Tag Archives: Reading/Books

Recent Book Reviews

Reading/Books, ,

Here’s my ten most recent book reviews. To see more of my thoughts on books I’ve read, please find me on GoodReads. Message me, follow me, let’s talk books!

The Summer Children 5/5
The Collector #3
Gripping
I love this series and having read the third one now, I can’t wait to read the fourth!
The excerpts between done of the chapters helps break up the book while also mysteriously giving a backstory to an undefined character.
Love the team and their dynamic, the inclusion of previous victims for an update on where they are and how they are doing, and the emotions portrayed so well.

Ask for Andrea 2/5
Just, like my opinion man. Did not enjoy, skimmed most
It was really boring for most of it, giving extensive details about memories and the past that had no impact on the plot. These details did not help me to identify with the victims.
I enjoyed the plot and sections of the last few chapters.
This book may be great for some people, genuinely. I was not a fan.

The Every 4/5
Funny, dark, and beleiveably insane
I really enjoyed this book! Just crazy nonsense around every corner that you could truly see potentially, actually happening in the near future. The main character is loveable and can easily be identified with. Overall, I would recommend this book.

China Rich Girlfriend 5/5
Crazy Rich Asians #2
Wow!
This book had so many great plot lines and turns that intertwined in surprising and delightful ways. This was a great sequel and I couldn’t be more excited to read the next one!

A Marriage of Inconvenience: 5/5
The Persecution of Ruth and Seretse Khama
Informative, sensational
This story is rooted in racism and segregation and the way this happened was sad and layered and I couldn’t believe I had never heard of this.
No spoilers just read it. It’s a little thick, and it needs to be.

A Serial Killer’s Daughter: 3/5
My Story of Faith, Love, and Overcoming
-No Title for Review-
Most of the book was interesting and well written. The juxtaposition of her dad and BTK was insightful. She questioned her faith, and I can understand that. For the last third/quarter of the book, it was repetitive and was pushing faith and quoting Bible verses excessively and a lot of talk about her kids and I didn’t enjoy it or learn anything from it.
I commend Kerri for writing this book, and I urge you to read it and to remember that the families of the perpetrators are due kindness and understanding.

The Lost Apothecary 4/5
-No Title for Review-
The subtle way the characters backstories are filled in, the emotions portrayed, and the overall character development for the main character was exceptionally done. The story seamlessly unfolded with flair and drama and twists. I felt I was in the city, on the adventure, and fighting alongside her for resolution of the complicated relationship. Would recommend.

The Collective 2/5
-No Title for Review-
I barely read this book. I couldn’t get into it. I read two chapters before I gave up. The style, language, and other core techniques were not for me. I marked it as two stars and moved on.

Nothing Is Strange with You: 3/5
The Life and Crimes of Gordon Stewart Northcott
-No Title for Review-
This was interesting, horrific, and dispicable. The story and background were worth reading this book. I gave it three stars because it was dry, dense, and occasionally confusing.

American Predator: 5/5
The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century
-No Title for Review-
Was shocked by this serial killer. I had never heard of these before. I don’t want to spoil too much so I’ll keep it vague; the plannning simultaneous with spontaneity, the variety in the victims he chose, the geographical range, and the way this ended was astonishing. Well written, easy to read and intriguing, would definitely recommend.

That’s 10; let me know if you’ve read these, if you agree with my reviews (be respectful) and if, based on these, you have recommendations that would be great!

*If you enjoyed any part of this post, please consider liking it. If you loved it, please consider following me on WordPress. I also love comments including questions, advice, or a review of the post itself. Thank you for reading and best of luck in your adventures.*

WWBC – Winter Traditions

Self Improvement, spirituality, faith, and everything in between, , , , , , , , , , ,

Each Wednesday, Long and Short Reviews hosts a weekly “blog hop”. For more details on how to participate including a full list of topics for the year, please click here.

I have lots of comfy cozy winter habits that I consider somewhat of a tradition. I am and was raised Jewish for my formative years, then my mom married my dad and he was raised Christian so I’ve got a mix of traditions from those faiths.

Comfy Cozy Traditions:

  • Now that we’ve consistenly had a fireplace, I love to sit near the fire and read and snuggle. At least one fire per winter season.
  • Gotta have hot chocolate on chilly nights.
  • Purchasing a new blanket or sweater; ’tis the season to need to stay warm.
  • Black Friday shopping; we used to go in person, but the deals just aren’t as good as they used to be plus more and more sales are extended and available online. He will look for upgrades at a good price, and I keep an eye on deals for uprades or new purchases. (I’ve been eyeballing a plant growing hydroponic tower to be able to grow fresh veggies indoors.)
  • Reading more. Call it a need to have more books checked off, or just a season that makes me want to snuggle and read, I just read more in the winter.
  • See how my goals for the past year went, make new goals. Goals work better than resolutions; resultions are “try to get *here*” then quit once you made it (Ex: run a marathon). Goals are able to built upon (Run more marathons. Run X# of marathons a year).

Holiday Traditions:

  • My dad had a fake, realistic, green, ten-foot tree that we loved putting up and decorating. Now that I have my own home, I have a pink tinsel tree that we decorate. I have an ornament to represent each branch or memeber of my family, and I’ve started collecting memory ornaments. (Fam Ex: a metal cutout of a (likely) Camero for my father-in-law) (Memory Ex: my sister-in-law bought me 3 flamingos standing together that said “girls trip” for the bachelorette cruise)
  • We exchange gifts on Xmas and, when possible, spend it with family or friends.
  • For Channukah (which starts tonight- 12/7/23) we (I) light the candles every night and say the prayers.
  • The tradition for Channukah is one gift each night after the candles are lit. Since we do gifts for both holidays, we tend to do less expensive gifts for Channukah and a little more pricey gift(s) for Xmas. (Ex: graphic t-shirts for him, one at a time if I get him multiple vs. a new fitness watch or multiple small gifts at once)
  • I love the lighted trees and houses. I’d like to decorate the exterior of the house. I like those projection lights; our neighbors set one up and it catches our house too, but think we’ll get our own for next year. When we have more money I think I’ll buy lights and have a company that puts them up and takes them down hang lights.
  • I think next year we’re going to try to build those charcuterie houses (instead of gingerbread houses) that we keep seeing on social media. If it goes well, it’ll be a new tradition for us.

Thanks for reading a little bit about how I do winter. What are your winter traditions? How do you feel about winter? What do you review or make plans about around this time of year?

*If you enjoyed any part of this post, please consider liking it. If you loved it, please consider following me on WordPress. I also love comments including questions, advice, or a review of the post itself. Thank you for reading and best of luck in your adventures.*

Updated TBR

Book Club, Reading/Books, , , , , , , , , ,

Here’s my original fall/winter TBR’s updated percentage complete and the books I’ve added for my new TBR and which books are on deck.

With six done, and having pulled the Gabriel Allon series for now, I have whittled down my TBR to:

I am prioritizing finishing any series that I have enjoyed so far, as long as there is a “mageable” nmber of them; I don’t know what constitutes manageable, but The Gabriel Allon series has 22. They are not quick reads for me, so I would like to clear more of my queue and have time to decide how best to approach this long series; one book per 5 book TBR? One every other currently reading book? TBD.

Two more down, three to go. Up next is The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.

I have decided not to add more books to my TBR. I set five as the (new) limit on my TBR and have five “On Deck“. I would also like to clear the TBR, then move on-decks into that list; with the exception being book club books as necessary. Here are my books on deck.

How many books do you have on your TBR? How do you decide which one(s) to read next? Do you keep a short-list of books you want to prioritize? How much of a series do you read in a row? Do you have a limit to how long a series can be before you commit to it?
Interested in your input to improve my lists, too!

*If you enjoyed any part of this post, please consider liking it. If you loved it, please consider following me on WordPress. I also love comments including questions, advice, or a review of the post itself. Thank you for reading and best of luck in your adventures.*

Updated TBR

Book Club, Reading/Books, , ,

Here’s my last TBR’s updated percentage complete and the books I’ve added for my new TBR and which books are on deck.

With 4 done, I have whittled down my TBR to:

I have decided not to add more books to my TBR. I have/keep 5 as the (new) limit on my TBR and have 5 “On Deck“. I would also like to clear the TBR, then move on decks into that list. With the exception being book club books as necessary. Here are my books on deck.

I am prioritizing finish any series that I have enjoyed so far, as long as there is a “mageable” nmber of them; I don’t know what constitutes manageable, but The Gabriel Allon series has 22. They are not quick reads for me, so I would like to clear more of my queue and have time to decide how best to approach this long series; one book per 5 book TBR? One every other currently reading book? TBD.

How many books do you have on your TBR? How do you decide which one(s) to read next? Do you keep a short-list of books you want to prioritize? Interested in your input to improve my lists, too!

*If you enjoyed any part of this post, please consider liking it. If you loved it, please consider following me on WordPress. I also love comments including questions, advice, or a review of the post itself. Thank you for reading and best of luck in your adventures.*

Books on my Nightstand

Reading/Books, ,

The Witch and the Beast, Vol. 1 by Kousuke Satake: I just barely started this one. I’ve not read very many comics or manga and I didn’t realize how long I’d be spending trying to soak in everything in the images, or how difficult it would be for me to know what order to read in on a page. I am still very excited to read this, I just need to wait ’til after the wedding when I can sit with less chaos.

The Tudors by G.J. Meyer: The full title of this book is The Tudors The Complete Story of England’s Most Notorious Dynasty. I got it from an ARC Thrift store for less than two dollars and it’s in great condition. I love nonfiction historical books. Quick tidbit, I don’t have the best memory, so sometimes I can pull from previously read knowledge and other times it’s like my first time hearing about something. Specifically for the Tudors, I have read three (or four) other books on the subject including how they came to power and about the royalty. Like many others, I also watched the tv show The Tudors which is not suitable for children. But I’ve had an interest in this, and surrounding, era for about as long as I can remember.

The Every, The Circle #2 by Dave Eggers: I really need to buckle down and prioritize this book. I’m about a quarter of the way through and feel like I’ve read a chapter every few months. I think it’s partially because I don’t bring it with me and it’s just faster and easier to read on my Kindle. I also prioritize book club books, even ones that were for past events that I had a co-leader cover, just so I can assure members of my investment in the group.

The Black Jewels Trilogy The Black Jewels #1-3 by Anne Bishop: This book is comfort food for me. I have read it numerous times and it’s my favorite book, period, number one (well, number 1-3). It’s the main books, three, in the series; Daughter of the Blood, Heir to the Shadows, Queen of the Darkness. Bishop goes on the write many spinoffs of the book, which I have read most of. If you haven’t read this, I highly recommend (as long as you are okay with a multi-view book (like Game of Thrones) and are able to read some R rated scenes including sex, rape, killing, and gruesome characters and scenes.

What books are on your nightstand? What book(s) are you currently reading and what’s next? Have you read any of these, what did you think?

*If you enjoyed any part of this post, please consider liking it. If you loved it, please consider following me on WordPress. I also love comments including questions, advice, or a review of the post itself. Thank you for reading and best of luck in your adventures.*

Upcoming Book Club Books

Book Club, Reading/Books, , ,

So for those of you that don’t know, I run a book club in Colorado called “Women, Wine, and Crime“. I try to book events out pretty far so that people have plenty of time to read, coordinate their schedule, and just generally plan. Here’s the next books that are coming up:

1/6 – Ask for Andrea by Noelle Ihli | This was a recommendation by one of the book club members, which always entices me

2/18 – Killer on the Road by Ginger Strand | I sing the praises of this book every chance I get and if you haven’t read it, please do. While other true crime books focus on one killer, this focuses on how the highway system created opportunities for would-be murderers and how the infrastructure and mapping tore through flourishing minority communities turning them into disenfranchised slums.

3/31 – Man-Eater by Ryan Green | The full title of this book is “Man-Eater: The Terrifying True Story of Cannibal Killer Katherine Knight”. I love a true-crime about a woman, and I am interested in a female cannibal which [I think] is pretty rare.

5/18 – The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison | This was one of my top ten books in 2019. Since then I’ve worked the rest of the Collector Series into my TBR list and have one more to go. I think this will be my third time reading this book; I read it once on my own, once I assigned it as a book club read, and since we’ve gained so many members I’m adding it into the rotation again.

6/23 – The Angel Makers by Patti McCracken | The full title of this book is “The Angel Makers: The True Story of the Most Astonishing Murder Ring in History”. Here’s a quote from the description of the book which sums up why I’m so intrigued by this book “Nagyrev, Hungary, 1929. Over 160 mysterious deaths. A group of local wives conspiring together, and one woman at the centre of it all.”.

*If you enjoyed any part of this post, please consider liking it. If you loved it, please consider following me on WordPress. I also love comments including questions, advice, or a review of the post itself. Thank you for reading and best of luck in your adventures.*

Organizing My TBR

Reading/Books, ,

Like many of you, I have an exceptionally long long list of books that I want to read. For those of you who don’t know, a TBR is a To Be Read list, essentially books owned or that we would like to own or borrow from a library that we would like to read at any point in the future. The question is, how to decide what to read next and how to keep track of these books?

On my Kindle, the books that I have purchased, reserved on my Kindle Membership, or that I have received for free from Kindle First Reads, are organized into folders. I have the typical folders: fiction, nonfiction, thriller, self-help. I also have two folders which keep me on track, I have a “currently reading” and an “on deck”. I read multiple books at once, especially because one of them is a daily journal prompt and I like to switch between books so I have time to digest one. My on deck is exactly what it sounds like, it’s so that I can prioritize what I want to read next without having to go through my TBR, plus it gives me a chance to think about it. I can add books, remove books, and then move them into my “currently reading” when I’m ready.
If you have an Amazon membership and are not taking advantage of Kindle First Reads, I urge you to do so; you get 1-2 free books per month. If you aren’t a Prime member, you can still sign up and get books for $1.99 each month.

I also have physical, hardcover and softcover, books. I keep a comfort book, two “currently reading”, and an “on deck” book on my nightstand. You may be asking, “does she read really read four-ish books at once”, yes I do. Usually it’s fine, like watching an episode, or five, of one show and then watching a different tv show. But once I was reading two “spy novels” at once and those almost burred together, I made it through though.

How do you organize your TBR? Do you read multiple books at once? Any tips for me?

*If you enjoyed any part of this post, please consider liking it. If you loved it, please consider following me on WordPress. I also love comments including questions, advice, or a review of the post itself. Thank you for reading and best of luck in your adventures.*

BBH – Reading to be Better

spirituality, faith, and everything in between, , ,

Book Blogger Hop is a weekly, Friday through Thursday, question themed post. Originally created by Crazy for Books and reignited by Coffee Addicted Writer, its purpose is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers their own blog.

This week’s question is “Has reading helped you to become a better person?”, posted by the blog owner, Coffee Addicted Writer.

Reading has helped me to be a better person, and continues to be a source of growth for me.

The obvious help has been from self-help books. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, The Happiness Project, and How to Make Friends and Influence People & How to Stop Worrying and Start Living are among the most impactful. I re-read the latter two and learn something new about how to be better each time. I’ve read others, and I’m always open to more. No one is perfect, so I’ll keep reading to improve.

I also am working on my faith. I am Jewish but I’m really finding Awaken: 90 Days with the God Who Speaks helpful. I have read Letters to a Buddhist Jew twice, and I’m looking to reading it again in the near future.

I’ve read some feminist and some equality and equity books that have helped to point out my flaws in thinking and acting. They’ve reframed my way of thinking and I should find more to read. While there are many out there and I’ve read quite a few, How to Be an Antiracist, Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong—and the New Research That’s Rewriting the Story, and We’re Going to Need More Wine stood out an I highly recommend these books.

I’m interested in your opinion of the books that I have read, and look forward to your recommendations for books that I can read to continue to improve myself.

*If you enjoyed any part of this post, please consider liking it. If you loved it, please consider following me on WordPress. I also love comments including questions, advice, or a review of the post itself. Thank you for reading and best of luck in your adventures.*

TTT – Fall/Winter TBR List

Reading/Books, , ,

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and The Bookish June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

This week’s post is “Books on my fall TBR list”.


Overall, I’m gearing up to finish books I’m in the middle of, stay ahead of my book club books, and work on getting through some series that I’m enjoying. If you’ve read these have any book recommendations, please drop them in the comments!

*If you enjoyed any part of this post, please consider liking it. If you loved it, please consider following me on WordPress. I also love comments including questions, advice, or a review of the post itself. Thank you for reading and best of luck in your adventures.*

BBH – Banning Books

Reading/Books, ,

Book Blogger Hop is a weekly, Friday through Thursday, question themed post. Originally created by Crazy for Books and reignited by Coffee Addicted Writer, its purpose is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers their own blog.

This week’s post is “Do you agree that libraries should ban books?” from Billy at Coffee Addicted Writer.

I think that a public library should not ban any books. Anyone read Fahrenheit 451? I think banning one book is a slippery slope. I think it is the responsibility of parents to determine what is and isn’t appropriate for their children.
Privately funded libraries are governed by their own boards and I think that they have the right to do as they please, but I would hope that they would lean to a place of knowledge being available to everyone, and that if they choose not to carry a book they donate it elsewhere.

School libraries are where I will pick this bone.


Elementary schools are the one place where I would condone a banned book, as long as it is for the right reason. I do not think books should be banned because of ideas they present, history they cover, or because of who the author is. I do not agree with banning a book because it involves a gay or interracial or inter-religious couple. I do not agree with banning a book that details Black history, even if the history is not pretty; or any other race, religion, or creed. I do not agree with banning books written by or about an LGBTQIA individual.
I will stand behind an elementary school banning a definitively sexual book, such as the fifty shades series or other “R” rated books. I do not agree with banning a book on sexual education, such as that which would explain puberty, the human body, or how babies are made and birthed. I think those books need to be available, and need to be policed to some extent by teachers, staff, and absolutely parents.

Middle and high school libraries have no business banning a book. By that age, these children have been exposed to a lot of information and need to be able to seek more knowledge. Puberty is beginning to, or has, emerge(d). Sexual interests, introspection, and general exploration of self is prevalent. Values are starting to develop and solidify. I think all of this results in the need for any book available that would speak to the individual.

That’s it. Nothing fancy to see here, not from me. This is my opinion of a controversial issue. Please respect my opinion, and I would love to hear and respect yours. Let me know where you stand.

*If you enjoyed any part of this post, please consider liking it. If you loved it, please consider following me on WordPress. I also love comments including questions, advice, or a review of the post itself. Thank you for reading and best of luck in your adventures.*