Tree of Life and Death

 

Title: Tree of Life and Death

Author: Elizabeth Ashby & Gin Jones

Publisher: Gemma Halliday

 
ISBN: 9781943587155

Thoughts:  Christmas cozy that takes place all in one day in one location, which is unlike any cozy I have read before.

Rating: 3/5

The Mayflower

 

Title: History Smashers: The Mayflower

Author: Kate Messner

Publisher: Random House

 
ISBN: 9780593120323

Thoughts:  Entertaining, fast-paced, and true - the perfect combination for history for young readers.

Rating: 4/5

Measuring Up

 

Title: Measuring Up

Author: Lily LaMotte & Ann Xu

Publisher: HarperAlley

 
ISBN: 9780062973870

Thoughts:  A lot of life lessons were packed into this graphic novel, but maybe too many?

Rating: 3/5

A Guide to the Good Life

 

Title: A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy

Author: William B. Irvine

Publisher: Oxford University

 
ISBN: 9780195374612

Thoughts:  The historical background was interesting, but the rest was too pompous.

Rating: 2/5

Rest and Be Thankful

 

Title: Rest and Be Thankful

Author: Emma Glass

Publisher: Bloomsbury

 
ISBN: 9781526601070

Thoughts:  Very poetic and haunting story, but a little too ephemeral.

Rating: 3/5

Home to Me

 

Title: Home to Me

Author: Catherine Bybee

Publisher: Montlake

 
ISBN: 9781542009850

Thoughts:  Sweet romance that doesn't follow the standard romance story arc, so very refreshing.

Rating: 4/5

Serena Says

 

Title: Serena Says

Author: Tanita S. Davis

Publisher: Katherine Tegen

 
ISBN: 9780062936974

Thoughts:  True and honest yet easy to read, this is a must for all girls about to enter middle school.

Rating: 4/5

Simon Grave and the Drone of the Basque Orvilles

 

Title: Simon Grave and the Drone of the Basque Orvilles

Author: Len Boswell

Publisher: Black Rose

 
ISBN: n/a

Thoughts:  Fun humorous futuristic police procedural.

Rating: 4/5

Recipe for a Perfect Wife

 

Title: Recipe for a Perfect Wife

Author: Karma Brown

Publisher: Penguin

 
ISBN: n/a

Thoughts:  Some excellent character development, but some very fine plot threads seems to have been missed.

Rating: 3/5

Stacking the Shelves: 12/13-12/19

For possible review (on Bookloons):

Influence by Sara Shepard & Lilia Buckingham

A Knock at Midnight

 

Title: A Knock at Midnight: A Story of Hope, Justice, and Freedom

Author: Brittany  K. Barnett

Publisher: Crown

 
ISBN: 9781984825780

Thoughts:  Everyone the least bit interested in social justice needs to read this incredibly moving and informative book.

Rating: 5/5

Doppelganger

 

Title: Doppelganger

Author: D.L. Lewis

Publisher: self

 
ISBN: n/a

Thoughts:  Great premise with interesting characters, but I wish it was longer.

Rating: 4/5

Shirley & Jamila Save Thier Summer

 

Title: Shirley & Jamila Save Their Summer

Author: Gillian Goerz

Publisher: Dial

 
ISBN: 9780525552857

Thoughts:  MG graphic novel about friendship wrapped in a fun mystery.

Rating: 4/5

Stacking the Shelves: 12/6-12/12

 

 Received from Owl Post:

 

The Dark Intercept by Julia Keller

 

Half Lost by Sally Green

Oona Out of Order

 

Title: Oona Out of Order

Author: Margarita Montimore

Publisher: MacMillan

 
ISBN: 9781250774897

Thoughts:  Very imaginative concept with characters whom you really care about.

Rating: 5/5

The Rite of Abnegation

 

Title: The Rite of Abnegation

Author: Mackenzie Flohr

Publisher: BHC

 
ISBN: 9781643980943

Thoughts:  While this was indeed the second book in a series, there were many, many parts where I felt like I was missing something, and I do not think all of them were in the first book.

Rating: 2/5

Ways to Make Sunshine

 

Title: Ways to Make Sunshine

Author: Renee Watson

Publisher: Bloomsbury

 
ISBN: 9781547600564

Thoughts:  Adorable story for older elementary school readers about friends, family, and becoming yourself.

Rating: 4/5

Stacking the Shelves: 11/22-12/5

LibraryThing Early Review:

Daytime Drama by Sarahlyn Bruck

The Travelling Cat Chronicles

 

Title: The Travelling Cat Chronicles

Author: Hiro Arikawa

Publisher: Berkley

 
ISBN: 9780451491336

Thoughts:  Warm yet bittersweet story told by a cat and the people he meets.

Rating: 4/5

Rule Breaker

 

Title: Rule Breaker

Author: Sienna Snow

Publisher: Hachette

 
ISBN: 9781455568734

Thoughts:  I know fans of this type of romance like a little fantasy (not the magical kind), but these characters and the plot were just too far-fetched for me to take the least bit seriously.

Rating: 1/5

Hatchet

 

Title: Hatchet

Author: Gary Paulsen

Publisher: Listening Library

 
ISBN: 9780553751901

Thoughts:  The pacing of this was rather off, which just made it boring, plus I am not sure it aged well, but the underscore of the audiobook was cool.

Rating: 2/5

Cursed by Furies

 

Title: Cursed by Furies

Author: Diedra Drake

Publisher: Apache Creek

 
ISBN: n/a

Thoughts:  A well-imagined new mythos for vampires, but the action was enough without the romance.

Rating: 3/5

Immortal Desire

 

Title: Immortal Desire

Author: Maggie Shayne

Publisher: Berkley Sensation

 
ISBN: 9780425217481

Thoughts:  Engaging, yet somewhat predictable, paranormal romantic suspense novel and novella with good character development and backstories.

Rating: 3/5

Magic for Liars

 

Title: Magic for Liars

Author: Sarah Gailey

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

 
ISBN: 978075222002

Thoughts:  Contemporary fantasy that will appeal to fans of PI mysteries and family dramas.

Rating: 4/5

The Last Flight

 

Title: The Last Flight

Author: Julie Clark

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark

 
ISBN: 9781728215723

Thoughts:  There were some great twists, but nothing truly shocking as I expected.

Rating: 3/5

The Printed Letter Bookshop

Title: The Printed Letter Bookshop

Author: Katherine Reay

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

 
ISBN: 978075222002

Thoughts:  Charming story of three women finding themselves in a bookshop.

Rating: 4/5

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

 Title: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Author: V. E. Schwab

Publisher: Macmillan

 
ISBN: n/a

Thoughts:  The perfect Faustian story with for the modern age.

Rating: 5/5

Treasure Island

 

Title: Treasure Island

Author: Robert Lewis Stevenson

Publisher: Atheneum

 
ISBN: 9780684171609

Thoughts:  Some parts bored me, some confused me, but none excited me, but not badly written.

Rating: 2/5

The Smallest Lights in the Universe

 

Title: The Smallest Lights in the Universe

Author: Sara Sager

Publisher: Crown

 
ISBN: 9780525576259

Thoughts:  A meandering memoir of grief with a healthy dose of astrophysics.

Rating: 3/5

Empty

 

Title: Empty

Author: Susan Burton

Publisher: Random House

 
ISBN: 9780812992847

Thoughts:  I can only imagine how hard it was for Burton to share her story, but as it is not one often told, it is good she did.

Rating: 4/5

Stacking the Shelves: 11/8-11/21

 

 Got at a Yard sale:

 

Marivaux: Three Plays by Stephen Wadsword, trans

The Troop by Nick Cutter

Celestina's Burnings

 

Title: Celestina's Burnings

Author: Annemarie Schaivi Pedersen

Publisher: Literary Wanderlust

 
ISBN: 9781942856436

Thoughts:  The historic aspect was good, but the story needed a lot more polishing and the sprinkling of random italicized Italian words got a little annoying.

Rating: 2/5

Notes on a Silencing

 

Title: Notes on a Silencing

Author: Lacy Crawford

Publisher: Little, Brown

 
ISBN: 9780316491556

Thoughts:  It is mind-blowing what Crawford went through and how it is still being covered up.

Rating: 4/5

The Couple Next Door

 

Title: The Couple Next Door

Author: Shari Lapena

Publisher: Pamela Dorman

 
ISBN: 9780735221086

Thoughts:  There were twists, but not as intriguing as I thought they would be; plus, the title is misleading and the end seemed bad-horror-movie-ish.

Rating: 2/5

Once I Was You

 

Title: Once I Was You: A Memoir of Love and Hate in a Torn America

Author: Maria Hinojosa

Publisher: Atria

 
ISBN: 9781982128654

Thoughts:  This memoir took a while for me to get into, but I truly learned a lot of about the state of immigration in the US.

Rating: 4/5

Transcendent Kingdom

 

Title: Transcendent Kingdom

Author: Yaa Gyasi

Publisher: Knopf

 
ISBN: 9780593215319

Thoughts:  Amazing character-driven story of family binds, addiction, science, and religion.

Rating: 5/5

The Complete Peanuts Vol 1

 

Title: The Complete Peanuts Vol 1: 1950-1952 Dailies & Sundays

Author: Charles M. Schultz

Publisher: Fantagraphics

 
ISBN: 9781560975892

Thoughts:  I found I like the very early strips and characters much better than the later ones.

Rating: 4/5

Stacking the Shelves: 10/18-11/7

LibraryThing Early Review:

 

The Window by Kellista Rae Keaton

 

Got at a Yardsale:

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

 

Mother Land

 

Title: Mother Land

Author: Leah Franqui

Publisher: William Morrow

 
ISBN: 9780062938848

Thoughts:  It took me a while to get into this, but I was smitten by the end, which was exactly as it should have been

Rating: 4/5

The Glass Hotel

 

Title: The Glass Hotel

Author: Emily St John Mandel

Publisher: Random House

 
ISBN: n/a

Thoughts:  Fast and engaging character-driven read, but one of the characters in the audio narration sounded very off.

Rating: 4/5

The Gun King

 

Title: The Gun King

Author: John H. Richardson

Publisher: Amazon Originals

 
ISBN: n/a

Thoughts:  Explains the problem with gun shows, and good piece of journalism, but it was just missing something.

Rating: 3/5