May Reading Recap

 In the month of May, I read 24 books. A total of 2,627 pages and 170.93 hours of listening. 

Here is a breakdown of the "moods" of books I read: 

A breakdown of the fiction vs non-fiction books 

And for audiobooks, here is a breakdown of the length of each listen. 

And lastly, a breakdown of the format of the books I read. 

This is a list of the books I read this month, reviews are all available on my book review blog. 

Physical books read: 

1. The Witches of Moonshyne Manor by Bianca Marais (4 stars)
2. The Museum of Lost and Found by Leila Sales (3.75 stars) 
3. Good Girls Don't by Mara Wilson (3.75 stars) 
4. Skyward, Vol. 1: My Low G Life by Joe Henderson (4 stars)
5. Junkwraith by Ellinor Richey (3.5 stars) 
6. The Girl and the Glim by India Swift (4 stars) 
7. Thief Liar Lady by DL Soria (not yet reviewed) 

Audio books read: 

1. Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (3 stars)
2. Starter Dog by Rona Maynard (3.5 stars)
3. Becoming a Queen by Dan Clay (4 stars) 
4. The Elephants of Thula Thula by Francoise Malby-Anthony (4 stars)
5. In The Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune (4.5 stars)
6. 11/22/63 by Stephen King (4 stars) 
7. Encore in Death by JD Robb (5 stars) 
8. Beach Read by Emily Henry (4 stars) 
9. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (3.5 stars)
10. The Miniscule Mansion of Myra Malone by Audrey Burges (4.5 stars)
11. Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire (3 stars) 
12. Legendborn by Tracy Deonn (4 stars) 
13. I Love You so Mochi by Sarah Kuhn (4 stars)
14. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (4 stars) 
15. The Astonishing Color of After by Emily XR Pan (5 stars) 
16. The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart (not reviewed yet)
17. Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron (not reviewed yet)

This month I did complete the "Mandatory May" challenge. 

I have read a total of 124 books this year which puts just shy of 50% complete for my yearly reading goal of 250 books. 

For my Ultimate book Nerd challenge, I finished the following prompts: 

• Read a book by a female author under a male pseudonym: JD Robb Encore in Death
• Read a book involving art: The Museum of Lost and Found by Leila Sales 
• Read a book from a child's point of view: Junkwraith by Ellinor Richey 

This makes a total of 21 prompts complete, 42% of the goal. 

For the StoryGraph Genre challenge, I read just one book: 

A Children's book you never read as a child: Number the Stars by Lois Lowry 

This puts me at 80% of my goal, 2 prompts left to complete. 

That's the recap of my May reading. 

The Astonishing Color of After

The Astonishing Color of After

By: Emily X. R. Pan
Narrated by Stephanie Hsu
Release date: 20 March 2018
Listening length: 11 hours, 52 minutes
My review: five out of 5 stars

"Emily X.R. Pan's brilliantly crafted, harrowing first novel portrays the vast spectrum of love and grief with heart-wrenching beauty and candor. This is a very special book." (John Green, best-selling author of The Fault in Our Stars and Turtles All the Way Down)

A stunning, heartbreaking debut novel about grief, love, and family, perfect for fans of Jandy Nelson and Celeste Ng.

Leigh Chen Sanders is absolutely certain about one thing: When her mother died by suicide, she turned into a bird.

Leigh, who is half Asian and half white, travels to Taiwan to meet her maternal grandparents for the first time. There, she is determined to find her mother, the bird. In her search, she winds up chasing after ghosts, uncovering family secrets, and forging a new relationship with her grandparents. And as she grieves, she must try to reconcile the fact that on the same day she kissed her best friend and longtime secret crush, Axel, her mother was taking her own life.

Alternating between real and magic, past and present, friendship and romance, hope and despair, The Astonishing Color of After is a stunning and heartbreaking novel about finding oneself through family history, art, grief, and love.

This book was so powerful for me. Most of my life, I've suffered with depression and though it isn't as severe as Leigh's mother's, suicide is something that is a concern. I loved that Leigh imagined her mother had changed into a bird. The fact that the bird was red is something that connected me to the story even more. My mom's favorite color was red and so anytime I see things in that vibrant shade, I am reminded of her. Leigh is just looking for answers. In Taiwan, she gets to meet her maternal grandparents. Due to the language gap, it is hard for her to communicate. 

I loved this story. Its beautiful imagery had me picturing even more in my head when reading. The way that all the little things tied together, just icing on the cake. 

Number The Stars

Number the Stars

By Lois Lowry

Narrated by: Blair Brown

Release date 16 April 2004

Listening length: 2 hours, 45 minutes 

My review: 

Ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen often think of life before the war. It's now 1943, and their life in Copenhagen is filled with school, food shortages, and the Nazi soldiers marching through town. When the Jews of Denmark are "relocated", Ellen moves in with the Johansens and pretends to be one of the family. Soon Annemarie is asked to go on a dangerous mission to save Ellen's life.

You can tell this book is meant for younger readers. I was left wanting a lot more. 

Most of the WWII books I've been reading follows the family through most of the war. This story is mainly about one incident in the young girls life. Something that forever changed her story. I loved it. It is perfect for the younger audience that doesn't need the real horrors of the war in full detail yet, but needs a glimpse of what the Jews were forced to endure.

I Love You So Mochi

I Love You So Mochi

By: Sarah Kuhn
Narrated by Natalie Naudus
Release date: 28 August 2019
Listening length: 8 hours, 7 minutes
My review: 4 out of 5 stars 

Perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Kasie West, I Love You So Mochi is a delightfully sweet and irrepressibly funny novel from accomplished author Sarah Kuhn.

"As sweet and satisfying as actual mochi... a tender love story wrapped up in food, fashion, and family. I gobbled it up." -- Maurene Goo, author of The Way You Make Me Feel Kimi Nakamura loves a good fashion statement.


She's obsessed with transforming everyday ephemera into Kimi Originals: bold outfits that make her and her friends feel like the Ultimate versions of themselves. But her mother disapproves, and when they get into an explosive fight, Kimi's entire future seems on the verge of falling apart. So when a surprise letter comes in the mail from Kimi's estranged grandparents, inviting her to Kyoto for spring break, she seizes the opportunity to get away from the disaster of her life. When she arrives in Japan, she's met with a culture both familiar and completely foreign to her. She loses herself in the city's outdoor markets, art installations, and cherry blossom festival -- and meets Akira, a cute aspiring med student who moonlights as a costumed mochi mascot. And what begins as a trip to escape her problems quickly becomes a way for Kimi to learn more about the mother she left behind, and to figure out where her own heart lies. In I Love You So Mochi, author Sarah Kuhn has penned a delightfully sweet and irrepressibly funny novel that will make you squee at the cute, cringe at the awkward, and show that sometimes you have to lose yourself in something you love to find your Ultimate self.

This was an adorable "find yourself" kind of story. Kimi seems to have had her life mapped out (for her) for most of her life, but in her senior year, she drops her art class. This begins the journey of finding out what she wants to do with her life. That journey takes her to her family's roots, in Japan. I love that the estranged grandparents are the ones to extend the invitation. When in Japan, she meets a mochi mascot... love is in the air! I loved the vivid descriptions of the areas she was visiting. Just a fun, light read.

Legendborn

Legendborn

By Tracy Deonn

Narrated by: Joniece Abbott-Pratt

Listening length: 18 hours, 54 minutes 

Release date: 15 September 2020

My rating: 4 out of5 stars

An Instant New York Times Bestseller!

Winner of the Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe for New Talent Author Award

Filled with mystery and an intriguingly rich magic system, Tracy Deonn’s YA contemporary fantasy Legendborn offers the dark allure of City of Bones with a modern-day twist on a classic legend and a lot of Southern Black Girl Magic.

After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC–Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape—until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus.

A flying demon feeding on human energies.

A secret society of so called “Legendborn” students that hunt the creatures down.

And a mysterious teenage mage who calls himself a “Merlin” and who attempts—and fails—to wipe Bree’s memory of everything she saw.

The mage’s failure unlocks Bree’s own unique magic and a buried memory with a hidden connection: the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. Now that Bree knows there’s more to her mother’s death than what’s on the police report, she’ll do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn as one of their initiates.

She recruits Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn with his own grudge against the group, and their reluctant partnership pulls them deeper into the society’s secrets—and closer to each other. But when the Legendborn reveal themselves as the descendants of King Arthur’s knights and explain that a magical war is coming, Bree has to decide how far she’ll go for the truth and whether she should use her magic to take the society down—or join the fight.

I loved this book. Didn't love how the end was so open, but there is another to come. 

I did love the strong characters, the way that Bree handled herself and her interactions with the people around her. The fact that she is a girl who recently lost her mom made her a very real character to me. I quite vividly remember some of those same thoughts in my head after my mom's passing. 

I've never read a book like this one, with the secret societies trying to protect the world from magic. The twist about its origins is pretty good and then to add in the "root magic" was perfect for me. I love that this author brings the issue of racism into the story, without shaming all of us. Felt like I was getting an education on things that I might not have seen that way before. Eye opening for sure. I will be reading the next installment of this duology.

Every Heart A Doorway

Every Heart a Doorway

by Seanan McGuire
Narrated by Cynthia Hopkins
Released 5 April 2016
Listening length 4 hours, 44 minutes
My review: 3 out of 5 stars

Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children
No Solicitations
No Visitors
No Quests

Children have always disappeared under the right conditions - slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere...else. But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.

Nancy tumbled once, but now she's back. The things she's experienced...they change a person. The children under Miss West's care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world. But Nancy's arrival marks a change at the home. There's a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it's up to Nancy and her newfound schoolmates to get to the heart of things. No matter the cost.

I thought this book was just strange. The premise was really good, something different that I thought I would really enjoy. Even the murders of students didn't deter me from my enjoyment of the book. What killed it for me was the ending. The choice the main character makes. I wish it was another one... I guess it makes for a finality of this storyline, but I am left wanting more and there won't be any...

Random Graphic Novels

 I figured since my reviews of these graphic novels are shorter, I would publish a few of them together. I have borrowed all of the following from my library's service, Hoopla. If you use a local library, you should check it out and see if they offer this service. I love it! 

Unfamiliar 

by Haley Newsome

Published: December 6, 2022 

Read: April 26, 2023

My review: 4 out of 5 stars 

Based on the wildly popular webcomic from Tapas, Unfamiliar is an endearing and whimsical story full of magical mayhem, offbeat outsiders, and the power of friendships and found family.

Young kitchen witch Planchette gets an incredible deal on a new house in a magical town. Turns out, there's a reason: it's haunted! After unsuccessfully attempting to get these unwanted ghosts to leave, she realizes the only thing to do is to help them with their problems. Along the way, she befriends a shy siren who hates being popular, a girl battling a curse, and a magically-challenged witch from a powerful coven.

Collects Chapters 1-6 with bonus content!

Loved this adorable graphic novel. What does a which do when her house is haunted? This book will show you just what young "kitchen witch" Planchette does with her house ghosts. Cannot wait for the next.

Skyward

(volume 1 includes issues 1-5) 

Written by Joe Henderson

Illustrated by Lee Garbett and Antonio Fabela 

Published: September 25, 2018 

Read on: May 15, 2023

My review 4 out of 5 stars 

One day, gravity on Earth suddenly became a fraction of what it is now. Twenty years later, humanity has adapted to its new low-gravity reality. And to Willa Fowler, a woman born just after G-day, it's...well, it's pretty awesome, actually. You can fly through the air I mean, sure, you can also die if you jump too high. So you just don't jump too high. And maybe don't get mixed up in your Dad's secret plan to bring gravity back that could get you killed...

I found this book while browsing Hoopla (a digital service my local library offers) when I saw this cover. After I read the description, I knew I would probably like it so I read it all in one night. Good thing the next couple are also available on Hoopla because I need to know what happens to Willa and her friends! 

The Girl and the Glim

By India Swift (author and illustrator)
Illustrated by: Michael Doig
Published June 7, 2022
My review: 4 out of 5 stars

An original graphic novel about being the new kid in a different school, getting picked on by the class bullies, and what happens when a magical presence takes notice.

Starting out at a new school is tough, and Bridgette isn't having much luck, seeing as, well, she's not great at making a first impression. Or, maybe, any impression. For now the best she can manage is... awkward.

That’s when they appear. Creatures dark and scary… Creatures only she can see. But if she can’t even face down the school bullies, how is she supposed to overcome literal monsters? Well, Bridgette is going to have to figure it out fast, because she might just be her town’s only hope.

The Girl and The Glim is about accepting the fact that fear is okay, and that while letting other people see your vulnerabilities can be scary, it can also lead to closer friendships in the end.

This was a graphic novel about a girl. She and her family just moved and now she's the new girl in town, in school. When she sees something weird and figures out, she's the only one who saw it, she knows she will have to take care of it. I really loved the illustrations in this book, they made the story, literally, come to life for me. I look forward to more books in this series so I can see what happens to "the girl." I love this quote in the description: The Girl and The Glim is about accepting the fact that fear is okay, and that while letting other people see your vulnerabilities can be scary, it can also lead to closer friendships in the end.

Junkwraith

by Ellinor Richey

Published January 18, 2022

My review: 3.5 out of 5 stars

What she once possessed... now threatens to possess her. This vibrant Swedish debut graphic novel is an epic quest for the things left behind, with icy-cool artwork and astonishing sci-fi settings.

What happens when our most precious belongings... no longer belong? When something we loved suddenly becomes junk, a powerful energy is unleashed. One night, ice-skating prodigy Florence Sato is overwhelmed by pressure and throws away her skates. This fateful moment accidentally summons a "junkwraith," a terrifying ghost which seeks revenge for its abandonment by attacking the memories of its former owner. Before she forgets who she is, and to find out who she really wants to be, Florence must set off (with her trusty digital assistant Frank) on a long journey into the Wastelands to put to rest the monster she created.

This graphic novel is the story about how the things you throw away come back to haunt you. It was a little strange for me, but the overall story was good. I think I was distracted by the small pictures on my phone screen, so perhaps read either the paper copy or a bigger screen. I would read another book by this author. It was a solid story with a good message.

The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone

The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone

By Audrey Burges
Narrated by Christine Lakin
Release date: 24 January 2023
listening length: 9 hours, 57 minutes

A woman learns to expand the boundaries of her small world and let love inside it in this sparkling and unforgettable novel by Audrey Burges.

From her attic in the Arizona mountains, thirty-four-year-old Myra Malone blogs about a dollhouse mansion that captivates thousands of readers worldwide. Myra’s stories have created legions of fans who breathlessly await every blog post, trade photographs of Mansion-modeled rooms, and swap theories about the enigmatic and reclusive author. Myra herself is tethered to the Mansion by mysteries she can’t understand—rooms that appear and disappear overnight, music that plays in its corridors.

Across the country, Alex Rakes, the scion of a custom furniture business, encounters two Mansion fans trying to recreate a room. The pair show him the Minuscule Mansion, and Alex is shocked to recognize a reflection of his own life mirrored back to him in minute scale. The room is his own bedroom, and the Mansion is his family’s home, handed down from the grandmother who disappeared mysteriously when Alex was a child. Searching for answers, Alex begins corresponding with Myra. Together, the two unwind the lonely paths of their twin worlds—big and small—and trace the stories that entwine them, setting the stage for a meeting rooted in loss, but defined by love.

I loved this book. I loved the characters. I love the way that the past weaves and shows you how it connects into the present. I loved how it ended, the hope of a future, even if it wasn't the one I wanted.

The Song of Achilles

The Song of Achilles

By Madeline Miller
Narrated by: Frazer Douglas
Release Date: March 6, 2012
Listening length: 11 hours, 15 minutes
My review: 3.5 out of 5 stars

The legend begins...

Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the kingdom of Phthia to be raised in the shadow of King Peleus and his golden son, Achilles. “The best of all the Greeks”—strong, beautiful, and the child of a goddess—Achilles is everything the shamed Patroclus is not. Yet despite their differences, the boys become steadfast companions. Their bond deepens as they grow into young men and become skilled in the arts of war and medicine—much to the displeasure and the fury of Achilles’ mother, Thetis, a cruel sea goddess with a hatred of mortals.

When word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, the men of Greece, bound by blood and oath, must lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, and torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows. Little do they know that the Fates will test them both as never before and demand a terrible sacrifice.

Built on the groundwork of the Iliad, Madeline Miller’s page-turning, profoundly moving, and blisteringly paced retelling of the epic Trojan War marks the launch of a dazzling career.

While I liked this story, the end felt so rushed. For such a long book, I was just a little disappointed. It felt like you worked all the way up to this great climax of the story only to have it stop before I could really appreciate what was going on... Overall though, it was a beautiful story of love. With lots of appearances by the Greek Gods. It was a good listen.

Beach Read

Beach Read

By Emily Henry
Narrator: Julia Whelan
Release date: 19 May 2020
Listening length: 10 hours and 13 minutes
My review: 4 out of 5 stars

The Instant New York Times Best Seller from the Number One New York Times Best-Selling Author of People We Meet on Vacation

“Original, sparkling bright, and layered with feeling.” (Sally Thorne, author of The Hating Game)

A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters.

Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes best-selling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast.

They’re polar opposites.

In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they're living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer's block.

Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She’ll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he’ll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really.

This was a mostly lighthearted rom-com book. This starts out as the story of a woman, dealing with the grief of losing her father and finding out he had a side she didn't know. Now the words that used to come to her so freely, aren't coming. Can she still write if she can't even believe in happily ever after? The way that this book weaves the whole story together is just beautiful. Makes me really cling to the happy right now moments. <3 Definitely will be looking for more books by this author.

The Museum of Lost and Found

The Museum of Lost and Found

by Leila Sales and Jacqueline Li

Publication date: May 16, 2023

My review: 3.75 out of 5 stars 

A warm, relatable middle-grade story about a friendship falling apart and the abandoned museum that becomes a shrine to lost connections

Vanessa isn't sure which happened first: finding the abandoned museum or losing her best friend Bailey. She doesn't know what to do with herself now that Bailey has left her behind—but when she stumbles upon an empty, forgotten museum, her purpose becomes clear. Vanessa starts filling the museum with her own artifacts and memories, hoping that perhaps, if she can find the right way to tell the story of her broken friendship, she can figure out how to make it whole again.

As Vanessa's museum grows, it seems like the place might have the answers to other questions, too. Like why a mysterious work of art was left behind. Or how to deal with a military dad who's trying to parent from thousands of miles away. Or why Vanessa's bad habit is getting harder and harder to quit. Or even, maybe, how to set the past to rest and find a way to move forward.

Moving and charming, The Museum of Lost and Found is about how we grow apart from some people as we grow up—and how sometimes we can find new pieces of ourselves in the aftermath.

While I received a copy of this ebook in exchange for my review, all opinions remain my own. Thank you Netgalley and ABRAMS Kids for the opportunity to read this story.

I've read other "museum" books, so I thought I knew what I was getting into, but this one was different. Vanessa finds an abandoned museum and starts using it to showcase her own collection, a collection of the former best-friendship she shared with Bailey. As these things often do, her secret didn't stay secret and her brother and then others found out. The Museum of lost and found is born. That is until the real demolition is scheduled.

The ending of this story was a good one for me. I love how the museum memory lives on in the lives of the children. Neighborhood kids creating their own museum "exhibits" to share with each other. Parts of this book were really emotional and touching for me. Remembering what it was like to be in middle school and the strength of those friendships and all the feelings. The author did an amazing job capturing that.

Encore in Death

Encore in Death

By: JD Robb
Narrated by Susan Ericksen
Release date: 7 February 2023
My review: 5 out of 5 stars

The homicide cop with a passion for justice returns in the captivating crime thriller series by the #1 New York Times bestselling author.

It was a glittering event full of A-listers, hosted by Eliza Lane and Brant Fitzhugh, a celebrity couple who’d conquered both Hollywood and Broadway. And now Eve Dallas has made her entrance—but not as a guest. After raising a toast, Fitzhugh fell to the floor and died, with physical symptoms pointing to cyanide, and the police have crashed the party.

From all accounts, he wasn’t the kind of star who made enemies. Everyone loved him—even his ex-wife. And since the champagne cocktail that killed him was originally intended for Eliza, it’s possible she was the real target, with a recently fired assistant, a bitter rival, and an obsessed fan in the picture. With so many attendees, staff, and servers, Eve has her work cut out determining who committed murder in the middle of the crowd—and what was their motivation. As one who’s not fond of the spotlight herself, she dreads the media circus surrounding a case like this. All she wants is to figure out who’s truly innocent, and who’s only acting that way…

Like all the others in this series, this murder mystery kept me guessing who the culprit was. When it was looking a little to neat, I figured something was up and wasn't wrong. This kept me guessing until Eve laid it all out for me. As always, I love the relationship between Eve and Roarke - he shows her another way he loves her in this book and I could not stop smiling.

11-22-63 A Novel

11/22/63: A Novel

By Stephen King
Narrated by: Craig Wasson
Published 8 November 2011
My review: 4 out of 5

On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed. What if you could change it back?

In this brilliantly conceived tour de force, Stephen King - who has absorbed the social, political, and popular culture of his generation more imaginatively and thoroughly than any other writer - takes listeners on an incredible journey into the past and the possibility of altering it.

It begins with Jake Epping, a 35-year-old English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching GED classes. He asks his students to write about an event that changed their lives, and one essay blows him away: a gruesome, harrowing story about the night more than 50 years ago when Harry Dunning’s father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a sledgehammer. Reading the essay is a watershed moment for Jake, his life - like Harry’s, like America’s in 1963 - turning on a dime.

Not much later his friend Al, who owns the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to the past, a particular day in 1958. And Al enlists Jake to take over the mission that has become his obsession - to prevent the Kennedy assassination.

So begins Jake’s new life as George Amberson, in a different world - of Ike and JFK and Elvis, of big American cars and sock hops and cigarette smoke everywhere. From the dank little city of Derry, Maine (where there’s Dunning business to conduct), to the warmhearted small town of Jodie, Texas, where Jake falls dangerously in love, every turn is leading, eventually of course, to a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and to Dallas, where the past becomes heart-stoppingly suspenseful - and where history might not be history anymore. Time-travel has never been so believable. Or so terrifying.




This book was a wild ride. Its hard to sum up your feelings when the book is 30+ hours to listen to. I loved the way that this book played out. I thought I knew what was going to happen and it totally didn't. Loved the ending. I think King did an amazing job with a time travel book that wasn't like all the others. The love story wrapped up inside was a nice touch.

In the Lives of Puppets

In the Lives of Puppets

by TJ Klune
Narrated by Daniel Henning
Release date: 25 April 2023
My review: 4.5 out of 5 stars

"[Narrator] Daniel Henning revels in a cornucopia of characters, diving into nuanced voices and colorful moments with accents and growls, tone shifts and whispers...This is definitely a title for those who enjoy fantasy stories replete with gnomes and witches and all in between."—AudioFile on The House in the Cerulean Sea

New York Times bestselling author TJ Klune invites you deep into the heart of a peculiar forest and on the extraordinary journey of a family assembled from spare parts.

Most Anticipated from BookPage Goodreads The Nerd Daily Paste Magazine LitReactor OverDrive LGBTQ Reads Tor.com more

“An enchanting tale of Pinocchio in the end times.”—P. Djèlí Clark

In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees, live three robots—fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. They’re a family, hidden and safe.

The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labelled “HAP,” he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio–a past spent hunting humans.

When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio’s former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic’s assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming.

Along the way to save Gio, amid conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap, Vic must decide for himself: Can he accept love with strings attached?

Inspired by Carlo Collodi's The Adventures of Pinocchio, and like Swiss Family Robinson meets Wall-E, In the Lives of Puppets is a masterful stand-alone fantasy adventure from the beloved author who brought you The House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door.

★ “An epic quest of rescue and discovery [with] the author’s trademark charm, heart, and bittersweetness.”—Library Journal, starred review

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books.

Although I recieved a copy of this audiobook in exchange for my review, all opinions remain my own. Thank you Netgalley and Macmillian audio for the opportunity to listen to this one!

After reading a couple of Klune's other books, I read the description on this one and knew I would have to read it. Klune has a way of writing about the relationships between the characters that I am drawn to. I love it. This one was no different. A boy lives in the woods with his papa and two "robots." When one day he finds a new android to repair, their lives are forever changed. But is it a good thing? I really loved this one. Going on my "to buy" shelf for sure

The Elephants of Thula Thula

The Elephants of Thula Thula

By: Francoise Malby-Anthony
Read by the author

Published 25 April 2023
my review 4 out of 5 stars

Françoise Malby-Anthony's The Elephants of Thula Thula is a powerful, gripping story about an extraordinary herd of elephants and the woman dedicated to keeping them safe.

‘Somehow, the elephants got into my soul, and it became my life’s work to see them safe and happy. There was no giving up on that vision, no matter how hard the road was at times.’

Françoise Malby-Anthony is the owner of a game reserve in South Africa with a remarkable family of elephants whose adventures have touched hearts around the world. The herd’s feisty matriarch Frankie knows who’s in charge at Thula Thula, and it’s not Francoise. But when Frankie becomes ill, and the authorities threaten to remove or cull some of the herd if the reserve doesn’t expand, Françoise is in a race against time to save her beloved elephants . . .

The joys and challenges of a life dedicated to conservation are vividly described in The Elephants of Thula Thula. The search is on to get a girlfriend for orphaned rhino Thabo—and then, as his behaviour becomes increasingly boisterous, a big brother to teach him manners. Françoise realizes a dream with the arrival of Savannah the cheetah—an endangered species not seen in the area since the 1940s—and finds herself rescuing meerkats kept as pets. But will Thula Thula survive the pandemic, an invasion from poachers and the threat from a mining company wanting access to its land?

As Françoise faces her toughest years yet, she realizes once again that with their wisdom, resilience and communal bonds, the elephants have much to teach us.

While I received a copy of this audiobook in exchange for a review, all opinions remain my own. This is the story of a woman caretaker of a wildlife preserve in South Africa. It includes the details of how she was able to not only survive the covid-19 pandemic (not losing her business, the elephant preserve) but thrive. They were able to expand the preserve to his current status. I loved the stories not only about the elephants and other animals, but about the people. I plan on checking out the first book written by Malby-Anthony soon. Seeing what she's done to help preserve the wild elephants in South Africa is just amazing.

Good Girls Don't

Good Girls Don't

By Mara Wilson

Published 18 April 2023

Narrated by the author 

My review: 3.75 out of 5 stars 

In this candid and illuminating Scribd Original, writer-actor Mara Wilson navigates the good-girl-versus- bad-girl tropes from early childhood through adolescence and teen life. Good Girls Don’t is a coming-of- age memoir that bravely examines both the friendships Wilson formed as a child actor in Hollywood and the complex family relationships that shaped her.

Looking back on her experiences on and off the set of notable family-friendly films including Matilda, Mrs. Doubtfire, Miracle on 34th Street, and A Simple Wish, Wilson shares the challenges and joys of growing up in the public eye while enduring the very personal grief of losing her mother to cancer when she was just eight. She describes periods of acting out to assuage her own sadness, as her contentious grandmother stepped in and her hardworking, grief-stricken father grappled with raising a young daughter and her four siblings.

Wilson also shares intimate thoughts about religion and her struggle to adhere to the learned family values of her “Conservadox” upbringing while exploring clandestine friendships, such as with “bad girl” classmate Skye, that went against the “good” behavior her parents tried to instill in her. We discover the TV shows, films, and risqué pop and rock music that influenced her and hear fascinating, hilarious details of life on movie sets as seen from the perspective of a highly intelligent and emotionally vulnerable child.

And, as Wilson seeks to discard a people-pleasing mentality, she digs into past experiences with fans. We learn about the challenges of maintaining a significant fan base — including her complicated relationship with Edward, the college-age young man who administered a website to engage them — in addition to the ongoing anxiety over others’ opinions of how any move she made would be perceived.

With the transition to adulthood, Wilson reflects on the moments that led up to this next phase of her life. Forging solid friendships as a theater student at New York University, she begins to accept her extraordinary past while finally realizing what being “good” means to her.

While I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review, all opinions remain my own. Thank you Net Galley and Scribd for the opportunity to read this story.

As a child I loved Matilda. It was one of my favorite books and then when the movie came out, I really felt a connection to the actress who played Matilda, Mara Wilson. Her journey is chronicled in this memoir. When I was older, I heard the stories about her mom passing away during the filming, how other famous people stepped into her life and stepped up. This story made me sad for her. I totally relate to her "good girls don't" upbringing. I was always the one in my friends group trying to stay the good girl. How much harder it would have been as someone living in the literal spotlight.

Becoming a Queen

Becoming a Queen

By: Dan Clay

Narrated by the author
Published on: April 25, 2023

Listening length: 10 hours and 41 minutes 
My review: 4 out of 5 stars
Read date: May 5, 2023

If only Mark Davis hadn’t put on a dress for the talent show. It was a joke—other guys did it too—but when his boyfriend saw Mark in that dress, everything changed.

And now, fresh on the heels of high school heartbreak, Mark has given up on love. Maybe some people are just too much for this world—too weird, too wild, too feminine, too everything. Thankfully, his older brother Eric always knows what to say to keep Mark from spinning into self-loathing. "Be yourself! Your full sequin-y self.”

But Mark starts to notice signs that his perfect older brother has problems of his own.

When the source of Mark’s strength suddenly becomes the source of his greatest pain, the path back to happiness seems impossible. Searching for a way out, Mark slips into a dress to just, briefly, become someone else, live a different life. His escape, however, becomes an unexpected outlet for his pain—a path to authentic connection, and a provocation to finally see other people as fully as he wants to be seen.

While I received a copy of this audiobook in exchange for my review, all opinions remain my own. Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the opportunity to listen to this book.

Even at 50% of the way through, this book wasn't what I was expecting. I loved every emotional word I listened to. Hearing how Mark coped with his grief, how he found himself in drag, it was simply beautiful. I also really loved the realness of it. I could see my parents reacting like his... It really was a journey of a book. Anyone who has delt with a sudden loss will feel parts of this book so deeply. This is read by the author so I loved that!

Starter Dog

Starter Dog: My path to joy, belonging and loving this world 

By Rona Maynard 

Narrated by the author 

Published April 18, 2023 

My review: 3.5 out of 5 stars 

An irresistible tale of reluctant dog ownership full of heart, humor, and wisdom

Rona Maynard wants to love her life again. Stuck in the what-next doldrums after quitting a big job, she needs a new bridge to the world. So, well into their married life, she lets her husband talk her into their first dog, a rescue mutt named Casey. Rona frets about shedding, lost travel opportunities, and arguments about walking duty. She doubts she can love a dog. But when Casey romps through her door, Rona falls hard. Over time he gives her what no human could—a new way of seeing and a pathway to the heart of a moment. Her downtown neighborhood reveals its true face as she explores it with Casey, making new friends and discovering hidden beauty spots. She learns to have adventures on her own stomping ground. Through Casey, Rona falls in love with the world and her place in it, an animal among other animals.

Although I received a copy of this audiobook in exchange for my review, all opinions remain my own. Thank you NetGalley and ECW Press Audio for the opportunity to listen.

This book is about a reluctant dog owner's journey both to getting a dog and then figuring out that she was in fact a "dog person" and her life would never be the same without Casey. I loved seeing Rona's opinion of dogs slowly change through this book. I loved how Casey rubbed off on her and showed her how much the world had to offer. Casey, a rescue dog, rescued her and her husband from a boring retirement and showed them a new reality through his eyes. This was a quick listen and mostly uplifting. The best part, the book ends and the dog is still living! :D

The Witches of Moonshyne Manor

The Witches of Moonshyne Manor 

By Bianca Marais
Release date: August 23, 2022
Listening length: 10 hours, 47 minutes
My review: 4 stars out of 5
Read date: May 1, 2023

A coven of modern-day witches. A magical heist-gone-wrong. A looming threat.

Five octogenarian witches gather as an angry mob threatens to demolish Moonshyne Manor. All eyes turn to the witch in charge, Queenie, who confesses they’ve fallen far behind on their mortgage payments. Still, there’s hope, since the imminent return of Ruby—one of the sisterhood who’s been gone for thirty-three years—will surely be their salvation.

But the mob is only the start of their troubles. One man is hellbent on avenging his family for the theft of a legacy he claims was rightfully his. In an act of desperation, Queenie makes a bargain with an evil far more powerful than anything they’ve ever faced. Then things take a turn for the worse when Ruby’s homecoming reveals a seemingly insurmountable obstacle instead of the solution to all their problems.

The witches are determined to save their home and themselves, but their aging powers are no match for increasingly malicious threats. Thankfully, they get a bit of help from Persephone, a feisty TikToker eager to smash the patriarchy. As the deadline to save the manor approaches, fractures among the sisterhood are revealed, and long-held secrets are exposed, culminating in a fiery confrontation with their enemies.

Funny, tender and uplifting, the novel explores the formidable power that can be discovered in aging, found family and unlikely friendships. Marais’ clever prose offers as much laughter as insight, delving deeply into feminism, identity and power dynamics while stirring up intrigue and drama through secrets, lies and sex. Heartbreaking and heart-mending, it will make you grateful for the amazing women in your life.

The opening sentence of the description of this book had me hooked " Five octogenarian witches gather as an angry mob threatens to demolish Moonshyne Manor." Each of the witches has such a personality that you can find one that you want to grow up to be! I loved the intermixed grimoire pages that told showed some of the ladies' recipes including "making your own wand" and as out there as "making your own lube" It had me laughing out loud. Each one of the ladies can be found in any community. A reminder to find your own family and stick with them.