Reading

Thoughts on EXPERIMENTS IN OFFLINE DATING

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Things here are all still in “wait” mode. Luckily, it’s the last Wednesday of the month, so you know what that means. Book review time! For August, I decided to go with a straight up romance. No fantasy. No magic. No monsters. Just two people falling in love. Which is weird for me, but once in a while weird things are interesting. Experiments in Offline Dating by Kat Mackenzie was released yesterday (August 25th) by Avon 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!

Experiments in Offline Dating follows Maya, the cohost of a podcast where she goes on ridiculously bad dates (usually due to her own awkwardness) and tries to figure out how love works using the data she collects. She’s used everything from the apps to being set up on blind dates by random people. The fact that she’s 38 and has never been in love makes the spinster life seem inevitable. For the new season of the podcast, Maya decides to go offline and sign up for help from a real life Irish matchmaker. Can he help her find love? She doubts it, but at least she gets to explore Ireland between the absurd dates!

Plot and pacing: cute and off. The plot is cute. It’s your usual enemies-to-lovers fare. The matchmaker obviously has ulterior motives when he promises Maya a 3-week cross-country trip and immediately pawns her off on his grumpy son who she has already embarrassed herself with. It goes about how you’d expect. The only real problem with the plot is the banter. It enters bitchy territory a lot. It’s not cute or funny. It’s just rude as hell and I’m surprised no one gets punched in the face for the things they say. But that’s just me. The pacing, on the other hand, is not a me thing. It starts out super fast paced, then just kind of dies to a crawl about halfway through. There are two points around the 75% mark that are supposed to be pivotal scenes, but they both get glanced over. And the ending felt like cheating, but a lot of books pull that family emergency crap to avoid making the characters actually deal with things in a sane manner.

Characters: mostly good. I liked Maya and Tadhg a lot. I did want a little more background on Tadhg, but he fleshed out enough to be enjoyable. Simone could have used more page time. The only character I didn’t care for was Jackie. He’s supposed to be mischievous and adorable, but if you really think about what he does, he’s a manipulative dick. And dangerous. Luring people to a sea cave so they get trapped during high tide? That’s how people die. Giving out a woman’s phone number without permission? Ick at best. Setting the woman up with some “handsy” dude when you know she doesn’t like to be touched and doesn’t really know how to tell a dude to fucking stop if he wants to keep his fingers? Shame on you. But if you don’t think about it too much, Jackie’s okay too. And of course, Finn (the dog) is my favorite.

Writing: not bad. It makes for a smooth read despite the pacing issues. There was nothing bad about it. Nothing great either. It was unobtrusive, which I like. It didn’t get in the way of the story.

Ultimately, I enjoyed Experiments in Offline Dating for what it was, despite my complaints. It was basically Nobody Wants This (it’s a show on Netflix with a similar premise), but without the religious aspect. So, it’s cute and I’ll probably forget all about it by next week.

Overall, I gave it 4 out of 5 stars. Actually, 3.5. If you enjoy romances with enemies-to-lovers and partially sunshine/grumpy tropes, check it out.

Random Life Update

~ shawnaborman ~ 2 Comments

Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? I don’t really have anything to ramble about, so I guess I’m just going to give you a few random life updates. None of these are worth an entire post by themselves. Mashing them together seems good enough. In no particular order, this is my life right now…

1. Wheelchair: still waiting for the correct parts to come in.

2. Medicaid: still waiting for them to finish reviewing my stuff and making sure I’m still poor. I do have screenshots of everything telling me that I’ve done my part and they’ll be in touch if they need anything else. I also recorded a phone call saying the same thing. Just in case they try to say otherwise.

3. Writing: I’ve written at least a little on my unnamed cozy mystery with ghosts every day in August. I’ve written 6480 words as of the 10th. I’ll try to write 100 or so tonight (Tuesday the 11th) and 1,000 on Wednesday. It’s going well so far.

4. Reading: I’m ahead on that.

5. Slushing: I’m behind on that. Mostly because I’m prioritizing writing. But I’m still doing it. I just feel bad that I’m not doing more.

6. Applying to vote by mail: my voter registration card had the wrong VUID. I’m just lucky I caught it now instead of when it’s time to vote. Dad’s was also wrong. If I were a conspiracy theorist, I might believe that the administration or someone connected to them is trying to fuck shit up by hacking voter systems and either randomly sending out wrong info to a random number of people in general OR they’re doing it to people who tend to vote Democrat even though we aren’t registered as Democrats. But there’s no proof of any of that and I’m not a conspiracy nut, so it was probably just a random malfunction that hit Dad and I because we’re at the same address. I don’t know. Check your voter registration card against county and Secretary of State records. Especially in Texas and definitely if you’re in Dallas county.

That’s it. I’m boring. I know.

Thoughts on SHRINK SOLVES MURDER

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? It’s actually Monday as I’m writing this because my new wheelchair is supposed to be delivered tomorrow, so I probably won’t feel like writing a blog post. But! It means you can expect an update on the saga next week. I’m still waiting on Medicaid to review my renewal paperwork. That’s about it besides the low level terror of the administration and living in Texas and how they all feel about cripples. But, anyway. It’s the last Wednesday of July, so you know what that means. Book review time! This month, I stuck within my cozy mystery comfort zone. Shrink Solves Murder by Philippa Perry was released by Crown Publishing on the 28th. 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!

Shrink Solves Murder follows Patricia Phillips, a psychotherapist and woman of a certain age. She’s set in her ways. She has issues with her daughter, relationships, and isn’t likely to win Miss Congeniality even if her life depended on it. But at least she’s good at her job. Right? When a client shows up dead in a prime suicide spot and the police rule the death just that, Pat wonders just how wrong she could have been about the young man’s state of mind. Was she wrong at all or is something more sinister going on? Since the police have no interest in finding the truth, Pat will do it herself.

Plot: pretty standard. Pat wrangles her bestie (Pritchard) into helping her solve what may or may not be a murder. It’s a small English village (think Midsomer Murders, but on the seaside). People get up to all kinds of things from the mundane to the kinky. Everyone kind of seems to hate each other but can’t stand it when anyone seems to hate them. It’s the type of book where everyone is too obvious to be the murderer, so when they’re revealed it’s one of those “who? Oh, that one who was mentioned once 200 pages ago” moments. They actually show up a couple of times, but still. Same feeling. There’s no real romantic entanglement, not even a hint at one. But there’s a random growth arc with her daughter. To be honest, it wasn’t very memorable as far as cozy mysteries go, but it wasn’t bad at all. I quite enjoyed it as I was reading it.

Characters: interesting for the most part. Pat definitely feels like a self-insert. I wouldn’t call her a Mary Sue per se because she’s not young and perfect and all that. But it definitely feels like the author writing a story with some part of herself as the main character. Pat’s still an interesting character, though. Love Pritchard, but I want to know more about him. He has potential. I just felt he was still cookie-cutter quirky friend. I could do without the DS. She’s lazy and doesn’t do her job and only wants to fool around with her boyfriend. She did nothing for the book. The rest of the characters were flat. But if you read the acknowledgments, you’ll see that most of the characters are literally named after the author’s friends. It was a bit cringe to be honest. Made the whole thing feel a little like middle school besties writing stories for each other.

Writing: fine. There wasn’t anything wrong with the writing. It was just fine. But I fully admit that the title annoys me. I guess they were going for news headline speak, but I still hate it. If the blurb hadn’t interested me, I would’ve skipped it.

Ultimately, I found Shrink Solves Murder okay. It wasn’t bad. The characters could go either way if there are future books. If I end up liking them, I might read past book two. But I probably will pick up a second book at least.

Overall, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. A solid 3. There’s potential, but I’m not quite sure if it could support a series. If you like seaside English villages, give it a try.

Thoughts on ISIS OF EGYPT: GODDESS OF THRONES

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Things here are usual. Quiet with a constant undercurrent of terror. I’m still playing the waiting game. But we’re not here for any of that. It’s the last Wednesday of June, so you know what that means. Book review time! This month, I decided to go with an Egyptian mythology retelling. I knew the very basics going in, but it’s not a mythology I’ve looked into much, so I was just along for the ride. Isis of Egypt: Goddess of Thrones by Malayna Evans was released yesterday (the 23rd) from Alcove 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!

Isis of Egypt: Goddess of Thrones follows the goddess Isis from birth throughout many of her greatest challenges. It’s not easy being the power behind the throne of the gods, but someone has to find and manipulate the right gods into power. But what happens when her beloved husband is kidnapped after years of peace and prosperity? The goddess abandons everything to search for him, letting chaos reign in her absence. Will her journey bring her husband back to her? Will she be able to end the chaos when she returns? Only time will tell.

Plot: it’s the tale of Isis. I didn’t know much going in, so I’m trusting the author (who has a Ph.D in Egyptian history) to know her stuff. The setting and story were lovely. I enjoyed how much page time went to the minor gods and goddesses. The pacing was pretty good, though a couple of spots lagged. I’m gathering those were the areas that the lore didn’t really cover, because it was mostly filler. But I learned a lot and had fun doing it. My only complaint would be the attempt to make Set sympathetic at the end. The entire book basically highlights what an asshole he was, then when he gets his ass kicked, we’re suddenly supposed to feel bad for him because he had crappy role models? Nah. He’s quite literally the personification of chaos. Just let him be the asshole.

Characters: mostly likeable/understandable. For a book told in close third person, most of the characters are surprisingly fleshed out. Except Osiris. He was basically perfect in Iris’s eyes, which was annoying. Also, apparently there’s a lot of incest in Egyptian mythology. It’s weird. But at least they don’t deny it/skip over it like some mythologies (looking at you Christianity). However, Isis and her siblings are gods, so I guess that’s what makes it okay. I don’t know. I spent far too long trying to convince myself it wasn’t icky, but never quite succeeded.

Writing: kind of preachy. Don’t get me wrong, I agree with the ideas in this book, but everything was so overexplained that it quickly became too much. It was written in more of a memoir style than as a novel, so most of it is Isis telling us the lessons we should learn rather than showing us. Yes, we get it. Stop beating the horse. It’s already dead.

Ultimately, I had mixed feelings about Isis of Egypt: Goddess of Thrones. I really enjoyed learning about Egyptian mythology. The plot and characters were good for the most part. The writing was lacking. It was a solid look into Isis if you’re interested in Egyptian mythology.

Overall, I gave it 4 out of 5 stars. Actually, a solid 3.5, but rounded up because I didn’t feel a 3 was fair. I enjoyed it well enough and think it’s worth a look if you don’t mind something that overexplains everything.

Pride Month Books

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

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.

Thoughts on MISSED CONNECTIONS

~ shawnaborman ~ 9 Comments

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.

Thoughts on A MURDER MOST CAMP

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

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.

Thoughts on THE VANISHING CHERRY BLOSSOM BOOKSHOP

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

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.

Women Again!

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

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.

Thoughts on THE TRIDENT AND THE PEARL

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

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.