Happy Today
by Max Lucado ★★★★★ A journal that can help you bring happiness back into your life It’s easy to be unhappy in today’s world, and some of what goes on around us from trolls on the internet to hate everywhere … Continue reading →
Nanea: Hula for the Home Front
by Kirby Larson ★★★★★ Great story about WWII and how it affected the people of Hawaii If you haven’t read Nanea: The Spirit of Aloha, you should read that first, as it covers the first of the war with the … Continue reading →
Swift the Chase
by Raf Morgan, Intisar Khanani, Casey Blair, Rachel Neumeier, P. Djèlí Clark, Sherwood Smith, Joyce Chng, Melissa McShane, Andrea K. Höst ★★★★★ Fun, frenetic read that had me grabbing books & bookmarking websites I was initially interested in this anthology/sampler … Continue reading →
The Perfect Pie
by America’s Test Kitchen ★★★★★ Great recipes with vegan and gluten-free crusts recipes included The Perfect Pie: Your Ultimate Guide to Classic and Modern Pies, Tarts, Galettes, and More by America’s Test Kitchen not only has a large selection of … Continue reading →
Rebecca: The Sound of Applause
by Jacqueline Greene ★★★★★ Sweet story about newly immigrants and their family Rebecca’s family has been in America long enough to be established and have a store that makes them a living. What happens when their family still in Russia … Continue reading →
Nanea: The Spirit of Aloha
by Kirby Larson ★★★★★ Great view of WWII, Pearl Harbor, and how it affected the people of Hawaii Nanea: The Spirit of Aloha is fun and yet so educational. I’m embarrassed to say that before I read this book, I … Continue reading →
Shifting Loyalties
by Melissa McShane ★★★★★ A great addition to Company of Strangers I didn’t review this when it first came out because I was on a tear to read through my TBR stack and didn’t stop when I should have to … Continue reading →
The Book of Betrayal
by Melissa McShane ★★★★★ How many secrets can a person keep? Helena is overwhelmed with the number of secrets that she is keeping: from her family, from Malcolm, from Judy, from Viv, from the Wardens, from the Board of Neutralities, … Continue reading →
Easy Paper Projects
by Maggy Woodley ★★★★★ Cute, easy projects with pictures and directions This is a book of paper craft projects that has a lot of pictures to illustrate the steps for the projects. Projects range paper pen pots to origami tulips. … Continue reading →
Mochi Recipes
by Heston Brown ★★★★★ Yum! Mochi Recipes: The Best of Japan Food Culture is a great basic mochi cookbook. I’ve cooked several recipes from this cookbook and they were all delicious. I’ve never made mochi before using this book, so … Continue reading →
The Complete Cook’s Country TV Show Cookbook
by America’s Test Kitchen ★★★★★ Awesome cookbook for down-home recipes, plus a lot more I subscribed to Cook’s Illustrated for years and was never disappointed. When a friend kept raving about Cook’s Country, their cookbook, and their recipes (and raved … Continue reading →
Joseph
by John C. Lennox ★★★★★ Fascinating, insightful teaching on Genesis and Joseph, easy to read I’ve gotten burned by some “teaching” books lately, because they were written so dryly in academic jargon. This is NOT one of those books. Joseph: … Continue reading →
Along the Tapajós
by Fernando Vilela (Author, Illustrator), Daniel Hahn (Translator) ★★☆☆☆ An all-too-brief snapshot of life along the river This is a really hard book to review. It’s a snapshot of life along the Tapajós with beautiful stylized illustrations. The problem is … Continue reading →
The Vine Witch
by Luanne G. Smith ★★★★★ It doesn’t take time to make a good wine, just a witch The Vine Witch by Luanne G. Smith was one of the best Kindle First Reads books that I’ve chosen in a while. Well, … Continue reading →
The Last Astronaut
by David Wellington ★★★★☆ A Careful exploration of inner and outer space There’s a lot to like about this book. The character- and world-building are phenomenal and I found myself heavily invested in the character of Sally Jansen especially. I … Continue reading →
Food You Love But Different
by Danielle Oron ★★★★☆ I’m conflicted: interesting recipes, exotic ingredients, some are a bit too weird When I ordered Food You Love But Different: Easy and Exciting Ways to Elevate Your Favorite Meals, I didn’t realize the author was a … Continue reading →
Film Directing: Shot by Shot
by Steven D. Katz ★★★★★ If you have any interest in directing films, this book is for you Film Directing: Shot by Shot is an in-depth study of film directing that is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in directing. … Continue reading →
We Rule the Night
by Eliza Bartlett ★★★★★ What if you’re everything the world doesn’t want and everything it needs? At the heart of this beautifully woven story is what it means to be a woman in the desolation of a man’s world, a … Continue reading →
Broken Veil
by Jeff Wheeler ★★★★★ Complex times beautifully wrapped Broken Veil was a satisfying conclusion to the Harbinger series. Jeff Wheeler knocks it out of the ballpark as all the storylines tighten their weave and warp to the conclusion. If you’ve … Continue reading →
The Book of Lies
by Melissa McShane ★★★★★ Deeper and darker Melissa McShane has a way with worlds; you simply believe. And the world of The Last Oracle is being overrun with murderous invaders. Some are familiar and familiars; some are horrifyingly intelligent and … Continue reading →
Aftershocks
by Marko Kloos ★★★★★ Can a man find himself while fleeing from everything he ever was? Aden Robertson has been serving a prison sentence, having been on the losing side of a war. He’d like to start over and find … Continue reading →
Truth Worth Telling
by Scott Pelley ★★★★★ Familiar stories told with a unique viewpoint We all know most of the stories in Truth Worth Telling: A Reporter’s Search for Meaning in the Stories of Our Times, but what is unique is the personal … Continue reading →
Part-Time Gods
by Rachel Aaron ★★★★★ Got daddy issues? Got gods? Opal Yong-ae is a human with a dragon for a father. Unfortunately, her dad, Yong, the Dragon of Korea, is just as determined and stubborn as she is. Opal used to … Continue reading →
Between Frames
by W.R. Gingell ★★★★★ What’s a little spit between friends? I mean, what’s up with JinYeong? If it goes on, Pet is going to be more vampire than human. Or will JinYeong be more human than vampire? Which one is … Continue reading →
The Queen’s Secret
by Jessica Day George ★★★★★ Ride into danger The Queen’s Secret, middle book of Jessica Day George’s Rose Legacy trilogy (I love the dedication, a middle book for a middle child), is darker than the first book, action packed, and … Continue reading →
Mortal Rites
by Melissa McShane ★★★★★ Deeper and darker, the game is on Sienne, Alaric, and the gang are gaining ground in their quest to free Alaric’s people. But as they delve into the underbelly of the wizarding world into necromancy and … Continue reading →
It’s All Under Control
by Jennifer Dukes Lee ★★★★★ Awesome life-changing wisdom Jennifer Dukes Lee has control issues, as do many of us, but in addition to those issues, she’s got a killer sense of humor and wisdom that will change your life. So … Continue reading →
Alpha Girls
by Julian Guthrie ★★★★★ A must-read, excellent but dry Alpha Girls tell the stories of Magdalena Yesil, Mary Jane Elmore,Theresia Gouw, and Sonja Hoel, movers and shakers in Silicon Valley at the dawn of age of the internet, personal computing… … Continue reading →
Romanov
by Nadine Brandes ★★★★★ Is this the end for Romanov blood? Nastya, Anastasia Romanov, adores her family and admires the calm humble kindness of her papa, the ex-tsar Nikolai. Their family draws its strength from each other as they survive … Continue reading →
Myths and Mortals
by Charlie N. Holmberg ★★★★★ What is she without her fire horse? Ireth, the fire horse numen, has been ripped from Sandis, his tattooed name marred and broken on her back. She is alone, betrayed by Rone, leaning on her … Continue reading →
Last Bastion
by Rachel Aaron and Travis Bach ★★★★★ It’s dangerous to go alone… Tina will protect her brother James, his brother, and her Roughnecks to the bitter end. And the end is surely coming. As the players enter Bastion, their hope … Continue reading →
Before the Broken Star
by Emily R. King ★☆☆☆☆ Unlikable heroine, strange word and story choices, strange all the way around I don’t know why some authors think that cold and unlikable equates to strength. People keep telling Everley O’Shea (Eve, the Marionette) that … Continue reading →
The View from Castle Always
by Melissa McShane ★★★★★ Yes, Virginia, there is a happy ending… Really… there’s a happy ending. Good triumphs; evil loses. They all live happily ever after. Well, some of them live happily. Some of them live. Maybe not the way … Continue reading →
The Book of Mayhem
by Melissa McShane ★★★★★ Can Helena survive being neutral? McShane drops us back into the fantastical city of Portland inhabited by Wardens still at war with the invaders. But the Wardens are divided, with the Nicolliens and Ambrosites at each … Continue reading →
Grace Defined and Defended
by Kevin DeYoung ★☆☆☆☆ Dry, boring, academic treatise of limited value to non-Calvinists I picked this book because I saw that it was a book about grace and described as “warmly pastoral and broadly accessible.” Rather than being warm and … Continue reading →
Stone of Inheritance
by Melissa McShane ★★★★★ Blackmail and free will The scrapper team is united in its goal to help Alaric find the ritual items he needs to free his people from mind-bound slavery. Unfortunately, a noblewoman intent on regaining her family’s … Continue reading →
Company of Strangers
by Melissa McShane ★★★★★ Alaric hates wizards Sienne has run away from her family’s estate and embraced the life of a scrapper. But it’s hard to get a job with no experience, gear, or references. Dianthe, a stealthy rogue, hires … Continue reading →
Prism Cloud
by Jeff Wheeler ★★★★☆ The beginning of the end It’s hard to judge the penultimate book in a series, but what I feel the strongest about with Prism Cloud is that it’s darker, even more complex, and certain aspects and … Continue reading →
The Fever King (Feverwake)
by Victoria Lee ★☆☆☆☆ Unlikable characters, not teen/YA as stated The characters are unlikable for the most part. Well, Noam was well-developed and likable, but his crush is just a pretty, drunken, foul-mouthed sot that slops around drunk from bar … Continue reading →
Back from hiatus
I took quite a bit of time off from reviewing due to dealing with acute mono for a few months and its aftermath. I should have caught mono when I was in college or been the among the something like … Continue reading →
Iron Garland
by Jeff Wheeler ★★★★★ Evil stalks the land; Cettie and Sera must rise What a rush! Iron Garland is an incredibly powerful continuation of Jeff Wheeler’s Harbinger series. Cettie is now the Keeper of Fog Willows, and Sera is a … Continue reading →
Minimum Wage Magic
by Rachel Aaron ★★★★★ Cleaning for hidden treasures just got a whole lot messier Opal is a mage who makes her livelihood as a Cleaner, bidding for the right to empty and clean abandoned apartments. While she gets to keep … Continue reading →
More than a Princess
by E.D. Baker ★★★★★ What can one girl do against an invasion? In More than a Princess by E. D. Baker, Aislin is a half-fairy, half-pedrasi princess who finds herself confronted with a human king and his soldiers on what … Continue reading →
Past Tense
by Lee Child ★★★★★ All kinds of heroes Multiple mysteries, multiple heroes wind through this action adventure novel that reads so clearly that it feels like I could walk up the street and find myself at a rather dangerous motel. … Continue reading →
Trumponomics
by Stephen Moore; Arthur B. Laffer ★★★★★ When a president you don’t like is good for the American economy… After a decade of avoiding almost all political news (some leaks through my best attempts at avoidance), I’ve recently started reading … Continue reading →
The Darkest Star
by Jennifer L. Armentrout ★★★★★ You had me at tacos! Talk about a fun, frenetic read! I finished the story wanting to dive into the next book. While being a typical girl-meets-possible-alien sort of YA story, it’s not that at … Continue reading →
Dragons in a Bag
by Zetta Elliott ★★★★★ Dragons, dinosaurs, parallel dimensions, and Ma Jaxon is trying to be brave and helpful for his mother, who’s having a really bad day. Their landlord is trying to evict them, she has to be in court, … Continue reading →
The Gift That I Can Give
by Kathie Lee Gifford ★★★★★ All of us want something important to give the world The colorful and touching art is the crowning jewel of The Gift That I Can Give, illustrating the many ways that children can serve others … Continue reading →