Yolanda Sfetsos's Blog, page 8

CICADA by Shaun Tan

Cicada by Shaun Tan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

•28 March, 2025

Every time I sort through my books or reorganise my bookshelves, I end up reading this beautiful book. I just can't move this book without reading it.

Cicada's story is sad and lonely, heartbreaking and lovely. It's also very bleak, yet hopeful, and the ending is uplifting. Not to mention that the artwork is absolutely stunning.

Shaun Tan is a great storyteller and artist.

•20 October, 2023

I was sorting through some books while adding them ...

THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES by Suzanne Collins

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I have to admit that I've gone out of my way to avoid this book since it was released a while ago. I mean, who wants to read a whole book about young Snow? Yeah, you know what I mean. Still, when I found a cheap copy in a local thrift store, I picked it up and haven't looked at it since.

Not until I read, and absolutely loved, SUNRISE ON THE REAPING and had to find out what happened to Lucy Gray.

It's time for the tenth ...

SUNRISE ON THE REAPING by Suzanne Collins

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I LOVE The Hunger Games trilogy, and when I found out this was Haymitch's story, I had to read it. As soon as it arrived.

Haymitch Abernathy's sixteenth birthday also marks the reaping. And this year, it's the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, so there'll be two girls and two boys picked as tributes. When things go wrong in District 12, Haymitch ends up on a train and on his way to the Capitol...

Wow. OMG. Even though I loved every min...

SAGA #72 by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples

Saga #72 by Brian K. Vaughan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've been looking forward to reading this installment for ages, but have to admit that I was a little worried because Ghüs is on the cover and... well, you know how Saga can be sometimes.

Anyway, this is the season finale and starts off with a shocking announcement that sends serious ripples and consequences everywhere. And that leads to a bunch of characters, scattered all over the place, making an appearance.
I really enjoyed it, but I'm a lit...

SEVERANCE - The Lexington Letter by Anonymous

Severance - The Lexington Letter by Anonymous
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love the show Severance and watched the season two finale this weekend, so I decided to check out this short story and really enjoyed it!

In Severance: The Lexington Letter we meet Peg Kincaid, a former bus driver who decides to get severed. She likes not knowing what happens during work hours and enjoys the pay, but when her innie communicates with her, Peg starts to wonder what's really going on at Lumon...

This is such a gr...

Doing Stuff...

Hey! How you doing today?
Here in Oz, summer is over and in a few weekends it'll be time to turn the clocks back, which I really don't like. I prefer the long days of summer. The shorter days are too depressing and oppressive. Ugh. Not looking forward to it, but I have to stay positive about the season change because there are enough crappy things going on in the world right now.

I'm not going to bother going into how hard I'm finding it to accept that because of selfishness, racism, misogyny, and...

MY DARK VANESSA by Kate Elizabeth Russell

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I didn't plan to read this next, but it caught my eye while I was going through my Paperwhite TBR pile.

Vanessa Wye is fifteen and attending boarding school when she gets caught in the web of her English teacher. Convinced that they're in love and he cares about her, she doesn't consider herself a victim. But in her thirties, when the world is full of accusations and allegations against abusers, she finds herself examining her affa...

Checking In!

Hey! How are you?

Can you believe we're almost halfway through March? Yikes.

So, my husband went back to work this week, which is the worst after we had such a great break together. It's always hard to get back into the swing of things and I intended to take it easy. Of course, for me, that means tackling smaller projects.

The other night, while sorting and deleting things off my phone, I found a short story I started last year but didn't finish. It's the prequel short story for one of my completed...

HURRICANE SEASON by Fernanda Melchor

Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I'm not sure why I picked this up. It could be because I read a translated book earlier this week and really enjoyed it, so I decided to give this one a go. Or maybe it's just because I found it while looking through my Kindle books. Either way, I finished it tonight.

In a small town in Mexico, the 'Witch' is dead and we're about to find out who did it...

Yikes. This sure turned out to be quite the bleak and woeful ride through the miser...

HARD COPY by Fien Veldman

Hard Copy by Fien Veldman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When I stumbled on this book, while checking out a different one on Amazon, it grabbed my attention instantly. I couldn't go past a woman who has a deep connection with her printer.

Working inside a small, stuffy office at a company full of people she can't relate to, in a city full of tourists, a single woman finds a comfortable companionship with her printer. But when she's forced to take leave, she wonders how she'll survive without him...

I lo...