A Throne for Sisters by Morgan Rice

So let's just talk about Book Bub for a quick second. If you aren't signed up and getting their emails about super cheap and free(!) ebooks every day then what are you waiting for!?!

Anyway, this was a lovely freebie that I found through Book Bub a little while ago and I snapped it up. Partly because of the cover and partly because it sounded pretty cool.

This book is about two orphaned sisters who want to live the lives they dream of. They both have the special ability to read the minds of others, which comes in handy with their pursuit of their ideal fantasy. One sister dreams of the good life, living rich as royalty. The other dreams of a life fighting like a solider and being tough and brave. 

This is a fantasy set in a world of its own, not one really like ours so it's got that older, almost medieval feel to it. 

I have mixed feelings about this book though. I liked it, but I wanted more out of it. I felt like the main premise of the story wasn't fully resolved by the end, but it wasn't like a cliffhanger in the traditional sense. It just kept going then stopped. It's hard to explain. Like I was pretty into what was going on, but then it just kind of ended. 

Without giving anything away, it was like things were working out for them and I spent a good chunk of time reading this waiting for the other shoe to drop because there has to be bad with the good. Then for there not to have been a final resolution in the end did kind of bug me, but I don't know if it was really compelling for me to read the second one, because what if it happens again? 

I never really give star ratings for books but if I had to, I'd say like 2.5 or 3 stars out of 5. It was good, but there was just a little missing for me. I wanted more in this book without needing to continue the series to find out more. Needed some more meat on the bones for me. 

Recommendation: It's an easy YA fantasy read. It had good elements and was interesting while I read it. I would get this at the library or like I did though if you're thinking of reading it. 

Nightshade for Warning by Bailey Cattrell

This is the second book in the Enchanted Mysteries series by Bailey Cattrell. You can find my review of the first one here. These books are 100% cozy and 100% awesome!

This book follows Ellie Allbright who runs the Scents and Nonsense shop with connected Enchanted Garden. Ellie has the ability to use scent and solve people's problems. She can sense what is wrong and what herbal mixture will make everything better. Somehow, she also finds herself getting caught up in murders.

Ellie is to be interviewed and photographed for her tiny house and garden efforts but before this can happen the journalist who was writing the piece gets killed. She now needs to find the killer before the wrong person is collared for the murder instead.

These books are just cute and simple and great. They are cozy stories that take you out of your normal life and throws you into a new place with new people and lets you follow along. It's a total bonus that this book has a little hint of magic to it too!

I totally recommend these books for the lovers of cozy mysteries that are challenging in that you probably won't guess whodunit before it's revealed by the author (I know I didn't know who it was!) but they are simple in that they take you out of your life and allow you to escape to a new one.

Also, can we just talk about this cover for a second?! I read this book quite a while ago but I waited for so long to post my review because I wanted to take the perfect photo of it outside in nature, but then winter hit. Ah well.

Recommendation: Totally great read for the lovers of cozy mysteries. Honestly, so good.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

This book is insane. I don't often read memoirs but this one is pretty darn amazing. I picked it up used a couple years ago because I had heard it was a must read, and they were not kidding about that. This book is a total must read.

It's about the life that Jeannette Walls had growing up. It details in the realest ways her past and it's not pretty. It really brings into perspective the truth that you don't really know what someone else's life is like and you shouldn't ever judge, or compare, because no one's life is like yours.

Her writing is mesmerizing and beautiful. So many times my heart broke for her and the things she experienced. If this book isn't the book that highlights how to deal with family and how to persevere then I don't know what is.

I'm pretty sure I told my fiancee literally everything in the book right after I read it because I needed to talk about it with someone. It's like I knew it was real but I couldn't deal with that because how could it have happened that way?

I don't want to go into details about it really, you can find some more insight on Goodreads because I don't want to explain everything as I think you just need to read it. Like for real. Please read this.

The reason I picked it up off my shelf to read it now was because I heard it was being made into a movie, and boy, I cannot wait for that movie.

This book was so good, but yet, so terrible that it's true, but again, so good!

Recommendation: If you want to be amazed and horrified and amazed all at once, read this. Scratch that, just read this!

The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

Last year I took part in a local book/writing conference thing and I got the opportunity to sit in on a whole bunch of lectures and workshops by people who write and publish. It was pretty amazing.

One workshop that stood out to me was about writing urban fantasy. The teacher was a young woman who was so totally awesome and she talked about the book she was writing as well as her love for a particular author: Holly Black.

Until this point I was vaguely aware of the name, and not at all aware of her work, but the name stuck with me. When I realized this beautiful book was written by Holly Black and it was all over Instagram, I went and grabbed it up.

Before even starting this book I flipped to the back and ended up reading an excerpt of another one of her books. Right from the start, after only about a page and a half, I was hooked on her writing style.

I ate this book up quite quickly and got my hands on another of her books before I was even done this one. I really liked it. It was something different and awesome.

I love fairy tales, especially the ones that are actually about the fae. The fact that this book meshed the real world we live in with the fairy world was so cool and really well done. It had fairies, royalty, death, destruction, and the race to save the ones you love. It was magical.

The only problem I had with this one was the bits about high school. I'm a little over the other side of the hill in age and reading about kids in school was harder to connect with, but I didn't let that little detail bug me too much.

