Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Things are quiet. I don’t have any Wheelchair Saga updates. Nor do I have anything else to ramble about. So, since it’s Pride, I figured I would share some of my favorite LGBTQ+ books with you. I’ve talked about them all before, but I still love them, so go read them.
1. The Adam Binder series by David R. Slayton. Actually, anything by him. I have yet to read something by Slayton that I don’t like.
2. The House in the Cerulean Sea by T. J. Klune. I’ve read a couple of other books by him as well and liked them too.
3. Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki. Love her style. I need to read more of her stuff.
4. The Lighthouse at the Edge of the World by J. R. Dawson. It’s hard to pick a favorite book by Dawson. I love all of her stuff.
Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Things here have been lazy. No wheelchair saga updates for at least a couple of weeks. Everything is waiting for approval from Medicare/Medicaid, which they say usually takes two to three weeks. In my experience, it takes longer. So, we’ve officially hit the hurry up and wait portion of our journey. But that’s okay, because it’s the last Wednesday of May! You know what that means. Book review time! This month, I decided to try something a little more “literary” than usual. I guess you’d call it women’s fiction with a tinge of magical realism. Missed Connections by Aimie K. Runyan was released yesterday (the 26th) from Harper Muse. As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s do the thing!
Missed Connections follows Sabrina Sorensen who heads home for the holidays and her sister’s engagement party after a poor job interview. She’s been fired from her posh GM job at a Michelin starred restaurant in Paris, which has derailed all of her plans and dreams. She’s 37, jobless, and has no personal life to speak of. A spat with her mother sends her running to the airport with nowhere to go. A fairy godmother-esque ticket agent saves the day by letting Sabrina visit anywhen (yup, time travel!) in her life to see what kind of things would change if she had chosen different paths.
Plot: not bad, but could have been better. She has the option to go back to any point in her life and relive it. For some reason, she decides to go back (multiple times!) to try to fix dudes who were complete assholes. Come on. You’re telling me this daddy’s girl chose an ex over going back to have one more conversation with her dead dad? Yes, it’s established that she can’t save him, but she could have made time to go home once before he died just to say goodbye. Not making time to go home before his death was one of her biggest regrets and she chose to work on relationships that didn’t deserve a second thought instead? I call bullshit. But for what it was, the plot was fine.
Characters: Sabrina was fleshed out pretty well. The two exes were complete douchenozzles who didn’t deserve anything from her and the fact that she couldn’t see that even in hindsight was very weird to me. Even when they were painted as “nice guys,” there were huge red flags everywhere. Her mother wasn’t fleshed out very well at all, so their relationship felt more toxic than I think it was supposed to. Mom deserved no contact from all of her children if she was even half as bad as she was made out to be. Nikolai was too perfect. No one else got enough page time to really pop.
Writing: weirdly technical. I learned more more about back and front of house roles in fine dining than I ever wanted to know. Personally, I enjoyed that aspect of the book, but it does slow things down a bit.
Ultimately, Missed Connections was yet another book where I loved the premise, but didn’t care for the execution. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t feel realistic to me. I just didn’t believe the choices Sabrina made. They didn’t match her character.
Overall, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. A solid 3. It wasn’t bad by any means, but it wasn’t my cup of tea. If it intrigues you, give it a shot. If not, pass.
Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely last Wednesday of April? Things here are okay. I’ll do a wheelchair saga update next week. Dad’s okay. Just keeping busy. Anyway, it’s the last Wednesday of April, so you know what that means! Book review time. A Murder Most Camp by Nicolas DiDomizio was released yesterday (the 28th) from Poisoned Pen Press. As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s do the thing!
A Murder Most Camp follows Mikey Hartford IV, the child (almost 30-year-old manchild) of a grocery chain empire who has done very little with his life outside of being the stereotypical rich kid. This all changes when daddy dearest changes the conditions of access to his trust. Mikey gets shipped off to a summer camp in the hopes that helping kids and being in nature will bring out his good side. Throw in solving a 13 year old murder with a bunch of tweens and falling for a “regular” guy, and maybe Mikey can change.
Plot: meh. I really wanted to like this one more than I did. The murder mystery part was beyond slow, mostly because there weren’t many suspects and it was super obvious that three out of four weren’t the baddie. It just really dragged. The romance was slightly better, but not much. It was a bit abrupt. There was also family stuff that drove the story more than anything. That was okay. But mostly, the book mostly felt like a shrine to ’90’s movie references. Mikey endlessly references Clueless and other movies that are older than him like they came out in his teens or something. At least pick references for things that would have been pivotal in his time. Or scale back on the references. Maybe one a chapter instead of five per page. It just made the book feel dated instead of cute.
Characters: pretty flat for the most part. Mikey gets a lot of development, but it feels forced. It’s like the author is trying to convince the reader that Mikey is a good person instead of letting the story show us that. There’s so much telling rather than showing. It’s like the author doesn’t trust the reader to see the character growth. It’s annoying. None of the other characters really get enough page time to come into their own, so they’re all a bit flat.
Writing: the best part. Other than copious amounts of movie references, the writing was smooth. It was a quick and easy read. Something good for a day at the beach or a rainy day in.
Ultimately, I was disappointed in A Murder Most Camp. It was mediocre at best. I think I was just hoping for more than I should have. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t good.
Overall, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. Probably a little over 2.5 anyway. If you’re looking for an uncomplicated, mindless read to get you through a weekend trip or something, this is a good choice. Otherwise, give it a miss.
Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Things here are fine, I guess. We’re not here to listen to me grumble. It’s the last Wednesday of March, so you know what that means. It’s book review time! This month, I just went with something that had a pretty cover. The Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookshop by Takuya Asakura was released by Harper360 on the 24th (yesterday). As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s do the thing!
The Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookshop follows Sakura and Kobako, her cat, as they use their unusual bookshop to help people confront and conquer their own grief. The customer must be reading the same page of the same book on the same day in the cherry blossom season for the path to the bookshop to open. It’s a strange kind of magic. No one quite understands how it all works. But if you’re lucky, the bookshop might even appear for you.
The plot and arrangement. The book is broken into four short stories, basically. Each one focuses on a different person or people and refers back to a book that somehow shaped their lives. The last one gets pretty meta. It’s all very lovely, but kind of shallow. Instead of really digging into each character and situation, everything is kept simplistic. That’s not bad at all. It makes for a calming read in a time of chaos. I think it’s mostly meant to make the reader think about their own life. To make them conjure up a story about the grief that they need to process. I’m not the target audience on that front, but it was still a soothing read for me.
The characters. Again, they’re all pretty simplistic. We don’t get to spend enough time with them, even Sakura and Kobako, to form any bonds. I enjoyed the different depictions of people, but there wasn’t much flesh to them. I don’t even remember most of their names. It wouldn’t be ideal if this were a character driven story, but it’s not. This is a plot driven story. The reader is meant to engage with the plot more than the actual characters. At least that’s how it seems to me.
The writing. Even that is pretty simplistic. I don’t know if it’s a translation thing or what, but it’s very basic. I know a lot is lost in translation, the translator even explains some of what is lost. But I think it works to enhance the calming effect of the book.
Ultimately, I enjoyed The Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookshop for what it was. A calm in the storm. Did I want more out of it? Yes. Am I mad about not getting more? Not really.
Overall, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. A solid 3. Yes, it could’ve been better, but if you’re looking for something calming and easy to read, I recommend trying it.
Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? I’m tired, hurty despite taking aspirin, and high on Benadryl. I really don’t feel like writing anything here, but I don’t want to skip two weeks in a row. Luckily, it’s Women’s History Month, so I’m going to do something I do just about every year. I’m going to share some lovely lady authors with you! It’ll be a short post, but at least it’s a post. On to the ladies!
1. Leonie Swann. Specifically her Agnes Sharp series. I love those books.
2. Jennifer Dupree. She’s a wonderful lady and a great writer. Yes, I’m biased because she’s a Stonecoast buddy, but that’s okay.
