Mister Magic by Kiersten White

Title: Mister Magic

Author: Kiersten White

Publisher: Del Rey 2023

Genre: Horror

Pages: 368

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fall TBR

Thirty years after a tragic accident shut down production of the classic children’s program Mister Magic, the five surviving cast members have done their best to move on. But just as generations of cultishly devoted fans still cling to the lessons they learned from the show, the cast, known as the Circle of Friends, have spent their lives searching for the happiness they felt while they were on it. The friendship. The feeling of belonging. And the protection of Mister Magic.

But with no surviving video of the show, no evidence of who directed or produced it, and no records of who—or what—the beloved host actually was, memories are all the former Circle of Friends has.

Then a twist of fate brings the castmates back together at the remote desert filming compound that feels like it’s been waiting for them all this time. Even though they haven’t seen each other for years, they understand one another better than anyone has since.

After all, they’re the only ones who hold the secret of that circle, the mystery of the magic man in his infinitely black cape, and, maybe, the answers to what really happened on that deadly last day. But as the Circle of Friends reclaim parts of their past, they begin to wonder: Are they here by choice, or have they been lured into a trap?

Well that was one of the weirdest books that I’ve read in quite a while. White employs the same type of strange setup and unfolding of the story as with her previous adult horror book, Hide. In this one, we get a strange children’s television show, potentially a small-town cult, and a very very creepy house. I love these horror stories that unfold in very strange slow reveals. It’s my absolute favorite kind of creepy. I wasn’t the most excited about the fact that Val cannot remember anything from her life on the show or her childhood. This part seemed a bit of a strange plot device and wasn’t my favorite way to experience the story. I liked her more as the story goes on, but it was really the other children from the show that were my favorites. I loved seeing as how they reveal their true selves over the course of the book. Once we get to the big reveal of the show and how it operated, I was fully into the storyline.

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Next up on the TBR pile:

Life Right Now #28

As I look outside my window: The sun is back out after yesterday’s clouds. But the temps are staying lower, so it should be just about perfect.

On my bedside table: The Boyfriend Candidate by Ashley Winstead; Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher

On my tv this week: We finally finished The Misfits! And because we went on a weird 6-degrees-of-separation thing, J remembered the one of the actors was one another show he enjoyed, Preacher. The show is based on a comic book from the 1990s by Garth Ennis who also wrote The Boys. So we had to start watching the show and I had to put the comics on hold at the library.

Listening to: Mostly just a lot of music mixes. Been really digging my Apple Music Radio channel. All my favorites, plus some related bands I am discovering.

On the menu for this week:

Monday - Vegetable Beef Soup; Me out at book club
Tuesday - Out at Book Club
Wednesday - Quentin’s Birthday Dinner (pushed a day) at one of the Chinese buffets
Thursday - Snack dinner/leftovers; Arthur dinner at the homeschool dance
Friday - Chili Verde
Saturday - Pot Roast
Sunday - Spinach and Artichoke Melts/Grilled Cheese

On my to do list: Mostly I’m just needing to get all my ducks in a row for the boys’ birthday party on October 7th.

Happening this week: It’s Quentin’s birthday and book club week!

Monday - Chemistry class; Book Club
Tuesday - Vala’s (Quentin’s birthday); Book Club
Wednesday - Vala’s; Quentin’s birthday dinner
Thursday - Coop; Arthur Homeschool Dance
Friday - Fontenelle Forest Hike
Saturday - Home Day
Sunday - Coop Book Club; Nerdy Bookish Friends Book Club

What I am creating: I spent some time working on my August Memory Planner pages yesterday. About halfway through the month. Hoping to get back to it later today.

My simple pleasures: Rainy forest walks; hot coffee; friends

Looking around the house: Two weeks until the birthday party and we’ve got to get the main floor under control. Starting on the hallway area this week.

From the camera: New addition to the pumpkin patch. Arthur’s direction to Quentin, “Look like you’re sleeping.” No idea why, but that was the pose.

