I decided to bail at page 102. I gave it a chance but the book just became more and more boring to me. I didn't like the unreliable narrator. It was like a boring stream of consciousness. I kept waiting for something interesting to happen. I was so disappointed because the description sounded great. The book didn't live up to it.

I don't like the miscommunication trope so that took away some of my enjoyment of the story. The setting of the Christmas town was wonderful and made me want to visit. All four of the main characters are likable and make you want to root for them to get together and reveal their secrets. Other than the miscommunication there was very little conflict here. This is a nice little novella that makes a fun afternoon reading.

This is the first book published by author Seanan Mcguire. I felt a lot of time was spent introducing the reader to new locales and characters. As this series has made it to 19 books, that has probably paid off by now. But at the time, it felt like too much to keep track of. I liked the main character, Toby, and enjoyed her snark level. This is a murder mystery with fairies, and ultimately the mystery is solved. This was fun.

Wow, this book was amazing. I didn‘t expect it to be as good as it was. There was a lot of creepiness and a lot of secrets. This is a haunted house story told from 2 points of view. My favorite was the book Ewan wrote but Maggie‘s story was good too.

This is a collection of 4 stories and I thought it was great. The stories are creepy and the artwork was amazing. I recommend this book.

This is the story of Tabitha and Pearl, two young women who volunteer for the Salvation Army. Jack the Ripper and Medusa are supporting characters. I wish we had more of them. I really liked Tabitha and found her story the most interesting. Pearl was more boring and her religious musings irritated me. I wasn't sure how Medusa would fit into the story at first, but then it made sense. The book started slow, but picked up towards the middle.

We follow three characters Yvonne and Sarah in the present day, and a group of black men in the 1800‘s looking for a safe place. Although the story in the 1800‘s is the least fleshed out, in the end we see how all the stories meet up. The book felt slow in the beginning and the only likable character was Yvonne.

This was well written. I was caught up in the story from the beginning. The writing style kept me hooked. I liked this take on vampires and thought having like a council of vampires was a really good inclusion. I wished we had read more about them, but I'm guessing they will show up more in future books. I liked all the main characters and as they began to team up, they worked well together. I had a really good time reading this.

Wow, this book was amazing. I have not read Ragnar Jónasson before, but now I am ready to pick up his earlier works. This book could be read as a stand alone, but does reference characters from previous books. It ends on a cliffhanger, so hopefully there is a followup to this, as I need to know what happens. I enjoyed reading this, and loved that the detective was also a dedicated reader of crime fiction.

I first read this in the late 1980's to early 1990's. I remember only good things about this series. As I was reading this recently, I realized that there was a lot of the plot that I had forgotten. This first book has a lot of espionage. We are introduced to the vampire. As Harry learns to manipulate the space time continuum it becomes confusing for me. It's best just to accept things without thinking about them too much.

I enjoyed the first portion of the book, when Enka and Mathilde are in art school. Then as the art world starts to fall apart the story felt like it was moving slowly. The description from the blurb about a device that lets Enka access Mathilde's mind doesn't come until the end of the book. I was starting to think the author forgot to write that part. This book was ok when I was reading it, but as I think about it, there is not much I like here.

I was aware of the big twist at the end, but even knowing that I really enjoyed reading this book. It was well written and easy to read. The character of Teddy was a good character. The exploration of the insane asylum was very interesting.

The motivation of the killer was overly complicated and didn't make much sense to me. I did like the main character Willow, and her interactions with the fellow campers. This talks a lot about cancel culture and the fallout from that. I thought that was pretty interesting. Most of the characters are likable. This book was good. It didn't seem very scary as much of it felt cliche. I would give it 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

The first few stories were interesting. Then as the book progressed they became less so. My favorite stories were:

Mother's Mother's Daughter - This was a really interesting story about witchcraft. I liked the use of the body to do magic.
Pig Feet - a very creepy story. Disturbing.

I could really do without all the poetry. It is my least favorite thing to read. I'm just here for the short fiction.

This is a low pick for me.

I watched the tv show a few times but never read any of the books. This was a fun book. Even though it was a murder mystery, it still felt low stakes, there was not a lot of tension, and we barely knew anything about the murder victim. Jessica is the star of the book, and she is a pleasure to read. I like how she used her contacts in the Boston book world to help solve the murder. This is a good book to read when you just want a cozy mystery.

Mike and Susan meet and have an attraction. Unfortunately, miscommunication abounds, and they can't seem to get together. Mike is smitten, but he comes across as a jerk. There is also a subplot involving Susan's sister and brother-in-law that was pretty interesting. Unfortunately, this just reads pretty basic.

First off, Talia is not a nice person. Second, the ending was confusing. I know what we are supposed to think, but the way it is written is ambiguous. This was a fast read but not that great.

Both the good church and the bad church did horrible things in the name of their religion. Maybe the bad guys were worse, but neither side was that great. I enjoyed the writing style of the book and found it a pleasure to read. I was pleasantly surprised with this book. The portrayal of the angel was very interesting.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I hated the way the main character was so hard on herself about her weight. It sounds like she wasn't even that overweight. The book was very negative about weight to the point that I was becoming angry. Every time they went to lunch or dinner, it was another opportunity to bring up weight and deprivation.
When they went on the cruise, it was more interesting. But this read like anti-fat propaganda.

A woman enters a hospital for an experimental treatment for a rare disease. The treatment is expected to take months, and as it progresses, she experiences disorientation, hallucinations, and paranoia. This is written from the patient's point of view so the reader doesn't have any more information than the patient. The ending is definitely confusing. At that point, we don't trust the patient's thoughts at all so who knows how this ended.

I watched The Alienist tv show before reading this. It turns out that the show was pretty faithful to the book. I felt that the book was a little easier for me to understand. I liked this story of a hunt for a serial killer in 1896 New York. I especially enjoyed the character Sara, one of only 2 women employed by the police department. The police procedures of the time were very interesting. I liked the use of psychological profiling.

This is my second book by Todd Keisling. The first was Scanlines, which was good. The Sundowner's Dance was great. A poignant look at aging and dementia, wrapped up in a horror story. I can see the beauty of wanting a solution to the aches and pains, to give yourself over to the Moon Goddess. Jerry was a good protagonist. He was kind but basically wanted nothing to do with people anymore. The ending was good but bittersweet.

This book was amazing. I enjoyed every minute of it, up until the last chapter. That I did not like, and it felt unnecessary. I didn't need to read an explanation of Jess' thoughts at the end. Other than that, the book was perfect. The characters were unique and the monsters were interesting. This is my favorite Nat Cassidy book so far. Everyone seems to get better and better.

Bert and Rick are a couple, spending some time hiking along a wilderness trail. They meet up with a few other travelers, a group of obnoxious boys and two women. This book makes me never want to go camping. Too many bad things happen. This felt like a Laymon book. Most of the men are sex obsessed, and we have to listen to their thoughts. Parts of this book made me pretty uncomfortable. Still, I give it 4 stars, because I like this author.

A fun, light-hearted mystery involving the art world and a priceless vase. There is also a falling in love story between Eugenia and Cyrus. I enjoyed reading this.

I really enjoyed the first part of the book. Following Robin as he travels to London and then to Oxford. I loved hearing about his studies, and his first year at Oxford. He has been sheltered, so soon becomes aware of the racism, sexism and classism surrounding him. He begins to get radicalized and wants to make changes in the world. I thought the magic system was interesting. The silver working produced a more subtle magic that was fascinating.

An interesting thriller book. Evie works for the mysterious Mr. Smith, going wherever he sends her and doing what he asks of her. As we discover what her current assignment is, we also get glimpses into her past assignments and aliases. Towards the middle of the book, things start to get crazy and the twists and turns happen rapidly. Evie is in trouble, and she needs to use all her abilities to make it out alive.

Reading this book made me happy. The story of Cenric and Brynn, as they enter an arranged marriage and learn to live with each other. I liked that they genuinely seemed to like each other and developed a nice healthy marriage. Of course this is a fantasy and there are sorcerers involved. So magic and battles are part of the story. I am excited for the next book in the series.

This was a good story, it was a paranormal mystery that became more horrific as it went on. I read this over the course of one day. I enjoyed reading this and give it 3.5 stars. The main characters, Rachel and Finn are a married couple living in a small town. I didn't like their relationship with each other. They were so mean. But they did love their children. The eerie creatures in the woods were definitely scary and interesting.

An interesting gothic tale, set in 1887 Netherlands. Other than a couple mentions of place, this story feels timeless, like it could take place anywhere. It was not very scary, but there was an element of dread throughout. After an old body is recovered from a bog, Sarah begins to act different. Is she sick or has something more sinister happened to her. This was well written and kept me invested in the characters.

I was fully invested in the romance between Bennet and Henry. Henry is the perfect boyfriend. Of course I wanted them to end up together. If the book had ended 50 pages earlier, it would have been the perfect book. But the author had to add some unneeded tension and obstacles to the relationship. I hated that so much. Not every couple needs to break up and get back together to prove their love.

This is one of my favorite series. I get excited whenever there is a new one. I liked this book. It made me happy to read it. This series is about leopard shifters so it is a paranormal romance. Each shifter has one true mate and each book in the series follows two leopards finding each other. There is also a human trafficking plot.

I just love this series. It's about a motorcycle club trying to do good by vigilante justice. The people they go after are very evil and are involved in human trafficking. They are so bad that you are rooting for them to be killed. Even though I don't think this is the best in the series, I still had a great time reading it. The big twist at the end was stupid and not believable. But I still love this enough to keep reading the series. 3 stars

A cute little rom-com. It started out a little slow but as I spent more time with the characters I began to enjoy it more. At times I felt the characters were a bit cliche, especially the wacky grandma. Overall I enjoyed reading this.
3 stars

It's been 9 years since I read the first book in this series, City of Bones. I felt I was able to get back into the world with no problems. I like the world of the shadow hunters. It's hard to explain what is going on here, but the book ended on an epic battle that was fun to read. We get a lot more of Jace in this series, and Simon too.

October 2024 - The book starts out from Charlie‘s point of view. Very interesting. Then we switch to Sam‘s point of view. And now I‘m bored.
April 2025 - I put the book down for several months. In October, I had surgery and found it difficult to concentrate on reading. April 2025 I decided to give the book another try.
There were a few parts where the book dragged. Also, the book follows 2 sisters. Who is supposed to be “the good daughter“?

It took me awhile to get into this story. I felt the beginning was too slow and didn't hold my interest. After a third of the book, it started to get better. Plot points were revealed in small bites, as the story jumps back and forth in time. The ending was not my favorite, but it was ok. I didn't hate it.

I received an ARC from the publisher and NetGalley. I voluntarily wrote a review.

Wow, I read this in one sitting. I liked this one. A rain that makes people go into a murderous rage. A cast of great characters. Some really evil teen boys. It all made for an enthralling read. The cause of the black rain seemed a little silly, but I was ready to suspend my disbelief. This is one of Laymon's better ones.

This was a like but not a love. I wanted more explanation for the supernatural things that were happening. The story became repetitive as we go through everybody‘s hallucinations. It made the book feel overly long. It could have been shortened a lot.

A good story, about an introvert being dragged into interactions with his neighbors. Lucas loves his life, but when the apartment board wants him to get involved, it all goes to hell. Not a whole lot of action but a lot of introspection. Parts were funny, especially the way he solves his problems at the end.

Fourth Wing will always be my favorite in the series. Onyx Storm was a solid 4 stars for me. There are a lot of characters to keep straight, and a couple times I got confused as to who was who. There is a lot of political machinations going on, and the casual way that people were being killed as pawns in a sick game was upsetting.My favorite part of the book is when Violet interacts with her dragons. I love hearing their conversations.

A nice paranormal short story. The ending was predictable but I still enjoyed reading it. Martin was a likable character.

https://www.readyourcolor.com

I loved this short story of two lonely people connecting and falling in love. I felt happy while I was reading this. I was worried that bringing a stalker to the mix would be too cliche, but even that worked. A short, fun read.

I liked the writing style, it was easy to follow. This is a sad, disgusting story. Licking mold off the walls bothered me more than the cannibalism.

Every chapter has a different narrator. It took me until chapter 3 to realize this. Even then, there were a few times where I wasn't sure who was the narrator. With the first death, I thought the book picked up. Most of the main characters are hiding a secret and finding out what all of them are is the fun of the book. There was a lot of introspection among the characters that went on for too long. I wanted more action.

Interesting short story. It did give me a feeling of dread when reading. The ending was a little confusing and I wanted a better explanation. Who was the real villain here.

Written with a lyrical, beautiful tone, the content of this book is of a horrible dystopian society. The world has all but been destroyed by environmental disasters. The humanity that remains is not doing well and it brings out the worst in people. The story was very descriptive at the expense of plot. But the last half of the book became more intriguing with the arrival of a new character.

And yes, my dog tried to eat my book

I‘m continuing my quest to read all of Richard Laymon‘s novels. There are more of them than I realized.

The women in this book are much braver than I would ever be. I definitely would not stay overnight at an abandoned lodge that was the scene of a horrific mass murder. But that‘s what they decide to do. The frequent flashbacks to their college days and previous trips show just how confident they are.

3.5 stars. It was interesting to see familiar characters mixed with new characters. The action starts right away, with a new, dark threat to the kingdom. Faith, the Hatter's daughter, and Rowan, the Queen of Hearts son, work together to defeat this new enemy. This book felt like it was written towards a YA audience. I didn't like the constant misunderstandings between them, but eventually they overcome their immaturity and learn to work together.