Cover Runway Sunday

   

They say don't judge a book by its cover, but we all know we do it. Sometimes it's the cover that originally catches our eye, drawing us to give a book a closer look. It's the first thing we see, our first impression. Every Sunday I'm going to post some of my favorite covers of books coming soon!

Who is Mister Magic? Former child stars reunite to uncover the tragedy that ended their show -and discover the secret of its enigmatic host -in this dark supernatural thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hide.

Thirty years after a tragic accident shut down production of the classic children's program Mister Magic, the five surviving cast members have done their best to move on. But just as generations of cultishly devoted fans still cling to the lessons they learned from the show, the cast, known as the Circle of Friends, have spent their lives searching for the happiness they felt while they were on it. The friend-ship. The feeling of belonging. And the protection of Mister Magic

But with no surviving video of the show, no evidence of who directed or produced it, and no records of who-or what the beloved host actually was, memories are all the former Circle of Friends has.

Then, a twist of fate brings the castmates back together at the remote desert filming compound that feels like it's been waiting for them all this time. Even though they haven't seen each other for years, they understand one another better than anyone has since.

After all, they're the only ones who hold the secret of that circle, the mystery of the magic man in his infinitely black cape, and, maybe, the answers to what really happened on that deadly last day. But as the Circle of Friends reclaim parts of their past, they begin to wonder: Are they here by choice, or have they been lured into a trap?

Because magic never forgets the taste of your friendship...

HAPPY READING!!

Independent Bookstore Day

Today is the day! Don't panic, remain calm, and make poor financial decisions in a bookstore! I plan on making many poor choices today. There is a plan for today, a grand plan if I can be a bit dramatic. It will include a small road trip, ferries, bookstores, and bakeries! The latter sort of just happened to fit into our plan by accident. However, I will not be looking that gift in the mouth. I love pastries about as much as I love books.

On the agenda today are six bookstores, three bakeries, and one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. It's also going to be an early morning wake-up despite the fact I took the day off work. But, I'm not complaining because it's all to snag an early ferry! I'm pretty sure we can hit all six bookstores. Even if we don't it's going to be a lot of fun, and I can't wait to spend the day hoping to bookstores to bookstores. Some of the places on the list are our local shops. Some are ones I've been meaning to go to for a while now.

And, finally able to be off when one of them is open! The downside to working weekends is some places are hard to visit. 

Still, if ever there was a day to buy books it's today! Even it's just online through bookshop.org! 

HAPPY READING!!

Murder Your Employer- Review

Author: Rupert Holmes

Genre: Mystery / Thriller

Format: Paperback

Pages: 389

This was my February Spotlight read based on the fact that Rupert Holmes wrote the Piña Colada song. The cover also played a part because it's gorgeous. Also, once you read the synopsis, it caught my attention. A school to teach you how to murder. Sounds like something I'd read.

Not having read any other books by Rupert Holmes, I wasn't really sure what I was about to dive into. I just hoped it was going to be as funny as the book flap made it out to be. The fact the ends pages were a map of McMasters School was the first win. 

Because who doesn't love a book with a map?

I did love that this book is kind of told in three parts. We start off with Cliff, and for the most part, we see the school through his eyes. From there we meet Gemma and Doria. Once at the school, we jump from Cliff's journal he's keeping for the person who sponsored him to go to McMasters, and the pov of both women.

Honestly, I could have read the whole book just at McMasters. Because the school itself was a lot of fun, Holmes set it up so readers could follow a dozen different students, to a dozen different kinds of classes.

That being said, I really enjoyed the end of this book and saw our three main characters put their thesis into play. Cliff's was hands down the most satisfying of the three, and it was an adventure from start to finish once he left the school. It even had a little twist at the end of Cliff's story that left me on the edge of my seat.

The end of Gemma's story stays true to her character from start to finish, and I liked it. She was one of my favorite characters. So I'm glad out of everyone she got a happy ending. 

Doria was easily my least favorite character for a mountain of reasons. Yes, the person she was going to kill deserved it, he was a worm of a man. But, was Doria any better? Her chapters were easily my least favorite because I just didn't care about her. But, she did get the ending she also deserved. So in the end it was worth not skipping her pages because Karma got her in the end.

