Volume 1

• Volume 2

• Volume 3

• Volume 4

• Volume 5

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Savior's Book Cafe Story in Another World Vol. 1

Title: The Savior’s Book Cafe Story in Another World Vol. 1

Author: Kyouka Izumi

Publisher: Seven Seas 2019

Genre: Manga Romance

Pages: 160

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series

Where I Got It: Library

Tsukina is a single, thirty-something office worker who's favorite thing is curling up with a good book. When a god tells her that she must go to another world to become its magical savior, Tsukina isn't interested. She has zero desire to go on some grand hero's journey. So when she arrives in this strange new land, she decides to use her magical powers to create a cozy little book café instead. Her first customer is a handsome soldier who loves reading almost as much as she does. But when a fellow "savior" starts causing trouble, Tsukina might have to play the hero after all!

Another completely random pick from the library shelves. I love this meta-story about a woman traveling to another world but rejecting her savior status in favor of a quiet life. Of course, that life is not going to be as quiet as Tsukina wants. I sped through this story and loved the break from angsty stories I’ve been reading lately.

The Book Savior’s...

• Volume 1

• Volume 2

• Volume 3

• Volume 4

• Volume 5

Next up on the TBR pile:

Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli

Title: Heartless Hunter (Crimson Moth #1)

Author: Kristen Ciccarelli

Publisher: Wednesday Books 2024

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: 406

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Spooky Season; Retreat Recommendation

Where I Got It: Library

On the night Rune’s life changed forever, blood ran in the streets. Now, in the aftermath of a devastating revolution, witches have been diminished from powerful rulers to outcasts ruthlessly hunted due to their waning magic, and Rune must hide what she is.

Spending her days pretending to be nothing more than a vapid young socialite, Rune spends her nights as the Crimson Moth, a witch vigilante who rescues her kind from being purged. When a rescue goes wrong, she decides to throw the witch hunters off her scent and gain the intel she desperately needs by courting the handsome Gideon Sharpe - a notorious and unforgiving witch hunter loyal to the revolution - who she can't help but find herself falling for.

Gideon loathes the decadence and superficiality Rune represents, but when he learns the Crimson Moth has been using Rune’s merchant ships to smuggle renegade witches out of the republic, he inserts himself into her social circles by pretending to court her right back. He soon realizes that beneath her beauty and shallow façade, is someone fiercely intelligent and tender who feels like his perfect match. Except, what if she’s the very villain he’s been hunting?

Multiple people at the retreat in June told me that I needed to read this book and the sequel that came out this year. I finally picked this up and flew through it quickly. It’s a very fast paced story with lots of action scenes and suspense. I enjoyed the plot even if the few “twists” were telegraphed very early on. I mean this is a young adult novel. I was expecting a fast moving plot. I was very interested in the magic system and wished that we could have learned a bit more about it. But my biggest issue with this book I the love triangle and romance. It just doesn’t land like a swoony romance. Alex is too much of a wet blanket. Gideon is too full o hate. And then Rune is just a girl who doesn’t quite inspire the great romantic feelings from two brothers. But I did enjoy story and world enough to want to read the sequel.

Crimson Moth

• #1 Heartless Hunter

• #2 Rebel Witch

Next up on the TBR pile:

Rosen Blood Vol. 5

Title: Rosen Blood Vol. 5

Author: Kachiru Ishizue

Publisher: VIZ Media 2022

Genre: Manga

Pages: 192

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Spooky Season; Finishing the Series

Where I Got It: Library

After a horrific carriage accident, Stella Violetta awakens in a Gothic mansion to find that her saviors are gorgeous young men. The manor’s residents let her stay as a maid, but Stella soon realizes that their allure hides a savage thirst.

Claude and Friedrich take desperate measures as they vie for Stella’s affection, but she only has eyes for Levi. This frantic battle for her heart leads to further bloodshed and forces Stella to make a big decision. Can her love for Levi last in the face of unrelenting obstacles?

Oh goodness! That was one wild ride of a conclusion. We get to see Yoel serve his purpose, Friedrich attempt to change his colors, and Gilbert’s steady protection all while Levi attempts to save Stella and her heart. I would have liked to see a bit more of conclusion, there are so many unanswered questions, but I am glad that they have become a family again. Overall, a fun little series.

