#chapterchapterbook

[chapterchapterbook]

Early bird gets the worm or in my case an empty pool! Fall 2022 semester has started and my prof has only given the vaguest plans of what we’re going through to be doing. May the odds be ever in your favor!

[chapterchapterbook]

Stuck in bed sick so I guess today is a reading day. Luckily, my new job is understanding and is postponing my start day

[chapterchapterbook]

Book Haul!

I went exploring with my friend this past weekend because even though I've lived in this town for over three years I haven't gotten out of the neighborhood I live in much. (Thanks, pandemic and anxiety!) So of course, in the midst of our exploring, we ended up at a bookstore. I picked up The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton and The Club by Ellery Lloyd, even though I definitely don't need more books right now and am on a soft book buying ban... Listen. It could have been much worse. AND my friend says she wants to read The Club when I'm done so really I also got it for her. Win-win!

[chapterchapterbook]

Mid-Year Book Tag

No one tagged me, but I saw this going around and have been meaning to do some version of a mid-year check-in. SOOO I'm doing this myself!

📚 Number of books you’ve read so far: 40! I'm honestly shocked I've read so much. Grad school and work were killing me for a while, so I never thought that I would get here but am nervous about the crash in the fall.

💫 Best book you’ve read so far: Devil's Creek by Todd Keisling! A Netgalley catch-up that I'm so disappointed I didn't read sooner.

🌎 Best sequel you’ve read so far: Record of a Spaceborn Few and The Galaxy and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers! Every book in this series has made me cry. I hope she continues to add to it because I want every part of this weird space family to be happy.

🔥 New release you haven’t read yet, but want to: Under Her Care by Lucinda Berry!

⏳ Most anticipated release for the second half of the year: I'll be honest, I'm very out of touch for when books release. I'm sure there is something else that is releasing later on that I'm more excited about but *shrugs*. Looking at a list of horror books being released this year, They Drown Our Daughters by Katrina Monroe looks pretty good!

💝 Biggest surprise favorite new author (debut or new to you): Meg Ellison! I've had The Book of the Unnamed Midwife on my kindle for a while but never prioritized reading ebooks. This year, I'm trying to read more to at least get through some of the backlog. I'm looking forward to reading more from her in the future.

🙈 Newest fictional crush: I wouldn't say newest fictional crush but more of a revived fictional crush. Tristan Lyons from the D.O.D.O. series by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland. Though there wasn't much competition going back through the list of books I've read this year.

😭 Book that made you cry: Let's go with the obvious and say Becky Chambers's books! Like I said before every single one of her books that I've read so far has had a moment that made me cry.

🥰 Book that made you happy: Siege Tactics by Drew Hayes! This is part of another series, and it just makes my heart all warm and fuzzy.

🍳 Most beautiful book you’ve bought or received this year: Probably The Doloriad by Missouri Williams. It's a pretty simple cover, but it speaks to my soul.

❄️ What books do you need to read by the end of the year?: I take it all of them, isn't the right answer? But in all seriousness, I have a couple of books that I was recently approved for on Netgalley that I need to read. And I have a whole stack of books that I want to read. But I guess that my goal book would be to read Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke before the end of the year.

If you want to do this as well, consider yourself tagged. Here's to doing things because we want to!

[chapterchapterbook]

"Fine line between good business and a fucking war crime," he said. "Ain't that a goddamn epitaph of capitalism"

-Sam J. Miller, Blackfish City

[chapterchapterbook]

Book Review: Record of a Spaceborn Few (Wayfarers, #3)

Record of a Spaceborn Few (Wayfarers, #3) by Becky Chambers

Published July 24, 2018

Synopsis: Centuries after the last humans left Earth, the Exodus Fleet is a living relic, a place many are from but few outsiders have seen. Humanity has finally been accepted into the galactic community, but while this has opened doors for many, those who have not yet left for alien cities fear that their carefully cultivated way of life is under threat.

Tessa chose to stay home when her brother Ashby left for the stars, but has to question that decision when her position in the Fleet is threatened.

Kip, a reluctant young apprentice, itches for change but doesn't know where to find it.

Sawyer, a lost and lonely newcomer, is just looking for a place to belong.

When a disaster rocks this already fragile community, those Exodans who still call the Fleet their home can no longer avoid the inescapable question:

What is the purpose of a ship that has reached its destination?

Review: This series is genuinely one of my favorite things ever. It just speaks to my soul. That being said, I didn't love this one quite as much as the other two. I think because we don't really get much, if any, interactions with any of these characters until this book. But it still scratched that itch. Every time, these books hit me right in the feels. They make you question what does it really mean to be human and, while I'm in a different life stage than some of the characters, what is your purpose.

Each book in this series is a spinoff of the first one. They can be read independently if you aren't interested in the others but they all tie in together and are part of a larger universe. I've listened to all of them as audiobooks and have had a fantastic time. The narrator has been a perfect fit and has added so much to my listening experience. I could honestly gush about these books forever. They have a special place in my heart, and I can't wait to own my own physical copies. If you haven't given this series a try, I would highly recommend.

[chapterchapterbook]

Finished work for the day and settling in with a book I picked up from the library and a glass of wine while my hair dye processes

[chapterchapterbook]

August Wrap-Up!

