Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• My reading is rolling on! I’m so excited to get to a variety of books from my own shelves and from digital loans.

• I think our deck needs to be power washed this summer…

• Here’s hoping I can get at least one bookshelf in my craft/library room soon.

• I rediscovered my Frixion pens and have been using them everywhere!

• Thinking I should make some cookies today.

• Debating on where or not to even buy a new planner next month (mine is ending in June).

• May movie month is looking like we’re going to be watching a ton of good movies.

Next up on the TBR pile:

After the Cure by Deirdre Gould

Title: After the Cure (After the Cure #1)

Author: Deirdre Gould

Publisher: Amazon 2013

Genre: Horror

Pages: 401

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Ebook

Eight years ago the December Plague swept through the human population of earth. The Infected were driven mad by the disease, becoming violent and cannibalistic, killing even those closest to them without hesitation.

Six years ago, the tiny surviving community of Immune humans found a cure, and the Infected began to wake up and realize what they'd done. And what had been done to them.

Over time, society began to rebuild itself. Now it is ready to judge those responsible for the Plague. Nella Rider, the court psychologist and Frank Courtlen a defense attorney are trying to establish the truth. But more depends on it than they know. They race to find the answers they need before the fragile remains of humanity vanish for good.

I enjoyed this after the plague novel dealing with the question of “who takes responsibility for the zombie apocalypse?” I immediately fell for Nella and Frank and wanted to see them gain some kind of peace after the tragic events of the December plague. I was intrigued by the questions of “how to revive society?” and “what does it mean to be human?” This book was a lot more thought-provoking than I thought it would be initially (and especially due to the cover). I slowly started to understand what was actually going on and was horrified by the actions of a few to the determent of the entire world. The second half of the book kicks into high gear and we actually encounter a few infested people. More is revealed about the horrors of the plague. And we get a satisfying conclusion. But then, there’s one last chapter to the book and I just couldn’t. I understand authors wanting to write series, but the set-up for the rest of the series really felt shoehorned in there. I did not like. I don’t think I will be reading the rest of the series. I am choosing to think of this as a one-off book.

After the Cure

• # 1 After the Cure

• #2 The Cured

• #3 Krisis

• #4 Poveglia

• #5 The 40th Day

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Deep by Rivers Solomon

Title: The Deep

Author: Rivers Solomon, Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, and Jonathan Snipes

Publisher: Gallery 2019

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 175

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Ebook

Yetu holds the memories for her people—water-dwelling descendants of pregnant African slave women thrown overboard by slave owners—who live idyllic lives in the deep. Their past, too traumatic to be remembered regularly, is forgotten by everyone, save one—the historian. This demanding role has been bestowed on Yetu.

Yetu remembers for everyone, and the memories, painful and wonderful, traumatic and terrible and miraculous, are destroying her. And so, she flees to the surface, escaping the memories, the expectations, and the responsibilities—and discovers a world her people left behind long ago.

Yetu will learn more than she ever expected to about her own past—and about the future of her people. If they are all to survive, they’ll need to reclaim the memories, reclaim their identity—and own who they really are.

Inspired by a song produced by the rap group Clipping for the This American Life episode “We Are In The Future,” The Deep is vividly original and uniquely affecting.

This was such a beautiful and incredibly sad and angering book. It’s less a book with a plot and more an examination of the legacy of slavery in America. The fantastical elements allow Solomon the leeway to explore concepts of memory and history and responsibility. It took my a few days to wade through these pages as they are so incredibly dense and yet lyrical. It is a hard book to read if you think about the real life situations the book mirror. I’m pretty sure Rivers Solomon is now on my must-read author list. This is amazing…

Next up on the TBR pile:

Music Monday - In This Moment feat. Lzzy Hale and Taylor Momsen "We Will Rock You"

Love this collaboration of voices.

Saltwater Kisses by Krista Lakes

Title: Saltwater Kisses (The Kisses #1)

Author: Krista Lakes

Publisher: Zirconia Publishing 2014

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 216

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Ebook

When small-town girl Emma LaRue won a vacation to an exclusive tropical island, a last minute cancellation meant she would be going by herself. Shy and studious, she never had time to fall in love, and often wondered if she was just meant to be alone. However, that all changed when a handsome stranger literally walked into her life while on the beach and sparks began to fly.

