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ARC Review: "Look Before You Leap," by Virginia Heath

Happy almost June, all! As someone that loves a good Regency romance, I was very excited to request this ARC for Look Before You Leap since it is from a different perspective: the governess. I am normally wary of romances that feature an imbalance of power, but Virginia Heath handles these types of romances with thought and care so there is never a hint of coercive behavior. Of course, I did not…

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Book Review: "The Rom-Commers" by Katherine Center

Happy Monday, all! I had a very leisurely bookish weekend, one that was supposed to be taken up by ARCs, but got derailed by my ADD. Katherine Center is basically an automatic buy for me, so when her newest appeared for the February Book of the Month, it was a no brainer. As I contemplated my overflowing bookshelf this weekend, The Rom-Commers bright colors and light promise drew me in. So of…

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Book Review: "Murder by Cheesecake," by Rachel Ekstrom Courage

I know I am a little late on this, but I was accepted into the ARC the same week of the publication date. So happy they brought me in! As a kid, Golden Girls was my comfort show. Now, cozy murder mysteries are my comfort reads and watches (looking at you, Midsomer Murders!) So a mix of both Golden Girls and cozy murder? Sign me up! So thank you, Netgalley and Hyperion, for this opportunity. All…

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ARC Review: "Scotch on the Rocks," by Elliot Fletcher

Hi all! For full disclosure, I actually read Scotch on the Rocks without realizing it was the second in a series, the Macabe Brothers by Elliot Fletcher. However, I decided not to write this review until after I read the first book, Whisky Business. While I definitely recommend reading the books in order, I also enjoyed Scotch on the Rocks on its own and there was no details included that you…

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Book Review: Say You'll Remember Me" by Abby Jimenez

Happy weekend, all! I took a break from my ARC crash course and grabbed Abby Jimenez’s new book Say You’ll Remember Me, first in a new series through Book of the Month. Abby’s books are an automatic buy for me because her writing is just so damn compelling, always. This new series is a little more serious, a little less sexy, and while it is not my favorite, I still flew through it. From the…

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ARC Review: "Murder on a Scottish Train," by Lucy Connelly

Back in the saddle! Murder on a Scottish Train by Lucy Connelly is expected to publish in October 2025, and I for one have this series on preorder. Thank you, Netgalley and Crooked Lane, for this opportunity! From the Publisher: Dr. Emilia McRoy, an American in Scotland, has a killer in sight in the fourth installment of the Scottish Isle mystery series, perfect for fans of Paige Shelton and…

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Book Review: "The Queens of Crime," by Marie Benedict

Happy Monday, all! I just finished Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict as a library book because frankly, I am tired of getting burned by Marie Benedict’s amazing ideas with less than great execution (plug here for my local library’s e-book lending program Livebrary!) While my complaint still stands (more on that below), I still found this one slightly better executed than normal. From the…

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Book Review: "A Most Agreeable Murder," by Julia Seales

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Book Review: "A Botanist's Guide to Flowers and Fatality," by Kate Khavari

Hello all! I am pretty excited to be reviewing A Botanist’s Guide to Flowers and Fatality by Kate Khavari because the fourth book in the series is coming out this June, and I loved getting the opportunity to browse through this second book and remember how much I love this series. Having reviewed the first in the series, A Botanist’s Guide to Parties and Poisons, a while back, I can say book 2 is…

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Book review: "Inheritance" by Nora Roberts

Hello all, and welcome to “Sam is a full year behind on her reviews.” I am actually extra excited to review Inheritance by Nora Roberts, for a couple of reasons. First, I am an absolute Nora devotee, especially her fantasy-related books. Prior to this book, I had felt like her quality was dipping a little, but this one blew me away. Second, I spent my birthday last year at the fabulous Inn…

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Book Review: "Fateful Words," by Paige Shelton

Hi all – it has been more than a minute. I am sad by how long it has been since I have blogged. For something that brings me joy, it was hard to pick up the “pen” and continue after the past year and change. Unfortunately, I lost my father and a beloved pet within months of each other, and it derailed a lot. Then work picked up, life moved on, and all of the sudden, a year went by. I have missed…

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The problem with antisemitism and anti-Zionism

Someone recently reblogged this post I shared that called out antisemitism in pro-Palestinian rallies. An action I was initially happy about, until I went into this person's blog, and saw a lot of posts that I, as an Israeli-Jewish person, find incredibly antisemitic. I found myself utterly baffled by that. Because this person clearly recognized the things said in these rallies were extremely antisemitic, and yet, they posted a lot of things that were rooted in the same antisemitic worldview. Can't they see it? And I think the main problem with the current pro-Palestinian movement is that they honestly can't see the line between being on the side of compassion and humanity and being critical of Israel's actions, to spreading horrible lies and dehumanizing Israelis and Jewish people. And the ugly truth these people refuse to face is that the reason they can't see when they cross this line is probably unconscious antisemitism.

You don't need to hate Jewish people to be antisemitic

Antisemitism, like many other forms of racism, often works on an unconscious level. Maybe you have Jewish friends. Maybe you fought for better Jewish representation in media. Maybe you are even Jewish yourself. But over the years you have been exposed to a lot of antisemitic ideas and stereotypes that altered your worldview and made you more vulnerable to believing Jewish people are the bad guys.

If your gut reaction to this is- "but Israel is actually doing bad things, so I'm actually right about hating them." Please keep reading.

Your idea of Israel and what it stands for is based on the worldview of the most radical right-wing Israeli activists at best, and blatant lies at worst.

Imagine if we took the words of the most radical Republicans out there, the ones that go after trans kids and believe women should have no right over their own bodies, and believe all Americans are supporting this idea. That wouldn't have been very fair of us, right? Because there are a lot of people in America who are fighting for a better future. A lot of people who are standing up for human rights.

Just like the United States isn't a homogeneous entity, filled with only trump supporters, Israel is also an incredibly diverse place, with people who have radically different ideas about how Israel should look. Even the current Israeli government, which is extremely right-wing, and has people in it I personally believe should have never been in a position of power, is probably a lot less evil than you were led to believe by ill-intent strangers on the internet. Mainly because this is still a democratic government, in a democratic country, which has a lot of checks and balances that (for the most part) manage to prevent people with radical ideas from making them into official policies.

I don't blame you for believing the reports you see from Gaza. As a pacifist, and as someone who voted for left-wing parties ever since I was eligible to vote, someone who truly believes the Palestinians has a right to self-determination and sees how problematic the occupation is, I struggle a lot when I see posts about the suffering of the people in Gaza. Wars are horrible. I never want to see other people suffer. Let alone children. I wish I could go there right now and take all of them somewhere safe. I wish none of this was happening.

But I also know who my people are, and the values they stand for. And what I noticed about these anti-zionist posts is that they are often written in a biased, misleading way. They often attribute malicious intentions to Israel's actions. And they often jump to conclusions, without giving Israel the benefit of the doubt. Without asking the right questions. And often, without any sort of proof. Some of these posts are outrageous lies. Others are incredibly biased and fail to mention the terrorist organization Israel is fighting against.

Only a small amount of them are coming from unbiased sources that describe the reality of the situation without giving in to personal interpretation.

But most of you can't tell the difference. You are seeing lies about how IDF soldiers are targeting children, or about how Israel is lying about their true evil intentions, and you accept them as the truth, without questioning the intention of the person who wrote that post. Without stopping to think this is incredibly dehumanizing to think Israeli people are capable of such monstrous actions. Without examining your own biases. And that's incredibly problematic, and yes, this is antisemitic. Because you would have never spread this kind of accusation about any other group of people without definitive proof.

This isn't to say our soldiers are never wrong, and that there aren't any bad apples, or even systematic problems in the IDF and every allegation should be thoroughly investigated, because any harm to innocent people is terrible, unavoidable as it may be. And ideally, even terrorists should get a fair trial.

But if you think soldiers in Israel defense forces, who are mostly 18-21-year-old Jewish men and women from all sides of the political spectrum, are inherently evil and baby killers, you are in fact antisemitic.

Even if you believe your type of anti Zionism isn't antisemitism being anti-zionist is still not a great position to take.

I never defined myself as a zionist before. But it was more to do with my own disconnection with Judaism and my ideas about the place of religion in modern society than my belief about the right of Israel to exist.

I think it would be amazing to live in a utopian world where we have one multicultural democratic state where everyone lives together in harmony. But I’m also a realistic person. And someone who wants to keep living as a free woman with full rights in my home country.

And while I never felt particularly zionist, I was never an anti-zionist, and I never believed zionist was a bad word.

I'm probably not the first person who tells you this, but Zionist isn't a synonym for "everything I hate about Israel". It doesn't mean "a person who supports the occupation", or even "a person who only cares about the life of Israelis" or "someone who fully supports the Israeli government".

So what does it actually say? Let's look at a dictionary definition.

Do you notice what the definition doesn't say? Anything about Israel's borders or about the idea of a Palestinian state. There are many types of Zionism, some more radical than others. But as I said before, is it really fair to judge an entire group of people based on the idea of the most radical of them?

The truth is, most of us just want to live in peace. We want to go to work without finding ourselves at the scene of a terror attack or running to the shelter because of rockets. We want all the hostages to come home. We want to feel safe in our own homes. This is what it means to be a zionist. This is what you are standing up against. Not the "occupation," or the "settlers" or the extremists in the government. Just regular people who want to live their lives.

Zionism isn't colonialism

Jewish people are indigenous to the land of Israel. This was the land we dreamed of in 2000 years of exile, and it's a huge part of our religion and our culture. This doesn't mean the Palestinians don't have a claim to the land as well after living on it for so many years, or that what they went through in 1948 wasn't terrible, but it doesn't magically make Israelis into white colonialists who woke up one day and decided to take over a random land.

A lot of mistakes were made. In 1948, and especially in 1967. And we are paying for them now. But the idea that Israel is a colonialist state that represents everything that's wrong with society is entirely false.

If you support the existence of a Palestinian state but don't believe Israel deserves the same right, you need to ask yourself why that is the case.

Is that because you don't believe Jewish people when they tell you about their connection to the land of Israel? Because you think there is something inherently wrong with the existence of a state that is only for Jewish people? (But have no problem with all the Muslim and Christian states out there) Because you think Palestinian deserves to live from the river to the sea and Israelis should have nothing, or whatever the Palestinians would be willing to give them? Because you are more comfortable with the idea of Jewish people as a minority in a Palestinian Muslim state than the idea of them having their own free country? Because you think you know better than us what our future should look like?

Because all of these reasons are antisemitic.

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I don't think I could be trusted with shapeshifting powers bc I would just turn into a bear and attack things with my claws at any minor inconvenience. it would be my go-to solution for everything

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ARC Review: "A Flicker of a Doubt," by Daryl Wood Gerber

Hi all, and happy “late ARC Sunday!” I am so sorry for my absence. It has been a rough couple of weeks, but the show must go on! A Flicker of a Doubt by Daryl Wood Gerber is the fourth book in the Fairy Garden Mystery, which is always a delightful time for light reading (reviews for books one and two). While this installation may not be my favorite, still a fun series. So without further…

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ARC Review: "The London Séance Society," by Sarah Penner

Happy almost publish day! I was given Sarah Penner’s The London Séance Society as an ARC after falling in love with her first book The Lost Apothecary (thank you, Harlequin and Netgalley!) While Society was less my style than Apothecary, I still can’t wait to talk all about it! From the Publisher: From the author of the sensational bestseller The Lost Apothecary comes a spellbinding tale about…

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ARC Review: "The Writing Retreat," by Julia Bartz

Hi all, and happy Valentines Day! Everyone “celebrates” slightly different (I for one and seeing Book of Mormon with the hubby), but know that I love you all on this delightful week. One of the books I was looking forward to reading around the “holiday” was The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz, which comes out February 20th. So when I won the ARC from Netgalley and Emily Bestler /Atria Books, I was…

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ARC Review: "Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries" by Heather Fawcett

ARC Review: “Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries” by Heather Fawcett

Happy 2023! It is one week into the new year, and I love starting it off right with an on time ARC! Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett was one of my favorite ARCs last year (so much that I couldn’t wait to 2023 to read it!), and I can’t wait to receive my hard copy this week! Thank you, Netgalley and Random House, for this amazing opportunity! From the Publisher: A…