Tears of the Wolf by Elisabeth Wheatley

 

First line:  "Marriage was the second fastest way to get rid of a woman, and the King was quite eager to get rid of Brynn. ... But for King Aelgar to marry her off to the husband of his choosing, he first had to deal with Brynn's current one."

Plot summary: Brynn is an Istovari sorceress grieving the death of her young son. Her mother chose her first husband for her, an older widower who neither loved nor respected her. This time she's choosing for herself. Cenric of Ombra is an alderman in the far northern reaches in need of a sorceress. He has no connection to the king or her mother. Marrying him offers Brynn escape, and freedom. Or so she hopes. She's not hoping for love. But Cenric just might surprise her.

5 Things I loved:

• The richly detailed viking-esque setting and all the magic.
• Brynn's and Cenric's tentative friendship that grows into something more.
• Brynn's steely resolve to not be anyone's pawn ever again, and Cenric's own resolve to protect his new wife.
• All the personable dyrehunds that belong to Cenric (and that can talk to him).
• And all the many fun side characters.

My thoughts:  I saw this fantasy on the new books shelf at my library and picked it up on a whim, and I'm SO glad I did. I loved everything about this one and I really hope Wheatley hurries up and writes a sequel!

My rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

Haiku Reviews

 

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Two sisters deal with

heartache in different ways.

Find love in the end.

Classic .... 353 pages .... 4/5 stars.

(My 2025 Jane Austen reread to celebrate her 250th birthday this year; it's not my favorite Austen novel, but I liked it more this time around than I did the first time I read it. Though I still love the Emma Thompson movie version best.)

Fly Girl by Ann Hood

The reality and

adventure of being a 

flight attendant for TWA.

Biography .... 265 pages .... 3.5/5 stars.

(Remember when flying used to be a more glamorous way of traveling? Ann Hood does in this interesting memoir.)

Star-Crossed Crush by Sarah Deeham

Hot rock star. Cute dog.

Best friend's little sister.

Secret crush. True love.

Contemporary Romance .... 335 pages .... 4.5/5 stars.

(Slowburn romance with lots of heart, humor, and only a few steamy scenes...it also has a very cute Corgi name Archie.)

Happy Reading!

Top Ten Tuesday

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week's theme:  BOOKS WITH A HIGH PAGE COUNT...or "Chunksters" as I like to call them. Here's 10 of the longest books I've read:

The Stand by Stephen King  (1472 pages)

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand  (1168 pages)

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell  (959 pages)

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke  (846 pages)

Middlemarch by George Eliot  (852 pages)

The Passage by Justin Cronin  (766 pages)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling  (759 pages)

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand  (736 pages)

Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville  (722 pages)

In the Spirit of Crazy Horse by Peter Matthiessen  (688 pages)

Whew! 

These days I prefer much shorter books, but these were all good.

Happy Reading!

Do No Harm by Robert Pobi

 

Meet Lucas Page:  devoted husband, father, professor, astrophysicist, ex-FBI agent, double amputee, and a genius when it comes to analyzing numbers and patterns, and spotting unexpected connections. Which is why he's the only one who notices the strangely high number of doctors either committing suicide in the city or suffering fatal accidents. The odds are mathematically impossible. Now he just has to convince the FBI they were all murdered. And then try to figure out why. And by whom.

My thoughts:  I could not put this book down. This psychological thriller is propulsive and perfectly plotted. And Lucas Page is the greatest character. He sees things others don't, and he has no tolerance for small talk or fools. I loved his snark and his smarts. Though it puts him and his wife (who's a doctor) both at risk. His investigation becomes a race to find the murderers before the killers come for him. This book is fast-paced, full of action, and so well written. I loved it. I can't wait to read Pobi's first two books about Lucas Page.

My rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

Black Woods Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey

 

What this book is about:  Birdie, a young single mother, and her six-year-old daughter, Emaleen, who live in Alaska. Birdie yearns for freedom and flight and wild places. And Arthur Nielsen, a quiet, scarred recluse who lives in an isolated cabin in the mountains beyond Wolverine River. He and Birdie fall in love and for awhile the three of them are happy living together far away from everyone else, exploring the wilderness, picking berries, catching salmon. But Arthur has a secret--a side of himself that isn't so tame. And it threatens their fairy tale ending.

My thoughts:  I loved Ivey's fairy tale-inspired novel, The Snow Child. She has a way of evoking a sense of wonder with her lyrical prose while at the same time creating a setting so real you can practically smell the wildflowers. And she's done it again with this novel. I loved the richly drawn Alaskan wilderness setting, and I loved Arthur and Emaleen and their cute interactions, too. But like many a Grimm fairy tale, I sensed early on I might not get my hoped for happy ending in this one. Because this book is sad. Which didn't make me like it any less, though it did break my heart just a little. I wanted more for Arthur, Birdie and Emaleen. But I still love the way Ivey writes.

My rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

August's bookish art...

 

Rupert Bunny -- Woman Reading

"Books are good company, in sad times and happy times..."

--E.B. White

Dark Ride by Lou Berney

 "This is not the plot twist that my life required. I wish I'd never noticed those kids on the bench. I wish I'd never walked over. I wish, most of all, that I existed in a version of the multiverse where hurting kids with the glowing tip of a cigarette falls far beyond the boundaries of the human imagination. But I don't and it's not."

 

Hardly Reed is not a hero. He's a twenty-one year old college dropout who spends his days blissfully stoned and his nights working at an amusement park as a scare actor for minimum wage. And he's extremely content to drift through life hardly working, hardly trying. It's how he got his nickname. 

Then he spots two young children sitting silently, alone, scared, and sporting cigarette burns. And something inside Hardly shifts. He has to help those children. And when CPS does nothing, he knows he'll have to do it himself. 

"I'm not delusional. I know this is kind of crazy. I do. But look me in the eye and tell me it's not worth the risk. How many times in a lifetime do you get an opportunity to actually make a real difference. Like, a true life-changing difference. This might be the one point in my entire life that is the entire point of my life."

My thoughts:  From the first sentence to the last, this book is brilliantly written and compellingly intense. And such great characters! Hardly is a funny, engaging, and heartbreakingly likable narrator. I loved him and all his quirky friends. And everything he does to save those kids! What a gripping ride. He makes mistakes along the way and some of the outcomes are brutal, but he never gives up. This is a book I won't soon forget. It reads fast and packs a punch. And it might make you cry at the end. 

My rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

Top Ten Tuesday...

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week's theme:  GENRE FREEBIE.

And I was going to go with my favorite historical mysteries, because there are several series I'm currently reading and loving, but then at the last minute I changed my mind. Instead, here's a list of 10 of My Favorite Post-Apocalyptic Books:

 Alas Babylon by Pat Frank

(Because it was the first one I ever read in this genre.)

 

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

(Because who didn't read and love this one?)

One Second After by William R. Forstchen

(This is one of my favs.)

Until the End of the World by Sarah Lyons Fleming

(Yes, there are zombies in this one.)

The Wolves of Winter by Tyrell Johnson

(I read this one with Melody.)

The Stand by Stephen King

(It'a classic!)

Day Zero by C. Robert Cargill

(This one has robots. And Pounce is the best!)

Going Home by A. American

(Dystopian survival at its best.)

Outage by Ellisa Barr

(A great YA survival novel.)

Positive by David Wellington

(You knew there would be a 2nd zombie book somewhere on this list.)

Other books I've read and loved that I could have added to this list: World War Z, The 5th Wave, Divergent, Autumn, Feed, Life As We Knew It, When the Power Is Gone, Devil's Wake...and the list goes on and on. I do love reading these kinds of dystopian novels. So if you know of any good books to add to my list, please let me know! 

Happy Reading!

Post from the past...

 I was searching my blog the other day for a certain book set in England and ran across this one instead...and for a moment I couldn't even remember reading it. Sad when you can't remember a book you read only three years ago. Good thing I wrote about it. So, just for fun, I'm re-posting my short review of it, because I think it's worth remembering. 

Title & Author:  Friend of the Devil by Stephen Lloyd

Setting:  Danforth Putnam, an elite boarding school located on a private island off the coast of New England.

Main characters:  Sam, an insurance investigator and former marine who's tough, perceptive, sarcastic, haunted, and funny; and Harriet, a teen reporter with epilepsy who's determined, smart, and spunky, Sam's looking into the theft of a rare book, and Harriet's investigating an incident of bullying when their paths intersect. Dark and strange things at Danforth Putnam surprise them both.

My thoughts:  This book is a fun combination of mystery, detective fiction and supernatural horror. There's good suspense and lots of humorous moments, and it reads fast. I loved Sam's snarkiness and Harriet's stubborn fearlessness. And there's a very explosive demonic twist at the end that I was NOT expecting. But I thought it was a good one. I ended up really liking this book. It's an entertaining summer read. 

Happy Reading!

(Review first posted on this blog on August 25, 2022)

Randomness...

