What are you reading in 2023?

[Elena]

Jo wrote: "It's really fun, I definitely recommend it. It was nice to read something by Rick Riordan that wasn't in the Percy Jackson world for a change, though Magnus is Annabeth's cousin, so there is a link and a couple of cameos in the series!"

Sound amazing, thanks for the rec :)

[Jo]

Elena wrote: "Jo wrote: "It's really fun, I definitely recommend it. It was nice to read something by Rick Riordan that wasn't in the Percy Jackson world for a change, though Magnus is Annabeth's cousin, so ther..."

No problem!

[Storm The Tiny Hooman ~hiatus~]

For School: The Scorch Trials by James Dashner
Buddy Read: Looking For Alaska by John Green
For my Read Aloud Group: Five Feet Apart by Rachel Lippincott with Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis

[Gwen]

I recently finished the complete Wheel of Time series and also the Cut & Run series. Apart from physical books I also listened to my first audiobook! I listened to Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard and I loved it.

Right now I'm reading Shadow and Bone and Maid-sama! Vol. 07

[Gord]

Not as much reading got done this week. Work has been stupid busy and cutting into my reading time. Hopefully things will get a bit better this week.

-4 Stars
The final book in the Grant County series and this book held nothing back. It came out the gate running and the pace never really relaxed after that. This was the kind of thing I was looking for in the series after the second book absolutely destroyed me. It kept me guessing the entire way through the book and I loved how the story was told from two POV's in two different times. Those two different times being only three days apart so you knew at some point in the story things would finally loop back to what was happening in the beginning. I have one serious bone to pick with this book though and that was the very end. I wont spoil anything but there was one major plot line for this series that felt unresolved. For the ending of any other book in the series that could be fine as it could be picked up in a later book. This was the series finale though. Everything should be wrapped up with a nice neat bow on it. Maybe a minor subplot could be teased if you weren't sure how final this finale was but you don't leave a major plot point on the table unfinished like that. Now I understand that these characters do show up later in the Will Trent series but it still doesn't take away from the fact that things feel unfinished for this series. Overall though this was a great book in a great series that I was finally convinced to read. Now I'm just waiting for the first book in the Will Trent series to see where things go next.

-3 Stars
I have two train of thoughts on this book. This was a "romantic suspense" story set in Hawaii, which is why I read it in the first place, and is about human trafficking, military vets, and some romance/sexy times. On the whole the book was alright. I can't really complain about anything to much but at the same time it wasn't the greatest thing I've ever read. Now there is the other part of my brain that feels like Goodreads lied to me here. If you've been following my weekly updates for a while one of my "guilty pleasures", that I don't feel guilty about all, is reading men's action adventure novels. Things like Deathlands, Rogue Angel, Mack Bolan, etc. I'll never claim that these are great books of literature or anything but it's kind of a throw back to when I was in my teens. Unfortunately this genre is just not popular and after Gold Eagle was closed down, thanks Harlequin for that one, I've never really found anything that scratched that itch quite like a Gold Eagle book would. Quite often though I'd see Goodreads recommending books just like this in the "other readers liked this" section. I was highly skeptical of this as romance was never really a driving force in these type of novels. It felt like it was based more on the covers then anything else. "Your cover has buff military man with a gun and this book has buff military man with a gun so that means they are same " kind of thinking. No, just no. There was action in this book but it was more legal, above board, lets leave all the real bad stuff for the police kind of action whereas the books I enjoy was more concerned with a body count then any legalities. It involved black ops scenarios, apocalypse scenarios, or just scenarios where cops were no help. The books I was enjoying were more concerned with the action then anything else really. My low key search shall continue but this style of book is now another option on my shelves if I'm ever looking for challenge books or what not.

-4 Stars
Finally, a short comic I can use for a challenge. It was only for this specific challenge but still. Joking aside I've heard of this comic before and I've also heard of the author, Alan Moore but I've never read either. Overall I thought that this was a solid comic and I love the idea that the only thing between a regular person and The Joker is just one bad day. I have some mixed feelings about a Joker origin story as I've always liked the idea of The Joker just being this unknown force of chaos. Then there is the ending. Incredibly open ended and left up to the reader to interpret it how they want to which is a bold move. I have my personal feelings but I won't share those here.

-3 Stars
More Hunter Hunter and it was good.

As for what is next.

On audiobook I'm about half way through and I'm enjoying it. I've been waiting for a long while to continue my reread of this series and I'm glad to be back.

For things that are not audiobooks I have two books I need to complete for the library due dates. I have and . I started with Secrets because I'm just plain tired and I want a warm hug from my book. I'm not sure about The Prisoner though. I requested this at some point last year and was waiting for it to come out and for the library to get it. I just don't feel an urge to read it, it doesn't help with any obvious challenges, and I've seen some pretty mixed reviews of it. I might read, or I might just return it so I can read something else I want to read.

[Liliana, YA Paranormal Lover]

A little update:

I finished with my Elemental Assassin re-read! I can't believe it's over... again. Lol. I love this series, so I had a lot of fun revisiting this world! Up next I'm finally going to be starting Heart Stings, an upcoming Lorelei Parker novella!

And I read my second nonfiction of the year and it was a lot of fun! Learned some very interesting things too.