New York's most eligible billionaire bachelor Jack Saunders thought this vacation would be the perfect escape, one last hurrah, before taking full control of his father's company. When an innocent Emma didn't recognize him, he figured that he might get a chance to have a vacation from being rich. He didn't tell her about the cars, the yacht, or the penthouse. All he did was let her fall in love with him.

That was terrible… The first half of the book was okay. We get an instant love story at beach resort. Fine fine. A bit unrealistic, but a sweet love story with a few steamy scenes. But then the second half of the book goes in a completely different direction. Our male lead becomes a major asshole. Emma becomes a naive whiny sheep willing to do anything to keep Jack’s family happy. Things turn really bad relationship wise and yet she does everything he wants (or at least what his people say he wants; we rarely see Jack in the second half). This is a relationship gone wrong. Emma should have run as fast as I could away and back to Iowa. And no, an “I love you” does not magically fix things. Terrible story.

The Kisses

• #1 Saltwater Kisses

• #2 Rainwater Kisses

• #3 Freshwater Kisses

• #4 Sandcastle Kisses

• #5 Hurricane Kisses

• #6 Barefoot Kisses

• #7 Sunrise Kisses

• #8 Waterfall Kisses

• #9 Island Kisses

Next up on the TBR pile:

Life Right Now #14

As I look outside my window: Sunny after yesterday’s rainstorms.

Right now I am: Trying to gather ingredients for brunch. Not sure if I want to make waffles or muffins this morning.

Thinking and pondering: At what point do I determine that the Reading Retreat just isn’t going to happen this summer?

On my bedside table: Things in Jars by Jess Kidd; Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin

On my tv this week: We watched a few movies and a few tv shows, but not a ton. We did watch the Beastie Boys Story and that was absolutely amazing. I laughed and I cried while watching. Perfect!

Listening to: Nothing much other than my usual podcasts. I need to listen to music more…

On the menu for this week:

• Monday - Balsamic Pork Roast

• Tuesday - Beef Stew

• Wednesday - Micronesian Chicken Coconut Curry

• Thursday - Chicken Shawarma Fries

• Friday - Homemade Pizza

• Saturday - Leftovers

• Sunday - Buffalo Rancher Grilled Cheese; Regular Grilled Cheese

On my to do list: I want to write some cards to send to friends. Plus I would like to clean out a few boxes and some files on my computer.

Happening this week: Um… virtual book club on Monday, grocery shopping on Tuesday… that’s all I got.

What I am creating: Nothing really. Hoping to get back to Project Life this coming week as I now have my desk in place.

My simple pleasures: Pomegranate black tea (so yummy), listening to the thunderstorm and rain, sitting in my reading nook

Looking around the house: We got a ton done yesterday. Lots of cleaning. Lots of little things. Hopefully I can find some time to hang curtains this week.

From the camera: I’m finally starting to get my craft/library room set up! This is my current reading nook.

The Golden Hour by Beatriz Williams

Title: The Golden Hour

Author: Beatriz Williams

Publisher: William Morrow 2019

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 468

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library; TBR Random

The Bahamas, 1941. Newly-widowed Leonora “Lulu” Randolph arrives in the Bahamas to investigate the Governor and his wife for a New York society magazine. After all, American readers have an insatiable appetite for news of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, that glamorous couple whose love affair nearly brought the British monarchy to its knees five years earlier. What more intriguing backdrop for their romance than a wartime Caribbean paradise, a colonial playground for kingpins of ill-gotten empires?

Or so Lulu imagines. But as she infiltrates the Duke and Duchess’s social circle, and the powerful cabal that controls the islands’ political and financial affairs, she uncovers evidence that beneath the glister of Wallis and Edward’s marriage lies an ugly—and even treasonous—reality. In fact, Windsor-era Nassau seethes with spies, financial swindles, and racial tension, and in the middle of it all stands Benedict Thorpe: a scientist of tremendous charm and murky national loyalties. Inevitably, the willful and wounded Lulu falls in love.

