July 2021 – Looking For a Good Book

July 30, 2021

BYSTANDER 27 – Rik Hoskin

The earth is protected by superheroes – who are really nothing more than vigilantes with some sort of unusual power. But this book isn’t the story of one of those superheroes … not really. This is the story of one of the many, an innocent bystander who happened to be in the area where a Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized

4 stars, Graphic Novels, SF/Fantasy

July 28, 2021

THE IMMORTALS – Jordanna Max Brodsky

What happens when the ancient gods are no longer worshipped the way they once were? They begin to lose their godly powers and take on some mortal characteristics. For instance, Artemis, the Virgin Goddess of the Hunt, now Selena DiSilva investigates the murder of a woman she discovers on the shore of the Hudson River. Continue reading

MYSTERY, MYTHOLOGY, Uncategorized

3 Stars, Mystery, Mythology/Legend

July 26, 2021

SIN EATER – Megan Campisi

Atonement for one’s sins comes not by way of a priest’s blessings or forgiveness, but by the eating of specific foods. A Sin Eater leads an unusual life – when one is on his or her deathbed, the Sin Eater is summoned so that the dying might confess their sins and the Sin Eater puts Continue reading

HISTORICAL FICTION, MYSTERY, Uncategorized

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Historical Fiction, Mystery

July 23, 2021

APPLES OF NORTH AMERICA – Tom Burford

What I know (or knew) about apples: There a many different kinds. Some I like and some I do not. In this book, author Tom Burford has opened my eyes somewhat to a veritable cornucopia of apple varieties. So many, in fact, that this was almost overwhelming. Almost. Burford gives a great deal of information Continue reading

NON-FICTION

4 stars, Nature, non-fiction

July 21, 2021

COLD MOURNING – Brenda Chapman

A week before Christmas, a wealthy business man, Tom Underwood, disappears into thin air. The Ontario police assign new recruit, Kala Stonechild – a member of the First Nations reserve, to the case. Her boss is Detective Jacques Rouleau and he has his hands full trying to control her. Together they discover that there is a large Continue reading

MYSTERY, Uncategorized

3 Stars, Mystery

July 19, 2021

THE BOOK COLLECTORS – Delphine Minoui

In the mid-2010’s Daraya, Syria – a small community just outside Damascus – was a focal point of the Syrian Civil War (which is still going on). Bombs and chemical weapons would rain down on the community daily – as much to wear down the morale of the citizens as it was to kill them. Continue reading

NON-FICTION, Uncategorized

3 Stars, non-fiction

July 16, 2021

SUBURBAN DICKS – Fabian Nicieza

Andrea Stern was once a respected FBI profiler, but she gave it up to be a stay-at-home mom to her four children (with a fifth very much on the way). She now lives in the suburbs (West Windsor, New Jersey) with her children and husband (a convicted white-collar criminal). When one of Andrea’s very young Continue reading

MYSTERY, Uncategorized

4 stars, Book Reviews, Books, Mystery, Reviews

July 14, 2021

THE ESSENCE OF DARKNESS – Tom Clearlake

I no longer request an ARC of a book unless something about the book (sometimes the author, sometimes the description, sometimes even the publisher) attracts me to the title. So it should go without saying that I genuinely want to like and enjoy each book that I read. Sadly, that is not always the case. Continue reading

Dark Fantasy/Horror, MYSTERY, Uncategorized

2 Stars, Horror/Dark Fantasy, Mystery

July 12, 2021

SHADOW SERVICE – graphic novel

Gina Meyers is a private investigator with a gift. Her gift is that she’s a witch, with full spell-casting abilities. But that gift may also be a curse as Gina wonders if she’s worse than the criminals she catches. She believes she’s unique with her ability, but of course she’s not and she’s soon recruited Continue reading

GRAPHIC NOVEL, Uncategorized

3 Stars, Graphic Novels

July 9, 2021

T.I.M.E. STORIES: THE HEIDEN FILES – Christopher Lambert

“Tess Heiden, twenty years old, born in 1993. A difficult childhood. Mother a junkie. Like you, she had numerous stays in psychiatric institutions. Father unknown… At the age of ten, you were placed with a foster family, the Heidens, who adopted you officially two years later, despite your… unstable behaviour, to say the least. Your Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized

3 Stars, Games, SF/Fantasy

July 7, 2021

AWAKENING – Julie C. Gilbert

There are certain YA books that I recognize I am probably not going to enjoy. I would base this partly on themes, publisher’s descriptions of the book, and even, yes, book covers. Don’t judge a book by the cover? Well, yes, to some extent you can and should. Why? Well, that’s probably worth a blog Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized, YA

2 Stars, SF/Fantasy, YA

July 5, 2021

THE LOST WONDERLAND DIARIES – J. Scott Savage

Celia and Tyrus are both library nerds – Tyrus because he loves to read and Celia because her mom is the new librarian in town. The two strike up a fast and sure friendship and Celia reveals to him her personal issue … she’s dyslexic. Most people don’t understand what that means and she’s usually Continue reading

CHILDREN’S, Uncategorized, YA

4 stars, Middle Grade, YA