 

Recently finished reading Fairy Tale by Stephen King ... and I really liked it. It centers around seventeen-year-old Charlie Reade who befriends his elderly neighbor Howard Bowditch; when Bowditch dies, Charlie inherits his house, a sweet and aging German Shepherd named Radar, and a doorway to another realm.

King knows how to craft amazing and memorable characters, and Charlie and Radar are no exceptions. I loved both of them. Charlie's journey into Empis with Radar reminded me a little of Lucy's journey into Narnia when it needed saving from the White Witch. Empis has been overrun by evil and needs saving, too. And though he doesn't know it, Charlie is just the hero to do it.

Fairy Tale is well named because in many ways it does read like a fairy tale...a 598 page one...without any of the scary horror that King is known for in his other books. It's compelling and entertaining and full of magic...and it won't give you nightmares.  4/5 stars.

Another delightfully funny and entertaining cartoon from John Atkinson at Wrong Hands. You have to check out his website...he will always make you laugh. 

Some of my glad things from July: 

• Seeing Pelicans, Cormorants and Bullock's Orioles along the Jordan River trail. 
• Got my shingles shot...at least the first does...which wasn't fun, but good to get it done.
• Saw the movie Jurassic World: Rebirth. It was very entertaining.
• Lunch at Mo Bettah's with my niece and nephew. Yum!  😋
• My family's annual 4th of July breakfast; it's always good seeing everyone.
• Hearing from Sam (from Book Chase). Thanks for your comments, Sam! I'm glad to know you're alive and doing well. 
• Eating chard freshly picked from my garden.
• Playing a fun round of the bookish game It Was a Dark and Stormy Night with my family. (You have to guess the book title or author from just reading the first line, and there are different categories like Mysteries, Pre-1900 books, Children's books, etc.)

Miranda in Retrograde by Lauren Layne

 

The plot:  Dr. Miranda Reed, PhD, is a popular astrophysicist and professor at Nova University, with a high IQ and a long waiting list for her astronomy classes. She's bright and pretty and has been on Jeopardy! seven times; she's also a star when it comes to talking science on the morning shows. And she always has a plan, especially for her life's trajectory. So when she's denied tenure she's stunned. And confused. And a little lost. 

Granted a yearlong sabbatical, she decides to explore another side her life besides the science side by studying astrology, figuring out her rising sign, and following her horoscope for one year. What Miranda doesn't predict is how her Horoscope Project will bring her not only new experiences and a new perspective, but a new friend in the cute artist next door, the possibility of a new dream for her life, and maybe even love. 

My thoughts:  What a charming romance! Miranda is such a fun character. I really enjoyed her love of science and her personal journey to explore a new side of herself; I especially enjoyed her slow burn friendship with Archer (the artist next door). Their interactions were humorous and entertaining. And I appreciated that there's no sex in this one...just a few sweet and swoony kisses. With both stars and art this story truly sparkles.  

My rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

The Day After the Party by Nicole Trope

 

The plot:  Saturday night, Katelyn throws a party for her thirty-sixth birthday; Monday morning, she wakes up in the hospital unable to remember anything about the party, or what happened that night. And her husband, Toby, and her best friend, Leah, aren't talking. Katelyn suspects they're keeping secrets, maybe even lying to her. And when her memory starts to come back, she doesn't know who to trust or what to believe.

My thoughts:  This is the first book by Nicole Trope that I've read, but it won't be my last. It reads fast. (I read it in a day.) And I liked the unease and slow build of suspense as Katelyn starts to piece together the truth about that night, as well as the flashback scenes with her and Leah growing up. Their relationship is complicated. Katelyn and her husband also have their struggles. It kept me guessing about who was lying and why. There was one small twist at the very end that I didn't think was necessary...in fact, I would have liked the book even more without it...but all in all I enjoyed this quiet psychological/domestic thriller. It's what I would label a fun summer popcorn read. 

My rating:  3.5/5 stars.

Happy Reading!

Haiku Reviews...

 

Swept Away by Beth O'Leary

Stuck on a houseboat

adrift at sea, two strangers

learn about each other...and themselves.

Romance .... 369 pages .... 4.5/5 stars.

(Survival, honesty, revealing conversations, tears, smiles and unexpected love.)

The Geographer's Map to Romance by India Holton

A marriage of convenience.

Unleashed thaumaturgic magic.

Wild Adventure. And love.

Historical fantasy .... 327 pages .... 5/5 stars.

(Another magical read from Horton full of humor and romance.)

The Double-A Western Detective Agency by Steven Hockensmith

Gustav's and Otto's

first case puts them on the wrong

side of a range war.

Western/mystery .... 252 pages .... 4/5 stars.

(Sixth book in this fun series; I love that they've teamed up with their new partner, Diana Crowe, in this one. She keeps these cowboy sleuths on their toes.)

Season's Schemings by Katie Bailey

Their fake marriage plan:

show up her ex and get him

a green card. Win-win!

Sweet hockey romance .... 253 pages .... 5/5 stars.

(Loved this cute and funny marriage of convenience romance!)

Happy Reading!

Top Ten Tuesday

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week's theme:  BOOKS SET IN _________. Where you get to pick the place, time period, or setting. I decided to go with one of my most favorite isolated and remote settings: ANTARCTICA. Here are 10 Books that take place in or are about Antarctica. 

The Winter Over by Matthew Iden 

How the Penguins Saved Veronica by Hazel Prior

The Last Cold Place by Naira de Gracia

Whiteout by Adriana Anders

The Dark by Emma Haughton

My Last Continent by Midge Raymond

South Pole Station by Ashley Shelby

In Cold Pursuit by Sarah Andrews

To the Poles Without a Beard

by Catharine Hartley

Big Dead Place by Nicholas Johnson

Happy Reading!

Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis

 

From the blurb:  "It's bad enough waking up in a half-destroyed evil wizard's workshop with no eyebrows, no memories, and no idea how long you have before the Dread Lord Whomever shows up to murder you horribly. It's a lot worse when you realize that Dread Lord Whomever is...you.  Gav isn't really sure how he ended up with a castle full of goblins, or why he has a princess locked in a cell. All he can do is play along with his own evil plan in hopes of getting his memories back before he gets himself killed. But as he realizes that nothing is quite what it seems, Gav will have to answer the hardest question of all--who does he want to be now?"

A few favorite quotes:

• So, this was shock. It seemed terribly inconvenient that the brain's reaction to being placed in mortal jeopardy was to become much stupider. 
• He was a coward, there was no way around it, and he was pretty sure he could live with that. Fundamentally brave people didn't become Dark Wizards.
• He didn't know what that made him, if he wasn't evil enough to be a villain or good enough to be a hero.
• He wasn't a hero. And he'd failed again. But that didn't mean he couldn't keep trying. So he could look himself in the eye, even if no one else would.

My thoughts:  This book is a magical adventure with humor and heart. Gav (formerly known as the Dread Lord Gavrax) knows he's not hero material, but he doesn't want to be a dark wizard any more either. So where does that leave him? Gav is such a great character! I loved his interactions with his scared goblin servants, as well as the banter between him and the spunky and disdainful princess. And seeing him trying to figure out how not to be a dark wizard any more without ending up getting murdered by all the other dark wizards, or all the heroes trying to rescue the princess, was very entertaining. There's just so much to like about this book including a very funny garlic festival and some great magic.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

July's Bookish Art...

 

Max Beckmann -- Woman Reading at the Beach

    "Stories go deep. They have this power to resonate for us like nothing else in human life can. They teach us things we need to learn, and show us new ways of understanding, and answer questions we didn't even know we needed to ask." 

--Katherine Center

Top Ten Tuesday...

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week's theme:  BOOKS WITH HONORIFICS IN THE TITLE like Miss, Lord, Captain, etc.

I made it easy on myself when coming up with my list and went with books from my own shelves. Here's my top ten:

Miss Lacey's Last Fling by Candice Hern

(One of those books I own that I haven't read yet.)

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

(One of those books I didn't expect to like as much as I did.)

The Captain's Wallflower by Audrey Harrison

(A cute Regency romance.)

Lost Princess of Oz by L. Frank Baum

(My 4th favorite Oz book.)

The Locusts Have No King by Dawn Powell

(She's an underrated author imo.)

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

(This is one of my favs.)

The Lady is Daring by Megan Frampton

(A fun and a little bit steamy historical romance.)

The Duke Alone by Christi Caldwell

(A cute Christmas romance.)

The Detective Wins the Witch by Kristen Painter

(One of my most favorite paranormal romances.)

Admiral by Sean Danker

(The first book in an awesome science fiction series!)

Happy Reading!

The Big Fix by Holly James

 

First line:  "An estate sale at a dead guy's suburban mansion was not how I'd planned to spend my first Saturday of summer break."

The plot:  Penny Collins did not plan on finding a dead body at the estate sale, either. But now she's involved in a murder investigation along with the mysterious and brooding Anthony Pierce, who knows more about the dead guy than he's admitting. And it all connects somehow to a billionaire's missing wife. Penny's supposed to be finalizing her case for tenure this summer, instead she's running from bad guys, arguing with Anthony, and just maybe falling in love.