[Brittany]

Gwen wrote: "I recently finished the complete Wheel of Time series and also the Cut & Run series. Apart from physical books I also listened to my first audiobook! I listened to [book:Beyond the Wand: The Magic ..."

Nice for finishing Wheel of Time! How'd you like it?
Also great choice for a first audiobook, Tom did a great job narrating his book, glad you loved it too

[Brittany]

Nice Gord! Good to know you enjoyed the Joker comic, I may look into that one.

[Brittany]

Yay for finishing your reread Lili! And another nonfiction! Ill probably read that one soonish myself

[Gwen]

Brittany wrote: "Gwen wrote: "I recently finished the complete Wheel of Time series and also the Cut & Run series. Apart from physical books I also listened to my first audiobook! I listened to [book:Beyond the Wan..."

I loved the first five or six books, but after that the story became too long for me. I felt like the story could've been wrapped up in five books instead of dragging it out to fourteen. I'm still glad I read them though.

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

Gwen wrote: "I recently finished the complete Wheel of Time series and also the Cut & Run series. Apart from physical books I also listened to my first audiobook! I listened to [book:Beyond the Wand: The Magic ..."

I just finished reading Tom Felton's book on audio yesterday. I loved it too!

[Elena]

I'm trying to be more consistent with updates, so here is the chunk of my recent reads.

- 4 stars. I love the covers of all the books in the series, so colorful! The setting and the atmosphere are amazing, though the story is weak compared to the first book.
- 2 stars. Though I don't enjoy the mysteries in the series, the setting is nice and cozy. Some characters are also fun to follow.
- 4 stars. I started a new series and it's good! My only wish is that it was a full novel. It is literally packed with events, politics, romance and complex topics.
- 4 stars. It becomes better with each new book. The main idea is still there, and it is handled much better.
- 4 stars. A very descent sci-fi series. The second book is better than the first, which is usually a rare case. And the ending was quite a cliffhanger. The third book was even better, challenging and unputdownable.
- 3 stars. The series is like a roller-coaster. First book was ok, second book was good and the last third book is mediocre. All of the school setting and academia vibes are gone and the plot is not interesting, it's like Harry Potter without Hogwarts.
- 4 stars. Actually I found the new era more engaging and interesting. The narration improved and the there is more depths to the characters.
- 3 stars. I’m definitely not enjoying the series as much as I loved the Percy Jackson series. It’s a bit repetitive and some characters are even annoying. I really don't like Meg. Hazel, Reyna and Frank were some of my favourites in the book. I still enjoy the language style, the mythological aspect and the narration in general.
- 4 stars. I started a new manga series and it is good! Not a typical school setting, featuring art and the difficulties people meet when trying to get into an art school. The story reminded me of two other mangas: Paradise Kiss and some vibes from Nana.

[Gwen]

@Elena I'm glad you're enjoying the Eragon books! There's a new one coming about Murtagh :)

[Gord]

Just going to do my recap a bit early so I can get back to relaxing today. I got a whole weekend to myself after working the last two so I am enjoying things today.

-3 Stars
I'm going to start with this book as I have a lot to say about this one. I originally read this book about a decade ago and this book did not age well at all. I've been rereading this series over the last year on audiobook and been enjoying the experience. That was until I got to this book. To start with none of the characters feel right for what has been established over the series. For instance the character of Evanlyn. Over the course of the series she has faced just as many challenges as Will and Halt. She survived for well over a year behind enemy lines while nursing Will through health issues. She has fought on the front lines of battles. The list goes on and on and on. In this book she suddenly needs to be protected from dangers because she is a girl. It's like the events of the series just never happened. They make reference to them but they seem to have forgotten what happened during those events. Then we get to the more problematic elements of this book. This series likes to take cultures from our world and put a fantasy twist on them. It's a smart idea honestly and kind of takes a page from urban fantasy. Here is this thing similar to you so you already know many of the details and here is my unique twist on it. This book is set in the fictional country of Nihon-Ja and if you know any Japanese you will immediately know that this is set in this worlds version of Japan. This is where things get just to get awkward. It's a very Western version of Japan that is not the most flattering. There is a lot of stereotypes in this book is what I am trying to say. Including the cringy "the katana is the greatest sword in the world and can cut through anything because of its superior craftsmanship". Then we get to the problem with the book that once I saw it I just couldn't unseen it. The white savior trope. I even feel uncomfortable about this because it's not something I like talking about with books. The emperor of Nihon-Ja is facing a rebellion and one of our cast is there visiting and helps out. The rest of our cast hears about it and sails around the world to help their friend out. Once the cast of characters is reunited this trope really kicks into high gear. Basically all the decisions about what to do, how to do it, when to do it, is all done by our main cast of characters. The locals, including the emperor become background characters in their own country basically and only get scene time if they are required to be there. Then there is the scene that really got awkward. Evanlyn and Alice depart on a diplomatic mission to recruit a tribe on the other side of this big lake. They make contact and it's full blown hand gestures with "me Evanlyn, me friend" and this goes on and on for some time. Now keep in mind that they are still in Nihon-Ja just on the other side of the lake. Also keep in mind that Alice can speak the Nihon-Ja language to some degree. Instead of opening with the local language they open with "Me Evanlyn, me friend". Of course the tribe from the other side of the lake speaks Nihon-Ja, shocking I know. I'm not going to jump on the "this book is racist" train of thought or anything but oh man was this book really uncomfortable at times. I'm not even getting into the fact that the portrayal of the "Japanese" military is just horrid. The only weapons they had were the katana and a few bows. They basically had no tactics besides blindly charge into battle as individuals. I'm no expert in Japanese history or anything but this seems more than a little disingenuous to say the least.

