All the Books.

"Part research paper, part journal, all parts endearing with an original and fun idea but frankly, the plot got a bite contrived by the end. All the gasping moments of melodramatic realization and "shocking betrayals" just didn't feel all that shocking. It was a fun read but not a real page-turner."   3 Stars Pros:  I did like January for all her doe eyed, lid batting, naiveite.  Cons:  Everything was so melodramatic to January but to me, I was like, "How is this a surprise?" Maybe I was too jaded and bitter for this book 😅 Full Review January Scaller, thinks she's just the Ward of the surprisingly wealthy curator of the New England Archeological Society, Mr. Cornelius Locke. She spends most of her time torturing her nanny and reading in the many attics of Locke House, a palatial estate in the Lake Champlain area of Vermont. When she's not causing trouble, she's playing with the local Grocer's boy, Samuel and distantly waiting for her

"What I thought would be a story about one man's slow descent into blindness and how he adapted, turned out to be more of a story about his life, the poor decisions he made, the relationships he ruined and the abject misery that he struggled with, the blindness was more of an aside. I appreciated Knipfel's sardonic wit but his stubbornness and pride left him in a lot of unfortunate situations. He was a frustrating person to read about." 2 Stars Pros:  Knipfel's sardonic voice brings some levity to an otherwise tragic situation/I like that he was contrary from a young age, though at the same time, he made a lot of bad decisions that didn't help his situation any.  Cons: This book turned out to be more of a timeline of how Knipfel's poor decisions impacted his life, while he slowly went blind. The blindness felt like more of an afterthought/Knipfel's struggles with major depression and alcoholism were profound but he didn't really seem to want to get

"The stranger in a strange land, forced to learn new customs and beliefs with a dash of forbidden romance thrown in is always a draw. And with a strong MMC in Blackthorne the story has promise but is very quickly and heavily weighed down by political intrigue and way too many characters. I think this will have translated well to the screen so I plan on checking out the TV Show."  3 Stars Pros:  Rodrigues and Blackthorne's banter and friendship is tenuous but you want it to be genuine/Of course, the simmering romance between Blackthorne and Mariko was fun.  Cons:  There were a lot of characters and they all called each other by different names, it was extremely confusing. The only one I cared about was Blackthorne and those scenes were what kept me reading/The political plays and betrayals were all very complex and I was just lost in ancestral lineages and who was descended from one of the ancient Clans/The Jesuits and the Catholics and the Protestants, I couldn't keep

"David Smith would sell his soul for his Art and he does but there's nothing in the contract about falling in love or fame and fortune. McLoud tells a brutal but beautiful story in a stark, steady hand. A truly heart wrenching story that will stick with me for a long time." 4 Stars Pros:  It's a deep, meaningful, gut wrenching story that gets you right in the feels from the start/McLoud doesn't pull any punches but it's so perfectly bittersweet that, his brutal honesty is understandable and necessary.  Cons:  I feel like the scene with the Snipers near the end was a little silly, like that seemed to be a bit of an over-reaction to David's situation/Falling in love after trading your immortal soul is a bit cliche but, it worked.   Full Review David Smith feels washed up and useless. He has no job, no girlfriend and the lease on his expensive Studio is up in two months, so no place to practice his art, the one thing in his life that really matters. He's

"What began as an intriguing piece of speculative fiction about finding a new world and attempting to inhabit it, soon turned into a long, drawn out, cycle of characters refusing to confide in one another, holding onto secrets, which inevitably led to hurt feelings, dishonesty and resentment. The end left me feeling unfulfilled and wanting, since, everything that happened is kind of skipped over and left unanswered."  2 Stars Pros:  Gloss has a subtle but straightforward voice that was a little jarring at first but it kind of grew on me.  Cons:  Since the Dusty Miller is basically a Quaker ship, there are long passages of Meetings and many thoughts about God and what it means to see God, be in his presence and understand him, this grew a bit tiresome after awhile/The few glimpses of real depth that we see in the characters are short and fleeting/There didn't feel like there was any resolution between the characters at the end.   Full Review People are leaving the toxic wa

"What had potential as a dark academia, suspenseful thriller quickly devolved into a "he said, she said" blame game. ciche, "who dun it" murder mystery. The only reason I finished the book was to find out "who dun it" and it was rather a let down in the end." 1 Star Pros:  The idea of the Hyde Scholarship, the whole process had me intrigued but it quickly lost its edge.  Cons:  The characters couldn't have been anymore cliche or one dimensional. A veteran who insists that everyone call him Captain, the bespectacled, black clad, Doc Marten wearing English Major with tattoo sleeves and the good ol' home grown, American boy, Duffy who works on his family farm and I'm pretty sure, actually said, "Aw shucks" at one point/The fact that no one was ever honest with anyone got really old really quickly and is one of the main reasons I don't really read murder mysteries.    Full Review Vincent Gaines, the Vice President of Institu