This was an interesting story about something I‘d never heard of: the reign of terror on the Osage in the early 1900‘s. It‘s amazing how much we don‘t know about the horrible tragedies against native Americans. It was much more textbook/documentary than I generally like, but interesting enough I kept reading it.

I loved this book. It let me guessing. And a story of ‘imposters‘ is always so interesting. This was done really well I thought.

Such a charming tale! Told in two timelines, a story of love, loss, independent women, and rare books. With a little magic thrown in.

This was an entertaining read. College friends reunite, but they all have their issues & troubles and all is not as perfect as it seems. Then one of them ends up dead.

Book #7 in the Glass & Steele series. With the wedding just days away, some magical news may stand between Matt & India…along with a murder to investigate too.

Wow, this was such a page turner! I did not know what to expect, I kept being surprised. A real psychological thriller. Just wow.

This book was fascinating. Written in a dual timeline, we follow the lives of several people from a traveling circus in the 17-1800‘s up through today. The main group being a maternal line of mermaids, or divers that can hold their breath for 10 minutes…but who all end up dying by drowning on July 24th.

I had to bail about 35% in. It was just too stressful it‘s like reading a documentary about a recent catastrophic fire in an area not too far from my home. It‘s well-written and interesting, just too overwhelming for me to keep going.

Book #6 in the Glass & Steele series. Things take quite a turn, or two, in this one. I like where the storyline is headed.

Book #5 in the Glass and Steele series. This one felt a bit short, but it also tied up some loose ends. And then, of course, opened a few more…looking forward to the next one!

History repeats itself…and this book goes to show that white men really do rule the art world (like so many other things). It is truly sad how often minorities are written out of history, dialogue, movements. Well in this story, one Latina proves she will not let that happen.

Interesting. I don‘t know if I liked this one or not. I finished it. I probably wouldn‘t recommend it though.

Book #4 in the series. So much happens in this book! Some mysteries, big ones, are solved. New mysteries are discovered that need to be solved. I‘ve already got the next book on hold!

I don‘t know much about the Vietnam war, but I learned so much from this book. As a woman veteran I am probably more surprised than I should be that people didn‘t know women were stationed there. Quite an eye opener for sure. Plus all the other issues: PTSD, lying men, depression, alcoholism, ‘mothers little pills‘… it was a lot, but told in such an understandable way. I loved Frankie‘s best friends too, friends like that are hard to come by.

Better than I expected, but at times confusing and I felt the ending was too abrupt. I would‘ve liked to see how things would play out after the play, when they come face to face.

Book #3 in the series follows Matt and India as they continue their search for Chronos. They continue to find themselves in the midst of guilds, magic, and their own growing relationship.

A beautiful, if a life in the middle of WWI can be called beautiful, story of life, love, art, lies, and so much more.

I have no idea what this book is about. So many gibberish words that I can‘t follow it, so I‘m bailing.

Book #2 in the series starts immediately where book 1 ends. Matt Glass and India Steele are still hunting for the magical watch maker but stumble upon magic in the mapmakers guild.

Made it 10% in. Couldn‘t follow it at all so I‘m bailing.

This was described as a thriller you can‘t put down & that‘s exactly what it was. A who-done-it that kept me guessing. I enjoyed that it was set in a real place, real hotel - that was cool.

Such a heartwarming story of a gay uncle helping his niece & nephew through a really terrible time. The “guncle rules” are great life lessons too.

Gah, I liked this one. More than I expected. It did a good job of weaving in the parents lives into this event-packed 24 hours of their kids lives. Read the blurb - it‘s a great description and know that the book lives up to it.

I love, love, loved this book. Poppy & Alex…a do they or don‘t they story. Unlikely best friends that take a summer trip together every year…until they don‘t. I laughed a lot, I cried a little, but I liked being along for the ride.

I tried but could not get into this book. The storyteller parts are too lyrical & poetic for me to follow. And Helen‘s part of the story is just confusing with too many characters & things going on that it‘s hard to follow. I feel a bit like I landed in Narnia, but it is too much effort to figure it out so I‘m going to bail.

It‘s like a winter version of a beach read. Or like a holiday hallmark movie. When Avery‘s too good to be true fiancé gets arrested by the FBI and ‘the last phone booth in manhattan‘ unknowingly directs her to her ex…she needs to decide what path to choose in this modern take on A Christmas Carol.

What a story! Ashlyn can feel the feelings of a book‘s previous owner. And when she finds two books that seem to be telling two sides of the same story, both with strong feelings of blame to the other…she knows the books won‘t have a happy ending, but what she ends up learning is so much more.

Kid read: I decided I should track all the chapter books I read with my kid…they count too! This is the first, so going forward I‘ll add a ‘kid read‘ notation to my review. This was a cute sort of coming to age story about a girl moving to a new town & leaving everything/everyone she knows behind, making new friends, having her first crush, showing her parents she can be responsible & making choices to be herself.

I hope our world & country never devolve into the reality described in this book. But if it does I hope for people like the main characters here.

I really enjoyed this book. By the same author that wrote Big Little Lies. It has a lot of characters, almost too many. And it dives into all the different ways people choose to live. But it all works.

I hated this book. Too abstract and full of prose. I could barely follow it and skimmed lots of it. It came highly recommended but I only read it to be done with it.

This picked up right where the last one left off, but this time Isla remembers her time with Grim. As she remembers more, learns to wield her power, and prepares for the coming war there are so many choices Isla has to make.

I could not put this down. A total thriller/page-turner where you aren‘t sure who is telling the truth. It really sucked me in!

A fun mystery. I‘d like to learn a bit more about the watchmaker stuff…but am looking forward to book 2.

I got this on a whim since I‘d seen some ads for it. I wasn‘t sure what to expect. But I quickly got into it & enjoyed the twists and turns, lies, love, deceit and more that comes from having rulers forced to unite, challenge, and kill each other.

I read this for a work bookclub and didn‘t know what to expect. Space operas are sometimes ok, but often long and way too confusing to follow. This was not the case. There were a lot of characters and things to learn, but it was much more about acceptance, family, and who your real friends are

I read this on the plane and was so glad to have a row to myself because I cried. A lot. You know from the first that something bad/sad and traumatic will happen, then it does, and you spend the rest of the time trying to get to a new normal/good place.

Not the most novel of storylines, but a solid read. I liked all the info on the POW camp in Indiana. I hadn‘t been aware of them or spent much time thinking about how immigrants would feel having them close by. I liked how this story ended and the similarities between Elise‘s life & her grandmother‘s. Not sure how her mom turned out the way she was though, sheesh

It‘s nice to read a light romance book every once in a while. This one was nice. I really liked the Fern and Will characters and the setting was picture perfect.

I don‘t know why, but I had low expectations going into this one. I think because the last Gothic novel I read was more of a ‘funny tale‘ on a gothic novel than actually one. This story was great though, good plot twists, at times I thought I had it figured out it then I didn‘t. The ‘coming apart at the seams‘ metaphor being brought to life in the physicality of the mansion. Murder, love, deceit, revenge, and so much more.

I‘m a little embarrassed that I didn‘t realize this was a fictional band until the end. I‘m not the most musical and assumed they just weren‘t around long enough to still be played/common enough today and I figured several of them had died from overdoses. It was interesting, but also sad. I did like how it was written though, like interviews remembering the past.

Not my style at all. Too much prose. Too much sinners and murder and captives. I didn‘t make it very far…maybe chapter 3? I like the idea of what the story is, but this isn‘t one I can finish.

Book #2, and more dragons! And more fighting, more love, more twists and turns. This is a great sequel…I wonder how long I‘ll have to wait for book #3?

Dragons, what more do I need to say? Well, a school where you can learn to ride dragons, although you might die trying. Dragons do not heed human rules, they‘ll just burn you to ash if they want. Plus, a love triangle that gets pretty steamy. And maybe some secrets.

It‘s weird to say ‘fun‘ and ‘murder‘ in the same sentence…but this was a fun little murder mystery. A bit of satire on the idea of a gothic novel

This book did not go the way I expected. Like at all. It was at once more violent and more kindhearted than expected. I almost with there was a fourth boom to see how things end…but I also don‘t & want to leave it to my imagination.

This book left me feeling troubled. The main character, and many of the other characters, are so unsettled. I realize many of us ‘fake it til we make it‘ and don‘t really know how to do something, but pull up our pants & figure it out. But to have that uncertainty called our left me feeling unsettled. I did enjoy the experiences of Bengali immigrants and seeing their children grow up in America.

Absolutely fabulous book! I loved the humor in it. Lucy‘s humor was the best, but I loved all the characters…they were really brought to life for me. And oh so many@good life lessons on this one. Read it, you‘ll laugh and have a good time and perhaps fall in love with an island overlooking the cerulean sea.

This book was stressful. All the effort women in Manhattan put in to be/appear wealthy, to do all the right kids, to get their kids into the most prestigious private school by the age of 5…. Is exhausting. Plus add in the suicide of one of the moms. Oof.

As I read this it felt so familiar, like I‘d already read it. But it turns out it‘s an early release from a brand new author. So, that‘s weird. It was good and interesting…but also apparently extremely similar to something else I‘ve read in the last few years and just can‘t pot my finger on now.