Murder at the Pumpkin Pageant by Darci Hannah. I’m loving this series - absolute definition of cozy mystery for me. This Halloween installment was really fun and interesting and made me feel closer to the characters. I also like that the cast gets changed up a bit at the end…
Murder at the Blarney Bash by Darci Hannah. This one was so fun! I had no clue who did it and how but I was along for the ride. I love how Hannah integrates magical elements in a believable way without veering into speculative fiction.
Murder at the Lemonberry Tea by Darci Hannah. I love cooking shows so this was one of my favorite storylines - and the first I’d pretty much figured out by the end!
The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan. I really liked this one. I thought the series would taper off for me in terms of interest, but this definitely kept me hooked and I can’t wait to read book five.
The Battle of the Labyrinth by Robert Venditti. As with graphic novels 2 and 3, I feel like as the novels get more complex, the graphic novels seem more lacking. It’s hard to get the full scope of the story from what’s presented on the page since Riordan’s writing is so detailed. I won’t be trying the fifth one since I really only enjoyed the first graphic novel in this series.
The Age of Migration by Kai Maristed. Writing a review for MicroLit Almanac, to be published August 10th - will update then.
Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper. I’ve read this several times over the years, due to my love of middle grade books and background working with people with disabilities. I even met Draper and got my copy signed! That happened when my kid was a baby, so he’s met her too, and now he’s reading this as his summer reading, so I wanted to revisit it. It was a slower start than I remembered, and took a bit for me to get invested, but by the halfway point, I was hooked. Definitely a strong story and I think, even with technical advancements/especially with the current roadblocks for disabled people in society, this is still a necessary book for kids.
Tabitha, Get Up by Lee Upton. I’m reviewing the upcoming “Tabitha, Stay Up” for MicroLit Almanac in September, but wanted to read this one to get a feel for the characters. I don’t want to give away too much since there are definitely similarities between this and the sequel, but for now I’ll say I loved it and I’ll update this with more once my review is published.
Tabitha, Stay Up by Lee Upton. Reviewing this in September for MicroLit Almanac, will update this review then, but spoiler alert: I loved this more than the first! I can’t get enough of Tabitha.
The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan. This was a good “final” book for the main series and is where I will stop (too many spin-offs for me). I thought this was a bit unbelievable in how relatively easy it was to conquer Kronos and the Titans (for now) and the young teens did better than adults/gods? Eh, ok. I mean it’s action-packed for the readers who like that, so I’m sure it appeals to the target audience, which is not me. I thought most of the earlier books were better though, in terms of balancing “reality” with the myths and related strength.
How Story Works by Lani Diane Rich. My writing book for the month. I remember reading her early books after the “publishing a NaNoWriMo novel” angle blew up, and re-reading them not long ago, and listening to her podcast Big Strong Yes got me through my divorce, so when I heard about this book a few years ago, I grabbed it immediately. You can hear her voice in this book. I read about half of it when I first got it in 2022 and shelved it to come back to, but I didn’t… until now. And I’m so glad I did. It works as both an entry point for people who want to write, and also as a refresher for more established writers, shining light on different points at new angles to help me feel more inspired to write. I dog-eared so many pages (in my personal copy of the book!) to come back to again and again.
No comments:
Post a Comment