4.5 Stars. How can you not love a character named Mika Moon? And the found family that surrounds her new young charges is absolutely delightful. Quirky, caring, funny, interfering, determined, mischievous… I could go on but I won’t. I love stories of found families and what a family this one is […]
Pages to Fill by Travis Baldree: Story Review
3 Stars. When I realized this short story is a prequel to Legends & Lattes, I knew exactly which incident from Viv’s earlier life that I hope it addressed and that’s exactly what I got. Yay! It’s so strongly related to the book, that I really think it could have been edited a bit more and turned […]
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree: Book Review
4.5 Stars. To me, the plot of this book took a back seat to the characters, but that’s why I liked it. I am a very character-driven reader and Legends & Lattes gave me a whole book in which to watch a group of diverse characters develop, become friends, build a supportive community, and cheer each […]
Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson: Book Review
4.5 Stars. The inside flap of my copy of this book describes it as a “riveting tale that will appeal to fans of The Princess Bride.” I hesitated over that. I love The Princess Bride. So much. That description is setting some very high expectations and I don’t know if it’s possible to meet them.
Sanderson did […]
A Lot Like Christmas by Connie Willis: Book Review
4 Stars. This is a great collection of non-traditional Christmas stories in the fantasy and science fiction vein with bits and pieces of other genres thrown in here and there. It sounds quirky and it is but it really worked for me. It was a nice change of pace during the holiday season. The quality is […]
Shubeik Lubeik by Deena Mohamed: Book Review
5 Stars. I just need to say that this book was fantastic. It’s hefty, coming in at 518 pages, but there’s even more to to chew over and unpack than meets the eye. It’s written in three parts (because of course a book about wishes would be written in three parts) and each takes a slightly different approach […]
Enter the Detective by Mark Waid: Book Review
4 Stars. This graphic novel reminded me of a mashup between Sherlock Holmes stories and the TV series Penny Dreadful. It seems like an odd mix at first but it absolutely worked for me. I liked that the narrator of the story is a woman who is not all that she seems to be. I’m very curious to know more about her. The Sherlock […]
The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss: Book Review
4 Stars. I enjoyed the premise and the story, but there were a few too many interruptions from the characters in their current time as they were trying to tell a story about their past. The interruptions give us a better sense of the characters overall and allowed the author to insert several points of view into a scene easily […]
Hollow City by Ransom Riggs: Book Review
3 Stars. I enjoyed the second volume of this series but it didn’t quite grab me the same way the first one did. It’s been years since I read the first one so maybe the time lapse and/or my shifting tastes are to blame. I feel the creepy old photos are incorporated a bit more seamlessly than they were in the first book; however, […]
Dark Waters by Katherine Arden: Book Review
4 Stars. This was another fun installment in the Small Spaces series, with just the right amount of creepy for middle grade readers. I like that Brian is a little more in the spotlight in this book. Ollie tends to be the group’s natural leader but her attentions are elsewhere throughout most of the novel. Brian really steps up [….]
The Ramayana by R. K. Narayan: Book Review
4 Stars. I don’t even know how I first came across this title but I added it to a list of possible books to read for a classics challenge I’m participating in. I had to read Beowulf and The Epic of Gilgamesh in high school so I wanted to read some epics from other cultures. Somehow I found The Ramayana. Then I realized that this version […]