Rosen Blood

• Volume 1

• Volume 2

• Volume 3

• Volume 4

• Volume 5

Next up on the TBR pile:

Rosen Blood Vol. 4

Title: Rosen Blood Vol. 4

Author: Kachiru Ishizue

Publisher: VIZ Media 2021

Genre: Manga

Pages: 160

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Spooky Season; Finishing the Series

Where I Got It: Library

After a horrific carriage accident, Stella Violetta awakens in a Gothic mansion to find that her saviors are gorgeous young men. The manor’s residents let her stay as a maid, but Stella soon realizes that their allure hides a savage thirst.

Desperate for Stella’s affection, Yoel stabs Levi, who reconsiders his desire to protect the other nonhumans. Stella searches through Rosémary’s notes to find a way to awaken Yoel after the incident and uncovers clues about why Levi’s been shedding tears of blood. Are any of Rosémary’s “children” really capable of love?

Oh no! Yoel! How could you do that to Levi and Stella? I knew this was going to get messy soon. We get more from Gilbert, more from Stella’s past, and more of the boys’ purposes. I am very intrigued to see how this story concludes in the next volume.

Rosen Blood

• Volume 1

• Volume 2

• Volume 3

• Volume 4

• Volume 5

Next up on the TBR pile:

Rosen Blood Vol. 3

Title: Rosen Blood Vol. 3

Author: Kachiru Ishizue

Publisher: VIZ Media 2020

Genre: Manga

Pages: 160

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Spooky Season; Finishing the Series

Where I Got It: Library

After a horrific carriage accident, Stella Violetta awakens in a Gothic mansion to find that her saviors are gorgeous young men. The manor’s residents let her stay as a maid, but Stella soon realizes that their allure hides a savage thirst.

Gilbert reappears to warn Stella about sweet and friendly Yoel. Can she trust the man who attacked her? Stella also fends off Friedrich’s advances while deepening her relationship with Levi. As the beautiful men Stella lives with reveal their secrets, her life depends on protecting herself from their dark impulses.

Why do I love Gilbert so much? Of course he ends up being a misunderstood character all the while protecting Stella from Yoel. I should have seen this all coming. Thankfully this volume gives us more answers to all the questions surrounding the boys. We find out more about their mysterious creator and each of their purposes. I do wonder about Friedrich’s purpose though…

Rosen Blood

• Volume 1

• Volume 2

• Volume 3

• Volume 4

• Volume 5

Next up on the TBR pile:

Rosen Blood Vol. 2

Title: Rosen Blood Vol. 2

Author: Kachiru Ishizue

Publisher: VIZ Media 2019

Genre: Manga

Pages: 162

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Spooky Season; Finishing the Series

Where I Got It: Library

After a horrific carriage accident, Stella Violetta awakens in a Gothic mansion to find that her saviors are gorgeous young men. The manor’s residents let her stay as a maid, but Stella soon realizes that their allure hides a savage thirst.

Yearning leads to danger when mansion resident Levi starves himself for Stella’s sake. To save him, Stella must journey into his soul while he’s unconscious and confront the nun Luchia’s grasp on his past. Then, even wakefulness may bring no reprieve from nightmares when another nonhuman, Friedrich, reveals a horrifying secret…

We finally get some answers about the “statues” and those strange crystals. Most of this volume is taken up by an entire dream sequence which does at least move the plot forward, These volumes are a fun respite from much heavier and longer reads.

Rosen Blood

• Volume 1

• Volume 2

• Volume 3

• Volume 4

• Volume 5

Next up on the TBR pile:

Rosen Blood Vol. 1

Title: Rosen Blood Vol. 1

Author: Kachiru Ishizue

Publisher: VIZ Media 2018

Genre: Manga

Pages: 160

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Spooky Season; Finishing the Series

Where I Got It: Library

After a horrific carriage accident, Stella Violetta awakens in a Gothic mansion to find that her saviors are gorgeous young men. The manor’s residents let her stay as a maid, but Stella soon realizes that their allure hides a savage thirst.

Levi-Ruin and the mysterious men who took Stella in have a bare kitchen…and a moaning box in the storehouse. After discovering mansion dweller Gilbert’s lifelike sculptures, the new maid faces a sinister reality. Can she survive the bloodlust? Stella must distinguish danger from passion as fear begins to feed on her!

Another random library pick. I saw it on the comic shelves and immediately grabbed the entire series. It’s a fun little series about a girl who stumbles into a house full of handsome by mysterious and potentially dangerous men. Of course she immediately falls for one of them, but then the horror begins. I loved the reveal of the “statues” in the closet. Cannot wait to see where the story goes next.

