Edrie Elen

Maud is an engaging fictionalized account of the early life of Lucy Maud Montgomery, the creator of the Anne of Green Gables books beloved the world over. While a work of historical fiction, the book encompasses many known facts and events of Montgomery's life. I was very surprised to see how very similar, in many ways, her growing up years were to those of her character Anne. It was also very sad to see how, unlike Anne, she never really seemed to have support or love from much of her family. I was very intrigued to say the least, and will be looking at a full length biography of her in the future. I was struck by how hard Montgomery worked to be able to write her stories. In a time when women were expected only to marry and have children, and anything else was considered strange or even evil, she chose education over even her current happiness or in some cases relationships with her family. She seems to have been a feminist before the term was coined. Though she did of course later marry and have children, it was only after she was an established and successful author.The author takes time to shed light on the condition of women's rights at this time in Canadian history, as well as the plight of some of the native people such as the Metis. There is also particular emphasis on the conflict between different denominations within the Christian church. The author has included a brief historical biography in the back of the book, along with specifics about what happened to certain characters. This really helped to tie up the story, especially since this particular book ended before Montgomery was even eighteen. 4.5/5 stars. Highly recommend for anyone who has enjoyed the Anne of Green Gables story! Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.Blog Twitter Bloglovin Instagram Google+

I would have given this 3.5 stars...for me it wasn't QUITE a 4, but more than a 3.

This is one of the few times I've seen the movie before reading the book.

Overall it was a great book with an honest look at a teenager's struggle with abuse, depression, and anxiety. Some parts were painfully relatable to. Other parts disturbed me because of the casualness with which underage drinking and illegal drug use is treated. Maybe good from an adult reader's perspective, not sure how I would've felt reading it as a teen or what thoughts I would've had. I think I'd still recommend it for late middle school readers.

I'm doing a re-read of all Gail Carriger's books, in the chronological order suggested on her blog. This is the first! I'm not sure I'd recommend starting with it...I still feel like [b:Soulless 6381205 Soulless (Parasol Protectorate, #1) Gail Carriger https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1314020848l/6381205.SY75.jpg 6569140] is probably the best starting point if you've never read anything of hers. Or possibly [b:Etiquette & Espionage 10874177 Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School, #1) Gail Carriger https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1331952557l/10874177.SX50.jpg 15789500], depending on if you're more in the mood for an adult (Soulless) or YA (E&E) series. The Curious Case is an awesome little story that gives us a peek into the very interesting life of Mr. Alessandro Tarabotti, father of the much-beloved Alexia Tarabotti of Soulless. I was wild with curiosity over him, and how he came to be married however briefly to Alexia's mother, and this little gem answers some questions and raises a bunch more. I only wish it was longer...I feel like there is so much more to Alessandro's life and his very interesting self. Sigh.

This was one of those books where after reading it, you give a great big sigh of satisfaction, enjoyment, and longing. Wonderful story, satisfying ending, wish there was more.

2.5/5 stars. Writing was compelling, characters were not. Ever. At all. It would have been a much better book with at least one character to root for. The MC was so hung up over A MAN. As were the other two secondary female characters. For the thousandth time, can women please not be defined by the men in their lives??

~Full review notes on The Bent Bookworm!~“Love is a conquest. Love is a war.”Feels:I went into this absolutely positive I would never feel anything remotely akin to sympathy for Levana. She's such an unholy terror in the other books! And seemingly without reason. I felt like she just liked being evil and inflicting pain on others (which I guess is partially true but there's so much more to it than that). However, about halfway through I changed my mind. Of course I already knew roughly how it would end, but it was just so tragic. I was so overwhelmingly sad. Levana as a young woman had so much potential, if she had just had someone to help her channel her emotions and teach her how to overcome.Characters:She tried to brush away the sting of rejection, the knowledge that she was still not good enough...she pressed the feelings down, down, letting them turn hard and cold inside, while her face was smiling and pleasant.Obviously, this is Levana's story. However, we see characters familiar to us sprinkled throughout (especially if you've already read [b:Winter 13206900 Winter (The Lunar Chronicles, #4) Marissa Meyer https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1470057036s/13206900.jpg 18390887], like I had), which was fun. Some of the characters that have already passed on in the other books are here and alive, too. We get to see some of the events that are only speculated on by Cinder and her friends. There are a couple of other characters that are new to this story, that really wrung my little heart out as well.When we first meet Levana here she's a relatively normal 15 year old girl! She's been abused at the hands of her egotistical, cruel older sister, neglected by cold, distracted parents, and pushed and pulled into the image of a perfect princess (since, as the second born daughter, she's only fit to be married off). Levana is gifted – or cursed – with a quick mind, intelligent and resourceful – the mind of a queen. She's also terribly scarred, as much mentally and emotionally as physically. This combination has resulted in her being an entirely self-centered, self-absorbed person who quite literally never thinks of other people or their feelings except as they pertain to HER feelings or desires.I think that in the end, selfishness was Levana's true issue. She is one of the most selfish characters I've met in a long time. She becomes egotistical, but she didn't start out that way. She reacts to pain by assuming that the world owes her something (not a hard conclusion to come to, when you're a spoiled princess anyway). She comes to believe that she is entitled to whatever she wants, no matter what it takes to get it. No matter how much she might hurt other people, even the one person she actually cares about. She has no concept of true love for anyone. She hurts, but beyond that she knows almost no emotion.Plot:This is a novella, so the plot is pretty straightforward. I.e., how Levana became queen and all the people she hurt in the process.Worldbuilding/Setting:If you're familiar with any of the other Lunar Chronicles books, you're already familiar with Luna and her people. If you're not, I strongly recommend starting with [b:Cinder 11235712 Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1) Marissa Meyer https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1470056948s/11235712.jpg 15545385]! This story is basically the backstory that we never see fully in the main 4 books. You could start with Fairest, as chronologically it is actually first, but I don't think it's very interesting without that prior knowledge. The setting is there, but it's not explained as well.Rating:3.5 stars. I'm struggling to give this one 4 because it really feels like a flashback that should have been somewhere in Cinder, also aside from Levana's becoming a psycho it's all focused on luuuuuuuv. And I just...I'm so tired of twu wuv being THE motivator of teen girls. I mean I know we were all there once. But come on! I'm stepping off my soapbox now...Blog Twitter Bloglovin Instagram Google+

~Full review on The Bent Bookworm!~I finally, finally got around to this book. With above a 4-star average on GoodReads and nearly 205,000 ratings, I thought for sure I couldn't lose! Well. Erm. Behold my rather sad panda negative review of Red Queen. I honestly have NO CLUE how this book is so popular and I'm really kind of angry about that. I feel robbed.Best Quote:This world is Silver, but it is also gray. There is no black-and-white.Feels:I really expected to like this book more than I did. I saw SO MANY glowing reviews (which I avoided reading in their entirety because reasons), I loved the idea of silver blood vs. red blood + some unexplained combination of the two. And then...and then...and then this was me:Actually, until the last couple of chapters I was more like:Characters:Main characters are Mare Barrow (a.k.a., Mareena Titanos), Kilorn (her best friend since childhood), Prince Cal, and Prince Maven. Also a cast of side characters who honestly sound much more interesting. Julian, anyone? Colonel Ellyn Macanthos? Farley?? Anyway.Our heroine, Mare, was a very hard person for me to connect with and mostly I just wanted to shake her until her teeth rattled. She reminds us at least a few times that she is trying to “save” people, yet she seems to be incredibly good at getting them in more trouble than they were in to start with (Kilorn might be the exception there). She's completely out of control of her emotions. I know, she's a teenage girl under an extreme amount of stress – I got it, really. But geez Louise, a girl with as much street smart as she supposedly has should know better than to trust to appearances as much as she does. She's so extremely childish it's disheartening. Like when her best friend/crush Kilorn joins up with the rebels against her wishes, because she's trying to keep him safe.“Mare,” he calls after me. “At least say good-bye.”But I'm already walking, Maven by my side...I won't look back, not now when he's betrayed all I've ever done for him.Yeesh. Control issues much?Kilorn, I put in with the main characters because even though the role he plays in the actual story is small, his part in the back story is huge and I suspect (hope?) he will be more in the forefront of the next books. I like his stubbornness, though I'm a little less enthusiastic about his collapse in the face of conscripting. Like everyone in this book is a fucking drama king/queen. Give me a break.The princes. Well. They are about as different as night and day, and yet they are both so perfectly predictable. Yawn. Had them pegged as good guy/bad guy from the second scene they appear in together. Which isn't necessarily bad...except neither of them do anything unexpected, ever. They are literally just good guy/bad guy. I see the character development there, and I have some question if Prince Bad Guy could maybe, just maybe possibly, be redeemed down the road (maybe after his brainwave controlling mother is out of the picture). I liked Prince Good Guy. I think what he went through in the last couple of chapters will (or should) have a MAJOR effect on him and his actions in the future, which could also be interesting.Plot:“You want me to pin my entire operation, the entire revolution, on some teenaged love story? I can't believe this.”Oh, Farley, I couldn't have said it better. Because yes. Best line of the book. That's exactly what this is – and not only that, but trope after trope after trope. Love triangle? Check – only because more is obviously better let's make it a fucking LOVE SQUARE. Special snowflake? Check – and she is oh-so-special let us count the ways she is the ONLY ONE who can fix this.“For hundreds of years the Silvers have walked the earth as living gods and the Reds have been slaves at their feet, until you.”Insta-love? Check – because as soon as certain characters set foot on the page, I went “Oh, yep, there's one...two...three...wtf?!?”The plot – obviously the oppressed Reds versus the godlike Silvers – has a decent start. But so many of the parts surrounding Mare are just extremely farfetched and had me squinting at the pages and saying “Really?” out loud. Like the fact that, the very first day Mare starts her job, she's sent to the biggest Silver event in decades. Where she conveniently produces powers she never had even an inkling that she had. Suspicious much, I am. The queen, who has the power to read people's thoughts and memories – why does she never catch on to the secret attacks? It just doesn't make sense.Also, there is way, way way way way WAY too much romance in this book. Has Mare never even seen a man before? Seriously? I nearly rage quit when I realized that yes, indeed, the Love Square was a thing. Also WHY are all these guys in love with her? What do they see that I don't?Worldbuilding/Setting:The setting here is X-men meets Lord of the Rings, which was actually pretty cool. Just...I need a map! Haha. Also more names. The descriptions are good, but I need names and big pictures to orient myself, even in a book, and that felt lacking. The world, to me at least, seemed like a combined setting of fantasy and dystopian, what with all the fancy clothes and crazy magical power yet also video cameras and other technology.Final Rating and Thoughts:2.5 stars. I tried, folks, I really did. But all the tropes, the sheer predictability, and my extreme dislike for Mare have me giving this one a no-go. I was considering a 3 star rating, but for me the shift to the better side of the middle of the road is whether or not I will read the sequel, and for this one I have to say no. I'm somewhat curious about a few things, but not enough to put up with Mare's stupid self-centeredness for an longer.Blog Twitter Bloglovin Instagram

Cute. Entertaining. Light. Brain candy. Quick. Overall exactly what I wanted. Nothing earth-shattering, but well-written entertainment, which has just as much a place in the book world as mind bending literature.

~Full review here on The Bent Bookworm!~There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife.Well, if that's not a hair-raising beginning I don't know what is! The first chapter was very creepy and just odd enough to make me suspect that something more than just a mass murder was afoot. Thankfully for the target age range, this chapter is by far the most creepy and the rest of the book is mostly adventures and Bod (the MC) growing up.How you interpret or read this book is going to be greatly effected by how familiar you are with its inspiration, which was Rudyard Kipling's [b:The Jungle Book 77270 The Jungle Book Rudyard Kipling http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327873594s/77270.jpg 17441265]. The resemblance is clear but the characters and setting are SO different and I love the way Gaiman wove in supernatural legends to the basic story of a child raised by ghosts. While all the events of Bod's growing up years are connected, many of the chapters read like individual short stories, especially when there are jumps in time as Bod grows older.Silas, Bod's guardian, is a character that puzzled me right up until the very end. “Not dead but not alive” is the description given of him, along with a few other things that REALLY should have clued me in but for whatever reason I was oblivious. Even though he is Bod's ultimate authority, Bod is mostly raised by the benevolent ghosts of Mr. and Mrs. Owens, along with many other helpful specters. As it is stated in the beginning, when the ghosts decide to allow Bod the protection of their borders, “It will take a graveyard,” to raise the lost boy properly.I thoroughly enjoyed Bod's journey. As he moves through very young childhood towards his teen years, he meets many creatures from outside the world of the living. He talks to people centuries old. He learns things. Gradually, he comes to realize that while the graveyard has offered him protection and care in the best way its residents know how, he will have to leave in order to learn about the current world outside. Leaving though, is full of peril, because the evil that killed his parents and older sister, still seeks after him. Bod however, is not a shrinking violet.“Well,” said Bod. “If I go outside in the world, the question isn't, ‘who will keep me safe from him?'”“No?”“No. It's ‘who will keep him safe from me?'”A confrontation looms closer and closer, and at last Bod has his chance to avenge his family and reclaim his own life. This is the one part of the story that I really felt unsatisfactory. Though in the end, the reason for the murder of Bod's family and the attempted murder of Bod is somewhat explained, it's really a very murky, insubstantial reason that left me squinting at the book and thinking, “That's it?” The ending is rather bittersweet too, as Bod realizes that, with the world safe for him at last...he must go out to seek his own fortune.Overall, this was an entertaining coming-of-age story, with a unique twist. Bod is a very plucky little guy, and his spirit made me smile all the way through.Bod said, “I want to see life. I want to hold it in my hands. I want to leave a footprint on the sand of a desert island. I want to play football with people. I want,” he said, and then he paused and he thought. “I want everything.”“Good,” said Silas.Blog Twitter Bloglovin Instagram Google+

This book is a slight departure from my usual reviews, but I was so excited to be able to read this book as an ARC! I have long admired Rosemary Gladstar's other herbal remedy/medicine books, and as my husband was recently diagnosed with some health problems I was eager to see what things might be out in the herbal world more specifically for him. As Rosemary notes in her opening, most herbals focus on women MUCH more heavily than men, and in general you run across more women in alternative medicines and fields.The book covers many topics of interest to men, including of course virility, prostate issues, memory functions, heart health, and many others. It is much more in depth than [b:Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner's Guide 13507855 Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs A Beginner's Guide Rosemary Gladstar https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1336073459s/13507855.jpg 19059570] (naturally), but it “matches” the cover very nicely! I've pre-ordered a copy. The photography is PHENOMENAL. Seriously, I would buy it just for the pictures. There are recipes and case studies, but while Rosemary alludes to scientific studies, I couldn't find any actual citations for them in the book. If you're researching this kind of thing, you're probably already aware of the sad state of affairs when it comes to scientific studies of natural/herbal healing and medicine, so perhaps this is not surprising, BUT I would have greatly appreciated better end notes and citations. Things like that are very important, as many doctors and the general public are still convinced that the only positive influence anything other than a pill has on a person is due to the placebo effect. Rosemary Gladstar and (obviously) many other herbalists, whether professional or amateur, believe otherwise...but it is not enough to believe, and in the scientific world case studies alone are not enough evidence. Due to the lack of notes, I knocked off one star. However, if you have done your research elsewhere this is an awesome book to add to your shelf for the dozens of recipes and suggestions within, whether you're male yourself or you have men in your life that you love and care for. Be well!P.S. This was originally supposed to be released on May 31, 2017, but now GoodReads has the release date as July 11 so I'm confused and publishing my review as originally planned. Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC for review. My opinions were not influenced in any way.

Loved that the sex in this book (there wasn't much) was realistic! It wasn't exactly perfect the first time, aaaahhh yes, finally something that's more what it's “usually” like the first time with someone.

This book gave a lot of interesting perspective to the military, the war in Iraq, on the elite teams doing spec ops. What stood out a lot to me is the way most of those guys see everything as either black or white, with no possibility for a gray area. I understand why they make that distinction, at least as much as someone without the experiences they have can. If they allow themselves to think about the potential that maybe not all the bad guys are truly or completely bad, they'll go officially crazy. So while I get that...it makes me sad. Because I don't think it's really that cut and dried, but it really does come down to well, this guy is trying to kill me. Therefore I have to kill him.

I was expecting a creepy sort of book, and honestly this just felt incredibly sad and more of a statement about mental health than any crime. Gothic, sure, but not creepy or a who-dun-it in any form.

Full review appears on The Bent Bookworm!I don't usually get all the feels when reading a murder mystery. For me mysteries are generally all about the who/what/where/when/why and how the detective figure puts all that together into a solution. But Tana French's 5th Dublin Murder Squad book, [b:The Secret Place 20821043 The Secret Place (Dublin Murder Squad, #5) Tana French https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1396671263s/20821043.jpg 21598636], gave me the feels.Somehow, she manages to intrigue me in every single book, even though the POV character changes each time. Unlike most mystery series (at least in my experience), while there are familiar characters in each one, usually we just see a very brief appearance of the people from the last book in the current one. After there first book, the subsequent book's main character has also been seen briefly in the previous one. I love this foreshadowing, even if I was completely and totally distraught when I started the second book and realized we weren't going to see Rob again. Still not over it. Still begging to know what happens to him. Ms. French, are you listening?I love beautiful; always have. I never saw why I should hate what I wish I had. Love it harder. Work your way closer. Clasp your hands around it tighter. Till you find a way to make it yours. The Secret Place delves into the world of priviledged upper class high school girls, a very slender sliver of the population and as full of vitriol and poison as Henry VIII's court ever was. I was skeptical going in...how accurate could it be? I was really afraid that it might end up one of those books that sounds like the author is trying desperately to be young again and only succeeds in dating herself by her generation's slang. But no. Without compromising her usually sparkling prose in the slightest, Ms. French absorbs us into this cut-a-bitch world. God, I'm so glad I didn't go to this kind of school. Scary AF. Remember little Holly Mackey, from [b:Faithful Place 7093952 Faithful Place (Dublin Murder Squad, #3) Tana French https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1291165900s/7093952.jpg 7350661]? Well, she's back and almost-all-grown-up. Still just as smart and sassy, with a slight tinge of...Holly's holding her own in this den of lions, along with a very tight group of her friends. They're having some growing pains, but they're mostly of the first-world variety. Despite that, they're actually quite compelling. Much more than I was expecting. I hope Holly appears again. Maybe she'll eventually join the murder squad herself? Oooo. Now there's a thought. But I'm getting sidetracked.My body my mind the way I dress the way I walk...mine all mine.This book was a lot about the politics and emotions of being a teenager. Yes, teenagers have what I would term politics. In what was a bit of a departure from the previous books (for me) – I guessed the murderer somewhere between page 62 and 101. I kept expecting some huge plot twist and I did doubt myself A LOT, but still. Also, Detective Moran was probably the most...unoriginal narrator she's had yet. That was helped by the alternating viewpoints – yes, Moran was in the 1st person, but that alternated with chapters in 3rd person from the girls' POV. Moran is likable but just kind of...there. Now Antoinette Conway, the female detective Moran thrown in with for this case? There's a bitch I'd like to have at my back, and I mean that in the best possible way. I am SO EXCITED that she's coming back for [b:The Trespasser 28273664 The Trespasser (Dublin Murder Squad, #6) Tana French https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1469805929s/28273664.jpg 48321130]!Also, this is the first time French has had anything but the strictly statistically or scientifically provable events/actions in her books. Trying not to spoil here, but I was really nonplussed by a particular set of occurrences that is never fully explained. I guess that really does happen in real life sometimes, but I have a really hard time extending my reality this far. She actually addressed this in a Q&A on GoodReads ( link but DEFINITE SPOILERS here!!), and that made me feel a little better but I still think it should have been clarified better in the book itself.They can't tell you what it's going to be like...in the reek of ragwort and the milk of broken dandelion stems.Yes, I'm glad I didn't go to this kind of school. Pretty sure the sensitive, insecure girl I was in high school would have been flayed alive. At the same time, I'm really sad I didn't have the kind of experiences Holly and her friends have – and the friends. Despite all their issues...these girls will remember each other, always. 20 years down the road, just thinking of the others will bring back not only memories of things seen but things touched, things tasted, heartache and hope.4/5 stars.I always find mysteries hard to review without giving spoilers. Also I was a BAD BOOK REVIEWER and returned the library book BEFORE COPYING THE QUOTES I WANTED. Ack!!! Hence the short quotes/lack of quotes.

~Full review here on The Bent Bookworm!~Ok, let me make something quite clear: I don't read romance. Especially modern romance.However...I saw someone gushing about this book on Twitter and was kind of in a reading slump and thought, “Well, why not...everyone needs a little spicy love story now and then.”Let me make something else clear: If it wasn't for that gosh darn stupid cover, I would buy a hard copy of this book for my shelf. But I'm a cover snob and I hate “sexy” covers with a passion. Not because I don't appreciate a well-muscled male back as well as the next person...but I find them highly embarrassing to read in anything but the deepest privacy – which happens next to never, for me. So I bought the ebook (it was a total impulse buy and read).Oh, hi there. Yes, this book is VERY hung up on how sexy Archer (the male MC) is. Buuuuut...it's totally ok. ;)Archer's Voice is all about feelings. ALL THE FEELS. I did have a few minor quibbles with the plot and the writing style. For instance, somewhere in the middle of the book, the author repeatedly has Bree use the word “tummy” in descriptions of her sensual feelings and OMG JUST STOP. I actually saw another reviewer mention this before I started the book, and thought that surely they were just overreacting...no, they most absolutely were not. Note to self: when writing sex scenes that word is NEVER A GOOD IDEA. The plot is somewhat predictable...ok, a lot predictable. It's a romance. It's a New Adult (NA) romance, so it contains a fan-yourself-go-take-a-cold-shower (or...don't) quantity of steamy sex. What was supposed to be a big plot twist was...not that shocking, and actually didn't make a lot of sense but okay whatever. Archer and his arch-nemesis cousin are suddenly revealed to be brothers...which means their father had sex with both his high school sweetheart and another woman two months apart, and let his sweetheart marry his brother because she thought she was pregnant with his baby? Like WTF was even going on there and how are we still supposed to think he was the GOOD GUY? I feel like that was not thought through well AT ALL.I went into this book skeptical of its ability to give me feels. Romances usually have me rolling my eyes and tossing them into the corner halfway through. I was intrigued by the premise of the male MC in this book though – no voice? I originally thought he must be deaf, but no.Archer (male MC) and Bree (female MC) are both severely wounded, scarred people. Somewhat physically, but mostly emotionally. I could identify strongly with that. Bree's wounds are more recent, and she had a mostly happy, healthy childhood to give her a strong foundation to stand on even despite her recent horrors. Archer on the other hand, has never had a normal life with a functional family and a devastating accident when he was 7 years old robbed him of both his parents and his voice. Raised by an eccentric, paranoid (but caring) uncle, he has been almost a complete recluse his entire life. Until Bree, fleeing her life in Ohio after some very traumatic events, stumbles into his little town and almost literally into him.Aside from his voice, physically Archer is perfection. His life of hard work (and apparently, good genes) have give him a god-like body. Bree is understandably smitten after just a few meetings. But he is an emotional cripple. Almost completely anthropophobic, but highly intelligent, he has spent his 23 years becoming self-sufficient and as well-educated as reading every book he can get his hands on can make him. I really didn't think an author would be able to sell a recluse as a romantic interest, but Mia Sheridan does it very well. Maybe too well.Maybe there was no right or wrong, no black or white, only a thousand shades of gray when it came to pain what we each held ourselves responsible for.I was...well, I can't say that I think Bree's attraction to Archer is wrong. Or even unhealthy. But I think it could very quickly have gone that way, had he not been as willing to fight his fear of people and his limitations as he was. And as in love with him as she was, I'm not sure she would have had the backbone to leave an unhealthy situation. Because Bree is a healer. She is a caregiver. She wants to fix things. She wants to make Archer feel cared for and loved (besides the intense physical attraction). Multiple times though, she mentions that Archer reminds her of a little boy or a small child needing reassurance or love and...feeling like your significant other is a child in need of care is not really a good thing, in my opinion. As someone who was married to an extremely insecure person who eventually became vindictive and bitter in his insecurity, and knowing that I often felt a constant, exhausting need to reassure him of my love/respect/admiration/dedication – that is NOT a good thing. Now in this case, Archer was growing and learning and slowly coming out of his shell, and he was inherently sweet and gentle-hearted (qualities my ex most definitely lacked). He slowly accepts Bree's love and compassion, but he also gives her his own and takes care of her. He melted my heart.He looked like a little boy in that moment, and I realized how much he needed me to tell him that I wouldn't go away like everyone else.I ached along with Bree to ease some of the pain of all those years of mistreatment and neglect he had suffered. Even while alarm bells rang in my head about his intense emotional neediness...which, thankfully, his willingness to give as well as get and to push himself out of his comfort zone, more for Bree's sake than his own, eliminated.Complete honesty was the only thing I would give him. I would never purposefully hurt this beautiful, sensitive, wounded man more than he had already been hurt.Archer's biggest appeal is in the disconnect in his physical appearance and his attitude. He is, as Bree notes, a quick study and good at anything he has been taught or taught himself. He is completely unpretentious and unconscious of his physical appeal. If anything, he sees himself as broken, flawed, and undesirable due to his one “defect.”Bree's physical appearance is given less attention. She seems to be your typical girl-next-door type of cute, but Archer becomes completely smitten with her and she attracts attention from a few other guys as well – mostly due to her being new to the small town, it would seem. I was slightly worried by what seemed like her apparent willingness to just give up EVERYTHING to be with Archer, but she was already running from her past life and in need of someone to restore her faith in humanity. Archer, for all his issues, turned out to be that person. I loved how closely he paid attention to her likes and dislikes, even down to what chips out of a bag she liked (folded over tortilla chips, hehehe).“Think of the strength of spirit you have to have to come through what he did and not be as mad as a hatter, to still retain a gentle heart.”The strength of the human spirit is the real backbone of the story. The plot mostly centers on Bree and Archer overcoming their various personal demons, and for the most part doing it together. Near the end of the book, there is a point at which Archer deals with his demons ALONE...which is a huge turning point in his personal development and was so very important to his character. Without his strength of will and willingness to face his fears, he would have indeed been an emotional cripple for the rest of his life.There is a side plot going on with what happened to Bree and the death of her father, as well as the small-town drama around Archer, but they are truly secondary and stay mostly in the background. There is some tension created by Bree's conversations and relationships with Travis, Archer's cousin, town police officer and local heartbreaker. They never truly have a relationship but Travis' ego becomes a sticking point and his childhood tormenting of Archer resumes, creating a good deal of conflict and pain on all sides.This was a HEA I could believe in. Shocking, yes, for someone as jaded and anti-love-at-first-sight as myself. But Bree and Archer are not perfect, and their relationship is not perfect. They are so human, but so in love and SO RIGHT for each other. I would definitely recommend this book, and that's not something I can say about many straight-up romance novels. I might even try another of Mia Sheridan's NA novels.Blog Twitter Bloglovin Instagram

DNF because of animal pet death. Regrettably, I had gifted a copy of this book to a 10 year old before reading it. This is one trope that I, personally, simply cannot deal with. I love my animal family members too much. That aside, this was an absolutely wonderful read and I was really enjoying it (hence the lack of star rating). I loved the many and diverse, weird characters. I was fascinated by the lore and the way the flip sides of the world were built.

Full review on The Bent Bookworm![b:Equal Rites 34507 Equal Rites (Discworld, #3; Witches #1) Terry Pratchett https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1407706800s/34507.jpg 583611] is the third Discworld book, but the first Witches sub-series book (the first two books were in the Rincewind sub-series). I was immediately hooked by the mildly hysterical battle of the sexes that takes place within the first few pages – a dying wizard tries to bequeath his powers (and staff!) to the 8th son of an 8th son...who turns out to be a daughter. Said daughter – Esk – absorbs magic in a slightly different but no less powerful way than a son might have done, resulting in a family and community that really has no idea what to do with her. A boy would have been sent off to Unseen University, but a girl...”Girls can't be wizards,” everyone tells her. Thankfully, she has Granny Weatherwax for a guardian. Despite Granny's slight misconceptions of children, they soon get along quite well.Granny, in fact, was at a loss, but she knew she had to do something. “Didda nasty wolfie fwiten us, den?” she hazarded.For quite the wrong reasons, this seemed to work. From the depths of the ball a muffled voice said: “I am eight you know.”I'm quite sure only Granny would be capable of dealing with a small child with such interesting abilities and ways of dealing with seven annoying older brothers.“Turning people into pigs is not allowed,” she hissed. “Even brothers.”I don't even have GIFs for this book. Call me a fangirl, but Pratchett's prose is both so pointed and poignant that it really speaks best just by itself. I love Esk, and I love Granny, and watching them tear through Discworld was just a rollicking, fun ride (complete with flying broomsticks that have to be kickstarted). While Granny at first tries to insist that Esk study the traditional female magic, she soon realizes that Esk's gifts are quite different and she needs alternate methods of instruction. Esk and Granny share the stage and despite the multi-generation gap between them, make a great team. Of course, like any good guardian, Granny spends a good deal of her time chasing or getting Esk out of trouble, but Esk's independent little self does fantastic on her own, most of the time. Her sometimes unwitting (maybe?) use of magic creates a variety of reactions from the people she meets, especially as they travel closer to Ankh-Morpork, the large capitol city.Esk, in fact, moved through the fair more like an arsonist moves through a hay hayfield or a neutron bounces through a reactor, poets notwithstanding.Needless to say, they create QUITE the stir at Unseen University, break all sorts of rules, cause all sorts of upsets and feelings. But every insular world needs shaken up now and then, and I think Unseen University will definitely be the better for it.

This book reminded me of why I read. Why, as a child, I could immerse myself in the world my book created and not come out for hours (sadly, as an adult, that feeling is more and more elusive and I'm rarely left alone by the other humans in my life long enough to read for hours). But. This book. I love it. Unequivocally. And I am practically dancing in place waiting for the second one to arrive to me (damn you slow, unfunded library!), and then hopefully followed in short order by the third, which releases on August 23rd.

Jackaby is William Ritter's debut novel. Everywhere that I can see online, it's listed as a “teen” book but I would have put in more in middle grades. The subject matter is pretty tame, barely even a flirtation – but maybe the descriptions of demons and demon-slaying push it over the edge to the older label? Regardless, Jackaby has a sense of ageless appeal – the ages of the main characters are never expressly stated, and while the narrator Rook seems the younger she is still independent. Anywho, on to the details!

The end result was astounding. I had managed to completely transform myself into...a silly, obvious girl wearing boy' clothing.

“I have ceased concerning myself with how things look to others, Abigail Rook...in my experience, others are generally wrong.”

“I find most men are already more than happy to believe a young woman is a frail little thing. so, technically the deception was already there, I just employed it in a convenient way.”

My words petered out and slipped into the shadows, embarrassed to be seen with me.

I found it difficult to be frightened by the announcement. I had crested that emotional hill already, and the view was becoming familiar.

Starting a re-read on audiobook, Dale version.

I don't even know what to rate this right now.

For bibliophiles everywhere. Not all of us have the privilege of helping others wade through the stacks in search of knowledge (of life, the universe, and everything), but most of can appreciate the tales contained in this little tome.

I spotted this while meandering through the stacks at my own public library, and the title caught my eye. I flipped through while standing there and added to my already heavy armload of books - and as soon as I got home I started reading (not going to lie, I was also cheered by the fact that this was a book I could finish in about an hour and help with my reading challenge).

Gina Sheridan is hysterical and seriously needs to write some more books (I only found one other!). She writes about her experiences with library patrons in a humorous but caring way. While yes, to an academic, many of the experiences she has are roll-on-the-floor-laughing funny, some people will probably prickle at a few of the technology-challenged anecdotes. While definitely finding the humor in her job - even at times when patrons have attempted to threaten said job - Gina clearly cares about her people, as evidenced by the several anecdotes dedicated to a persnickety patron named Carol.

There are also several anecdotes that left me positively teary-eyed, like the time Gina explained to a young patron new to the States, that she could pick any book she wanted and it wouldn't cost her family a thing. The wonder of a child with a wealth of books suddenly open to her - I just wanted to hug her.

Wish it had been longer but love I finished so quickly (how's that for indecisive, eh?). 4/5 stars due to feeling like some of the stories really needed more background, but were hilarious even out of context.

This book was wonderful. Every time I opened it I felt like I just fell right through the pages to stand next to the characters. I felt like I could hear the music, taste the wine, feel the sun and rain. The mystery was there but not overly present, if that makes sense. It drove the story but that wasn't the sole focus.

Go. Get it. Read it. Then come back and tell me thank you.

~* Part of my TBR for the 2016 Halloween Read-A-Thon! Full review found on The Bent Bookworm*~[b:The Werewolf of Paris 539519 The Werewolf of Paris Guy Endore https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1175633863s/539519.jpg 526906] was first published in 1933. The writing style is definitely of the age, but it also shows marks of the beginnings of modern day novel writing. Apparently they liked their smut in the 1930s too, they just tended to be more embarrassed about it.

At one point I was laughing so hard I was crying. Definitely the best of the Plum novels I've read during my recent binge of them. Hopefully #22 will come up to the same standard. These are all pretty much the same by now, but I keep reading them basically for the comfort of it. You come into it knowing you're going to have a whole lot of Lula falling out of her clothes, Stephanie causing (or being the target of) large quantities of mahem, and Morelli and Ranger vying for Stephanie's bed (and heart?). Same old same old...it's good because it's comforting in the sameness of it. I really would like to see some kind of movement on the relationship lines though...but I guess that might mean the end of the series as we know it.