Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

Title: Jurassic Park

Author: Michael Crichton

Publisher: Ballantine Books 1990

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 416

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR; COYER

An astonishing technique for recovering and cloning dinosaur DNA has been discovered. Now humankind’s most thrilling fantasies have come true. Creatures extinct for eons roam Jurassic Park with their awesome presence and profound mystery, and all the world can visit them—for a price.

Until something goes wrong. . .

I read this novel way back in sometime in the 1990s. I had hoped that the book would hold up to my memories. Thankfully it really does. The story is nonstop action from the moment Chapter 1 starts. We get to meet all the intriguing characters and set up the island. Of course, we all know that things are going to go sideways very soon. Once all the different parts of the system start to fail, everything kicks into high gear. While the book is better than the movie in almost every aspect, I did forget just how much I dislike Lex as a character. She is just terrible. The movie changed the dynamic and definitely improved the characters. Otherwise, I forgot just how much I did like Ian Malcolm. Overall, I love this book so much.

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Next up on the TBR pile:

Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez

Title: Yours Truly (Part of Your World #2)

Author: Abby Jimenez

Publisher: Forever 2023

Genre: Romance

Pages: 416

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf Project - July; BOTM Cleanout

Spice Meter: 4

Dr. Briana Ortiz’s life is seriously flatlining. Her divorce is just about finalized, her brother’s running out of time to find a kidney donor, and that promotion she wants? Oh, that’s probably going to the new man-doctor who’s already registering eighty-friggin’-seven on Briana’s “pain in my ass” scale. But just when all systems are set to hate, Dr. Jacob Maddox completely flips the game . . . by sending Briana a letter.

And it’s a really good letter. Like the kind that proves that Jacob isn’t actually Satan. Worse, he might be this fantastically funny and subversively likeable guy who’s terrible at first impressions. Because suddenly he and Bri are exchanging letters, sharing lunch dates in her “sob closet,” and discussing the merits of freakishly tiny horses. But when Jacob decides to give Briana the best gift imaginable—a kidney for her brother—she wonders just how she can resist this quietly sexy new doctor . . . especially when he calls in a favor she can’t refuse.

CW: Anxiety, depression, cheating, miscarriage, pregnancy

As with all of Jimenez’s books, this one deals with some tough subjects. Check out those CWs before reading. I was hoping for an epic real-life romance where the leads have real problems and learn to support each other. This one did not disappoint. We get a sweet story of two slightly damaged adults finding love after pushing each other and everyone else away. I loved getting to hear Briana’s story after she was featured in Jimenez’s previous book, Part of Your World. But the star of the book for me was definitely Jacob. I don’t have quite the same level of anxiety that Jacob does, but I could see so much of me in him. I understand every single thing he did (and didn’t do). I was right there with him for every hard experience and every joy. After reading this, I am reminded of the many things that J does for my anxiety that are just a regular part of our relationship. I really think I found a keeper there. By the end of the book, I was crying happy tears. And then I read the author’s note, and I was full on sobbing. Absolutely perfect book for the perfect time. Definitely going onto my Top 10 of the year! I cannot get over how much this one really hit me. So great!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Title: Fourth Wing (Empyrean #1)

Author: Rebecca Yarros

Publisher: Entangled 2023

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 528

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.

With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.

Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom's protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.

Looking for a fast-paced fantasy adventure story featuring strong characters, serious dangers, and a side of romance? This is the summer read for you! This book has blown up on Bookstagram and in all my book related spaces, and for good reason. This is the high adventure story featuring dragons that we needed. We meet Violet Sorrengail who has been trained to enter the scribes, but whose mother forces her into the riders quadrant. The riders quadrant certainly means death for Violet, but she finds her strength and belonging within the treacherous world of the Basgiath War College. Violet is not a whiny teenager. She is a young woman who knows her strengths and weaknesses and uses them to survive. Once the dragons enter into he story, we move into a nonstop action phase that had me flinging through the pages. I couldn’t wait to see where the story would lead next. And then there was the romance plot. I loved Violet and Xaden’s antagonistic relationship and final consummation. It felt very real given their personalities, histories, and situations they were put in. I can’t wait until November when the sequel is published.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen

Title: Other Birds

Author: Sarah Addison Allen

Publisher: St Martin’s Press 2022

Genre: Magical Realism

Pages: 290

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf - June; BOTM Cleanout

Down a narrow alley in the small coastal town of Mallow Island, South Carolina, lies a stunning cobblestone building comprised of five apartments. It's called The Dellawisp and it's named after the tiny turquoise birds who, alongside its human tenants, inhabit an air of magical secrecy.

When Zoey Hennessey comes to claim her deceased mother's apartment at The Dellawisp, she meets her quirky, enigmatic neighbors including a girl on the run, a grieving chef whose comfort food does not comfort him, two estranged middle-aged sisters, and three ghosts. Each with their own story. Each with their own longings. Each whose ending isn't yet written.

When one of her new neighbors dies under odd circumstances the night Zoey arrives, she's thrust into the mystery of The Dellawisp, which involves missing pages from a legendary writer whose work might be hidden there. She soon discovers that many unfinished stories permeate the place, and the people around her are in as much need of healing from wrongs of the past as she is. To find their way they have to learn how to trust each other, confront their deepest fears, and let go of what haunts them.

Sarah Addison Allen finally came out with a new book! I was so incredibly excited and had to get this one from BOTM as soon as it popped up. This book has all the hallmarks of a good Allen novel: a motley crew of characters, a specific and unique setting, and some just slightly odd magical realism. In this one, we follow the residents of the Dellawisp, both present and past. Of course we know that there are connections between the characters, and thankfully the book reveals all of those connections over the course of the novel. My favorite character was Charlotte. I really loved hearing about her story and seeing her grow and open up to others over the pages. I wish that we had seen more growth from Zoey. She seemed to stay the same throughout the entire story. At times she felt like she was written as a much younger character. I get her shelter background, but I wanted to see a bit more from her coming into her own. Overall, I really loved following these characters. The setting and the magical realism helped keep my attention to an essentially character driven novel. We are discussing this book at book club next week and I cannot wait to hear what everything thought.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Secret Service of Tea and Treason by India Holton

Title: The Secret Service of Tea and Treason (Dangerous Damsels #3)

Author: India Holton

Publisher: Berkley Books 2023

Genre: Historical romance Fantasy

Pages: 368

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Romanceopoly - Post Office (Set in a different country)

Spice Rating: 4

Known as Agent A, Alice is the top operative within the Agency of Undercover Note Takers, a secret government intelligence group that is fortunately better at espionage than at naming itself. From managing deceptive witches to bored aristocratic ladies, nothing is beyond Alice’s capabilities. She has a steely composure and a plan always up her sleeve (alongside a dagger and an embroidered handkerchief). So when rumors of an assassination plot begin to circulate, she’s immediately assigned to the case.

But she’s not working alone. Daniel Bixby, otherwise known as Agent B and Alice's greatest rival, is given the most challenging undercover assignment of his life— pretending to be Alice’s husband. Together they will assume the identity of a married couple, infiltrate a pirate house party, and foil their unpatriotic plans.

Determined to remain consummate professionals, Alice and Daniel must ignore the growing attraction between them, especially since acting on it might prove more dangerous than their target.

The third in this delightful witty series snuck under the radar for me. I didn’t even realize that there was another in the series until another blogger randomly posted about it. I jumped on adding the book to my library holds. In this volume, we revisit two characters that previously appeared in other volumes. Alice and Daniel were intriguing small side characters in those books and I was excited to see them get their own romance story. The romance itself is very stilted at times, but only because we get to see two very different types of people than th usual romance leads. At many times, I really felt for Alice’s inability to understand the people around her. I loved getting the glimpse into her own thought patterns as we see her wrestle with the case and her complicated feelings toward Agent B. I sped through the volume loving every single page of it. I only wish that we had a bit more spice and maybe some more banter.

Dangerous Damsels

#1 The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels
#2 The League of Gentlemen Witches
#3 The Secret Service of Tea and Treason

Next up on the TBR pile:

Venmo by Cherie Dimaline

Title: VenCo

Author: Cherie Dimaline

Publisher: William Morrow 2023

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 400

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Typographic Cover

Métis millennial Lucky St. James is barely hanging on when she learns she’ll be evicted from the tiny Toronto apartment she shares with her cantankerous but loving grandmother Stella. But then one night, something strange and irresistible calls out to Lucky. She burrows through a wall to find a tarnished silver spoon, humming with otherworldly energy, etched with a crooked-nosed witch and the word SALEM.

Lucky is familiar with the magic of her indigenous ancestors, but she has no idea that the spoon connects her to a teeming network of witches across North America who have anxiously awaited her discovery.

Enter VenCo, a front company fueled by vast resources of dark money (its name is an anagram of “coven.”) VenCo’s witches hide in plain sight wherever women gather: Tupperware parties, Mommy & Me classes, suburban book clubs. Since colonial times, they have awaited the moment the seven spoons will come together and ignite a new era, returning women to their rightful power.

But as reckoning approaches, a very powerful adversary is stalking their every move. He’s Jay Christos, a roguish and deadly witch-hunter as old as witchcraft itself.

To find the last spoon, Lucky and Stella embark on a rollicking and dangerous road trip to the darkly magical city of New Orleans, where the final showdown will determine whether VenCo will usher in a new beginning…or remain underground forever.

Our retreat book selection and I’m so excited that I really enjoyed it. Last year’s choice wasn’t a huge hit and the choice the year before was terrible. I picked a good one this year! It took me a few chapters to get into the story, but once Lucky meets the rest of the coven, I was complete drawn in. I really started to connect to every single one of the witches and of course was cheering for their success the entire way through. This is the type of feminist rage book that I love! We are not beating down all men or other women. Instead, we are uplifting women and their choices. We get to see how each of the women in the coven connects to their own power and reaches out to form friendships and familial ties. The book is full of action and adventure but also some great quiet moments between characters.

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Tempest at Sea by Sherry Thomas

Title: A Tempest at Sea (Lady Sherlock #7)

Author: Sherry Thomas

Publisher: Berkley 2023

Genre: Mystery

Pages: 353

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Fashionable Character

After feigning her own death in Cornwall to escape from Moriarty’s perilous attention, Charlotte Holmes goes into hiding. But then she receives a tempting offer: Find a dossier the crown is desperately seeking, and she might be able to go back to a normal life.

Her search leads her aboard the RMS Provence. But on the night Charlotte makes her move to retrieve the dossier, in the midst of a terrifying storm in the Bay of Biscay, a brutal murder takes place on the ship.

Instead of solving the crime, as she is accustomed to doing, Charlotte must take care not to be embroiled in this investigation, lest it become known to those who harbor ill intentions that Sherlock Holmes is abroad and still very much alive.

Absolutely loved this locked-room style murder mystery. We get to come back to all our favorite characters all aboard a sea voyage. Thomas brings all of our characters together for a variety of reasons and then of course, we get a murder. You knew it was coming. I was just waiting for the entire first third of the book just waiting to see who would die. From there, we mainly follow Lord Ingram has he assists the Inspector in the mystery. The volume felt a little different in that we have shifted from Charlotte to Ash as the main character the reader follows. And the entire locked room idea felt very Agatha Christie like. But I loved every page of it. This felt like a fresh murder mystery instead of just a Sherlock Holmes story. My favorite parts were the interactions between Ash and Charlotte. I have been rooting for them since the beginning and we finally get to see their feelings towards each other expressed out loud. Hallelujah! I cannot wait to see where this series goes next.

Lady Sherlock

Next up on the TBR pile:

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

Title: Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries (Emily Wilde #1)

Author: Heather Fawcett

Publisher: Del Rey 2023

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 336

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Spring TBR

Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is good at many things: She is the foremost expert on the study of faeries. She is a genius scholar and a meticulous researcher who is writing the world’s first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at people. She could never make small talk at a party—or even get invited to one. And she prefers the company of her books, her dog, Shadow, and the Fair Folk to other people.

So when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hrafnsvik, Emily has no intention of befriending the gruff townsfolk. Nor does she care to spend time with another new arrival: her dashing and insufferably handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby, who manages to charm the townsfolk, muddle Emily’s research, and utterly confound and frustrate her.

But as Emily gets closer and closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones—the most elusive of all faeries—lurking in the shadowy forest outside the town, she also finds herself on the trail of another mystery: Who is Wendell Bambleby, and what does he really want? To find the answer, she’ll have to unlock the greatest mystery of all—her own heart.

Oh this was such an utter delight! We dive into an expedition journal by Emily Wilde and start to unravel the mysteries of the faeries in the far north. Emily is the prickliest of academics, but something in her inexhaustible drive to find the truth draws the reader in. We are rooting for her right from the beginning. Once she gets a little taste of the faerie world, the stakes are increased and the potential danger grows closer. I was enjoying the story and then Wendell arrived and I was completely hooked. The story took a very strange turn about 75% of the way through and was absolutely obsessed. I got to the end of the book and couldn’t believe that the story had ended. I wanted to continue the story. Thankfully we are getting a second book next year. I cannot wait.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Cinders & Sparrows by Stefan Bachmann

Title: Cinders & Sparrows

Author: Stefan Bachmann

Publisher: Greenwillow Books 2020

Genre: MG Fantasy

Pages: 368

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; Spring TBR

When a scarecrow climbs over the garden wall, delivering twelve-year-old orphan Zita Brydgeborn a letter saying she has inherited a distant castle, she jumps at thechance of adventure. But little does she know that she is about to be thrust into a centuries-old battle between good and evil. Blackbird Castle was once home to a powerful dynasty of witches, all of them now dead under mysterious circumstances. All but Zita. And Zita, unfortunately, doesn't know the first thing about being a witch.

As she begins her lessons in charms and spells with her guardian, Mrs. Cantanker, Zita makes new allies--a crow, a talking marble head, two castle servants just her age named Bram and Minnifer, and the silent ghost of a green-eyed girl. But who is friend and who is foe? Zita must race to untangle her past and find the magic to save the home she's always hoped for. Because whatever claimed the souls of her family is now after her.

I grabbed this book out of our big collection of Owl Crate boxes. I was hoping for something a bit spooky and fun. This definitely hit the spot! Right away the book gives us a great spooky house full of gothic vibes. We meet some mysterious characters and a lost and found orphan. From here, the book immediately drops you into the plot and rushes forward until the end. I loved trying to figure out the mystery and peel back the layers of the house and the characters. I absolutely loved the book and will be keeping this one our shelves.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Arch-Conspirator by Veronica Roth

Title: Arch-Conspirator

Author: Veronica Roth

Publisher: Tor Books 2023

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 112

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Spring TBR

“I’m cursed, haven’t you heard?”

Outside the last city on Earth, the planet is a wasteland. Without the Archive, where the genes of the dead are stored, humanity will end.

Antigone’s parents—Oedipus and Jocasta—are dead. Passing into the Archive should be cause for celebration, but with her militant uncle Kreon rising to claim her father's vacant throne, all Antigone feels is rage.

When he welcomes her and her siblings into his mansion, Antigone sees it for what it really is: a gilded cage, where she is a captive as well as a guest.

But her uncle will soon learn that no cage is unbreakable. And neither is he.

I randomly grabbed this slim novella off the New Releases library shelf not quite know what I was getting. And then I read the cover and wondered if this was going to be a Greek story. It is in fact! And I loved every page of this retelling of Antigone. Roth has moved the story to a future where we have irrevocably damaged the planet. Society has moved into a fragile state of being with strict rules of life and death. Roth manages to pack a punch into very few chapters each from different perspectives. We get to see society from a variety of perspectives. The story really brought up some interesting questions and philosophical questions. At first, I wanted to have more to the story, but the more I think about it, a novella is the perfect length for this story. Short and sweet, but leaves a big impression.

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Year in the Woods by Torbjørn Ekelund

Title: A Year in the Woods: Twelve Small Journeys into Nature

Author: Torbjørn Ekelund

Publisher: Greystone Books 2021

Genre: Nature Memoir

Pages: 256

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

As nature becomes ever more precious, we all want to spend more time appreciating it. But time is often hard to come by. And how do we appreciate nature without disruption? In this sensitively-written book, Torbjørn Ekelund, an acclaimed Norwegian nature writer, shares a creative and non-intrusive method for immersing oneself in nature. And the result is nothing short of transformative.

Evoking Henry David Thoreau and the four-season structure of Walden, Ekelundwrites about communing with nature by repeating a small, simple ritual and engaging in quiet reflection. At the start of the book, he hatches a plan: to leave the city after work one day per month, camp near the same tiny pond in the forest, and return to work the next day. He keeps this up for a year.

His ritual is far from rigorous and it is never perfect. One evening, he grows so cold in his tent that he hikes out before daybreak. But as Ekelund inevitably greets the same trees and boulders each month, he appreciates the banality of their sameness alongside their quiet beauty. He wonders how long they have stood silently in this place—and reflects on his own short existence among them.

A Year in the Woods asks us to reconsider our relationship with the natural world. Are we anxious wanderers or mindful observers? Do we honor the seasons or let them pass us by? At once beautifully written, accessible, and engaging, A Year in the Woods is the perfect book for anyone who longs for a deeper connection with their environment, but is realistic about time and ambition.

This book ended up in a big check out stack when I was looking for forest school lessons for coop. Most of the books were geared toward children, but this one was a little different. I finally picked it up and started reading not quite sure what I was going to find inside. Ultimately, I was delighted by this slim memoir focused on Ekelund’s plan to spend 12 days and nights out in nature. Right away, I loved that Ekelund makes it clear that he doesn’t believe that everyone needs or should do what he did. Further, he doesn’t believe that that’s any one way to experience nature. This was a refreshing take contrasted with a ton of books that basically tell the reader that if they don’t spend a majority of their time outside, they have failed as humans. Throughout the twelve chapters, we get Ekelund’s actual experiences, but also meditations on experience nature and human nature. I found myself reading only one chapter a day wanting to let the ideas sit for awhile before adding more. This is a much better book than Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods, stripping out all the problematic takes and focusing on the experience of being in nature. Loved it!

Next up on the TBR pile:

A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher

Title: A House with Good Bones

Author: T. Kingfisher

Publisher: Tor Nightfire 2023

Genre: Horror

Pages: 247

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - With a Dedication

"Mom seems off."

Her brother's words echo in Sam Montgomery's ear as she turns onto the quiet North Carolina street where their mother lives alone.

She brushes the thought away as she climbs the front steps. Sam's excited for this rare extended visit, and looking forward to nights with just the two of them, drinking boxed wine, watching murder mystery shows, and guessing who the killer is long before the characters figure it out.

But stepping inside, she quickly realizes home isn’t what it used to be. Gone is the warm, cluttered charm her mom is known for; now the walls are painted a sterile white. Her mom jumps at the smallest noises and looks over her shoulder even when she’s the only person in the room. And when Sam steps out back to clear her head, she finds a jar of teeth hidden beneath the magazine-worthy rose bushes, and vultures are circling the garden from above.

To find out what’s got her mom so frightened in her own home, Sam will go digging for the truth. But some secrets are better left buried.

Another very creepy horror story from Kingfisher that I absolutely adored. We started with a typically story about family. But pretty quickly we start to realize that something isn’t quite right in this house. The book follows along with quiet dread for awhile before the last third of the book kicks the horror into high gear. I loved Sam’s narration of her life and her memories of childhood. Once we get to the horror part, I was truly horrified. The reveal at the kitchen table made me gasp. And from there, it’s nonstop horror until the end. Oh so good! I am completely a Kingfisher convert and must read everything she has written.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher

Title: The Hollow Places

Author: T. Kingfisher

Publisher: Gallery / Saga 2020

Genre: Horro

Pages: 341

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Books - Sends You Down a Rabbit Hole

Pray they are hungry.

Kara finds the words in the mysterious bunker that she’s discovered behind a hole in the wall of her uncle’s house. Freshly divorced and living back at home, Kara now becomes obsessed with these cryptic words and starts exploring this peculiar area—only to discover that it holds portals to countless alternate realities. But these places are haunted by creatures that seem to hear thoughts…and the more one fears them, the stronger they become.

A deliciously creepy and strange horror novel was just what I needed this week. Right away, we get a great description for the Museum of Oddities that really sets the stage for the story. And then Kara finds a hole and things get very strange. I was seriously having some weird dreams while reading this book. Definitely a sign that I’m really enjoying the book and it’s very scary. I can still picture Kara and Simon’s encounter with Sturdivant. So very very creepy! This book gave me all the Annihilation vibes that I was looking for. And now I want to read everything Kingfisher has every written. I’m craving all the horror.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Come as You Are by Emily Nagoski

Title: Come as You Are: The Surprising New Science That Will Transform Your Sex Life

Author: Emily Nagoski

Publisher: Simon & Schuster 2015

Genre: Nonfiction - Health

Pages: 400

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Spring TBR

For much of the 20th and 21st centuries, women’s sexuality was an uncharted territory in science, studied far less frequently—and far less seriously—than its male counterpart.

That is, until Emily Nagoski’s Come As You Are, which used groundbreaking science and research to prove that the most important factor in creating and sustaining a sex life filled with confidence and joy is not what the parts are or how they’re organized but how you feel about them. In the years since the book’s initial publication, countless women have learned through Nagoski’s accessible and informative guide that things like stress, mood, trust, and body image are not peripheral factors in a woman’s sexual wellbeing; they are central to it—and that even if you don’t always feel like it, you are already sexually whole by just being yourself. This revised and updated edition continues that mission with new information and advanced research, demystifying and decoding the science of sex so that everyone can create a better sex life and discover more pleasure than you ever thought possible.

Must read! Am absolute must read for all women. Nagasaki uses a conversational tone to teach us everything we need to know about sexual health. Each chapter tackles a topic or a myth and reframes health. We get a wholistic approach instead of just a focus on physical health. I learned so much after reading the book. I cannot wait to put some of the ideas I learned into practice. I definitely need to buy my own copy and probably a few more copies to give away to friends.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez

Title: Part of Your World

Author: Abby Jimenez

Publisher: Forever 2022

Genre: Romance

Pages: 400

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Spring TBR; Romanceopoly - Spring (Has an animal on the cover)

Spice Meter: 4

After a wild bet, gourmet grilled-cheese sandwich, and cuddle with a baby goat, Alexis Montgomery has had her world turned upside down. The cause: Daniel Grant, a ridiculously hot carpenter who’s ten years younger than her and as casual as they come—the complete opposite of sophisticated city-girl Alexis. And yet their chemistry is undeniable.

While her ultra-wealthy parents want her to carry on the family legacy of world-renowned surgeons, Alexis doesn’t need glory or fame. She’s fine with being a “mere” ER doctor. And every minute she spends with Daniel and the tight-knit town where he lives, she’s discovering just what’s really important. Yet letting their relationship become anything more than a short-term fling would mean turning her back on her family and giving up the opportunity to help thousands of people.

Bringing Daniel into her world is impossible, and yet she can’t just give up the joy she’s found with him either. With so many differences between them, how can Alexis possibly choose between her world and his?

CW: Domestic Violence, Abuse

Look at that Content Warning. Usually I immediately put a book down if it deals with those topics, and yet I wanted to read this one. I think my ability to attempt it is due to previous success with Jimenez’s books. She deftly handles very difficult topics within her contemporary romance books. In this one, we meet two very different people that eventually realize just what they are missing in life. Alexis is a great character, but Daniel is the real favorite of the couple. I loved his commitment to his town and the people within his life. Seriously, so attractive! There’s a happy ending, but it definitely takes a while for our characters to get there. Along the way, we get very serious events and discussions. I found myself working through the some of my past. Strange cathartic book for me. It’s not super steamy, but a very satisfying contemporary romance.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Weyward by Emilia Hart

Title: Weyward

Author: Emilia Hart

Publisher: St Martin’s Press 2023

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 336

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; BOTM Cleanout

I am a Weyward, and wild inside.

2019: Under cover of darkness, Kate flees London for ramshackle Weyward Cottage, inherited from a great aunt she barely remembers. With its tumbling ivy and overgrown garden, the cottage is worlds away from the abusive partner who tormented Kate. But she begins to suspect that her great aunt had a secret. One that lurks in the bones of the cottage, hidden ever since the witch-hunts of the 17th century.

1619: Altha is awaiting trial for the murder of a local farmer who was stampeded to death by his herd. As a girl, Altha’s mother taught her their magic, a kind not rooted in spell casting but in a deep knowledge of the natural world. But unusual women have always been deemed dangerous, and as the evidence for witchcraft is set out against Altha, she knows it will take all of her powers to maintain her freedom.

1942: As World War II rages, Violet is trapped in her family's grand, crumbling estate. Straitjacketed by societal convention, she longs for the robust education her brother receives––and for her mother, long deceased, who was rumored to have gone mad before her death. The only traces Violet has of her are a locket bearing the initial W and the word weyward scratched into the baseboard of her bedroom.

Weaving together the stories of three extraordinary women across five centuries, Emilia Hart's Weyward is an enthralling novel of female resilience and the transformative power of the natural world.

CW: Rape, Domestic Violence

Usually with content warnings like those, I would immediately say no thank you to the book. But something about the summary of the book really drew me in. I started reading and was immediately connecting with the three Weyward women. As their stories unfold, we understand just how these women have been shoved to the side of their lives and how the patriarchy has punished them for just about everything. Their stories are not happy ones, but we do get to see these women come into their own identities and triumph over many of the obstacles put into their paths. The stories end on very hopeful notes, but more importantly, we get to see the journey these women undertake to get to the hopeful spot. This may just end up on my Top 10 of the year.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Drift by C.J. Tudor

Title: The Drift

Author: C.J. Tudor

Publisher: Ballantine Books 2023

Genre: Thriller

Pages: 340

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Published in 2013

Hannah awakens to carnage, all mangled metal and shattered glass. Evacuated from a secluded boarding school during a snowstorm, her coach careered off the road, trapping her with a handful of survivors. They’ll need to work together to escape—with their sanity and secrets intact.

Meg awakens to a gentle rocking. She’s in a cable car stranded high above snowy mountains, with five strangers and no memory of how they got on board. They are heading to a place known only as “The Retreat,” but as the temperature drops and tensions mount, Meg realizes they may not all make it there alive.

Carter is gazing out the window of an isolated ski chalet that he and his companions call home. As their generator begins to waver in the storm, something hiding in the chalet’s depths threatens to escape, and their fragile bonds will be tested when the power finally fails—for good.

The imminent dangers faced by Hannah, Meg, and Carter are each one part of the puzzle. Lurking in their shadows is an even greater danger—one with the power to consume all of humanity.

What an absolute ride! Usually books billed as thrillers really fall flat for me. They just lack the oomph that I’m looking for or the characters are so incredibly unlikeable that I’m wishing all of them would get murdered. This one I went in blind except for a recommendation from my favorite podcast. The host purposely left the summary mostly hidden so as not to spoil the reveals and that’s exactly the way to go with this one. I dove in and immediately started piecing the big connections and storyline together. We are plopped right into the middle of a bus crash, a stalled ski lift gondola, and a mysterious locked “retreat.” From there, we have to understand exactly what is going on in the outside world, who each of the characters actually are, and how they intend to survive the situation and the elements. I got so wrapped up into the story that I ended up finishing this book in one day. I was completely along for the ride. Once the big reveals happen, I actually gasped out loud (I hardly ever do that.) It was just so good! A great book to end my work on.

Next up on the TBR pile:

What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat by Aubrey Gordon

Title: What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat

Author: Aubrey Gordon

Publisher: Beacon Press 2020

Genre: Nonfiction

Pages: 197

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Anti-fatness is everywhere. In What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat, Aubrey Gordon unearths the cultural attitudes and social systems that have led to people being denied basic needs because they are fat and calls for social justice movements to be inclusive of plus-sized people’s experiences. Unlike the recent wave of memoirs and quasi self-help books that encourage readers to love and accept themselves, Gordon pushes the discussion further towards authentic fat activism, which includes ending legal weight discrimination, giving equal access to health care for large people, increased access to public spaces, and ending anti-fat violence. As she argues, “I did not come to body positivity for self-esteem. I came to it for social justice.”

By sharing her experiences as well as those of others—from smaller fat to very fat people—she concludes that to be fat in our society is to be seen as an undeniable failure, unlovable, unforgivable, and morally condemnable. Fatness is an open invitation for others to express disgust, fear, and insidious concern. To be fat is to be denied humanity and empathy. Studies show that fat survivors of sexual assault are less likely to be believed and less likely than their thin counterparts to report various crimes; 27% of very fat women and 13% of very fat men attempt suicide; over 50% of doctors describe their fat patients as “awkward, unattractive, ugly and noncompliant”; and in 48 states, it’s legal—even routine—to deny employment because of an applicant’s size.

Advancing fat justice and changing prejudicial structures and attitudes will require work from all people. What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat is a crucial tool to create a tectonic shift in the way we see, talk about, and treat our bodies, fat and thin alike.

Not a happy book by any definition, but a very important book to read. A lot of what is covered in these pages has been mentioned on Gordon’s podcast Maintenance Phase, but I very much appreciated hearing her arguments laid out systematically in each chapter. We get au unflinching look at anti-fat bias in our society from the words we use to the programs we enact. I loved the deep dives into different aspects. Definitely a proper primer on the topic. I am waiting for a library copy of Gordon’s second book to further educate myself.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Come as You Are by Jess K. Hardy

Title: Come as You Are (Bluebird Basin #1)

Author: Jess K. Hardy

Publisher: Pinkity Publishing 2022

Genre: Romance

Pages: 318

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Set in a Workplace; Romanceopoly - Flirts Corner (Contemporary by an author you haven’t tried before)

Ashley Cooke will do just about anything to save her struggling ski hill. When she hires the men from a local sober living home for the season to cut costs, even she thinks she’s gone too far. With her credit cards maxed, her cheating ex-husband intent on buying the mountain out from under her, and record-breaking snow in the forecast, she can’t afford to be distracted by the six-foot-tall bearded and tattooed sober living home owner moving onto her mountain.

Recovering addict and ex-grunge rocker Matthew Madigan has devoted every minute of the last decade to the men residing at his sober living home. When he meets tightly wound and adorably flustered Ashley, desires he’s put on the back burner for years start to simmer. Immune to his infamous albeit rusty charm, Ashley presents a challenge he can’t resist. When she offers to give him skiing lessons in exchange for his help training her St. Bernard rescue dog, he jumps at the chance to ride next to her on the chairlift despite his debilitating fear of heights.

During bunny hill shenanigans, chairlift confessions, and steamy cabin serenades, Madigan teaches Ashley that a person’s past doesn’t define them, and Ashley shows Madigan that the men he helps aren’t the only people who deserve a second chance. When sabotage threatens both the men and the mountain, Ashley and Madigan will have to decide if they’re only having a winter fling, or if the mountain isn’t the only thing worth fighting for.

Such a beautiful contemporary romance. I am completely head over heels for this one. We get mature protagonists, true communication, very hot sexy scenes, past mistakes and redemption, and some great side relationships and family issues. I picked this one for our book club’s Dirty Book Month in the hopes of a great steamy romance with some substance to it. Thank goodness it delivered. I related so much to Ashley and her insecurities and hang-ups. I literally wrote down a ton of quotes just on that point. I wanted to see her understand her walls and start to break them down with a very sexy man. And then we get to Madigan. I loved his own redemption story and the ways in which he tries to be the best person for everyone around him. He was so easy to love. Mostly I loved how they opened up to each other and the people around them. So many great conversations and true conflict resolution modeled in this book. I also loved how we got to see Ashley and Madigan interact with other people at the resort. The side characters were relatable and definitely set up some sequels for the future. I can’t wait to discuss this with book club next week!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Babel by R.F. Huang

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

Author: R.F. Huang

Publisher: Harper Voyager 2022

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 545

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Winter TBR; Unread Shelf; BOTM Cleanout

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Next up on the TBR pile: