Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Things here are okay. There’s some old lady neighbor drama going on, but things will eventually work out. Other than that, there’s not much going on. It’s late as I’m writing this because I procrastinated, so it’ll probably be a short post again. I haven’t made a goals post in a while, so I think I’m going to do that. These are just March goals. I’m not planning too far ahead because I’ve been really bad about keeping goals anyway, so what’s the point? Fingers crossed I can at least keep up with this stuff.
1. Write 4,000 words a week. Since the beginning of the year, I’ve met this goal five weeks out of eight. I need to buckle down and stick with it, but I’m lazy and haven’t really found the desire to keep up with it. It’s a me thing. I know. I’m enjoying the story and know where it’s going. When I do force myself to write, it’s not particularly hard and the distractions are minimal. So, it’s not that I need to switch projects. I just need to focus and find the reason I write again.
2. Read at least two books. I’ve already read seven this year, so I don’t foresee any problems meeting this goal. And only one of those was a book of poetry, so no… I’m not reading super short things and counting them. Though I do have a couple of novellas lined up for this year. But I also have a couple of 500+ page novels on my shelf. My reading varies. A lot.
3. Submit DS1 to another publisher. It’s been a couple of months since my last kindly worded rejection, so I should probably get it back out there. I still have a couple of places I want to try before I decide whether or not to trunk this one too.
4. Keep up with my miscellaneous stuff. Write blog posts. Post on my author profiles. Order groceries as needed. Try not to forget little things that pop up. Text people. The usual stuff that I do between mindless games and crossword puzzles.
That’s all, really. I was going to include socializing more, but I honestly just don’t want to. I’d rather listen to loud music. Don’t get me wrong. I love my peoples. But I prefer hermitting right now. Anyway, what are your goals for March? As always, feel free to share your comments and questions here or on my social media pages!
Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? I faltered a little with my writing last week, but it’s just because I’m lazy. Otherwise, things are good here. It’s the last Wednesday of February already, so you know what that means. Book review time! This month, I felt like reading something in the fantasy vein, so after some searching, I decided to try out Nocturne by Alyssa Wees. It was released by Del Rey Books yesterday (February 21st). As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for granting me access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s get to it!
Gorgeous cover.
Nocturne follows Grace Dragotta as she rises to the challenges of becoming prima ballerina at a small Chicago company during the Great Depression. It’s been her dream since she was little, her escape from a hard life, but when she finds herself practically sold to a mysterious patron, she realizes the world is much bigger than she ever dared to dream. But is it a dream or just another nightmare that she’s entered?
The plot. It’s basically a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but with throwbacks as far as Hades and Persephone. Grace is sold to the Beast (Master) who whisks her off to the land of the dead in a bizarre attempt to woo her. Things go wrong when Sleep starts meddling for his own foolish and selfish reasons. It gets a little complicated, but that’s okay. My biggest complaint with the plot is how easily Grace is persuaded to do what she does to Death. The whole time, she’s cautious and wary and does her best not to fall for any bullshit, but a two second conversation with a dude she knows is sus makes her act like an idiot. I found that a little annoying.
Characters. They were all a little flat. Not even Grace grew or changed very much. Death and Sleep didn’t have enough page time to really be explored. The bestie and the Mistress were static as well, but interesting in their own ways. But, if I’m being honest, I didn’t really expect much from them from the very beginning. Have you ever started a book and just known the characters weren’t going to learn anything? This is one of those books.
I usually save the writing for last, but it’s really the whole reason I picked up this book. The description and cover make it seem like it’s going to be poetic and lyrical and pretty. It is after a while, but it takes a few chapters to get into a groove. It’s not exactly what I was hoping for, but there are some nice phrases and musical bits. I admit that I looked at other reviews before I wrote this and one of the big complaints people have is that the prose is too purple. It’s overwritten. Well, it’s supposed to be. And for the most part, it’s lovely.
Last, the pacing is off. The beginning is super slow and a bit too firmly rooted in the real world, so when the fantasy elements enter into things, it’s jarring. But once I got past the real world and settled into the fantasy, I found that my desire to keep reading finally kicked in. From then on, I found it to be enjoyable despite the things it was lacking.
Ultimately, I enjoyed Nocturne for what it was. I was compelled to keep reading after things got interesting. But it’s not something I will ever read or think about again and that’s okay. Some books are just like that.
Overall, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. My initial rating was 4, but the more I thought about it, the more issues I had with it. It’s an okay book and if you’re into fairytales, it’s worth checking out. I don’t recommend it with zeal, but I don’t think it’s something to avoid either.
Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? Things here are okay. I’m managing to write and read and all of that fun stuff. It’s been a little hard, but I’m doing it. The writing is fine, it’s just the forcing myself to do it that’s hard. For some reason, I still struggle with opening the document in a timely manner and finishing early. Instead, I procrastinate until 6, 6:30, then get annoyed when I’m not done until 8, 8:30. It’s a vicious cycle. Oh well. Anyway, as I’m typing this, it’s Valentine’s Day! That basically just means it’s Tuesday since I don’t celebrate. But, I thought I would use it as an excuse to remind some people that I love them!
1. Dad! It’s us against the world. I love and appreciate you.
2. Mardi. It counts. She’s a four-legged people.
3. The Minion. I tolerate you so much. Love to the family, though!
4. Lil sis (art is hers). You deserve all the glomps.
5. Danielle. Miss your face!
Short post is short, but that’s okay. These are my peoples. I love them.
Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing? Things here are okay. The ice went away. I didn’t do any creative writing last week because I was lazy and meh. I’m writing this post a little early (it’s currently Saturday the 4th and, if I don’t finish it tonight, I probably will tomorrow) so that I can go to a doctor appointment with Dad on Tuesday (the 7th) if I want to. Anyway, I don’t have anything to ramble about, but the book I’m reading for fun is disappointing me, so I thought I could complain about it. This is not a review, just a rant. That being said, so many people recommended The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi to me. And it definitely sounds like something that would be right up my alley. You had me at kaiju. But I’m only a third of the way through and struggling with it.
The first thing I noticed about the book was that it tries way too hard to be funny. And it’s really not. I mean, I’m all for fluffy and fun and punny. You know this about me. But not everything has to be a joke. It’s a book. Even fluff should have a little depth… not much, but a tad. It definitely shouldn’t be a bunch of mediocre jokes strung together in the shape of a story. And the “I lift things” joke? It was cute the first couple of times. Remember, I’m only a third of the way through a pretty short book and we’re up to like the 50th time. It’s just sad now.
And the thing that I’m beginning to notice now is that there’s no real plot yet. Again, I’m a third of the way through. I should be able to see where the story is headed. Don’t get me wrong. Things are happening and backstory is being revealed, but there’s no cohesive plot yet. Not even a hint of one. Just some random events that don’t really form any bigger structure. I’m hoping that changes soon. Sometimes beginnings are a bit rambling until there’s this “Hey! There’s the story!” moment. I believe those beginnings should be edited more, but they happen. Fingers crossed a story shows up soon.
Also, the description is on the weak side. I fully admit that I’m not a visual thinker at all (I think in sounds and words, not pictures), so it’s more difficult for me to “see” things that aren’t either based in reality or described fully. Vague descriptions of mountains with tentacles don’t really help me, so it’s not as engaging for me as it could be. Even the human stuff has very little detail so far. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. I’d rather things be vague instead of 10 pages describing trees. But still, it’s super thin description all around.
I’m going to keep reading because I like the premise and it still has room to get better, but I’m not holding my breath. Plus, it takes a lot of hatred for me to put a book down. I’m nowhere near that point yet. If it gets better by Tuesday, I’ll add a PS to let you know. As always, feel free to leave your thoughts and questions here or on my social media pages!
PS! (February 7th, 62% through) Hey! There’s a plot. Kind of. Maybe. Okay, there’s potential for a couple of big plotlines, but if the one was going to happen, it should’ve been introduced way back in the beginning. The other one I could’ve made believe had been hinted at, but it feels like it’s probably not happening. Mostly, this book reads like a series of vignettes cobbled together to make a maybe-story. It’s not bad, just disappointing. Everything else I said still stands.
Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this chilly first of February? I’m okay. I broke my writing streak on the 30th because who wants to write when it’s freezing and gloomy and you could be watching TV instead? I don’t even want to be writing this, but I am. But I proved to myself I could stick to a writing schedule if I wanted, so I’ll probably go back to my usual schedule next week (4 days of 1,000+ words, the blog day, and two days off a week). I haven’t decided about the rest of this week yet. But we’re here to finish off the number thing. This week’s prompt was chosen by Scotty, who sometimes stalks the blog. We’ve covered 13 (you can find the prompt list there), 7, 2, 8, 3, 10, 6, 14, and 11. And today, the prompt is “Tell me which book has made you cry more than any other book has.” This is a weirdly hard question.
I don’t remember being super emotional about books (or anything) when I was younger, mostly because I didn’t like explaining why I was crying if I got caught and would usually piss off whoever caught me because I would be like “it’s nothing” and apparently that was the worst possible answer. It was weird. I was weird. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve become a sympathetic crier, especially if it’s a dude. TV, books, movies, whatever. If a character cries, I get misty. If a character I really like cries, I flat out cry too. I hate it. It was much more preferable when nothing affected me. I’m basically growing up to be a girl and nobody wants that (yes, I know that joke was sexist and I’m all for healthy emotional responses in both men and women, just not myself). Anyway, all this is to say that it was probably a book I read in the last ten years, but I’ll be damned if I can remember which one.
I’ve spent far too much time thinking about this one since it was chosen and I’m still coming up blank. Even with manga. The closest I can come to an answer is a Facebook post from August 13, 2017: “Might’ve spent three hours finishing reading a book today. There were probably tears. Strong, manly tears. Definitely not an ugly cry. Okay, maybe a little ugly.” It was about The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. I don’t even remember why it made me ugly cry. But apparently it did. That’s probably why it still ranks among my favorites. So, since it was Facebook worthy, I’m just going to make believe this is the answer.
And this is going to be a short post because I can’t think of any other books to ramble about. Anime, though. Definitely Fullmetal Alchemist. There are two particularly traumatic scenes that get me every time. If you’ve seen it, you know what they are. Anyway, what books made you cry? As always, feel free to leave your comments or questions here or on my social media pages!
Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing? Things are normal here. I’m still writing every day. Huzzah! But we’re not here to talk about that. We’re here because it’s the last Wednesday of the month. You know what that means! It’s book review time. For the beginning of the year, I decided to go for something comfortable. A cozy mystery. Against the Currant is the first in Olivia Matthews’s new Spice Isle Bakery mysteries. It was released yesterday (the 24th) by St. Martin’s Press. As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s get to it.
Against the Currant follows Lyndsay Murray as she and her family open a bakery in Little Caribbean (Brooklyn, NY). As if opening a business isn’t stressful enough, throw in a rival bakery owner who threatens to shut them down them gets himself murdered the very next day. Lynds is now the main suspect of a murder! Luckily, she and her meddlesome family are on the case despite her protests that she’s just trying to find more likely suspects, not the actual murderer. There’s a hot detective for a potential love interest as well. What could go wrong?
The plot is standard, but a little on the weak side. One mild argument does not a murderer make, especially when there are a plethora of other suspects with much better motives. The detectives in this book are the stupidest people ever. They only focus on Lyndsay and they don’t listen when far better leads are given to them. I mean, I’m okay with nosy people solving cases (it’s why I read cozies), but I hate it when the cops are this dumb. There were plenty of red herrings they could’ve followed that would’ve been fine, but they stuck with the flimsiest one. That was annoying. And I really hope the detective doesn’t end up being the love interest. He’s a dick. Just don’t. Also, there was a character who showed up twice pretty early on for absolutely no reason. All he did was start stuff, which any established character could have done, then he completely disappeared. What was that about?
I liked the characters, though there were a lot of them. While I understand the desire to introduce all of the family (and extended family) at once, all of the names were overwhelming and I couldn’t keep them straight. On top of them, there were two detectives, five or six suspects, and three or four extras. It was a lot for one book. But I liked the ones I could remember. Lyndsay, Dev, Reena, the grandma, and parents. All great with a lot of potential. The murderer was pretty easy to pick out, but a couple of the red herring characters were great and would’ve been just as plausible. Mostly, I think the characters are good and have the potential for growth if the series continues.
