Lark Writes...on books and life

Friday, November 13, 2026

Haiku Reviews

Track of Courage by Susan May Warren

A plane crash. A rescue.

Snow. Suspense. Fun characters.

Faith. And a cute dog.

Romantic Suspense .... 315 pages .... 4.5/5 stars.

(I enjoyed this one; it takes place in Alaska which is always a favorite setting.)

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

Artificial friend

tries to understand love and

save her human friend.

Science fiction .... 303 pages .... 3/5 stars.

(Odd yet interesting take on the future and AI.)

The Thoroughbreds by Elin Hilderbrand and Shelby Cunningham

New teachers. Old friends.

College applications. Angst.

Drama. Secrets. Love.

Fiction .... 446 pages .... 3.5/5 stars.

(Good, but I liked their previous book better.)

Happy Reading!

Tuesday, November 10, 2026

Here's the newly revised and updated version of the holiday novella my sister and I wrote. It's got humor, a snowy inn, quirky characters, a seance, a few ghosts, and two characters who aren't looking for love, but who unexpectedly find it with each other. It'll get you in that Christmas mood and hopefully make you smile. Check it out.

Happy Reading!

Friday, November 6, 2026

Randomness...

I just finished reading Kiss Slay Replay by Rachel Harrison. It's an entertaining horror/time loop novel centered around Willa Sullivan, who's still depressed over her breakup with her fiancé; she's attending her best friends' wedding (which takes place at a former summer camp) where things go very wrong again and again and again. I thought it was a fun read.

Two bookish goals I want to accomplish before the end of the year:

Read and review Strange Animals by Jarod K. Anderson (which I won a copy of earlier this year in a Goodreads Giveaway).
Read and return The Man Who Made Vermeers by Jonathan Lopez to my brother-in-law (who loaned it to me months ago because he knows how much I like reading about art).

Another good bookish goal would be to go through my Goodreads want-to-read list and delete the books I no longer want to read...and maybe prioritize a few I want to read next.

Music I'm enjoying: Dandelion by Ella Langley.

Tuesday, November 3, 2026

Top Ten Tuesday

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

This week's theme: ONE-WORD REVIEWS FOR THE LAST 10 BOOKS I READ. Only my list is just 5 books this week...October was a rough reading month with lots of DNFs and so-so reads. But I liked most of these:

The Monk by Tim Sullivan: irresistible

Murder on Threadneedle Street by Andrea Penrose: immersive

I Once Knew a Guy Named Charlie by Jaclyn Smith: nostalgic

Well Versed by Jen DeLuca: disappointing

The Bloodied Client by Peter Kirkland: compelling

Until next time... Happy Reading!

Sunday, November 1, 2026

Welcome to November!

Thursday, October 29, 2026

Vanished Beyond the Map by Adam Shoalts

Facts about Hubert Darrell:

He was born in England in 1874 and emigrated to Canada when he was 16.
He worked at farming for awhile, then panned for gold in the Klondike, but his true love in life was exploring the vast wilderness of Canada's Northwest Territory, on foot and alone.
His exploration & map-making skills, uncanny abilities, physical endurance and tenacity earned the respect and admiration of Roald Amundsen.
Famous polar explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson said: "The few white men who were on the north coast of Canada between 1906 and 1912 agree that Hubert Darrell was its greatest arctic traveler."
His countless journeys added up to a record few could match.
"In November 1910, Darrell was exploring and filling in blanks on existing maps alone in the Western Arctic near the Anderson river when he mysteriously vanished."

Fascinated by this lost and largely forgotten explorer, author Adam Shoalts spent years combing through archives, tracking down letters and old newspapers, and even venturing on several canoe trips and wilderness expeditions of his own to track Hubert Darrell's accomplishments and trace his many solitary journeys, hoping to learn what became of him. His book is part history, part compelling detective story and part wilderness adventure. And his words transported me to the far northern reaches of Canada as he trekked through those remote arctic lands few have ever seen. I was enthralled. And I came away with profound respect for both Hubert Darrell and Adam Shoalts. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!