January - 2021

Terrie

Jan 30, 2021

Mini Reviews for January

The Good Daughter #1 by Karin Slaughter Genre: Mystery Published 2017, 656 pages This reads much faster than the 600 page count would have you think. It's fast paced - not action-packed, but always lots of material to think about. The small mystery revolves around a school shooting. But, the real story is about two sisters who suffer an unspeakable tragedy in their teens. It's revealed right at the beginning, so it's no spoiler to say their mom is murdered in front of them a

Buddy Read #2 this year: Fifty Things That Aren't My Fault

Terrie

Jan 29, 2021

Buddy Read #2 this year: Fifty Things That Aren't My Fault

Fifty Things That Aren't My Fault by Cathy Guisewite Genre: Nonfiction Published 2019, 317 pages Terrie's Thoughts I think I was the one that came across this title and suggested it for one of our reads this year. Written by Cathy Guisewite, the cartoonist for the long running strip Cathy, it seemed way out of our usual lane. Well, we certainly found that to be true! Though I'm not a reader of comic strips or the Sunday funnies, I'm vaguely aware of the Cathy strip. I think

Historical Fiction in two timelines: The Huntress doesn't disappoint

Terrie

Jan 26, 2021

Historical Fiction in two timelines: The Huntress doesn't disappoint

The Huntress by Kate Quinn Genre: Historical Fiction Published 2019, 530 pages My sister Donna highly recommended this book to me at the end of last year - I 'd read a couple of WWII books fairly recently so felt like I needed a break from the genre. AND, I was in the midst of a push to finish books for my reading challenges (see my results for the 5 challenges above in the Challenge tab). I'm SO glad I made it one of my early 2021 reads! SYNOPSIS The general plot is that a

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna is an upcoming February release

Terrie

Jan 21, 2021

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna is an upcoming February release

The Gilded Ones #1 by Namina Forna Genre: YA Fantasy Publish date Feb. 5, 2021, 432 pages I'm pleasantly surprised by this book. The premise is interesting. In a medieval setting, women are lower than 2nd class citizens and when young girls reach 16, they must go through a purity ritual where they are cut and the color of their blood determines their worth. If they bleed red, they are allowed to stay in the town, marry, and have children. If their blood is gold, they are cons

Circe - a story filled with Olympians and Titans and Gods and Mortals

Terrie

Jan 19, 2021

Circe - a story filled with Olympians and Titans and Gods and Mortals

Circe by Madeline Miller Genre: Fantasy Published 2018, 398 pages ”It was true what Hermes said. Every moment mortals died, by shipwreck and sword, by wild beasts and wild men, by illness, neglect, and age. It was their fate, as Prometheus had told me, the story that they all shared. No matter how vivid they were in life, no matter how brilliant, no matter the wonders they made, they came to dust and smoke. Meanwhile every petty and useless god would go on sucking down the br

Sorcery of Thorns is a magical YA fantasy that grabs hold and doesn't let go

Terrie

Jan 15, 2021

Sorcery of Thorns is a magical YA fantasy that grabs hold and doesn't let go

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson Genre: Fantasy, YA Published 2019, 453 pages This amazing tale is about Elisabeth Scrivener, a teenage librarian in a library filled with magical books. These books are alive and can speak, move, and do magic. The librarian's job is to keep the books safe but also to keep them locked up so they can't unleash their magic and mayhem into the world. For these were not ordinary books the libraries kept. They were knowledge, given life. Wisd

Fredrik Backman's newest release: Anxious People

Terrie

Jan 12, 2021

Fredrik Backman's newest release: Anxious People

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman Genre: General Fiction Published August 2020, 341 pages "This book is dedicated to the voices in my head, the most remarkable of my friends. And to my wife, who lives with us." I loved this dedication - as quirky as Backman's books. He's one of my favorite authors and I eagerly look forward to any new release. This one is filled with his trademark quirky characters, and there's a bit of twist mid-story, but somehow this one didn't resonate wi

Daisy Jones and The Six - 70's music era brought to life

Terrie

Jan 6, 2021

Daisy Jones and The Six - 70's music era brought to life

Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid Genre: Historical Fiction Published 2019, 355 pages This book was better than I expected but I didn't find it as great as the reviews led me to believe. Maybe because music isn't really my thing and, even as a teenager, I was never a band groupie of any sort. The book is about the rise and fall of a rock band in the 70s, from playing locally to being a national sensation. The band of 6 adds Daisy Jones as a co-vocalist at the rec

End of Year Reading Stats - because it's fun to track this minutiae!

Terrie

Jan 4, 2021

End of Year Reading Stats - because it's fun to track this minutiae!

This year was a very good year of reading for me. I ambitiously signed up for a record five (count 'em FIVE!) reading challenges and surprised myself at how much I accomplished. I didn't completely finish all of them, but that's okay - #readingisnotacompetition. I accomplished my goal of reading more widely, finding new authors, and discovering how much I enjoy fantasy books. You can see the complete list of each challenge and the books I read for them in the "Challenges" tab

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