Then Nassau’s wealthiest man is murdered in one of the most notorious cases of the century, and the resulting coverup reeks of royal privilege. Benedict Thorpe disappears without a trace, and Lulu embarks on a journey to London and beyond to unpick Thorpe’s complicated family history: a fateful love affair, a wartime tragedy, and a mother from whom all joy is stolen.

The stories of two unforgettable women thread together in this extraordinary epic of espionage, sacrifice, human love, and human courage, set against a shocking true crime . . . and the rise and fall of a legendary royal couple.

Our book club selection for April. I think I’ve really come to like Williams’s books. I love how she weaves together a real historical event (in this case WWII and the Windsors governance of The Bahamas) and a fictional narrator with a mystery. I loved Lulu and Elfriede and their two storylines. I loved learning more about The Bahamas and, yes, I even liked learning more about Wallis Simpson. Williams writes intriguing and realistic female characters. My biggest complaint with every one of her books that I’ve read is the male leads. They always seem to be such wet blankets. I never really buy the romance between the characters. For this book, Wilfred and Benedict really seem like one dimensional people. They have nothing to them. For that fact, I always take off a star from my rating. But overall, I really did enjoy this book.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Grave Minder by Melissa Marr

Title: Grave Minder

Author: Melissa Marr

Publisher: William Morrow 2012

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 352

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Ebook

Rebekkah Barrow never forgot the tender attention her grandmother, Maylene, bestowed upon the dead of Claysville. While growing up, Rebekkah watched as Maylene performed the same unusual ritual at every funeral: three sips from a small silver flask followed by the words, “Sleep well, and stay where I put you.”

Now Maylene is gone and Bek must return to the hometown—and the man—she abandoned a decade ago, only to discover that Maylene’s death was not natural . . . and there was good reason for her odd traditions. In Claysville, the worlds of the living and the dead are dangerously connected—and beneath the town lies a shadowy, lawless land ruled by the enigmatic Charles, aka Mr. D. From this dark place the deceased will return if their graves are not properly minded. And only the Graveminder, a Barrow woman, and the current Undertaker, Byron, can set things to right once the dead begin to walk. . . .

Such a muddled mess of a book. There are so many interesting ideas and world building aspects to this book, but the characters and plot just don’t do it justice. I was thoroughly confused by certain aspects of the world, but willing to accept some things are just fact in the book. Okay fine. But then we turn to the characters and I got so incredibly annoyed. Rebekkah is just a spoiled, indecisive person. Quickly I got sick of her internal monologue of “should I or shouldn’t I”. Very boring and repetitive. Byron was a bit better, but still a bit whiny for my tastes. Both of the main characters acted more like they were teenagers than in their mid-20s. I just didn’t buy it. And don’t get me started on Maylene and William. Why was is necessary to completely keep your successors in the dark as to the entire world of Claysville? The secret keeping just caused so many problems. I could have fixed the entire story in the first chapter avoiding the entire conflict. Last note: Why are the undead not zombies? They sure seemed like zombies to me… Very confusing.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Paint and Videos

Intriguing

I love these videos!

Most definitely! The Gospel Truth is one of my favorite Disney songs.

Definitely need to add this to our list!

All the Stars and Teeth by Adalyn Grace

Title: All the Stars and Teeth (All the Stars and Teeth #1)

Author: Adalyn Grace

Publisher: Imprint 2020

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 373

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: UnRead Shelf; Monthly Theme - April

She will reign.

As princess of the island kingdom Visidia, Amora Montara has spent her entire life training to be High Animancer—the master of souls. The rest of the realm can choose their magic, but for Amora, it’s never been a choice. To secure her place as heir to the throne, she must prove her mastery of the monarchy’s dangerous soul magic.

When her demonstration goes awry, Amora is forced to flee. She strikes a deal with Bastian, a mysterious pirate: he’ll help her prove she’s fit to rule, if she’ll help him reclaim his stolen magic.

