It took me a while to get through this book as I read it between Oct 31 & Dec 27, but that was largely due to a reading slump. I gave it 4 ⭐️. I wasn‘t really needing/wanting another prequel to Practical Magic but I did enjoy this way more than I thought I would.

Another 4 ⭐️ read. I read this one between Dec 19 & 26. It was an enjoyable read about Jackson‘s life when her children were very young. It‘s written more as vignettes and some have inspired her short stories. I will definitely try to read more Jackson in 2021.

I read this between Dec 19 & 27 and I gave it 4 ⭐️ on Good Reads. I enjoyed this collection of poems that covered themes like aging, environmentalism, and absence. I enjoyed the poems that dealt with aging the most.

I read this Dec 18-19 and gave it 5⭐️. The poems deal with BC‘s Woodlands School. The institute has had a very unpleasant history as a mental institution in the late 19th century and it has long since been shut down and replaced with condos but the institution still casts a dark shadow on the province‘s history.

I read this between Nov 21 & Dec 18 & rated it 3 ⭐️. While I like Pinsky‘s style, this volume of poetry was sometimes inaccessible to me. It‘s very much an older style of poetry where symbolism plays an important role. I may have enjoyed this book more had I read it at a different time. This year has been a hard and long one. And I have a hard time focusing when reading.

I read this between Dec 1-13 and gave it 3.5 ⭐️. I found some of the poems repetitive. To be honest, it took me longer than it should have to read this collection. It‘s not a bad book and I did enjoy some of the poems. It‘s just not a book of poems for me.

I read this Nov 28-29 and rated it 4 ⭐️ on good reads. This is written in a more a traditional style. But it is modern. It‘s hard to explain this volume. I liked it.

I read this Nov 28 and rated it 4 ⭐️. Part poem, part theatre but 100% compelling.

I read this Nov 24-27 and gave it 3 ⭐️. I read some pretty harsh reviews about this collection and Lovelace‘s work. While I like her work (both her styles and themes), her work might not be for everyone. A lot of the poems in this book are short and some feel like haikus. Lovelace also plays around with spacing and formatting, which causes some people on good reads to say its not poetry but it is.

I read this between Nov 14 & 22 and rated it 3.5 ⭐️. While this story suffers from common time travel tropes and elements, it is an interesting story and by the midpoint, I could not put the book down. Not as great as Dark Matter but I am glad I picked it up and I look forward to reading what Crouch published next.

I read this between Nov 12 & 13. I gave it 3 ⭐️ but in some ways it feels more like a 2.5 star read. I have a long review on my Good Reads account. Sager is a decent writer with great ideas for a thrillers but by this point, his books are predictable and safe. There is always one too many twist and his heroines are flat and largely interchangeable.

I read this Nov 9-10 & rated it 3 ⭐️. This was a cute and light read. I wanted to like it more but it felt a little flat for me in some parts. It felt some tension was being set up but then it failed to materialize. I would definitely read another book by Harbison as I did enjoy this story.

I read this on Nov 8 and gave it 3 ⭐️. I am really not sure why I keep reading the Book reboot of Buffy. It‘s not bad but it isn‘t that great either. The art in this volume was good but the pacing feels too rushed. I would rather they spent more time leading up to a story than trying to do an arc in 5–10 “chapters.”

Here is my very late review. I read this between Oct 17 & 24. I rated it 4 ⭐️ on Good Reads. My first intro to Jackson was The Lottery many years ago in high school. Whilst I think it‘s a stellar story, I think that it‘s a bit of a disservice to Jackson as she is a powerful short story writer. This collection is rather diverse in genre as some are just little slices of life.

I read this on Oct 7 & I think this has been my favourite collected volume of the Boom! reboots of Buffy & Angel. This volume introduces Gunn and Lorne. And although Angel is off in Sunnydale, the volume gives us hints of who Angelus was and who Angel is. Plus I enjoyed the artwork. I gave it 4 stars and I hope the Angel reboot stays on track.

I read this Oct 4-6 and gave it 4 ⭐️. Simply the story is a tale about two of Dracula‘s Brides - who they are and how they become his brides. I personally adored this book even though they are a few faults but I can see why others may not like it as much. For me, the book captured the same feel of the original Dracula novel by Stoker. And it was less about Dracula, which is true to Stoker‘s novel. The LGBTQA+ pairing did let me down a bit.

I read this between Sept 18 & Oct 2 & gave it 4 ⭐️. Whilst it is originally intended as a companion to an exhibit at The Canadian War Museum, the book serves as a good starting guide to the Canadian involvement in The Hundred Days campaign of WWI. It makes me want to read more about the campaign, and about Canada‘s role.

I read this on Oct 1 and gave it 3 ⭐️. This series is rather frustrating. It‘s all action with little character development. Yes most of the characters are familiar but not completely because this is a different verse than the TV show. Also there‘s a few things that don‘t seem to work.

After being in a slump I read this collected volume yesterday (Oct 1) and gave it 3 ⭐️. I really want to love the Boom! Buffy series but I find that the creative team is trying to do too much way too soon. I will continue with the series a little longer, especially since I believe there is a stand alone Willow arc coming up. But I can see why there are some negative reviews on Good Reads for the series.

I read this Sept 8-13 and gave it 3 ⭐️. This book was really just meh for me. Other than there being too many things going on, I can‘t really tell you why I didn‘t enjoy it that much. I will give the Amazon series a try but I found this book fell a little flat.

I read this Aug 15 to Sept 12. I gave it 3.5 ⭐️. This is a four story collection by Haisla/Heiltsuk author Eden Robinson. Like most of her work it is an unflinching look at modern adolescence, especially indigenous. I enjoyed the last two stories the most, although I do wish the last story had been longer. I am giving it a pick here because it‘s definitely not so-so.

I read this Sept 8 and gave it 4 ⭐️. I liked the first part the most. It was a relatable book of poetry for people who have dealt with being shamed for their looks and toxic relationships. Lovelace captures a feeling and then tells you how it‘s wrong. And how you need to love yourself and believe in your power. This is through the framework of fairy tales, specifically Cinderella.

I read this Sept 5-6 and gave it 3.5 ⭐️. This book seems to polarize readers on Good Reads. Some of the first reviews are either people who hated it or people who loved it. It was a decent enough book that had a problem of being just a little too busy. It also resolved only a few things and left me with more questions.

I read this Sept 2-5 and gave it 3.5 ⭐️. I like Sager but his books always seem to let me down when I finish them. I am not sure why but I think the endings feel too safe. This book is definitely for fans on the creepy apartment building trope where the tenants are hiding secrets from the newer tenant(s). This one made it way too easy to guess the bad guy but it did turn a trope on its head.

I read this Aug 24-28 and gave it 4.5 ⭐️. I was eagerly awaiting this book‘s publication but had kind of forgotten about it with everything going on so when I came across it in my holiday in an independent bookstore, I bought it right away. This book was a pleasant read and I love Lim‘s magical realism. I look forward to reading more of her books!

I read this on Aug 27 & gave it 4 ⭐️. It was an enjoyable, if sad at times, read. The book takes place over 5 years and the reader is essentially eavesdropping as two men of a certain age talk about events that are happening either in Ireland or globally. It‘s a good read that reminds the reader of how much has happened in such a short time and makes the reader think.

I read this Aug 24-27 and gave it 4 ⭐️. I found that it was a little harder to get into this one but overall it was a fun read. Once again, I had a hard time figuring out the whodunnit part. I did like the character of Anne but I didn‘t like how Christie ended things with her. The story did drag a bit at the middle.

I read this Aug 18-24 & rated it 3.5 ⭐️. I liked it enough to pick up the third book. I did find the addition of Jane and Allegra a bit distracting from Ada and Mary. As well the story was a bit too rushed. But it was a fun read. In some ways, I find these stories to be similar to the John Bellairs books that I grew up and I kind of wish I had these books growing up.

I read this Aug 5-15 and gave it 4 ⭐️. I am finding that a problem with a lot of Christie‘s novels are the endings as they seem so rushed. Overall I like this one and part of me wishes that she had continued writing mysteries with Bundle in them.

I read this Aug 9-13, and gave it 3 ⭐️. I really wanted to love this book but there was just too much going on. I will say that it is great fir the way that it deals with women and their sexuality in a positive way.

I read this between Aug 2 & 8. I gave it 3.5 ⭐️ on Good Reads. This wasn‘t a bad story but it ends in a cliffhanger for the second book. And to be honest, I feel that Amy Tan is a better story teller for this type of historical novel about Chinese women set in China and then the USA. I did appreciate a glimpse into LA and immigrants in the late 30s but the pacing felt off. And I had problems with Pearl sounding much younger at times.

I read this Aug 3-5 and gave it 3 ⭐️. This felt more like a collection of self affirmations than it did a collection of poems. It wasn‘t bad but I didn‘t really connect with the book of the poems.

I read this Aug 1-2 and gave it 3 ⭐️. It‘s probably more of a 2.5 star read for me. I am not sure if it‘s a case of this book was so hyped that I expected more or a simple case of not meshing with the author‘s style. To be brief, the story had far too much purple prose, flat characters and was nothing more than misery lit.

I read this July 23 to Aug 1, and rated it 3.5 ⭐️. It is a rather light book considering it‘s subject and the ending is way too rushed but I did like this story. I did find myself enjoying the parts that were about Catriona more than the parts that were solely about Emily.

I read this July 19-23 & rated it 4 ⭐️. Many, many moons ago I‘d read The Bell Jar. Since then I have been interested in reading more Plath but never really sought her poetry out. On one of my poetry buying sprees last year, I came across this book and bought it. While I didn‘t like every poem, I liked it enough to want to read more of her poetry.

I read this on July 18 & gave it 4 ⭐️. I liked the flow of the book. And considering the reading slump I had in July, I enjoyed the fact that this book was one I did not want to put down.

I read this between July 12 & 17th. And rated it 3.5 ⭐️. So far it‘s my least favourite collection of Cohen‘s poetry. Largely because of the caustic nature of some of the poems.

I read this June 13-21 and gave it 3 ⭐️. It wasn‘t the best Poirot novel and I felt that there were too many red herrings before we got the resolution. It was a decent read and I probably would have raced through it, had I not been feeling under the weather due to some bad headaches when I started it.

I read this June 9-13 and rated it 3.5 ⭐️. I liked this Miss Marple story, but found some elements of the plot a little too over the top. It wasn‘t bad but it felt a little too busy.

I read this between Mar 24 & June 6 & rated it 3.5 ⭐️. I think my problem getting into this book is that the series has become too focused on action and the answers are slowly drawn out. I still enjoyed the book and the characters but I am getting a little weary of how drawn out this series is becoming. For every answer we get, I feel we get more questions.

I read this between May 24 & June 1 and gave it 4 ⭐️. I really enjoyed this book. It‘s not as spooky as the title or the blurb on the back lead me to believe. I enjoyed the fact that Davidson writes about more personal ghosts and demons. I did feel that the narrator was somewhat inaccessible to the reader. But it was still a good story.

I read this between Apr 30 & May 29 and gave it 4 ⭐️. I quite enjoyed it and will probably seek out more of Saki‘s work. I feel that Edward Gorey‘s illustrations suited the stories rather well.

I read this between May 21 & 27, and rated it 4 ⭐️. On a whole I really enjoyed this collection of short stories. It was probably one of the better single author collections.

I reread this one between May 20 & 21. And I gave it 4 ⭐️. It‘s been a long time since I had read this book but it remains a favourite. It largely tells the story of Winnie and her struggles in China just before, during and just after WWII. I do wish that we had seen more of Pearl or even had some of Helen‘s story but that is a relatively minor complaint.

I read this May 18-19 and gave it 3 ⭐️. This was a reread for me and there are a lot of problems with this collection of early BTVS comics. I think the writers would have been better off dealing with things from the first two seasons instead of trying to set the stories during Season Three, which was airing at the time of the original publication of the comics in this volume.

I read this May 19 and gave it 3 ⭐️. I didn‘t hate but I felt that the book could have been better. The premise is an interesting one but I felt that there was something missing. It felt rather rushed towards the end and it was hard to connect to the characters who felt note like one dimensional character traits then actual real characters.

I read this between Mar 17 & May 20. And I rated it 4.5 ⭐️. Reading this book is like being in a fever dream. While there are similarities to other famous monster families like The Munsters and The Addams, there is less humour and more of Bradbury‘s talent for storytelling that pulls the reader in.

I read this one between May 10 & 18 and rated it 4 ⭐️. It was the May read for the Agatha Christie 2020 readathon. Well one of the alternate selections. I had read the main pick last year and I would like to read more of Christie‘s books before I reread any. I thoroughly enjoyed this Miss Marple mystery. The cover is a bit misleading as it does not take place on a cruise ship but I do like the cover.

I read this May 2-11 and gave it 4 ⭐️. Overall this was an enjoyable Middle Grade book. Barnhill creates a lovely magical setting and turns a few tropes on their side. I did find the book dragged in the middle and it was a slow read but it did pick up and in the last quarter when the different stories were tied up.

I read this May 8-10 and rated it 3 ⭐️ I was so disappointed in this book. There is a long review on my good reads. But it boils down to there are points where it feels like the authors are too lazy to work out plot points and don‘t know what to do. It has great LGBTQA+ representation and diversity but it‘s not enough.