Well, I needed to continue once I realised it was a series but it pretty much confirmed how I felt about Mitzy and especially Ava. This one went quick but also felt like it didn't need to be that long because really it didn't seem like much happened. Oh, Nora Vale is an annoying character as well but Kevin's lack of agency around her is far more aggravating.

Might be my first EH and it is a little standard-romance-y but I still blew threw it and enjoyed it. My least fave characters are Mitzy (sp? I listen to audio) and Ava to be sure. Ava is top least fave, her dilemma is quite possibly the most trite and the way the narrator has her say “mommy“ smacks of being 6yo. It's weird.

I was hooked after a short time with this one, surprisingly. I didn't always enjoy Hannah's character or her way of going about things but I really liked Bailey and the story. I particularly enjoyed Bailey's relationship with Hannah because it seemed a genuine depiction of that kind of forced relationship where the teen is uncomfortable and acting like a normal teen, not like a complete ass.

Yet another audio that got us through November; some mystery, some intrigue, how reliable are these narrators (particularly mom), trauma on trauma....so much going on and I definitely wanted to know what was up by the end. I saw some of it coming but was surprised by a good twist. I will say, in comparison to Push, I liked Push more (and that felt more realistic than this).

Yet another book that accompanied us through what seems like a mostly ill-November.
This was a quick little horror and had a certain charm about it- how could an English manor house not be charming?
I like this “new“ take on the traditional Christmas ghost stories.

Enjoyed this book keeping me company while taking care of not only the little sickie but me too.
I'm a fan of family dramas and this family has their fair share- the end wasn't a complete shocker but I didn't guess it super early on. I thought maybe some of the storyline stretched beyond what I believe people would do IRL but then, people do the craziest shit sometimes, so what do I know? Lol

Ok, this is not my usual jam and yet, I found myself enjoying it up until the “twist“ that keeps the MC & love interest apart that really would have just been solved by a simple question. The “meta“ nature of the MC being the formulaic romance screenwriter is amusing but also kind of does spoil an ending....a bit. But if you want an easy read, especially if you're spending most of the day and night caring for a sick little, this is it.

It took me a bit to get into this but once I was, I was hooked. There were definite twists I spotted ahead of time (wanting to scream at MC) but at least one I didn't (hello, ending ending). I kind of liked how this story really wasn't about what I thought it was going to be about.
(Labyrinth inspired Halloween costume)

I did not realise this was a series- can totally go in blind though and easily “catch up“. I was intrigued by the cover at the Lib & this is a case where maybe I could've been more discerning. I didn't really feel like the characters made life like choices, particularly Rarity. I also felt the attention to her dog was odd, out of place. Plus the narration annoyed me haha

A gothic retelling, not that I know the OG. Which maybe makes it better to come to it with an open mind, since I can't compare. In any case, I enjoyed this, gothic fungi fix 😂 Easton and Potter clearly my faves 💚
I didn't know it was a series until the end had a clip of the sequel and I'll definitely be putting that in the line up.

What's scarier than a 🦈? Haha, well these stories for one. This collection is great. There were maybe only one or two stories that didn't grab me; the rest gave me little chills or left me wondering (or both). I liked that it included stories that were based on traditional myths and rituals as well as speculative pieces. Great for getting in that Halloween mood 🎃

This took a bit to get into and at times I felt the pacing was too slow. That said, it was twisty and I didn't guess many of the twists or the ultimate ending. Though really, when seemingly everyone wants to murder someone, it is hard to place bets on THE murderer. Anyone else want to both choke and throw up at “initial“ Leo? He grew on me....

It took me a bit longer than normal to get into the book, but I did. I could see what was coming a mile away, though I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to be shocking. The MC's naivete just about drove me nuts a few times though. This gave me such Rory vibes from The Gilmore Girls- naivete and all. The end was definitely lackluster...and yet realistic, in part at least.

This is a beautiful collection of essays that span place and time and ideas of borders, belonging, invasion, and conquering.
I am not one to read much non-fiction but this kept me engaged and both resonated with me as well as provoked more questions.

At first I forgot who the author was but it quickly became apparent to me as Armstrong's usual style shines through. I prefer the Rockton series to this-didn't feel that horrific or that “true“. I also guessed what was happening well before it was stated and that doesn't happen a lot in her Rockton/Haven's series. But still, a good, quick read.
Oh I can't help with hemlock poisoning but if you touch poison ivy you can put on some jewelweed (pic)!

I really feel this has all the elements I like and I feel I gave it a fair shot- about quarter of the way through. I thought even the narration was good but for some reason I just couldn't get into this story. I found my mind wandering every single time I put it on.
A sad bail.
I'm sure it's not bad 🤔

Ok, so, I realize there are similarities btw this and the last booked I just bailed on. HOWEVER, this book does not pretend to have decent people, it's right there in the title! Also, I still liked some of them and the plot was more intriguing from the get go & held some surprises along the wat. There are quite a few characters so on audio, at times, it was a little confusing (but maybe it's more due to juggling a toddler... Lol).

16% through & life's too short.
All characters immediately detestable (pretty much). I would say the rich ones are entitled & self centered, which they are but somehow even the other ones are too. What kind of 50-some y.o.s still act like they are in highschool and actually maintain friendships? This confounds me tbh. In reality if I wouldn't give condolences to someone for losing a spouse, I'm not spending a weekend with them. Wth.

I enjoyed this intimate look at the “peak of the storm“ of a couple's marriage set within the backdrop of an actual winter storm. It definitely has the atmosphere of time stopping a chance to pause and reflect, which they do with multiple flashbacks. I didnt mind the shifting in POV especially because the narrators changed for the audio. I liked and understood most of the subplots but maybe not Tripp's?

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.