I went into this with pretty much just the description on the jacket.
It should probably contain a huge TW for all the very descriptive animal violence, so be forewarned.
This got more gruesome and gorily grotesque as it went. Not for a queasy stomach.
But it was also fantastic. didnt really match the general vibe of the PEI we saw, but glad for it, lol.
(Also pic is from cape Breton, NS not PEI)

The first audio we chose for our two week road trip out East. tbh, neither of us liked it. The narrator didn't help but in general it was not a compelling storyline- it seemed too jumbled and confused with killers abounding left, right, and center. And the MC was a little annoying while her past trauma only seemed to surface when it was convenient. My thoughts when it ended “finally!“.

My partner and I are going to drive from southern Ontario to Nova Scotia (c/ our 15m old, heaven help us! Haha) and we need audio-tainment! 🤣 He's more a nonfic guy, I'm less into that unless it's intriguing to me, which often means crime genre, or maybe some good supernatural haunting, myths, legends of certain areas. The only thing with history I don't want to listen to would be about WWI & WWII.

Any suggestions for books or podcasts?

Well, I really enjoyed the last Eskens but this....just not for me. An overwhelming male cast, all of whom are blah to unlikeable imho. Then there is all the sex-violence-death and I'm just not into it, thanks. It already featured in his other book but at least that seemed more quintessential to the plot. This seems like it's for “flavour“ but the flavour is giving one note and it's getting old.

I don't know how I stumbled on this book but I was hooked from the get go and ran through it in 4 days.
I loved Joe, Lila, and his brother, even Carl from the get go. Once the code was broken, I guessed the full story but it didn't deter me.
I liked that every character, even the side ones, have some “baggage“ in their past.
Also, there's something about windows and sight throughout this book that has me still musing.

I feel like I'm in the minority here. This book returned automatically to the lib and I had maybe 20% left to go. I clearly did not care too much to finish and I'm not gonna check it out again. Definitely a YA so maybe that's why it just didn't hit me right but everyone else seemed to be loving it.
Most of the characters seemed like caricatures to me and the story line mostly didn't capture me.

Casey is up to it again- pulling bodies outta the forest before Haven's Rock is even established!
Get ready for some return faves and few new “alphas“.
Having read this many I am wondering how long Armstrong can stretch this and also getting a little tired of the constant lampshading of lines of inquiry
e.g. Casey asks some random a question and they go something like “ oh you're asking that b/c you really want to know....“

This is a peculiar book. I think Updike has a way with descriptions for sure & might have been a little in love with his own talent there. I'm honestly unsure what to make of this- feminist? Completely anti-feminist? Is it a sardonic satire?
IMHO This novel merits much more rumination & yet I don't really want to because the story itself was actually just meh. Is the film better? Maybe.
(we've figured out climbing! Dear lord, send help! Haha)

Just started and it saddens me though does NOT surprise me (which is even sadder) that at 5'8“ and 160lbs Alexandra is considered “plump“ with multiple references to this. This bothers me for many reasons one of which is the fact that many don't even have a conception of what that looks like. I'm pretty sure anything about 120 for a woman is considered plump, not considering any other factor. Stupid.
(Pic. Marsh marigold)

Well, finished the Rockton series and boy, did that end with a bang!
I think this may have been one of the better ones in terms of murder mystery. Amidst the mayhem of dismantling things, Casey has to figure out a murder and an attempted murder. She and Eric are also faced with the question of “what for?“.
I'm excited to start the next series but it seems I'll have a bit of wait if I want to do it via audio.
(Pic. Common chokecherry)

Of course I went on to devour this in about two days 😂
A Danish speaking stranger badly injured is found- just another tourist ill-prepared for the wilderness or is she connected to something larger? Casey finally gets answers to questions that have bothered her since she got to Rockton- how did the settlements form? Why? Who are and who were the Hostiles? Who “spiked the punch“? And why are they “drinking the Kool aid“?

Well, devoured the next one in the Rockton Series. There's a number of characters and connections to keep track of between Rockton, the Settlers (encampment 1 & 2), and the Hostiles.
I like how this plot brought up things for Casey & Eric both separately and as issues to work on together.
The backdrop of winter solstice is interesting - the darkest time of year from which point the sun starts regaining its strength.
(Pic. Shaggy mane mushroom)

Finished while foraging! (🌿 Coltsfoot)
I sped through this in a handful of “sittings (more like walkings haha).
Yet another good one in the series, and no need to read the previous if you don't want to or can't.
This plot seemed a little convoluted but still, I love the characters and the whole premise. Casey's sister will be an interesting addition to further plots I imagine. Could have used more Anders time 😏

My bookclub pick. I was hyped for it and given my Herbalism studies, this should be far more interesting and entertaining. But it fell very flat with me and in many ways far too unrealistic when it came to the modern timeline (specifically her Cambridge studies). I definitely didn't love the motivation of the apothecary either.
Pictured is Bloodroot, sanguinaria canadensis- toxic.

This was very entertaining! I did guess the major “twists“ but still, it was good and moved quickly.
I feel sometimes with these murder mysteries, the plot is dragged out which leads either to ridiculous events to sustain itself or just a slowdown and eventually disinterest on the part of the reader.

LOVED this and blew through it in just a few days!
The main character is definitely my kind of funny. I found myself chuckling every regularly throughout as well as being terrified, what a combo! This definitely made my nightly breastfeeding trips to the nursery creepy. Try not looking in the small closet that leads to the attic and has no door and not think of your current horror novel. I challenge you.

A plot that started out promising and intriguing soon started crumbling much like the cliff and house at Hope's End. The term “jump the shark“ comes to mind.
The narration of some of the voices was beyond grating so really i finished this just for completionist reasons.
So, have a gratuitous photo of this little dude celebrating his first birthday this past weekend (as well as Easter); one down and a ton more to go!

Ok down to last 2hrs (more or less) if audio and holy, narrator shift! That was jarring.
I'm really not sure how I feel about this besides highly confused as to what is happening. 😂
I'm sure on our walk anyone who was looking at my face as they passed was amused.

I seem to have ended up on a (maybe) short term BIPOC dark- fiction/horror binge.
This anthology compared to others I've read probably contained more stories I really enjoyed or loved than not.
A worthwhile anthology to read- its horrors are of the kind that make your whole body cringe, flinch, viscerally react and make you wish you could turn back the clock, help undo what cannot be undone.

Between a pick and so-so for me, or 3 stars. Not my favourite Keyes, for sure (but I will continue the series haha).
I found Rachel hard to tolerate; for most of the book I wanted to smack her across the face (a reaction not relegated only her).
But obviously I liked it enough to keep reading.

I enjoyed this- it felt like a very quick, urgent read. To me this is more “horrifying“ than “horror“, does that make sense to anyone but me? Haha
I didn't feel chills or get creeped out or scared as some horror books can do to me but the concept was certainly horrifying and intriguing.
I loved Sue's prologue and I look forward to reading more of her works.

Just taking 15m of baby dude's nap time to do more herb related reading but not directly school related 🤪 This is actually a surprisingly short (sweetly so for me) book by just one of the many important herbalists today. I'm loving the illustrations.
And just found out vanilla beans take about as long to mature as the human gestational period. Weird.

Sucked me in & i finished it quick. Others call it a family melodrama/dysfunctional family. I'm going to say it takes “dysfunctional“ one step further & maybe a TW for some is in order though doing so also would spoil part of the book (though pretty early on it seemed obvious, but maybe that's me with the experiences I've had). In any case, this book (esp if you're a woman, I want to say) will have you wanting to throw some punches.

If we're being honest, it was a little too “sweet“. This is a book where very few characters say something straightforwardly without euphemism and I get that this is in part to reflect the Georgian way but it also comes across as the author's reluctance. It all ties up too neatly to; I would think with such revelations there would be more emotions.

Who doesn't love a good Groundhog day trope?!
Again, romance not generally my thing but I love Christmas! And maybe I'm “softening up“ as of late.
But in any case, this was fun!

Loved this!!! It would not have been my go to being in large part a romance but the holiday bent drew me in and I'm so glad it did! So cute!
I really wanted the movies mentioned to be real too!!

Finally got around to reading these!
Like many short story collections, I liked some, loved some, and others were meh. It is YA but still, I could connect or find the charm. Maybe it was the magic of Christmas 🎄🎁

Wow ok, I don't know what happened to my litsy but my last post was 4m ago and after that I couldn't get the app to load properly, find the app to reinstall, nor get my password reset. Somehow by luck I remembered the password and I'm back in on browser version at least. Anyway, hello again, this book was amazing (I know, I'm late to that game). And my own “remarkably bright creature“ is growing rapidly!

Finished this on my first solo road trip with my little superhero.
I found this to be a promising start, a very slow middle, and an unexpected, heart wrenching ending.

Started in hardcopy and then switched to audio to finish. I think it was easier to speed through in audio but harder to keep track of which character was speaking. It was a promising start, if not dramatic, but parts of the plot deemed wholly unnecessary while others were too far fetched? Maybe it was just a case of too much going on. And then it seemed to be wrapped up rather quickly, unsatisfyingly so.

Photo is from March 2022 when I had picked this book back up AGAIN. I finished it FINALLY with the help of the audio.
This book was really all over the place for me. I wanted to love it but can't. It's very fever dream like. Jumpy and for its length that's hard. I enjoyed the audio but both that and the book had its drawbacks for getting into the story. Also the MANY casual references, to rape bothered me. This is def a person by person book.

When your nails match your book 😍

Ok this is gonna be longer than usual.
No, I did not enjoy this- not the first half in print or the 2nd in audio but audio allowed me to sprint to the finish line.
Started end of summer last year roughly, seemed promising enough but after almost 300pp of the same BS i was BORED. THE TEDIUM. maybe this trope works for others but OMG there is only so much of this "hidden romance" I can take especially when I don't like either MC very much.??

Hey Litsy pals, I need some help!
I'm looking to get some local moms together in my area for a book club and I'm trying to think of some good beach reads that are not too cliche romance-y but are entertaining and maybe also on the shorter side, because we are all new moms so who has time? Hahaha!
Any suggestions are highly appreciated! Also doesn't have to be the "typical" beach read- we're all pretty open.

1/2 way thru this short novel & bailing B/c: 1) I'm bored. 2) I do not care at all about these characters. 3) probably b/c the author spends more time romanticizing the horror rather than developing character, backstory, or plot. 4) the "Monster's" verbiage really strikes discordant at times and totally takes me out of the experience.
Thank you, bye, next.

(Ethan turned 3mo recently.)

So as it turns out, the two books I picked up from the library today, simply because of the fact that they are both on my TBR and the only ones that we're both available today at my local branch, are by two Canadian authors.
Woo!

I found this at random in the library (book not the baby ?) and was super excited because I had no idea it existed. Well, I was fine without it in my life. Really these stories added nothing to the understanding of the house nor did they provide that much background "colour"- could the third even be considered a story?

lover of tarot? grab this book. I'm pretty sure nowhere else is there such a vast collection of correspondences for tarot. Great for quick referencing, diving further into certain areas, & practice reading with various correspondences in mind. While the subject matter may seem obtuse, Susie writes in such a way that makes it accessible and welcoming- she truly embodies the magician by bringing the esoteric "down to earth" for the rest of us ;)

Are you interested in tarot at all? Then 100% you need to read this book (and buy it if you can). This is no joke. Better yet, trial run reading the book by listening to The Fortunes Wheelhouse podcast which is how Susie and Mel ended up writing this book. It contains so much wisdom and knowledge about both the RWS and Thoth decks and if you want to go further down and rabbit hole, it offers a great jumping off point with bibliography.

Well this starts out subtle...LOL
I admit though, this book may be too much for me to handle but I'm going to try. At the very least, I love the concept of revenge. Oh yes, yes I do.

When Baby Dude refuses to be happy until he can sleep on you, you are forced to read 😂
A great origin story full of very fun characters, though TBH kind of wanted to slap Faith, haha. IYKYK.
You're going to want to read if you're a fan of Practical Magic or just witch families. That said, I did feel it was a little lengthy due to some passages that drew me out of the story and into historical commentary, IMHO.

This started out quite strong for me and the last essay or two (?) Have seemed quite dull in comparison and a bit repetitive. I like the beginning because of the discussion of a gift economy/reciprocity. I ❤️the indigenous lore & science but her waxing poetic is too much at times . Also there is a heavy focus on mothers and while I appreciate and understand the sentiment, she seems to be adding an extra burden on women (maybe this time changes?).

TW for sexual assault (children). Multiple generations and families of dysfunction, secrets, sadness, and in the end love. I truly love these kinds of stories. Why? Because they are far more real (imo) than happy, go-lucky romances etc. A paper cut is not realistically the worst thing that happens in someone's life so why do I want to read a story like that? Life is complicated, tragic, full of hard, impossible choices and yet...love. ❤️

Nap trapped = lots of reading. Little dude decided yesterday and today that he won't sleep unless I'm there and, more importantly, nursing him. (& if he falls asleep, how dare mom cover herself in case he needs it 15, 20, 30min later 😜).
Thank god tho for this beautiful sweetness b/c WOW was I highly unprepared for this book! Maybe i should have looked closer at reviews? But I am enjoying it, even if it's heartbreaking & pushes where it hurts.

Little dude was two months yesterday! And doesn't he look so happy about being put into a greasy pizza box again for another photo shoot? ?
I read this many nights at bedtime and nursing stints throughout the nights and it kept me thoroughly engaged. Based on a true case from the late 1800s where a ghost "gave testimony" at her killer's trial, McCrumb does an amazing job at bringing all these various characters into real life??

Thanks for the tag @Eggs
I'd LOVE to own a bookshop and I'd love for it to have both have new and used with a special children's sections because I adore kids books oh & a good occult/tarot section!
There just has to be music but definitely low and chill, no words (too distracting from reading).
A downtown location in an old building or an older home would be the best locales and a small little coffee/pastry nook would be a must! 👇🏽

So I should have bailed toward the beginning when the main character just screamed older, bitter, white, cis man wants to whine about his terrible life and all the bad things that have happened to him and how he *deserves* so much better/more. But I hoped the plot would turn it around. IT DID NOT. This is NOT horrifying, except for just how terrible and fever-dream like this unexplained/unresolved plot becomes. It's annoying, at best.

I am a huge fan of RQ so rating this a So-So hurts me. But what can I say? The story just didn't really make sense (not did I care that much). I recognize I had a huge break between reading all the vol's but my opinion seems to be backed by others. The plot line took a turn that many seemed was way too difficult to follow. The ending suggested this wasn't The End but nothing has materialized yet. (Pic: 2 books from lib, finally got physical card!)

Forgot to review this one.
I found this one highly enjoyable! I did not see the first big "twist" coming nor could I have predicted the ending. But as the handy in-book therapist tells us is just that- we can't begin to imagine what's coming.
There was so much love between so many of these characters and yet also distrust- a complex story that also touches on our conceptions of female beauty etc.
Don't ignore the author's acknowledgements!

It's been a loooooooong break from the RQ & tbh I don't fully remember all that's going on, which might be good given what others have said. Bonus, I can't remember what the previous artwork looked like exactly so I'm happy with this vol's artwork lol.
I miss Vi & Dave & think this storyline was a little drawn out for the eventual punchline but I love this series so I forgive. Also I find Betty's arc a little...odd?
*Pic: dude's first time in crib