Fall Bucket List

My favorite season of the year. We’re diving into the spooky season and planning on soaking up all the fall fun.

Visit Vala’s 6x
Celebrate Friendsgiving
Read 50 Books
Complete Spooky Movie Month
Execute a Halloween Party for Coop
Have an Art/Craft Day
Three State Park Visists
Two Zoo Visits
Pick Out and Carve Pumpkins
Go Trick-or-Treating
Jump in a Pile of Leaves
Go Through a Corn Maze
Make 5 Fall Recipes
Make Leaf Art
Go Pick Apples
Go on a 3 Fall Forest Hikes
Make 3 Pumpkin Recipes
Go Bowling
Use our GetOut Pass 2 Times
Decorate for Fall

Next up on the TBR pile:

Bound by Flames by Jeaniene Frost

Title: Bound by Flames (Night Prince #3)

Author: Jeaniene Frost

Publisher: Avon 2015

Genre: Romance

Pages: 342

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fall TBR; Finishing the Series

Spice Rating: 5

The climactic third novel in New York Times bestselling author Jeaniene Frost's Night Prince series finds Vlad and his newly turned bride, Leila, at odds with each other—and vulnerable to the one vampire powerful enough to end the Dark Prince's reign . . .

Play with fire, pay the price

Leila's years on the carnie circuit were certainly an education. What she didn't learn: how to be a vampire, or how to be married to the most famous vampire of them all. Adjusting to both has Leila teetering on a knife edge between passion and peril, and now the real danger is about to begin . . .

Vlad must battle with a centuries-old enemy whose reach stretches across continents and whose strength equals his own. It isn't like Vlad to feel fear, but he does . . . for Leila, because his enemy knows she is Vlad's greatest weakness. As friend and foe alike align against him—and his overprotectiveness drives Leila away—Vlad's love for his new bride could be the very thing that dooms them both . . .

Oh that took a turn! I was not expecting the twists and turns in this volume of the series. This book has nonstop action from page one until the end. And there is some serious disturbing action in this one. Definitely not for the feint of heart. Even I cringed during a few scenes. But on the other side of the book, we get to see so much growth between Vlad and Leila. I was desperate for them to really start to understand each other and come together. One more book in this series to see how this chapter of their story ends.

Night Prince

#1 Once Burned
#2 Twice Tempted
#3 Bound by Flames
#4 Into the Fire

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Kingdom of Prep by Maggie Bullock

Title: The Kingdom of Prep: The Inside Story of the Rise and (Near) Fall of J. Crew

Author: Maggie Bullock

Publisher: Dey Street Books 2023

Genre: Nonfiction - Business

Pages: 368

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fall TBR

Once upon a time, a no-frills J.Crew rollneck sweater held an almost mystical power—or at least it felt that way. The story of J.Crew is the story of the original “lifestyle brand,” whose evolution charts a sea change in the way we dress, the way we shop, and who we aspire to be over the past four decades—all told through iconic clothes and the most riveting characters imaginable.

In The Kingdom of Prep, seasoned fashion journalist Maggie Bullock tells J.Crew’s epic story for the first time, bringing to life the deliciously idiosyncratic people who built a beloved brand, unpacking the complex legacy of prep—a subculture born on the 1920s campuses of the Ivy League—and how one brand rose to epitomize “American” style in two very different golden eras, and also eventually embodied the “retail apocalypse” that rocked the global fashion industry and left hollowed-out malls across the country.

A random library pick that I thought might be something I would enjoy, but ultimately, this book fell a bit flat for me. Overall I think this account felt a little too long. We spend so much time setting up the entire concept of J. Crew and then linger over the details. I might have liked this more as a long-form article than a full length book. Or maybe I just wasn’t as invested in the J. Crew brand as a reader that would have really loved this one. I never really bought into the J. Crew brand as a teen or college student. And now I’m very much in homeschool mom chic. Oh well.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Summer Bucket List Finish

Illness and travel really impacted our bucket list this year.

Complete the Library Reading Program ✓
Ice Cream Tour of Omaha (in progress)
Louisville, Two Rivers, and Fremont SRAs - Unfortunately schedules and illness derailed my plans.
Trip to Indiana and Ohio ✓
Cookout with Friends ✓
Lincoln Day
5 Splash Pad Visits ✓
3 Movies at the Theater (1/3)
3 Omaha Zoo Visits ✓
Read 50 Books ✓
August Movie Month - Well, that just didn’t happen. Completely got away from me.
September Game Month

Next up on the TBR pile:

Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala

Title: Arsenic and Adobo (Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mysteries #1)

Author: Mia P. Manansala

Publisher: Berkley 2021

Genre: Mystery

Pages: 307

Rating: 2/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Summer TBR; Unread Shelf; BOTM Cleanout

When Lila Macapagal moves back home to recover from a horrible breakup, her life seems to be following all the typical rom-com tropes. She's tasked with saving her Tita Rosie's failing restaurant, and she has to deal with a group of matchmaking aunties who shower her with love and judgment. But when a notoriously nasty food critic (who happens to be her ex-boyfriend) drops dead moments after a confrontation with Lila, her life quickly swerves from a Nora Ephron romp to an Agatha Christie case.

With the cops treating her like she's the one and only suspect, and the shady landlord looking to finally kick the Macapagal family out and resell the storefront, Lila's left with no choice but to conduct her own investigation. Armed with the nosy auntie network, her barista best bud, and her trusted Dachshund, Longanisa, Lila takes on this tasty, twisted case and soon finds her own neck on the chopping block…

Oof! I had hopes for a fun cozy mystery with some food talk. And that’s what I thought I was getting in the first chapter. But then, things got very repetitive, silly, and seemingly lacking of emotion. I was interested in the food talk, but then the food talk became an every other paragraph thing. How many times do we need the same foods described in detail? I did not. If you would have removed the repetitions, almost 40% of the book would have disappeared. As it stands, the food descriptions just felt like padding. Beyond that, I was annoyed by the seeming incompetence of detective and even of Lila. There wasn’t enough actual amateur detective work. And don't get me started on the fact that Lila and all the main characters seemed to not care at all that people have died. I thoroughly disliked this book.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Islands of Elsewhere by Heather Fawcett

Title: The Islands of Elsewhere

Author: Heather Fawcett

Publisher: Rocky Pond Books 2023

Genre: MG Fantasy

Pages: 224

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Not many kids have an island in their backyard, but suddenly, the Snolly sisters have three. They’re staying at Granddaddy’s seaside property for the summer, which includes the mysterious Fairy Islands: Fairy, Little Fairy, and Ghost. The people in Misty Cove call them “in-between places,” and say they’re full of magic—a magic that gets inside you.

But ten-year-old Bee Snolly doesn’t believe in magic—she just wants to help her ill Granddaddy. And if she and her sisters can unravel the mystery of the Fairy Islands in time, they may discover a long-buried secret that could help them all.

Very cute little middle fantasy featuring three very different sisters and a family mystery. I loved watching Bee, Hattie, and Plum play and fight and ultimately come together to help their family in any way they can. There’s definitely a level of quirkiness to this family and it comes through in every page. Is Fawcett capable of writing of book that doesn’t include quirky characters? I don’t think so, but those quirky characters were just what I needed for an easy read today. I sped through this book desperate to find out the mystery of the Fairy Islands and hopeful that Granddaddy would be okay. A very cute little story.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Cruel Seduction by Katee Robert

Title: Cruel Seduction (Dark Olympus #5)

Author: Katee Robert

Publisher: Sourcebooks 2023

Genre: Romance

Pages: 384

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; Romanceopoly - City Lane (Fantasy that doesn’t involve magic)

Spice Rating: 8

Aphrodite has never flinched at getting her perfectly manicured hands dirty, and she's not about to start now—even if that means marrying Olympus's enemy number one, the new Hephaestus. She has a wicked plan to keep her deadly new husband off-balance, seducing the one person he seems to care about most in this world: Pandora, a woman as beautiful as she is sweet.

Two can play the seduction game, however, and Hephaestus is all too happy to put his new wife in her place. Her ex, Adonis, seems like he'll do the trick. It doesn't hurt that he's gorgeous in the way of fallen angels, either.

The only problem with using seduction as a weapon? Hearts are all too quick to get involved. With Hephaestus and Aphrodite trading venomous strikes that feel a whole lot like foreplay, lines become blurred and emotions entangled. But a broken heart may be the least of their worries. With unrest in Olympus reaching new heights, these bedroom games may have deadly consequences for themselves, their city, and everyone they've come to love.

My biggest complaint about this book… it needed to be longer. We get a great setup with Eris’s forced marriage to Theseus alongside the complications of Pandora and Adonis. We get the larger storyline of the barriers failing and new player trying to take over Olympus. I was all for slowly untangling this mess and watching characters find themselves and each other. And they do, but the ending really seemed rushed to me. I wanted to sit with some of the revelations a bit longer. I wanted to see how the polyam groupings worked in everyday life, not just in the bedroom. I wanted more from these characters. The review is pretty negative, but I did really enjoy reading the book. I loved getting more insight into some of the characters that we’ve briefly encountered. Theseus was my favorite. I loved learning his story and seeing him finally become his own person and find love, in very unexpected places. I cannot wait until the next Dark Olympus book in January.

Dark Olympus

#0.5 Stone Heart
#1 Neon Gods
#1.5 Hades and Hades
#2 Electric Idol
#2.5 Zeus and Hera
#3 Wicked Beauty
#4 Radiant Sun
#5 Cruel Seduction
#6 Midnight Ruin
#7 Dark Restraint

Next up on the TBR pile:

Currently #18

Reading: I was disappointed by my current Kindle read, so I picked up Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher. Loving this weird and fractured fairy tale story.

Watching: We’re finished The Misfits S4 and about to start S5.

Listening: I downloaded Nita Strauss’s new album and it’s been on repeat for me lately. I’m loving the variety of guest singers and their particular styles.

Making: It’s officially spooky season and I’m diving into all the spooky books. Making a shortlist for my must-reads.

Feeling: I was feeling very stressed out this weekend, but things have calmed down now. I think getting teaching chemistry off my plate helped.

Planning: It’s school picture time. I realized that the only non-graphic tees that the boys had were the ones that they wore for picture day last fall. So, I guess I need to go buy some new shirts that will work for fall pictures. Maybe a green and blue color scheme.

Loving: Leaning into the fall seasons with all the pumpkin foods. I picked up some pumpkin spice yogurt covered pretzels and they are delicious! My pumpkin cream cheese on bagels isn’t so bad either.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Music Monday - Coheed and Cambria "Ladders of Supremacy"

Loving this new epic song.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center

Title: The Bodyguard

Author: Katherine Center

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press 2022

Genre: Romance

Pages: 309

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Spice Rating: 4

She’s got his back.
Hannah Brooks looks more like a kindergarten teacher than somebody who could kill you with a wine bottle opener. Or a ballpoint pen. Or a dinner napkin. But the truth is, she’s an Executive Protection Agent (aka "bodyguard"), and she just got hired to protect superstar actor Jack Stapleton from his middle-aged, corgi-breeding stalker.

He’s got her heart.
Jack Stapleton’s a household name—captured by paparazzi on beaches the world over, famous for, among other things, rising out of the waves in all manner of clingy board shorts and glistening like a Roman deity. But a few years back, in the wake of a family tragedy, he dropped from the public eye and went off the grid.

They’ve got a secret.
When Jack’s mom gets sick, he goes home to the family’s Texas ranch to help out. Only one catch: He doesn’t want his family to know about his stalker. Or the bodyguard thing. And so Hannah—against her will and her better judgment—finds herself pretending to be Jack’s girlfriend as a cover. Even though her ex, says no one will believe it.

What could possibly go wrong?
Hannah hardly believes it, herself. But the more time she spends with Jack, the more real it all starts to seem. And there lies the heartbreak. Because it’s easy for Hannah to protect Jack. But protecting her own, long-neglected heart? That’s the hardest thing she’s ever done.

This book had been on my random TBR shortlist for awhile now. I had heard that it was good contemporary romance that was mostly closed door. That last part is probably why it say on my TBR for as long as it did. I’m usually not a fan of mostly closed door romance, but I picked this one up and was pleasantly surprised. The book is much more on the rom-com side of romances with a quirky meet-cute and more misses than hits. Everyone knows that Jack and Hannah should be together except for Hannah. It takes her the entire book to get there, but it was a fun journey. I did wish that we had less of Hannah’s coworkers, especially her ex Robby, and more of Jack’s family. And I’m always hoping for a bit more spice. Overall, I did enjoy this contemporary romance for what it was.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Timeline by Michael Crichton

Title: Timeline

Author: Michael Crichton

Publisher: Alred A. Knopf 1999

Genre: Science Fiction

Pages: 489

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Set in War other than WWI or WWII

In an Arizona desert, a man wanders in a daze, speaking words that make no sense. Within twenty-four hours he is dead, his body swiftly cremated by his only known associates. Halfway around the world, archaeologists make a shocking discovery at a medieval site. Suddenly they are swept off to the headquarters of a secretive multinational corporation that has developed an astounding technology. Now this group is about to get a chance not to study the past but to enter it. And with history opened up to the present, the dead awakened to the living, these men and women will soon find themselves fighting for their very survival—six hundred years ago.

Somehow the Nerdy Bookish Friends group picked two medieval time travel novels back to back. It’s going to make for an interesting discussion I think. I can’t say that really enjoyed either one of the books, but I might have enjoyed Timeline a bit more than Doomsday Book. Like all Crichton novels, this one takes a while to get going, but then we are dumped into pretty decent non-stop action. I was okay with the larger storyline and the intrigue associated with ITC. I was even okay with the “twists” that I saw coming a mile away. My biggest problem with this book were the characters. They were terrible. The only one that I actually like was Marek. The rest are whiny people that I cannot believe are competent professionals. And don’t get me started on the “romance” between Kate and Chris. Terrible! Makes absolutely no sense and really does Kate a disservice as Chris is the whiniest of the bunch. Despite not liking the book, I’m looking forward to discussing with my online book club. We always have great discussions about books!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Up from the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

Title: Up from the Grave (Night Huntress #7)

Author: Jeaniene Frost

Publisher: Avon 2014

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Pages: 372

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series

Spice Meter: 5 (albeit one with a vampire)

The Grave Ends Here.

Lately, life has been unnaturally calm for vampires Cat Crawfield and her husband Bones. They should have known better than to relax their guard, because a shocking revelation sends them back into action to stop an all-out war...

A rogue CIA agent is involved in horrifying secret activities that threaten to raise tensions between humans and the undead to dangerous heights. Now Cat and Bones are in a race against time to save their friends from a fate worse than death...because the more secrets they unravel, the deadlier the consequences. And if they fail, their lives--and those of everyone they hold dear-- will be hovering on the edge of the grave.

And we come to the end of the main series with this volume. (I know that there is a #8 and #9, but those are earlier books retold from Bones’ perspective. Not the main storyline.) I was so glad to see a happy-ish ending for Cat and Bones. After everything they have gone through, it was nice to see them gain some semblance of peace. Even if that peace was hard fought and comes with some additional strings. I loved the main mystery of this volume, but could have done with some retooling of the side characters. Tate and the boys just seemed to be thrown in there. And I’ve never been a fan of Cat’s mother at all. I still think it was a terrible decision to make her a vampire. She should have just died. This volume didn’t have as much romance as I would have liked, but we still get a few scenes between Cat and Bones. I want to read the last two novellas/short stories, but I’m still deciding on whether or not to read the Bones books.

Night Huntress:

#0.5 Reckoning ✓
#1 Halfway to the Grave ✓
#1.5 Happily Never After ✓
#2 One Foot in the Grave ✓
#3 At Grave’s End ✓
#3.5 Devil to Pay ✓
#4 Destined for an Early Grave ✓
#4.5 One for the Money ✓
#5 This Side of the Grave
#6 One Grave at a Time ✓
#6.5 Home for the Holidays ✓
#7 Up from the Grave
#7.5 Outtakes from the Grave
#7.6 A Grave Girls’ Getaway
#8 The Other Half of the Grave
#9 Both Feet in the Grave

Next up on the TBR pile:

Once & Future Vol. 5

Title: Once & Future Vol. 5: The Wasteland

Author: Kieron Gillen, Dan Mora, Tamra Bonvillain

Publisher: BOOM! Studios 2023

Genre: Comics

Pages: 160

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

WIt’s the day before Christmas and the Kings all converge on Excalibur, each determined to be the true ruler. Chaos arises! What if no one has the strength to take the sword? Will there finally be peace after so much conflict, or will an unexpected figure claim the throne? Rituals, bombs, and battles ensue, while the final fate of Mary, Rose, Bridgette, Merlin, and the rest awaits! The incomparable Kieron Gillen (The Wicked + The Divine) and Dan Mora (Detective Comics) deliver the long-awaited conclusion to their Hugo Award-nominated mystical modern take on Arthurian legend! Collects Once & Future #25-30.

And so the story ends! I have loved this series from the beginning and so glad that we have a definite end to the story. All the different threads come together for an epic all-out battle for control of Britain. We get conclusions for all of the characters, but Galahad’s ending was my favorite. Justice for Galahad! We also get a few more nods to classic myths and stories. Overall, I really loved this reimagining of the King Arthur story. Kieron Gillen is definitely one of my favorite modern comic book writers.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Odds and Ends

Here's my randomness for the week:

Our fridge died, became a room-temperature cabinet for 48 hours, but it now back to working after getting a new compressor. Cleaning out the entire defrosted freezer and main cabinet was terrible. 0/10 would not recommend… And now the fridge is incredibly empty and needs to slowly get filled.
The boys and I finished our two read alouds yesterday. Starting some new ones today!
We’re back to regularly scheduled coop today and I’m so glad to be back to a routine. We needed it.
Getting very excited about our first visit to Vala’s next Wednesday! It’s truly my happy place!

Next up on the TBR pile:

Lore Olympus Vol. 4 by Rachel Smythe

Title: Lore Olympus Volume 4

Author: Rachel Smythe

Publisher: Del Rey 2023

Genre: Fantasy Comic

Pages: 416

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

“I don’t always get to do as I please.”

The rumor mill of Olympus is constantly churning, but Persephone and Hades are all anyone can talk about. With the constant gossip creating intense pressure on the pair, they decide to slow down their budding romance and focus on sorting out their own issues first.

But that’s easier said than done.

Hades struggles to find support in his personal life, with Zeus trivializing his feelings and Minthe resorting to abusive patterns in their relationship. And while Hades tries to create healthier boundaries where he can—like finally putting a stop to his sporadic, revenge-fueled hookups with Hera—he still feels lonely and adrift.

Persephone feels equally ostracized as her classmates shun her for her connection to Hades, and she can find no refuge at home, with Apollo constantly dropping by unannounced and pushing his unwelcome advances. And on top of it all, the wrathful god of war, Ares, has returned to Olympus to dredge up his sordid history with the goddess of spring, threatening to surface Persephone’s dark and mysterious past and ruin her tenuous position in the land of the gods.

Despite agreeing to take it slow, Persephone and Hades find themselves inextricably drawn toward each other once more amid the chaos. The pull of fate cannot be denied.

This edition of Rachel Smythe’s original Eisner-winning webcomic Lore Olympus features exclusive behind-the-scenes content and brings the Greek pantheon into the modern age in a sharply perceptive and romantic graphic novel.

Oh I am obsessed with this series! I just love this fresh take on the Hades and Persephone story. Even more than their story, all of the side characters really make it the best ensemble story. In this volume, we get to see much much more from Hera and Zeus as well as meet Ares. I love how the story has organically been told. It doesn’t feel like the reveals or forced, but naturally come to light because of conversations between characters. I cannot wait to see what happens. And when exactly are Hades and Persephone actually going to own up to their feelings?

Next up on the TBR pile:

Cinders by Michelle D. Argyle

Title: Cinders

Author: Michelle D. Argyle

Publisher: MDA Books 2010

Genre: Fatnasy

Pages: 172

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: COYER

Cinderella's happily-ever-after isn't turning out the way she expected. With her fairy godmother imprisoned in the castle and a mysterious stranger haunting her dreams, Cinderella is on her own to discover true love untainted by magic.

I was sucked in by the tagline “a dark Cinderella tale.” And while we do get some shades of that, this book was mostly boring. I couldn’t seem to care about any of the characters. Even the villains were lackluster. And I wasn’t excited by the trajectory of the storyline. Mostly I read this and then was glad to delete it off my kindle app.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Twice Tempted by Jeaniene Frost

Title: Twice Tempted (Night Prince #2)

Author: Jeaniene Frost

Publisher: Avon 2013

Genre: Romance

Pages: 360

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Finishing the Series; Romanceopoly - Fated Folly

Spice Rating: 5

Dating the Prince of Darkness has its challenges . . .

Leila's psychic abilities have been failing her,and now she isn't sure what the future holds. If that weren't enough, her lover Vlad has been acting distant. Though Leila is a mere mortal, she's also a modern woman who refuses to accept the cold shoulder treatment forever--especially from the darkly handsome vampire who still won't admit that he loves her.

Like choosing between eternal love and a loveless eternity . . .

Soon circumstances send Leila back to the carnival circuit, where tragedy strikes. And when she finds herself in the crosshairs of a killer who may be closer than she realizes, Leila must decide who to trust--the fiery vampire who arouses her passions like no other, or the tortured knight who longs to be more than a friend? With danger stalking her every step of the way, all it takes is one wrong move to damn her for eternity . . .

Oh yes! This was exactly what I wanted from this series! The first book had me very frustrated by both Vlad and Leila’s behavior. Thankfully this book starts to break their behavior down and we actually see some growth from our characters. And while we don’t get a happy ending (there are two more books in this series), we get shades of happiness sprinkled in throughout the obstacles and pain. The big mystery really amps up in this volume and I cannot wait to see where this all goes.

Night Prince

#1 Once Burned
#2 Twice Tempted
#3 Bound by Flames
#4 Into the Fire

Next up on the TBR pile:

Homeschool W5: Ready for a Calm Week

Arthur’s Monday books: ELA, Science, and History

What We Studied

A strange week. I had everything planned out and then our plans on Thursday and Friday drastically changed. It really threw me off a bit.

Literature and Poetry

Arthur continued reading the Percy Jackson series with The Lightning Thief. We kept reading and have really gotten into the story. Beyond the actual literature, we are working on some basic grammar skills and starting our writing journey. He also continued his Super Secret Notebook from Blossom & Root. And finally, we finished the next coop book club selection.

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
A Child's Introduction to Greek Mythology
Poetry for Young People: American Poetry
Reading Explorer: Intro
The Last Human by Lee Bacon

Quentin continued reading a new selection. I think that he finally got into the story more. His reading comprehension answers have gotten more correct. He also worked on some basic grammar.

Sing a Song of Seasons
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Math

Arthur started Singapore 5A. The book starts with some basic place value review but very quickly moves to multiples, factors, and primes. We are definitely going to slow down our math lessons a bit to make sure that Arthur achieves mastery. We also continued our next logic book.

Singapore Common Core 5A
Orbiting with Logic

Quentin continued working toward the end of Singapore 1B with a review on time. I’m still debating if we should take a small review break after finishing 1B and before beginning 2A. We also continued our logic book.

