This pic needs to be more explicit. 🤭

Jason and Ahmed are nurses & coworkers. Jason has long had a crush on Ahmed but unfortunately Ahmed has a downer boyfriend, Mark. They visit the Carnival of Mysteries something something doesn‘t really matter

When Mark & Ahed break up it‘s open season on each other‘s bodies. They can now share each other‘s love & bodies. Mostly the latter, explicitly

Tasteful but wing dings & tongues a-waving 👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨

I adored this when when it came out…🤔

TWENTY-FOUR YEARS AGO 🤨

Like this book‘s child is in Grad School 😠

I so hate getting old. 😖🤬🖕🏻

Entirely too much enthusiasm over JV Volleyball IMO.

This manga has around 43 volumes?! 😨

“The Dos and Donuts of Love” is oh so sweet on representation. The Fluffy Bengali and her ex-Twainese girlfriend on opposite sides of the donut shop wars yet further conflict results when they become competitors on the Junior Irish Baking Show. There is rivalry, out-of-control egos, there is sabotage. There are pastries enough to make you very, very hungry!

Enjoy the Irish accents, enjoy the “Drive Me Glazy” donuts! 🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩

Largely derivative, less dangerous Harry Potter School of Combat on flying horses only Harry is a young girl.

Elyra is the daughter of an herbalist, a path she‘s ready to follow, only she gets the scary/bad news she‘s been drafted into Pegasus warfare training.

She struggles with being dismissed as a mere country mouse among royal level mice. She makes an enemy jealous ‘mean girl‘. She catches the eye of two attractive men only one‘s a prince.

This is a hard book to rate being a product of the New Era. Kay Harper is an orphan with a horrible governess who also practices witchcraft but with two otherwise caring caretakers. Kay idolizes his grandfather who was blamed for stealing or losing a pirate clerical treasure

Talking cats, owls, rats & otters. Or could the things they show him in his treasure-hunting dreams be real or just dreams?

There is animal death but offhand to the plot.

1. The Battle of the Nutcrackers, obvs 🩰

2. I have not yet read this one about the Shackleton expedition but I do have it, as well as Worley‘s take. I went on a spree collecting mountain climbing accounts & other like, already read a few takes on the 1996 Everest climb, Rainbow Valley, don‘t cha know. I myself cannot understand the high mountain-climbing urge. I don‘t wanna die when tis easier to look at pics of it. 🤷🏼‍♀️

@TheSpineView

Get creative, kids! Spaghetti Pizza! Betty Crocker approves!

https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/spaghetti-pizza/63ae508b-aa7b-4c9a-915d-75a...

To review, it‘s Disney. Cute pictures with a great message though it didn‘t do much to actually explain that *caring* isn‘t a zero sum game.

(Another Hoopla freebie!)

Bad kids smoking the whacky tobaccy in the Edwardian era.

I‘ve never read any Patricia Briggs but I know she‘s a long running paranormal author, werewolf & coyote shifters in this case.

Decent read & art but I don‘t know much of Dynamite Comics. I think they‘ve made a trend of publishing established series comics.

You all read up on Patricia Briggs & Kim Harrison? Pretty old school urban fantasy writers I assume.

“The whole family will love celebrating the holiday season with Christmas Stories! With more than 20 Christmas carols and holly jolly tales, this Keepsake Collection is sure to be a new family tradition. You can even personalize the book to make it extra special.

• Includes A Visit from St. Nicholas, The First Christmas, and more!
• More than 20 Christmas stories & songs!

(Closing out my Hoopla freebies & the absolute best is The Nutcracker!)

Book isn‘t yet in our system: The Rain People by Jin Bo, Yi Yusun (illustrator)

“As a boy sits alone watching spring's first rainfall, he sees that the drops are turning into tiny people, who invite him to join them.”

Lovely book! I‘m not an art expert but I think the art is watercolor. The short of it is the boy joins the Rain People to enter the River of Sorrow and when they do life is restored to the land. This could be from Chinese folklore.

The action art in this one is exceptional!

And I *so* hate volleyball! It always hurt my baby hands & I even got a dislocated finger from trying to return a ball!

Boo! Volleyball you suck! But this is a great manga! 🤩

Decent read. I kept thinking is this someone famous, a famous artist or punk rock musician?

Well, no, not really. He is very famous for originating the Afro-Punk scene and Afropunk Festival which has now gone global. Noice!! 🎸

Movie is out-of-print though, not on streaming anywhere and a DVD will set you back close to $100 ! 🤑

The image is Tennessee in the Civil War so is *not* representative of the events in this book…or not so much anyway.

The setting is Tennessee & the modern breakdown of society seems TOO probable. Scary & unsettling, conflicts between the three main families in Burning Hollow. Already civic breakdowns then add in a foreign government (Russia?) declaring war against the United States.

Heavy, disturbing stuff. Wish I weren‘t facing this alone!

So, so good! This is the second in this series. In the first entry Marius the cemetery boy sought for the return of his mother, lost in Hell.

Happy ending…Only she didn‘t come back quite right; you all know the tale. Marius must take a dangerous voyage to Hell himself for the return of the part of her soul she lost.

Seeped in Southern & New Orleans folklore, mysticism & creatures, the good, the bad, the somewhere in between.

⚜️⭐️✨⚜️🌟✨⚜️

"Come see me sooner next time, child. I have more books than I can count. There's no better friend in the world than one with a library."

This was a bizarre, oftentimes scary, a bit sad and yet so lovely read

Our main characters are Crow, an unsettled young man who knows nothing of his origins yet needs to find the answers as fate in the form of bloody-feathered bird-demons destroying everything & everyone he loves

He‘s joined in this quest by Simeon, an out-of-time roustabout at the Carnival of Mysteries. The Carnival is a series of loosely-connected Achillean love stories ⭐️✨🌟

Pic: Arden & Caroline committing Christmas tree felony 😲

Fun femme-love centered & outright *sweet* book 🍬

I can‘t personally identify being in love w/my best friend who then becomes famous & wants to play at being real girlfriends to help her land a coveted roll. I mean, listen, I liked my high school bestie fine b/I don‘t do redheads ❌

I joke obviously but if you‘re still looking for a cute Xmas read this is the one. Indulge yourself! 🎁💝

I‘m assuming I‘m at pace with most here? I‘m already at the place where whenever I have a free moment I feel I need to stop wasting my time and get back to reading. 🧐

A visual comprehensive coverage of how the science fiction genre was begun, who the major figures are, where it seems going.

This doesn‘t only name-check the books but the graphics, the manga, the films and tv shows.

A smorgasbord in other words. I wouldn‘t say this is a volume you can just breeze through; write down the names and recommendations as you go. 🛸🚀👨‍🚀🤖👽

From genus called Proailurus 30 million years ago to Pseudaelurus 20 million years ago to Felis silvestris lybica, Africa wildcat to Felis catus

They likely tamed themselves to live with us by preventing mice & rats in our grain storage. There‘s no firm data they came to us visa Ancient Egypt but we do know they were prized, worshipped, mummified

But adore the art & images & worship Sekhmet & Bastet.

Is this not the least we can do for them?

A historical thriller based on a true crime during the Gilded Age in Minnesota. Background is three young women staying at the Bethany Home for Unwed Mothers.

Alas, perhaps the first American serial killer is in their midst. Harry T. Hayward (c. 1865 - December 11, 1895) a man of status living a secret life as a gambler, arsonist, & murderer, and suspected serial killer the "Minneapolis Svengali" based on his ability to charm, con & manipulate.

My read through chapter reactions are on Fable. You should join!

https://fable.co/club/indie-thriller-chiller-with-aurelie-lagrange-127645200611

The varying timelines got a bit confusing in parts but what a terrifying premise.

Lost pet bunny somehow got lost UPSTAIRS in the attic. Can rabbits climb stairs?

No they cannot, Marcia. CALL THE POLICE! 😧🫣

You all seem to read more than I. Whatever dragon series this is of the author it‘s great. A bumptious young dragonet wannabe Dragon Queen with a few years older dragonet boy crushing on her as they get themselves further & further in trouble.

I‘ll finish the series. Very short read at 60pgs.

No dragon art inside though.

Fairly one-note but nothing offensive. More a series of Archie vignettes. 👦👧🏽🧒

Dirty, grimy noir for Victorian steampunkers. ⚙️🚂

Let‘s see if I can explain. In Japanese folklore foxes come in 2 variants. The white fox is a helper; the black fox is a trickster of dubious morals.

The tanuki is neither a raccoon nor dog but a *raccoon dog*. Picture posted above is a tanuki. Family name is Nyctereutes & only two variants survive: common raccoon dog & Japanese raccoon dog.

Are more closely related to raccoons & of nondog behavior: they hibernate & climb trees.

Adorable!

Strange little tale from Dark Horse. I assume it‘s in translation?

Three young women are anime lovers but not allowed to join the campus anime club. Their love of the genre is immense which mandates ONE solution: DIY, girls!

It‘s fascinating how much hard work goes into anime creation from the mangakas particularly on tight time & resource budget.

Six volumes thus far.

“And tonight we‘re gonna party like it‘s…”

I‘ve no idea. Time travelers, gang warfare, good luck keeping up.

GREAT series from Image. Get on it NOW!

Picture: Creative needlework to my eyes.

I‘m not sure how this book didn‘t get ranked higher. Some of the older illustrations but delightful to me. I did chuckle at many of them and ReRun has his appearance here. I‘d never actually seen ReRun in any of films/cartoons.

Better days. ❤️‍🩹

Never watched the tv series. Is it any good? Or is the actor playing the Witcher just smokin‘ hot?

Comic was serviceable. Not the best antihero comic I‘ve ever read but if you like the show you‘ll surely like this too.

I shoulda been paying attention to who the publisher & artist is. Reminded me much of Mike Mignola Hellboy books.

A little disappointed in the “Bobby Ewing in the shower” ending but otherwise a lovely, colorful read. I‘m always a sucker for talking animals.

“Box of Delights” is apparently a sequel to “The Midnight Folk”. Master Kay isn‘t that fascinating of a character but I will give it a go nonetheless.

Cute little picture book, the second flipside defines terms and explains how electric cars and hybrid cars work.

Educational! I wish my childhood discussed the consequences of global warming and the problem of over-dependence on fossil fuels.

We‘d be in a much better situation now. Learn young!

Emma is living in a new home & falls in love with the sound of the neighborhood birds, only the birds don‘t want to come & visit.

She decides a garden would help only all she has is chalk. She draws a chalk garden that the rain always wipes away.

Her backyard is all concrete (boo!) but one of the bricks is loose; he father lifts the concrete away…and now the worms come and the wayward seeds begin to sprout.

The flowers come! The birds come!

Afrofuturism set in West Africa. The art is amazing and the tale has tons of action & political intrigue.

The writers & artists are Nigerian brothers Shobo and Shof Coker. I hope the series will continue.

Brief intro: “In a striking vision of West Africa under the thumb of alien colonizers, a motley crew of outcasts find themselves caught up in a power struggle for control of an ancient artifact with immense power.”

This a good read if a bit creepy. “Carnival of Mysteries” has multi-volumes at this point. It‘s a MM paranormal fantasy/romance. Magic with the slightest touch of horror?

I‘m at just a tad over a quarter done. Recommended in any case.

I had to bail after the first couple chapters. Horrific details on dog death & suffering.

I just can‘t. Huskies are *dogs*! They want what all domesticated dogs want: Loving care, good food, comfortable rest & companionship with their humans.

They deserve that. Give them that, not this miserable existence. 💧💧💧

Triggers on sexual abuse of a child. Brutal murder of a cat.

Other than that a scary, suspenseful read.

HAZEL LIVES!!

Delightful! It made me miss being young & the mischief you could get into with your friends. Including playing pranks, getting lost outside without bringing sandwiches first and peeing in your kiddie pool.

🛝😏

Ryosuki is the solo survivor of mass killing tragedy. Three years later he‘s hired by an elite video game company, a job he doesn‘t quite feel qualified for but the company wants his personal insight for their specialization, death survival games.

Only EDC wants realistic details to corner the death survival market. Really, really real portrayals.

If you can‘t handle gore do not apply for this job. Coz it‘s really really real. ⭐️✨🌟✨⭐️

I liked this one. Dystopia where humans have turned into insects & feed off humans. So🤢

It bills itself a mix of Mad Max & Attack on Titan. I‘ve never seen that latter but feel free to clue me in.

Action-heavy shonen. There may also be an anime of the series.

6 volumes total I think? I am checking out volume 2.

The art here is stunning. The premise, a school for cryptologists to learn healing skills, that has legs as the saying goes.

But a bit scattershot in execution. I had to wonder if this could be a translation issue, it had that feel, a bit off?

I looked for an image from the graphic to share.

Ah ha!! Yes it‘s in translation from French. I‘ll keep following the story; the art sells itself that well,

I‘ve never read the books but I know they‘re popular. I wasn‘t necessarily blown away by the art here but it suffices. If you‘re a fan of the books you‘ll likely enjoy this one.

I *did* learn something: Quarin, more traditionally QUAREEN. Pre-Islam & Islamic mythology. A djinn that can either be good or evil but the Quareen is someone‘s companion, guardian, driving you to good or evil behavior.

Main character is Blake Franklin, private investigator. First case is labeled “Money, Mayhem and Muscle Cars”.

Skeevy Mexican car thieves who also dabble in human trafficking & work for the Sinaloa cartel.

Set in Fort Worth, Texas. My mind wandered but I finished on audio. A short audio, around 5 hours. You can access free if you have Audible.

This reminded me of “Someone‘s Killing the Children” & the Serial Killer convention in “Sandman”

Picture a town of evil clowns with a blowtorch, murderous puppet boyfriends, “Jigsaw” but less committed, koala-hat-wearing garden fanatic & someone who goes by the Fckmaster.

Lotsa dead law enforcement, some Byzantine kills, an evil granny since we all have one.

This may be a one-off Dark Horse series. Sad if so. I‘d keep following the storyline.

I probably would have gotten more out of this if I was ever a reader of the Archie comics, knew all the characters. It‘s meant to be Archie Horror so gets a bit graphic. Graphic *horror* but PG-13.

Have at it, ghouls! It‘s worth a read.

Middle school scary. Just a monster-hunting ‘cemetery boy‘ that overseas his graveyard with his clandestine bestie flesh-eating mermaid friend.

Goal one: Collect the credits he receives by cashing in on the captured monsters in hopes of resurrecting his long dead mother.

I loved it! Great read to dull Election Day catastrophe blues. 😨

I can‘t recommend this with the appreciation it truly deserves. It‘s a series of weird, amusing vignettes of oddity.

Loved 💚loved 🧡 loved! 💜 for fellow quirky readers. 🧌

An irreverent review to Netgalley:

Thanks so very little for making me want to cry. I miss my mom. I miss my mom everyday. If my mother made me the person I am today don't thank her for that either.

There were some portions where I deeply hoped Valerie‘s disappearance wasn‘t going the way I feared it might. And it didn't. Still, it did end in poignancy for me. 'Cause I miss my mom.

I give lousy book reviews, sorry about that.