Rosen Blood

• Volume 1

• Volume 2

• Volume 3

• Volume 4

• Volume 5

Next up on the TBR pile:

Zomromcom by Olivia Dade

Title: Zomromcom

Author: Olivia Dade

Publisher: Berkley 2025

Genre: Horror/Romance

Pages: 416

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Spooky Season; Romanceopoly — Spooky Reads

Where I Got It: Library

Spice Rating: 4

When Edie Brandstrup attempts to save her sweet, seemingly harmless human neighbor from the first major zombie breach in two decades, she’s stunned to be saved by him—and his ridiculously large sword—instead. As it turns out, he's actually a super-old, super-surly vampire. But for all her neighbor's newly revealed cynicism and lethality, Gaston "Max" Boucher (yes, Gaston) is unexpectedly protective. He wants her to stay in his safety bunker until the breach is resolved. Edie can’t risk more innocent people getting killed, though—and Max won’t let her save them alone.

As they unravel a sinister conspiracy to set zombies loose on the world (again), the duo meet a host of lovable allies and discover they're not the only ones willing to fight for the future of humanity. Despite the awful timing, Edie finds herself falling for the vampire who’s helping her save the world . . . but all their dangerous plans could end their future before it even begins. As she and Max battle side by side, Edie must decide whether having a love worth living for also means having a love you'd die for—and, in a world that grows deadlier by the minute, whether that’s a risk she’s willing to take.

Another random pick from the library New Reads shelf. I had no idea what I was going to read, but have enjoyed some of Dade’s previous books. I started this one and couldn’t put it down. It was such. fun wild ride. We jump right away into a world that has already experienced a zombie apocalupse and now we have a potential containment issue. Edie and Max are a great duo full of banter and spunk as their attempt to understand what exactly is happening and how to stop the zombies. There is a good blend of horror and romance in this one. But be forewarned that this volume ends on a cliffhanger. Guess I will have to wait until the next one to see how this story plays out.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Sister Who Ate Her Brothers by Jen Campbell

Title: The Sister Who Ate Her Brothers and Other Gruesome Tales

Author: Jen Campbell

Publisher: Thames & Hudson 2021

Genre: Horror Short Stories

Pages: 120

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Spooky Season; Cover Lover - A key

Where I Got It: Library

Do you dare read this collection of terrifyingly gruesome tales? In this gripping volume, author Jen Campbell offers young readers an edgy, contemporary, and inclusive take on classic fairy tales, taking them back to their gory beginnings while updating them for a modern audience with queer and disabled characters and positive representation of disfigurement.

Featuring fourteen short stories from China, India, Ireland, and across the globe, The Sister Who Ate Her Brothers is an international collection of the creepiest folk tales. Illustrated with Adam de Souza’s brooding art, this book’s style is a totally original blend of nineteenth-century Gothic engravings meets moody film noir graphic novels. Headlined by the Korean tale of a carnivorous child, The Sister Who Ate Her Brothers is a truly thrilling gift for brave young readers.

I picked up this slim volume of horror short stories randomly from the library. In it, we get a revised selections of classic folklore stories with some beautiful illustrations. Most of the stories were delightful and spooky. But my biggest issue is how short some of the stories are. Some of them really just end abruptly with no satisfying conclusion. I just really wanted more from this collection. The illustrations really did bring this collection up for me.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Stolen Vows by Sav R. Miller

Title: Stolen Vows (Black Rose Auction #3)

Author: Sav R. Miller

Publisher: Trinkets and Tales 2025

Genre: Romance

Pages: 288

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; Finishing the Series

Where I Got It: Preordered

Spice Rating: 6

For three days, the doors to this luxe New York estate are thrown wide for anyone with a taste
for the obscenely rich, the ultra-exclusive, and the once in a lifetime thrill of the forbidden: where
nothing is off the table and everything—and everyone—can be had for the claiming.

In STOLEN VOWS by Sav R. Miller, a Rapunzel remix, a virgin is forced to marry a
mafia heir determined to kill anyone who touches her—only to flee from him the day
after their wedding. But he's done waiting and has the perfect trap in mind to lure her
back...

