Leslie

Charming middle grades mystery - cozy and familiar without being too saccharine. Just enough stakes. Made me want a chocolate croissant.

The story of 10yo Tracy Beaker, longterm resident of an orphanage, told in her own...colorful words. An odd read, almost equal parts hard and light, likely hits different for an adult... especially for one who had similar storytelling, if through different experiences, in her past.

Another perfectly satisfactory mystery. Thrilled to have found the series. More thrilled that I continue to enjoy them.

Sparks Nevada meets Croach and they save the day with dramatic feats of derring do. Good stuff.

The Doyles meet and begin the romance that saves the world time and again - much to Frank's chagrin. Good stuff.

Lord Wimsey continues enjoyable, but I was a little disappointed to find this a collection of short stories rather than a full mystery.

Fun enough, mostly fine. I was struck by the abrupt pivot to existential space opera vibes with a dash of fantastical body horror. I find myself just uninterested in the protagonist.

Fun Lower Decks Star Trek romp. Delivers a fun episode.

Yet another mystery into which Peter Wimsey noses, getting in nearly over his head and digging until things are solved. My favorite of this series so far - I had a good bead on the shape of things but was delighted by how I had been fooled!

A strange, dry collection of short stories centering around the narrator, Silas Ermineskin, his friend Frank Fencepost, and their community in and around their reservation in Canada. Shenanigans and more serious. I cannot quite explain why I am so taken with Kinsella's writing, but I am.

Yet another delightful mystery with the Monsieur! Not my favorite of the four currently released but the story is as fun as ever and the wrap-up satisfying. I still question the author's apparent disdain for fountain pens and those as use them (joke).

There is no unbiased review for this from me. I have read this book at least once a year for what may be about 3 decades. The story of the unpleasant little girl making herself strong by skipping rope and fighting against the wind, couched in descriptions of green and growing things lives with me and reminds me that we can grow, change, and become stronger, better people.

A story of a pair of children swept up into a fantastical tale of sleeping knights, biding darkness, and limited hope. Very familiar but sure how, like an echo of a memory of nostalgia of the best kind.

Thoroughly cinematic fantasy-mystery-action story gussied up in a duster. Fun listen.

An odd duck of a book following a father and son duo stuck in the middle of a fantasy world being manipulated and exploited in what seems quite like a contemporary "real" world. Solid world building, interesting characters, surprisingly dark things handled with DWJ's deft whimsy. I forgot how much I enjoy it.

Inadvertently picked up a supernatural teen drama echo of The Westing Game. Different setting, era, players, but still a will-based game surrounding a murder mystery. Quite entertaining, not too teen drama-y.

A middle grade high seas adventure that becomes a 90s-style Angel Unaware trope mystery featuring a good-natured and apparently immortal pair of best friends helping folk. Features the banter, mysteries, and riddles familiar from Jacques' better-known Redwall series, but it does not quite reach the same heights of the best thereof. Still thoroughly enjoyable.

Delightfully absurd and slightly infuriating. Kind if what you want in a Star Trek Adventure Choice book.

A perfectly fine Roald Dahl book. Weird. Weirdly bloodthirsty. Fine.

It's nice. I guess it's cozy? I don't know - I guess I just wanted the story beyond the snuggle. Nothing really wrong with it but not my jam, I don't think.

Very sweet.

Solid collection of spooky stories.

Light mystery, with a friendly aspect, given the periodic inclusion of the author as an amiable history keeper for the famous thief and his exploits. This, the Magnetic Press publication, is also beautifully illustrated by Vincent Mallié. A larger book, with thick,smooth pages, it is a mentally and physically satisfying read.

Discworld books always have some good stuff in them, even if the book itself isn't your favorite. Well, this one isn't technically my favorite - I prefer the Watch to the Witches - but Maskerade is delightful and clever and fun. It's one of the Discworld books I reread most every year.

Fabulous romp with phenomenal backgrounds and hilarious expressions. Mr Selim is a firm favorite, and Delilah is no slouch.