3. Ellie Alexander. Specifically her bakeshop mysteries. I’m currently working my way through them. On number 6, but there’s around 23 at the moment.
4. Jesse Q. Sutano. Specifically her Vera Wong series. I’m planning to try out the aunties books too.
5. Melanie Brooks. Again, Stonecoast has me biased, but that doesn’t mean I’m wrong. Lovely lady and great writer.
Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? Things here are about the same. The government has finally approved my benefits for the coming year (it starts March 1st, it’s weird), so yay for still being cripple enough. I guess. Anyway, it’s the last Wednesday of February, so you know what that means. Book review time! This month, I decided to try getting outside my usual murder mystery stuff and jump on the romantasy train. Not even the fluffy kind. Turned out to be straight up fantasy with a little romance mixed in. The Trident and the Pearl by Sarah K.L. Wilson was released yesterday (the 24th) from Orbit Books. As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s do the thing!
The Trident and the Pearl follows Coralys, a queen desperate to save her people even if it means submitting to the will of the gods. To stop the storms that have destroyed her isles, killed so many of her people, and even taken her husband, she makes a bargain with a voice on the wind. Stripped of her title, she’s forced to marry the first man who steps foot on her land. An old fisherman. But at least her people will be safe. Right? Dragged into the gods’ petty bickering, Coralys soon finds out nothing is what it seems in her new life.
Book cover: I don’t normally mention the covers unless they’re super pretty or something, but this cover is annoying. Did no one read this book before they commissioned the art? Both Coralys and Oke are described as having brown skin. Why are these people so white? The artist even mentions working with the author directly, so the color of the characters should have been easily established. Was the brown skin in the book just added as an afterthought or what? Did they make them white in the final draft and I just don’t have that? I’m so very confused.
Plot and pacing: the plot had so much potential. I wanted to love it, but everything was pretty much a mess. The first half of the book is spent repeating the same stuff over and over again. I almost gave up. When things finally do start happening, it still manages to be super slow. A lot of the story relies on miscommunication, but after a couple of examples the rest are so forced that it turns into willful ignorance which ruins the whole story. It was a dumpster fire in terms of pacing and the execution of the plot.
Characters: everyone else is fine, but Coralys is horrible. She’s supposed to be this amazing queen, but she’s an idiot. Basically, she immediately comes to the wrong conclusion about EVERYTHING and will only listen to people who reinforce her beliefs despite knowing they’re evil and out for themselves. Holy shit, she’s a MAGAt. Kidding. Kind of. Anyway, she’s not a good character at all even though the story keeps insisting she’s wonderful and amazing and all that fun stuff. The rest of the characters are pretty flat. Including Oke.
Writing: it was nice for the most part. A little purple for me. But it wasn’t bad.
Ultimately, I didn’t like The Trident and the Pearl. It was a mess. I wanted to enjoy it because it’s got all my favorite fantasy things in it, but it didn’t work.
Overall, I gave it 2 out of 5 stars. I don’t recommend it, but it got published and some people like it.
Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Things here are quiet. There’s not much to ramble about. You know how Kindle has those reading challenges and sometimes you have to choose a book from a curated list? Well, I didn’t feel like spending money on a new romance book, so I checked to see if they had any that were free with Prime. There were a bunch of half-assed porn books (not that I have anything against those, I just prefer well-written porn) or a bunch of “classics.” I just grabbed the first classic I saw and decided to try it. I fucking hate it. Deeply despise it way down in the depths of my soul. I’m only about 75% of the way through and I will finish it, but there’s no chance of it redeeming itself. What is it? Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. Why do I hate it? Eh…
1. The writing style. Instead of telling the story in a straightforward way, which would’ve worked perfectly well, it’s mostly told as gossip to entertain a sick dude who has literally nothing to do with these people. It’s almost as bad as epistolary novels (books written as letters between multiple characters). This is definitely a me thing. I just don’t enjoy stories told second-hand, especially when they start mentioning the inner feelings of characters they would have no way of knowing about. It’s annoying.
2. The characters. There are zero redeeming features about any of these people. Oh, but it’s about love and missed moments and intense possessiveness! Bullshit. It’s about toxic, abusive personalities and what happens when they all collide hidden behind a thin excuse for love that’s really just childish possessive behavior that ran unchecked into adulthood. It’s not romantic. It’s not love. Heathcliff and Cathy are horrible and toxic and definitely more Joker/Harley than anything else. It’s gross. These are not the relationship goals you’re looking for. Also, the “good” characters are judgmental asshats.
3. The random animal abuse. There’s no reason for it. It’s quite obvious these people are horrible. The animal abuse is unnecessary.
I could go on, but it’s late. Needless to say, this book is bad. If you try to convince me otherwise, I’m going to guess that you haven’t actually read it. Maybe the movies twist it into something entertaining, but the book sucks.
Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely last Wednesday of January? There is so much to scream into the void about, but I’m going to push it down and focus on the book review. That’s right! It’s book review time! This month, I went with a cozy mystery. A Field Guide to Murder by Michelle L. Cullen was released yesterday (the 27th) from Crooked Lane Books. As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s do the thing!
A Field Guide to Murder follows Harry, who has recently fractured his hip and believes his globetrotting life is behind him, and Emma, his caregiver who is trying to get Harry back into the world while avoiding her own problems. When a neighbor calls him during her death throes, Harry finds life in trying to solve her (maybe) murder. Emma gets dragged along for the ride until she realizes she’s finding herself as well. Can they help each other find renewed purposes for their lives? Can they solve the case?
Plot: enjoyable. I’m growing fond of stories that follow people post-retirement. Harry is an older gentlemen and Emma becomes like a second daughter to him. Found family! The mystery part of the plot is standard, but with little twists that make it fun. An upscale gated neighborhood basically (not sure if it’s actually gated or just has that feel) where everyone knows each other and it turns out most of them are shady. One of them dies mysteriously. Drama is revealed. Plus Emma’s drama. It’s all woven together pretty well for the most part. No real complaints here.
Characters: there are too many. This is my only real complaint about this book. There are far too many named characters that don’t really need to exist. It happens a lot when stories are weak, so the author throws in a bunch of names to confuse the reader in an attempt to hide what’s happening. I hate it, especially when it isn’t needed. This story is strong. We don’t need to meet every single neighbor. I knew who the bad guy was, but I kept confusing another name with his, so it was super weird. There are like 12 neighbors plus Emma’s family and Harry’s family and his acquaintances. Oh, and the police officers. It was an unnecessary amount. That said, I loved Harry and Emma. There wasn’t enough page time to get to know everyone else properly.
Writing: smooth. There wasn’t anything particularly special about the writing. It was unobtrusive and let the story shine. Made for a quick, smooth read.
Ultimately, I really enjoyed A Field Guide to Murder. Aside from the annoying amount of characters, I liked this one. I’ll definitely pick up book two if there is one.
Overall, I gave it 4 out of 5 stars. I do recommend it for anyone who loves cozy mysteries, older protagonists, or even just found family stories.
Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this lovely last Wednesday of 2025? I’m back! It was a nice break in which I did nothing productive. So, the usual. Anyway! I’m here to do my last book review of the year. Can you believe it’s already that time again? I decided to try some dark fantasy (they marketed it as dark academia, but eh… dark fantasy is broader and more accurate) this month to switch things up a bit. An Arcane Inheritance by Kamilah Cole was released on the 30th (yesterday) from Poisoned Pen Press. As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s do the thing!
An Arcane Inheritance follows Ellory Morgan as she settles into her freshman year at Warren University, an ivy league school with a rumored sordid past. Along with competing to keep her grades up, working, and trying to maintain a social life, Ellory has to deal with intense bouts of déjà vu. Throw in a rivalry (maybe more) with one of the hottest/richest guys in school and a search to uncover the school’s darkest secrets and it’s down to Ellory to figure out what’s going on. Can she do it by herself? Does she have to?
Pacing and plot: ugh. This was a slow one. And honestly, super confusing. There was so much stuff that happened off the page that should’ve been an integral part of the story. But instead, we get told about every fucking time someone changes their outfit. I really couldn’t care less that every dude in this book has an ungodly amount of button downs to go under their equally stupid number of vests. Get to the story. Tell me about the missing eight. Oh, we’re summoning one of them by a pond? Probably should’ve led up to that a bit better. Your besties have been having déjà vu experiences of their own? We’re just glancing over that, but you’re telling me someone wears combat boots with another douchey rich boy outfit? Sure. That’s… cool, I guess. Like, I get setting the mood and world building and all that, but when it comes at the expense of the story, it should be reprioritized (cut… I mean that the outfits should be cut in favor of actual plot).
Characters: a big nope. The only character with any real flesh, so to speak, is Ellory. Granted, at the end, there’s a reason the rest are just her ideal versions of character stereotypes. It’s a stupid reason, but it’s still a reason. Ellory herself was okay. Kind of all talk, no action, but that’s mostly because so much of the plot (her chances for growth) happens off the page. Also, her weird obsession with saying Hudson Graves instead of just picking his first or last name makes her sound like a Saturday morning cartoon baddie. “I shall destroy Hudson Graves! -cue squeaky maniacal laughter-” It’s a bit ridiculous. And their rivals to romance plotline is kind of abrupt. I was also disappointed that the bad people were just generic rich old white folks. At least make the main bad dude interesting. But nope.
Writing: pretty much the only thing that made the book worth reading. Despite the focus on clothes, the writing was beautiful. Sometimes it was over the top, but mostly it stayed on the right side of flowery. I did enjoy it from a writer’s perspective.
Ultimately, I wasn’t a fan of An Arcane Inheritance. I thought maybe I was being too harsh. Maybe people like hearing about clothes. But I did check out some reviews to see if I should rethink things and realized very quickly that I’m not alone. I see good things about Cole’s other books, so I might check them out since I liked the writing, but this one is definitely skippable.
Overall, I gave it 2 out of 5 stars. The writing is good, but the execution as a whole leaves a lot to be desired. If you’re already a fan, try it. If not, try something else by Cole first.
Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Are those who celebrate ready for Turkey Day? We are. Well, it’s the last Wednesday of November, so you know what that means. Book review time! This month, I went with a hybrid cozy mystery/word search puzzle. It was certainly something different. Murder Among the Stacks by Rosie A. Point was released from Adams Media yesterday (the 25th). As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s do the thing!
Murder Among the Stacks follows Abby Jones and her cat Reggie as they try to make a go it by opening a bookstore in a small town. Abby’s fresh off a bad break up and looking for distractions. When a hot author is murdered at a book signing in her bookstore, Abby gets all the distractions she wants and more. She’s an avid word search solver, so at the end of each chapter is a puzzle for the reader, so they can help collect clues and solve the murder alongside Abby.
The story: surprisingly cute. Each chapter is only one page, so it’s basically just an outline of a story. No flesh, nowhere to really hide anything. But it hits all the cozy mystery tropes all the same. The characters are all stereotypes with no real room to grow. It’s not bad, but avid cozy mystery fans will not be buying this for the story.
The puzzles: standard word searches for the most part. I honestly stopped doing the puzzles about halfway through because there was no way for me to circle the words. It would’ve been a lot more fun if I had a hardcopy or if they created a way to highlight the words in the ebook. Not sure how the final version will work, if they even release an ebook version. But the paperback version should be lovely.
The layout: super cute. There are lots of illustrations to keep the book interesting. The puzzle that reveals the killer has an added trick to it. There’s an answer key at the end. It’s very nicely designed.
Ultimately, I enjoyed Murder Among the Stacks for what it is. It’s definitely more of a puzzle book with a twist of cozy mystery. I would probably have preferred a crossword or something, but to each their own.
Overall, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. It’s a cute concept and if you enjoy word searches with a little story, I do recommend it. But it’s not something to pick up if you’re looking for a regular cozy mystery.
Shawna's Blog of Doom 