I love Stephen king. There‘s nothing more cozy than a rainy/snowy day and sitting on the couch reading a King novel. While I‘ve read a couple of these stories before, most of them I never have. And these are OG King!

Like any short story compilation, there are hits and misses. It was fun reading the ones that‘ve been made into movies (Lawnmower Man I had to look up, because that movie‘s only similarity is the title. Apparently King…

I mean…it was fine. Maybe it was the time in my life I read it, which was immediately after rotator cuff surgery, so I‘ve been high on pain meds while reading. Maybe it would‘ve been better in different, sober circumstances? But I wanted something easy and kinda fluffy for this, and that‘s what I got. I did come close to dnf‘ing, because I didn‘t really care about the whole mystery. But I kept with it, and it was worth the payout.

Super quick read. I like Lucy‘s inner monologue; she‘s dark, but also funny. And I did not guess who the murderer is! Question: why was every chapter headed “Lucy” when there was no one else‘s perspective?

Somehow I‘ve never read this. I‘ve seen the movies, preferring the OG, a they‘re good, but vampires don‘t really scare me. This, though…had some creepy moments. I expect nothing less from Uncle Stevie!

I can‘t tell if this book was so familiar because I‘ve actually read it before or because it‘s so similar to all the other domestic thrillers I‘ve read. Either way, it was a fun quick read, with a cool twist in the middle.

What a wild ride! I almost shouted several times in surprise/frustration. The twists kept coming, and I swear this book had like 37 endings. Every time you think it‘s over, something else.

So… this wasn‘t my favorite. Big spoilers coming.

I do not like the “who will she marry” trope. It really bothered me in the last book that Ranger was willing to sleep with her even though he knew she was in a relationship with Joe. And it bothered me that she also was willing. Then in this one, she kind of strings them both along.

Also, I do not like pregnancy used as a plot device like this.

Favorite book of October!

What. In the world. Did I just read. Holy crap. That was a wild, tense, dark ride, and the ending was insane, and…I‘m here for it?

This was fun. It didn‘t have quite as an explosive ending as I was anticipating, but there were a couple fun twists. I liked Hidden Pictures better.

This was mentioned in a NYT article, so I decided to try it, and I‘m so glad I did. This is such different world building, and I loved it. I‘m not sure how I feel about the ribbons, or the term “saddle,” but I‘ll def be reading the rest of the series.

I feel like this is an allegory for illnesses, like cancer and dementia. Tomes where people have to watch their loved ones change, suffer, and inevitably leave. It‘s heartbreaking. The story is beautifully written, and while sad, also hopeful and with love.

Ranger. Morelli. Ranger. Morelli. Personally, I‘d go with Ranger. Which one will Stephanie choose??

This was absolutely adorable. I love Oskar and Guinevere! I‘ve never heard of Critical Role, but the author mentioned it in the afterword. I assume this book is about two of the characters from it? I don‘t know. It doesn‘t matter, because this was so good and I want more stories from this! I want to see O and G go back to his mother‘s land. I want them to get married. Maybe meet some more adventurers. And some more 🌶️🌶️🌶️, cuz that was great!

Look. Are the Stephanie Plum books kind of all the same thing? Yes. Do I love them and get cozy comfort from them? Also yes. I love both Ranger and Morelli; who will she choose?? Personally, I‘d pick Ranger. Also, I love seeing more Bella!

Thanks to Lexy Night for picking me to have an ARC! I loved To No End so much, and I‘ve been waiting impatiently for this. I needed more Cress and Varro!

So here are my thoughts. I love the journey we‘re going on with the characters. I appreciate that we get to see their character evolutions more fleshed out, instead of skipping or montage scenes. In the first book, I enjoyed Cress‘s last month before leaving; here I had fun…

Surprisingly quick read, though it was partially because I was so invested. I even looked at the end at one point, just so I could be prepared for the ending, whichever way it went. Would recommend!

This was a fun, quick read. I kind of had the murderer figured out, but I still enjoyed the ride. The end was WAY too abrupt though. It was like ‘build up, build up, BUILD UP CLIMAX over. Aso here‘s the murderer.‘ Kind of anti-climatic.

I‘m a little it‘s getting this out, but this was my favorite read of last month.

I liked it. Part supernatural, part mystery, a lot sadder than I anticipated.

Maybe 3 1/2? I really, really wanted to like this one. The book itself is gorgeous, and there‘s a map, so I bought it. I‘m a sucker for a map. The world-building was really cool. But the characters…I didn‘t like Nina or Patrick. Or Theo. Or anyone except Donnie. And I was expecting a LOT more spice; there was hardly any. But then again, if there had been more spice, I wouldn‘t have enjoyed it (👀) because I didn‘t like Nina or Patrick.

I loved this. I loved the reverse mafia plot, I loved how at one point Nate fantasized about being a stay-at-home dad, I loved the spice. I was shipping the idea of Mary and Jenna, but I‘ll still be here for the next book. Maybe it‘ll still have more of Jenna. 100% recommend this!

This was a powerful, touching and sad story. A quick read, but difficult. 💔

This was like someone went on creepypasta and copied and pasted stories from it into an anthology. It was fine, lots of grammar issues.

The second book in this series. It‘s been 28 years since the first book, and Maude and Owen are heading back to New Orleans. To HIM. It wasn‘t nearly as good nor as spicy as the first one, and had a lot of grammar issues. But it‘s a fun story. Scavenger on the Run, by S. A. Burd

This was a perfectly acceptable story. I know that sounds bland, but that‘s how I feel about the story. I enjoyed it, but I probably won‘t remember it. I did look up the art the pieces in the story are based on, and real pieces mentioned, and for that I‘m very grateful. I especially loved Joan of Arc, by Jules Bastien-Lepage. And I find Fragments of a Queen‘s Face so intriguing! The art pushes this from so-so to pick.

I don‘t know. Like, the world building is amazing, like all Sanderson‘s books. But it kinda fell flat? I didn‘t really like any of the characters, even though the world was really cool. It‘s a quick read, which is good, but if it was a series I would not read more. So I guess it‘s a good thing it‘s a one-off.

As long as I age the characters in my head, my fav of August!

I stared at the cover for waaaaaay too long. 😍 Could‘ve used more 🌶️🌶️🌶️

This was good! There were no grammar issues, which I love. The story was great, had some creepy moments, and it‘s an easy read. I did get a little tired of the asides? Not sure what to call them? Like all through the book, if a character was about to die (or something happen around them), we‘d get several pages of their backstory. Even toward the end of the book, there‘d be a break for a backstory…cont

Well. That was fantastic. I need Hadriel to be my bestie in real life. I loved Finley‘s inner monologue, and how she talks to an audience. Nyfain is not my favorite name, but I get that Welsh/Nordic/Irish etc names are super popular in romantasy right now.

I honestly feel like I‘ve read this before. I had the end figured out very close to the beginning, so…maybe I read it before? Or is it super similar to other domestic thrillers? Still, I enjoyed it. Suuuuuper fast read; I started it last night, finished it tonight.

Here‘s the thing. Not knowing what the omegaverse was, I legit thought I had bought a werewolf book. Then I opened the book to the Omegaverse cheat sheet at the very front, and it said none of the humans are shifters. What? What did I buy?? What‘s an omegaverse??

So I jumped in, like let‘s do this! Now, having finished it, I‘m not sure this is my thing. I would‘ve liked it a lot more if they were werewolves. But I like why-choose and RH—cont.

This was a lot sweeter than I anticipated. Rourke and violet are super cute, even if her job is…interesting. I very much enjoyed this book!

I loved this. I loved the witchcraft, and world building g around it. I was invested in the story, with Jude being my favorite character. It was heartbreaking, and uplifting, and strengthening, and all the feelings. Plus some great body horror. My only complaint is the age of the girls. They in no way seemed 17; I think it would‘ve worked better if they‘d been maybe early to mid twenties. Or even in college, at the least. But not nigh school age.

The Three Ring Scavenger by S.A. Burd. I got this, plus the other two in the trilogy, from the author at a romance book con. And I throughly enjoyed it! I think it could be fleshed out and longer, but the world-building is very cool. And the spice is 🌶️🌶️🌶️ Synopsis from back cover: A vampire and a demon walk into a brothel, but they‘re not looking for services. They‘re looking for her…to offer her immortality. Cont…

I have very mixed feelings about this. I love Grady Hendrix I love everything I‘ve read by him. And honestly, I loved this book. The story was so good, and I really cared about the characters.

At the same time, I‘m not sure how to feel about a man writing about the female experience. Don‘t get me wrong, he nailed it. It felt like a woman wrote it. Based on the acknowledgements in the back of the book, it seems like he had lots of women helping…

Books of Horror Indie Author Brawl! This was a fun, quick read. The gore was satisfying and the story was great. Definitely recommend!

This was super cute and fun! I‘m not a fan of any of the names of the Winston boys (Jethro? CLETUS??), but I love all their personalities. The book could‘ve used more 🌶️🌶️🌶️, but I still very much enjoyed it.

Best read of July!

I don‘t know if I just kept zoning out or what, but I was confused for most of the book. At the same time, I didn‘t need so much explanation of what a fingerprint is and how it‘s made to understand that the prints belonged to certain people. Or the science behind a taser to understand that it took someone down. There was a lot of unnecessary explaining things. Which is probably why I kept zoning out, and then was consequently confused…

Books of Horror Indie Author Brawl! Interesting story, lots of grammar issues.

I decided to read this after listening to an episode of the podcast Sawbones where they discuss stinging insects. I never imagined I would learn this much about bugs, or that I would enjoy the learning. But here we are, and now I have even more fear (and respect) for stinging things. And this author was insane. I can‘t imagine letting anything sting me just to see how painful it is. But it makes for a good story!

Cute book, very much like Goosebumps. Middle school me would have loved it.

What a fun ride! Super quick read; when each chapter is like 3 pages, it‘s easy to go “one more chapter!” until the book is finished.

Books of Horror Indie Author Brawl! Look, I didn‘t finish it. Not because it‘s bad—actually, it‘s good. REALLY good. The premise of the story, necrophilia with consent being legalized, is scarily realistic. But it was the necrophilia itself I couldn‘t handle. Plus, I had some feelings about the narrator, and looking up the ending I was right. And I‘m not in a place to read that right now. But for everyone into extreme horror with…

I did not enjoy this. Calaena was incredibly annoying; in between he thinking how she could kill everyone and thinking how beautiful she was in her dresses, she pouted and flirted acted like a child. Which I guess she is, because she‘s only 18. The scene where she ate the candy was just awful. The romance between potential suitors was almost an afterthought, stuck in as random paragraphs during training or fights. I‘ll take ACOTAR instead.

I almost stopped reading it, because it seemed like maybe too much for me. An autistic non-verbal child being abused? Not while I‘m on vacation. But I‘m glad I stick with, because it was much more that. The story was sad, hopeful, and at times creepy. While it could use a touch of editing, it was a beautiful horror story.

Loved it! Everything Junji Ito is amazing.