Not my favorite within this series so far, but a pretty decent Rapunzel story. We get our FMC being kept int a proverbial tower and a MMC attempting to rescue her. But of course, we are going to twist the story to fit our dark romance tropes. We get a very broody, dangerous MMC attempting to rescue our FMC but also stumbling around tragically. I liked seeing their dynamic once we actually get to the auction, but the lead up was a bit much. It took so long to get there that I started to lose just a bit of interest. Once we get our characters back together, I was enjoying things but also a bit frustrated that the two characters could never actually speak to each other. Oh well. It was a decent romance novella.

Black Rose Auction

• #1 Wicked Pursuit

• #2 Divine Intervention

• #3 Stolen Vows

• #4 Irresistible Devil

• #5 Shattered Innocence

• #6 Royal Heart

Next up on the TBR pile:

We are Legion by Dennis E. Taylor

Title: We are Legion (We are Bob) (Bobiverse #1)

Author: Dennis E. Taylor

Publisher: Ethan Ellenberg 2016

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 299

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: COYER

Where I Got It: Our server

Bob Johansson has just sold his software company and is looking forward to a life of leisure. There are places to go, books to read, and movies to watch. So it's a little unfair when he gets himself killed crossing the street. Bob wakes up a century later to find that corpsicles have been declared to be without rights, and he is now the property of the state. He has been uploaded into computer hardware and is slated to be the controlling AI in an interstellar probe looking for habitable planets. The stakes are high: no less than the first claim to entire worlds. If he declines the honor, he'll be switched off, and they'll try again with someone else. If he accepts, he becomes a prime target. There are at least three other countries trying to get their own probes launched first, and they play dirty. The safest place for Bob is in space, heading away from Earth at top speed. Or so he thinks. Because the universe is full of nasties, and trespassers make them mad - very mad.

I finally (after years of J encouraging me) read the first of the Bobiverse books. it took me a few chapters to really get into the story, mostly until Bob dies. Once we enter into the world of the Bobiverse, I got sucked into the story. I really enjoyed following along to see all the different iterations of Bob. The narration gives them just enough distinct personalities to keep everyone straight. Ryker and Homer are my favorites hands-down. I love their enemies to friends relationship. I sped through the book during a few slow weekend days. There were so many interesting developments that I’m definitely going be continuing the series.

Bobiverse

• #1 We are Legion (We are Bob)

• #2 For We are Many

• #3 All These Worlds

• #4 Heaven’s River

• #5 Not Till We are Lost

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Strange by Nathan Ballingrud

Title: The Strange

Author: Nathan Ballingrud

Publisher: Saga Press 2023

Genre: Science Fiction; Horror

Pages: 304

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Spooky Season; I Read Horror - Black, Gray, Orange, or Red Cove

Where I Got It: Library

Since Anabelle’s mother left for Earth to care for her own ailing mother, her days in New Galveston have been spent at school and her nights at her laconic father’s diner with Watson, the family Kitchen Engine and dishwasher, as her only companion. When the Silence came, and communication and shipments from Earth to its colonies on Mars stopped, life seemed stuck in foreboding stasis until the night Silas Mundt and his gang attacked.

At once evoking the dreams of an America explored in Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chroniclesand the harsher realities of frontier life in Charles Portis True Grit, Ballingrud’s “brilliant” (Paul Tremblay, New York Times bestselling author of The Cabin at the End of the World) novel is haunting in its evocation of Annabelle’s quest for revenge amidst a spent and angry world accompanied by a domestic Engine, a drunken space pilot, and the toughest woman on Mars.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Lone Women by Victor LaValle

Title: Lone Women

Author: Victor LaValle

Publisher: One World 2023

Genre: Horror, Historical Fiction

Pages: 275

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf Project; Spooky Season; Read Around the USA - Montana

Where I Got It: The Bookworm, Omaha NE March 2024

Adelaide Henry carries an enormous steamer trunk with her wherever she goes. It’s locked at all times. Because when the trunk opens, people around Adelaide start to disappear.

The year is 1915, and Adelaide is in trouble. Her secret sin killed her parents, forcing her to flee California in a hellfire rush and make her way to Montana as a homesteader. Dragging the trunk with her at every stop, she will become one of the “lone women” taking advantage of the government’s offer of free land for those who can tame it—except that Adelaide isn’t alone. And the secret she’s tried so desperately to lock away might be the only thing that will help her survive the harsh territory.