But sailing the kingdom holds more wonder—and more peril—than Amora anticipated. A destructive new magic is on the rise, and if Amora is to conquer it, she’ll need to face legendary monsters, cross paths with vengeful mermaids, and deal with a stow-away she never expected… or risk the fate of Visidia and lose the crown forever.

This was my free birthday month Book of the Month in March. I wasn’t quite sure if I was going to like this book, but I was pleasantly surprised. I immediately fell into the kingdom of Visidia and all the different types of magic. Amora was annoying at first, but I really grew to love her over the journey. She went from a spoiled princess to a fierce protector of the kingdom. I do so love it when characters show grow over the course of a book. Beyond Amora, I loved Bastian and Vataea. Such great traveling companions. Ferrick was less interesting as a character, but I really hope we see more growth from him in the second book. The plot moved quick enough to keep me turning pages. The first book ends on a sorta cliffhanger, but I think it could be read without the second book. I’ll keep a lookout for the publication date of book two.

All the Stars and Teeth

• #1 All the Stars and Teeth

• #2 All the Tides of Fate

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #8

Reading: The Golden Hour by Beatriz Williams - A WWII novel, but feels refreshing in the setting and the characters.

Watching: We just finished the first season of Making It last night. I loved that show!

Listening: For some reason, I’ve been pulling out the entirety of Mumford & Sons catalog to enjoy.

Making: We’ve been experimenting with different curries this week. Yummy!

Feeling: Over a month practicing social distancing and I’m feeling so weird… Every day is just so strange.

Planning: I’m almost finished painted my craft/library room. Hopefully this weekend I can start moving in furniture this weekend.

Loving: J and I have been turning to feel good television. It has made our nights so much more enjoyable.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Music Monday - Hollow Hum feat. Molly Parden "Running Up that Hill"

Loving this Kate Bush cover. Found on Apple Music’s Chill playlist a few weeks back.

Life Right Now #13

As I look outside my window: Much nicer than last weekend. Sunshine instead of rain!

Right now I am: Prepping to go hide Easter Eggs in the yard. The Easter Bunny didn’t get to visit us last weekend due to the weather. He is coming today!

Thinking and pondering: What should we do with the back deck? We know that we will have to replace it either next summer or in two summers. We’re kicking around some ideas of how to reconfigure the layout and to be more useable. Also we want to add a cooking area to house the grill and potential a mini keg fridge.

On my bedside table: The Golden Hour by Beatriz Williams, The Deep by Rivers Solomon

On my tv this week: J and I finished Lego Masters S1 and I really don’t agree with who won at all. We also started What We Do in the Shadows S1 (hilarious!) and made progress on Making It S1.

Listening to: Chill Mix on Apple Music. Soothing music is really helping my anxiety this week.

On the menu for this week: We’re hitting three different countries for this week’s Soups and Stews selections. Really I bought the ingredients and need to use before they go bad.

• Monday - Mozambique Crab Coconut Curry

• Tuesday - Kulajda (Czech Soup)

• Wednesday - Micronesian Chicken Coconut Curry

• Thursday - Cheesy Chicken, Broccoli, and Rice

• Friday - Broccoli Beef

• Saturday - Leftovers

• Sunday - Lemon Dill Cappelini with Salmon

On my to do list: Painting the craft room, prepping schoolwork for Arthur (his last day of instruction from his teacher is May 14th), put in my Ikea order (craft room furniture!), work on the caulk on the bathtub, and bake all the things!

Happening this week: Um. Nothing per usual right now.

What I am creating: Nothing much although I do want to get back to Project Life this week. Hoping to print some photos get everything organized.

My simple pleasures: Coconut Cookies, Hot tea, freshly primed walls, front door window decals (yeah for some privacy), looking at kitchen ideas

Looking around the house: Slowly slowly we are making progress. My craft room might be ready next weekend. Art is going up on the walls. We’re still waiting on my last living room chair and the dining room chair, but those are not scheduled to come in until May. I need to work on the Arthur and Quentin’s room next: putting up art, assembling some furniture, decorating with their things.

From the camera: I finished priming my craft room! That means I get to actually paint it this week and potentially move in furniture next weekend.