My thoughts:  This book has the feel of an amusing cozy mystery with lots of action, humor and romance. Penny's a bit impulsive--which gets her in trouble sometimes--but she's also tenacious and resourceful. She got on my nerves a little at the very beginning, but by the end I enjoyed her enthusiasm. And Anthony's great. I liked how the two of them problem solved, bantered, and rescued each other. And their madcap adventure trying to escape the bad guys? Very entertaining! This is a fun summer read.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

Some Like It Scot by Pepper Basham

 

First line:  I'd love to say I became famous because of my excellent writing skills.

Setting:  Isle of Mull, Scotland

The plot:  Katie Campbell is a popular travel writer known for her misadventures. Everywhere she goes something goes wrong. But she somehow always manages to turn it into something humorous and positive. But while she's happy traveling the world, there's something she's missing:  Home.  "Sometimes it's a place. Sometimes it's a person. Sometimes it's both."  So when Katie meets Graeme MacKerrow, and the tall Scot not only rescues her more than once, but makes her feel seen, she starts to wonder if she's finally found it. But she's afraid...of falling, of failing, of not being enough. And of Graeme not loving her back.

Favorite quote:  "Love is always an act of faith because we cannae see the future...But love gives you the strength to leap, and faith gives you the vision to believe that the one you love will be on the other side to catch you."

My thoughts:  I love this book! More than a simple lighthearted romance, this is an engaging novel about finding family, finding home, taking chances and believing in oneself. Basham truly knows how to craft a story with layers and humor, depth, hope, faith and love. And her characters are so delightful. I loved Katie and Graeme and their journey. And I loved the picturesque setting. This book made me want to travel to the Isle of Mull. (And maybe meet my own handome Scot.) I found it captivating. And the ending made me smile. 

My rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

Top Ten Tuesday

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week's theme:  10 BOOKS I'D LIKE TO REREAD.

Which sent me on a journey perusing my bookshelves to find some favorite books that I would really love to reread this year:  

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

The Time of the Twins by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

A Separate Peace by John Knowles

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

The Voyage Out by Virginia Woolf

Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson

Precinct 13 by Tate Hallaway

Wreckers by George Ellis

The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander

Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

Do you like to reread favorite books? If so, which ones?

Happy Reading!

Exposure by Ramona Emerson

 

The plot:  Rita Todacheene is a forensic photographer with the Albuquerque police department. She can also see the ghosts of murder victims. And since her last case, when she almost died, the ghosts won't leave her alone. It's making her sick. She heads to her grandmother's house in Tohatchi hoping to find some healing on the Navajo reservation. But she gets drawn back into a murder investigation in Gallup, where a detective suspects that a serial killer is stalking and killing indigent Native Americans.

My thoughts:  I loved Emerson's first novel about Rita Todacheene; Shutter was a magical mix of Navajo myth and culture, mystery, suspense and ghostly hauntings. Rita is a fascinating character. This novel picks up where Shutter left off. It's more character-driven, with chapters alternating between Rita with all her current struggles and the serial killer's own story, which was more sad than creepy/scary. It also focuses on the plight of Native Americans in places like Gallup. It's both heartbreaking and enraging. This was a different mystery than what I was expecting, but it's a compelling read and I continue to be a fan of Rita Todacheene.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

That's Not My Name by Megan Lally

 

The GIRL:  "I think I might be dead."  She wakes up in a ditch by the side of the road, bruised and bloodied. And unable to remember who she is or how she got there. The police find her, and so does a man claiming to be her father. He says her name is Mary Boone. And he has photos of her, an old school ID, and her birth certificate. He must be telling the truth. So why does nothing about him feel familiar?

DREW:  "Life really goes to shit when everyone thinks you killed your girlfriend."  Drew's girlfriend, Lola, went missing five weeks ago, and everyone in their small Oregon town blames him, including the police. They keep trying to get him to confess. But Drew knows he didn't hurt her; he thinks someone may have taken her. And he's determined to do everything he can to find her. 

My thoughts:  What a fun summer thriller! Lally does a great job of building a sense of dread and unease as she alternates between Mary's and Drew's POV.  Mary's fears grow as she notices inconsistencies in her father's story; and Drew's desperate search for Lola is equally compelling. These two characters are both believeable and easy to root for. The story itself has suspense and tension and a good twist at the end. I really liked it. 4.5/5 stars.

Top Ten Tuesday...

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week's theme: FREEBIE.

So, in honor of it being the week of July 4th, which is one of my favorite holidays, I decided to go with 10 BOOKS WITH FIREWORKS ON THE COVER.

I haven't read any of these, have you?

Happy Reading!