This was perfect! We dive headfirst into a bleak and unforgiving story of a women attempting to survive on her own in the wilds. We don’t know exactly why Adelaide is running from California, but we know that it was bad. We follow her to Montana where she faces a different set of struggles. Along the way, we meet a varied cast of characters, all of whom are suspicious in their motives at least once. I found myself really rooting for Adelaide to survive and come out stronger than ever. There is violence in this book. There is some spookiness in this book. But ultimately, I found a lot of strength and hope in these pages. This is my brand of feminist rage!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Dr. Mutter's Marvels by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz

Title: Dr. Mütter’s Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine

Author: Cristin O’Keefe Aptoqicz

Publisher: Avery 2014

Genre: Nonfiction - History, Medicine

Pages: 371

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Spooky Season; Nonfiction Reader; Cover Lover - Depiction of a Famous Person

Where I Got It: Library

A mesmerizing biography of the brilliant and eccentric medical innovator who revolutionized American surgery and founded the country’s most famous museum of medical oddities
 
Imagine undergoing an operation without anesthesia, performed by a surgeon who refuses to sterilize his tools—or even wash his hands. This was the world of medicine when Thomas Dent Mütter began his trailblazing career as a plastic surgeon in Philadelphia during the mid-nineteenth century.

Although he died at just forty-eight, Mütter was an audacious medical innovator who pioneered the use of ether as anesthesia, the sterilization of surgical tools, and a compassion-based vision for helping the severely deformed, which clashed spectacularly with the sentiments of his time. Brilliant, outspoken, and brazenly handsome, Mütter was flamboyant in every aspect of his life. He wore pink silk suits to perform surgery, added an umlaut to his last name just because he could, and amassed an immense collection of medical oddities that would later form the basis of Philadelphia’s renowned Mütter Museum.

I’m always interested in micro-history books and this one did not disappoint. We dive into the life of Thomas Mütter, exploring the world of medicine in the early 1800s along the way. I loved how the author tried to explain some of the choices of Mutter by pointing to other events and trends of the day. We get a comprehensive look of the time. We get an in-depth and oftentimes gory look at medicine. Do not pick it up if you are squeamish at all. But for the rest of us, it was a fascinating journey. My only issues are that the overall story meanders some times dragging my reading speed down. If I ever go back to Philadelphia, I definitely want to visit the Mütter Museum. Unfortunately, I was last there when the twins were 10 and they were definitely a bit young for that museum. Still, the book was a very interesting biography in context.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Irresistible Devil by Jenny Nordbak

Title: Irresistible Devil (Black Rose Auction #4)

Author: Jenny Nordbak

Publisher: Trinkets and Tales 2025

Genre: Romance

Pages: 271

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; Finishing the Series

Where I Got It: Preordered

Spice Rating: 6

For three days, the doors to this luxe New York estate are thrown wide for anyone with a taste for the obscenely rich, the ultra-exclusive, and the once in a lifetime thrill of the forbidden: where nothing is off the table and everything—and everyone—can be had for the bargaining.

In IRRESISTIBLE DEVIL by Jenny Nordbak, a Rumpelstiltskin remix, a society darling is willing to make any bargain to benefit her family, but each deal draws her deeper into a dark and decadent world ruled by the dangerous man who's been pulling her strings from the start...

I enjoyed the Katee Robert story in this series. I did not enjoy the RM Virtues story in this collection. I was hoping that this one was going to be a hit and it was. I am always drawn to the villains in stories as they are much more complex and interesting. In this one, we finally get to explore Reaper (Rumplestiltskin) and learn more about his own wants and desires. I knew he was going to be a great character. I was just concerned that he wouldn’t find his partner. Thankfully Juliet shows a spark right away and continues to grow and strength throughout the story. I was glad that she didn’t immediately submit to Reaper, but ended up finding her own path even if it was difficult. We get to see her come into her own identity and eventually take what she wants. I sped through this book in two days not wanting to put it down for even a minute.

Black Rose Auction

• #1 Wicked Pursuit

• #2 Divine Intervention

• #3 Stolen Vows

• #4 Irresistible Devil

• #5 Shattered Innocence

• #6 Royal Heart

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Short Stay in Hell by Steven L. Peck

Title: A Short Stay in Hell

Author: Steven L. Peck

Publisher: Strange Violin 2011

Genre: Speculative Fiction

Pages: 104

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Spooky Season

Where I Got It: Library

An ordinary family man, geologist, and Mormon, Soren Johansson has always believed he’ll be reunited with his loved ones after death in an eternal hereafter. Then, he dies. Soren wakes to find himself cast by a God he has never heard of into a Hell whose dimensions he can barely grasp: a vast library he can only escape from by finding the book that contains the story of his life.

