3.5 stars. This book started out great. I enjoyed the voices of the three main characters. The chapters alternated POV of the 2 girls and their aunt. Their aunt was a particularly nasty woman, almost cartoon like in her thoughts and actions. There was a definite paranormal edge to this book. I thought the 2nd half lost some steam. The ghostly hauntings became very repetitive, and the ending seemed like the easiest solution to the problem.

This book was surprisingly good. I was entertained the whole way, even though the actual mermen didn‘t appear until the latter part of the book. The design of the mermen was imaginative. I liked all the characters in the story and felt I learned things too.

Based on an urban legend about a video game that causes changes in people's brains, I was really excited to read this. This book was very tense, as the effects of the game begin to permeate the town. This book was very violent. It is awful to see how quickly a group of people can devolve into extreme violence. The scariest part of the book was how believable it was, that the government would destroy an entire town to cover up what happened there.

I had high hopes for this one. A mystery involving missing girls from a reservation. Unfortunately, this was a bit boring. The main character, Starr, was very unlikable and I felt no connection with her at all. Most of the supporting characters were not that great too. I was also disappointed in the Deer Woman. I was hoping it would bring a scary supernatural element to the story, but it was underwhelming. This book was ok, but not great for me.

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Saoirse moves to Rhode Island after the death of her husband. She moves into a historic house once owned by the poet Sarah Helen Whitman, a former fiance of Edgar Allen Poe. She soon becomes embroiled in a similar relationship with author Emmit Powell. Her new house is possibly haunted by the ghost of Sarah Whitman, and Saoirse tries to gain inspiration from her. This story was very interesting.

Another fun cozy mystery from author Jesse Q. Sutano. I enjoyed this one even more than the first Vera Wong book. Vera seemed a softer and more likable character this time. She gets involved in the current mystery by talking to a stranger. Vera has a way of drawing secrets from people. I liked all of her new suspects and how she learns to use social media. The ending made me feel happy.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher.

Starting today. Not only a 620 page book, but the font seems extra small!

The premise of the book was very interesting. But when the Glacians first arrived to get the human sacrifices, I thought they were dragons. I soon figured out that they were humanoids with wings. Even though the story took place mostly on icy mountains, I was getting tired of hearing about how cold they were. There was some sex but the writing felt juvenile So the book was good, but not as good as I wanted. I don't know if I will finish the series

Bentley Little is one of my favorite authors. He has a way of making me feel uneasy and disturbed by his story telling. This one, about an evil handyman named Frank was no exception. A couple times I had to put the book down because it was creeping me out. I liked all the side characters that we met along the way.

I am a big fan of RuPaul so I really enjoyed this one. He had an interesting life and I learned a lot about his upbringing. I was disappointed that he did not touch on his relationship with Michelle Visage, or with his Drag Race show. Hopefully that will be covered in another book.

This was a sweet book about the bonds of friendship. It bothered me when Sam and Sadie were fighting, and I was relieved when they made up. They were meant to be best friends. I also liked the intense focus they showed when developing video games.

Publication date 4/1/25. Teresa is a young woman with severe agoraphobia who does not want to leave the safety of her room. She spends most of her day livestreaming and watching other livestreamers. A paranormal entity is coming through the computer, possessing and killing whoever it can. Teresa tries to fight back to save her friends and herself. The story itself was intriguing but I didn‘t like the format of showing us the online chats.

A recently widowed woman and her 15 year old son go to an isolated cabin for Christmas. This is a meditation on grief. It is boring and the end makes absolutely no sense.

The beginning of the book was very good. The writing felt poetic and lyrical, and I loved it. I did not like the end, when it devolved into a "choose your own adventure" format. That felt cheap to me. The ending was as expected, given the nature of the book.

3.5 stars. I have heard of Eliot Ness, particularly through the Untouchables movie. I had not heard of the torso murders in Cleveland in the 1930's. Nor had I known of this period of Ness' life. This was an interesting story of a lawman who wanted to do some good in the world, and the huge manhunt that ensued for this killer. This was an interesting time in the United States. The book was very informative.

Book 9 of the Magical Mystery Book Club. In this one the book club goes to the Wonderland Universe, a magical amusement park. I am a big fan of amusement parks, and fiction set in them, so I was very excited to start this. Wonderland is an animal themepark, and all the animals are actually alive. This was so clever and such a fun story. The book club is investigating a series of robberies that on the surface seem impossible. This is a quick read.

“If a man hits you once, leave. It‘s never going to get any better.”

A wild, epic fantasy about a world doomed to darkness and the vampires that fight to rule. Gabriel's story continues, as he continues to protect Dior so she can fulfill the prophecy and put an end to the eternal night. This book is action filled, as our heroes constantly fight different vampires houses. The cruelty of the vampires is extreme, and there is very little happiness here. It is very intense and made me want to keep reading.

I have been watching RuPaul's Drag Race since season 1, and I have been a fan of Michelle Visage since season 3. She always has good advice and good criticisms for the drag queens. There was a lot I didn't know about her background, and this book helped fill me in. I loved the writing style of the book. It was very conversational and easy to read. I give this book 5 stars on the basis of how much of a fan I am.

Book 4 of the Black Harbor series. Hazel is lured back to Black Harbor after hearing of the death of her ex-husband. She wants to figure out why he was killed. While back, she rekindles her romance with detective Kole. The plot delves into the drug trade and we meet many unsavory characters. This book held my interest, and the resolution was a good one. Finding out who the big bad was, was a surprising reveal This was a good addition to the series

NetGalley pub 3/18/25

4.5 stars rounded up to 5. I loved this book. The beginning started a little slow, but once Cyra found the serial killer support group, I was all in. The story was psychologically tense, and there was a good amount of action at the end. I would read another book about Cyra if one becomes available in the future. I received a free copy from NetGalley and the publisher.

I love books about dragons and dragon riders. This book felt a little different in that most of the dragons were mean jerks and their riders not much better. In this world, dragon riders are revered but to be one means a painful death will happen probably sooner than later. These dragons can have many riders over their lifetimes.

I liked the story of Anahrod. I think my favorite parts were when she was in the jungle. That was fascinating.

Book 4 was my least favorite of the series, but this one (book5) was great. I had a really good time with this and enjoyed the progression of Finlay‘s relationship with Nick. The addition of Mrs. Haggerty to the house was a lot of fun, and I was glad to see Cam come back. This was a quick read for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

A collection of short stories plus a novella. The stories were good but not great. I would give this 3.5 stars. The novella, Danny Coughlin‘s Bad Dream, was good but felt like it went on too long. I wanted to see what happened but I started to lose interest towards the middle. My favorite stories were The Answer Man and The Turbulence Expert.

5 star book for me. The story was so engaging and I loved all the characters. Xiala and Serapios arc was my favorite part of the book. This was a fantasy novel with great world building. I can‘t wait to see what happens next for them. I‘ve already purchased the next two books in the series.

Book 7/13 of birthday haul, October 2024

I liked this book. I liked that the protagonists were older women. I liked the awakening of powers. Set in the current time, I like that the village of Myrtlewood is hidden from prying eyes and seems a place out of time. I like the relationship that is forming between Declan and Delia.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 because I am a fan of Yvie Oddly. This memoir touches mostly on her emergence as a drag queen through her time on RuPaul's Drag Race. As much as I enjoyed reading this, I feel this memoir will mostly be of interest to Drag Race or Yvie Oddly fans. The writing is just ok, and the chapter breaks aren't really interesting. But I'm glad I read it.

NetGalley pub 1/28/25

This is a sci-fi/fantasy/romance mash up. The storyline was unique. Jenn and her 2 children are spending the summer on the island where Jenn grew up. Jenn is trying to escape a bitter divorce and her husband. Things take a weird turn when sea monsters show up, along with a childhood friend of Jenn's that went missing years ago. I liked how Jenn became a "go with the flow" type of person as the story progressed.

A cute novella detailing Vero's life before she meets Finlay. She comes across as extremely smart, more so that I got in the main series. She needs a better life than being Finlay's sidekick. The beginning of the book was very heavy on exposition. The pace picked up towards the second half as Vero tries to discover who is stealing money from the bank. Overall this was a sweet look into her life and provides some background to her story.

I liked this. The story starts out in London, but transitions to a secluded island off of Norway. I really liked the elements of Nordic folklore in play here. The little people were a great addition. I am always fascinated with stories that take place in an isolated area so I loved the setting. There were some great characters here that I was rooting for.

A great murder mystery set at an elite high school boarding school. I loved the format of the story, told in alternating chapters between Amy, the roommate of the murdered girl, and Liz, a school newspaper reporter. As all eyes turn to Amy as a suspect, she and Liz both work on finding the real killer. The pacing was great. There was more than one suspect to make the reader question what happened. I enjoyed this one.

A really cool book about the inspiration for Dracula. Valtu is a centuries old vampire when he meets Dahlia, who just may be the reincarnation of his lost love. This book is very spicy and I was rooting for the two of them to get together. The story alternates between Valtu's and Dahlia's points of view. With a few flashbacks to Valtu‘s lost loves. This was a great read.

Creepy science fiction horror that seems very plausible. I would totally see this scenario happening in the future. Scientists looking for rare minerals dig too deep and unleash a contagion upon the world. They then try to stop it from reaching the rest of the world. Well written and disturbing. This was fast paced.

Bentley Little is one of my favorite authors. This one features two high school students, Penelope and Dion, as they learn they are destined to bring about the return of an Ancient Greek god. There is a lot of violence and sex in this book, so much so that I became kind of numb to it. The first half of the book was great with a good plot. The second half was where most of the action was. I recommend this book to fans of the author.

The opening chapter is the end of the book. We learn everybody is dead or missing. It takes away any sense of urgency to the story. Just waiting to see how everyone will die. And listen to your dogs. They know when you shouldn‘t be somewhere.

Book 1/13 of my birthday haul.

3.5 stars. Sometimes good sometimes boring. I liked the parts with Rudyard the mad scientist the best. Not my favorite of his books. A lot of graphic body horror.

I really want to like Stephen Graham Jones but so far I haven‘t been impressed. This is a book of short horror stories. It started out pretty good and I enjoyed the first few stories. Then it went downhill and I really didn‘t like the last few stories. I was disappointed.

I liked this book. not quite as much as the first one, but still enough to want to continue the series. I love the sarcastic tone and the comedy to the story. She only kills people who deserve it, like rapists and pedophiles. I like the way she frames other people for her crimes, but it seems like it is all going to fall apart on her soon. I did not like that she was pregnant. I liked the way the ending set up for new adventures.

I received a free copy from the Cozy Mystery Review Crew. I voluntarily wrote a review.

A nice cozy mystery set in the Deputy Donut Coffee Shop. I really liked Emily and her husband Brent‘s relationship. The main characters were likable and there were a lot of suspects. It almost became too much towards the end trying to keep all the suspects straight. It felt like the ending was a bit rushed. Overall this is a series I am happy to continue.

From chapter 1, this book disturbed me. These people have space travel and have colonized the moon, yet still treat the women like crap. This book had a lot of big ideas that fascinated me. I wanted the story to keep on going, so I could learn more of Veronica's metamorphosis. I liked the exploration of memories and how easily they can be changed.

This was fun to read. I devoured the last third of the book, as the twists kept coming. I had three different suspects for the murderer, changing my theory as new information was received.

Written in a conversational style that is easy to read. The story was very frustrating, that Charlie was able to kill so many people for so many years and get away with it. When he was finally captured, it was a relief. The ending chapters felt a little rushed.

I liked this collection better than Cursed Bunny. I liked all the stories except Your Utopia and To Meet Her. Your Utopia was boring, and To Meet Her was confusing. The rest were interesting and thought provoking.

3.5 stars.

First off, I would not classify this as horror. This is a mystery story mixed with historical fiction. I liked the chapters set in the past more than the current ones. This is the story of the Red Grove community, a safe haven for women and children. It feels very much like a commune and seems like a great place to live, but also a place of secrets.

This book was so fun to read. The Icelandic setting was wonderful and the descriptions were beautiful. The mystery was a good one too. It kept me guessing until the end. I liked the main character Julia.

Based on the title, I thought this would be about street walkers. Turns out a Painted Lady refers to the old Victorian style mansions in town. So Alex, the main character, is fixing up one of the Painted Ladies. Also there is a murder mystery and some missing diamonds. This was a fun read and I liked the main characters. I liked the big reveal of the murderer at the end.

Marlene is not the most likable person, but truthfully, I don't know if I would have done any better than her in the beginning. Why are they alive when so many others are not. They are close enough to a town that proximity should not have had any bearing on whether they lived or died. And WTF was that ending. Marlene did not come across as noble, just stupid. It ruined the book for me.

There were a few good stories, but most were not that great. Maybe it's time to admit I don't like Lovecraftian fiction.

3.5 stars

Loved this book but thought the ending was a little rushed. The paranormal investigation team was a surprise I was not expecting. The head of Strident house was a very complex person with many layers. This book held my interest all the way through.

And a surprise appearance by Walter!

8-31-2024
My second read through. Since the first time, I have become a big fan of Anthony Bourdain. I really enjoy his show No Reservations. I feel very bittersweet watching it, knowing that he committed suicide. This book is well worth reading.

1-9-2016
I enjoyed this book. It was definitely a shocking look into the restaurant business. After reading about Anthony's experiences, I am surprised that anyone wants a career in the culinary arts.