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Review: Battle Ground, by Jim Butcher
Rating: ⚔️⚔️⚔️⚔️⚔️ First Response: i’m not ok. One Sentence Summary: Harry and ALL his friends, enemies, and everyone else gather to take down an apocalyptic titan. Tell Me More: This book was worse than Changes when it came to emotional trauma. Harry lost so much, and honestly, it kinda broke me. I thought losing Susan was bad; but it had nothing on this book. Susan was off screen for most of the series, and while her loss was particularly devastating for Harry, I didn’t re
21 hours ago2 min read


Review: Peace Talks, by Jim Butcher
Rating : 🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️ First Response: I need to go read Battle Ground NOW. One Sentence Summary: Thomas Raith is accused of murder mere days before a massive peace conference of supernatural powers is set to take place in’s Chicago. Tell Me More: This one only gets 4 stars, and I feel conflicted about it. One the one hand, I know this book is actually only the first part of the book that was supposed to include the content of both Peace Talks and Battle Ground , and it doesn’
2 days ago2 min read


Review: Brief Cases, by Jim Butcher
Rating: 💼💼💼💼💼 First Response: This one was better than Side Jobs overall, but no one story stood out the way The Warrior did. One Sentence Summary: This is a collection of short stories set in the universe of the Dresden Files, focusing on side characters. Tell Me More: This collection is a series of parts that together are greater than their sum would imply. (Wow, that's a really convoluted way of saying what I wanted to say, but I guess it works...) The stories in thi
3 days ago2 min read


Review: Skin Game, By Jim Butcher
Rating: 🍵🍵🍵🍵.75 First Response: MICHAEL CAME BACK AND I GOT FULL-BODY CHILLS! One Sentence Summary: Harry gets roped into helping his worst enemy heist Hades' vault for the holy grail. Tell Me More: This book felt like Butcher bringing Dresden back to his pulp roots, but instead of noir, we're in heist novel territory. There were parts of this book that felt like they were ripped straight out of a James Bond or Mission: Impossible film, and there were parts that felt lik
Nov 203 min read


Review: Cold Days, by Jim Butcher
Rating: ❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️ First Response: Ok, THIS one is my favorite of the series. I mean it this time! One Sentence Summary: Harry's back from the dead, and takes up his position as the winter knight; but when Mab tasks him to kill Maeve, her immortal daughter, he learns that there's a lot more to the job than even he imagined. Tell Me More: Yo, this book is WILD. Changes pushed Dresden emotionally. Ghost Story pushed him intellectually. This book pushes him (quite literally) all
Nov 192 min read


Review: Model Home, by Rivers Solomon
Rating: 🏡🏡🏡.5 First Response: I didn't love this one. It wasn't what I was expecting. One Sentence Summary: Ezri returns to the gated McMansion community where they grew up-- and must face the ghosts that they've never left behind. Tell Me More: I went into this book expecting a haunted house story, but it's really more of a literary novel with some horror elements. The emphasis is less on the haunting, and more on the family dynamics. Ezri and their sisters are called bac
Nov 182 min read


Review: Gay Girl, Good God, by Jackie Hill Perry
I have thoughts, I have feelings, I have opinions on this book. Some good, some bad. Sit with me and let’s discuss. I think I should preface this review by saying that Queer-Christian relations are rather near and dear to my heart. The whole reason I started this blog, back before I was doing book reviews and music and art, was to have a place where I could talk about my experiences, thoughts, and feelings about being Queer and Christian. That was almost three years ago; and
Nov 175 min read


Review: Ghost Story, by Jim Butcher
Rating: 👻👻👻👻.75 First Response: This one might be my favorite so far! One Sentence Summary: When we last left Harry Dresden at the end of Changes , he was dead… until he gets sent back to solve his own murder! Tell Me More: This book has put me in a tough position. On the one hand, it might be the best book of the series so far. We get to see Harry dealing with new challenges in a new world— the world beyond . As a ghost, Harry is limited in his ability to affect the mate
Nov 172 min read


Review: Side Jobs, by Jim Butcher
Rating: 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹 First Response: I almost cried at the end of The Warrior . One Sentence Summary: This is a short story collection with an assortment of Harry's adventures at various points between the books of the series. Tell Me More: This book was a fun little break after the emotional trauma of Changes . I got to see Harry in his nascency, as well as some behind-the-scenes action from both Thomas and Murphy's point of view. I'm choosing to give it 5 stars primarily for
Nov 132 min read


Review: Changes, by Jim Butcher
Rating: 😭😭😭😭😭 First Response: I... I need a minute. One Sentence Summary: I can't even. I just... I can't. Tell Me More: This book broke my heart and short circuited my brain. It was a wonderful ride, and is probably the best book in the series so far. It almost defies description. But I'm gonna try. Last chance to hop off before <spoilers> . Harry has a daughter. Susan Rodriguez is the mother (you remember Susan, right? The reporter for the Arcane ? Got bit by a vampire
Nov 113 min read


Review: Turn Coat, by Jim Butcher
Rating: 🧥🧥🧥🧥🧥 First Response: I need them to figure out this Black Council thing, like, YESTERDAY. One Sentence Summary: Warden Morgan (yes, that Morgan) has been framed for the murder of a member of the High Council, and needs Harry to prove he didn't do it. Tell Me More: This book was fun, but something about it felt like filler. Like I was watching a couple of chess grandmasters play through the opening moves of a game by rote, before the first few captures that send
Nov 103 min read


Review: Small Favor, by Jim Butcher
Rating: ✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️ First Response: THANK GOD MICHAEL'S ALRIGHT! WHY DIDN'T ANYONE WARN ME?!?!?!?! One Sentence Summary: Someone has kidnapped Johnny Marcone and Queen Mab is calling in one of her 3 favors to get Dresden to find him. Tell Me More: The wicked web keeps getting webbier. But first, some background. I was clipping along through The Dresden Files at a pretty good pace, and my library seemed to have all the audiobooks somewhere between Libby and Hoopla together-- a
Nov 93 min read


Review: The Serpent of Venice, by Christopher Moore
Rating: 🐉🐉🐉🐉 .75 First Response: I think this is the weakest of the three. Or maybe I'm just too unfamiliar with it's source material. One Sentence Summary: Pocket is almost murdered by a cabal of merchants in Venice, and seeks his revenge on them while the events of The Merchant of Venice and Othello unfold in the background. Tell Me More: I'm conflicted about this book. On the one hand, it was really good, and made me laugh out loud (hence the 5 dragons). On the other
Nov 73 min read


Review: Fool, by Christopher Moore
Rating: 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹 First Response: After yesterday's fun romp, I wasn't prepared for this book to tug my heartstrings the way it did! One Sentence Summary: Pocket is the fool in the court of King Lear (yes, THAT King Lear); and while the events of Shakespeare's play are unfolding, Pocket is playing out his own hilarious, heartfelt drama in the background. Tell Me More: This is the book where I was SUPPOSED to meet Pocket of Dog-Snogging, until Libby did me wrong. Reading the
Nov 64 min read


Review: Shakespeare For Squirrels, by Christopher Moore
Rating: 🐿️🐿️🐿️🐿️🐿️ First Response: Well, I HAVE to read the rest of them now! One Sentence Summary: Pocket of Dog-Snogging (a fool) has washed up on the shores of Athens just in time to get mixed up in the events of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream -- but someone has killed Robin Goodfellow (i.e., Puck) and Pocket has to figure out who did it! Tell Me More: Apparently, this is the THIRD in a series of Christopher Moore novels based on Shakespeare plays. Libby didn
Nov 53 min read


Review: Martha Peake, by Patrick McGrath
Rating: 🦴🦴🦴🦴 First Response: This book isn't really about Martha. It's about her story . It's a story about the story of Martha. One Sentence Summary: Ambrose Tree goes to Drogo Hall at the request of his uncle, and there hears the story of "Cripplegate Giant" Harry Peake, and his daughter Martha. Tell Me More: This book wasn't as affecting as yesterday's Asylum , which is why it's getting 4 'stars' instead of 5. It was still beautifully written, but rather heady-- after
Nov 43 min read


Review: Asylum, by Patrick McGrath
I listened to the audiobook read by Sir Ian McKellen. It was pretty good. 😊 Rating: 🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨 First Response: I wanted a haunted asylum and got a haunted soul instead. One Sentence Summary: Stella Raphael decides to shake up her boring marriage by having an affair with one of the patients at the MAXIMUM SECURITY ASYLUM FOR THE CRIMINALLY INSANE where her husband works. Tell Me More: This book has been on my TBR list forever. I think I first looked it up back in 2014-2015-i
Nov 32 min read


Review: Burden Falls, by Kat Ellis
Rating: 🍎🍎🍎.5 First Response: This book was good, but not for me. It was a little too YA for my taste. One Sentence Summary: Ava Thorne is adjusting to the loss of everything he holds dear… and a town ghost seems to be killing kids. Tell Me More: Ok, lissen: I listened to this book on audiobook, and it made almost no impression on my brain; which is weird because I listen to almost all my books on audiobook now, and most of them leave some sort of residue; but this one jus
Oct 313 min read


Review: Bath Haus, by P.J. Vernon
Rating: 🧖🏻♂️🧖🏻♂️🧖🏻♂️🧖🏻♂️ First Response: I don't usually go in for thrillers, but this one was pretty fun. And unexpectedly political. One Sentence Summary: Oliver makes one bad decision, which leads to a web of diabolical lies, a stalker, and unfortunate revelations about the everything he loves. Tell Me More: This one was a step outside my comfort zone. I don't usually go for thrillers. Mysteries, yes! I love me an Agatha Christie or a Ruth Ware. Personally, I f
Oct 302 min read


Review: White Night, by Jim Butcher
Rating: 🧙🏻♀️🧙🏻♀️🧙🏻♀️🧙🏻♀️🧙🏻♀️ First Response: Thomás is FABULOUS 💅🏻 One Sentence Summary: Women are dying of apparent suicides, but there's a pattern to the deaths, which leads Harry Dresden to hunt down a serial killer. Tell Me More: I noted that the tone of The Dresden Files had shifted in my review of Proven Guilty ; and in this book, that fruits of that shift are coming to bear. White Night is only nominally a detective novel in the vein of Storm Front , G
Oct 292 min read
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