I’ve seen a good number of “read what you own/read down your TBR” type of challenges talked about online over the past couple of years and this year, I felt it was high time that I did one of my own.
So, my take on this turned out to be Book of the Month club centric with a tip of the hat to Agatha All Along; Down the Reader’s Road(with each chosen title showcased on the side panel of this blog) has been pretty successful for me as my current total of completed books adds up to a baker’s dozen so far.
I did consider doing full on reviews for each one but as time went on, a year end look at my Top Three reads seemed to be the best bet:
Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel takes a character from the Ramayana and tells her side of the story, transforming her from wicked stepmother to mystical warrior queen.
Kaikeyi begins life as a princess who discovers that she has magical abilities but is forced to suppress them due to the patriarchal nature of society. When she becomes the third wife of a prominent king, finding her way to use her gifts to help other women (as well as connect with the other queens) is rewarding in more ways than one.
However, when one of her stepsons starts to show godlike powers that he can barely control, hard choices have to be made that cost Kaikeyi dearly.
Not being familiar with the source material, I was completely drawn into this vividly described world and rooting for the leading lady all the way, despite some of the decisions that tested her spirit. As a debut novel, this book was definitely a royal triumph that will lead me to seek out the author’s other stories as soon as can be:
The Mayor of Maxwell Street, another debut novel, from Avery Cunningham is set in 1920s Chicago where an ambitious young debutante seeks out the title character as part of her journalistic ambitions.
Nelly Sawyer is meant to be marrying a suitable man in order to solidify her family’s horse breeding empire yet when tasked to find the secretive go-between for the underworld gangs of Chicago by a newspaper editor, she can’t resist the challenge.
With the help of new acquaintance Jay, Nelly takes quite a walk on the wild side with consequences that are more life changing than she could have imagined.
It’s a steady paced , absorbing read that focuses on character development along with some action. Think of this as a well made miniseries, one that might give you an idea of what Chicago was like for the twin brothers Smoke and Stack before they headed home to face Sinners:
Jennifer Close’s Marrying the Ketchups is a more modern day story, following a fractured family as each of them tries to cope with a changing world once the male mainstay, Bud Sullivan, passes away.
With eager to please Teddy running the family restaurant that desperately needs an upgrade, the return of wayward sister Gretchen is quite the shake up and even the supposedly perfect suburban wife and mother Jane realizes that her reality is not what she thought it would be. Figuring out what to do next is something they all have to decide on their own but still need a little support along the way.
I know that the plot may sound sobering but there are brilliant moments of humor and relatable character development that make the pages turn briskly here. I have read one of Close’s earlier works(The Hopefuls) so I had some familiarity with her writing but clearly this particular book was truly next level for her:
I do plan to continue this challenge in the new year and with any luck, make some serious progress. It’s nice to discover that your reading choices can turn out to be better than you expected and taking a chance on new literary horizons can be fun and formative to boot.
This is my last post of 2025 and it has to end on a couple of sad notes(par for the course this year, I’m afraid). Recently, the news of Sophie Kinsella (aka Madeline Wickham) departure from this life , due to cancer, has given her worldwide readers much to mourn. My sincere sympathies are sent to her loved ones.
Best known for her entertaining Shopaholic series featuring the well meaning but prone to impulsive purchases Becky Bloomwood, Kinsella wrote 30 books with titles aimed at teens and children as well as her adult audience. Her stand alone stories dealt with romance but also other subjects such as coping with trauma, found family and emotional development.
Kinsella outlasted the “chick lit” era of publishing and created a solid niche of stories that brought more than one generation together to embrace the touching and relatable struggles of her characters quite nicely.
At the moment, I am doing a reread of Christmas Shopaholic (not the book to start this series, btw, Confessions of a Shopaholic is the place for new readers to begin) in her memory and I have no doubt that many others are doing the same. She will be greatly missed but never forgotten:
The other sad note is the tragic passing of writer/actor/director Rob Reiner and his beloved wife Michele, a prominent photographer and producer. In such a miserable year as this, the news of this terrible event is especially difficult, although much more for their circle of family and friends and all of my deepest condolences goes out to them.
The less said about a certain disrespect to their memories the better, although as one Jane Austen character might say , their sorrowful situation should secure your compassion not your ridicule! Then again, one can not offer the fruits of a crop that they never grew in the first place.
If one good notion can come out of this horrible moment, it is that it shows the importance of living a good life. Not necessarily a wealthy or public one, just being a kind and caring person that people are all too happy to think well of when they are no longer with us is enough.
Part of Rob Reiner’s legacy as an entertainer was showing the many ways that love can make the world better.
Take for example, When Harry met Sally, which is a romantic story but at the core of it is the tale of two people with completely opposite outlooks on life who discover that the best way to deal with an ever changing world is with each other, facing it together.
Love doesn’t have to be romantic or set in the expected social formats to connect people but when you give it a honest chance, great things can happen. It takes time and patience but always worth a try.
Rob Reiner came back to that theme quite often in his work, whether it was about friends, family or fellow travelers on the stage we call life. Perhaps by this time next year, we can prove him right:
With the 250th birthday of our dear Jane Austen fast approaching this month(December 16, to be precise), choosing the best way to honor such an auspicious occasion was difficult indeed.
However, as I put my mind to the task of selecting just the proper approach for such a literary icon, the answer came as loud and clear as a bell; a musical soirée. After all, Jane was fond of music in her day and that has been reflected in many of her characters for better (Marianne Dashwood) and for worse(poor Mary Bennet!).
So, presented here for your entertainment is a gathering of Austen folk using quite a bit of creative license in the manner of Julia Quinn’s charming Bridgerton series to perform some very rollicking music pieces:
We begin with Miss Anne Eliot, lately of Kellylynch Hall, on the pianoforte to play in honor of a renewed acquaintance that promises to be a more congenial connection as time goes on, Double’s “The Captain of her Heart”:
Next, we have a duet from the newly married Mr and Mrs. Darcy ,who have chosen to recreate the first proposal of marriage between them that did not directly lead to their presently contented union.
As Mr. Darcy’s new father-in-law is wont to say”What do we live , but to make sport for our neighbors and be laughed at them in return?”, in that spirit, this rendition of The Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me” is performed:
From our visitors from Mansfield Park, here’s another duet with Miss Mary Crawford on harp and Miss Fanny Price in song(accompanied on piano by her cousin Maria) with the assistance of Mr. Edmund Bertram, a rather playful number that might remind one of a sadly cancelled amateur theatre production of Lovers Vows.
For which young lady to be considered either the Brandy or the Monica of this particular version of “The Boy is Mine”, I allow the audience to discern for themselves:
For our finale, Miss Jane Fairfax is, as her aunt Bates repeatedly assures us, is most happy to delight us on the piano that was just sent to her.
Perhaps the musical gift came from her benefactor Col. Campbell or may perhaps someone else eager to gain her attentions before she went visiting to Highbury, as suggested to Miss Emma Woodhouse the other day.
Regardless, the sender was kind enough to include some Irish melodies with this gift, such as the late Sinead O’Connor’s beautifully composed “Nothing Compares to You”:
As our ensemble takes their bows, we here at LRG do wish the memory of Jane Austen and her brief yet spectacular body of work our very best, with fond hopes of this pleasure being repeated for another two hundred and fifty years or more.
As for our assembly of devoted readers, may we all take a delightful moment of celebration for all of the joy that Miss Austen’s books have given us, perhaps a bid of posh dancing might be in order indeed:
Well, the winter holiday season is definitely upon us and as a break from the seasonal frenzy all around me, I decided to join in on Seasons of Reading’s Yuletide Spirit reading challenge, held by Michelle Miller(who also has a separate series dedicated to the Christmas season).
For the challenge, you just need to select a level of holiday themed reading to go for; mine is Mistletoe which is between two to four books and I have three in this TBR at the moment. One is on order , the other arrived a couple of days ago and currently, I am in the midst of…
The Christmas Tree Farm:
In this third entry of Laurie Gilmore’s Dream Harbor series, we met Kira, a new arrival to town, who is surprised to learn that the quaint piece of property that she brought is a tree farm that everyone expects her to reopen in time for the holidays.
Due to spending more than she intended on the land, Kira finds that she has no other choice but to restart the business and finds unexpected help in the form of Bennet, a temporary visitor (his sister runs the local cafe) who has been recruited by the town to revive the farm as well as keep an eye out for a possible buried treasure on the grounds.
Since Kira is more fond of Bennet’s dogs(one of them is named Odie as in the Garfield comics!) than she is of him, this relationship is not off to a promising start to say the least. However, they do begin to slowly warm up to each other and by the time a major snow storm hits the area, those few sparks are ready to set off a roaring fire indeed!
I have read the first two books in this series (and there are more to follow after this one) and enjoyed them quite a bit. The “Gilmore Girls with a sexier edge”vibe of these stories works for me and that each book has a musical playlist attached to it especially helps for setting the right holiday romance mood here:
After that, my next pick is The Mistletoe Mystery, a novella from the Molly the Maid series by Nita Prose.
Molly hasn’t had a good Christmas since her beloved grandmother died yet this year promises to be different. With her circumstances becoming much better than before and having Juan Michael to share this season with, Molly hopes to not have any mysterious events to look into.
However, a bizarre exchange during the Regency Grand Hotel’s Secret Santa party brings up a lot of questions about who she can trust, particularly when it comes to Juan Michael. Is Molly able to solve this mystery without having her heart broken into the bargain?
Since this book is still on its way to me via Better World Books, I hope to find out before Christmas Eve. Molly is a delight to know on page and if anyone fictional deserves a romantic happy ending, she’s the one:
Fortunately, the last book in this TBR is already awaiting to be opened, thanks to Book of the Month Club.
Good Spirits by B.K. Borison is best described as “A Christmas Carol meets The Ghost and Mrs. Muir” with our leading lady Harriet being haunted by a spirit of Christmas Past named Nolan.
With Harriet being a rather sweet natured soul, Nolan wonders why he was sent to haunt her in the first place. She is curious about that as well and the more they get to know each other, the distinct possibility that he’s the one in need of saving begins to cross their minds. Can this the case and if so, do they want to risk the love connection forged between them to earn a redemption by Christmas Eve?
This does sound charming and since I did read one of Borison’s other works this year(First Time Caller), this ought to the perfect holiday read for me. An added bonus is the ghost angle as one of my favorite sitcoms has similar themes in abundance:
If you’re interested in signing up for either the readathon or the challenge, there is a link in the second paragraph of this post that will steer you towards the correct website. As always, much thanks to Michelle Miller for getting us band of eager readers on the proper path this and every other year.
Look, I know good and well how chaotic this year alone has become, with more difficult challenges perhaps in the year to come. However, one thing to keep in mind as the end of the year approaches is that renewing your energy for what lies ahead is the best way to start off on the new adventures before us.
Also, appreciating the good that we do have in our lives such as family, friends or loved ones of all sorts are treasures that no one can truly rob us of, despite their dubious best efforts. While it’s hard to reimagine our lives from what they once were in the past, we can use our present moment in time to give ourselves a better future for all to share in.
So, let’s keep our spirits bright with some good books and of course, a classic song in our hearts:
As it turns out, next week is going to be busier than I expected so LRG is going to have to take a Thanksgiving break. However, I did want to leave some festive bookish goodies out for all of you to snack on:
First, if you’re in the mood for a good cozy mystery with seasonal flair, Leslie Meier’s Lucy Stone series is a sure bet for savory fun.
Her small town leading lady of the title covers the holiday and special occasion front (Wedding Day Murder and Bake Sale Murder are just two examples)quite well and in the later books, she often adds a sprinkle of social justice issues to boot.
The two titles that are well suited here are Turkey Day Murder and Turkey Trot Murder, the latter involving a 5K race and obnoxious rich people (take that as you will). What I do enjoy about this series is the sitcom vibes of the setting that offsets the murders rather nicely, strange but true! If you’re looking for some light hearted reading in between recipe planning and TV specials, these turkey tales are certainly worth a taste:
If you happen to be more interested in what’s coming up in next year’s book adaptation at the movies, these new teaser trailer for Sunrise on the Reaping has just been released.
This second prequel for The Hunger Games series follows the gruesome Quarter Quell that future mentor to Katniss Everdeen Haymitch Abernathy (Joseph Zara) had to endure. The casting includes such notables as Maya Hawke, Lili Taylor, Ralph Fiennes, Billy Porter and Glenn Close, with a release for November of 2026.
While I didn’t read the first prequel or see that movie(both of which had mixed reviews), the praise for Sunrise on the Reaping has been strongly solid from day one, making me a little intrigued to check this out, plus Glenn Close’s entrance is cinematic diva gold, if you ask me!:
Also, this upcoming January has an adaptation of Emily Henry’s People We Meet on Vacation due to arrive on Netflix with a trailer already out and about.
Emily Bader and Tom Blyth star as Poppy and Alex, who having been taking vacations together as friends for a number of years. After a serious falling out that divided them for two years, Poppy manages to convince Alex to take one last trip together to see if they can make things right.
This is the first of Emily Henry’s rather popular novels to get the major movie treatment so expectations are quite high to say the least.
While I haven’t read this particular book yet, I did read the novel written by Yulin Kuang(How to End a Love Story)who adapted this screenplay and that book was heartbreakingly good which bodes well for this movie indeed:
With that, I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and look forward to wrapping up the rest of this bizarrely memorable year in December.
Look, I know that it’s hard to relax and just get into the holiday groove these days but we can take a break to recharge and reassess before New Year’s Eve strikes that final chime into a fresh set of twelve months into the unknown.
Yet, we did have a few good things happen along the way and if we give each other the proper emotional support to get us through another round of this, that number of good things might rapidly increase by this time next year. Worth trying for at the very least.
So, do take that well deserved time off and find some fun with a good book, movie or song. Speaking of song, I leave you with this excellent take on a truly trippy classic perfect for a hotel stay on the wild side-enjoy!:
It’s that time of year when book lovers both cheer and lament over the Goodreads Choice Awards, which opened up the voting last week for the long list of categories such as Best Fiction, Best Romance and Best Romantasy(looks like that one here to stay).
The final round of voting, which cuts down the number of contenders, begins on November 25 and the winners to b announced on December 4. While the GR awards are mostly the literary version of the People’s Choice Awards (if you know, you know), they still are useful as a way to go over your current reading for the year.
To that end, I decided to set up a TBR based on the long list of books I need to catch up on by the end of 2025 into the early part of 2026.
Two of these books are Book of the Month club and the other two are Aardvark selections. These are not the only GRCA nominees I have in the unread category but if those others make it to the finals, I might add them in(even one of my Cozy November reads is on the long list!)later. For now, this should be a good starting point:
Aardvark
In the Debut Nivel category, I was thrilled to see Venessa Vida Kelley’s When the Tides Held the Moon and yes, I voted for it right away!
It will be read, I promise. This gorgeously illustrated novel tells the tale of Benny, who used his blacksmith skills in the 1910s to create a unique cage for the sideshow in Luna Park that holds Rio, a merman captured in the East River.
While Benny finds friendship among his new coworkers, his feelings for Rio grow much stronger, leading him to choose between freeing his beloved or becoming another cynical human doing what he can to survive a harsh world.
This book is such a gem to behold in and of itself yet ultimately a book is made to be opened and appreciated for its words as well. Perhaps saving the best for last isn’t such a bad idea after all:
In the Fantasy section, The Devils by Joe Abercrombie was still among the unread on my shelf so I clearly needed to add it here.
I’ve heard nothing but praise about Abercrombie’s offbeat take on the genre and this book certainly sounds like fun. Set in an alternate medieval universe, Brother Diaz is tasked by the female Pope to claim an ancient crown with the help of a motley crew of mystical misfits before her political rivals can get to it first. Adventures, bloody action and a touch of romance follows along the perilous pages.
I don’t know if this is the best book to start reading of this author’s but since this does have The Suicide Squad(James Gunn.version) vibes, it sounds like the ideal one to me:
Book of the Month Club
In Historical Fiction, the latest by Fiona Davis, The Stolen Queen, was to be found and I wonder if being chosen by the Calvi Book Club earlier this season didn’t give this one an extra boost of reader attention.
Set in New York of 1978, museum curator Charlotte Cross must enlist the aid of Anne Jenkins when an Egyptian artifact is discovered missing during the iconic Met Gala, which Anne was organizing.
Charlotte is very familiar with the stolen item as she was on the archaeological team that found it in 1936, with dire consequences that came along with it. Having no other choice, the pair must go to Egypt to reclaim what was once owned by a female Pharaoh whose curse may doom them both.
I’ve enjoyed Davis’ work before, with her solid New York centric settings and well crafted characters. This book might benefit from the recent buzz around the Lourve heist but I prefer the focus on untold feminine rulers all the more:
The Horror section was pretty strong this time around and among the ones that I haven’t gotten to yet, The Posession of Alba Diaz by Isabel Canas stood out strongly to me.
Fleeing from a plague in 1865, Alba and her family take refuge at the home of her fiancé near a remote mine. This proximity to such a haunted place causes a slow yet steady series of changes in Alba that only her future cousin in law Elias seems to notice.
With a demonic force taking over, Alba finds that Elias is her strongest ally in fighting off this particular evil and perhaps their true chance at some form of salvation.
Having read Canas before, it’s great to see her get more recognition for her increasingly good and sinister storytelling that ought to make her the next big thing in this field indeed:
Having a reading plan in motion for this time of yearly transition is good, especially since I will need room for the books I’m hoping to get this Christmas! Also, this gives me a nice focus for my page turning future.
While the Goodreads Choice Awards are far from perfect (having one author with multiple books in one category is way too much) and does need to showcase better diversity in books and authors, it can be a boon to highlighting many titles that could benefit from an extra spotlight here.
At the very least, it’s a worthwhile distraction from the real world chaos we’re dealing with right now and that’s not an excuse for the awards being less than fully representative of their entire audience. All I am saying is that for now, this can be both a rallying cry for change and a welcome relief from our collective anxiety. The two goals are not mutually exclusive.
Think of the Goodreads Choice Awards as akin to the Dundies given out on various seasons of The Office; somewhat well meaning yet awkwardly presented and at the best of times, enduringly amusing. Just don’t get too overwrought about it, find that Pam Beasley balance if you can!:
It may be November but those end of the year round-ups are already starting and with book award season in full swing, what better time to share my LRG Best Books List for this rather tumultuous year of 2025?
This is a basic top five(with some honorable mentions coming up) of books that I read to completion this year and throughly enjoyed. My picks are all fiction (didn’t want to get into too much nonfiction as the daily headlines give me enough to deal with) and for the most part, published this year.
There’s a TBR reading challenge that I’ve been doing this year that will get a separate post of top reads later this month( none of those titles are listed here for that reason), Okay, time to present my literary winners in a somewhat chronological order of when I read them:
Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert: This debut novel from Drag Race superstar Bob the Drag Queen gives us a what if scenario; what if legendary figures from the past just suddenly showed up and decided to use modern day means to talk about their experiences with the rest of us?
As the title suggests, our narrator Darnell is recruited by Harriet and a small number of her historical traveling companions to produce their rap album as well as set up their tour. During this process, Darnell not only gets to work on the project of a lifetime, he also comes away with learning a few truths that could help him get over one of the worst moments of his personal and professional life.
The book is a short ride but filled to the brim with history, humor and heart, plus a couple of songs (added to the audio book edition) that make for a meaningful emotional soundtrack indeed:
Storybook Ending: Moira Macdonald’s charming ode to romcoms is set in a bookstore, of course, with an offbeat love triangle to say the least.
For one thing, two women are trying to romance the same man without each other knowing it along the guy in question!
It starts with April, who leaves a note in a book for handsome store clerk Westley, only he doesn’t read it. Instead, the note is found by Laura, who thinks that Westley wrote it for her.
As for Westley, he’s more interested in the big league indie movie being filmed at the store than anything else and the camera really seems to love him as he takes a small part in the production. A charming sort of chaos soon follows.
This is the kind of novel that makes you wish that Nora Ephron was still with us in order to bring this engaging romantic comedy of errors to vivid cinematic life. For a debut novel, Macdonald shows the steady hand of a seasoned pro when it comes to this type of prose:
The Will of the Many: If I had to sum up this epic book in one Hollywood style pitch, I’d have to say “Hunger Games meets I,Claudius”yet it’s much more than that.
This first entry in James Islington’s
fantasy series introduces us to Vis, once a prince but now alone and orphaned by the empire known as The Hierarchy, which gains its powers by draining people of their actual will power.
Living a rough and tumble existence, Vis is recruited by Ulciscor Telimus, a high ranking official, to infiltrate Catenan Academy, a training ground for young future leaders, to discover the truth behind the mysterious death of Ulciscor’s brother . Having a hidden agenda of his own, Vis takes the offer yet finds that there’s much more that he bargained for here.
I won’t say more than that but I can say that now I understand the immense praise this story has been getting from readers and critics alike.
Granted, I had a rushed reading time with it(had to return it to the library sooner than I expected) but this intense blend of political drama, fantasy and coming of age saga was quite the page turning intoxicating bookish delight that I haven’t had the pleasure of in such a long time.
The second book, The Strength of the Few, was released earlier this month and I don’t know when it will be in my hands but I do know for a certainty that it will be worth the wait and then some:
Love is a War Song: On that same library trip that brought me to Will of the Many, I considered myself blessed by the bookish gods upon finding Danica Nava’s second novel on the shelves as well.
Our leading lady is Avery Fox, a rising pop star whose career has taken a major stumble due to a controversial magazine cover.
To ride out the backlash in private, Avery’s mom/manager sends to Oklahoma to stay at the horse ranch of her grandmother Lottie, whom she’s never met due to unresolved emotional issues. While there, Avery begins to learn more about her heritage and family history as well as clash with Lucas , Lottie’s right hand man who finds her shallow upon first sight.
Having read Nava’s first novel, The Truth According to Ember, not long before taking up this book, it was a treat to see the quick leaps and bounds in storytelling skills that the author has made so far. No doubt about it, Nava is on her way to being a literary chart topper with this riveting romcom that shows love is a battlefield yet worth winning nonetheless:
Lucky Day:
This wild new ride by Chuck Tingle has a number of interesting themes in it, such as the depths of corruption, recovery from trauma and bi erasure, yet the overwhelming universal theme that I found within these pages is facing the utter chaos of life itself.
The novel follows Vera, who lost her mother during a bizarrely tragic occurrence called the Low Probability Event, in which the most unlikely events happened all at once. This LPE lead to massive deaths and emotional aftershocks that even four years later, Vera hasn’t been able to start to recover from.
Having been a devoted statistician, Vera’s faith in stability has been shattered severely but when a government agent asks her to join in an investigation on a suspiciously lucky casino that may hold the answers to what happened that terrible day, she takes him up on that offer and her true journey begins.
To say that the story that unfolds here is unimaginable is an understatement and a compliment all at once. Tingle has an amazing talent in mixing horror, humor and finely tuned emotional depth that is breathtaking to behold. It’s a strong cup of tea to be sure yet worth taking a taste of true literary magic worthy of being seriously savored:
Lucky Day, as it happens, is a nominee in the Horror category of the Goodreads Choice Awards, which started their opening voting rounds today, Yes, I voted for Lucky Day and a few others ( which I plan to post about soon) and hopefully, it will make the finals. Keeping my fingers crossed for sure on that one!
In the meanwhile, here are my honorable mentions, books that are great reads that I highly recommend:
The Build-a-Boyfriend Project by Mason Deaver
Play Nice by Rachel Harrison
Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor
Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher
A couple of those book are also Goodreads nominees but regardless of that , they are definitely awesome books on their own merits. I just didn’t want to overwhelm my post with such massive praise for them!
Here’s to looking forward to more wonderful books in our collective future, despite how fraught our timeline looks at the moment. Yes, it’s hard to deal with these times that we’re going through yet it does help to take a break for simple moments of joy.
This morning, I saw the first snow of the season( snow flurries but still..) and while running my usual errands, discovered to my delight that it was cold enough for my breath to fog up. It happened briefly but that once was plenty enough for a small surprise of fun.
Not much of a thrill, I know, but being able to do that was always a mini magical bit that I have been charmed by since childhood and it’s nice to get that little jolt of bliss from such a mundane thing after all these years.
It may not be much but those tiny things that give you a sense of pure happiness are treasures worth protecting. Whether it’s the weather, a favorite cookie or a good book, those are gifts that no one can take away, no matter how much they try. Happy reading, folks , this and every year to come:
Happy post-Halloween, folks and I hope your seasonal reading was a real treat as was mine for the FrightFall readathon hosted by Michelle Miller over at Seasons of Reading!
Before we begin here, yes, I swapped out a book from my already established TBR for this event(my mood had changed as I shall explain) and yes, the final book was finished on All Saints Day but it was completed before the end of the weekend, which sort of counts, I hope?
Anyway, the first book that I did finish here was Play Nice by Rachel Harrison. Clio, a snarky social influencer, is the youngest of three sisters whose mother Alex gained dubious fame by claiming the house that she and her daughters moved into was demonically possessed.
Clio barely remembered that bizarre period in their lives so when the news of Alex’s death reached her, she had no major qualms about reclaiming the house for a makeover project she could vlog about. This whole move angers her remaining family yet Clio is determined to do this.
Upon cleaning out the place, she discovers a copy of the book her mom wrote about the haunting, a book that she and her sisters swore to their father that they would never read. Driven by curiosity and some of the strange vibes in the house itself, Clio finds herself in a situation where either she’s reliving Alex’s nightmare or making a new one for herself.
This is my first time reading Harrison and I have to say that I really liked it and want to read more from her. The story is supernaturally based but it’s also a smart and savvy look at dysfunctional family dynamics as well as the deadly allure of attention seeking in both private and public life.
Plus, some engaging moments of humor mixed with the emotional tension all make for a storytelling tune you can hum along with in fearsome harmony:
After that, I dove into Sophie Jordan’s Marked by Moonlight , a reissue of the first book in her Moon Chasers series.
Meek and mild schoolteacher Claire has her life turned upside down after an encounter with a large “dog” marks her for death in more ways than one.
According to the new man in her life, Gideon, Claire was bitten by a werewolf and meant to become one herself by the time of the new moon. The secret lycan hunter society that he belongs to has a set protocol for such cases as hers; instant death before that happens.
However, Gideon finds himself moved to try and save Claire from that fate, a difficult task since she doesn’t believe him at first and then later on. finds some enticing advantages to being a were. Heightened strength, speed and a new found confidence are pretty good benefits yet she doesn’t want to lose her soul in the bargain.
While the focus of the book is on the romance between Claire and Gideon, I was much more intrigued by the werewolf cultural norms that cropped up towards the latter half of the story. While it’s a rather alpha male setup, there is an introduction to a werewolf who refuses to be part of a pack and has sworn off attacking humans during his changing times. A good concept that reminds me of Oz from Buffy the Vampire Slayer(only Oz was way more chill).
No doubt more of that is explored in the other books in this series (plus a couple of characters such as Gideon’s younger sister who wants to a lycan hunter yet is shut out due to being a woman) I might want to check a couple of those entries out as well. For now, this was a fun romp into popcorn page turning moonlit delight:
And finally, I decided to take up T. Kingfisher’s Hemlock & Silver as my last read here. I was still in the mood for supernatural scares and this fairy tale inspired novel has quite a bit of that and then some.
Anja is a poison expert who has been fascinated by the search for an antidote for numerous deadly concoctions almost all her life.
Her talents bring the newly bereaved king to her door, seeking her help in discovering what ails his daughter Snow. Her mother the queen and little sister Rose died under tragic circumstances yet Snow’s wasting away is more than just grief over that loss.
At first, Anja is frustrated at not being able to find not only the possibility of poisoning but any sort of cause for her new patient’s condition. Then one day, the discovery of a strange apple linked to the multitude of mirrors at the remote royal estate that they’re staying at reveals much and yet conceals some terrifying secrets that could doom all involved.
Without getting into more details, this story is a take on the classic Snow White tale yet Kingfisher has an amazing ability to create fresh new fiction from such well known material, embroidering rich character development along side fantastical swatches of creatures both human and otherwise that make up a gorgeous tapestry of fantasy at it’s best.
Yes, there were plenty of scary moments to include this book into this challenge but it’s the heartfelt affection given to these characters that truly is the spine of the story. This reimagining of Snow White and the wicked queen is steady enough to stand on its own and also makes for a welcome addition to that iconic pantheon:
So, this was definitely a good gruesome time and my thanks to Michelle Miller for giving us all the perfect treat basket to put such devious delights in.
In the meanwhile, the holiday season ahead is going to be rough going, given the daily headlines that seem to get worse as we go on. Nonetheless, the best way forward is to help each other out as much as possible and to keep a good thought or two in our hearts.
Hard to do, I know, but finding what comfort you can to revive your spirits is important to your emotional health. For me, one of those things that I take comfort in is a reread of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, which I plan on doing this month.
While Alcott disliked having this book being her crowning achievement in literature (she would’ve rather preferred one of her gothic novels claiming that honor instead), her use of family lore in bringing the March sisters to vivid life was a special kind of magic that couldn’t be ignored by anyone.
It’s also inspired many a reader to have such a loving family to look to in bad as well as good times and no matter how that family has come together, the love, laughter and support is what makes any version of such a story worth revisiting.
A true classic shows both the best and worst of what we have to offer the world and in the case of Little Women, hopefully our best will be good enough for those readers yet to turn that first page:
One of the reading adventures I took this year was trying out Aardvark, the book subscription service that offered rather more offbeat titles than the average book boxes out there.
As much as I enjoyed gathering up some new to me books and authors to engage with, my time with Aardvark had to come to an end due to the limits of my entertainment budget (we all know how the economy is these days..).
So, I was fine with that for the most part as I still had plenty of other affordable book buying options to work with. Yet, I did look in on their latest offerings every now and then, sighing longingly at times. It was nice while it lasted or so I thought!
Thanks to a very tiny windfall that covered the price of a one month gift subscription to Aardvark , my new box of September/October books are on the way!
My must-have title was Chuck Tingle’s Lucky Day, which happens to be a special edition, which looks at the seemingly randomness of the universe and just how random is it? When former statistics professor Vera is recruited by a special government agent to investigate the against the odds success of a certain casino, the stakes for her are quite personal.
The source of the casino’s luck can be traced to a bizarre event four years prior that caused multiple deaths in rather improbable ways(being attacked by a monkey using a typewriter for example and Vera’s mother was one of those casualties.
Her faith in her field of interest shattered, Vera was feeling useless until Special Agent Layne arrived. Given the chance to find out what really happened , along with possibly preventing another such occurrence from destroying more lives, she’s ready to resharpen her skills but can she truly play the game to win?
Tingle’s take on story telling is engagingly strange and emotionally touching, quite the fictional combination to be sure. However, like a top chef, Tingle blends those offbeat flavors into a satisfying plate of page turning delight:
I paired that with Mate, Ali Hazelwood’s follow-up to Bride, that has another paranormal romance in store for some supporting players from the previous novel.
Serena Paris is the first of her kind, a hybrid of human and were. With one foot in each realm and yet not being accepted by either side, her safety is at risk from more than one quarter.
Her best chance for survival is Koen Alexander, a powerful Alpha leader amongst the Weres whose authority is never questioned. Being his mate is an instant guarantee of protection yet the real risks here may be if the heart for them both.
I did like Bride, which I read earlier this year, and while my story telling tastes tend to favor vampires in this category, some heartfelt howling at the moon just feels so right to me these days:
To round things up, my choice was a magical romcom, Witch You Would by Lia Amador.
Penelope is hoping to make her dreams come true by taking part in a spell casting competition show with a huge cash prize at stake and a celebrity partner to boot,
Said partner is Leandro, a viral video magician whose gimmicky tricks may not be enough to get the win. As it happens, Leandro is actually Gil, Penelope’s secret pen pal who took on this goofy online persona in order to raise money to save the charity his grandfather created. Can the two of them cast the ultimate spell for love and victory in more ways than one?
This sounds like fabulous fun and I might even add this magical treat to my Cozy November challenge, we shall see:
With any luck, the Aardvark box should be here by Halloween, giving me the best grown up treat in time for the holiday. Believe you me, I could a little pick me up right about now.
Look, I do know that there are more pressing concerns when it comes to money at the moment and I seriously want to see those we put in charge of such things get their act together and work together to make life better for all concerned.
I do consider myself to be very fortunate in my situation with my loved ones that getting some new books is still a viable option yet it’s also important to realize that this is not even a practical concern for most people here. I want so much for folks to feel safe and secure in their lives when it comes to basic needs and rights and shame on those who are eager to rob them of that.
Taking this opportunity for some extra literary bliss is emotionally healthy for me as the state of the world is scarier than any horror movie marathon playing this Halloween week. Mental health refreshers are important to keep our spirits up and give us the fortitude to fight the good fight as best we can.
So, if you have a moment to yourself (or just make one a priority), eat that treat, watch that silly show or grab a hold of a good book to put your worries away for just a little while. Do what you are able to do for others but don’t neglect yourself in the process.
Also, as a fan of autumn vibes, this book box couldn’t arrive at a more perfect time. With the weather finally getting colder and the leaves on the verge of bursting into seasonal colors, curling up under warm blanket with one or two these Aardvark reads while rewatching Gilmore Girls is a simple joy to be sipped and savored as a cup of hot cocoa indeed:
I know that Halloween is only a couple of weeks away and my current holiday themed readathon is going pretty good at the moment-finished one book, in the middle of another and might swap out the third-yet, it doesn’t feel too soon to make bookish plans for next month.
So, I decided to challenge myself to Cozy November , in which I pick a trio of books off my TBR that are definitely on the lighter side of their respective genres to indulge in. A perfect excuse to settle down under a warm blanket and sip an equally warm drink as the pages turn.
To start this off right, A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna is my first pick. Our leading lady is Sera Swan, who has lost most of her powers due to a spell that brought her great Aunt Jasmine back from the beyond.
Having been shut out of her guild, Sera now runs an inn with her aunt and a talking fox with dubious motives. When moody magical historian Luke Larsen arrives in town in need of a room, Sera’s inn is not only available but in need of his vast knowledge that could restore her powers completely.
Will Luke help her or is Sera simply stuck between the realms of mortals and magicians for all time? Plus, can a little love make things right for them both?
I did enjoy Mandanna’s earlier novel(The Secret Society of Irregular Witches) very much and this new book promises to be as enchanting as that one, perhaps even more. At the very least, this should be a spell binding slow burn of a story fit for the fall season:
Speaking of stories, my next choice for this challenge is Poppy Alexander’s The Battle of the Bookshops, set in a quaint seaside village in England, where Jules Capelthorne returns home to in order save her family’s nearly century old bookshop.
Competition has arrived in the form of Roman Montbeaus, who has opened a rival bookstore right across from Capelthorne’s Books and is determined to keep the long tradition of their mutual families’ rivalry going strong. With sales down and the lease about to be called up, can Jules save the beloved business and maybe find some true love in the bargain?
The Romeo and Juliet vibes mixed in with small town sweetness are very appealing here, plus a bookseller themed showdown is true catnip to a fan of You’ve Got Mail like me:
Last yet far from least, Every Time I go on Vacation, Someone Dies, the first in a new series by Catherine Mack, seems like a fitting finale read to me.
When Eleanor Dash reaches Italy on her latest book tour for her successful murder mystery novels, she finds herself in the midst of a perilous plot against her former collaborator Connor, whose claims of someone out to kill him may be all too true.
Granted, she was planning to do away with his fictional counterpart in her books but killing him off outside of that seems a bit too much! With numerous suspects on hand and among her friends and fans as well, will Eleanor be able to keep the real life version of her popular hero safe and sound for the next chapter of their lives?
The concept sounds fun and I have heard good word of mouth about this quirky mystery machine. Plus, I could use a fresh take on this particular genre , which feels so fall friendly indeed:
With my reading stack at the ready, my Cozy November will begin on the first of the month and hopefully get me through Thanksgiving as well as Black Friday to boot. If anyone out there likes this idea and wants to take it up on their own or with other reading buddies, please feel free to do so.
Part of my reason for doing this is to celebrate what I consider the apex of autumn; the Thanksgiving season that, despite its problematic origins, still holds a special charm for me.
Call it nostalgia if you will but the general notion of people gathering together for a nice meal with friends and family of all sorts to celebrate what good things in life they do have to share to me is just a sweet and simple tradition that is worth upholding. Especially during these chaotic times that we’re collectively dealing with, perhaps a time out such as this might be helpful towards figuring out how best to face what lies ahead and figure out what to do next.
Also, I’m on a bit of a Gilmore Girls kick at the moment and we can all agree that that show has a serious pop culture lockdown on those fabulous fall feelings there. Not to mention that Luke and Lorelai are the OG of the Grumpy/Sunshine sub genre of romance for sure! All good reasons to read some cozy goodness, if you ask me:
One pop culture crop that always is ready for harvest this time of year are literary adaptations at the movies. Particularly since award season is not too far off there…
Yet my film focus for today is on those current and upcoming movies that take some creative chances with the source material.
To start, let’s look at Frankenstein , Guillermo Del Toro’s latest movie that will be available for streaming this No and is arriving in theaters this very week. Oscar Issac plays the well known creator of the creature (Jacob Elordi), shunned by society and rejected by the one that made him even before the death toll begins.
Critical praise for the film has been strong and given not only the magnificent visuals that Del Toro is renowned for but the screenplay that he also wrote showcases the creature in a more sympathetic light(another hallmark of his work), this new production of Mary Shelley’s iconic novel should be a fresh vision that honors the original story beautifully:
Also in November is The Running Man , based on one of Stephen King’s Richard Bachman books, which is technically a remake yet not at all.
Instead of following the formula of the earlier Arnold Schwarzenegger action film version, director/co-screenwriter Edgar Wright takes the story straight from the book itself.
Here, Ben Richards(Glen Powell) signs up for the futuristic reality show that hunts him down within the larger population in order to pay for his child’s medical bills.
The popular show, gleefully run by producer Dan Killian(Josh Brolin) and hosted by Bobby Thompson (Coleman Domingo), encourages regular people to assist the Hunters and claim some rewards of their own but as Ben continues to defy the odds, more and more folks are betting against the house and rooting for a potentially ground shifting winner this time around.
As entertaining as the 1987 movie adaptation was, this one should blow the roof off of that film in more ways than one. Seeing this as well as The Long Walk(which had it’s first adaptation released over the summer) be made available to wider audiences promises to widen the circle of Richard Bachman readers as well:
However, if you want to see a movie right now that takes it’s cues from the literary realm, then I highly recommend One Battle After Another.
This latest work by Paul Thomas Anderson is said to be inspired by iconoclastic writer Thomas Pynchon’s book Vineland and granted, this is an author whose works I find much too daunting to dive into yet PTA does capture the flavor of that style of writing quite nicely.
Leonardo DiCaprio plays Bob aka Pat Calhoun, a former revolutionary turned stoner slacker dad to daughter Willa(Chase Infiniti), who have been on their own since the disappearance of his romantic partner and Willa’s mother Perfidia Beverley Hills(Teyana Taylor).
When a past enemy, Col. Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn), decides to use what powers are available to him to track Bob and Willa down for his own personal purposes, that awkward existence quickly changes for parent and child, taking them and anyone who joins them along the way on a long, strange journey that’s hard to predict how it ends.
I saw this movie over the past weekend and it is quite the wild ride indeed. Yes, it’s long(about two and an half hours) but never boring. Instead, this story is a heady mix of humor, tension and emotional drama blended with some sharp edged social satire that strongly resonates with today’s headlines. I don’t want to get into too much detail here but this is a movie that very much ,like a good book, sucks you into the world it’s created and doesn’t let go for a second.
While OBAA is more of an “inspired by” than a direct adaptation of Vineland, PTA is a major fan of Thomas Pynchon and has made a movie based on that writer’s work before(Inherent Vice in 2014) yet it received a mixed reception at best. Perhaps it was by being a bit more free and easy with this particular story that helped him showcase why Pynchon is one of his all time favorites.
The performances are amazingly great, the look of the film(made in old school Vista Vision) is captivating and even if you haven’t read or heard of Pynchon, director/co-writer PTA gives you a very good idea of what that author’s writing is like and why it’s one of his artistic inspirations to this day:
Interesting how all three of these adaptations have their directors take part in writing the screenplays as well. Guess it really can be a bonus to have a visual creator be able to see and feel the depths of the tale he or she is translating from one medium to another there.
That trend seems to be continuing into next year as actress Maggie Gyllenhaal gives us The Bride! in March of 2026. This new twist on The Bride of Frankenstein is set in Chicago during the 1930s with Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale as an undead Bonnie and Clyde.
This is Gyllenhaal’s second film as a writer/director and certainly one to watch out for. Whether it makes its mark as a new cult classic or simply inspires an eyebrow raise or two, such chances taken are what the best movies and books are all about. At the very least, all roads here will lead back to the book, the truly desired result of them all:
