In The Solarium

  4.5/5  ⭐ Queer Knives out? Sign me UP! This is one house that is full to bursting with secrets. One that Evander Mills is all to familiar with. One that cost him his job, his friends and almost his life. Being queer in the 50s was not just dangerous, it was a crime. And navigating raids and a disapproving population is hard. So finding a family that are all one way or another queer is unheard of and dangerous. Asked to discreetly investigate a mysterious murder, Mills is let in on the family secret and learns what it’s like to be surrounded my others just like him. And the safety and freedom offered to him behind those closed gates. But not all is well and he quickly learns that as more than just a mysterious murder take place. This was such a good mystery and having the queer rep made it even better. I was a little cautious with the comparison to Knives Out because I didn’t want just a queer book version of it. That would have been boring. But if you liked Knives Out, I...

  5/5  ⭐ Found family, a magical boarding school, and a missing friend. A perfect combination in this spooky YA graphic novel. Plus the incredible artwork is not to be missed.  This is one that caught my eye as I kept passing in the teen department at one of the libraries I work at. I then read the little summary and was hooked.  This story follows Abby as she learns one morning that the closest person she has to family has disappeared and feels that the school isn't doing enough in the search for her. And so takes it upon herself to discover what secrets this school has been hiding for years.  Accompanied by friends and a mysterious story from the schools past, they learn that the off-limits woods hold more than they expect when a similar story of a missing students comes up.  This was such an atmospheric and gorgeous graphic novel. And perfect for those looking for a more gothic meets dark academia story for the season.  Plus the characters...

  *Possible Spoilers, Read with Care. 5/5 ⭐ Fresh starts, new friends, and friendly spiders? This speculative fiction from Rachel Harrison gives new meaning to taking back your magic.  Play it safe Annie has just moved to a new town to start a new job all in an attempt to move on from from her longtime boyfriend who recently dumped her. And at first all is well. Better than well as the townspeople are kind and welcoming and the town itself quaint and picturesque. What could be better.  She even makes a new friend that helps her move on and start living for herself. Sophie, the elegant, strange, and intimidating woman who happens to live in a mansion in the woods. She recognizes something in Annie and takes her under her wing. The two form a bond that continues to grow as Annie learns what it means to truly live for herself.  I devoured this story in one day. In just a few hours while I was at work and in between helping patrons. It was so good that I recommended it t...

  Happy October Bookworms!  Now, I know that the month has already started so I am maybe a little late to the game but I did still want to share my October TBR list with you. It's going to probably be a little short since I also still have one or two titles from my Autumn TBR to work through and I am starting to request more ARCs as well again. But without further ado here is my October TBR: These titles I picked up from my main work library: House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson All Dressed Up by Jilly Gagnon  The Witches of of Moonshyne Manor by Bianca Marais Gunpowder Green  by Laura Childs Title picked up from my home library: On What Grounds by Cleo Coyle Books from my own TBR piles: I have two Darcy Coates to choose between.    Ninth House  by Leigh Bardugo Perception Check by Astrid Knight Book ARC's that I have acquired: Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six  by Lisa Unger What Lies in the Woods  by Kate Alice Marshall A Restless Truth  by...

Happy Halloween Bookworms! If you are anything like me than this time of year is your favorite. I love fall with the cooling weather, the leaves changing colors, and of course, Halloween. And I am also a big fan of reading for the season. Of course read whatever you want whenever you want but there is just something very satisfying about reading something spooky or just a little darker for the season.   Especially if you are able to set the mood with cozy blankets, warm tea and lit candles. Bonus points if it is foggy or raining out.  Now, with out further ado time for some book recommendations.     Cackle by Rachel Harrison Fresh starts, new friends, and friendly spiders. This speculative fiction from Rachel Harrison left me speechless.  Everyone has dreamed of starting over in a new town where no one knows you and your past doesn't define you. Here, that happens and so much more. Perfect for: Those looking for a lighter fantasy, powerful friendships...

  *Possible spoilers, read with care. 5/5 ⭐ Welcome to Shady Hollow. This village lives in harmony with one another until tragedy strikes with the sudden death of the cantankerous old toad that lived in the pond.  I love a good cozy mystery. Something lighthearted and fun but still thrilling and thought provoking. Shady Hollow  hit all the marks making this a series you won't want to miss.  I had seen this one on so many people's TBR lists that I knew I needed to read it as well. And what better time than during Autumn. It just felt right.  This mystery follows Vera Vixen, the local reporter who just so happens to be a fox. Having come from a bigger town, she seems much more in the know of what to do in the case of a murder than the local constabulary. Which is made up of two bears named Meade and Orville. They do get their chance to make up for what they lack.  Let me just put it here, the names of these characters is incredible and l loved the inclus...

   Hello Bookworms and happy autumn! I am back with a monthly update since I actually read something in September.  In September I finished 7 books. Over My Dead Body  by Sweeney Boo. 5/5⭐️ Cackle  by Rachel Harrison.  5/5⭐️ Can't Spell Treason without Tea  by Rececca Thorne.  5/5⭐️ Back in a Spell  (ARC) by Lana Harper.  5/5⭐️ Shady Hollow  by Juneau Black.  5/5⭐️ In the Company of Witches  by Auralee Wallace.  5/5⭐️ Secretly Yours  (ARC) by Tessa Bailey. 4 /5⭐️ Favorite: Can't Spell Treason without Tea. Another cozy fantasy that was just so freaking cute! Least Favorite:  Secretly Yours . It wasn't bad, but I am not the biggest fan of romances to begin with.  ARC's: Only the two ARCs this month. I tried to work through my physical TBR list.  Currently, I am on a bit of a cozy mystery binge and am working my way through Gunpowder Green  by Laura Childs.  For October my main goal is to ju...

  Welcome back Bookworms! Today I thought I would talk a little bit about how I log my reading and how I have tracked my reading progress in the past. And what I am probably going to try in the future.  I basically stopped reading for fun when I was in my undergrad. But my final year I started a bookstagram and I was off. I even started a book blog (it no longer exists). And for a time that was how I kept track. What I was posting and reviewing was all that I did to keep track of what I was reading. But that didn't last long.  And I also stopped reading for a long while after that. I was in the middle of my Masters program and working multiple jobs. I didn't have the time or energy to read. But once I graduated and found the time I picked it up and haven't stopped since.  It was around that time that a colleague turned me on to NetGalley. As it is a big part of my job reading and knowing what was coming became important and a big plus to the job. But with ARCs i...

5/5  ⭐ An atmospheric setting, steeping in traditions and folklore with a tightknit community on the secluded island of Saoirse make this adult fantasy impossible to put down.  Drawn together no matter the time or distance, Emery and August must face difficult facts as the truth about what drove August away all those years ago comes to light. Others, determined to keep the truth well buried will do anything to keep it that way. No matter the cost.  Young balances magic and mystery perfectly as the story progresses, reaching the climatic point that will leave you stunned.  This novel is not one to miss. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. 

      Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This is a meme hosted by Sam of  Taking on a World of Words . A fun midweek check-in where you answer three questions: What are you currently reading?  What did you recently finish reading?  What do you think you'll read next? I've started Back in a Spell  by Lana Harper.  It is her 3rd in the Thistle Grove series and I received it as an ARC from Edelweiss+. I have read the previous ones in the series and loved the world Harper created.  This past week I finished: Can't Spell Treason without Tea  by Rebecca Thorne. I follow this author on tiktok and I ended up reading this in just a few days. It was so so good and I was so excited to see that there is a sequel in the works! Shady Hollow  by Juneau Black. This is a super cute cozy mystery featuring a cast of all woodland creatures. When this first came across my desk as a possible purchase it had mixed reviews and I was thrilled to see that it liv...

5/5  ⭐ *Potential spoilers ahead, read with care.  This was so much more than I could have ever imagined. It left me in a state for days after finishing where all I could do was think about it. It consumed me.  The Change  follows three women Nessa, Harriet, and Jo. All at different stages in their lives but come together with a common goal to right the wrongs that led to the death of an unidentified teen that the police seem keen to ignore.  Not all is well in this picturesque coastal town as the women dig deep and investigate they are met with threats, danger and new friends.    Nessa hears the voices of the dead, Harriet grows more than one might think in her wild gardens, and Jo can channel her anger and rage into something fiery. And together they force to be reckoned with that this town is just not ready for. These changes all come about with 'The Change' or menopause. Or if you are Blanche Devereaux, "The Curse."  I was cautiously optimisti...

     Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This is a meme hosted by Sam of  Taking on a World of Words . A fun midweek check-in where you answer three questions: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading?  What do you think you'll read next? I am just starting Shady Hollow by Juneau Black. It is a cozy mystery where all the characters are woodland creatures. I am very excited to start it! This past week I finished Over my Dead Body by Sweeney Boo. This is an amazing YA graphic novel featuring found family, witchcraft, and long kept secrets coming to light. I loved the artwork so much! Secretly Yours (ARC)  by Tessa Bailey. This ARC was very kindly sent to me by the publisher. This is a grumpy/sunshine romance that is for the masses.  Cackle  by Rachel Harrison. A speculative fiction that I read in one day I was so enthralled.  I am coming back after an over a month long reading slump so I am letting myself just read whatever I...

 4/5  ⭐ Sarah Pearse is back with another destination mystery featuring Detective Elin Warner. A family trip to an all-new eco-retreat to help reconnect and learn more about new family members starts off as they travel to the island clouded with a dark past. The cast of characters presented covers the gambit, self-absorbed influence who scored the tickets, freeloading boyfriends, distant sisters, and cousins with a tragic past. Take your pick there is one of each. And they are all stranded together on this island with a murderer picking them off one by one. We definitely get to see some character growth with Elin which I loved. Instead of being stagnant and making it a focus of her character we get to see her grow from the traumas of her past. As well as see how she does solving a crime in an official capacity and being backed by her department. I love a locked room mystery and boy, does Pearse know how to structure one. The twists in this were flawless and kept me on my toes....

Happy Fall! It is finally Fall and I could not be happier. The past two months have been really difficult with impossibly hot weather and working all the time. And because of how busy I have been I haven't read anything traditionally published in over a month... I haven't read a book since the middle of July.  And I am desperate to read something. Without oversharing, things have been going on in the background that also impacted my ability and want to read and I am trying to push through that so here we are! I saw a booktube video about an Autumn TBR list and I thought that would be a great idea for a post to welcome me back into the thick of things!  Since I am mood reader and very much leaning into the autumn vibes I am going to build my TBR list around that and some ARCs I was fortunate enough to receive. I am looking for some easier, lighter reads in an attempt to ease myself into and not overwhelm my baby brain with something too intense. It's been over a month, I got...

5/5 ⭐ This was everything I wanted and more. I am relatively new to sci-fi and am always a little hesitant to start a new book for fear of not liking it because it ends up being very science and math-heavy. But whoa, when I tell you I fell in love with Murderbot and their just general attitude toward most things, I did. I very much enjoyed seeing things through their eyes and how they responded to the others and how they essentially developed their own personality without it having been impacted from years of childhood. Now they say they really don’t know who they are, they are still figuring it out and that’s only fair. How many of us know who we are even after living by our own prerogative? I ended up devouring this book in just a couple of hours because I just couldn’t not know what happened next. And if I hadn’t been outside when I finished it I would have screamed at that ending. It is the only way it could have ended but damn did I want it to go the other way. So very good. Recom...

5/5 ⭐ A run-down, falling-down house surrounded by the sea and a visiting family so fractured it’s a wonder if they are even related. Daisy Darker has died so many times. Ever since she was young with a heart too weak to beat properly. Her life has been one big question mark of when will it happen next. It’s no surprise that I was drawn to this one. The mere mentions of anything Agatha Christie inspired whatever has me interested. And I was not disappointed. This novel starts dark and gets darker as it plays out. One by one people start to die, clues and hints, and macabre poems are left for the remaining to find. Building the tension here is something Alice Feeney does masterfully. Blending beautifully tragic laced prose with delicate and deceiving dialogue left me on the edge of my seat the entire time I was reading. While familiar elements to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None were there, Feeney creates her own mystery masterpiece that is sure to please many. Thank you ...

4/5 ⭐ TBR: 9/13/22  Going into this, I was expecting something totally different and I wasn’t at all disappointed by what it turned out to be. Dimple Pennington isn’t an only child just like she isn’t really an influencer even though she tries. And after one tragic event pulls together all the Pennington siblings again, she’ll learn what familial ties really mean. At some times it is not very relatable and a little unrealistic, but it is also a piece of fiction so I wasn’t too bothered by it. Even with all the characters I really enjoyed the exploration of all the possible relationships and the very well wrapped ending. I love a good ending. Thank you to Scouts and Simon & Schuster for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.  8/9/22 *This review was previously posted on my Google Site.

  Goodbye July!  For those of you who didn't know, I decided to skip posting a June wrap up because my reading was abysmal and I just wasn't feeling up to writing one. So I didn't. But for July I did and sort of kept it as a tracker as I went.  In July I finished 9 books. A Prayer for the Crown Shy  by Becky Chambers. I read this as an eARC, but it was released on July 12th. So go grab it now if you haven't, it is one of my favorite series and I just can't recommend it enough.  Lavender House(ARC)  by Lev AC Rosen, this classic esque murder mystery will be great for fans of Knives Out with a full cast of queer characters.  The Stranded(ARC)  by Sarah Daniels, a YA sci-fi dystopian novel focusing on teens living on an adapted cruise ship isolating from a deadly outbreak. Not my favorite but not bad.  The House in the Pines(ARC)  by Ana Reyes, a thriller/horror-esque that was interesting and had a sort of satisfying ending.  Barb...