Lollipop Logic Book 3
Singapore Common Core 1B

Social Studies

Arthur jumped back into BYL 6 and History Quest: US History starting at the beginning of the Civil War. He finished the war. We’ll be taking a break for our Flex Week before moving on Reconstruction. We’ll be sprinkling in various historical fiction readers to reinforce the time periods.

DK American History
We were There Too! Young People in US History
Two Miserable Presidents by Steve Sheinkin
Words that Build a Nation
Heart and Soul
Nat Geo Our Country’s Presidents

Quentin moved onto the Neolithic time period and focused on the agricultural revolution. We even watched a great NOVA documentary about Stonehenge.

History Quest Early Times
DK When on Earth?
Human Wold
DK History
DK Timelines of Everything
DK A Child Through Time
A History of Western Art
DK Science Year by Year
Peter Kent’s City Across Time
The Secrets of Stonehenge by Mick Manning and Britt Granstrom

Science

Arthur is embarking upon RSO Chemistry this year. We will be doing the experiment portions with a group of coop friends. That portion starts today. This week we covered Unit 1 with a basic focus on chemistry. The text was super boring, but thankfully I found some good short videos to reenforce the ideas and spark some interest. I found a really good one detailing the chemistry involved in baking cookies. For the Story of Science, we learned about Tycho Brahe.

RSO Chemistry
DK Super Simple Chemistry
Story of Science Vol. 2: Newton at the Center by Joy Hakim

Quentin continued RSO Life with a lesson about classification systems focusing on the animal kingdom. I actually found the sorting mat pieces I had made for Arthur years ago. Good on me for keeping them and actually knowing where I put them!

RSO Life
DK Oversimple Biology

After dinner gelato taste testing. We all agreed that the Limoncello was the best.

STEAM Coop

Coop was cancelled this week due to terrible air quality. We have too many families with medical issues. Unfortunately that means that out of the first five week of coop, we have cancelled twice. Not excited about this turn of events. On a better note, we might have found an indoor location for the winter.

Art/Music/Crafts/Cooking/Documentary

Another week that I actually fit in art and music! I am on a roll! We covered the music of Erik Satie, a very eccentric composer, but one we have heard a lot as background music. We also covered the colorful art of Alma Thomas. Both of the boys really got into her pieces more than previous weeks.

DK Music and How it Works
DK The Arts
Modern Art Adventures by Maja Pitamic and Jill Laidlaw
13 American Artists Children Should Know
A Child's Introduction to Art
Women in Art by Rachel Ignotofsky
We are Artists by Kari Herbert
Ablaze with Color: A Story of Painter Alma Thomas by Jeanne Walker Harvey

Field Trip

On Tuesday, we traveled over to Iowa for a guided field trip at the Hitchcock Center. The kids learned about monarch butterflies and specifically Monarch Watch. Then we attempted to find some monarchs for tagging. We found a few, but were unable to actually catch any. Still it was great day out in nature.

Shapes and colors inspired by Alma Thomas

High

(Reluctant high) Because coop was cancelled on Thursday, we had more time in our week. We ended up spending the entirety of Thursday morning shopping for birthday party supplies, coop supplies, chemistry class supplies, and fall service project donation items. I had been stressing a bit about how to fit all this in and not do the shopping on the weekend (I hate shopping on the weekends). Our impromptu cancelling gave us the opportunity to get it all done (well mostly) in one outing.

Imitating the blocky pieces style of Alma Thomas

Low

I kind of ran out of steam by the end of the week. Because our nature hike was cancelled, we ended up schooling Friday morning and then for the afternoon, I just took the kids to the park. They had been begging for some outside scootering time, so it worked out. I was just very tired by that point.

Next Week - Will be a Flex Week. It’s our chance to catchup on things we delayed and take a breath from big planning.

Finishing Percy Jackson and Starting Echo Mountain
Finishing The One and Only Ivan and Starting a Zoey and Sassafras book
Reviewing for Math
Watching a Documentary or two
Playing a board game or two
Hosting the first Chemistry Class
Lots of coop related activities

Next up on the TBR pile: