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2026 Bookish Books Reading Challenge (hosted by Yours Truly)

My Progress:


23 / 30 bookish books. 77% done!

2026 Cover Lovers Reading Challenge (hosted by Yours Truly)

2026 Cover Lovers Reading Challenge (hosted by Yours Truly)

My Progress:


36 / 50 books. 72% done!

2026 Literary Escapes Challenge

- Alabama
- Alaska (1)
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California (7)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut (1)
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia (1)
- Hawaii (1)
- Idaho
- Illinois (2)
- Indiana (1)
- Iowa (1)
- Kansas
- Kentucky (1)
- Louisiana (2)
- Maine (3)
- Maryland (1)
- Massachusetts (1)
- Michigan (2)
- Minnesota (2)
- Mississippi (1)
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey (1)
- New Mexico
- New York (4)
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio (3)
- Oklahoma
- Oregon (2)
- Pennsylvania (1)
- Rhode Island (1)
- South Carolina
- South Dakota (1)
- Tennessee
- Texas (2)
- Utah (1)
- Vermont (1)
- Virginia (1)
- Washington (1)
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin (1)
- Wyoming
- Washington, D.C.*

International:

- Australia (6)
- Austria (1)
- Canada (2)
- England (19)
- Fiji (1)
- France (1)
- Ireland (1)
- Italy (1)
- Mexico (1)
- New Zealand (1)
- Norway (1)
- Scotland (1)
- The Bahamas (1)
- Vatican City (1)

My Progress:


30 / 51 states. 59% done!

2026 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

My Progress:


21 / 25 books. 84% done!

2026 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge

My Progress:


25 / 50 books. 50% done!

Booklist Queen's 2026 Reading Challenge

My Progress:


30 / 52 books. 58% done!

2026 52 Club Reading Challenge

My Progress:


31 / 52 books. 60% done!

2026 Build Your Library Reading Challenge

My Progress:


22 / 40 books. 55% done!

2026 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge

My Progress:


22 / 51 books. 43% done!

2026 Medical Examiner Mystery Reading Challenge

2026 Mount TBR Reading Challenge

My Progress


16 / 25 books. 64% done!

2026 Around the Year in 52 Books Reading Challenge

My Progress


42 / 52 books. 81% done!

Shelf Reflection Candy Reading Challenge for Kids (and Adults)

My Progress:


50 / 65 books. 77% done!

2026 Countdown Reading Challenge

My Progress:


55 / 55 books. 100% done!

2026 Series Reading Challenge


22 / 36 books. 61% done!

Dragon Rambles' Law of Fives Bingo

Dragon Rambles' Law of Fives Bingo

My Progress:


66 / 125 books. 53% done!

2026 Southern Literary Reading Challenge

My Progress:


9 / 9 books. 100% done!

2026 Reading Challenge (by Linz the Bookworm)

My Progress:


31 / 60 books. 52% done!

2026 Pioneer Book Reading Challenge

2026 Pioneer Book Reading Challenge

My Progress:


10 / 40 books. 25% done!

European Reading Challenge 2026

My Progress:


7 / 50 books. 14% done!

2017 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge (retired challenge - doing old boards for fun)

My Progress:


60 / 125 books. 48% done!

2026 Reading Challenge Addict Reading Challenge

The 100 Most Common Last Names in the U.S. Reading Challenge

My Progress:


98 / 100 names. 98% done!

The Life Skills Reading Challenge

My Progress:


76 / 80 skills. 95% done!
Monday, November 25, 2013

Fortunately, It's Another Drop of Quirky Goodness from Gaiman

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

If his children ran out of milk for their cereal, most fathers would just tell them to eat toast.  Or eggs.  Or pancakes.  Or fruit.  Or just about anything that didn't require a trip to the store.  Not the dad in Neil Gaiman's new children's book, Fortunately, the Milk.  He heads right out to save the day.  Well, breakfast, at least.  