Now for the inevitable question, "Gord why did you give this book a 3 star rating?". Honestly if I were to have read this book as a standalone for the first time I might have given it a 2 star rating. The book gets a pity star from me because I like the series and the characters but this book was just not good. I do plan to continue the series but I know the first book in the Royal Ranger series has the infamous woman in a fridge trope and I'm dreading that. First though I have a collection of short stories and then it's the Royal Ranger series.

-5 Stars
Now to something a bit less controversial, In Death. I've got a lot going on this month at work and not a lot of reading time so having this to read this week was nice. It's like coming home to some dear friends and it just feels great. I will say that the ending felt a little rushed on this one. I feel that Eve would have eventually solved this case but it needed to be sped up to hit a certain page count so the killer randomly does something stupid and essentially hands himself over to Eve. It felt a bit rushed but the mystery is not the main reason I read and enjoy these books.

-5 Stars
Oh man, oh man, oh man this book was good, no this book was great. The critical side of my brain realizes what the author was doing very early on when he as setting up the hype but the primitive man side of my brain loves the pay out for all that hype. The moment where the chapter ends with a simple "Exchange" had me jumping around in my chair in excitement. This book is, at it's core, a simple power fantasy but man is it fun to read.

-3 Stars
I'm going to parrot what a lot of other reviews I read were saying. The art was nice but the story was kind of meh. It's about two foreigners traveling through a section of Japan looking for yokai. It felt kind of like a collection of random short stories loosely tied together. It wasn't bad but it didn't blow me away either.

-3 Stories
Another comic about the authors cat. The story shows the cat from two POV's. One is from the real world where Cinnamon is a 6 month old kitten. In the other POV Cinnamon is a Mad Max style hero battling her evil owner to unlock the universes supply of catnip or doing battle with this unbeatable enemy (the laser pointer). Cute, funny, and it works but didn't blow me away either.

Here is what I'm reading next.

On audiobook I'm going to be starting and then I should be starting .

For regular books I'm currently reading . Yes it's power fantasy isekai and yes I know it's about as bottom of the barrel as one can get but I'm curious and I need some light reading today. After that I've got I need to read for a challenge and to get it back to the library. I'm holding my nose and just downing this one. After that I've got a bunch of manga to read.

[Brittany]

Elena sad that the story is weak in the second Tea book! Rest of the update looked good, mostly books you've enjoyed so thats always a positive!

[Brittany]

Gord its too bad about the ranger series, it can be so hard with rereads when things don't age well! Yay for some comfort style reads after. Enjoy the next Murderbot! Nothing wrong with some power fantasy isekai

[Gord]

Alright, time for the weekly wrap up and oh man it has been a roller coaster of a week. Good books, bad books, in between books, and just a general reading funk.

-2 Stars
Lets start with the bad, I just did not like this book. Basically a barista comes up with a system to match people together based on their coffee orders. Sure, there is an interesting idea for a story at the heart of things but the book just does nothing. There is no depth to anything and things just happen because the tropes require it. I was so bored reading this and only finished it because I needed it for a challenge. About the only thing I can really say that was good about the book was that it was short.

-5 Stars
Now for the good. I have been enjoying this series so far but always felt that there was something missing from the books. This book felt like the series hit it's stride. It had emotional moments, it had action scenes, it had character growth, it had it all. No joke, there was a scene at the end that might have even brought a tear to my eye. This was just a fantastic read and I am now fully hooked on this series.

-3 Stars
I feel like I need to explain some things here. Last week I spoke about Solo Leveling and how much fun I had reading that power fantasy. That put me in a mood and combined with my general feeling of being tired this month from work I wanted something fun to read. That lead me to this series. I will fully admit that this is not good power fantasy, this is not good literature in general. This is bottom of the barrel isekai and the MC is OP and perfect. He starts with nothing but his smartphone in a fantasy world. By the end of the third book he is engaged to four women (polygamy is a thing in this world), a billionaire, was gifted a mansion, has ties to the royal family (one of his fiancees is the princess), and a well respected adventurer. This is not a high stakes, tension filled series. Our MC shows up and essentially solves any problem with his harem of beautiful women. There are some weird anime/manga tropes in here but overall it's fluff. Here is the thing though... I had fun reading this. This was the perfect thing to just turn my brain off and have a good time with. For all the negative things there are some interesting elements going on that have me curious and while the anime community seems to like dunking on this it has to be doing something right. The 27th book comes out this year and no word of it ending.

-3 Stars
Another challenge book that I listened to. This was for a particularly hard challenge and I wanted to get this task over with so I can move onto the next part. Basically this book is about a young boy who has sociopathic tendencies in a small town. One day bodies start showing up and he gets obsessed with what is going on and tries to solve the mystery. There is an interesting idea here at the core but there was something about this book that just did not click with me. I think it was mostly the MC that I just didn't like. I didn't enjoy watching these events unfold from his point of view. Compounding this issue was the narrator. I just didn't feel like the narrator fit the character. The narrator has the cadence and tone that makes me thing of a 1920's gangster and not a 15 year old boy. I wasn't even upset with the twist that happened halfway through. The book just didn't click with me.

-3 Stars
Speaking of things not clicking with me. I snagged this series to finish a challenge from 2019 and meh. Again not a bad idea behind the series or anything but it just didn't click. After two volumes I still have no real idea what is going on and we just keep getting more and more characters thrown at us. The challenge is done though and I won't be continuing on with this series.

-4 Stars
More assassins, more serial killers, more over the top action. I love this series and can't wait for more.

Now, what is next.

On audiobook I'll be starting next week. Finally getting back to this series and I'm super excited.

For regular books I have some manga to read and I think I'll start next because fun light read.

[Elena]

Gwen wrote: "@Elena I'm glad you're enjoying the Eragon books! There's a new one coming about Murtagh :)"

Oh yeah, I was so glad to learn it actually :)

[Elena]

Brittany wrote: "Elena sad that the story is weak in the second Tea book! Rest of the update looked good, mostly books you've enjoyed so thats always a positive!"

It's not that it's too weak, it's still good and interesting. But a bit weaker than the first book.

[Brittany]

Elena wrote: "Brittany wrote: "Elena sad that the story is weak in the second Tea book! Rest of the update looked good, mostly books you've enjoyed so thats always a positive!"

It's not that it's too weak, it's..."

It was weaker than book 1. I finished it, satisfying enough ending but it didn't live up to its potential. I wanted more tea magic! That being said I still enjoyed listening to it

[Brittany]

Gord! I am looking forward to your thoughts on Broken Houses! Also yay Murderbot

[Liliana, YA Paranormal Lover]

Book I've read in the last week or so:

I really enjoyed Sunset House, it was a classic haunted house book, but the house itself was actually a retirement home filled with some very interesting older characters. I always enjoy an Ellie Jordan novel.
loved Heart Stings SO MUCH! It was cute and action-packed, and I'm just glad we got something new in the Elemental Assassin world because it has been a while.
This was not what I was expecting. It wasn't nearly as fun as I was hoping or scary. Was it creepy? Yes. But, idk, it was just... fine.
This one I LOVED though! It was a lot of fun!! Triana's adventures usually always involve mysteries and dead bodies, and while this one did have a mystery, it was a bit different because we had alternate universes!! It was so cool! And I of course loved the characters and their banter and just following them on their journey to get back to their own universe.

[Elena]

Brittany wrote: "It was weaker than book 1. I finished it, satisfying enough ending but it didn't live up to its potential. I wanted more tea magic! That being said I still enjoyed listening to it"

Totally agreed!

[Storm The Tiny Hooman ~hiatus~]

Monster by Walter Dean Meyers

[Gord]

It's been a bit of slower reading week for me so I don't have as much to talk about. I'll make up for it next week though.

Reincarnated as a Sword (Light Novel) Vol. 2 -4 Stars
The one and only novel I completed this week. Yup, it's been one of those weeks. It's been interesting to see the difference between the anime and source material. Especially with the spider dungeon arc. They changed the arc up to really get that anime season finale kind of vibe. The cuteness of Fran is really played up in the anime which makes sense as it's a much more visual medium then just words on a page. There are a lot more details in the LN, shocking I know, and events seem to unfold more slowly, again it makes sense considering the medium. The other big surprise is that the anime only covered up to about the half way point in this book. I'm used to anime trying to cover more material in a season. That brings me to the second half of this book and probably my favorite part. We get to see Fran and Teacher really tested as they tackle a dungeon well above their level with some near disastrous results. You get to see the characters grow both as adventurers and as characters. I'm really enjoying this series so far and can't wait for the next one.

Tower of God Volume One -3 Stars
I was surprised to see this come up in the new books feed at my library but I knew I had to snag it. Tower of God is one of those massive Korean Webtoons (comics designed to be read on your smartphone) up there with things like King of High School, Solo Leveling, The Breaker, and others. I was interested to see how the format would transition to traditional print and it was alright. I had one slight issue though and it's not the comics fault. The story telling method doesn't translate well to physical medium in my opinion. Bit of a lesson time I guess. A lot of mediums like this, (light novels, webtoons, web novels etc) don't follow traditional story telling methods. If you look at something like In Death each book is it's own individual story self contained to that book with occasional overarching story lines that connect the books. For series like this it's just one massive story broken up into story arcs. Those story arcs can be short and only lasting half a book or be massive sprawling stories spanning multiple books. It also leads to a weird flow when things are transitioned to a physical medium. For instance in the last Solo Leveling novel the epic climax scene took place in the middle of the book with the end of the book being a bunch of slower paced set up for the next story arc. To bring this all back to this first volume of Tower of God this was like the first couple of pages of the prologue. I have no idea what to make of the story because I feel like I've barely even scratched the surface of things. This book was 288 pages and I feel like I got a ten second trailer to a three hour movie. Seeing as this is a new release here in NA I don't know if I want to follow the slow release schedule of the physical book. I feel it would be better to just go on Webtoons and start reading the story there. That is a massive commitment of time though as there are currently over 500 chapters out and it's still being published. Decisions, decisions.

Creepy Cat Vol. 4 -3 Stars
The final volume of this odd and yet charming series. It's a cute cat book, it has horror elements, and it's a comedy. I enjoyed the series and I feel that there is still potential here if the author ever wanted to revisit things. Definitely a recommendation for those that like odd little series and cats.

Beauty and the Feast 06-4 Stars
Not a lot to really say that I haven't already said before. This series is still cute and cozy with those weird moments of something lewd that the author isn't prepared to commit to.

Embrace Your Size: My Own Body Positivity-3 Stars
This is a nonfiction manga about the authors struggles with her body and being bigger than normal. While the first part of the book was a little repetitious the book overall touches on many good points and has a great message overall. I think this is an issue that we all struggle with to some degree and seeing more positive messages out there never hurts.

Up next:

Broken Homes I'm listening to this currently and I'm nearly done. It has felt good to return to this series and the narrator is a real treat to listen to. After that I've got Dead Voices which is going to be a short one.

Triptych I started reading this last night and I have some mixed feelings so far. I'm about 15% of the way into the book and I feel like we are still going through a lot of set up of characters and not so much the story itself. I'm sure at some point this will all come together though and the story will take off.

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

Read these in March

5 Stars
3 Stars
5 Stars
4.5 Stars
Re-Read 5 Stars
3.5 Stars

[Brittany]

Nice updated Gord!


Kay nothing wrong with 3 five star books in a month! Beyond the Wand was so good wasn't it?

[Gord]

It's a little early but I've got a few novels to talk about this week so I figured I'd get it out of the way and then return to my reading.

Triptych -4 Stars
After finishing up the Grant County series I have been eagerly anticipating the start of this series. Having the TV show come out threw a massive monkey wrench into that plan though as now everyone else and their dog wanted to also read it. The wait line for these books are ridiculous. This book was split up into various parts and I'll admit this has a bit of a rough start. I didn't like character we were following and was a little bummed at the thought of having to follow this guy for either some or the entirety of the rest of the book. Then I got to the second part and it was a different character and again I wasn't the biggest fan but something changed. Suddenly I found the pages going by faster, the awareness of the world outside my book slipping, and so on. I was getting pulled into the story as the second part starting to reveal some big things. One being the identity of the killer in a subtle kind of way. This suddenly puts the rest of the book in a whole different light. As the reader you know who the killer is but most of the cast you are following does not. Now this is nothing new but I'm glad that the author didn't do the whole trope of everyone ignoring the super obvious clue until just the right time. Everyone was doing their own investigation and slowly became suspicious about something in their own way. This eventually lead all these different stories to the same point where it all became one story. This made the book a real interesting read watching everyone realize what was going on in their own way. I'm now super excited for the next book even if I have a multi month wait ahead of me.

Broken Homes -5 Stars
Speaking of popular series and multi month waits we have this series. This book came in at the perfect time for me as my last audiobook was a bit of a dud. Both in a story sense and from a narrator sense. The narrator for this series is just amazing and is pure ear candy. He has become this main character in my head and his abilities to change accents is amazing. I have no clue if they are accurate or not but to me they sound right and that's what matters. This book was a bit of a slow burn scattered kind of story as there was a lot of random little things going on at one time but in the end they all came together in one big explosive bang. The book was a solid four for me but the ending took it up a point. We get to see the full capabilities of someone like Nightingale and it is terrifying. You realize that what we have seen up to this point has barely even a party trick. Then there is a shocking twist at the end that just lands perfectly and flips everything on it's head. I'm now waiting for the next one and this one seems to be only a month out instead of the three it took this one.

Dead Voices -4 Stars
This was read to help with a monthly timed challenge and much like the first book I was rather surprised how good of a middle grade horror it was. It takes place in remote snow lodge that gets snowed in and of course ghosts. Turns out the lodge used to be an orphanage/school and yes you kind of have to ignore the blaring question of why someone would build such a building in such a remote location but hey. Since it is middle grade horror it's not that "scary" but much like the first one it doesn't take much imagination to spin it up into something pretty scary. Trapped in a ski lodge, no power, no heat, no communication with the outside world, scary homicidal ghost trying to put everyone to bed. This series has really surprised me and I'm thinking of just fast tracking the third one to see what happens next.

Omens -3 Stars
Before I get started I want to be clear that this is more like a 2.5 that I rounded up to a 3. It would appear that I'm in the minority here and I just wasn't that impressed by this book. I read this for a buddy read and I was excited after reading the synopsis as it sounded super interesting. Everyone else who was participating in the buddy read and even other friends on Goodreads seemed to really enjoy the book which I took as a pretty strong sign. I'm now kind of wondering if I read the same book as everyone else as I was left feeling very underwhelmed by this book. It started almost out the gate as the book seemed to take everyone's reaction to a 15 on a scale of 5. Instead of dealing with the situation with a press conference that could have solved the entire situation in one go we have people running away from each other. Some leaving the country, engagements getting broken off, credit/debit cards getting cut up, etc and I'm left going "but why?". The main character needed to get to Point A though for the story to start so fine, fine, fine lets just let that slide. The whole "but why?" feeling though just never really changed as the MC inserts herself into a mystery that she really has no reason to do so. The story was a slow burn and instead of a strong story pushing me along I spent most of my time wondering what was going on, why it was going on, and just where was I going. Then there was the ending that just felt like the most random, out of left field, mad lib explanation ever. It did shift my question from "but why?" to "but what?". The ending felt very unfulfilling as I felt like nothing got explained, nothing got resolved, and we just had more questions. Oh and there was also a paranormal aspect to the book. It got dragged out of the background every few chapters to do the whole *jazz hands* look at the weird paranormal thing happening in the background that will never get explained, never gets explored, and never utilized in this story *jazz hands*.

Like I mentioned above I really do wonder if I read the same book as everyone else as my reaction was so different from everyone else. For those that did like this book this isn't an attack on you or your taste. I'm just a weirdo who is a little dense at time. I will read the second book to give it old college try but I'm not expecting much honestly.

Kim Reaper, Vol. 1: Grim BeginningsKim Reaper, Vol. 2: Vampire Island -3 Stars
I have been following the author of this series online now for years. She does this little single panel comic about life with her cats and her boyfriend that are just cute. I've known about this series for a while now but never got around to reading it. For whatever reason I tripped over this at the library and remember I had to read it. It's a cute story about a girl dating another girl who has a job as a part time Grim Reaper. It's got the author's identifiable art style, it's got cuteness, it has some horror, and it's just a fun little comic to read. There are some nice little Easter eggs in the series like the authors cats being in the background of a scene. Just a fun little read.

Now, what is next in my reading journey.

Off Kilter I'm focusing in and attempting to close off some really old lingering challenges from back log of challenges. This is a cozy mystery set in Scotland that is hopefully good. After that I am not sure yet. I have some stuff coming in but I might need to find something else to listen to while I wait. Probably something challenge related.

For physical books I've got some manga and comics to get through. Things like Komi, Princess Jellyfish, TMNT, and others.

[Brittany]

Gord! What are your thoughts of the twist at the end of Broken Homes (view spoiler)[ did you see it coming? What all were Leslie's motives? I kind of hated the reveal, it actually took it down a star for me, but I am super curious what will happen going forward.
The magical architecture idea is neat though!
Do you think Nightingale is really a title instead of his name? I want more! (hide spoiler)]

[Brittany]

Too bad you didn't like Omens, I am looking forward to trying it myself.

[Gord]

Oh boy, obvious spoilers up to the end of this book

(view spoiler)[
So I knew it was going to happen in a general sense as this is my second time through the series, up until the next book, but I couldn't remember when it happened. I started getting suspicious in this book because of all the time she had off page doing something else. She had this appointment, that appointment, had to meet that person, etc. At first I didn't think much of it but as time went along I got more and more suspicious. As for motivations there is obviously her face. I think that on some level that is going to be a major factor. Now whether or not the Faceless Man can actually deliver or not is a billion dollar question. Was it a lot of talk to woo her over to his side? There is also a part of me that wonders if power in general also plays a factor. We got hints in this book that she is much more aggressive than Peter and up until the end had no real idea what Nightingale could really achieve. She has an idea what the Faceless Man could go and seeing what the Witch could do might have been a game changer for her. What she wants that power for though I'm not sure.

As for the big reveal itself I thought it was perfect. Through out the book there was a lot of talk about who was an agent for the Faceless Man and the power dynamic between the two sides. It's very much like a game of chess if you will. Then just as it looks like the good guys have won, the Faceless Man is down, in cuffs, and about to be taken in Leslie revealed herself. I don't think it was when it was supposed to happen but I think she had no choice in that moment. It was just such an unexpected gut punch and the chaos that it caused is undeniable. It also ratchets up the tension between the two factions. Both sides now have a win under their belt. This also makes things much more personal for Peter as we've seen that relationship between him and Leslie from the last few books.

I think Nightingale is a name and not a title. No real reason for that thought. Just nothing we've had revealed so far has lead us to think otherwise. I'm sure he has a title of some kind but I'm not sure what. Like you I also want more and now I'm "patiently" waiting for the next book. (hide spoiler)]

[Brittany]

Thanks Gord! Love your thoughts, I've wanted to talk to someone about this book since I finished it. (view spoiler)[ I agree that the reveal was well done it just made me rather unhappy. I think on a reread I would like the whole thing better I just remember being mad when I finished the book.
I am curious what she wants the power for too and whether she is actually on the faceless man's side or if shes still a double agent. Its true she really didn't know what Nightingale could do.
I too think it wasn't supposed to happen like this for her reveal but she had to make a sudden choice of which side to work with.

I should be starting the next one soon! (hide spoiler)]

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

Brittany wrote: "Nice updated Gord!


Kay nothing wrong with 3 five star books in a month! Beyond the Wand was so good wasn't it?"

Yes!! I don't usually read nonfiction or Autobiographies but I loved all the behind the scenes stuff and then how he talked about his addiction and mental health struggles.

[Storm The Tiny Hooman ~hiatus~]

Just finished Monster by Walter Dean Myers

New book is
The Uninvited: The True Story of the Union Screaming House by Steven LaChance with Laura Long Helbig

[Brittany]

Kay same here! Outside of my normal read but so fun to listen to and the mental health struggles were so well done!

[Jo]

I finished yesterday and it's definitely my favourite book of the year so far! SA Chakraborty is fast becoming one of my favourite authors between Daevabad and this! I loved Amina and her crew and can't wait to see what adventures they get up to in the next book.
I've now started , I really enjoyed doing the Sooz Your Own Adventure Polls, so I'm hoping I enjoy the book.

[Gord]

Time for that weekly roundup and this has been a week of ups and downs.

Off Kilter -4 Stars
This was the first of two novels that I read for challenges this week and it was pretty good. I have developed some pretty mixed feelings in regards to cozy mysteries over the years. On one hand they are great for challenges. You can find cozy mysteries set in all sorts of places with MC's doing all sorts of jobs. Combine that with covers full of all sorts of things and they are prime challenge material. On the other hand there are so many of them that are formulaic and dull as dishwater. Not necessarily bad but just bland and paint by numbers. Now this mystery has a lot of the expected tropes but it was entertaining. It's set in small town Scotland and our MC finds herself involved with a local murder mystery. You can figure out the killer by applying a little cozy mystery logic. It's obviously not the "friend" character, it's obviously not the "love interest" character, it's also not the police character, or the character/s that the author is try to make look guilty. It's the other named character that is barely on the page. I'm not sure how I can explain why I liked this so lets chalk it up to the Scottish brogue that I got to listen to while listening to this book. Not the "what the hell did you just say to me" brogue but the made for TV one that is pleasant to the ear.

The Scent Keeper -3 Waters
This book is about a billion miles away from anything even remotely close to what I normally read and I had a hard time with this one. I gave this a three star rating because there is a part of me that can appreciate what this book was trying to do even if it was so not for me. This book has a lot of messages about fairy tales vs reality, about trauma passed from generation to generation, and probably a few other things that I just couldn't care to pick up. This was squarely in the camp of literary fiction the only hint of anything even mystical was some fairy tale stuff in the beginning that was basically the kids imagination. In my opinion this book was about the MC getting the stuffing kicked out of them by life in general. This might make for compelling reading for some and I'm not going to knock you if this is what you like. I get enough of that though in my everyday life. Every time I watch/read the news, browse the internet, etc, etc, etc. I don't need more of it in my escape from all that stuff. I'd rather read about vampires getting shot by shotguns then someone coming to a self realization about their inner feelings and what it means in regard to their relationship with their mother/father. By the end of the book I was just wanting it to end but even I wasn't prepared for the abrupt ending that this book had. It just got to this big revelation point and the book just said "screw it, I'm done, going home now". It resolved none of the story points at all. It just left you hanging with the barest of hints about what happened to anyone in the book. If I was more invested in things I'd probably be a lot more upset about that ending.

Komi Can't Communicate, Vol. 19 -3 Stars
Komi Can't Communicate, Vol. 20 -4 Stars
Maybe it was because I was in a mood but I'm kind of becoming a bit split on this series. When it's telling a story I'm really enjoying the series. Volume twenty was a great example of that. There was a story with character moments and development that was fun to read. Then we have volumes like volume nineteen that is just gags and not even new ones but repeats of gags that have already been done a few times in the series. It just kind of feels phoned in. Like the author had writers block but still had a deadline so it was just throw things on the page and go.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The IDW Collection, Volume 2 -4 Stars
I finally got the second volume of this series and I'm floored by this story. This is a story that is throwing everything into the mix. Martial arts, sci-fi, dimension hopping, all out warfare, reincarnation, mysticism, and magic all mixed into one story. It's just bonkers the shifts in story telling that can happen in this series and I'm loving every moment of it. I am also loving all the little references to the various iterations of the Turtles that came before this. I am now waiting "patiently" for the next volume to come in.

Princess Jellyfish 2-in-1 Omnibus, Vol. 4 -4 Stars
More of this series and more progress for our characters as they try to save their apartment building and get a clothing company up off the ground.

Berserk Deluxe Edition Volume 10 -5 Stars
More Berserk and at this point I think my love of the series is well established. I was spoiled for a big reveal that happens later on and it makes moments in this book both make more sense and suddenly hit so much different. I won't spoil anything but there was certain scenes in here that suddenly felt completely different from the first few times I read this series.

As for what is next.

The Mist I needed a quick book for a challenge when the one I was working on fell through. This is not my first time reading this book but it will be the first time on audio so I'm interested to see if that changes anything.

The Supernatural Enhancements Another challenge book and an author I've been meaning to return to since I read Meddling Kids. After that I'm not sure and will play it by ear.

[Brittany]

Awesome that you loved Amina, Jo! Join me in impatiently awaiting the next book. Hope your next read is good too!

Gord, great update like usual! Too bad that Komi gets a little split in your enjoyment depending on the volume.

[Gord]

It could have just been a mood that I was in but the gag stuff just wasn't landing with me. Maybe it also didn't help that it opened with my least favorite character just being herself which is off putting.

[Brittany]

Totally fair Gord!

[Jo]

Brittany wrote: "Awesome that you loved Amina, Jo! Join me in impatiently awaiting the next book. Hope your next read is good too!

Gord, great update like usual! Too bad that Komi gets a little split in your enjoy..."

Yes, I am definitely very impatiently awaiting Amina's sequel! I'm not very far into The Luminaries yet, but I'm a little unsure so far...seven chapters in and it's already been a lot of internal monologuing which is never my favourite thing!

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

I've had two weeks off work, which have been lovely and I've read:

3.5 stars
4.5 stars
3 stars
5 stars
5 stars
4.5 stars
4.5 stars

[Jo]

I've started by Ruta Sepetys (well I read the first couple of pages when I was at the hairdressers with my mum a few weeks back, but I didn't really have the time to properly get into it, so that doesn't really count!). It's been a long time since I last read a Sepetys book and I've heard great things, so I'm excited!

[Brittany]

Kay awesome books. I think I need to read the Inheritance Games and Gilded Ones series if you're rating book 2s at 5 stars

[Brittany]

Jo hope you love it! I really need to read a Sepetys book. Which one should I start with.

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

Brittany wrote: "Kay awesome books. I think I need to read the Inheritance Games and Gilded Ones series if you're rating book 2s at 5 stars"

I absolutely love both of those series. They're so good. The Gilded Ones I highly HIGHLY recommend for fantasy lovers. It's phenomenal.

[Jo]

Brittany wrote: "Jo hope you love it! I really need to read a Sepetys book. Which one should I start with."

My personal favourite of hers is still Between Shades of Gray, it's not an easy read because what happens to Lina and her family is quite harrowing, but it's a very captivating and emotional story.

[Brittany]

Thanks Jo! I'll remember next time I get into a historical fiction mood hopefully!
Ill bump up Gilded Ones on the TBR Kay.

[Gord]

Alright, I'm doing this a bit early but I just finished a book and I need to talk about it.

The Supernatural Enhancements -2 Stars
This is the book I have to talk about and oh boy do I have things to say. On a broad level I like what this book was trying to do but something happened in the execution. In the beginning of the book I was all on board with what this book was doing but as things went along I got bored, confused, and by the end I was just left feeling unsatisfied. This book is a haunted house/paranormal mystery/adventure kind of book. Our MC known only as A inherits a house from a 2nd cousin who was stupid rich. Him and his companion Niamh show up at the house and the book starts. This book is told in an epistolary style with everything being told through diary entries, dream diaries, video recordings, camcorder footage, audio recordings, letters, notes, etc. For me this is a bit of a double edged sword as it's interesting but it also creates this barrier between the me and the characters. I never feel a connection with the characters as I don't know what they are thinking, feeling, etc. Some of these sections were interesting and other ones were beyond boring. For instance there is a section that goes into painstaking detail about how they broke this code. This section went on for pages about how the code works, how our characters figured it out, how they broke the code, etc. It just dragged on and on and on. There were other sections that were from "scientific journals" that felt like sandpaper for my eyeballs. There were these dry, boring sections full of "science" jargon and I just don't feel like they added anything to the book.

Then there is the ending of the book. I'm not going to spoil anything but the book took a super hard turn in the last 30 pages and just ended with a bombshell that just created more questions then it answered. Not in a good cliffhanger kind of way that we all love to curse and hate but in a way that just felt like the book itself was unfinished. Honestly this kind of goes with the broader feeling of the book. It felt like it was trying to do a lot of different things but not really succeeding at any of them because it was trying to do to much at once. For instance the haunted house aspect of the book starts kind of strong only to be shelved and forgotten for most of the remainder of the book. No real explanation about it either. It was just a haunted house because reasons. Same with the whole secret society/cult thing. It was there but not really until it had to be and when it was there it just never felt fully fleshed out.

As for the characters we now absolutely nothing about A at all. Not his name, not his motivations, not the reason he is there, nothing. Niamh was a kind of interesting character and her being mute was an interesting twist but again there was that barrier with the writing style. It also can't be overlooked that Niamh is an underage characters, mid to late teens, and A ends up having a sexual relationship with her and he is definitely older than her. That definitely didn't need to be there. If you wanted to explore them being in a relationship then make her older. There was absolutely no reason for her to be the age she was. Alright, I think my ranting for this book is over.

The Mist -4 Stars
This was the only other thing I completed this week and it was pretty solid. If you have been following me for a while you know I have some mixed feelings about King. As a teen I enjoyed his books but as an adult I find that I don't enjoy his books as much. The Dark Tower series being the exception to that of course. There are definitely elements of his books that I enjoy but there are also sections of his books that just feel bloated. Sections that don't really feel like they were necessary and cause the book to drag. This book didn't suffer from that issue. Now it's not my first time reading The Mist but it's been a while since my last read of this book and it held up well. The story was spooky, I liked the horror elements, I like the ending, it was just a quick entertaining read.

Now for what is next.

The Great Filter I'm currently listening to this on audio and it's alright so far. It's a post apocalyptic gamelit novel and it's inspiration is pretty clear to me. This is far from high literature but so far it's at least entertaining. After that I've got a couple challenge books lined up to pick from.

For physical books I've got some manga to read so I can get it back to the library before next weekend.

[Liliana, YA Paranormal Lover]

Books I've read since my last update:

I really enjoyed this book! This series is basically about exploring new planets, and the main character is on her senior mission, when things go all sorts of wrong! It was insane and I enjoyed it! Lol.

I feel so accomplished, I finally finished this book! 😆 It took my nearly 3 months, but I did it! Lol. So my thoughts: I enjoyed it, I enjoy all Cassie Clare books. I liked the story and I loved the characters... Cassie always writes such lovable characters! BUT this book just felt so freaking long (and not just because it took me so long to read... I did take a break from it for like a month)! I don't know what it was, especially because Queen of Air and Darkness was longer than this one, and that one didn't feel as long. But I'm glad to be done with this book, even though I will miss the characters.

Up next I'm thinking some sci-fi, maybe some aquatic horror, because I'm in the very specific mood for that 😆