Not Your Ex's Hexes

Not Your Ex's Hexes

By April Asher 

Narrated by Zura Johnson

Listening length 12 hours, 31 minutes 

Published February 28, 2023

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

For her entire life, Rose Maxwell trained to become the next Prima on the Supernatural Council. Now that she’s stepped down, it’s time for this witch to focus on herself—and not think about her impulsive one-night stand with Damian Adams, a half-demon veterinarian who she can’t get out of her head, since neither of them is looking for a relationship.

But when Rose is sentenced to community service at Damian’s animal sanctuary, it becomes impossible for them to ignore their sparking attraction. A friends-with-benefits, no feelings, no-strings-arrangement works perfectly for them both. After a sequence of dead-end jobs, it’s not until Rose tangos with two snarly demons that she thinks she’s finally found her path. However, this puts Damian back on the periphery of a world he thought he left behind. He doesn’t approve of Rose becoming a Hunter, but if there's one thing he's learned about the stubborn witch, it's that telling her not to do something is a sure-fire way to make sure she does.

Working—and sleeping—together awakens feelings Damian never knew he had...and shouldn't have—because thanks to his ex's hex, if he falls in love, he'll not only lose his heart but also his humanity.

Though I received a copy of this audiobook in exchange for a review, all opinions remain my own.

 
This is the second book in the "supernatural singles" series, but you wouldn't know it by starting out with this one. I wasn't lost at all just jumping in with book number two. 

I loved how Damian and Rose keep getting shoved together by circumstances seemingly beyond their control. Throw in the supernatural aspect and all the magic along with a vet who runs an animal rescue, this book was right up my alley. If the other books all follow the other Maxwell sisters, I will totally be picking those up. This family seems like a great one to follow!

Arch Conspirator

Arch-Conspirator

By Veronica Roth
Narrated by Dion Graham, January LaVoy
Listening length 3 hours, 20 minutes
Published date February 21, 2023

My review 3.5 out of 5 stars

In this gripping and atmospheric reimagining of Antigone, #1 New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth reaches back to the root of legend and delivers a world of tomorrow both timeless and unexpected.
“I’m cursed, haven’t you heard?”

Outside the last city on Earth, the planet is a wasteland. Without the Archive, where the genes of the dead are stored, humanity will end.

Antigone’s parents―Oedipus and Jocasta―are dead. Passing into the Archive should be cause for celebration, but with her militant uncle Kreon rising to claim her father's vacant throne, all Antigone feels is rage.

When he welcomes her and her siblings into his mansion, Antigone sees it for what it really is: a gilded cage, where she is a captive as well as a guest.

But her uncle will soon learn that no cage is unbreakable. And neither is he.

“Roth is a masterful conjurer, summoning both classic myth and visceral dystopia to weave a breathtaking tale of love, avarice, and the timeless desire for revenge.” ― Ryka Aoki, bestselling author of Light From Uncommon Stars

While I received a copy of this audiobook in exchange for a review, all opinions remain my own.

 
I requested this book because I loved Veronica Roth's divergent series and this one just sounded amazing. Lets just say, I hope this one is part of series as well because it left me on a cliffhanger. I hate books that do this. Each novel in a series (regardless of their status in the series) should be able to stand alone as a story. 

When I finished this book, it felt unfinished to me, like I was still waiting for something to happen. Left me with some disappointment. Don't get me wrong, the part of the story that I did get, it was amazing. I loved it, I want more, but I wanted it to be more complete.

Hold Still

Hold Still 

by Nina LaCour

Narrated by Emma Galvin 

Published October 20, 2009

Listening time: 6 hours and 16 minutes

My review 4 stars out of 5 

The award-winning first novel from the best-selling author of We Are Okay. For fans of 13 Reasons Why.

In the wake of her best friend Ingrid's suicide, Caitlin is left alone, struggling to find hope and answers. When she finds the journal Ingrid left behind for her, she begins a journey of understanding and broadening her horizons that leads her to new friendships and first love. Nina LaCour brings the changing seasons of Caitlin's first year without Ingrid to life with emotion, honesty, and captivating writing.

When Caitlin's best friend dies by suicide, she is left with all the usual questions and feelings. This book is about how she struggles through the next year. Figuring out how to go on without Ingrid. This book just tugged at my heart strings. I remember vividly loosing a friend in high school, it was not suicide and we had more answers then Caitlin. 

This was a difficult book to listen to, but I think it is important. Suicide is the second leading cause of death of teenagers. This book felt real to me, like I was reading the real account of a girl trying to cope with the loss of her friend. Her feelings trying to work through what she was going through. This would be an excellent book for anyone to read, especially someone who is dealing with a teenager who might be in this kind of situation, allow yourself to see the world as they might be seeing it right now. And as always, know that there are ears to listen, anytime you need to talk. 988 is always available weather you are in a mental health crisis or not.

The Night Circus

 

The Night Circus 

by Erin Morgenstern 

Narratated by: Jim Dale

Published September 13, 2011

Listening length: 13 hours, 11 minutes

My review 4.5 out of 5 stars

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway - a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love - a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.

This book is just magical. I love the details and the world building. The Night Circus is something I wish I could see. Morgenstern paints such a vivid picture with her words that at times it really felt like I was walking through the tents of black and white, smelling the delectable concessions, hearing the sounds of this incredible circus around me. 

Characters became so real that I felt invested in what happened to them. You literally see babies become adults through the lifetime of this circus. It really is just an imaginative, beautiful story. And the way she weaves each character's story together, even the side characters who don't seem to be a part of the circus, drawing them ever more closely into it. Just amazing. 

I will keep re-reading this as long as it keeps painting this story so vividly in my mind.

Nocturne

Nocturne

Author: Alyssa Wees

Publication Date: February 21, 2023

My review: 4 of 5 stars

In this haunting, lyrical fantasy set in 1930s Chicago, a talented ballerina finds herself torn between her dreams and her desires when she's pursued by a secretive patron who may be more than he seems.

Growing up in Chicago’s Little Sicily in the years following the Great War, Grace Dragotta has always wanted to be a ballerina, ever since she first peered through the windows of the Near North Ballet Company. So when Grace is orphaned, she chooses the ballet as her home, imagining herself forever ensconced in a transcendent world of light and beauty so different from her poor, immigrant upbringing.

Years later, with the Great Depression in full swing, Grace has become the company's new prima ballerina—though achieving her long-held dream is not the triumph she once envisioned. Time and familiarity have tarnished that shining vision, and her new position means the loss of her best friend in the world. Then she attracts the attention of the enigmatic Master La Rosa as her personal patron, and realizes the world is not as small or constricted as she had come to fear.

Who is her mysterious patron, and what does he want from her? As Grace begins to unlock the Master's secrets, she discovers that there is beauty in darkness as well as light, finds that true friendship cannot be broken by time or distance, and realizes there may be another way entirely to achieve the transcendence she has always sought.

While I received a copy of this ebook in exchange for my review, all opinions remain my own. This was a difficult read for me. It was dark and a little confusing. What I was expecting to be a historical novel, was something much more. I loved how the author weaved this tale about the Master and who he really is. How Grace finds herself in the ballet but also loses herself in it. This book is just a complex story and really you need to read it. I loved the writing and the world that Wees build for these characters.

I loved watching Grace's relationships grow with her. She learns to see people as more than what they allow her to see, more than just the surface level of friendship.

Oh, and the ending. JUST LOVE!

This book is to be published 2/21 - get yourself a copy (plus, isn't the cover just BEAUTIFUL!) you won't regret reading this one <3

You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)

You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)

Written and narrated by: Felicia Day

Listening length: 6 hours, 48 minutes

Published August 11, 2015

My review 4 out of 5 stars

The instant New York Times bestseller from “queen of the geeks” Felicia Day, You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) is a “relentlessly funny and surprisingly inspirational” (Forbes) memoir about her unusual upbringing, her rise to internet stardom, and embracing her weirdness to find her place in the world. When Felicia Day was a girl, all she wanted was to connect with other kids (desperately). Growing up in the Deep South, where she was “home-schooled for hippie reasons,” she looked online to find her tribe. The Internet was in its infancy and she became an early adopter at every stage of its growth—finding joy and unlikely friendships in the emerging digital world. Her relative isolation meant that she could pursue passions like gaming, calculus, and 1930’s detective novels without shame. Because she had no idea how “uncool” she really was.

But if it hadn’t been for her strange background—the awkwardness continued when she started college at sixteen, with Mom driving her to campus every day—she might never have had the naïve confidence to forge her own path. Like when she graduated as valedictorian with a math degree and then headed to Hollywood to pursue a career in acting despite having zero contacts. Or when she tired of being typecast as the crazy cat-lady secretary and decided to create her own web series before people in show business understood that online video could be more than just cats chasing laser pointers.

Felicia’s rags-to-riches rise to Internet fame launched her career as one of the most influen­tial creators in new media. Ever candid, she opens up about the rough patches along the way, recounting battles with writer’s block, a full-blown gaming addiction, severe anxiety, and depression—and how she reinvented herself when overachieving became overwhelming.

Showcasing Felicia’s “engaging and often hilarious voice” (USA TODAY), You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) is proof that everyone should celebrate what makes them different and be brave enough to share it with the world, because anything is possible now—even for a digital misfit.

Another celebrity memoir read by themselves. I can't seem to get enough of these. This one is by the queen of geeks herself, Felicia Day. I just love her. This book delves into her life before acting and what brought her to the west as well as her start in "the business." I loved hearing how she kind of paved her own way with a web series and how that made a way for a new form of entertainment. Before her show, there wasn't really anything like that. Then to come onto netflix and become so much more then it was. I really just loved hearing how it evolved. One thing about this book I wasn't expecting was the chapter about the book tour. I'm assuming she added it later but it was really interesting to hear about her thoughts about it.

The Possibility Dogs: What a Handful of "Unadoptables" Taught Me about Service, Hope, and Healing

The Possibility Dogs: What a Handful of "Unadoptables" Taught Me about Service, Hope, and Healing

Written and Narrated by: Susannah Charleson

Listening length: 11 hours, 18 minutes 

Published June 4, 2013

My review 4 out of 5 stars 

From the author of the critically acclaimed bestseller, Scent of the Missing, comes a heartwarming and inspiring story that shows how dogs can be rescued and can rescue in return.

For her first book, Susannah Charleson was praised for her unique insight into the kinship between humans and dogs, as revealed through canine search and rescue. In The Possibility Dogs Charleson chronicles her journey into the world of psychiatric-service and therapy dogs trained to serve the human mind, a journey that began as a personal one. After a particularly grisly search led to a struggle with PTSD, Charleson credits healing to her partnership with search dog Puzzle. Inspired by that experience and having met dogs formally trained to assist in such crises, Charleson learns to identify abandoned dogs with service potential, often plucking them from shelters at the last minute, and how to train them for work beside hurting partners, to whom these second-chance dogs bring intelligence, comfort, and hope.

From black Lab puppy Merlin, once cast away in a garbage bag, who stabilizes his partner's panic attacks to Ollie, the blind and deaf terrier who soothes anxious children, to Jake Piper, the starving pit bull mix who goes from abandoned to irreplaceable, The Possibility Dogs illuminates a whole new world of canine potential.


This is such an interesting book. Susannah spends most of her life working with dogs in search and rescue for years. In this book she speaks of the possibility of using dogs, specifically those rescued, to be trained to help as psychiatric service and therapy dogs. Susannah shares not only her work with many of her personal dogs but also a very special puppy she has. In this book are also the stories of several other psychiatric-service dogs who do an invaluable service to their owner-trainers and help them live a richer and fulfilled life. This book shines a light on a service that dogs can do that isn't very often talked about. Too often the "working dog" is questioned, when what we should really be doing is helping to make sure that these dogs are given the respect they deserve. It is unbelievable what some of these once abandoned dogs learn to do in their new lives. As the back of the book says, "dogs can be rescued and can rescue in return." I can say from personal experience, even dogs not trained to be in service, are emotional support animals. <3

Visiting Hours: A Memoir of Friendship & Murder

Visiting Hours: A Memoir of Friendship & Murder

Written by: Amy Butcher 

Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller

Published April 7, 2015

Listening time: 6 hours, 57 minutes 

My review: 3.5 out of 5 stars 

With echoes of Darin Strauss' Half a Life and Cheryl Strayed's Wild comes a beautifully written, riveting memoir that examines the complexities of friendship in the aftermath of a tragedy.


Four weeks before their college graduation, 21-year-old Kevin Schaeffer walked Amy Butcher to her home in their college town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Hours after parting ways with Amy, he fatally stabbed his ex-girlfriend, Emily Silverstein. While he awaited trial, psychiatrists concluded he had suffered an acute psychotic break. Amy was severely affected by Kevin's crime but remained devoted to him as a friend. Over time she became obsessed - determined to discover the narrative that explained what Kevin had done, believing that Kevin's actions were the direct result of his untreated illness.

The tragedy deeply shook her concept of reality, disrupted her sense of right and wrong, and dismantled every conceivable notion she'd established about herself and her relation to the world. Amy eventually realized she'd never have the answers or find personal peace unless she went after them herself. She drove across the country, back to Gettysburg for the first time in the three years since graduation, to sift through hundreds of pages of public records - mental health evaluations, detectives' notes, inventories of evidence, search warrants, testimonies, even Kevin's own confession.

This is Amy Butcher's deeply personal, heart-wrenching account of the consequences of failing her friend when perhaps he needed one most. It's the story of how trauma affects memory and the way a friendship changes and often strengthens through seemingly insurmountable challenges. Ultimately it's a powerful testament to the bonds we share with others and the profound resiliency and strength of the human spirit.

This one was different then I was expecting. It is not only the story of a girl dealing with the aftermath of her friend killing someone, but her dealing with the idea of being friends with a murderer. It isn't something many of us think about, what we would do if someone we loved committed an unspeakable crime like murder... but Amy has to do just that when her college friend Kevin stabs his then girlfriend to death. This book is her reflection of how she dealt with the trauma of that night and how she felt like she failed him when maybe he needed her most... I think we all wonder what we could have done differently when bad things happen. This would be no exception. I found it really interesting to hear the facts about mental health and violence. Though I knew many of them, hearing them aloud in this context is always shocking, heartbreaking because we allow this to happen with the limits we place on access to mental health resources.

Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens

Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens

By Steve Olson

Narrated by Jonathan Yen

Published March 7, 2016

Listening length: 8 hours 34 minutes 

My review 3.5 out of 5 stars 

Survival narrative meets scientific, natural, and social history in the riveting story of a volcanic disaster. For months in early 1980, scientists, journalists, and ordinary people listened anxiously to rumblings in the longquiescent volcano Mount St. Helens. Still, when a massive explosion took the top off the mountain, no one was prepared. Fifty-seven people died, including newlywed logger John Killian (for years afterward, his father searched for him in the ash), scientist Dave Johnston, and celebrated local curmudgeon Harry Truman. The lives of many others were forever changed. Steve Olson interweaves history, science, and vivid personal stories of the volcano's victims and survivors to portray the disaster as a multifaceted turning point. Powerful economic, political, and historical forces influenced who died when the volcano erupted, and their deaths marked the end of an era in the Pacific Northwest. The eruption of Mount St. Helens transformed volcanic science, the study of environmental resilience, and our perceptions of how to survive on an increasingly dangerous planet.

This was the very informative story not only of the eruption of Mt St Helens, but of all the people around it. Lots of details about the Weyerhaeuser family and how they got their start in the Northwest logging industry. How they came to be on that mountain during that time. Many of the fatalities of that day are described, some in detail, so be aware of that detail if you read this book. I just thought it was good for me to know more about the mountain that blew up on my birthday (only four years early!) I loved hearing about all the details of what the scientists were seeing (and feeling) the months and weeks leading up to the eruption. Even the details of the day of the blast were new to me. I've seen pictures and heard my family's stories, but never details like this. It was a book worth listening to for me.

I Really Didn't Think This Through

I Really Didn't Think This Through: Tales From My So-Called Adult Life

By: Beth Evans
Published May 1, 2018
My Review 4 out of 5 stars

Popular Instagram artist Beth Evans tackles a range of issues - from whimsical musings to deeply personal struggle - in this imaginative anti-guide to being your own person.

Welcome to Adulthood! Hey, wait...where are you going?

Did you ever wish your best friend - the person you would trust with your innermost secrets, the person whose wisdom and comfort you seek in times of stress or self-doubt - could draw? Popular Instagram illustrator Beth Evans has made a name for herself writing comics and sharing her personal experiences on life as she enters and navigates adulthood. Her ability to find humor in common situations around love, social anxieties, depression, and work has created a cultlike following from her 217k Instagram fans.

Like Mindy Kaling meets Hyperbole and a Half, I Really Didn’t Think This Through gets at the heart of what makes life both so challenging and so joyful - figuring out how to be a person in the world. This book is a compendium of Beth’s collected wisdom and stories, interwoven with her tremendously popular and loveable illustrations. The book is a wonderful mix of fun (playful meditations on the band Rush and international pen pals) and thoughtful (Beth delves into her personal history with obsessive compulsive disorder and depression while commiserating on topics like dating and credit card shame) all with a simple candor that anyone from a teen to their grandparent can relate to. Through all of her experiences, Beth manages to extract valuable lessons, and the book is replete with friendly advice about caring for yourself, getting help no matter what your problems are, and embracing what makes you happy. Beth is a compelling storyteller, her drawings picking up where her words leave off, creating an approachable and immersive experience for the listener. Beth’s work feels like a hug from your best friend. And like a best friend, she’s here to say, “You got this!”

This is a beautiful reminder that we don't have to have things all together to be an adult. The author copes with OCD and anxiety and it spoke to me. I also struggle with anxiety and many of the pictures felt like they were drawn just for me. The chapter on self-love was really something I needed to read this week. A couple of my favorite quotes: "Sleep is just death, without the commitment." and "self-love is hard" - the more detailed quote that made me laugh out loud with its truth was actually: "how can I, a complete and total garbage can of awfulness, find it in the trash that is me to love not only myself but other people? Its a tall order for anyone, especially someone with low self-esteem."

The Buried and The Bound

by Rochelle Hassan

Narrated by: Nikki Massoud, Daniel Henning and Dan Bittner

Published January 24, 2023
Audiobook run time: 11 hours 5 minutes
My review: 4.5 out of 5 stars

A contemporary fantasy YA debut from Rochelle Hassan about monsters, magic, and wicked fae, perfect for fans of The Darkest Part of the Forest and The Hazel Wood.

As the only hedgewitch in Blackthorn, Massachusetts—an uncommonly magical place—Aziza El-Amin has bargained with wood nymphs, rescued palm-sized fairies from house cats, banished flesh-eating shadows from the local park. But when a dark entity awakens in the forest outside of town, eroding the invisible boundary between the human world and fairyland, run-of-the-mill fae mischief turns into outright aggression, and the danger—to herself and others—becomes too great for her to handle alone.

Leo Merritt is no stranger to magical catastrophes. On his sixteenth birthday, a dormant curse kicked in and ripped away all his memories of his true love. A miserable year has passed since then. He's road-tripped up and down the East Coast looking for a way to get his memories back and hit one dead end after another. He doesn't even know his true love's name, but he feels the absence in his life, and it's haunting.

Desperate for answers, he makes a pact with Aziza: he’ll provide much-needed backup on her nightly patrols, and in exchange, she’ll help him break the curse.

When the creature in the woods sets its sights on them, their survival depends on the aid of a mysterious young necromancer they’re not certain they can trust. But they’ll have to work together to eradicate the new threat and take back their hometown... even if it forces them to uncover deeply buried secrets and make devastating sacrifices.

I loved this story! I hope there are five hundred more books involving this cast of characters because I love them. In this book you follow Aziza, a hedgewitch, and Leo, a cursed 16-year-old as they try and figure out what is going on with his curse and fix the border between their world and the magical world that seems to be breaking down in their small town. Needless to say, chaos ensues. There is lots of danger, lots of magic and an incredible story that kept me listening far longer than I should have been. Cannot wait to see if there are more by this incredible author.

The Good Neighbor: The Life & Work of Fred Rogers

The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers

By Maxwell King

Audiobook Narrated by: LeVar Burton 

Published September 4, 2018

Length 14 hrs and 7 minutes 

My review 4 stars out of 5

I read this book to complete a prompt in the Story Graph Genre Challenge: a biography about someone you don't know much about. 

The definitive biography of Fred Rogers, children’s television pioneer and American cultural icon, an instant New York Times bestseller

Fred Rogers (1928–2003) was an enormously influential figure in the history of television. As the creator and star of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, he was a champion of compassion, equality, and kindness, fiercely devoted to children and taking their questions about the world seriously. The Good Neighbor is the first full-length biography of Fred Rogers.

Based on original interviews, oral histories, and archival documents, The Good Neighbor traces Rogers’s personal, professional, and artistic life through decades of work. It includes his surprising decision to walk away from the show in 1976 to make television for adults, only to return to the neighborhood to help children face complex issues such as divorce, discipline, mistakes, anger, and competition. The Good Neighbor is the definitive portrait of a beloved figure.

I really enjoyed this look at the life of Fred Rogers, the man behind the character we all know as Mr. Rogers. It seems he really was this genuinely nice man. 

I loved seeing how he grew up, how he gained his education and got his start in television. Though his family came from money, and he was granted many opportunities, he never became a spoiled rich kid. I love that he used his musical abilities all his love to help others. 

This story delves into every part of his life. From when and where he was born, his childhood, and his eventual death. If you have the chance, grab the audiobook. It is read by LeVar Burton (of Reading Rainbow) so it really took me back to that time in my life where I watched Mr Rogers and then just stayed on the couch and listened to a story read to me by LeVar. It was a simpler time. 

We could all use a little more Mr Rogers in our life about now.

Wherever She Goes

Wherever She Goes

By Kelley Armstrong 

Audiobook narrated by: Thérèse Plummer 

Published June 25, 2019 

My review 4 of 5 stars

I read this for my UBN book challenge for the prompt: Read a book by and award-winning Canadian author.  never mind then I guess I just read it for FUN! 

In looking more, it appears she doesn't meet this prompt, she is a bestselling author, but not award winning. UGH! 

From New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong comes a brand new psychological thriller about the lengths one woman will go to in order to save a child.

“Few crimes are reported as quickly as a snatched kid.”

That’s what the officer tells single mother Aubrey Finch after she reports a kidnapping. So why hasn’t anyone reported the little boy missing? Aubrey knows what she saw: a boy being taken against his will from the park. It doesn’t matter that the mother can’t be found. It doesn’t matter if no one reported it. Aubrey knows he’s missing.

Instead, people question her sanity. Aubrey hears the whispers. She’s a former stay-at-home mom who doesn’t have primary custody of her daughter, so there must be something wrong with her, right? Others may not understand her decision to walk away from her safe life at home, but years of hiding her past – even from the people she loves – were taking their toll, and Aubrey knows she can’t be the mother or wife she envisions until she learns to leave her secrets behind.

When the police refuse to believe her, she realizes that rescuing the boy is up to her alone. But after all the secrets, how far is she willing to go? Even to protect a child.

What would you do if you witnessed a kidnapping, but the police didn't believe you? 

In this book, that's exactly what happens to Aubrey. That's when she brings out the skills from her past life, from the life she buried to find a boy no one else is looking for. 

This was a page turner for sure. I kept wondering, oh my gosh who has this kid?! And then, "oh my gosh, where did this lady get these skills?!" 

In the end, you learn all the secrets, both where the child is, why no one was missing him, and all the secrets Aubrey was keeping. Totally worth the listen.

Her Last Whisper (Detective Katie Scott Book 2)

Her Last Whisper

By Jennifer Chase

330 pages

Published October 21, 2019

My review: four out of five stars

Katie focuses her mind, trying to keep another anxiety attack at bay. The victim’s long brown hair is slick and wet, her body rigid in the grass. She looks more like a mannequin than the woman Katie had spoken with only yesterday, the woman she had promised to protect…

When a cold, naked body is discovered by a couple on a jog through the lush woodlands of Pine Valley, California, new recruit Detective Katie Scott is stunned to discover the victim is Amanda Payton – a much-loved local nurse and the woman at the heart of an unsolved case she’s been investigating whilst getting a grip on her crippling PTSD.

Weeks earlier, Amanda had run, battered and bruised, out into the headlights of a passing patrol car. She claimed to have just escaped a kidnapping, but with no strong evidence, the case went cold. The Pine Valley police made a fatal mistake…

Katie is certain the marks on Amanda’s wrists complete a pattern of women being taken, held captive and then showing up dead in remote locations around Pine Valley – and she won’t let someone die on her watch again.

But then a beautiful office worker with a link to the hospital where Amanda worked goes missing. With only days before the next body is due to show up, can Katie make amends for her past by saving this innocent life?

Totally gripping crime fiction for fans of Lisa Regan, Rachel Caine and Melinda Leigh. Nothing will prepare you for this nail-biting roller-coaster ride…

This is the second book in the Detective Katie Scott series. This case isn't quite as harrowing for Katie, but it still has some action in there. This story starts out with Katie in her new position as the head of the two-person cold case division in her hometown police force. 

PTSD is a strong force in her struggles in this book, especially when an old friend from her time overseas in the military makes an appearance. I really identified with the panic attacks that Katie had in these books. 

The characters relatable, and the story was a quick enough pace to keep me reading but not so fast that I was left wondering what the heck just happened. Great "who dunnit" book - planning to read the next book for sure.

How Y'All Doing?

How Ya'll Doing? Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived 

By Leslie Jordan

Audiobook read by the author

208 pages 

Published April 27, 2021

My review 4.5 out of 5 stars

I read this book to complete a prompt in the Story Graph Genre challenge: a nonfiction history book about an LGBTQIA+ issue or person. 

Viral sensation and Emmy Award-winner Leslie Jordan regales fans with entertaining stories about the odd, funny, and unforgettable events in his life in this unmissable essay collection that echoes his droll, irreverent voice.

When actor Leslie Jordan learned he had “gone viral,” he had no idea what that meant or how much his life was about to change. On Instagram, his uproarious videos have entertained millions and have made him a global celebrity. Now, he brings his bon vivance to the page with this collection of intimate and sassy essays.

Bursting with color and life, dripping with his puckish Southern charm, How Y’all Doing? is Leslie doing what Leslie does best: telling stories that make us laugh and lift our spirits even in the darkest days. Whether he’s writing about his brush with a group of ruffians in a West Hollywood Starbucks, or an unexpected phone call from legendary Hollywood start Debbie Reynolds, Leslie infuses each story with his fresh and saucy humor and pure heart.

How Y’all Doing? is an authentic, warm, and joyful portrait of an American Sweetheart— a Southern Baptist celebutante, first-rate raconteur, and keen observer of the odd side of life whose quirky wit rivals the likes of Amy Sedaris, Jenny Lawson, David Rakoff, and Sarah Vowell.

Loved this collection of essays by Leslie Jordan. 

Bittersweet after his passing to know there won't be any new stories from this amazing man. He's a treasure to the world. I'm glad that he wrote this book to be treasured by those who loved him. You can literally see him in your head telling these stories. I listened to this one in two sittings, just laughing along with his infectious giggle. 

I would say this one is worth picking up the audiobook to listen to, just to hear his voice telling his stories.

Graphic Novels

My local library has this great program called Hoopla where you can borrow digital entertainment. You can learn more about it here. Have I mentioned how much I love my local library?? Anyway, I started borrowing graphic novels with this service a few months ago. These are just a few of the titles I have borrowed recently. 

Cryptid  Club

By Sarah Andersen

112 pages 

Published September 20, 2022

My review five out of five stars 

The latest from New York Times bestselling, Goodread's Choice Award-winning, Eisner Award-nominated and Ringo award-winning author Sarah Andersen is a delightful peek into the secret social lives of some of the world's most fascinating, monstrous, and mysterious creatures.

Do you hate social gatherings? Dodge cameras? Enjoy staying up just a little too late at night? You might have more in common with your local cryptid than you think! Enter the world of Cryptid Club, a look inside the adventures of elusive creatures ranging from Mothman to the Loch Ness Monster. This humorous new series celebrates the unique qualities that make cryptids so desperately sought after by mankind (to no avail). After all, it's what makes us different that also makes us beautiful.

This book had me laughing out loud. Makes the Cryptids feel so relatable. Definitely will be buying this one for my coffee table.

The Secret Garden: A Graphic Novel 

By Mariah Marsden (adapter)

Illustrated by Hanna Luechtefeld

192 pages

Published June 15, 2021

My review five out of five stars (LOVED it!)

Green-growing secrets and powerful magic await you at Misselthwaite Manor, now reimagined in this bewitching graphic novel adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett's beloved tale. From Mariah Marsden, author of the critically acclaimed Anne of Green Gables: A Graphic Novel, comes the second installment in this series of retold children's classics.

Ten-year-old Mary Lennox arrives at a secluded estate on the Yorkshire moors with a scowl and a chip on her shoulder. First, there's Martha Sowerby: the too-cheery maid with bothersome questions who seems out of place in the dreary manor. Then there's the elusive Uncle Craven, Mary's only remaining family--whom she's not permitted to see. And finally, there are the mysteries that seem to haunt the run-down place: rumors of a lost garden with a tragic past, and a midnight wail that echoes across the moors at night.

As Mary begins to explore this new world alongside her ragtag companions--a cocky robin redbreast, a sour-faced gardener, and a boy who can talk to animals--she learns that even the loneliest of hearts can grow roots in rocky soil.

Given new life as a graphic novel in illustrator Hanna Luechtefeld's whimsical style, The Secret Garden is more enchanting and relevant than ever before.

Just a beautiful little book. It is a graphic novel retelling of The Secret Garden. I loved the book as a child and love this graphic novel. The pictures are simple, colorful and stunning. Planning on purchasing this book to keep on my shelf just to flip through and look at occasionally. It makes me happy just looking at the pictures and reading the beautiful story.

When Breath Becomes Air

When Breath Becomes Air

By Paul Kalanithi 

Narrated by: Sunil Malhotra

231 pages

Published January 12, 2016

My review: 4.25 stars out of 5 stars

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST - This inspiring, exquisitely observed memoir finds hope and beauty in the face of insurmountable odds as an idealistic young neurosurgeon attempts to answer the question What makes a life worth living?

NAMED ONE OF PASTE'S BEST MEMOIRS OF THE DECADE - NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review - People - NPR - The Washington Post - Slate - Harper's Bazaar - Time Out New York - Publishers Weekly - BookPage

Finalist for the PEN Center USA Literary Award in Creative Nonfiction and the Books for a Better Life Award in Inspirational Memoir

At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade's worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi's transformation from a na ve medical student "possessed," as he wrote, "by the question of what, given that all organisms die, makes a virtuous and meaningful life" into a neurosurgeon at Stanford working in the brain, the most critical place for human identity, and finally into a patient and new father confronting his own mortality.

What makes life worth living in the face of death? What do you do when the future, no longer a ladder toward your goals in life, flattens out into a perpetual present? What does it mean to have a child, to nurture a new life as another fades away? These are some of the questions Kalanithi wrestles with in this profoundly moving, exquisitely observed memoir.

Paul Kalanithi died in March 2015, while working on this book, yet his words live on as a guide and a gift to us all. "I began to realize that coming face to face with my own mortality, in a sense, had changed nothing and everything," he wrote. "Seven words from Samuel Beckett began to repeat in my head: 'I can't go on. I'll go on.'" When Breath Becomes Air is an unforgettable, life-affirming reflection on the challenge of facing death and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a brilliant writer who became both.

This is just a beautiful story about a doctor who goes from his job of being a neurosurgeon (nearly done with his residency) to being a cancer patient, one with stage 4 lung cancer. 

It is sad, but it is also a moving story about the relationship between doctors and patients. The way that changes when you are the doctor and how that makes treatment different (or the same). You hear at the end from his wife and I thought that was just a beautiful touch.

Cemetery Boys

Cemetery Boys

By: Aiden Thoms

Audiobook narrated by: Avi Roque

352 pages 

Published September 1, 2020

My review 4.5 stars out of 5

I read this book to complete a prompt in the Boise Public Library's Ultimate Book Nerd challenge: Read a book about a holiday tradition you don't celebrate. 

A trans boy determined to prove his gender to his traditional Latinx family summons a ghost who refuses to leave in Aiden Thomas's paranormal YA debut Cemetery Boys.
Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can't get rid of him.

When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his true gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free.

However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school's resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He's determined to find out what happened and tie off some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.


This story is about a trans boy trying to prove his place in his traditional latinx family. It includes some magical elements and lots of tradition. 

I loved the inner-city setting and the diverse mix of characters. The narrator, Avi Roque, did an amazing job of bringing Yadriel to life and making him feel like a real person. To be able to be in the mind of a transgender person, to see life from their eyes, it was enlightening. 

Though a work of fiction, I like to think that Thomas (the author) used some real-world stories to bring this character to life. He certainly felt real to me. There will be more in this series of books, but I loved that this was a full and complete story all on its own. No waiting for book two to know what happens because this book wrapped things up nicely. Other authors could learn a few things about books in a series! 

Another thing I really loved about this story was the way that the stories of Yadriel's culture were woven in. I feel like I really got to know a bit about the Latinx culture and why they celebrate el Día de los Muertos. That is why I originally picked up this book. I needed a book that fit the prompt: Read a book about a holiday tradition you don't celebrate. This fit it perfectly. I just saw this on the amazon q&a with the author about his inspiration: "What inspired you to write Cemetery Boys? Cemetery Boys was inspired by a writing prompt I saw on Tumblr — “What happened if you summoned a ghost and couldn’t get rid of it?” How great is that?!