Daughters of the Lake by Wendy Webb

Title: Daughters of the Lake

Author: Wendy Webb

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing 2018

Genre: Thriller

Pages: 319

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Ebook

After the end of her marriage, Kate Granger has retreated to her parents’ home on Lake Superior to pull herself together—only to discover the body of a murdered woman washed into the shallows. Tucked in the folds of the woman’s curiously vintage gown is an infant, as cold and at peace as its mother. No one can identify the woman. Except for Kate. She’s seen her before. In her dreams…

One hundred years ago, a love story ended in tragedy, its mysteries left unsolved. It’s time for the lake to give up its secrets. As each mystery unravels, it pulls Kate deeper into the eddy of a haunting folktale that has been handed down in whispers over generations. Now, it’s Kate’s turn to listen.

As the drowned woman reaches out from the grave, Kate reaches back. They must come together, if only in dreams, to right the sinister wrongs of the past.

I really wanted to like this book. The opening chapter is amazing and very very intriguing. I was sucked into the story very quickly. But then, things just started going off the rails. I was constantly annoyed by the the characters randomly stopping and drifting off into memories every so often. It was so clunky and really pulled me out of the present narrative so that when the character came back to the present, I had to really remind myself where we were in the story. Annoying. Beyond the writing style, I was ultimately bored with the story and the characters. The constant references to the various ghosts wasn’t really intriguing; it was a weird intrusion. Overall, I was just bored of the book.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Planetfall by Emma Newman

Title: Planetfall (Planetfall #1)

Author: Emma Newman

Publisher: ROC 2015

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 320

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library; Goodreads Random - April

Renata Ghali believed in Lee Suh-Mi’s vision of a world far beyond Earth, calling to humanity. A planet promising to reveal the truth about our place in the cosmos, untainted by overpopulation, pollution, and war. Ren believed in that vision enough to give up everything to follow Suh-Mi into the unknown.

More than twenty-two years have passed since Ren and the rest of the faithful braved the starry abyss and established a colony at the base of an enigmatic alien structure where Suh-Mi has since resided, alone. All that time, Ren has worked hard as the colony's 3-D printer engineer, creating the tools necessary for human survival in an alien environment, and harboring a devastating secret.

Ren continues to perpetuate the lie forming the foundation of the colony for the good of her fellow colonists, despite the personal cost. Then a stranger appears, far too young to have been part of the first planetfall, a man who bears a remarkable resemblance to Suh-Mi.

The truth Ren has concealed since planetfall can no longer be hidden. And its revelation might tear the colony apart...

After ranting and raving to my husband for the better part of a half hour, I decided to give this book 2 stars. I do not think that this is a good book. There are so many storylines, plot threads that get muddled and ultimately lead no where. They bring up the potential parasite in the newcomer’s stomach, but no one seem really interested or concerned. There are allusions to the tragedy that was unfolding on Earth, but no follow up. Ren’s “disorder” is thrown into the mix at the height of the conflict, but no real discussion or resolution. Religion comes up again and again but seemingly only in passing with no real focus. The entirety of their journey to the new planet and any technology used is glossed over. The book ended up being a mix of about 6 Star Trek episodes with no real follow-through or conclusions. I will not be reading the rest of the series.

Planetfall

• #1 Planetfall

• #2 After Atlas

• #3 Before Mars

• #4 Atlas Alone

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

• With the weather nicer, I want to go places even more. So sad that I cannot.

• I did order a blow-up pool and some bubbles for the kids once it’s warm again.

• And I impulse ordered an entire box of books from Book Outlet. Terrible, but I couldn’t resist.

• Priming my craft/library room has given me new motivation to get that finished to I can furnish and decorate.

• Speaking of, I really need to order the shelving units already.

• I hate making food multiple times a day…

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Dollhouse by Fiona Davis

Title: The Dollhouse

Author: Fiona Davis

Publisher: Dutton 2016

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 306

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Ebook

When she arrives at the famed Barbizon Hotel in 1952, secretarial school enrollment in hand, Darby McLaughlin is everything her modeling agency hall mates aren't: plain, self-conscious, homesick, and utterly convinced she doesn't belong—a notion the models do nothing to disabuse. Yet when Darby befriends Esme, a Barbizon maid, she's introduced to an entirely new side of New York City: seedy downtown jazz clubs where the music is as addictive as the heroin that's used there, the startling sounds of bebop, and even the possibility of romance.
 
Over half a century later, the Barbizon's gone condo and most of its long-ago guests are forgotten. But rumors of Darby's involvement in a deadly skirmish with a hotel maid back in 1952 haunt the halls of the building as surely as the melancholy music that floats from the elderly woman's rent-controlled apartment. It's a combination too intoxicating for journalist Rose Lewin, Darby's upstairs neighbor, to resist—not to mention the perfect distraction from her own imploding personal life. Yet as Rose's obsession deepens, the ethics of her investigation become increasingly murky, and neither woman will remain unchanged when the shocking truth is finally revealed.

My second Fiona Davis book and I do enjoy her focus on historical geographic locations. This book’s focus on New York City and specifically the Barbizon Hotel was such fun. I loved learning more about the actual history of the Barbizon Hotel while focusing on fictional characters. The story itself was good, although the tension sometimes was a bit much. Often there is a little too much melodrama in the story. I would have liked a little less from the chaos of Rose’s life and more focus on Darby and Esme. Ultimately, I did like the book and will read another Fiona Davis book.

Next up on the TBR pile:

1776 by David McCullough

Title: 1776

Author: David McCullough

Publisher: Simon & Schuster 2006

Genre: Nonfiction - U.S. History

Pages: 386

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: UnRead Shelf

America’s beloved and distinguished historian presents, in a book of breathtaking excitement, drama, and narrative force, the stirring story of the year of our nation’s birth, 1776, interweaving, on both sides of the Atlantic, the actions and decisions that led Great Britain to undertake a war against her rebellious colonial subjects and that placed America’s survival in the hands of George Washington.

In this masterful book, David McCullough tells the intensely human story of those who marched with General George Washington in the year of the Declaration of Independence—when the whole American cause was riding on their success, without which all hope for independence would have been dashed and the noble ideals of the Declaration would have amounted to little more than words on paper.

I have a pretty firm grasp on U.S. History seeing as I was a HS Social Studies teacher with an emphasis in U.S. History. As such, I am always a bit hesitant to dive into U.S. History books. I don’t want to spend 300 pages just reviewing everything I already know. Thankfully McCullough’s Pulitzer Prize winning book gave me so much new information that I enjoyed every page. The book follows General Washington and a whole host of characters as they move through 1776 and the colonies. McCullough gives the basics but adds much more with excerpts from primary sources (letters and diaries) and details about many of the players. I especially loved learning more about Henry Knox and Nathanael Greene. They have become known names from the time period, but I didn’t know much more than their most important accomplishments. I loved how McCullough dove into various people while providing a very factual account of movements throughout the year. Even though I knew Trenton and Princeton were coming right at the end of the year, I was compelled by the writing to find out what was going to happen next. Great history book!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Music Monday - Palaye Royale "Lonely"

CW: Violence, self-harm, and substance abuse

This is such a deeply personal song. Amazing.

Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix

Title: Horrorstor

Author: Grady Hendrix

Publisher: Quirk Books 2014

Genre: Horror

Pages: 240

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Ebook

Something strange is happening at the Orsk furniture superstore in Cleveland, Ohio. Every morning, employees arrive to find broken Kjerring bookshelves, shattered Glans water goblets, and smashed Liripip wardrobes. Sales are down, security cameras reveal nothing, and store managers are panicking.
 
To unravel the mystery, three employees volunteer to work a nine-hour dusk-till-dawn shift. In the dead of the night, they’ll patrol the empty showroom floor, investigate strange sights and sounds, and encounter horrors that defy the imagination.

I picked this ebook up on Kindle sale and sped through it the other day. I loved the mounting dread within the store over the course of the chapters. I couldn’t stop reading as I was pushed along by the story. I had to find out what was going to happen next. I had to figure out the fates of the characters. I liked Amy, but really Basil become my favorite character in the book. Very fun horror story for a random afternoon’s reading.

Next up on the TBR pile: