It's such a shame when an instalment in a book series you love disappoints you so much. It makes you feel like now, if you recommend the other books, you're now setting readers up for them to care enough to have to deal with a slog. In this case, The Shadow Slog might be a... Continue Reading →
One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake Book Review
About four years ago, I picked up the first Three Dark Crowns and finished it exhausted and frustrated. I gave it a generous single one-star rating. When you advertise your book as a Hunger-Games fight to the death and spend 80% of it going over the lives of the competitors, their lovers, and the lovers... Continue Reading →
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer Book Review
This is so not your average biography. When I was 10 years old, thanks to Gary Paulson, I had a burning desire to build a shelter in the forest and sleep in it for a night. And Into The Wild reminded me of that desire. Into the Wild is a 1996 biography that had slipped... Continue Reading →
Containment by Caryn Lix Book Review
Little note. This is my first review in months. Feels good to be doing it again. I was reading this book while watching The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild, and my thoughts were “What am I doing wasting my time watching that movie?” while I had about a half dozen other things on the... Continue Reading →
The Marsh King’s Daughter by Karen Dionne Book Review
Last summer, the upcoming movie adaptation of this book, with Daisy Ridley and Ben Mendehlson as the stars, was filming for two days at a local conservation park. I've gone on walks through there thousands of times. It was all over our local news that this was happening. The day before filming, my mother insisted... Continue Reading →
Sanctuary by Caryn Lix Book Review
I truly do not understand why prison escape fiction is so rare. While if you don't have an outside point of view you may have a small claustrophobic setting, escaping from jail and running from the cops is a suspenseful, odds-against-you storyline that's so inviting for the roller coaster ride it's no wonder the public... Continue Reading →
Paranoid Park by Blake Nelson Book Review
I've said in past reviews I'm not a fan of short stories, because they tend to not be long enough to have us fully understand and love the characters, and if we do end up growing to like them, their time with us is over too fast. But I only say that to stories so... Continue Reading →
A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder by Holly Jackson Book Review
The sort of undercover work the protagonist does in A Good Girl's Guide to Murder is enough to make James Bond, Sherlock Holmes and even Hercule Poirot green with embarrassment at how many levels she is above their investigative skills, not the least of which is she's still just a teenager, doing a case that... Continue Reading →
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown Book Review
I ended up reading the illustrated/photographed edition of this book, something which majorly contributed to my enjoyment or fascination. I'm not completely sure I'd have given this book the same grade if it weren't for the photos of real-life old paintings, ruins, museums, fields and sights that show up helping us feel we're there even... Continue Reading →
Havenfall by Sara Holland Book Review
I've been in a reading slump for the past few months. Maybe I just have too much to work on and think about to properly sit back and enjoy myself. With that said, even though as a result of my slump it took me a while to read this...I did enjoy my time with Havenfall.... Continue Reading →