A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers

Title: A Prayer for the Crown-Shy (Monk & Robot #2)

Author: Becky Chambers

Publisher: Tordotcom 2022

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 152

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR

After touring the rural areas of Panga, Sibling Dex (a Tea Monk of some renown) and Mosscap (a robot sent on a quest to determine what humanity really needs) turn their attention to the villages and cities of the little moon they call home.

They hope to find the answers they seek, while making new friends, learning new concepts, and experiencing the entropic nature of the universe.

Becky Chambers's new series continues to ask: in a world where people have what they want, does having more even matter?

A lovely continuation of the explorations of Sibling Dex and Mosscap. This time we get to see Mosscap interact with a variety of humans and learn about different settlements. I loved seeing Mosscap get a bit of distance from the forest and move into more settled areas. My favorite section was actually the small chapter set on the coast. We get to learn more about the current state of the world as Dex explains how humans on the coastlines live. I was fascinated. And though it all, they discuss life and identity. I can’t wait until the next volume of their journey to the city.

Monk and Robot

#1 A Psalm for the Wild-Built
#2 A Prayer for the Crown-Shy

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Next up on the TBR pile:

Dark Wild Night by Christina Lauren

Title: Dark Wild Night (Wild Seasons #3)

Author: Christina Lauren

Publisher: Gallery Books 2015

Genre: Romance

Pages: 358

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR

WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS STAYS IN VEGAS. BUT WHAT DIDN’T HAPPEN IN VEGAS SEEMS TO FOLLOW THEM EVERYWHERE—Book Three in the sexy, fun New York Times bestselling Wild Seasons series that began with Sweet Filthy Boy (the Romantic Times Book of the Year) and Dirty Rowdy Thing.

Lola and Oliver like to congratulate themselves on having the good sense not to consummate their drunken Las Vegas marriage. If they’d doubled-down on that mistake, their Just Friends situation might not be half as great as it is now.

…Or so goes the official line.

In reality, Lola’s wanted Oliver since day one—and over time has only fallen harder for his sexy Aussie accent and easygoing ability to take her as she comes. More at home in her studio than in baring herself to people, Lola’s instinctive comfort around Oliver nearly seems too good to be true. So why ruin a good thing?

Even as geek girls fawn over him, Oliver can’t get his mind off what he didn’t do with Lola when he had the chance. He knows what he wants with her now…and it’s far outside the friend zone. When Lola’s graphic novel starts getting national acclaim—and is then fast-tracked for a major motion picture—Oliver steps up to be there for her whenever she needs him. After all, she’s not the kind of girl who likes all that attention, but maybe she’s the kind who’ll eventually like him.

Sometimes seeing what’s right in front of us takes a great leap of faith. And sometimes a dark wild night in Vegas isn’t just the end of a day, but the beginning of a bright new life…

We finally get to Oliver and Lola’s story and I ended up being a bit disappointed. I had loved Oliver from the first scenes with him in the first book. I wanted to see him get his great romantic story. I loved the first 60% of this book. I understand Lola’s hesitation and Oliver’s need for communication. The steamy scenes were super steamy and thoroughly enjoyable. But then Lola has her freakout and I was so incredibly disappointed in her behavior and actions. I wanted her to be better. By the end of the book, Oliver and Lola get back to together, but I really wanted to see more from their relationship. I even wanted to see more of Lola’s career scenes. It like this book was about 50 pages too short for me.

Wild Seasons

#1 Sweet Filthy Boy
#2 Dirty Rowdy Thing
#3 Dark Wild Night
#4 Wicked Sexy Liar

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Palace Papers by Tina Brown

Title: The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor - the Truth and the Turmoil

Author: Tina Brown

Publisher: Crown Publishing Group 2022

Genre: Nonfiction

Pages: 571

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR

“Never again” became Queen Elizabeth II’s mantra shortly after Princess Diana’s tragic death. More specifically, there could never be “another Diana”—a member of the family whose global popularity upstaged, outshone, and posed an existential threat to the British monarchy.

Picking up where Tina Brown’s masterful The Diana Chronicles left off, The Palace Papers reveals how the royal family reinvented itself after the traumatic years when Diana’s blazing celebrity ripped through the House of Windsor like a comet.

Brown takes readers on a tour de force journey through the scandals, love affairs, power plays, and betrayals that have buffeted the monarchy over the last twenty-five years. We see the Queen’s stoic resolve after the passing of Princess Margaret, the Queen Mother, and Prince Philip, her partner for seven decades, and how she triumphs in her Jubilee years even as family troubles rage around her. Brown explores Prince Charles’s determination to make Camilla Parker Bowles his wife, the tension between William and Harry on “different paths,” the ascendance of Kate Middleton, the downfall of Prince Andrew, and Harry and Meghan’s stunning decision to step back as senior royals. Despite the fragile monarchy’s best efforts, “never again” seems fast approaching.

Tina Brown has been observing and chronicling the British monarchy for three decades, and her sweeping account is full of powerful revelations, newly reported details, and searing insight gleaned from remarkable access to royal insiders. Stylish, witty, and erudite, The Palace Papers will irrevocably change how the world perceives and understands the royal family.

Wow! That was quite a chunker that I didn’t quite realize until after I started reading. Before starting this book, I knew some about the royal family, but definitely would not call myself a royal watcher in any sense. Once diving in, I learned so much about the family. It’s fairly funny that I thought this would either be complete takedown of the family or a glowing portrait of them. It is neither. In fact, we get to see all the ups and downs of the family. In turns, I felt outrage at the obtuseness of the various royals when it came to how their actions hurt others. But I also felt sympathy toward them for the trials they endured, especially the outlandish attacks from the press. I now have a much more complete picture of the various royal family members.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin

Title: The Left Hand of Darkness

Author: Ursula K Le Guin

Publisher: 1969

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 315

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR

A lone human ambassador is sent to the icebound planet of Winter, a world without sexual prejudice, where the inhabitants’ gender is fluid. His goal is to facilitate Winter’s inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the strange, intriguing culture he encounters...

I tried reading this one again as part of the Nerdy Bookish Friends book club read. And I still didn’t like it. Back in 2011, I found this very clunky, slow-moving, and confusing. This time, I mostly still agree with that. While I can appreciate Le Guin’s attempt to discuss the big questions in sci-fi and her inspiration of many modern writers, I still find her work oddly stilted and non-engaging. I disliked every singly character we meet and was not engaged in the supposed plot line. The discussion of non-gender can be interesting, but I found many of the passages to contain a lot of misogynistic language. Feminine behaviors and attributes are almost always deemed to be unsavory. I would prefer to read a more modern take on gender and questions of gender than this ponderous tome.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Dirty Rowdy Thing by Christina Lauren

Title: Dirty Rowdy Thing (Wild Seasons #2)

Author: Christina Lauren

Publisher: Gallery Books 2014

Genre: Romance

Pages: 352

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR

Despite their rowdy hookups, Harlow and Finn don’t even like each other...which would explain why their marriage lasted only twelve hours. He needs to be in charge and takes whatever he wants. She lives by the Want-something-done? Do-it-yourself mantra. Maybe she’s too similar to the rugged fisherman—or just what he needs.

Okay better than the first book in the series. I really did love Harlow and Finn as individual people. I even enjoyed them together as a couple. My biggest issue with this book is the communication issue. I understand that the non-communication is the main conceit of this romance, but I don’t quite buy it and I definitely don’t love it. The steamy scenes were fairly steamy, but I would have liked more relationship scenes.

Wild Seasons

#1 Sweet Filthy Boy
#2 Dirty Rowdy Thing
#3 Dark Wild Night
#4 Wicked Sexy Liar

Next up on the TBR pile:

Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots

Title: Hench

Author: Natalie Zina Walschots

Publisher: William Morrow 2020

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 403

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR

Anna does boring things for terrible people because even criminals need office help and she needs a job. Working for a monster lurking beneath the surface of the world isn’t glamorous. But is it really worse than working for an oil conglomerate or an insurance company? In this economy?

As a temp, she’s just a cog in the machine. But when she finally gets a promising assignment, everything goes very wrong, and an encounter with the so-called “hero” leaves her badly injured. And, to her horror, compared to the other bodies strewn about, she’s the lucky one.

So, of course, then she gets laid off.

With no money and no mobility, with only her anger and internet research acumen, she discovers her suffering at the hands of a hero is far from unique. When people start listening to the story that her data tells, she realizes she might not be as powerless as she thinks.

Because the key to everything is data: knowing how to collate it, how to manipulate it, and how to weaponize it. By tallying up the human cost these caped forces of nature wreak upon the world, she discovers that the line between good and evil is mostly marketing. And with social media and viral videos, she can control that appearance.

It’s not too long before she’s employed once more, this time by one of the worst villains on earth. As she becomes an increasingly valuable lieutenant, she might just save the world.

This book came a recommendation from my favorite podcast, Currently Reading. I don’t always align with the hosts’ tastes in books, but when we do, I absolutely love the book! We get a complete flip of the superhero genre, imagining if the fact of having superheroes create much more damage and trauma than they save. I fell for Anna right away even if she is very prickly and has questionable social skills. I was rooting for her to find a good position and then the incident happens. From there, I felt like the novel was full-steam ahead, diving us and Anna into the world of real supervillains. We get to peel back the layers to see all the dirty secrets and revel in the downfalls of many superheroes. I especially loved Leviathan and his entire character arc. This is a very fast-paced thriller style science fiction novel with a few very graphic scenes of mutilation. Nothing I couldn’t handle, but just imagining the body horror scenes at the end has me shivering a bit. Oh so good!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Hotel Magnifique by Emily J. Taylor

Title: Hotel Magnifique

Author: Emily J. Taylor

Publisher: Razorbill 2022

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: 400

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR

All her life, Jani has dreamed of Elsewhere. Just barely scraping by with her job at a tannery, she’s resigned to a dreary life in the port town of Durc, caring for her younger sister Zosa. That is, until the Hotel Magnifique comes to town.

The hotel is legendary not only for its whimsical enchantments, but also for its ability to travel—appearing in a different destination every morning. While Jani and Zosa can’t afford the exorbitant costs of a guest’s stay, they can interview to join the staff, and are soon whisked away on the greatest adventure of their lives. But once inside, Jani quickly discovers their contracts are unbreakable and that beneath the marvelous glamour, the hotel is hiding dangerous secrets.

With the vexingly handsome doorman Bel as her only ally, Jani embarks on a mission to unravel the mystery of the magic at the heart of the hotel and free Zosa—and the other staff—from the cruelty of the ruthless maître d’hôtel. To succeed, she’ll have to risk everything she loves, but failure would mean a fate far worse than never returning home.

Now this book is totally my jam! We get a fun fantasy story featuring magic and the illusion of magic. I absolute adore books where the setting becomes a real character. The Hotel Magnifique itself is one of the most important characters in the novel. As Jani slowly uncovers the secrets of the hotel and the employees, I fell more in love with the hotel itself. My biggest complaint about this book is that we didn’t get to see more of the guest rooms and enchantments. As for the human characters, I loved Bel and his mysterious ways. I despised Alaister and his underlings (as you should). I grew to love Jani’s strength and commitment to her sister. I called the twist as it relates to character, but it felt appropriate instead of gimmicky. This book gave me big The Night Circus vibes but with much more action. Loved it!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Wretched Waterpark by Kiersten White

Title: Wretched Waterpark (The Sinister Summer #1)

Author: Kiersten White

Publisher: Delacorte Press 2022

Genre: Middle Grade Horror

Pages: 256

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR

Meet the Sinister-Winterbottoms: brave Theo, her timid twin, Alexander, and their older sister, Wil. They’re stuck for the summer with their Aunt Saffronia, who doesn’t know how often children need to eat and can’t use a smartphone, and whose feet never quite seem to touch the floor when she glides—er—walks.

When Aunt Saffronia suggests a week pass to the Fathoms of Fun Waterpark, they hastily agree. But the park is even stranger than Aunt Saffronia. The waterslides look like gray gargoyle tongues. The employees wear creepy black dresses and deliver ominous messages. An impossible figure is at the top of the slide tower, people are disappearing, and suspicious goo is seeping into the wave pool.

Something mysterious is happening at Fathoms of Fun, and it’s up to the twins to get to the bottom of it. The mystery, that is. NOT the wave pool. Definitely NOT the wave pool. But are Theo and Alexander out of their depth?

Such a delightful middle grade horror book! This reminds me of a cross between A Series of Unfortunate Events and a Goosebumps. We are thrust into a mysterious adventure where Will, Theo, and Alexander have no idea what to do or how they got there. I loved seeing the three siblings attempt to navigate the strangeness of the waterpark. Even though the waterpark is very strange, I totally would love spending a day there. I flew through this book and cannot wait to read the next one once it is published.

The Sinister Summer

#1 Wretched Waterpark
#2 Vampiric Vacation
#3 Camp Creepy

Next up on the TBR pile:

Sweet Filthy Boy by Christina Lauren

Title: Sweet Filthy Boy (Wild Seasons #1)

Author: Christina Lauren

Publisher: Gallery Books 2014

Genre: Romance

Pages: 418

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR

When three besties meet three hot guys in Vegas anything can—and does—happen. Book One of the New York Times bestselling Wild Seasons series from the author of the Beautiful Bastard series.

One-night stands are supposed to be with someone convenient, or wickedly persuasive, or regrettable. They aren’t supposed to be with someone like him.

But after a crazy Vegas weekend celebrating her college graduation—and terrified of the future path she knows is a cop-out—Mia Holland makes the wildest decision of her life: follow Ansel Guillaume—her sweet, filthy fling—to France for the summer and just...play.

When feelings begin to develop behind the provocative roles they take on, and their temporary masquerade adventures begin to feel real, Mia will have to decide if she belongs in the life she left because it was all wrong, or in the strange new one that seems worlds away.

I finally got around to starting the other early Christina Lauren series that I haven’t read yet. And my response is a resounding meh. I loved the setup of the surprise marriage in Vegas, but the book quickly went a bit downhill from there. I liked Ansel up until his secret was exposed. I could have dealt with his secrets and the fallout if we could have seen a good cathartic conversation. Instead, we get a quickie happy ending and I was annoyed. And then we turn to Mia and I just could not get behind her at all. Not a fan of her character at all. As a final note, I am going to say something very unexpected. I think this book might have had too many sex scenes… There I said it. Too many sex scenes in this contemporary romance.

Wild Seasons

#1 Sweet Filthy Boy
#2 Dirty Rowdy Thing
#3 Dark Wild Night
#4 Wicked Sexy Liar

Next up on the TBR pile:

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

Title: Light from Uncommon Stars

Author: Ryka Aoki

Publisher: Tor Books 2021

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 372

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR

Shizuka Satomi made a deal with the devil: to escape damnation, she must entice seven other violin prodigies to trade their souls for success. She has already delivered six.

When Katrina Nguyen, a young transgender runaway, catches Shizuka's ear with her wild talent, Shizuka can almost feel the curse lifting. She's found her final candidate.

But in a donut shop off a bustling highway in the San Gabriel Valley, Shizuka meets Lan Tran, retired starship captain, interstellar refugee, and mother of four. Shizuka doesn't have time for crushes or coffee dates, what with her very soul on the line, but Lan's kind smile and eyes like stars might just redefine a soul's worth. And maybe something as small as a warm donut is powerful enough to break a curse as vast as the California coastline.

As the lives of these three women become entangled by chance and fate, a story of magic, identity, curses, and hope begins, and a family worth crossing the universe for is found.

This book defies a simple description or genre. There’s sone science fiction. There’s some fantasy. There’s some family saga, even if it’s a found family. We’re thrown into multiple lives without much extra information. The first section of this book is rough. We get details of familial abuse. We get details of sexual assault and some descriptions of sex work. Once Katrina starts to settle into life with Shizuoka, I started to settle into the story and really appreciate the book. We dive deep into the main characters and sit with their highs and lows. It’s the lows that really pull at the emotions. While I really enjoyed the story and characters, it does settle into a melancholy atmosphere that I appreciated. The writing style took a bit to get used to, but ended up being a an interesting concept. We get a bit of stream of consciousness as a variety of music is played. I loved how we get to read exactly how the specific music affects certain characters. I’m still processing all my feelings and thoughts on this book, but it was definitely a winner.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory

Title: The Wedding Date (Wedding Date #1)

Author: Jasmine Guillory

Publisher: Berkley 2018

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 317

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR

Agreeing to go to a wedding with a guy she gets stuck with in an elevator is something Alexa Monroe wouldn't normally do. But there's something about Drew Nichols that's too hard to resist.

On the eve of his ex's wedding festivities, Drew is minus a plus one. Until a power outage strands him with the perfect candidate for a fake girlfriend....

After Alexa and Drew have more fun than they ever thought possible, Drew has to fly back to Los Angeles and his job as a pediatric surgeon, and Alexa heads home to Berkeley, where she's the mayor's chief of staff. Too bad they can't stop thinking about the other....

They're just two high-powered professionals on a collision course toward the long distance dating disaster of the century--or closing the gap between what they think they need and what they truly want....

I grabbed this one as my audiobook selection for driving to Indiana. I was looking forward to a breezy fun contemporary romance. This one was okay, but definitely not my favorite. Let’s start with what I did like. I liked the meet-cute set-up between Alexa and Drew. I loved that they both had jobs that they were passionate about. I loved the interactions between each of them and their friends. I was board with all that. Unfortunately, this could not completely make up for a few of my issues. My first point is not about this particular book, but I did realize that I don’t love listening to open door scenes. I would most definitely prefer to read them instead. With respect to this actual story, I didn’t love how abrupt the ending was. I really wanted more of a discussion between the two characters about the miscommunication they engaged in. I wanted both parties to have a more serious discussion of their hang-ups before the obligatory epilogue chapter. I also became very annoyed with Alexa’s constant disparagement of her body. It really got old really fast. I imagine that I will continue reading the series, but this wasn’t the strongest start for me.

Wedding Date:

#1 The Wedding Date
#2 The Proposal
#3 The Wedding Party
#4 Royal Holiday
#5 Party of Two
#6 While We were Dating

Next up on the TBR pile:

Wicked Beauty by Katee Robert

Title: Wicked Beauty (Dark Olympus #3)

Author: Katee Robert

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca 2022

Genre: Romance

Pages: 402

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR4

In Olympus, you either have the power to rule...or you are ruled. Achilles Kallis may have been born with nothing, but as a child he vowed he would claw his way into the poisonous city's inner circle. Now that a coveted role has opened to anyone with the strength to claim it, he and his partner, Patroclus Fotos, plan to compete and double their odds of winning.

Neither expect infamous beauty Helen Kasios to be part of the prize...or for the complicated fire that burns the moment she looks their way.

Zeus may have decided Helen is his to give to away, but she has her own plans. She enters into the competition as a middle finger to the meddling Thirteen rulers, effectively vying for her own hand in marriage. Unfortunately, there are those who would rather see her dead than lead the city. The only people she can trust are the ones she can't keep her hands off—Achilles and Patroclus. But can she really believe they have her best interests at heart when every stolen kiss is a battlefield?

Another solid very open door contemporary romance retelling of Greek myth. (I apparently have a thing recently for Greek myth retellings.) I had been intrigued by Helen from the second book in the series and was glad to see that she gets her own story here. I was initially not sold on Achilles as a character, but immediately loved Patroclus. How different are this two men? Ultimately, I really enjoyed watching these three people come together to create their own version of happy. On the other hand, I was a bit disappointed in how the action sequences and the romance sequences where jammed together. The transitions between the two weren’t the best and it felt like a bad porn movie a few times. I still ended up reading this in just a few days and enjoying my time. I’m looking forward to the next story featuring Apollo and Cassandra.

Dark Olympus

#1 Neon Gods
#2 Electric Idol
#3 Wicked Beauty
#4 Radiant Sun

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Mirror Mended by Alix E. Harrow

Title: A Mirror Mended (Fractured Fables #2)

Author: Alix E. Harrow

Publisher: Tordotcom 2022

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 144

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR

Zinnia Gray, professional fairy-tale fixer and lapsed Sleeping Beauty is over rescuing snoring princesses. Once you’ve rescued a dozen damsels and burned fifty spindles, once you’ve gotten drunk with twenty good fairies and made out with one too many members of the royal family, you start to wish some of these girls would just get a grip and try solving their own narrative issues.

Just when Zinnia’s beginning to think she can't handle one more princess, she glances into a mirror and sees another face looking back at her: the shockingly gorgeous face of evil, asking for her help. Because there’s more than one person trapped in a story they didn’t choose. Snow White's Evil Queen has found out how her story ends and she's desperate for a better ending. She wants Zinnia to help her before it’s too late for everyone.

Will Zinnia accept the Queen's poisonous request, and save them both from the hot iron shoes that wait for them, or will she try another path?

I really enjoyed the first book in their series and was looking forward to the second. This one definitely delivers on it’s promise of a feminist reexamination This time we get to Zinnia deal with a story different from her own Sleeping Beauty story, I loved her uneasy alliance with the Queen as they explore a variety of Snow White stories. This is a very slim novella, but takes the reader on a high-speed journey right from the first page. I really enjoyed the conclusion to this story and really came to love the Queen.

Fractured Fables

#1 A Spindle Splintered
#2 A Mirror Mended

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

Title: A Court of Mist and Fury (ACOTAR #2)

Author:Sarah J. Maas

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 624

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR

Feyre has undergone more trials than one human woman can carry in her heart. Though she’s now been granted the powers and lifespan of the High Fae, she is haunted by her time Under the Mountain and the terrible deeds she performed to save the lives of Tamlin and his people.

As her marriage to Tamlin approaches, Feyre’s hollowness and nightmares consume her. She finds herself split into two different people: one who upholds her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court, and one who lives out her life in the Spring Court with Tamlin. While Feyre navigates a dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms. She might just be the key to stopping it, but only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future―and the future of a world in turmoil.

I thought I loved the first book in this series, but it turns out that what I really loved was the second book. I was hoping that Rhysand would have more of a presence in this volume. The book delivered. By the end of the first section, I was so angry at Tamlin and desperately hoping that Feyre could escape her fate. Thankfully Rhysand arrives and whisks her away, but more importantly, gives her agency and freedom to discover exactly what she wants. I absolutely adore their relatioship. We get to see Feyre grow and change and realize her own destiny. This book was a wild ride and took so many twists and turns, but was always easy to follow. I loved all the quiet moments between characters. Those scenes were the best. But my absolute favorite is the scene where Rhysand shows up at the wedding. Absolutely priceless!

A Court of Throns and Roses

#1 A Court of Thorns and Roses
#2 A Court of Mist and Fury
#3 A Court of Wings and Ruin
#3.5 A Court of Frost and Starlight
#4 A Court of Silver Flames

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Bone Orchard by Sara A. Mueller

Title: The Bone Orchard

Author: Sara A. Mueller

Publisher: Tor Books 2022

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 432

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR

Charm is a witch, and she is alone. The last of a line of conquered necromantic workers, now confined within the yard of regrown bone trees at Orchard House, and the secrets of their marrow.

Charm is a prisoner, and a survivor. Charm tends the trees and their clattering fruit for the sake of her children, painstakingly grown and regrown with its fruit: Shame, Justice, Desire, Pride, and Pain.

Charm is a whore, and a madam. The wealthy and powerful of Borenguard come to her house to buy time with the girls who aren't real.

Except on Tuesdays, which is when the Emperor himself lays claim to his mistress, Charm herself.

But now—Charm is also the only person who can keep an empire together, as the Emperor summons her to his deathbed, and charges her with choosing which of his awful, faithless sons will carry on the empire—by discovering which one is responsible for his own murder.

If she does this last thing, she will finally have what has been denied her since the fall of Inshil—her freedom. But she will also be betraying the ghosts past and present that live on within her heart.

Charm must choose. Her dead Emperor’s will or the whispers of her own ghosts. Justice for the empire or her own revenge.

I’m very meh about this book. I was intrigued by the premise, but it think the story was too convoluted to live up the premise. Right away we’re thrown in a world without much information. That’s pretty standard for fantasy books. However, I don’t think this one every really explained much. We get a very confusing premise of the bone ghosts as being parts of Charm herself. If so, then how does Charm actually live. Splitting one’s self into different parts doesn’t seem like it would allow the original to live. And maybe she doesn’t really, the story get very unclear and strange from there. I couldn’t really keep her other parts straight and was confused about their names. Names hold power and usually tell us something about the character, but I couldn’t quite connect the dots on these. And then we get to the murder mystery/political intrigue sections of the book and I was completely over it. I did not care at all! I’ll be interested to see what everyone else thinks at book club, but this one was definitely not for me.

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Title: A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR #1)

Author:Sarah J. Maas

Publisher: Bloomsbury 2015

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 432

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a terrifying creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not truly a beast, but one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled her world.

At least, he's not a beast all the time.

As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it, or doom Tamlin-and his world-forever.

After listening to all the hype of them books for years, I finally got around to reading it. For the most part, I really enjoyed this book. I fell into this Beauty and the Beast retelling and didn’t stop until the last page. I’ll admit that the first 50 pages or so were slow going, but as soon as Feyre moves to the Far lands, everything kicks into gear. I enjoyed the world-building aspects of this volume coupled with the intriguing take on a classic fairy tale. I loved the back and forth between Feyre and Lucien and we get an interesting look at members of the other courts. The three tests were interesting, but it was Feyre’s interactions with Rhysand that were my favorite. Of course there is a big cliffhanger that I can’t wait to see what happens next. I think I’ve figured out the random comment by Rhysand before he disappeared. I feel like I’m going to have to dive into the next book very soon.

A Court of Throns and Roses

#1 A Court of Thorns and Roses
#2 A Court of Mist and Fury
#3 A Court of Wings and Ruin
#3.5 A Court of Frost and Starlight
#4 A Court of Silver Flames

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Change by Kirsten Miller

Title: The Change

Author: Kirsten Miller

Publisher: William Morrow 2022

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 480

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR

In the Long Island oceanfront community of Mattauk, three different women discover that midlife changes bring a whole new type of empowerment…

After Nessa James’s husband dies and her twin daughters leave for college, she’s left all alone in a trim white house not far from the ocean. In the quiet of her late forties, the former nurse begins to hear voices. It doesn’t take long for Nessa to realize that the voices calling out to her belong to the dead—a gift she’s inherited from her grandmother, which comes with special responsibilities.

On the cusp of 50, suave advertising director Harriett Osborne has just witnessed the implosion of her lucrative career and her marriage. She hasn’t left her house in months, and from the outside, it appears as if she and her garden have both gone to seed. But Harriett’s life is far from over—in fact, she’s undergone a stunning and very welcome metamorphosis.

Ambitious former executive Jo Levison has spent thirty long years at war with her body. The free-floating rage and hot flashes that arrive with the beginning of menopause feel like the very last straw—until she realizes she has the ability to channel them, and finally comes into her power.

Guided by voices only Nessa can hear, the trio of women discover a teenage girl whose body was abandoned beside a remote beach. The police have written the victim off as a drug-addicted sex worker, but the women refuse to buy into the official narrative. Their investigation into the girl’s murder leads to more bodies, and to the town’s most exclusive and isolated enclave, a world of stupendous wealth where the rules don’t apply. With their newfound powers, Jo, Nessa, and Harriett will take matters into their own hands…

This was the feminist rage book that I needed after last weekend’s news. I highlighted so many passages in this book. I feel like I am becoming these women and I’m totally here for it. We meet three every different women, but three women who are growing into their identity and strengths. I was floored by the changes, but cheered every page of it. I loved following these women and even meeting all the other women highlighted in this book. We get a murder mystery, but also a larger conspiracy tied to the ultra-privileged. My only issue was the revel of the villain. It felt a bit cheap and I wish it had been done slightly differently.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

Title: Klara and the Sun

Author: Kazuo Ishiguro

Publisher: Knopf 2021

Genre: Scfi

Pages: 303

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR

Here is the story of Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, who, from her place in the store, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her. Klara and the Sun is a thrilling book that offers a look at our changing world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator, and one that explores the fundamental question: what does it mean to love?

It’s the second Ishiguro that I’ve tried and he is definitely not for me. Overall, my big thought is that Ishiguro is just retreading sci-fi tropes and ideas but without adding anything new or interesting. I never found any part of this book to be new or fresh. I found no real message about humanity or identity. I definitely did not connect with any of the characters. Klara has the mindset of a 5-year-old and never really changes. Josie is a brat throughout the entire book. Ishiguro never really explains much of anything about the larger world or being “lifted.” The reader is left in the dark for most of this story and I just didn’t appreciate it. Is this supposed to be our future? If yes, then I need a actually discussion of how we are going wrong and how we can avoid it. We don’t get any of that. It’s just a superficial story. And don’t get me started on Klara’s insistence that the sun will bestow some blessing on Josie. Just ugh!

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Brief History of Earth by Andrew H. Knoll

Title: A Brief History of Earth: Four Billions Years in Eight Chapters

Author: Andrew H. Knoll

Publisher: Custom House 2021

Genre: Nonfiction - Geology

Pages: 272

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer Reading Challenge

How well do you know the ground beneath your feet?

Odds are, where you’re standing was once cooking under a roiling sea of lava, crushed by a towering sheet of ice, rocked by a nearby meteor strike, or perhaps choked by poison gases, drowned beneath ocean, perched atop a mountain range, or roamed by fearsome monsters. Probably most or even all of the above.

The story of our home planet and the organisms spread across its surface is far more spectacular than any Hollywood blockbuster, filled with enough plot twists to rival a bestselling thriller. But only recently have we begun to piece together the whole mystery into a coherent narrative. Drawing on his decades of field research and up-to-the-minute understanding of the latest science, renowned geologist Andrew H. Knoll delivers a rigorous yet accessible biography of Earth, charting our home planet's epic 4.6 billion-year story. Placing twenty first-century climate change in deep context, A Brief History of Earth is an indispensable look at where we’ve been and where we’re going.

I grabbed this slim nonfiction book on a whim while creating the geology unit for coop. I love a good natural sciences book and this one seemed right up my alley. We get to start at the beginning and follow the development of the earth through time all the way until today. Each chapter is organized around a stage of development. Much of the information included was already know to me, but I did find myself very attentive to the complete story. Knoll occasionally swerves into very hard science, but overall this is a very readable text. I only wish that the pictures had been in color. Black and white is so hard especially when it comes to looking at rocks.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Guide by Peter Heller

Title: The Guide

Author: Peter Heller

Publisher: Knopf 2021

Genre: Thriller

Pages: 272

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Seasonal TBR; Modern Mrs. Darcy

Kingfisher Lodge, nestled in a canyon on a mile and a half of the most pristine river water on the planet, is known by locals as "Billionaire's Mile" and is locked behind a heavy gate. Sandwiched between barbed wire and a meadow with a sign that reads "Don't Get Shot!" the resort boasts boutique fishing at its finest. Safe from viruses that have plagued America for years, Kingfisher offers a respite for wealthy clients. Now it also promises a second chance for Jack, a return to normalcy after a young life filled with loss. When he is assigned to guide a well-known singer, his only job is to rig her line, carry her gear, and steer her to the best trout he can find.

But then a human scream pierces the night, and Jack soon realizes that this idyllic fishing lodge may be merely a cover for a far more sinister operation. A novel as gripping as it is lyrical, as frightening as it is moving, The Guide is another masterpiece from Peter Heller.

I’m really surprised about how much I have really enjoyed Peter Heller’s books. Heller writes in a beautiful lyrical manner creating a full atmosphere to sink into. Once we dive into the atmosphere, I have really enjoyed learning more about what has happened to Jack since The River. Plus, we get a wonderful tension filled mystery. I sped through this story desperately needing to see what would happen next. Definitely a thrill ride for this month.

Next up on the TBR pile: