Charlie is in a really shitty place in life when he hears his super wealthy, estranged uncle died. Then, his uncle‘s assistant shows up on his doorstep to ask him to host the funeral.
This sets off a series of events that Charlie could never imagine including spy cats, guard dolphins in the middle of a labor dispute, and a secret society of villains who all know his name.

Audiobooks narrated by Wil Wheaton are always a yes for me.

Based on The Adventure Zone podcast, the McElroy brothers learn how to play Dungeons & Dragons with hilarious results.
In the first installment of the series, fighter Magnus, wizard Taako, and cleric Merle are on the mission to deliver goods and rescue Merle‘s cousins but cause a whole bunch of damage as they murder-hobo their way through the countryside.

Jules is still trying to bounce back from her horrible breakup and broken engagement so when awkward Will, her neighbor‘s college friend, admits he needs help finding a wife, she thinks he‘s the safe choice to practice with to help her prepare to start dating again.

Neither of them anticipated being perfect for each other.

It wasn‘t bad but it felt kind of anticlimactic. Christopher still gives me the ick.

The 6th level takes the crawlers to the Hunting Grounds, where the universe‘s wealthiest families and organizations can send members to kill crawlers with abandon.
But they‘ve never met Carl before. He makes it his personal mission to kill as many hunters as possible, which paints an even bigger target on his back and makes things uncomfortable when crawlers and hunters meet at the Butcher‘s Masquerade right before the floor collapses.

A look at the funny side of death including historic funerary practices, unhinged obituaries, unusual funerals, and out-of-pocket deathbed confessions.
If you‘re a fan of Caitlin Doughty, you‘ll enjoy this book.

A reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn told from Jim‘s point of view, it brings to the forefront how enslaved people were treated in the pre-Civil War era south.
When Jim finds out he‘s to be sold, he runs away. After a series of encounters with strangers (some good, most bad), he returns home just to find out his family had been sold. This changes his mission from escape to rescue.

Everybody should read it at least once.

The queen of crime takes the closed door murder mystery to a whole new level when all nine people trapped on an island are found dead, all from different methods and at different times.

Even with the explanation, I‘m still not 100% sure I know what happened. Absolutely masterful.

Stein traveled around the world to document the last keepers of traditional crafts and knowledge. From the last 19 people who know how to make sacred mirrors in India, to the 3 women who make the most intricate pasta ever in Sardinia, to the handful of people who keep their bees informed of family events. Sadly, the craft may be lost in the next generations but the fact they existed will be saved.

An absolutely incredible book! I learned so much.

Michelle‘s mother always had the highest expectations of her and it often caused tension between them but the one thing they always bonded over was food.
When her mom was diagnosed with cancer, it changed Michelle‘s relationship with nearly everybody in her life and with food. When her mom passed, it forced her to find a new path for herself and come to terms with her relationship with her mom.

Read with tissues.

Amazing fairytale about two sisters whose bond is so strong that they are still connected even beyond death.
The magic in their music keeps the willows alive that guard the portal to the realm of the Fairies and brought one sister love. Their music would bring them together again and supply justice.

Definitely listen to the audiobook. The narrator has a wonderful singing voice supported by the author and her own sister on harp and flute.

The youngest of the Brown sisters tends to bounce from one occupation or hobby to the next but when a wedding she plans goes wrong, her parents cut her off until she finds a job and sticks with it.
While on a drive, Eve stumbles upon a b&b in need of a chef. When she accidentally hits the owner with her car and breaks his arm, she gets the job by default.

Really great autism rep, lots of laugh out loud moments, and fun enemies-to-lovers romance.

Threadmender Edira has the ability to cure nearly any ailment but she must keep her skills a secret so she is not taken by the Evers, a group of powerful magical immortals. When the leader of the Fernglove Evers discovers her secret and asks her to help him cure the incurable blight that has infected her brothers and his grandmother, she‘s thrown into games that are well beyond her.
Gothic and atmospheric vibes cranked up to 11.

Dani Brown is hardworking, driven, and has no time for relationships, but when her super hot, anxious, rugby-playing security guard friend Zaf asks her to be his fake girlfriend to help his charity, she takes it as a sign to scratch a particular itch with no strings attached. She didn‘t count on falling for him.

Such great characters all around and laugh-out-loud hilarious.

This hilarious epistolary novel is full of snark, literary references, and a surprising amount of heart.

Jason Fitger is a lit/creative writing professor at a small college and he is plagued with requests for letters of recommendations for students and colleagues. He is also on a mission to get his star pupil published, get in his ex-wife‘s good graces, and make everybody hate the economics department as much as he does.

Danny is a struggling musician when a barfight ends with him waking up in a magical land far from home. With the dubious guidance of Screenie and supportive, yet often confusing, friendship of Curr, Danny is on a mission to get his magic lute back, stop the undead hoard, and finally figure out how the hell his stats work.

Another fun example of the litRPG genre.

Kris, youngest son of the Christmas king plays a prank on a fellow student at Uni. He‘s the most surprised when that student turns out being Lochlann, the prince of St. Patrick‘s Day. When he goes to Ireland to apologize and investigate who is stealing Christmas‘ magic, he wasn‘t expecting to fall in love.
Fewer politics than the first one and much more sibling/friend dynamics which I enjoyed.

In a post-World War 1 world, the KKK is rising in power spurned on by unworldly demons. Using Birth of a Nation to bring more people to their cause, the Klan has big plans for humanity.
Standing between the demons and world domination are Maryse with her magic sword, sharp-shooter Sadie, and explosive expert Chef, they‘re tasked with doing everything they can to stop them.

Oof. This book was eye opening and I learned so much from reading it.
Looking at American politics through the lens of women‘s anger and how women have been able to use that anger to shape their future.
Traister spent most of the book examining the 2018 election and it was eerie how much we did not learn from that during the 2024 election.

Marigold leaves everything behind to join her grandma on Innisfree to train as the next honey witch to protect the island from the mysterious ash witch.

Overall it was delightful but the pacing seemed off and the magic and conflict didn‘t feel as thought out or deep as it could‘ve been. It felt like something was missing.

I found this book about the six women rulers of Egypt very interesting, although at some times it felt a little tilted rather than neutral fact.
It, of course, covered the more well-known women like Nefertiti, Hatshepsut, and Cleopatra, but I really enjoyed learning about the lesser known women rulers: Merneith, Neferusobek, and Tawisret.

Simi is Mami Wata, a mermaid who serves one of the goddesses of the sea and her mission is to save the souls of those who die on the slave ships. When she breaks the rules and rescues a living boy, it tosses her more into the world of the divine and makes her the target of the messenger of the gods.
Beautiful tale utilizing African mythology and interesting characters. Cannot wait for the sequel.

I liked it overall but there was basically nobody in it who wasn‘t a raging, horny bisexual. It really leaned into that stereotype for nearly every character except Orla who was thankfully faithful to her wife.
The travel and food portion was interesting but the characters were kind of one-dimensional.
If all you want is a light, spicy romp around Europe, this is for you, otherwise look elsewhere.

Fictionalized rise and fall of Giulia Tofana from abused child to successful entrepreneur to prisoner of the church.

2.5/5 right in the middle. I liked the history of it and the distinct personalities each woman had but I don‘t think the style of writing itself was for me. It was a lot of internal monologuing and I kind of got bored with that after a while.

It also needs a child SA trigger warning

This collection of articles Douglas has written for various publications over the years includes such mysteries as the dead lake high in the Himalayas, possibly cannibalistic prehistoric Native Americans, the Dyatlov Pass, and, of course, the lost Egyptian tomb.
Such a good read for those interested in archaeology, anthropology, and historic mysteries.

Green explores a number of British villages that have disappeared from history. Some from natural causes such as floods, earthquakes, and the rising sea. Some from more human causes like corporate greed.

“Our actions are judged by men in hoods who represent a church that does not recognize us except as sinners and she-devils.”

On the morning that Hanna takes over running her family‘s magical pawnshop, she wakes to find it ransacked and her father missing. With real-world physicist Kei in tow, Hanna sets off to find her father, find the truth about her mother, and return what her father stole.
Traveling by puddle, dream, paper crane, boat, among others, the pair follow her father‘s path through different worlds while being chased by the Shiikuin who also seek her father.

Like a plot out of a 1950s noir film, Rail investigates the man exposed by a group of connoisseurs as the absinthe forger.
Using his knowledge of pre-ban and modern absinthes, Christian managed to blend various vintages and herbs in his own recipe that was a good dupe for a pre-ban absinthe that he bottled and sold as originals.
I learned so much about absinthe and all the legalities around the “green fairy.”

Cathy works as a grim reaper for SCYTHE, the corporation that collects the souls of the dead. When one of her natural death cases refuses to come with her and convinces her he was murdered, she goes against her nature and does everything she can to help him all while dealing with a divorce and an unplanned pregnancy.

I couldn‘t help but compare it to First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones and how Charlie did it better.

Coal is the Christmas heir but also the family fuck-up, no matter how much he tries to clean up his act. When Santa forces him into an arranged engagement with his BFF, the Easter princess, he didn‘t expect his rival would be his drunken mystery kiss from years earlier, who is also Hex, the Halloween prince.

Way more political than I was expecting but it was cute. Very Hallmark Christmas movie meets Red White & Royal Blue and Boyfriend Material.

Sue Black is kind of like the Scottish Bones but with fewer near-death experiences.
As a forensic anthropologist, Black‘s job is to read human remains and tell the story of the decedent‘s life and death. Going part by part, she talks about how the human body is formed, how they‘re affected in life, and what they can tell her after death.
Incredibly interesting but it made me terrified of the human body. 😅

When monk Brother Nicephorus has a dream about St. Nicholas, his superiors take it as a sign to bring the saint‘s remains back to Bari, Italy. Relic-hunter Tyun is hired to lead the expedition and the party races against hunters from another church to reach the blessed bones first.
Heist and hijinks, religion and slight sacrilege, I really enjoyed this kinda true, kinda queer tale.

Short of options and money, Ellie agrees to be her landlord‘s fake fiancée so he can get his inheritance and he‘ll pay her a percentage. One of the requirements of the deal was spending Christmas with his family but when Andrew‘s sister Jack arrives, she‘s the same person Ellie had a life-changing date with the year before.

Overall, pretty meh. A conversation would‘ve cleared everything up for everybody, but the grandmas were great.

Introvert-to-the-extreme Kiela has found purpose in her job as a librarian but when rebels set the building on fire, she escapes with 5 crates of spellbooks and Caz, her only friend who is also a sentient spider plant. Without a place to go, she returns to the island where she was born.
Short on funds and skills, she turns to the spellbooks and builds herself a successful jam business and life.
So cozy and delightful.

Esme‘s entire life has been about words. Her father was an assistant editor on the first Oxford English Dictionary and she grew up playing under the table where the editors worked.
When she starts collecting rejected words, most of which are used primarily by women or lower class people, she finds purpose.

I felt like it spent way too much time on her childhood and it wasn‘t quite what I was expecting from the blurb.

When a body falls out of Hal‘s pear tree, a victim of a horrible ski pole attack that ended in the ski lift, she and Hobbs are hot on the trail of yet another killer in their Christmas-obsessed hamlet of Marshmallow Hallow.
The investigation is eased by Hobb‘s new knowledge of Hal‘s magic and word running around town of Hal‘s other successful investigations endeavors.

E. Cidnosin witnesses strange, giant eel-like creatures and starts a correspondence with scholar Henerey Clel. This leads to investigating a mysterious structure and the pair‘s disappearance.
E.‘s sister Sophy and Henerey‘s brother Vyerin delve into their siblings‘ exchanged letters to find out what happened.

If you want something different, cozy with a good mystery, academia with some excitement, all told in letter format, this is for you.

Lowen is a struggling author and finds a lifeline in the form of Jeremy Crawford who is looking for an author to finish his injured wife, Verity‘s, bestselling series. Lowen agrees and goes to the Crawford home to search Verity‘s study but found things that had her questioning everything.
Major Jane Eyre/Rebecca vibes. Every character is a terrible person but the plot kept me engaged.

Ghosts scare rich miser into becoming a decent human and sharing his wealth.
I can‘t think of a time when this message isn‘t sorely needed.

I‘ve seen a number of movie adaptations dozens of times but this is the first time I‘ve read the book. I really enjoyed this version narrated by Hugh Grant.

Kitty is a viral cat sitter and pet whisperer. Miles is a statistician for a hockey team and looking for someone to take care of his mom‘s problem cat while she‘s in the hospital.
Fairly predictable HEA but there were some good, funny moments. There was a lot of cringey moments too and some of the dialogue was pretty terrible.

As a life-long Midwesterner, I don‘t think Phillips could have nailed us better.
From ope to the Midwestern goodbye, garage fridges and casseroles of all kinds, this book would help anybody understand their loved ones from the flyover states.
And for any of my fellow Midwesterners, it‘s so accurate it‘s painful. 😅

Kari has had a tough life & it‘s about to get worse.
When her cousin, Debby, gives her a bracelet from her mom who disappeared when Kari was two days old, she starts getting visions of her mother & the Lofa, a monster from Native American folklore.
It sets Kari on the path to finding out what happened to her mom, allowing herself to finally heal from her friend‘s death, & restructure her relationship with her family.
Slow start but it got better.

I loved this short story collection so much!
From people who are able to harvest magic from the dead and to teens trying to save humankind, people fighting for their royal loves, to a fantastic retelling of Rapunzel, there wasn‘t a single miss in the whole book.
While it‘s technically YA, it has more than enough to keep adult readers engaged, in fact I was half way through it before I knew it was YA.

Saoirse Island is magic and witches practice openly. When Lily Morgan is found dead and the Salt family orchard, the island‘s lifeblood, burns, island life is irreparably changed.
August Salt and his mother flee the island in the shadow of rumors and Emery is left to pick up the pieces at the dual loss of her best friend and boyfriend.
14 years later, August returns and the island finally has to face its past.

I really enjoyed learning more about Harris and her early days in politics. It also helped me understand more of what was going on in the early 2000‘s, much of the aftermath we are still feeling.
It helped humanize her both inside and outside the political sphere and makes me even sadder about how the election went.
💙

Just a few years after the end of WWII, pregnant Charlie is sent to Europe to rectify her “situation” but she takes the opportunity to track down her cousin who went missing in Nazi-occupied France. She recruits Londoner Eve to help.
Eve has spent the last few decades trying to recover from her time as a spy during WWI and agrees to help Charlie in the hopes it will lead to her revenge against the man who betrayed her.

Bailed at 56%
I wanted to like this book. The historical stuff is impeccable but it got kind of repetitive and I really didn‘t care about Jake/George.
If I had had only a few hours left, I would‘ve soldiered on but I couldn‘t make myself finish the last 13.5 hours.

More historical romance than horror but it doesnt detract from the lush emotion & suspense in this gothic story.
When Nena & Nestor are attacked by a mysterious monster as children, Nestor flees, assuming his actions caused Nena‘s death. 9 years later, he returns as men from the rancho ride to defend Mexico from invaders.
Nena goes with to provide first aid, only to flee from Yanquis & the same monsters that nearly killed her when she was a child.

Told in dual timelines, this book follows Silvestre Swan, the keeper of Newfoundland‘s Swan lighthouse in 1913. When family politics get in the way of funding, he knows the lighthouse‘s days are numbered.
2014 brings Mari Adams in her search for the wreck of the Californian. To ensure the funding for her passion project, she accepts the job to find the story behind Swan Light.
Bittersweet with wonderful characters.

Detective Poirot has his work cut out for him when a man is found murdered just a few doors away. He and a wild cast of characters are snowed in and without access to regular law enforcement, it is up to Poirot to solve the crime.
Some of the leaps in logic felt a bit contrived but I was listening to the audio book so I might‘ve missed some things that made them make more sense.
Xenophobia aside (ahh the 1930s), I had a good time.