Top Ten Tuesday

 

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

This week's theme is a FALL-THEMED FREEBIE.

So I decided to have a little fun and go with Fall Titles.

1. The Fall of Lord Drayson by Rachael Anderson

2. Fall With Me by Amanda Jones

3. The Friendly Fall by Kristine W. Joy

4. Fall I Want by Lyra Parish

5. Just Don't Fall by Emma St. Clair

6. A Sweet Alaskan Fall by Jennifer Snow

7. Never Fall For Your Fiancée by Virginia Heath

8. See You Next Fall by Annabelle McCormanck

9. The Fall Back Plan by Melanie Jacobsen

10.  A Fall to Remember by Ellie Alexander

Happy Reading!

The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict

 

Who:  Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Baroness Emma Orczy and Margery Allingham.

When:  1931

Where:  London, England and Boulogne-Sur-Mer, France

What: These five mystery writers, otherwise known as the Queens of Crime, are determined to solve the very real murder of a young English nurse named May Daniels.

Why read it: This book is a fun combination of historical fiction and mystery. And it's so well written. Dorothy Sayers is the main narrator and the main driver of the plot. I thought the author did a good job of depicting her and the other four women authors. I really enjoyed their interactions. And the mystery was interesting, too. I liked how these five women call on their unique writerly skills to aid in their investigation. It's an interesting time period to read about, too. All in all, an entertaining and satisfying novel. 

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:  BOOKS ON MY FALL 2026 TO-READ LIST.

Always an easy one. 

Though narrowing down any booklist to just 10 books is always tricky for me. 

But here are 10 books I really want to read this fall.

1. Well Versed by Jen DeLuca

2. Fighting Edge by Margaret Mizushima

3. The Pumpkin Bride by Fiona Buttercup

4. Some Kind of Haunted by Hazel Beck

5. The House at Devil's Neck by Tom Mead

6. Chasing Creed by Alex Kava

7. Kiss Slay Replay by Rachel Harrison

8. A Brewed Awakening by Pepper Basham

9. The Reimagining of Thornwood House by Jaleigh Johnson

10. The Tricky Business of Faerie Bargains by Reena McCarty

11. The Monk by Tim Sullivan

12. I Once Knew a Guy Named Charlie by Jaclyn Smith

See...once again I didn't manage to stick with only 10 books. Oh, well.

What books are you looking forward to reading this fall?

Happy Reading!

Stay For a Spell by Amy Coombe

     An old woman handed me a key, told me she hoped it would unlock my heart's desire, and now I'm trapped inside a bookshop. 

    I think about it for a moment. My head's clearing up and I'm steadier on my feet than I was a moment ago. I'm stuck inside a bookshop. A thousand miles from my parents. Unable to carry on with my royal duties. I'm stuck. Inside. A bookshop.

    For as long as it takes someone to break the curse, or for me to fulfill it and unlock my heart's desire. 

    I lean my head against the door and start to laugh.

What's the one surefire way to break a curse, any curse, according to every story, every legend, every fable recorded? True love's kiss. And what does true love look like, if you're a princess? .... It looks like a prince....my parents? They're going to try to find a prince. 

My thoughts: A princess. A curse. A pirate. Seven princes; seven kisses. And one magical bookshop. What an enchanting novel! I loved Princess Tanadelle (Tandy to her friends), and her funny predicament. All the princes who come to rescue her with their unromantic kisses totally made me laugh. I also really liked Bash, the teasing and sarcastic pirate, who has a curse of his own, and all the magical creatures and characters who help Tandy with the bookshop. This cozy fantasy has humor, heart and a sweet and swoony romance. I read it in a day and loved every page.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

Haiku Reviews...

 

The Midwest Lawyer by Peter Kirkland

A former prosecutor,

Maggie defends a childhood

friend charged with murder.

Legal thriller .... 376 pages .... 4/5 stars.

(First book in a new series; I can't wait to read the next one.)

You Had Me at Bigfoot by Nancy Campbell Allen

(Daphne Drew Mystery #1)

Daphne Drew and Clark

investigate a missing maid,

lost treasure and bigfoot.

Cozy mystery .... 264 pages .... 4.5/5 stars.

(Delightful mystery with Scooby Doo references, humor and two cute dogs.)

Milo's Eyes by Lissa Bachner

Blindness didn't stop

Liss from showjumping with her

amazing horse, Milo.

Biography .... 348 pages .... 3.5/5 stars.

(Loved the bond between this horse and his rider.)

Happy Reading!

September's bookish art...

Perham Wilhelm Nahl -- Silhouette, 1921

 "The right book in the hands of the right person at exactly the right moment can change their life forever."

--Libby Page, This Book Made Me Think of You

Romantic Hero by Kirsty Greenwood

 

The Plot:  Gertie, a London romance author, is suffering from a broken heart...and writer's block. And her next romance novel is due in just a few weeks. But she can't write a word. Then she wakes one morning to find a rugged cowboy on her couch. And not just any cowboy. This cowboy looks exactly like River Oakley, the villain from her romances. But how can a fictional character from Bedlam Creek, Texas, a town she made up, be real? As for River, he just wants to go back home. So he agrees to help Gertie win back her ex in the hopes it will end her writer's block, enabling her to finally finish her novel and send him back to where he belongs. Neither one is expecting to fall in love. 

My thoughts:  Cute (and unique) plot. Fun characters. And a swoony romance...though I could have done without the spicy scenes and all the f-bombs. River was gruff, sexy and good for Gertie, helping her find her own main character energy. It was nice seeing her go from wanting to be someone's sidekick to being a romantic hero in her own right. And seeing River navigate London, tea, and her neighbor's dog, Squish, was both entertaining and humorous. I enjoyed this one. 

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie

 

The plot:  Needing a quiet place to recuperate after an airplane crash, Jerry Burton and his sister, Joanna, rent a cottage called Little Furze in Lymstock. They're not expecting to receive an anonymous letter soon after full of hateful, untruthful accusations. While it makes Joanna laugh, Jerry finds it a little unsettling. Especially when he learns several other people in Lymstock have received similar "poison pen" missives. Then one of the recipients dies by suicide. The police are called in to investigate. And Jerry realizes the culprit must be one of his own neighbors. But who? And why? 

My thoughts: This clever and fun mystery is billed as a Miss Marple mystery, but she doesn't even show up until page 167. And she only makes two other appearances after that. It would have been better, in my opinion, if Christie had just had Jerry solve the murder instead of bringing in Miss Marple for so few scenes at the end. Because Jerry is a personable and engaging narrator. I liked both him and his sister. And I enjoyed this mystery overall, too. I had two ideas of who might be behind it all....but I ended up being wrong on both accounts. Once again, Christie's plot twists were too clever for me. It's not a long book, and it reads fast. And while it's not my favorite Agatha Christie novel, I thought it was an entertaining read. And I never once thought about DNFing it.  😉

Happy Reading!

Randomness...

 I'm totally loving Olivia Rodrigo's album "you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love". It's awesome!

I also got a fun new game to play. It's called Trailblazer: Hiking the John Muir Trail. It has lots of pieces and parts and takes about 2 hours to play, but I like it. Up to 4 people can play at one time, and there's also a solo version. I'm eager to play it again.

For me, the end of August/beginning of September means canning season, and I've been busy bottling peaches and pears and making zucchini relish and blackberry jam. We had early blossoms followed by hard frosts this past spring here in Utah, so I couldn't get any Gala apples to do applesauce this time around. Hopefully next year. Canning always cuts into my reading time, but nothing beats eating yummy bottled fruit from off your own shelf all winter long. 

And while I read several really good books last month, I also ended up DNFing six. Which is unusual for me. I don't know if I was stressed, running extra tired, or just too impatient to deal with slower plots, aggravating or unlikeable characters, or stories that felt like they were going nowhere like The Correspondent. But I just couldn't make myself finish any of those six books. I'm hoping for better books this month. And more reading patience. 

Happy Reading!

Who is DS George Cross?

 "He was Marmite to most of his colleagues at the MCU. They either liked him or loathed him. There was no in-between. He often came across as rude, difficult or plain obtuse. But it wasn't intentional. George Cross was on the spectrum, which sometimes made him a little challenging to work with. But it was what made him an extraordinary detective."

"...Cross would never give up, particularly when he was told to. He was like a terrier snapping at your heels; once he'd got hold of your trouser leg, he would stubbornly refuse to let go, even if you spun him round in circles."

"It was a full twelve months since she'd become his partner and although it had taken some time to get used to him she had come to respect and understand him. ...In many ways she had become Cross's apologist in the department; his interpreter. She confessed to friends that she might have been less understanding had he not been such an irritatingly brilliant cop. He had the highest conviction rate in the force. By far. Having said that, there were times when she would happily have thrown him off Clifton suspension bridge." 

 The Patient by Tim Sullivan is another excellent mystery in this fun British police procedural series that stars DS George Cross. He's the best kind of character. And I am loving these books. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

  

Haiku reviews...

 

Ambition by Natalie Keller Reinert

Jules has a dream of

being the best horse trainer 

and three day eventer.

Fiction .... 358 pages .... 4/5 stars.

(First book in a fun series that's all about dressage, cross-country jumping and horses.)

The Hike by Lucy Clarke

Four women, best friends,

stumble into danger while

backpacking in Norway.

Thriller .... 367 pages .... 4/5 stars.

(Loved the setting!)

Three Hitmen and a Baby by Rob Hart

They're babysitting

for a friend when bad guys come

for Mark and Astrid.

Action/Thriller .... 287 pages .... 4.5/5 stars.

(I love this series! But read Assassins Anonymous first.)

Happy Reading!

This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page

 "The right book in the hands of the right person at exactly the right moment can change their life forever."

 

from the blurb:  When Tilly Nightingale receives a call telling her there's a birthday gift from her husband waiting for her at her local bookshop, it couldn't come as more of a shock. Partly because she can't remember the last time she read a book for pleasure. But mainly because Joe died six months ago...

When she goes to pick up the present, Alfie, the London bookshop owner with kind eyes, explains the gift--twelve carefully chosen books with handwritten letters from Joe, one for each month, to help her turn the page on her first year without him.

my thoughts:  Lovely. Poignant. Heartwarming.  I loved this book. I loved the letters from her husband each month, and how each book he chose helped Tilly take that next step in her journey through loss and grief to living, laughing, risking, and loving again. She meets some great people along the way, even finding a grief group in Paris. And I loved Alfie and his bookshop, and how he became such a good friend to Tilly. This book is amazing. Who wouldn't want 12 months of reading-inspired adventure from someone you love? 

my rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

Funnily coincidental cover from an equally fun read:

The Library by Bella Osborne

August's bookish art...

 

Albert Aublet -- Reading on the Garden Path

"Some books you read.

Some books you enjoy.

But some books swallow you up heart and soul."

--Joanne Harris

A Parade of Horribles by Matt Dinniman

 I just finished reading this eighth book in Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl series and I loved it. But it's so long, and so much happens in it, I'm not even going to try and summarize the plot, or write a long review of it. Instead, I'm going to take the easy way out and write a haiku review instead. Because that's how I roll these days. 😉

A Parade of Horribles by Matt Dinniman

They've reached level ten.

Racing to stay alive, how

many more will die?

Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Action & Adventure.... 688 pages ....4.5/5 stars.

(Chaos runs rampant in the dungeon as Carl and Princess Donut fight to save as many of their friends as they can. This is one crazy, fun series! I can't wait for the next one.)

Happy Reading!

Here is my review of Dungeon Crawler Carl, the first book. 

Top Ten Tuesday...

 

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

This week's theme:  BOOKS I WAS READING ON THIS DAY THIS MONTH OVER THE LAST TEN YEARS. 

It was fun to look back each August over the last ten years to see what I was reading. Here are 10 of my favs:

2025:  Happy After All by Maisey Yates 

2024: Crow Talk by Eileen Garvin

2023:  The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

2022:  Something Wilder by Christina Lauren

2021:  American Predator by Maureen Callahan

2020:  Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

2019:  Murder On Black Swan Lane by Andrea Penrose

2018:  The Winter Over by Matthew Iden

2017:  The Lying Game by Ruth Ware

2016:  Alice by Christina Henry

I know it's hard to tell much about a book just by its title, which is why I've included links to my reviews of each of these books...so if any sound interesting to you, check them out. They were all great reads.

Happy Reading!

Hudson Bay Bound by Natalie Warren

 "Sometimes a great adventure lands in your lap."

"...everything that happens, good or bad, is a story. And life is just a string of stories that we collect, over time, and we might as well make them good ones." 

This is a true adventure memoir about two women who are best friends and the two thousand mile canoe trip they take from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay the summer of 2011. What a journey! 

I love these kinds of stories: the challenges and life-changing moments they experience, the humorous camping incidents, and the descriptions that immersed me in parts of the country, the rivers and surrounding wilderness I will never get to see in real life. Plus, there's a very cute dog in it that they adopt at Norway house in Canada, along with some moose and polar bear sightings. It's an interesting and fun read. 

My rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

Similar reads:

Mud, Rocks, Blazes by Heather Anderson

Force of Nature by Joan M. Griffon

The Twenty-Ninth Day by Alex Messenger

Top Ten Tuesday

 

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

This week's theme is a COVER FREEBIE...

so I decided to go with 10 Fantasy Covers From Favorite Fantasy Reads. These 10 novels are some of my favorite fantasy reads.... and they are all books I really want to reread this year and next. 

The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien

The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks

(I'd also really like to reread Wishsong of Shannara and The Druid of Shannara.)

The Green Rider by Kristen Britain

Time of the Twins by Weis and Hickman

(Along with the other two books in this fabulous trilogy!)

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Bards of Bone Plain by Patricia A. McKillip

(Really I could happily reread ANY of her books.)

Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny

(One of the first adult fantasies I checked out of the library...I think I was 11 or 12.)

Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier

Summers at Castle Auburn by Sharon Shinn

Happy Reading (or in my case Rereading)!

Randomness...

 I can't believe it's already August. In just a few weeks I'll be back at work...and while I like my co-workers and all the kids in my many reading groups, I've really been enjoying my summer break. And I'm sad to see it coming to an end. 

July was full of fun family events and local excursions...as well as lots of days hunkering down inside where it was nice and cool. Or cooler anyway. 100+ days are not my favorite thing. And this July felt especially hot. 

I did a lot of reading though, and I have a new favorite series: Tim Sullivan's DS George Cross mysteries. I read the first two books in June and July and can't wait to check out the rest. George is on the autism spectrum and great at solving puzzles and focusing on all the small but important details of a crime, but he's not good at social interactions and has to be nudged by his longsuffering partner to remember the niceties. Even when he tries, he still comes across as abrupt, condescending and rude. But I like him. I've got the third book in this fun series sitting in my library bag by my bed, which I'm excited to start reading.

Happy Reading!

Haiku reviews...

 

Out of the Woods by Madison Wright

She never leaves home.

He never stays in one place. 

How can they fall in love?

Romance .... 362 pages .... 4/5 stars.

(Cute and clean.)

A Murder Most Camp by Nicolas Didomizio

Mikey, 29, must spend

the summer working at camp

with his 12-year-old aunt.

Mystery .... 350 pages .... 4/5 stars.

(Humorous mystery set at summer camp where Mikey and his aunt, Annabelle, try to solve a decade old cold case.)

Dolly All the Time by Annabel Monaghan

Dolly wants the best

for her son, brother, and dad.

But what does she want for herself?

Romance .... 360 pages .... 4.5/5 stars.

(Similar vibe to Nora Goes Off Script which I also loved.)

Happy Reading!

July's bookish art...

 

Augustus John -- A woman reading

"Once you have read a book you care about, some part of it is always with you."

--Louis L'Amour

Wisdom from the Prydain Chronicles...

     "Life is a forge!" cried the smith, as Taran, his brow streaming, beat at the strip of metal. "Yes, and hammer and anvil, too! You'll be roasted, smelted, and pounded, and you'll scarce know what's happening to you. But stand boldly to it! Metal's worthless till it's shaped and tempered."

    "Life's a forge, say I! Face the pounding; don't fear the proving; and you'll stand well against any hammer and anvil."

I've been rereading these classic fantasy novels this month and last, and while I didn't always remember the story line, I definitely remembered all of Lloyd Alexander's unforgettable characters: Taran, Eilonwy, Gurgi, Flewddur Fflam, Doli, Gwydion, Coll and Dalben. This quote is from Taran Wanderer, the 4th book in this series, which is probably my least favorite. But it's still good! It's been fun dipping back into these books that I read as a child. I'm thinking about rereading The Hobbit next. 

I'm home from Bryce Canyon, which was so fun, but still sort of on a blogging break. I'm reading lots and checking in on your blogs, but not doing much reviewing or posting. Which has been nice. Hope you are all enjoying your summer despite the hot weather, wildfires, and floods. 

Happy Reading!

Happy 4th of July!

 

In honor of America's 250th birthday, I thought I would list my 10 favorite books about the American Revolution, and the imperfect yet resolute men and women who fought and sacrificed so much for our liberty and freedom. I think it's important to remember them, especially this year. And these books are great; I loved and would recommend them all. 

Plain, Honest Men: The Making of the American Constitution by Richard Beeman

John Hancock:  Merchant King and American Patriot by Harlow Giles Unger

American Spring by Walter R. Borneman

(About Lexington and Concord, Bunker Hill and the spring of 1775 where it all began.)

Band of Giants by Jack Kelly

(About the amateur soldiers like Henry Knox, Nathanael Greene, Daniel Morgan, and others who helped gain American's independence.)

1776 by David McCullough

The Swamp Fox by John Oller

(About Marion Francis and the Revolutionary battles fought in South Carolina)

Valley Forge by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin

(Where the Continental Army was forged in fire.)

Those Turbulent Sons of Freedom by Christopher S. Wren

(About Ethan Allen, Seth Warner and the Greene Mountain Boys.)

Rebels at Sea by Eric Jay Dolin

(About the role privateers played in securing American's independence.)

In the Hurricane's Eye by Nathaniel Philbrick

(About the genius of George Washington and the Siege at Yorktown.)

Happy Reading...

And Happy 250th, America!

(Land that I love so much.)