Tag: books

The Best Books I Read in October (2023)

In October, I read 17 books, bringing my total for the year to 171 books read. Most of those were solid reads, but a few of them were really good.

The Iron Daughter, by Julie Kagawa. This is a re-read of this series for me (Well, a re-read of the original books with Meghan and Ash anyway.). I love these characters and this world, and if you haven’t read them, you should. Actually, anything by Julie Kagawa is a pretty solid bet.

Send Down the Rain, by Charles Martin. Yes, another Charles Martin book is one of my best reads for the month. I can’t help it. He’s phenomenal, and he has an extensive backlist that I haven’t read yet. Also, his newest book, The Last Exchange, by Charles Martin, is very highly recommended—and not on his backlist, as it just came out in October. Go read it. And anything else by him.

The Unmaking of June Farrow, by Adrienne Young. This wasn’t quite what I expected, but I loved it. I’ve read all of her novels and loved them all, and this is another great read. The time travel aspect might mess with your mind a little bit, but you’ll be fine.

What I Read in October (2023)

Books Read in October: 17
Books Read for the Year:  171/225

Topical Books/Monthly Goal Books:

The Iron Daughter, by Julie Kagawa (re-read). Still loving these characters.

Signs and Secrets of the Messiah, by Jason Sobel (spiritual). Fascinating read, although a bit over my head in places.

This Outside Life, by Laurie Ostby Kehler (spiritual). I loved reading about all these different places.

Taste of Darkness, by Maria V. Snyder (TBR). Loved this wrap-up to this trilogy.

Send Down the Rain, by Charles Martin (TBR, audio). I loved this!

The Lost Bookshop, by Evie Woods (TBR). I do like a good magical realism book, and this one qualified.

The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell, by Robert Dugoni (TBR). This was sometimes good, sometimes frustrating (Sam’s mom’s single-mindedness), and sometimes magical.

After Death, by Dean Koontz (TBR). This was a little terrifying.

For Review:

The Hurricane Wars, by Thea Guanzon. The first…third or so of this was so plainly a Reylo fanfic that it grated on me (down to the character descriptions), but I was intrigued enough by the world to keep reading—and I’m happy to say it improved.

The Unmaking of June Farrow, by Adrienne Young. This was a fantastic read! I was just as confused as the MC for most of the novel, which made everything that much more believable!

Unholy Terrors, by Lyndall Clipstone. This was a very atmospheric read, but I frequently felt like the characters were going around in circles. I wanted to know more about the culture and the peoples, but sadly, that was not to be.

Highlands Christmas – Wishes Come True, by Amy Quick Parrish. This was a novella, so at least it was a very quick read. Other than that…although the setting was cool, I feel like this was just a meh read.

The Predictable Heartbreaks of Imogen Finch, by Jacqueline Firkins. I loved the friendship triangle in this book. I found the small town setting with somehow an almost-unlimited dating pool a bit farfetched. I didn’t like that it made it seem like Eliot was the one with all the issues, while Imogen was a doormat/opportunity for sex for 17 different men—and that wasn’t treated as much of an issue.

When I’m Dead, by Hannah Morrissey. I DNFed the first book in this series, so I’m not sure why I read this one. It was solidly written, but it just felt like the setting was so dark, and I didn’t much care for the two MCs.

Swarm, by Jennifer Lyle (review forthcoming). Another meh read filled with actions that didn’t make much sense.

Never Wager with a Wallflower, by Virginia Heath. This was a cute wrap-up to a trilogy I enjoyed, although I thought Venus was so focused on blaming Gal she couldn’t see that some things just weren’t his fault.

Just Because:

Life, by Lisa Harper (devotional. Loved this!

Left Unfinished:
The Mis-Arrangement of Sana Saeed, by Noreen Mughees. I like reading books set in cultures different from my own, but I do not like getting thrown into strange languages and customs with almost zero clarification. This made me put the book down.

Love Interest, by Clare Gilmore. I made it three pages before Casey annoyed me so much by being critical, judgmental, and condescending that I stopped reading immediately.

Silent City, by Sarah Davis-Goff. I hadn’t read the first one, but that wasn’t what made me put this down. After 10%, the choppy, messy writing style just didn’t work for me.

Sisters Under the Rising Sun, by Heather Morris. I love World War II historical fiction, but the first 5% of this did not work for me. It felt completely chaotic and jumbled together, and I just didn’t care to read more.

The Fatal Folio, by Elizabeth Penney. This was the first of this series I’d picked up, and it sounds perfect for me: books and a cozy mystery? I read about 20% of it, but I just wasn’t interested in the characters enough to keep reading.

The Boy from the Sea, by H.L. Macfarlane. I just couldn’t deal with Grace’s obsessions with Lir. Stalker much? If I don’t like the characters, I don’t bother reading more, and I didn’t like Grace.

What the River Knows, by Isabel Ibañez. This sounds like it would be right up my alley, but it felt slow and almost juvenile in the beginning, and Inez, is so naive and even childish as to be annoying. I just couldn’t connect with her, so I lost interest.

The Future, by Naomi Alderman. I just cannot read about characters I don’t like, and this selfish, self-absorbed group were too much.

The Porcelain Maker, by Sarah Freethy. This sounded so good—and might have been. But, when I had to put if down for 24 hours due to life being busy, I wasn’t looking forward to picking it up. and was just sort of blah about it, so it obviously wasn’t holding my attention.

Book Review: When I’m Dead, by Hannah Morrissey   

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books.

Title:  When I’m Dead     
Author: Hannah Morrissey   
Genre: Thriller    
Rating: 3.0 out of 5

On a bone-chilling October night, Medical Examiner Rowan Winthorp investigates the death of her daughter’s best friend. Hours later, the tragedy hits even closer to home when she makes a devastating discovery—her daughter, Chloe, is gone. But, not without a trace.

A morbid mosaic of clues forces Rowan and her husband to question how deeply they really knew their daughter. As they work closely to peel back the layers of this case, they begin to unearth disturbing details about Chloe and her secret transgressions…details that threaten to tear them apart.

Amidst the noise of navigating her newfound grief and reconciling the sins of her past, an undeniable fact rings true for Rowan: karma has finally come to collect.

I’m not sure why I decided to read this after I DNFed the first book in the series, but I did. I wanted to DNF this for the first third of the book, and probably should have, as I just didn’t care for the characters. Man, the setting here is so absolutely bleak and depressing and the characters are, too. This was an okay read, but I wasn’t a fan of the characters.

Hannah Morrissey lives near Milwaukee.  When I’m Dead is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: The Predictable Heartbreaks of Imogen Finch, by Jacqueline Firkins    

Image belongs to St. Martin’s Press.

Title:  The Predictable Heartbreaks of Imogen Finch     
Author:   Jacqueline Firkins  
Genre:  Fiction   
Rating: 4 out of 5

Imogen Finch has just been through her seventeenth breakup. She saw it coming, so she’s not as crushed as she might be, but with all seventeen of her exes leaving her for other partners, she’s come to believe a prediction her well-intentioned and possibly clairvoyant mother made over twenty years ago: that Imogen would never come first at anything or to anyone. Is her love life failing due to a magical curse? Insufficient effort? Poor timing or personality mismatches? Everyone has opinions on the matter. Imogen’s ready to give up altogether. But when Eliot Swift, her secret high school crush, returns to their small coastal town after a decade of nomadic travels, Imogen has new motivation to try again. Eliot’s full of encouragement. He suggests that her curse is not only imagined, it’s easily breakable. All they need is one win–any win–and she can believe in love, and in herself again.

From trivia games to swimming races to corn-shucking contests, the pair sets out to snag Imogen her first first. But when victory proves more elusive than Eliot anticipated, and when his deep-seeded wanderlust compels him to depart for far away places, Imogen fears she’s destined to remain in second place forever. Fortunately for them both, sometimes magic lingers in the most unexpected places. And love is far from predictable.

I’m just going to say it:  maybe if Imogen hadn’t hopped into bed with every random guy that showed her a bit of interest, she might have had more luck in the romance department. I mean, the signs are all there in her flashbacks, she just refused to see them. Which brings me to what bothered me about this book:  it’s all about the guys’ issues, even Eliot’s, but there’s not a whole lot of talk about Imogen’s clear problems. It’s’ mentioned a little bit, but mostly glossed over. So, yeah, books are better when both MCs grow and learn from their mistakes.

That being said, I liked the friendship between Imogen, Eliot, and Franny a lot. Actually, Franny and Imogen’s friendship and support of one another was fantastic. Eliot almost lost me immediately with the man bun, but he ended up being a pretty good character, too. This ended up being a solid read, just don’t expect everyone to be well-adjusted and self-aware.

Jacqueline Firkins works at the University of British Columbia. The Predictable Heartbreaks of Imogen Finch is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: Highlands Christmas – Wishes Come True, by Amy Quick Parrish

Image belongs to Flying Cactus.

Title: Highlands Christmas – Wishes Come True  
Author:  Amy Quick Parrish   
Genre: Romance    
Rating:  3 out of 5

Christmas wishes do come true.

Melissa MacKenzie is an American interior designer with a seemingly happy life — until her husband Dave reveals he’s been cheating on her and wants a divorce and the house. But when a letter informs her that she will inherit a home in Scotland, things start looking up. At the airport she inadvertently meets Colin McGregor, a charming Scottish-American lawyer who happens to be her husband’s divorce lawyer. She’s taken by his sexy Scottish accent and charm and, as fate would have it, he’s on Melissa’s flight to Edinburgh … and on her train to Inverness, and happens to live in the same town where she’s inherited her home.

As sparks fly between Melissa and Colin, he agrees to help her secure the Scottish home that she believes she’s entitled to. They dive right into Scottish culture — and each other’s arms — as love and a new home seem within reach. Will they be able to succeed in both missions? Or will everything fall apart?

Highlands Christmas is a romantic and delightful story that will set hearts afire. In a fairy tale as captivating as the Loch Ness monster, Melissa and Colin must cross an ocean to end up right where they belong… because home is where the heart is.

This is a novella, so it’s a quick read. And I like the setting. Those are pretty much the only positives I can come up with. This was predictable. Melissa was naïve and clueless to a ridiculous extent—a relative you’ve never heard of dies and you just hop on a plane without determining if the “inheritance” you’ve been emailed about is legit? Really? She comes across as willfully gullible and without an ounce of common sense. Colin is too good to be true, as are the rest of the secondary characters. This just wasn’t a good fit for me. I’m all for HEAs and charming reads, but they have to be believable and well-drawn, which I didn’t find this to be.

Amy Quick Parrish is from Michigan. Highlands Christmas—Wishes Come True is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Flying Cactus in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review:  Unholy Terrors, by Lyndall Clipstone  

Image belongs to Macmillan Children’s/Henry Holt and Co.

Title:  Unholy Terrors   
Author: Lyndall Clipstone    
Genre: Fantasy, YA    
Rating:  4 out of 5

Everline Blackthorn has devoted her life to the wardens—a sect of holy warriors who guard against monsters known as the vespertine.

When a series of strange omens occur, Everline disobeys orders to investigate, and uncovers a startling truth in the form of Ravel Severin: a rogue vespertine who reveals the monsters have secrets of their own.

Ravel promises the help she needs— for a price. Vespertine magic requires blood, and if Everline wants Ravel to guide her across the dangerous moorland, she will have to allow him to feed from her.

It’s a sin for a warden to feed a vespertine— let alone love one— and as Everline and Ravel travel further across the moorland, she realizes the question isn’t whether she will survive the journey, but if she will return unchanged. Or if she wants to.

This felt like a very atmospheric novel:  dark, secretive, a gloomy landscape. I never did really understand the culture and its history, so I never had a good feel for the characters and the why behind all their rituals. While the characters were moving from place to place, I f let like they were just going in circles—and the idea that these two opposing forces had strongholds located so very close together didn’t make sense to me, either.

I would have liked to see more character development:  Everline was the only one I had any sort of insight in, and her rash impulses never made sense to me, either, not for someone who’s supposed to be such a warrior and focused on being a good little warden. I enjoyed the read, but it was lacking in some areas.

Lyndall Clipstone is from Australia. Unholy Terrors is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Macmillan Children’s/Henry Holt and Co. in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: The Unmaking of June Farrow, by Adrienne Young    

Image belongs to Random House/Ballantine.

Title: The Unmaking of June Farrow    
Author: Adrienne Young    
Genre:  Mystery, fantasy   
Rating:  4.5 out of 5

In the small mountain town of Jasper, North Carolina, June Farrow is waiting for fate to find her. The Farrow women are known for their thriving flower farm—and the mysterious curse that has plagued their family line. The whole town remembers the madness that led to Susanna Farrow’s disappearance, leaving June to be raised by her grandmother and haunted by rumors.

It’s been a year since June started seeing and hearing things that weren’t there. Faint wind chimes, a voice calling her name, and a mysterious door appearing out of nowhere—the signs of what June always knew was coming. But June is determined to end the curse once and for all, even if she must sacrifice finding love and having a family of her own.

After her grandmother’s death, June discovers a series of cryptic clues regarding her mother’s decades-old disappearance, except they only lead to more questions. But could the door she once assumed was a hallucination be the answer she’s been searching for? The next time it appears, June realizes she can touch it and walk past the threshold. And when she does, she embarks on a journey that will not only change both the past and the future, but also uncover the lingering mysteries of her small town and entangle her heart in an epic star-crossed love.

I’m a huge fan of this author’s YA books. I wasn’t quite such a fan of her first adult novel, but this one was so good! I was just as confused as June during parts of this, and my mind was spinning, trying to figure out what, exactly, was going on. The women in the Farrow family are such strong characters, and all of them fascinated me. I can’t imagine having to make the choices June had to make. This was an excellent read, and I read it straight through in one sitting.

Adrienne Young is a bestselling author. The Unmaking of June Farrow is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Random House/Ballantine in exchange for an honest review.)

Book Review: The Hurricane Wars, by Thea Guanzon  

Image belongs to Avon and Harper Voyager.

Title:  The Hurricane Wars   
Author:  Thea Guanzon   
Genre: Fantasy
Rating:  4.0 out of 5

 The heart is a battlefield.

All Talasyn has ever known is the Hurricane Wars. Growing up an orphan in a nation under siege by the ruthless Night Emperor, Talasyn has found her family among the soldiers who fight for freedom. But she is hiding a deadly secret: light magic courses through her veins, a blazing power believed to have been wiped out years ago that can cut through the Night Empire’s shadows.

Prince Alaric, the emperor’s only son and heir, has been forged into a weapon by his father. Tasked with obliterating any threats to the Night Empire’s rule with the strength of his armies and mighty Shadow magic, Alaric has never been bested. That is until he sees Talasyn burning brightly on the battlefield with the magic that killed his grandfather, turned his father into a monster, and ignited the Hurricane Wars. In a clash of light and dark, their powers merge and create a force the likes of which has never been seen.

Talasyn and Alaric both know this war can only end with them. But a greater threat is coming, and the strange new magic they can create together could be the only way to overcome it. Thrust into an uneasy alliance, they will confront the secrets at the heart of the war and find, in each other, a searing passion–one that could save their world…or destroy it.

I’m not going to lie: I was intrigued by the setting and culture all along, but the Reylo fanfiction aspect was almost too much for me to take. It wasn’t even disguised as anything else, frankly, and that was almost enough to make me put the book down. Thankfully, that improved. I liked both characters, although Talasyn’s unbridled anger was a bit wearying. Like, please just stop being furious for 30 seconds, okay?

The characters grew on me, and the culture of the islands was fascinating. I’d love to read more set in this world, but I hope there’s some character growth in the next book, so the hatred doesn’t grate on my nerves and destroy my enjoyment of the story.

Thea Guanzon is from the Philippines. The Hurricane Wars is her debut novel.

(Galley courtesy of Avon and Harper Voyager in exchange for an honest review.)

Sundays Are for Writing #246

This has been a busy week, writing and life. I wrote one book review, The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon, and one fiction session. I also wrote my September reading post and my best books I read in September post. I also DNFed four books (Man, that really sounds like a lot!): The Mis-Arrangement of Sara Saeed, Love Interest, Snow Place Like Home, and Silent City.

This next week will be even busier, but I hope to get two fiction writing sessions in and at least one book review.

Happy writing!

Book Review:  The Scarlet Alchemist, by Kylie Lee Baker  

Image belongs to Inkyard Press.

Title: The Scarlet Alchemist
Author:  Kylie Lee Baker   
Genre: Fantasy    
Rating: 5 out of 5

Zilan dreams of becoming a royal alchemist, of providing for her family by making alchemical gold and gems for the wealthy to eat in order to stay young forever. But for now, she’s trapped in her impoverished village in southern China, practicing an illegal form of alchemy to keep food on the table—resurrecting the dead, for a price.

When Zilan finally has the chance to complete her imperial exams, she ventures to the capital to compete against the best alchemists in the country in tasks she’ll be lucky to survive, let alone pass. On top of that, her reputation for raising the dead has followed her to the capital, and the Crown Prince himself seeks out her help, suspecting a coming assassination attempt.

The more Zilan succeeds in her alchemy, the more she gets caught in the dangerous political games of the royal family. There are monsters lurking within the palace walls, and it’s only a matter of time before they—and secrets of Zilan’s past—catch up with her.

I enjoyed this so much! There were several surprises here:  I was always guessing what would happen next—and I was usually wrong, which is refreshing for a reader who is rarely surprised. Zilan is a character I really liked and empathized with, and I was wholly invested in her struggles. I also really enjoyed the Crown Prince, and can’t wait to find out what happens next.

Kylie Lee Baker grew up in Boston. The Scarlet Alchemist is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Inkyard Press in exchange for an honest review.)