Hiking Oregon’s History by William L. Sullivan: Book Review

Hiking Oregon's History by William L. Sullivan Book Cover

4 stars. I know this book probably won’t have much appeal to a broad audience but it was so engaging, I felt that I needed to review it. When my husband and I first arrived in Oregon in April of 2020 for his work assignment at a hospital outside Portland, my aunt put me in touch with one of her friends who owns a summer home on […]

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The Unidentified by Colin Dickey: Book Review

The Unidentified by Colin Dickey Book Cover

4 Stars. I’m not quite sure what I expected when I downloaded this book from the library but it’s not exactly what I got. Not that I’m complaining; this book is absorbing. My review keeps turning into a book report because I want to discuss so many of the ideas I just read! I knew this was nonfiction about the worlds of […]

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Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen

Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen Book Cover

Hmmm…. Where to start? I mostly found this book fascinating and the inaccurate history we are taught infuriating but I also had problems with the tone. I’ll start with the positives…. Loewen’s main complaint is that our American history textbooks invariably teach from the point of view of White males of European descent. The […]

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The Soul of America by Jon Meacham: Book Review

The Soul of America by Jon Meacham Book Cover

I almost always have one nonfiction book on the go that I read exclusively before bed. I’m primarily a fiction reader so I don’t usually fall into the “one more chapter” trap that keeps me awake way past my bedtime if I follow this plan. This was not a great book for that. It’s intelligently written, presented, and argued, but […]

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My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix: Book Review

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix Book Cover

I loved the way this ended and I hate that I can’t say more about it because I definitely have things I want need to say. But no one likes spoilers, right? Just know that the celebration of real, true friendship surprised me and made me so happy. A horror novel made me happy? Why, yes, it did. Now that that’s out of the way, I […]

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Gil’s All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez: Book Review

Gil's All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez Book Cover

This book cracked me up! My best description is that it’s a version of Tucker and Dale vs Evil if Tucker was a werewolf and Dale was a vampire. I can’t watch many horror movies but that one made me laugh, just like this book did. Earl and Duke aren’t quite as hapless as Tucker and Dale since they’re very aware of their own […]

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Maplecroft by Cherie Priest: Book Review

Maplecroft by Cherie Priest Book Cover

We meet Lizzie and her sister Emma shortly after the notorious murder of their father and stepmother. The women are living in fear of an unnamed horror that is taking over their hometown. They’re trying to research it and combat it as best they can but Emma is an invalid and Lizzie is–well, notorious Lizzie Borden. The horrors […]

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Daughters Unto Devils by Amy Lukavics: Book Review

Daughters Unto Devils by Amy Lukavics Book Cover

Oh my goodness. This scared me to death! I got worried that I was going to have to put it aside. I gladly read most horror but one trope in particular seriously gives me nightmares and this book went there. I soldiered on though and holy cow, what a ride this was! I keep seeing it compared to a horror version of Little House on […]

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Walter the Farting Dog by William Kotzwinkle: Book Review

Walter the Farting Dog by William Kotzwinkle and Glenn Murray Book Cover

Little Betty and Billy choose Walter and bring him home from the animal shelter. Mom makes them give Walter a bath because he smells so bad. But they quickly realize that the problem is deeper than that: Walter is a farting dog. Billy and Betty don’t mind but their parents can’t take it. They try to fix the problem with visits […]

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