I loved the characters, I loved the relationships, and I loved the realness. There's a real human quality to this book that can sometimes gets a little lost once you delve into the world of fantasy.

Recommendation: For fantasy lovers, for young adult fantasy lovers, and for the lovers of fairies who wish they too can go and rescue the fairy prince in his glass coffin.

Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H Watson by Lyndsay Faye

This was really cool book! The important details of this book are right there in the title. Ripper killings being investigated by Sherlock Holmes!?

Could this be any more perfect!?

I've never met a Sherlock Holmes book yet that I haven't liked and I am happy this book didn't break that streak.

This book was "written" by Dr. Watson, so we had is point of view on the whole situation from his eyes, which I loved. After all, he always wrote about Sherlock exploits!

There was a couple interesting characters that showed up that gave this book a different feel than the traditional Holmes story, but I was totally okay with that.

I've always been interesting in the Ripper killings and I was totally engrossed in the story right from the start. It's possible my love might be a little biased because there was virtually no way I wasn't going to love this book!

I really loved how the book ended, as well as the explanation of who the Ripper in this book was. It feels almost like it could have been a possible explanation of who the real Ripper was.

I've already loaned this book out and talked about it quite a bit. It's something that murder mystery and Sherlock Holmes lovers need to read!

Recommendation: Don't miss this one. It's great. 100% for the lovers of Sherlock Holmes and those curious about the Jack the Ripper murders!

Looking Back & Looking Forward

Hello dear readers,

Once upon a time I did monthly wrap ups, and I had bigdreams about doing more than just reviews on this little corner of the internet. Things have been sporadic here but I haven't given up on these dreams. I am trying to do like the lovely Leigh Bardugo says and "begin as you mean to go on". Nothing like the new year to reflect back, and make bigger and better plans for the future!

Let's start with my review of 2017. It was one heck of a year, but it came and went faster than I thought possible. 

I set my Goodreads challenge to 60 books last year and I made my goal with still a couple days to spare! A couple years ago when I started doing the yearly challenge, I set myself a goal of 100 books because I was sure I read that much normally and it would be a super easy thing to do. It wasn't and the first year I only made it to 50 books. Last year I set it a little higher at 60 and I made it. 

This year, I am going for 75. 

The goal of 100 is still in my mind but I am allowing myself a little grace and I am aiming for what *should* be reasonably within my reach. Whatever number I reach is still just a number, and I don't think that it really matters whatever number I or anyone else reach as long as we are doing it for the right reasons. I am going into this challenge with a happy heart and a goal simply to read as much as I possibly can because it feeds my soul. 

I did the nanowrimo challenge as well and failed miserably. Writing is still where my heart lives, but for some reason (actually a whole host of reasons that I don't want to admit to) I have a hard time throwing myself fully into my writing. It's what I want to do, but instead I turn to scrolling through Instagram or journalling, dreaming about that life when I am a full time writer. 

A big thing for 2018 is to live my life more intentionally. I have a full time day job that isn't all that and I want to spend my free time doing things that make me happy, like reading, writing, blogging, and paper crafts. Instead I do the things that simply make me feel good in the moment, but actually make me feel terrible about wasting my precious time off after I've done them. (I'm looking at you scrolling, mindless daytime tv, games on my phone, and living on my couch in pj's). It's time for a change. 

I've been trying to think of a word for the year for days now and I couldn't really come up with something I liked beyond "intentional", which is probably the most perfect word of the year for me. I think I am feeling uneasy about it because it means I actually have to do something. It's not just a pretty word that can be applied to situations where I'm sitting on my butt and hiding away. It means I have to think, and I have to do things, and I have to do them with a purpose. 

Baby steps, of course. 

Speaking of being intentional, my plans for this little corner of the internet is to post different kinds of content along with reviews, catch up with my reviews, reach more people, and get involved more in the book loving community in any way I can! 

I enjoy nattering on about books which is the whole reason I started this blog and the bookstagram account (@pamela.reads) a couple years ago, and I want to see them both flourish...intentionally!

Here's to a new year and a new start! Thanks for reading!

Pamela 

Art in the Blood by Bonnie MacBird

This is a new Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson story. I say new because to me it feels just like the real ones that I am happy calling it that. I honestly don't think I've met a Sherlock story by any author that I haven't truly enjoyed yet. I hope I never do. 

This one finds Sherlock recovering from his investigation into the Ripper murders, and his return to health and detective work. It has himself and Dr. Watson going to Paris in pursuit of a missing child for a beautiful French performer, a priceless French sculpture, British aristocracy and, of course, it wouldn't be a Sherlock story if there weren't a nemesis or two popping up. 

Art in the Blood is a multifaceted story with three mysteries who are artfully solved by our hero and flawed human that is Sherlock Holmes at his usual best. This one does have a different feel because it deals of course with Paris, with a nemesis that we won't have seen before, but it does still have all the hallmarks of the great detective that I love.

There is a second book out already, but I haven't had the opportunity to grab it up yet. Don't worry, I will. Sherlock Holmes and all who do such a good job of writing about him will always be of interest to me. 

Recommendation: For the lovers of Sherlock Holmes and his many forms. This is a must read. I really can't see how you would regret it!