As far as the writing goes, it’s a bit repetitive, especially early on. Like, I heard you the first three times. Move on. And there were some tics that kept showing up in multiple characters. If it’s one character doing it, I write it off as a character tic, but if multiple characters do it, it’s probably the author’s go-to reaction when they don’t know what else to use (mine is shrugging or nodding). Lots of kissing teeth, which took me far too long to figure out since I didn’t Google it, but I learned a new phrase, so that was cool. Stuff like that. But it was a quick read nonetheless.
Ultimately, I was kind of meh about Against the Currant. If I catch the next book in the series, I’ll check it out to see if anything changes, but if I miss it, no big deal.
Overall, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great. If you’re into cozy mysteries set in bakeries, go ahead and try it. There are some recipes included if you’re into that kind of thing too.
Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this fine Wednesday? Things are going okay here. I recently crossed the 10,000 words mark on the current novel attempt. I’m still writing at least a little every day. Meeting my goals. Fingers crossed I can keep it up. But anyway! Today, we’re doing another number thing. The lovely Melinda chose number 11. I’ve done 13 (you can find the prompt list there), 7, 2, 8, 3, 10, 6, and 14. Only have number 1 left for February first unless someone wants to pick one of the remaining prompts. Feel free. This week’s prompt is “Tell me which book is the best to read while curled up in bed.” Uh, wait…
I was going to say that I don’t read in bed, but that’s not entirely true. There are times when I can’t sleep that I get Alexa to read to me. I’m too cheap to buy audiobooks, mostly because I prefer to actually read things (I just don’t retain things as well when I only hear them). But most Kindle books have an accessibility feature that lets Alexa devices read them aloud. It’s not perfect and she can’t read words different ways based on context (for example, tear is always pronounced like a rip even though it should be an eye raindrop), but it works well enough for the amount I use it.
Like I said, I can’t retain details well by just hearing them. I’m very much a visual learner. Show me something once and I’ve got it. Write the instructions down and I can figure it out. Tell me how to do it without the thing right in front of me and expect me to do it later… nah. I get distracted too easily without something to focus my eyes on. So, the only times I really listen to books in bed is when I’m close to some kind of action and super into it so I know I’ll focus OR when I’m annoyed/bored with a book and don’t want to waste time reading it but also don’t want to give it up. It’s usually the latter.
The latest book I read in bed was Lord of Silver Ashes by Kellen Graves. I bought the first book of the series without realizing it was self-published (not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I usually do a quality check before I buy self-published things). The story was fun and I liked the characters, but the editing was absolute shit (and yes, they claimed they had an editor). So many continuity errors and typos and the em dashes… just stop. But I decided to give the second book a shot because I liked the premise. I shouldn’t have. It was even worse with glaring continuity errors that made the big reveals absolutely useless. Like… we knew that in the last book so why are you freaking out now? Anyway, I gave up half through and had Alexa read it to me. It helped make it more enjoyable not having to see all the errors, so I might try book three when it comes out. I’m invested and kind of a masochist, I guess. Blargh.
I also vaguely remember A Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke. It wasn’t bad, but there were so many words. It was dense and slow and I was only reading it for one of those stupid Kindle reading challenges, so I gave up a few chapters in and let Alexa read the rest a couple of chapters at a time when I couldn’t sleep. I admit it’s a good way to get sleepy. Listening to boring books.
So, I guess I do read in bed, but it’s usually because I’m not enjoying something about a book. Is that weird? What do you read in bed? As always, feel free to leave your thoughts or questions here or on my social media pages!
Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone’s Wednesday going? Things are fine here. It’s that time of year again where I’m supposedly getting older. Tomorrow (the 12th) is my birthday. Probably just going to order Greek for dinner and spend the day writing. Unless I use it as an easy day and just goof around. Haven’t decided yet. Anyway, I’m skipping the book number thing this week in favor of a random about me thing. I don’t know why I started doing this. It takes forever. But whatever. I’m 37, so here are 37 random things about me.
Tomorrow, anyway.
1. I’ve written creative words every day this year. A whole 10 days. I’m trying to stick to a schedule where on Sunday, Tuesday (or whatever day I write my blog post that week), and a lazy day of my choice, I write 100 words on the current novel attempt. The other four days, I’m aiming for 1,000 words. At least until I finish a first draft (the goal is approximately 90,000 words for this one). It’s basically my old schedule, but with no zero word days because it’s too easy to talk myself into quitting right now if I don’t write words. So far, so good.
2. I haven’t gone anywhere (where I left the van) aside from yearly doctor appointments and a couple of trips to a hardware store that’s usually empty since Covid started. I’m mostly okay with this.
3. I do miss going to restaurants and the occasional concert, but that’s about it.
4. Telehealth visits are wonderful. It means we don’t have to drive all the way to UT Southwestern just to wait 45 minutes for a five minute chat. I like my doctor there and wouldn’t mind meeting her face-to-face (we haven’t because my old pulmonologist retired after Covid started, so computer visits were already a thing when she took over), but I like not having to leave the house too.
5. I’ve become fond rye and ginger beer.
6. Kraken rum and Pepsi is pretty good too.
7. I’m not a sot. I swear. I have a drink maybe once a week.
8. I still have most of my Kah reposado and Republic anejo tequilas. Mostly because I don’t have anyone to sit around and sip booze with once in a while, but whatever. If I were a tosspot, they would be gone.
9. It’s that time of year where I panic because I have a scratchy throat (Flu! Covid! Dying!) only to remember that it’s Mountain Cedar season, so my options are living with a scratchy throat/excess mucus/sinus headache or live in a Benadryl/Zyrtec haze for the next couple of months if things get unbearable. This is just my life now.
10. I despise ordering groceries from Kroger. There’s almost always some kind of glitch on their website. They never tell you what’s out of stock until it’s too late to modify the order. Canceling orders is ridiculous and there’s a 50/50 chance it’ll still show up. Plus, most of the time, they don’t have a previously ordered section to make life easier.
11. Walmart is better, but the few times we’ve ordered dairy or produce through them, it went bad within a few days despite the best by dates being reasonably far away. It’s weird.
12. Amazon Fresh is pretty good, but they have the worst meat selection. The diversity of the selection is good, but they only sell them in one pound portions most of the time. We can’t survive on that.
13. Tom Thumb is our go to, but only because Dad can call them up and they usually fix things. Usually.
14. I’m already running out of things to say about myself in case the ordering groceries mini rant didn’t make it obvious. Talking about myself is hard.
15. I’m great at bottling everything up, but expressing feelings and shit is hard. I keep my responses to everything (good or bad) moderate and I don’t know how to fix it. How do I show excitement or happiness? The anger and rage can stay in the box in the abyss of my soul, but I would like to become better at expressing the good stuff.
16. I’m not a physically affectionate person. At all. I can’t be. It’s not like I can randomly hug people or whatever. And I have a super hard time asking for things that I actually need to survive and/or be comfortable (the whole burden mentality is a bitch to outgrow), so I just can’t see myself ever asking for cuddles or whatever. I don’t know how to fix this either.
17. And now I’m super uncomfortable with the last two shares, but it’s getting late and I still have too many to go, so I guess I’ll leave them.
18. Despite my aversion to being touched (one reason I’m not affectionate), one of my favorite A-Kon (anime convention) memories is of the dude who rubbed all up on me in the Sheraton bar. He asked if he could love on me and then massaged my arms and knees while whispering sweet nothings at me. He asked if I was okay with what was happening every time he switched hand placement. I’ve never felt more comfortable with a stranger touching me. It was weird and innocent and amusing. And I still randomly think of him and hope he’s doing well.
19. I also randomly think of the dude and his friend who gave me a lap dance at Lazerz when I was like 20. That was strange and not something I would let happen now, but I was young and stupid and didn’t really care about being touched as long as something pretty was dancing for me.
20. I know I shouldn’t objectify people, but I can’t help it. I enjoy eye candy. I’m not a dick about it. It’s not like I catcall people on the street or harass them online. I appreciate from afar and mind my manners.