It's that time of the month again where I tell you the books I read! I wish I could blame school for my absence but honestly I've been spending time being social. I realized that I don't make near enough time for friends but I'm trying to at least get hangouts scheduled so that when I get busier, I have things to look forward to and reasons to get stuff done ahead of time. But that's life not books! Looking at my reading this month, there were no real duds. Ones that I expected more from, sure. But there were also a couple of hits which I'm pretty happy about! (lol eventually I'll work up the energy to make a graphic for these!)

The Black Monday Murders, Volume 2 by Jonathan Hickman - 3 stars

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James - 5 stars!

Race Against Time: A Reporter Reopens the Unsolved Murder Cases of the Civil Rights Era by Jerry Mitchell - 5 stars!

Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney - 4 stars

The Doll Factory by Elizabeth Macneal - 3 stars

Suburban Hell by Maureen Kilmer - 5 stars!

A Dark and Secret Place by Jen Williams - 4 stars

Monstress, Vol. 2: The Blood by Marjorie M. Liu - 4 stars

The Club by Ellery Lloyd - 3 stars

What was the best book that you read in the last month? What are you planning on reading in September?

[chapterchapterbook]

Book Review: Suburban Hell!

Synopsis: A Chicago cul-de-sac is about to get a new neighbor...of the demonic kind.

Amy Foster considers herself lucky. After she left the city and moved to the suburbs, she found her place quickly with neighbors Liz, Jess, and Melissa, snarking together from the outskirts of the PTA crowd. One night during their monthly wine get-together, the crew concoct a plan for a clubhouse She Shed in Liz's backyard--a space for just them, no spouses or kids allowed.

But the night after they christen the She Shed, things start to feel . . . off. They didn't expect Liz's little home-improvement project to release a demonic force that turns their quiet enclave into something out of a nightmare. And that's before the homeowners' association gets wind of it.

Even the calmest moms can't justify the strange burn marks, self-moving dolls, and horrible smells surrounding their possessed friend, Liz. Together, Amy, Jess, and Melissa must fight the evil spirit to save Liz and the neighborhood . . . before the suburbs go completely to hell.

Review: Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I really enjoyed this book. It was a fun, lighthearted horror about what happens when a suburban housewife becomes possessed. It also had a commentary on motherhood and adult female friendships which was unexpected but really appreciated. Suburban Hell was such a fun read that kept me coming back to it. I actually got sucked in to the point I actually jumped when someone came up behind me which doesn’t happen often anymore. If you are interested, I’d recommend giving this book a shot. And check in on your friends. They just might need you to perform an exorcism!

[chapterchapterbook]

Currently Reading (8/16)

My fall semester starts next week, so my list of currently reading will probably narrow down quite a bit as I have less free time to flip between books.

The Club by Ellery Lloyd - I never get to recent purchases this quickly! But it helps when the person you bought it with also wants to read it so my goal is to get it to her sooner rather than later. Mom, don't get any ideas!

Scarlet Odyssey (Scarlet Odyssey, #1) by C.T. Rwizi - Still plugging away. I'm about a quarter of the way and am definitely intrigued to keep going.

The Doll Factory by Elizabeth Macneal - I'm pretty sure I removed this from my Goodreads TBR shelf but here we are... I'm not sure how I feel about this but it's available on Scribd as an audiobook. So meh.

The Poisoned City: Flint's Water and the American Urban Tragedy by Anna Clark - Made a little bit of progress this week. I think I have a hundred pages left not including the notes and citations?

Recently Finished

Race Against Time: A Reporter Reopens the Unsolved Murder Cases of the Civil Rights Era by Jerry Mitchell - 5 stars! I would highly recommend picking this one up. Now, to pass this along to my mom for her to read.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney - 4 stars! This one was fine. I'm glad I read it as a science fiction and horror classic. But it left me wanting more

[chapterchapterbook]

Goodreads Monday #12!

Goodreads Monday is a weekly "challenge" started by Lauren's Page Turners, where you pick a random book off your TBR to highlight books that might get lost in the shuffle.

This week, I'm highlighting Death in the Family (Shana Merchant, #1) by Tessa Wegert!

A storm-struck island. A blood-soaked bed. A missing man. Senior Investigator Shana Merchant believes it all adds up to a killer in their midst—and that murder is a family affair.

Thirteen months ago, former NYPD detective Shana Merchant barely survived being abducted by a serial killer. Now hoping to leave grisly murder cases behind, she's taken a job in her fiancé's sleepy hometown in the Thousand Islands region of Upstate New York.

But as a nor'easter bears down on her new territory, Shana and fellow investigator Tim Wellington receive a call about a man missing on a private island. Shana and Tim travel to the isolated island owned by the wealthy Sinclair family to question the witnesses. They arrive to find blood on the scene and a house full of Sinclair family and friends on edge.

While Tim guesses they're dealing with a runaway case, Shana is convinced that they have a murder on their hands. As the gale intensifies outside, she starts conducting interviews and discovers the Sinclairs and their guests are crawling with dark and dangerous secrets.

Trapped on the island by the raging storm with only Tim whose reliability is thrown into question, the increasingly restless suspects, and her own trauma-fueled flashbacks for company, Shana will have to trust the one person her abduction destroyed her faith in—herself. But time is ticking down, because if Shana's right, a killer is in their midst and as the pressure mounts, so do the odds that they'll strike again.

What do you think? Have you read it? On your TBR?