Yolanda Sfetsos's Blog, page 31

Reading 2023

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
A new year means a new Goodreads Reading Challenge:

So, this is when I say: I want to read 100 books this year. 😁
I also usually give myself mini-challenges, but this year I'm not going to do that. 
During 2023 I want to read any novel, short story, novella or novelette that catches my attention. I want to read hardbacks, paperbacks, and eBooks. Listen to audio books and get back into comic books. Adding some biographies/memoirs sounds like a great idea as well. I don't care if they...

Happy New Year!

 

I hope you all have a great and fun day. 😊🎉
It's a shame that 2022 turned out to be yet another pandemic year with no clear end in sight. Actually, it's kinda worse now because people DGAF about Covid anymore and the virus keeps spreading and mutating. It's a frustrating shame, and I really hope this attitude changes.
Anyway. Enough with the negative stuff.
I want to send out positive thoughts into the universe and welcome 2023 with happy/good vibes in mind.
Have an awesome, productive and healthy ...

Books Read in 2022

GAME ON: TEMPTING TWENTY-EIGHT(Stephanie Plum #28):Janet Evanovich
CROSSROADS:Laurel Hightower
WHEN DARKNESS LOVES US(Paperbacks from Hell):Elizabeth Engstrom
MY LIFE HAD STOOD A LOADED GUN:Emily Dickinson
THE WOODS ARE ALWAYS WATCHING:Stephanie Perkins
PARTUM: E.V. Knight
THE CUCKOO'S CRY:Caroline Overington
COCKBLOCK:C.V. Hunt
SEASONS OF THE WITCH Samhain Oracle:Lorriane Anderson & Juliet Diaz
CABIN TERROR:Sarah Jane Huntington
AND HER SMILE WILL UNTETHER THE UNIVERSE:Gwendolyn Kiste
THE MAKER'S BOX:Da...

2022 Goals

Well, here we are again. We've almost reached the end of another year. And boy did 2022 turn out to be quite a weird, and often shitty, year.
I thought 2021 was bad, but things are not getting better.
Nope.
I'm not sure what's happening to the cosmic order of things, but it feels like the ridiculous is slowly taking over the world. We're shifting towards a world where cruelty and bigotry is rewarded, but empathy and inclusion is belittled. I mean, how else can every pathetic thing that's happened s...

THE CABIN AT THE END OF THE WORLD by Paul Tremblay

 

The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Well, this turned out to be a big disappointment. 🫤

I was really looking forward to reading this book because the premise sounded very intriguing. An end-of-the-world scenario that puts a family in the middle of a terrible situation. And I actually enjoyed the first half of this book. A lot. But the second half became such a slog.

Everything keeps going round in circles. It's all conversation after conversation that leads...

THE HOUSE IN THE PINES by Ana Reyes

 

This is the story of a house.
The cabin lies deep in the woods, where the trees are so dense it's easy to miss. On the outside it might look like it's crumbling, crawling with weeds, but on the inside it's warm and cosy. A fire crackles in the fireplace. Dinner simmers on the stove.
Maya once saw this cabin as an idyllic place, like a cottage from a fairy tale, but now she knows the danger that lurks beneath. The summer she visited the cabin was the summer her best friend Aubrey died.
Now, another...

LOST SOULS by Kelley Armstrong

 

Lost Souls by Kelley Armstrong
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love the Cainsville series, so I always look forward to checking out short stories/novellas set in this world.

The disappearing hitchhiker is an urban legend that's been around for years, but when Patrick brings the case to Gabriel, it takes an unexpected faerie twist...

I really enjoyed the mystery at the core of this awesome installment. Not just because urban legends never fail to intrigue me, but also because this provides a unique twis...

THE LAST HOUSE ON NEEDLESS STREET by Catriona Ward

 

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've had this book on my TBR pile for a while, and I certainly shouldn't have waited so long to get to it because it turned out to be amazing.

The last house on Needless Street holds as many secrets as the woods behind it. But nothing is really as it seems...

Wow. What an outstanding story this turned out to be.

This book is many things: creepy, intriguing, shocking, interesting, surprising, riveting, clever, and so sad. But ...

WRITING POETRY IN THE DARK by Stephanie M. Wytovich

Writing Poetry in the Dark brings together some of the most successful contemporary genre poets to discuss topics related to creating dark and fantastical poetry.
While there are countless books available for the aspiring poet, there is a lack of resources specifically for and on speculative poetry, and with the market thriving, publishers who previously did not put out poetry are now adding it to their catalogs, requesting it for their anthologies, and seeking it for their magazines. Given these...

CITY OF NIGHTMARES by Rebecca Schaeffer

Face your fear . . . or become your nightmare.
Ever since her sister became a man-eating spider and slaughtered her way through town, nineteen-year-old Ness has been terrified - terrified of some other Nightmare murdering her, and terrified of ending up like her sister. Because in Newham, the city that never sleeps, dreaming means waking up as your worst fear.
Whether that means becoming a Nightmare that's monstrous only in appearance, or transforming into a twisted, unrecognizable creature that t...