Mine! by Candace Fleming
If you have a couple of children who enjoy reading, but not sharing you might want to give them this book. Or one book for each child you have. Because it they are like the mouse, deer, beer, rabbit, and fox of the story Mine! they will not want to share a treat as wonderful as this book. Or in the case of the animals, a red, delicious looking, crisp, round, sweet, apple that is hanging in the tree, ready to plop down and be […]
The Short While by Jeremy Sorese
I do not remember when I first heard of The Short While by Jeremy Sorese, but I know I did not think it was going to be this odd, realistic, fantastical journey. I thought it was going to be a nice love story with ups and downs. It was going to be two gay men going through life and the trials gay men face. I misread the cover and thought they were camping in an odd cave. And it is that. And it is not […]
Claimed by Laurann Dohner and Kele Moon
Warning: Contains one character accidentally “mating” (bonding someone to him for life) another character without their consent. Also contains kidnapping, threat of sexual assault, talk of eating humans in a non-sexytimes way, biting and consumption of blood in a sexytimes way, and Miscellaneous Shifter RidiculousnessTM. Claimed (2016) by Laurann Dohner and Kele Moon Nightwind Pack series 3.5 stars I first listened to Laurann Dohner and Kele Moon’s Claimed in 2021 and have re-listened more than once since then. Given the warnings above, I worry a […]
The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki
When does a book become real? And for that matter, what is real? These questions run through Ruth Ozeki’s The Book of Form and Emptiness as the main character, Benny, fourteen years old, struggles with the death of his father, adolescence and the voices of inanimate objects that he cannot shut out. The story is told by Benny, and also a book. The book not only narrates Benny’s story, but talks with Benny directly, or talks directly to the reader pontificating on books, the art […]
Cult Classic by Sloane Crosley
In Sloane Crosley’s Cult Classic, a woman named Lola is living many women’s worst nightmare: she keeps running into her ex-boyfriends. Even worse? It’s not an accident. Lola is a lifelike creation. She’s smart and witty, but can also be acerbic and mean. She’s able to clinically dissect the flaws of her former partners while also being honest about her own issues. She’s not exactly likeable, but she is relatable, at least to a point. That point is when the novel’s high-concept premise kicks into […]
The Kraken's Sacrifice by Katee Robert
Catalina signs seven years of her life away without much thought – she’s considered a failure in her world anyway, and at least the money she will get in return will ease her way. What she doesn’t expect is to be drawn to Thane, the leader of the krakens. I’ve been reading Katee Robert’s new releases pretty religiously for the last year or so. At this point you have to expect, statistically speaking, that you won’t like every one, but I was still pretty disappointed […]