Our book club selection for October. I am very unsure what I feel about this novella. I went into the story completely blind (as I think you should as a reader), but at the end, I wasn’t sure that I actually enjoyed the story. We get about a hundred pages of existential rambling. Overall, I enjoyed the philosophical thought-experiment. But that’s basically all this is. We cannot read this as an actual story with characters and an arc. We get just a snippet of some rambling thoughts. I would have liked to se more from the main character and more from his journey. This story feels incomplete.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Antidote by Karen Russell

Title: The Antidote

Author: Karen Russell

Publisher: Knopf 2025

Genre: Speculative Fiction

Pages: 432

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; Cover Lover - Real Historical Photograph

Where I Got It: Amazon purchase

The Antidote opens on Black Sunday, as a historic dust storm ravages the fictional town of Uz, Nebraska. But Uz is already collapsing—not just under the weight of the Great Depression and the dust bowl drought but beneath its own violent histories. The Antidote follows a "Prairie Witch,” whose body serves as a bank vault for peoples’ memories and secrets; a Polish wheat farmer who learns how quickly a hoarded blessing can become a curse; his orphan niece, a basketball star and witch’s apprentice in furious flight from her grief; a voluble scarecrow; and a New Deal photographer whose time-traveling camera threatens to reveal both the town’s secrets and its fate.

I kept waffling between three and four stars for this book. There are some parts that I absolutely adored! On the other hand, there were parts that stretched believability (not the magical parts) and parts that dragged on so much. I fell for the strange otherworldly atmosphere of Uz Nebraska during the Dust Bowl. The historical fiction aspects of the book really sucked me into a time and place. I loved those parts! I also really enjoyed the magical realism sections. The short chapters narrated by the scarecrow were great. I loved the injection of strange-ness to the story. I also really enjoyed the Prairie witches and their entire lore. The parts that I did not like all centered around Dell and Cleo. Dell was such a flat character most of the time that I really got annoyed with her. The long passages about Dell and basketball really pulled me out of the story in a very bad way. I did not care at all. Also, the completely dropped mystery of her mother’s murder left me wanting. As for Cleo, I just could not believe that a single Black woman in 1930s Nebraska could really join the community that easily. It really stretched my belief in this story. While I had mixed feelings about the book, I ended up enjoyed most of it. Cannot wait until tonight’s book club meet to discuss!

Next up on the TBR pile:

In the Shadow of Spindrift House by Mira Grant

Title: In the Shadow of Spindrift House

Author: Mira Grant

Publisher: Subterranean Press 2019

Genre: Horror

Pages: 197

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Spooky Season; Read Around the USA - Maine

Where I Got It: Library

Nature abhors a straight line. The natural world is a place of curves and softened edges, of gentle mists and welcoming spirals. Nature remembers deviation; nature does not forgive.

For Harlowe Upton-Jones, life has never been a straight line. Shipped off to live with her paternal grandparents after a mysterious cult killed her mother and father, she has grown up chasing the question behind the curve, becoming part of a tight-knit teen detective agency. But “teen” is a limited time offer, and when her friends start looking for adult professions, it’s up to Harlowe to find them one last case so that they can go out in a blaze of glory.

Welcome to Spindrift House.

The stories and legends surrounding the decrepit property are countless and contradictory, but one thing is clear: there are people willing to pay a great deal to determine the legal ownership of the house. When Harlowe and her friends agree to investigate the mystery behind the manor, they do so on the assumption that they’ll be going down in history as the ones who determined who built Spindrift House—and why. The house has secrets. They have the skills. They have a plan. They have everything they need to solve the mystery.

Everything they need except for time. Because Spindrift House keeps its secrets for a reason, and it has no intention of letting them go.

Nature abhors a straight line.

Here’s where the story bends.

This short novella packed a serious punch! The book dumps the reader right into an unsettling, confusing story full of mystery and horror. We meet our four characters, learn a bit about their past, and then are thrown into a very scary house. The imagery sucked me into the atmosphere. I had the sense of drowning throughout the entire book, exactly what Grant intended. As the story unfolds, you just know that things are not going to end well. But I loved seeing just how badly this situation ended. A quick read that only took me two settings, but I loved every page of it. Extra points for not belaboring the story, but telling it in the time that was needed.

Next up on the TBR pile: