The Miro Worm and the Mysteries of Writing by Sven Birkerts

I spent weeks with this book, letting my thoughts wander on Birkerts-inspired tangents, much like he did for other writers he mentions in his essays. It cracked open my mind at a time when I was needing inspiration. Yet even with pages of notes, I couldn’t seem to shape a review. I looked back at some of my reviews for flash and short story collections, but none of those formats seemed right...

Read the full review here.

Case Closed Series by Lauren Magaziner

A bookseller recommended the Case Closed series by Lauren Magaziner when I mentioned loving both mysteries and middle grade/young adult books. I'm also a huge Choose Your Own Adventure fan, so this series was a dream come true! I'd recently been wanting to re-read Encyclopedia Brown books anyway, because I think my kid would like them, so these books were a great new treat.

Mystery in the Mansion

I actually bought the second book when I was visiting a bookstore out of town, without realizing it was the second! However, like many mystery series, you don't necessarily have to read them in order. I'm going to put my reviews in order, though.

I dove into the first book (after starting with the second) and really liked it! It’s such a fun way to kick off the series.

On the morning of a huge investigation that could save his mom's struggling detective agency, she ends up getting hit with a nasty flu. And with everything on the line, she can’t afford to drop the case.

With his best friend Eliza and her little brother Frank, Carlos takes on the investigation, which involves a quirky millionaire who’s been getting death threats. Someone’s after a buried fortune, but things get tricky with riddles, shady suspects, and a ton of secrets.

Since it's structured like a Choose Your Own Adventure book, you get to pick which suspects to interview, what questions to ask, and which clues to chase down.

Stolen from the Studio

The second book in the series has a touch of Hollywood glam when Carlos’s mom gets a big assignment to find a famous teen actress who’s gone missing. It's a serious case, so she doesn't want Carlos around, even though he solved the last mystery for her.

However, with Eliza and Frank by his side again, Carlos sneaks onto the set of the show to gather clues and interview suspects. He has to keep his detective work under wraps from his mom, who has a knack for spotting trouble.

Just like the first book, you get to choose which suspects to interview, what questions to ask, and which clues to follow.

Haunting at the Hotel

I love ghost stories, so this book had such a great premise! I was all in with the choose-your-own-adventure vibe mixed with puzzles and codes. It made the whole experience super fun.

In the third book of this interactive middle-grade series, we’re back with Carlos and his friends, but something is different... Carlos is now officially an apprentice detective at Las Pistas Detective Agency—he finally earned his mom’s trust!

Guests at a creepy mountain hotel are freaking out over strange disturbances, scary messages, and some seriously spooky howls. Carlos, Eliza, and Frank dig into what’s really going on: is it a ghost? What secrets is this haunted hotel hiding?

Danger on the Dig

This book seemed really different from the other three—maybe because they were all mostly set indoors, and this is outside on an archaeological dig? But it was still good and had some really great puzzles!

Carlos and his friends go international on an archaeological dig in Greece. But Carlos and Eliza are fighting, so they split up to tackle their own parts of the case. Still, their main goal is the same (and so is yours!): keep the booby traps from taking down their detective agency!

Linda Reilly's Grilled Cheese Mystery Series

I got the recommendation for the first book in the Grilled Cheese mystery series from the Cozy Mystery Book Club, which always recommends the first book so you don't have to jump into the middle of a series and feel lost. I've read several recommendations from that book club, but this has been my favorite (so far)!

Up to No Gouda

This is exactly the kind of low-stakes cozy mystery that I enjoy. The twist felt like it came out of nowhere since I didn’t catch many clues leading up to it, but I still had a great time reading it.

After the death of her husband, Carly moves back to Balsam Dell, Vermont, to finally open her dream business—a grilled cheese restaurant. Her gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches are a hit with locals and tourists... but not everyone’s a fan. Lyle Bagley, Carly’s high school ex, just bought the building her diner is in and wants her out. 

Then Lyle is found dead behind Carly’s dumpster and one of her employees is the prime suspect. Carly has to step up and figure out who the real killer is before her business goes under.

No Parm No Foul

The first book had me hooked, so I was super excited to dive into this one! It had all the clues I needed to solve the mystery alongside Carly, which made it even more fun than the first. Plus, I loved all the Halloween vibes and recipe ideas sprinkled throughout!

This book starts with a Halloween food competition that Carly really wants to win, because it's the perfect chance to impress the locals and show off her skills.

However, Ferris Menard, the owner of the nearby Sub-a-Dub-Sub, is mad at Carly because, just two days before the competition, one of his employees quit to work only at the grilled cheese restaurant. Ferris thinks Carly is to blame, accuses her of sabotage, and vows to ruin her.

The morning after the competition, Menard is found dead in his kitchen with a steak knife stuck in his heart. With plenty of people wanting to see him gone, Carly knows she has to figure out who did it.

Cheddar Late Than Dead

I’m really loving this series, and this book felt a bit darker compared to the first two. It didn’t have the same feel-good vibe, but it was still a great read. I also loved the idea of a donut grilled cheese and tried it for myself - it was the perfect blend of salty and sweet!

Carly’s former classmate, Klarissa Taddeo, is throwing an extravagant bridal shower at the historic Balsam Dell Inn. But when a double-booking messes things up, Klarissa is in a bind. They move the venue to the maid of honor's family mansion, and Carly steps in as caterer to save the day.

A rowdy group of groomsmen crashes the party and Klarissa is fuming at her fiancé. Things heat up when a loud argument breaks out, and everyone is shocked when the groom is found dead at the bottom of the stairs. Carly has to jump into action to clear her friends' names.

Brie Careful What You Wish For

This one felt a bit off to me, and it might be because the formatting was different from the previous books. Some chapters were only two pages long, which I didn’t remember from the earlier ones. The story was okay overall, but it didn’t grab me in the same way as the first two.

With the summer heat cranking up, Carly is excited to have teenager Ross Baxter delivering sandwiches to local seniors. He’s such a polite and hardworking young guy, so she brushes off when one of her more difficult customers complains about him. But Ross goes back to that same customer’s home for another delivery and discovers her dead body. Naturally, the police and half the town jump to the conclusion that he must have killed her, so Carly decides to step in and investigate to prove he’s innocent.

As Carly digs deeper, she finds out the victim had an estranged stepson and stepdaughter, both of whom were after her money to get their lives back on track. To make things worse, the dead woman had a reputation for causing trouble in other women’s marriages, which means Carly’s got a whole list of suspects to sift through.

Well, That Was Awkward by Rachel Vail

Well, That Was Awkward by Rachel Vail

I remember reading the Friendship Ring when I was in middle school and LOVED it. I had the tiny book versions and they were the cutest, plus Vail perfectly captured middle school awkwardness. Yet still made her characters cooler than I could ever be.

Anyway! I saw this in the YA section at the library and needed it! I was so happy to still get sucked into Vail’s awkward yet witty world. The characters were in middle school though, so I think it’s more middle grade than young adult. I read it in a day, loving the witty banter and the sweet twist at the end.

Beyond that, though, Vail absolutely killed the family vibes with this story. The dead older sister wasn’t too heavy for the book (I know, that sentence alone makes it seem like it would be!); it was handled well and came up at the right moments. I was absolutely bawling at the end, for both the parents and Gracie. SO well written.

The Doll's House by Lisa Unger

The Doll's House by Lisa Unger

This popped up for me on Kindle Unlimited and, since I've read a few Lisa Unger novels, I decided to give it a try. I love flash fiction and short stories, so the idea of finishing this in one sitting was really appealing.

It ended up taking me... four weeks? Not of constant reading, mind you, but more like picking it up, not getting into it, and putting it back down. I was determined to finish it though, and in a way, I'm glad I did, but not because it was an amazing work of fiction.

My biggest issue with this story is that it should have been a novel. At least, with everything contained in it now, it should be a novel to do each point justice.

Possible spoilers below.

Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica

 Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica

I’ve been hit or miss on Kubica’s books (two with one star and one each of two, three, and four stars), but I keep coming back for more, so I feel like that says something. (However, I do the same with Ruth Ware but overall dislike her books so maybe I’m not the best judge.) My feelings on this book were a bit conflicted… 

First, some pettiness: I’m so sick of titles about women/girls/wives/couples. The Perfect Couple, The Golden Couple, The Couple Next Door, One Perfect Couple.

Also somewhat petty: I’m tired of prologues. Some can be well done, but many in thrillers just throw you into a random scene with no context. I understand it’s supposed to grab you and pull you in, but I often skim or skip them because they do nothing for me. This prologue was especially worthless to the story, in my opinion. I went back to it after I finished the book and pieced it together to figure out where it went in the book, and it was still meh. It didn’t add anything. So… why have it? To meet a word count? Because every suspense book seems to have them these days? Who knows.

The writing style was also a bit lacking and felt like Kubica was saying the same thing in many ways to meet a word count. I know there needs to be some rise and fall in suspense to keep you on the edge of your seat, but this was a LOT of slowness that made me want to skim ahead to see what the point was. Lots of mundane details that didn’t matter to the story except to bring it to a halt.

Begin the spoilers: 

Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Ally hates reading because the letters seem to move around, making it impossible to focus. But she loves to draw, and she imagines the words people speak as images in her mind. After years of frustration in school, a teacher finally takes the time to understand what’s going on—dyslexia—and helps her find ways to work through it.

I originally read this one in January 2016, when I was a children’s librarian. I found the story a bit overly-sentimental, but it’s so beautifully written that you can’t help but be drawn in.

I re-read this book after my kid read it for summer reading this year. With my kid being closer in age to Ally, the story hit me in a new way. My kid loved it, and I found myself more touched than before, seeing it through his eyes. There’s something special about watching a story you once thought was a bit sugary resonate with your own child, and it made me appreciate Ally’s journey even more.