21. I don’t understand expensive coffee. Dad decided to try some Kona coffee and it’s good, but it tastes like… coffee. Same with chocolate and wine and stuff. I’m just not sophisticated enough, I guess.
22. I am eternally tired. It doesn’t matter how well I sleep (not that I sleep well often). I wake up tired.
23. I get irrationally upset when I find a book with a good story and characters I enjoy, but it’s full of continuity errors, typos, and punctuation errors. It’s so disappointing, but I usually rage read it just to have something to rant to myself about at night. So much potential just absolutely ruined by a horrible editor (or lack of an editor).
24. I’ve been working on this list for three hours. I’m so uninteresting. Sorry. But at least it’ll only take you a few minutes to read.
25. I love peppermint bark. In chocolate form or coffee form or whatever. You can’t go wrong with chocolate and peppermint.
26. I always say I need to catch up on anime or tv shows I don’t watch with Dad, but if I have time, I end up playing mindless games while listening to loud music.
27. Years ago, I stopped playing video games because crippleness (my last big mobility loss affected my arms and hands and I lost the ability to lean forward on my own). That was before adaptive controllers existed. Now, I hesitate about getting back into them because they are/were addictive. I get sucked into my mindless games occasionally. Can you imagine what would happen if it was a game I actually liked?
28. I wouldn’t mind dancing around and being stupid with people. I don’t think I’ve done any dancing with others since Stonecoast. Used to dance at anime conventions and clubs. That’s not happening any time soon. If I had local friends aside from the Minion, I’d say we have a backyard, but everyone is so far away. You guys suck. Not really.
29. My coping mechanisms for life in general could probably be better. A dark sense of humor and self-deprecation have helped me survive this long, though, so I won’t change anything.
30. I started following other cripple people on social media and found out that pee math is a thing cripples have to do. Calculating how much they can drink and knowing where the bathrooms they can use are, etc. I mostly eliminated that a long time ago by training myself to just hold it, but I still have to do it for all day events. I have to know which drinks I can have and when I can have them so I can make it home. Or we have to drag my lift with us and that’s more trouble than just doing the math. But yeah. Pee math is a thing you know about now. You’re welcome!
31. Amazon started doing Kindle Reading Challenges and the only thing I get out of them are little bookmark icons that do nothing and can’t be seen by anyone but me. They don’t even send a congratulations for completing the challenge. But I get so ticked off if I fail to get one of the stupid things. Is that weird?
32. Mardi has me trained to go get her when she nudges my feet and whines while Dad’s out in the garage or running errands. Then she just wants back down two minutes later. Spoiled pupper is spoiled.
33. I’m currently craving flan and I don’t know why. It’ll pass.
34. I’m far too old and boring to be making these kinds of lists. There’s nothing interesting about me that people don’t already know. Ugh.
35. Surprisingly, I’d rather be working on the novel than this post. I never thought that would happen. But I’m sure as soon as I schedule this and open the file to write my 100 words it’ll be like pulling teeth. I’m never satisfied with anything until I’m done.
36. Holy shit. This post is about 1,700 words according to the WordPress word count thingie. No wonder I hate it.
37. Gott Ist Ein Popstar by Oomph is a decent song to end this list to. It’s what’s playing right now.
Sorry for the length. As always, feel free to leave comments or whatever here or on my social media pages!
Hello, hello! It’s 2023! How’s it going so far? I’ve started a new writing schedule, working on a new novel. So far, so good. It’s only been three days and two of them were “easy”, but I’ve written each day. It’s better than what I was doing (nothing). We’ll see how long it lasts. Anyway, we’re here so I can ramble about another number thing. In case you’ve forgotten, I’ve covered 13 (you can find the prompt list there), 7, 2, 8, 3, 10, and 6. Today is 14, courtesy of the fabulous Cecilia. And I’ve got 11 and 1 left to do before I have to start thinking of my own randomness again. Today’s prompt is “Tell me which book you read without being able to put down.” Uh…
First instinct was to rattle off the usual suspects: anything Rainbow Rowell, The Scorpio Races, etc. But I figured you’re tired of hearing about them, so let’s see what else I can think of. I vaguely remember finishing The Stand by Stephen King in less than a week. Granted, I was young and much faster at reading than I am now, but I took that book to the hospital with me, so I must not have been able to quit it. I binged a lot of Stephen King as a teen, though. Harry Potter and LotR as well.
More recently was the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor. Those books were so good and I made it through all three in about a month. I was so happy when I found out I didn’t have to wait for new releases, but then I was sad that I finished them so quickly. Same thing happened with the Folk of the Air books by Holly Black, but at least she’s still releasing stuff related to the books. Just got my copy of The Stolen Heir and am only putting off reading it because I can’t handle more than three books at a time (yes, somehow I ended up reading three books right now). But I’m expecting it to be my next “can’t put down” book.
I’m trying to think of ones that took me by surprise. Ones that I started reading and they were just kind of meh, but at some point and for some reason, I ended up getting sucked in. I suppose Bright Ruined Things by Samantha Cohoe counts. It was one of my review books, so I had the reading schedule all planned out, but eventually found myself reading extra chapters until one day I decided to just binge the rest. I was unsatisfied with the ending, which I still randomly think about, but getting there was nice. Another was So This is Ever After by F.T. Lukens. I knew going in that it was going to be super predictable and I’d probably only read a little bit at a time, but it turned out to be so adorable that I couldn’t stop. I also did that with In Deeper Waters (same author). I kind of can’t wait to see what books surprise me this year.
What books have you read that you couldn’t put down? I need suggestions of things to read. Help a chick out. As always, feel free to leave your thoughts or comments or questions here or on my social media pages!
Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing? How are your holidays going? Looking forward to 2023? The shepherd’s pie was absolutely delicious and our neighbors brought over some tamales colorados on Christmas eve, so we’ve been eating well the past couple of days. Mmm. Anyway! It’s the last Wednesday of the month (year!), so it’s book review time. I decided to go with a mystery. It’s not really a cozy, but it kind of is. There are a lot of the same tropes, but it has the feel of a regular old mystery. Only One Lie by Audrey J. Cole was released from Rainier Publishing (they have no website that I could find) on December 27th. As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s get to it.
Only One Lie follows various points of view to tell the story of Vera, a newbie pilot whose husband is being shipped off to war, as she starts a job flying for the Ellis’, a super rich family whose youngest member has been kidnapped. Somehow, Vera gets tangled up in the family’s lies and deceit. Her life is in danger and the only way to save herself is to find the missing boy.
The plot is super standard. Kid gets taken. Kidnappers don’t show up to collect the ransom. No one can find the kid until the nosy woman shows up and gets talked into helping despite her better judgment. Various antics ensue to drag the story into a novel. Kid is found and everything is wrapped up in a neat little bow. But the ending was super far fetched. It’s explained vaguely away by the fact that Vera’s dad is a cop, but it made no sense that she didn’t even get investigated for what she did. It killed the plausibility of the whole thing. And I was kind of disappointed that something better wasn’t done with the baddie. It was set up where they had the potential to be something other than a stereotypical rich dick, but nah. It was sad. But it wasn’t a bad story, just kind of meh. I never considered not finishing the book, so it couldn’t have been horrible while I was reading it.
To the baddies.
The characters were nothing special. The good guys (and gals) were pretty perfect people and the bad guys (and gals) were either rich, corrupt, or both. It really reminded me of that one Danielle Steel novel I reviewed. Granted, this book was so much better, but the character development was still lacking. The only one who seemed to grow at all was Priscilla and even she didn’t change much. I liked Vera, but she was still too perfect. It was annoying.
The writing itself was okay. It was really simplistic, like something I expect to find in middle grade books. I admit I was caught off guard by it, but it was an interesting choice. Bare bones and mostly easy vocabulary. It made for a smooth and quick read.
Ultimately, I wasn’t a fan of Only One Lie. After I put it down, I was just meh about it. The more I think about it though, the more I actively dislike it. I definitely won’t look for anything by Cole, but if something drops into my lap, I’d give it a shot since the writing was okay.
Overall, I gave it 2 out of 5 stars. When I finished it a week or so ago, I thought I would give it 3, but it just gets worse the more I think about it, so I feel like 2 is fair. If you enjoy Danielle Steel, you might like this book. If not, give it a miss.
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