Haunting in the Hallway by Kathi Daley

Summary: The residents of Holiday Bay, Maine are preparing for Halloween and inn owner and author Abby Sullivan is no exception.  But amidst the preparation, Abby and Police Chief Colt Wilder manage to discover not one, but TWO bodies the same cemetery plot. Who could they be and why did someone want them dead? Have no fear! Abby and Colt are on the case.

Series: Book 5 in the Inn at Holiday Bay series

My Review: I wanted a cozy mystery that was Halloween-themed and this one met the requirements. I’m a bit disappointed the series is becoming more simplistic in nature. Still, I plan to gobble up the next one, as I’m sure I will want to read a Thanksgiving-themed, cozy mystery soon!

Pages: 219 pages     My Rating: 4 out of 5

Hubbert and Lil Series by Gallagher Gray

Summary: T.S. Hubbert retires in his 50s from a stuffy banking firm only to be called back briefly into service when one of the managers is killed. In steps his 84 year old aunt, Lil, who has personality and energy to burn. Together they are tasked to solve their first crime. Then, as is the tradition with cozies, the bodies just keep turning up in book after book.

My Review: I really, really wanted to like this series because I like senior sleuths. The premise was good. The setup of the characters was fine. The series is touted as being hilarious. But I found the plots to be slow-moving and the dialogue dragging.

Series Titles:

Book 1: Partners in Crime, 330 pages

Book 2: A Cast of Killers, 343 pages

Book 3: Death of a Dream Maker, 368 pages

Book 4: A Motive for Murder, 344 pages

My Rating: 3 out of 5

The One by Kiera Cass

They are so cute and so stupid.... Communication is key in relationships, y'all. It would save everyone so much pain and time...
I loved seeing how the friendships developed...
And seriously the romantic in me is like YAAAAS Maxon YAS. Photographs...I'm artsy, okay... It's fine. I'm fine. I love romantic gestures. I'm not crying...

338 Pages

The Elite by Kiera Cass

I kind of wonder if they're trying to change my ship preference just so that I'll be really happy when my first ship gets together...

Communication, y'all... Communication.... *Gif of Genie from Aladdin pulling out the "TELL HER THE TRUTH" sign, but HER is changed to HIM"

Also a gif of Sebastian from the Little Mermaid "teenagers"

I kind of want to strangle America...but I'm sure I was super angsty when I was a teenager too....I feel like a pros and cons list...or any kind of writing down and organizing her own thoughts...would have been helpful...

337 Pages

The Selection by Kierra Cass

Love triangles...Ok I guess...But I have an obvious ship soooo honestly I just want there to be a straight line. Drop the guy, bro.

So yeah, Maxon is the BOMB.COM and no one can tell me or convince me otherwise.

And I love America and how fierce and loving she is...YAAS Queen! Defend the lower classes and do it with sass. And apparently guys are attracted to that...And yet here I am...spending all of my free time reading....Marriage to books is legal, right?

352 Pages

Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard

Mood: smirking... well at least I was for most of the book...

Rescues are one of those tropes that never get old for me. I'm fanfiction trash...but this is cannon sooo...

Also flying is my jam...

Person A: Experiences new thing  :O
Person B: Wanted Person A to experience new thing with them and was a reason why they were able to experience it. >:D

Triple Agent Spies... Frat Snap.

I love people showing affection by trying to let the other person sleep at their expense....But still, self-care is important you cute little subtle martyr.

Sibling relationships..Heart eyes

Boy who everyone is afraid of and dislikes has little child ducklings following him around... I love him and he must be protected at all cost...

Y'all.. I was not prepared... I thought my body and mind were ready... and then suddenly they were not ready..... I did not sign up for this. I came here to have a good empowering time, and honestly I'm feeling so attacked rn... I can't. I quit. I'm done. I need the third book and it's checked out to someone else...Send an ER team....

464 pages

The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis

People are stupid and they never recognize that they're stupid.. I've been thinking it forever. But maybe that's the point he's making. We miss our own flaws. He makes the faults of the characters so obvious so that maybe you'll see yourself in the pride, the greed, the selfishness, the moral relativity...

I love the idea of the Gray Land...Because isn't that so much like our world. It offers us things that are good, but mediocre; things that will never truly satisfy or bring peace.

It was almost heart breaking to watch people walk away...but free will, man...

160 Pages

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

When two people of the opposite sex don't know their identities, I'm always afraid this is going to turn out like Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.....

It's taken me a while to read this book. But it got really cool in the last quarter of the book...Because people using their brains to solve puzzles are good..and plot twists are fun..

375 Pages

Snow White with the Red Hair: Volume 19 by Sorata Akizuki

I love Zen I love Zen I love Zen I love Zen

Oh and I love mutual pining....
192 pages

Kissed by a Dark Prince (Eternal Mates #1). By Felicity Heaton.

Kissed by a Dark Prince (Eternal Mates #1). By Felicity Heaton. 2013. Felicity Heaton. ASIN: B00GSQJNJO (Kindle).

Injured and left disoriented in the human realm by his enemy, Loren unknowingly initiates a bond between himself and the beautiful woman he bites in an attempt to heal himself. The existence of such a bond reveals Olivia as Loren’s eternal mate, but with his kingdom under threat, the dark elf prince decides that he has found her at a most inopportune time.

As a research scientist at the demon-hunting organization Archangel, Olivia would rather study the dark elf than risk her heart. Not willing to pull Olivia into the crossfire of his ancient feud in the fae realm, Loren agrees to work with her in order to find a way to break the bond. Too bad fate has other plans for them.

Heaton’s first installment in the Eternal Mates series has the promising beginnings of intricate world building and mythology. The secondary characters are also woven into the story well, with set ups for their own stories that do not feel tacked on. I look forward to the rest of the series.

283 pages

A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin

Continuing my first read through of the Game of Thrones book now that the show has ended. This one went by way too fast! I was sad to see that some of my favorite characters weren't in this one, but I believe they will show up in the next. It was fun to see the start of the fall of Cersei Lannister (her decisions aren't always the best), Brienne and Jamie loving each other from across the continent, and Arya going to Bravvos and meeting up with Sam! (though neither of them really knows who the other is). Don't even get me started on all the Dorne stuff. Why would they leave it out of the show??? So unfair. Overall, a fun time all around. Now on to the next!

Pages: 1061

The Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

So the beginning was slow, and I didn't like her for the first few chapters...But you can't just introduce a cute boy and expect me to be chill about it...Like obviously he's not just a rando... Because where's the drama in that.

I was hysterically laughing at the plot twist...because, of course.

🎵 Loa-thing. Un-adult-er-ate-d Loath-ing. 🎵

Cute boys are great. Fight scenes and protecting each other... *Chef Kiss*

416 pages

Bo the Bat. By Alma Hammond, Illustrator: Zuzana Svobodova.

Bo the Bat. By Alma Hammond, Illustrator: Zuzana Svobodova. 2019. Sweet Beet Books. AISN: B07XD62GGQ (Kindle).

Bo the bat wears a top hat, but trick-or-treating is a bit hard when pirates and unicorns flee from him. This extremely cute fella would like to allay children’s fears by teaching them fun facts about bats.

This is an illustrated story set to rhyme and the reading level is 1 to 2.

14 pages

Moon Knight Vol. 1: Lunatic (Moon Knight Vol. 8 #1-5). By Jeff Lemire, Artist: Greg Smallwood, Colorist: Jordie Bellaire.

Moon Knight Vol. 1: Lunatic (Moon Knight Vol. 8 #1-5). By Jeff Lemire, Artist: Greg Smallwood, Colorist: Jordie Bellaire. 2016. Marvel. ISBN: 9780785199533 (paperback).

Marc Spector has been bringing vengeance down upon the scum of NYC for years…or has he? When Spector finds himself locked up in an insane asylum, with none of his enhanced abilities, he begins to doubt he was ever Moon Knight to begin with. And for that matter, was he ever Jake Lockley, Steven Grant or Mr. Knight? The average superhero juggles two identities. Spector’s special, he juggles five…maybe. Woe to those who see vengeance coming…for he wants you to…hence the white suit.

Lemire begins this run with a lot of set up for what is to come. The trade off is that Lunatic is light on action. However, fans know that when Spector is at his most unhinged is when Moon Knight is at his most spectacular. Lemire’s scenarios will be best appreciated by those knowing the groundwork of Spector’s origins, his cohorts and enemies, and the ambiguity of whether he is mentally ill or possessed by the moon god Khonshu. 

Moon Knight Vol. 8 consists of 19 issues collected into 3 volumes. The artwork is solid, but sparse, which is fitting for the setting of the story. Variant covers are included and a parental advisory issued. 

#1-5 = 120 pages

MOBIUS

How To Ride a Dragon's Storm by Cressida Cowell-Read by David Tennant

Drunk dragons are my jam.... I love them...
Sassy slightly spiteful toddler dragons that act like the youngest child and won't help unless you promise them things--they are my spirit animals...
I wasn't crying during the last few chapters like at the end of Apollo 13... I don't have feelings...
Hiccup being philosophical during the last two chapters (including the epilogue) *Chef Kiss* Lines about being a hero the hard way...I'm not crying.. It's October and I totally have fall allergies...It's the flu shot that I haven't gotten yet...


288 Pages

Fruits Basket Another Book 2 by Natsuki Takaya

No spoilers for the OG Fruits Basket (well the manga has spoilers, but this review will not). My babies have babies and I have more feelings than all of them combined... well that's unrealistic, but I have a lot of feelings. It doesn't help that Fruits Basket has a reboot and I have feelings about the animation and the angst... *Nervous laughter that melts into crying*

192 pages

And I Darken by Kiersten White

And I Darken by Kiersten White
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Okay. Wow. Let's talk about this unusual YA fantasy/historical retelling (based on Vlad the Impaler and the Ottoman Empire) and how obsessed I became with this toxic triangle of love and loyalty that wrecks so much havoc.

I was really into the fact that Lada (yes, the Vlad of this story is female!) is brutal, ugly, confident, and fierce. She finds strength in that, while her brother, Radu is soft, gorgeous, charming, and clever, and he finds strength in that. This novel does a great job of comparing and contrasting different kinds of ways characters can be strong and can care about each other, and it does it all through showing, instead of telling. Which is glorious.

I'm especially pleased about the theme of feminism that runs throughout, the really beautiful and fascinating depictions of Islam, as well as the internal conflicts of the LGBT characters. I didn't really expect any of that when I picked up this story, which makes it even better.

Book one was an action-packed, highly emotional journey. I don't even know what I hope happens in book two at this point, other than that it cures some of incessant ache inside my heart, though I suspect that won't occur as sacrifice seems to be a main theme for all three of the most important characters.

I listened to this on audiobook, and Fiona Hardingham does an excellent job of bringing this story to life. She has a very gentle accent that really appeals to me.

Pages: 475

Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell

Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I had just a bit of trouble this time with keeping things straight with the constantly shifting perspectives. I do think that was partly my fault, as I listened on audio and was very distracted and in a bad head space at the time.

Since I adore Rainbow Rowell, and these characters, it is definitely possible this actually deserves all 5 stars, but I'm going with my gut until I have a chance to reread it under better conditions.

Lots of angst and drama alongside the magic in this one.

Pages: 368

Rebel (Legend, #4)

Rebel by Marie Lu
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I definitely enjoyed Eden's story but am also still obsessed with Day, so I obviously appreciated all the scenes with both Day and June, as it seems like I have craved those for 6 years. This one is set in Antarctica, which is a different society, with a unique government, which made for some interesting layers and issues.

Pages: 384

The Story of Arthur Truluv by Elizabeth Berg

Summary: A gentle story of three lonely people who bond together to become a family.

My Review: Engaging characters, thought-provoking situations, wisdom, humor, and an ending that can fill…and break…your heart.

Pages: 240           My Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Caroline Fraser

Summary: This book attempts to remove some of the mystique surrounding Laura Ingalls Wilder. Major events and relationships in her life are painstakingly set into their historical context. Myths are debunked. Family relationships are explored.

My Review: I found parts of this book thoroughly engaging and learned or relearned a lot of US history. Other parts of the book were repetitious and slow-moving. Nonetheless, I am looking forward to hearing the author speak at the Fox Service Center in Arnold on October 17, thanks to a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (#IMLSGrant).

Pages: 625          My Rating: 4 out of 5

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

I love Jude because she's different than most female protagonists. That's not to say that other female protagonists are bad, but rather that Jude screams a mixture of Slyterin and Ravenclaw with dashes of Gryffindor thrown in (which basically tells you nothing). I loved listening to her thought process, and trying to keep up with her strategies. She is fierce and has such a drive. And let's just say that I (like basically any other fangirl I know) have a thing for angsty boys with issues and an infatuation (an overstatement here) with the color black... I may or may not have hit myself because someone was being stupid and not noticing feelings...teenagers I guess.

As a side note, plot twists are my jam....


416 Pages