Being kind of a fan of Alice Hoffman’s, I loved Magic Lessons from the very start! I didn’t even doubt I would. I have loved the entire Practical Magic series, as spaced out over the decades as it was, but I think I loved Magic Lessons by far the most. I got immediately attached to the main character, Maria, and…
Continue Reading→A Quick Scifi Noir That Packs A Punch And Makes You Laugh Red Dust by Yoss
For the past week or two, I have been hearing about this new novel by a scifi author Yoss that’s gaining traction, and I mean I’ve been hearing about it EVERYWHERE. It’s been appearing on all sorts of articles and what not, and at that point, my conscience about having downloaded one from Edelweiss for free several months ago broke…
Continue Reading→One Hell Of A Ride, Riddle And Love Triangle In This YA Novel The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
The Inheritance Games is so good I just don’t know where to begin! I started reading it on a rainy day during my vacation, and it’s a good thing the weather was crap too, because otherwise I would have lost a particularly good day of being out, unable to unglue myself from the book and look at any of my…
Continue Reading→A Cozy Wind In The Willows Type Of Read! Skunk and Badger by Amy Timberlake and Jon Klassen
Skunk and Badger was such a delightful read – right from the very first pages. If you were at all a fan of the The Wind in the Willows, you will love Skunk and Badger. It is definitely different, but there is something in the vibe, something I can’t pinpoint – that they have in common (apart from the obvious…
Continue Reading→Are You Ready For Good Halloween Stories Yet? The Dead World of Lanthorne Ghules by Gerald Killingworth, ★★★★☆ 4 stars
If you’re looking for a rather quick, but very engrossing read, The Dead World of Lanthorne Ghules is definitely the book for you. It’s a middle grade adventure that will appeal to kids, teens and adults alike – it was a read of two evenings for me, and it really did leave an impression! The book has a very specific…
Continue Reading→A Tour Of A Forgotten Age Through This Amazing Historical Novel Villa of Delirium by Adrien Goetz, ★★★★✬ 4.5 stars
When I started reading Villa of Delirium, I didn’t know for sure what it was about – I often start novels without looking into it much – I’d rather the book tell me the story than the blurb. And the blurb told me it was set in a beautiful Greek villa, built based on ancient styles. That’s something I’ll always…
Continue Reading→How I Read A Memoir Of A Band I Didn’t Listen To And… Loved It It's the World's Birthday Today by Flake, ★★★★★ 5 stars
When I picked up It’s the World’s Birthday Today, to be honest, I didn’t know who Flake, the author, was. Of course I knew who the band Rammstein were – I grew up with their music being quite popular with the rock crowd. But they were not a band I’d ever listened to, personally. I was a rock chick too,…
Continue Reading→Book Tag: The Council Of The Ninja Magic Conjuring Cats, In Memoriam Of One Of Its Members Feel Free To Also Tag Yourself! (And Hug The Creator Of This Meme)
Today I was supposed to post a review. But you know what? That can wait. Because I was tagged by a friend in a tag she made up for her amazing cats, and just one or two days after this, she lost one of these cats very unexpectedly. This post is for Susan @ Novel Lives and in memory of…
Continue Reading→The Most Magical, Empowering Voyage Over Stormy Seas The Ship of Shadows by Maria Kuzniar
Okay, so what have we got here? Magic, pirate women, in fact – a pirate ship with an all-women crew (well, aside from a ghost and an owl), a brilliant library within said pirate ship, adventure and hidden mysterious treasures!! And a girl who gets told that “girls don’t go on adventures” and “girls can’t do anything”, when it’s painfully…
Continue Reading→A Series To Soothe Your Soul In This Tough Year Of 2020 A Summoning of Souls (Spectral City #3) by Leanna Renee Hieber
Today I want to share a book series that’s been really warming me up in the past half a year or so. A Summoning of Souls is book 3 in the Spectral City series, a story about the living working with the dead on a common goal – ensuring the safety of New York. The books focus on the first Ghost…
Continue Reading→The Lady Astronaut’s Saga Continues The Relentless Moon (Lady Astronaut #3) by Mary Robinette Kowal, ★★★★☆ 4 stars
A few years ago, when I read the first book of The Lady Astronaut series, I fell in love. The initial story was wrapped up with the first two books, so I didn’t really think there would be a sequel. To my big (and pleasant) surprise, 2020 saw at least one good thing happen (okay, one more good thing besides…
Continue Reading→Fantastic Wars In The Realms Of Hell The Angel of Evil by Kenneth B. Andersen
Those who have been following my blog for the past half a year or so might have noticed that I keep blogging about this book series called The Great Devil War, or as I sometimes call them, “The Devil’s Apprentice etc” (can’t blame me – The Devil’s Apprentice is the first book!) If you haven’t read the reviews for the…
Continue Reading→Sibling Rivalry And Family Reconciliation – And Lots Of Food! The Chicken Sisters by K.J. Dell'Antonia, ★★★★✬ 4.5 stars
The Chicken Sisters had such an interesting premise that I couldn’t resist it. Two competing restaurants – two sisters in management, the restaurants themselves also founded by two sisters, over 100 years ago. And a reality show in which they battle it out. Was this going to be a story of rivalry? Or a story of reconciliation? Was it going…
Continue Reading→What’s A Book That Has Made Me Cry Recently? Brave Girl, Quiet Girl by Catherine Ryan Hyde, ★★★★★ 5 stars
Every time I start a book by Catherine Ryan Hyde, I think, it seriously can’t be as good as the last one. I mean, how can an author consistently write brilliant, emotional, moving stories? Is it even possible? But you know what, I read them, and they turn out to be good one straight after the other. Brave Girl, Quiet…
Continue Reading→Finally, Book #2 In A Series I’m Incredibly Addicted To Son of Secrets (The Indigo Chronicles #2) by N.J. Simmonds
There are books you read that engross you so much, you develop these love-hate relationships with the characters. You toss these books over the room when that silly ass girl does this or that. You curse under your breath in a coffee shop when that guy won’t follow through with his romantic intentions despite all sanity and reason pointing to…
Continue Reading→A Book That Reminded Me How Magical Our Bodies Actually Are The Remarkable Life of the Skin by Monty Lyman, ★★★★☆ 4 stars
Have you ever wondered how our skin works? I have. So I read a book about it. The Remarkable Life of the Skin taught me that the name of the book truly stands up – our skin IS remarkable. It made me feel so much reverence to the miracle that is our bodies! I need to read more books like…
Continue Reading→Upbeat, Witty, Multi-cultural And Light-hearted – Just The Book I Needed Last Tang Standing by Lauren Ho
I knew I’d love Last Tang Standing from the moment I picked it up. Scratch that, I knew it from the minute I downloaded it when I got approved for the review copy – reading the blurb is enough to fall in love with it. This book is about choosing your life – to live it the way you want…
Continue Reading→Where Has #StateOfTheARC gone? 🤔 It Hasn't Gone Anywhere! You Can Still Participate!
It’s now been a while that I haven’t posted a State of the ARC post… Let me see. It’s been at least a half a year, but probably even closer to a year! I wonder… Does anyone of you still remember what State of the ARC was? Well, let me remind you. State of the ARC was a fun way…
Continue Reading→Spies, Adventure, Pre-war Hardships And Tough Kids – Another Great Middle Grade Story For You Lizard's Tale by Weng Wai Chan
Time to review another great middle grade story – this one’s called Lizard’s Tale and it’s vibrant and unforgettable. Even though at first, it was a bit hard to get into it (because life was so hard for the characters!) and I had put the book on hold, after I sat down with it another time, I could not peel…
Continue Reading→Can Silent Movies Be Remade Into Graphic Novels? Apparently, Yes! Metropolis by G.B. Royer
What an incredibly strange, and yet interesting, artistic thing I’ve just read. I have no idea how I should review it now, even. It’s a graphic novel called Metropolis by G.B. Royer, but it’s also so much more than just a graphic novel. And it was a pretty interesting coincidence for me as well. Let me give you more detail.…
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