The story itself does move quick, personally, I would have loved a few more pages of Cliff and Gemma at McMasters. However, that's just my personal preference because I was enjoying the school itself. Once out of the school, I loved how we bounced from three characters as they completed their thesis. 

I never found myself confused as we jumped from character to character. Either Dean Harrow told us we were about to follow the girls' point of view for a bit, or the chapter started with their names. And, it all flowed very easily. 

I liked that it wasn't just journal entries from Cliff or little snapshot moments from Doria and Gemma. We also got a little of the point of view from the staff here and there. And the actual ending of the book also felt solid. Even if it bummed me out a bit. 

However, I do love an open ending like this. Could there be another book? Maybe, but there doesn't need to be. 

My only real issue with this book was that there is a lot of wordplay in it, and because it's set in the '50s/'60s, it took me a minute to settle into the writing. But, once I found my legs, I devoured this book. It was solid and a lot of fun, never really taking itself series, but all three theses were well thought out. 

It's a trip from start to finish. 

HAPPY READING!!

Waiting on Wednesday

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they are books that have yet to be released but don't have to be. It is based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous at Breaking the Spine.

You may think you know how the fairytale goes: a mermaid comes to shore and weds the prince. But what the fables forget is that mermaids have teeth. And now, her daughters have devoured the kingdom and burned it to ashes.

On the run, the mermaid is joined by a mysterious plague doctor with a darkness of their own. Deep in the eerie, snow-crusted forest, the pair stumble upon a village of ageless children who thirst for blood, and the three 'saints' who control them.

The mermaid and her doctor must embrace the cruellest parts of their true nature if they hope to survive.

HAPPY READING!!

New Release Tuesday

Claire’s grown up triple-checking locks. Counting her steps. Second-guessing every decision. It’s just how she’s wired – her worst-case scenarios never actually come true.

Until she arrives at an off-the-grid summer camp to find a blackened, burned husk instead of a lodge – and no survivors, except her and two other late arrivals: Reyva and Mariana.

When the three girls find a dead body in the woods, they realize none of this is an accident. Someone, something, is hunting them. Something that hides in the shadows. Something that refuses to let them leave.

HAPPY READING!!

Cover Runway Sunday

   

They say don't judge a book by its cover, but we all know we do it. Sometimes it's the cover that originally catches our eye, drawing us to give a book a closer look. It's the first thing we see, our first impression. Every Sunday I'm going to post some of my favorite covers of books coming soon!

When leg-breaker Hutch Holtz rolls up to a rundown apartment complex in Portland, Oregon, to collect overdue drug money, a severed hand is the last thing he expects to find stashed in the client’s refrigerator. Hutch quickly realizes that the hand induces uncontrollable madness: anyone in its proximity is overcome with a boundless compulsion for violence. Within hours, catastrophic forces are set into motion: dark-op government agents who have been hunting for the hand are on Hutch's tail, more and more of the city's residents fall under its brutal, devastating influence, and suddenly all of Portland stands at the precipice of disaster…

But it’s all the same for Katherine Moriarty, a singer whose sudden fame and precipitous downfall were followed by the mysterious death of her estranged husband—suicide, allegedly. Her trauma has made her agoraphobic, shackled within the confines of her apartment. Her son, Nick, has moved home to care for her, quietly making his living working for Hutch’s boss.

When Hutch calls Nick in distress, looking for someone else to take their hand, Katherine and Nick are looped into a global struggle that will decimate the walls of the carefully arranged life they’ve built. Mother and son must evade both crazed, bloodthirsty masses and deceitful government agents, while exorcising family secrets that have risen from the dead—secrets, they soon discover, that might hold the very key to humanity's survival.

Can you resist the hand’s call? Find an excerpt from the next Fever House novel at the end of the book.

HAPPY READING!!

DNF That Book

Does this still need to be a topic of conversation? In the year 2023 are we still crawling our way through books that we just aren't feeling? Because you don't and I don't think anyone should. I think that the best thing about books is that they don't expire. No matter how long that book sits on you, or how many times you start or finish it.

I guess on the one hand I kind of get it. You've managed to get halfway through the book, surely you can get through the other half. Or, everyone else has liked it, surely if you just gave it more of a chance. Even a need to finish something you've started. 

And, if it's just something you have to do, finish what you started, then do that. Don't let me tell you how to read. Because it's lawless, there are no rules. Read the way you need to read.

But, if you just need the reminder that it's okay to put that book down. Here it is, put it down. It's okay. You can pick it up again later, donate it, or give it to a friend. Or, just put it back on your shelf, forget about it, and discover it again weeks later. 

Yes, I have done that. I may hold the record of how many times I say, "I forgot I owned this book." Then put it in a new pile in an attempt to finally read it. So you're in good company!

In case you also need to hear this, it's okay not to like that super hyped book that you've seen all over Bookstagram and BookTok. It just wasn't for you. Just like it's okay to read a book that's had a lot of hype in case you don't like it. 

Reading is supposed to be fun, a hobby, and you should only read the books you want. The books that pull you into the pages. Sometimes that's not booked currently in your lap. Sometimes the cover and the back of the book pull you in, but the story just doesn't do it for you.

It's okay, just put it down and try another one.  And if you're someone who has to finish what your start, and you just can't put the book down. I make a pretty good cheerleader, and my DMs on Instagram and Twitter are always open!

HAPPY READING!! 

Waiting on Wednesday

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they are books that have yet to be released but don't have to be. It is based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous at Breaking the Spine.

Thomas Edison, inventor of the lightbulb, believed that he could communicate with the undead and built the world’s very first hotline to heaven: the Spirit Phone.
Marie and Pierre Curie, famous for discovering radioactivity, slept next to a lump of radioactive material for years and strapped it to their arms to watch it burn them in real-time.
Lord Byron, acclaimed British poet, literally took a bear with him to university.
Isaac Newton discovered the laws of gravity and motion, but he also looked up at the sun without eye protection. The result? Three days of blindness.
Tesla, whose scientific work led to the invention of the AC unit, fell in love with a pigeon.

Edison's Ghosts is filled with examples of the so-called best of humanity doing, to put it bluntly, some really dumb shit.  You’ll discover stories that deserve to be told but never are: the hilarious, regrettable, and downright bafflingly lesser-known achievements that never made it into our history books, until now.

HAPPY READING!!

New Release Tuesday

When Charlie was eleven, she created a monster…

In the seaside town of Hithechurch, England, eleven-year-old Charlotte meets Emily, a clever and secretive girl her own age with a dark family history. In an attempt to get rid of Emily’s abusive father, Charlie and Emily perform a ritual to try and summon the spirit of a Hithechurch girl of urban legend—named Stitch Face Sue by Charlie—who was killed by pirates and supposedly haunts the town in a quest for revenge. When it appears that the macabre game they've invented is working, Emily becomes obsessed with Stitch Face Sue, and ropes in another girl—but the game goes tragically wrong when the new girl is killed. Charlie and Emily are caught trying to hide the body, and both are carted away to institutions.

Past meets present when Charlie returns to Hithechurch as an adult to research a book on the folklore of the area, but is drawn into the cases of several girls who have mysteriously vanished. And she has other motives for coming back as well. Emily has published a bestselling memoir on the fateful incident from their childhoods, one that lays the blame squarely at Charlie’s feet. Outraged, Charlie scours the town for evidence to back up her side of the story—and in doing so exposes an older, even darker tale.

Charlie is set on discovering the truth about the girls’ disappearances, but someone is watching, and her own past is nipping at her heels. In a town haunted by tragic disappearances and unrelenting urban legends, Charlie's determination for truth is laced with secrets buried deep in Hithechurch's past.

HAPPY READING!!

Cover Runway Sunday

   

They say don't judge a book by its cover, but we all know we do it. Sometimes it's the cover that originally catches our eye, drawing us to give a book a closer look. It's the first thing we see, our first impression. Every Sunday I'm going to post some of my favorite covers of books coming soon!

PLATFORM: Dylan is a mid-century baking specialist who has an enormous following online, a top content creator on both TikTok and Youtube. Across his still-growing platforms, he has over 10 million followers.

BAKING THE VINTAGE BEST: All the recipes included in this book have been vetted by Dylan, with only the best recipes included to give a realistic look back at what baking was like during each decade in the average household.

HAPPY READING!!

Reading Challenge Update

I don't get to use this gif enough on here, but this seemed like the perfect time to dust it off. Because somehow we are now four months into 2023! I'm excited about it though because I'm over this winter. The PNW got a taste of summer at the end of March, but it went straight back to being cold and gross again.

The rain doesn't bother me, but I'm so sick of seeing it 30 and 40 degrees outside. I'm so ready for 50 and 60 degrees days. I'm also ready for reading by the pool, and worrying if I put on enough sunscreen.

I'm ready for when am I going to read because the restaurant has been so busy. Though, I may not have to worry so much about that after the last three months. My desire to go and do anything has been lost because I hate being cold. So I've jumped pretty far ahead of most of the challenges and goals for this year.

Goodreads Goal: 27 books 

Pages Read: 4,540 pages

BINGO Books: 16 of 25 squares (no BINGOs)

A to Z Challenge: 6 of 28 squares 

I'm ten books ahead on my Goodreads challenge, which if way farther ahead than I normally am this time of year. Personally, I think with how stressful work has been, I've been using reading to unwind. 

Even with the smaller books I've been reading, I'm also on track to meet my pages read goal. If I keep this pace I'll blow it out of the water, so if I had a slump this summer I can let myself enjoy the slump in the sunshine!

As for my two reading challenges, I haven't been counting Kindle books in the A to Z Challenge. Only the books I physically own. And, while my BINGO Challenge looks good, I've managed to set myself up to several BINGOs, but managed to not hit a single one. The downside to mood reading. The upside is it's only April. 

While I've been worried about my work-life balance, writing this update has let me know I've managed it. Yeah, things are perfect at work, but I work in a kitchen. So when are they ever? Something is always going sideways.

But, enough about me! How is everyone else's year going so far? Having you been hitting your goals? What books have been your favorite so far?

HAPPY READING!!

Small Spaces -Review

Author: Katherine Arden

Genre: Middle Grade

Format: Kindle

Pages: 218

Between Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon, and my library, a lot of book recommendation fall in my lap. No book series has been recommended to me more than the Small Spaces series. Usually the third book in the series, Dark Water. And every time I think I should put that on hold, only to realize it's the third of four books.

Finally, when the book popped up again on my Library for You page, I snagged the first book. I had high hopes for this book because Katherine Arden is my roommate's favorite author, and she always tells me how much I'd love this series. 

So with her telling me it's a good series, and how the entire internet telling me to read this series. I jumped in with both feet with no working knowledge of this series, other than the Children of the Corn vibes that the cover gave. 

The entire story is told through Ollie's point of view, and she's just experienced a pretty big loss. So she's isolated herself recently, quitting all things she once loved, and just sort of existing. But, even then she has a big heart that we see quickly as she comes to the quick rescue of a classmate she doesn't necessarily like all that much.

It doesn't take long for the story to kick off, or get all that creepy. I will say Olivia is braver than I was at her age. I don't think I'd confront a crying lady trying to throw something in a lake, but considering Ollie's parents, I wasn't surprised she'd done it by the end of the book. 

The pace of the books is quick, there's no lag anywhere, and the backstory fits perfectly in with the front part of the story. Small Spaces starts out more of a mystery book, than a ghost story. However, that quickly changes once you hit about the halfway part of the book.

That is when it starts to lean into those Children of the Corn vibe. 

The two best parts of this book are how well our three kids (Ollie, Coco, and Brian) eventually start to work together. Like with any Middle-Grade novel, each of those three brings something important to the story. Though Coco's surprised me, she quickly became my favorite character. She just tries so hard.

But, all three are great characters.

The second thing was how Katherin Arden wove this story together. It is a fast story, but there is foreshadowing throughout the entire book. And, if you pay close enough attention you start to pick up little hints. So before the book ended, I had a pretty good idea who the Smiling Man was. 

Bonus points for how clever the mystery was. While I figured out who our villain was, I still wasn't really sure how they were going to get back home. Because I spent the whole book trying to figure out how mist becomes rain. To the point, I had to stop myself from Googling it. 

But, the answer was right in front of my face the whole time.

I've already put the second book of the series, Dead Voices, on hold at the library. If I don't do anything else this year with my reading, I will finish this quartet!

HAPPY READING!!

Waiting on Wednesday

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they are books that have yet to be released but don't have to be. It is based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous at Breaking the Spine.

A young squire tackles mysteries, monsters, and magic, but the inept knight he serves takes the credit. Every time.

Squire is brainy, bookish, and terribly under-appreciated by the brawny, inept knight Sir Kelton, who somehow always gets all the glory. So when the two mismatched heroes find themselves in a cursed village plagued by a demonic dragon, Kelton rides off to slay it and Squire stays behind to catch up on some reading. But Squire starts to notice that something isn’t quite right about this town . . . Can he uncover its strange secrets?

HAPPY READING!!

New Release Tuesday

There’s something almost magical about the way Maya’s grandmother cooks--and although Halmunee may be losing her memory, she always knows how to make the most delicious gimbap. Maya doesn’t remember her family’s old life in Korea, but she learns new recipes and stories when they cook together--stories that Maya's mom would prefer stayed in the past, especially if they involve Maya’s father.

One summer day, as Maya and Halmunee are making patbingsu, something unbelievable happens: a single delicious bite transports Maya and Halmunee back in time, into the memory itself. Halmunee explains that their family has the ability to time travel through food--and Maya can do it too, if she practices.

As she eats her way through the past, Maya tries to unravel the mystery of what life was like in Korea, and what really happened to her dad. She learns that time moves in ways she couldn't imagine . . . and that sometimes, families keep secrets to protect the ones they love. Brimming with heart, and interspersed with Korean family recipes that readers can make themselves, this is a story to savor.

HAPPY READING!!

Book Mail

 April Theme: Family Secrets

With everything going on, I had forgotten what books were coming this month, so I got to be surprised again. The fun story is I was looking for one of the books the week before when I popped into one of my local bookstores. 

The upside, I didn't find it and saved my book budget for another time. Victor Lavalle is also one of those authors I keep meaning to read. I've even gotten some of his books through the library, but I never manage to get to them before they return. Now I have a good reason to make that happen. I have never heard of K.L. Cerra before, but this book sounds like a trip.

I'm excited to try the coffee. I always love trying new blends and new companies!

HAPPY READING!!

Cover Runway Sunday

   

They say don't judge a book by its cover, but we all know we do it. Sometimes it's the cover that originally catches our eye, drawing us to give a book a closer look. It's the first thing we see, our first impression. Every Sunday I'm going to post some of my favorite covers of books coming soon!

Monster hunter Erica Slaughter becomes the hunted and faces her doom alone!

With the last person in her corner gone and a ruthless agent from the Order of St. George closing in, Erica Slaughter finds herself alone and without a prayer. Can she take on this horrific new monster plaguing the small town of Tribulation, New Mexico by herself, or is this the end of her story? Erica is faced with a choice to reach out to an unexpected source for help, or find herself dealing with both a monster and her human enemies alone… Erica Slaughter faces her deadliest challenge yet in the next volume of the Eisner-winning and Harvey Award-nominated series from GLAAD Award-winning author James Tynion IV (Department of Truth, The Nice House on the Lake), artist Werther Dell’Edera (Razorblades), colorist Miquel Muerto (Radiant Red), and letterer AndWorld Design (Nightwing, The Many Deaths of Laila Starr). Collects Something is Killing the Children #26-30.

HAPPY READING!!

Inside Man - Review

 

Author: K.J Parker

Genre: Novella

Format: Kindle

Pages: 127

I like K.J. Parker's books, especially the strange novellas he puts out. They are weird, funny, brutal, and kind of make you think of the bigger picture of things. And, while at times these are hard to read, I do enjoy taking them apart. 

Prosper's Demon is one of my favorites. So I was pumped that we were going to get a second book with his exorcist series. My favorite part of this series it doesn't follow the traditional path of most exorcist novels. The demons in this universe are different, and the rules are different. 

Unlike the first book, this one follows the narration of one of those demons himself. A demon who up until recently was a top operative, but got hurt while "on duty". It got a cozy job messing up the prayers to some Lord to keep him in heaven. Until something upsets the balance.

This story is done in the weird, sardonic humor that is K.J. Parker's writing style. These books are barely over a hundred pages long, but they aren't something I can sit and read all day. The books in this series make you think a lot of theology, even if these stories are set in a fantasy world. 

While I enjoy the dry wit and who doesn't like the idea of a demon getting pumped at any moment. This one kind of broke my brain and took a few days to get through. I like that about Parker's books though, and it's the reason I jumped back into this series. Or, any of the novellas set in this world.

Also, you don't have to read Prosper's Demon first but does help set up the world, and the exorcists. But, the story as a whole isn't affected if you haven't read it first. But you should, it's great!

HAPPY READING!! 

Book Haul

I had to run to the thrift and drop off a trunk load of stuff. So you know I couldn't pass up the chance to go inside. Was there something I needed? Actually, yes. I'm on the hunt for some baking dishes, and I always love to hunt the thrift stores before I break down and buy new ones. Also, it's starting to warm here in the PNW, so I wanted to browse the shorts. I'm ridiculously hard on clothes. 

No, I didn't find any of the things I had originally gone in for. But! I did find some books. Three new books for my Goosebumps collection. One was a duplicate, but that's fine. A friend of mine works for a summer camp. The campers will love the extra for their Free Little Library! I also found two great cookbooks, which I cannot wait to dive into. 

Now I might really need those baking dishes! 

HAPPY READING!! 

Cryptid Club - Review

 

Author: Sarah Andersen

Genre: Comic Book

Format: Hardback

Pages: 112

I love Sarah Anderson's books. She's hilarious and I love her little doddles for each panel. She is also one of those authors who I instantly add to my TBR shelf on Goodreads. Because I always know I'm going to enjoy her books. 

Cryptid Club was no exception. It was everything I love about Sarah Anderson's writing and comic style. 

I've always been a fan of cryptid creatures. Even the far-fetched ones that under no circumstance could be real. Because what if they could be. And, Cryptid Club took that love and gave it back tenfold. This book is fun, goofy, and full of serotonin. Sarah Anderson took some creepy creatures and made them adorable with her witty artwork. 

She had our whole house laughing out loud with each new page. It's the humor from all other comic books but shaped in the form of shy cryptids just trying to find friends. All while being very shy. 

It was the perfect read after a long day at work. And, just to add to the fun, the cover glows in the dark. Another surefire way to my 90s baby heart! 

I cannot recommend her books enough. If you're looking for a quick read that will make you laugh, any of her books will do. The Sarah Scribbles series is by far my favorite. But, my roommate is a huge fan of her book, Fangs. But, if you love cryptids, don't miss one Cryptid Club.    

HAPPY READING!!

Waiting on Wednesday

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they are books that have yet to be released but don't have to be. It is based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous at Breaking the Spine.

At the movie theater where Jo works, the last show has ended. But the nightmare is just beginning.

Tonight, Tempest Theaters is closing forever, the last remaining business in a defunct shopping mall. The moviegoers have left, and Jo and her six coworkers have the final shift, cleaning up popcorn and mopping floors for the last time.

But after an unexpected altercation puts everyone on edge, the power goes out. Their manager disappears, along with the keys to the lobby doors and the theater safe, where the crew's phones are locked each shift. Then, the crew's tension turns to terror when Jo discovers the dead body of one of her co-workers.

Now their only chance to escape the murderer in their midst is through the dark, shuttered mall. With its boarded-up exits and disabled fire alarms, the complex is filled with hiding places for both pursuer and pursued. In order to survive this night, Jo and her friends must trust one another, navigate the sprawling ruins of the mall, and outwit a killer before he kills again.

HAPPY READING!!