Of course, the story wouldn't be any fun if the dad simply drove to the store, picked up some milk and came home (even if he grabbed a dozen doughnuts to go with it).  And, considering the author of this little tale, we know it's going to be—above all—fun.  So, instead of encountering minor troubles like traffic jams or rude drivers or inflated prices at the supermarket, this heroic father faces off with ferocious aliens, a burbling volcano, and a bossy pirate queen.  To name just a few of the hurdles in his quest to save his children's breakfast.  After all, it is the most important meal of the day.  The big question is:  Can he do it?  Or are his kids doomed to eating their cereal with, gulp, pickle juice?  No child deserves that terrible fate ...

As you can probably tell, Fortunately, the Milk is everything we've come to expect from the always quirky Neil Gaiman.  The tale's outrageous and silly and fun and just a delight all around.  Most of all, it explains one of the great mysteries of the universe—why do parents take so long to complete a task as simple as bringing home a carton of milk?  Kids will be mesmerized by this short, funny adventure (made even more amusing with illustrations by Skottie Young).  It might just entertain their parents, too.  Unless, of course, they're out fighting otherworldly creature in order to save their children's breakfasts.  Then, it might hit a little too close to home :) 

(Readalikes:  Nothing I can think of ...)

Grade:



If this were a movie, it would be rated:


To the FTC, with love:  I received a finished copy of Fortunately, the Milk from the generous folks at Scholastic.  Thank you!

Friday, November 22, 2013

What's the Most Difficult Kind of Review to Write? This Kind.

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Jaycee Draper will be forever haunted knowing she received a text for help from her estranged best friend right before she died.  A text Jaycee never answered.  Now, plagued with guilt and remorse, she's doing the only thing she can to help her former BFF—she's looking for answers.  The police have declared 16-year-old Rachel Sanchez a victim of a random act of violence; Jaycee knows better.  Discovering a trail of clues Rachel left for her only confirms Jaycee's suspicions.  Rachel wanted to tell her something, something important, something about who killed her and why.


Part of the puzzle, Jaycee knows, has to do with a terrible encounter the two friends experienced in an old, abandoned house.  It's a night both tried to block from memory, a time to be forgotten, never discussed.  Jaycee hates reliving that nightmare, but she knows she must.  It doesn't help that someone's intent on stopping her little investigation.  And will do whatever it takes to end her inquiries, especially as she gets closer to discovering the identity of her friend's killer.  Can Jaycee solve the mystery before it's too late—not just for Rachel, but for herself as well?

It's tough to diss a book when you request it from an author (who also happens to be related to a friend of yours), she gladly sends you one of her last copies, and is just super sweet about the whole thing.  This is the hardest part of reviewing for me—wanting to be honest without offending kind, hardworking authors.  It's most important, though, for my readers to trust me, so here we go with the honest-even-though-I-don't-want-to-be review: 

I really, really, really wanted to love Dead Girls Don't Lie, Jennifer Shaw Wolf's second novel.  But I just didn't.  Since I grew up in a small town in rural Washington State, I did like the book's familiar setting as well as the conflict between Mexican migrant workers and small-minded local yokels (not that I like that kind of conflict, I just like that it's fresh, something I haven't encountered before in YA lit).  It's a current kind of problem, one I observed firsthand while growing up; it's a hot topic even now, especially in states like Arizona (my current location), which border Mexico.  The whole gang plot, though, seemed a little too melodramatic for rural Washington.  It didn't ring very true to me.  I also had a problem connecting to the characters in Dead Girls Don't Lie.  None of them struck me as particularly likable.  They didn't seem to like each other much either, as I felt little warmth between any of them.  Add that to a far-fetched plotline with some big holes, and yeah, this one just didn't do a lot for me.  Wolf's got lots of potential, though, so I'll keep an eye on her.  Hopefully, her next venture will be a little more to my liking.

(Readalikes:  I'm sure there are many, but nothing's coming to mind ...)


Grade:
  
If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for language (no F-bombs), violence and sexual innuendo

To the FTC, with love:  I received a finished copy of Dead Girls Don't Lie from the very generous Jennifer Shaw Wolf.  Thank you!
Thursday, November 21, 2013

Crash! Boom! Bang!: McMann's Visions Series Just Keeps Getting Better

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

(Note:  Although this review will not contain spoilers for Bang, it may inadvertently reveal plot surprises from its predecessor, Crash.  As always, I recommend reading books in a series in order.)

Now that things have gotten back to normal (whatever that is) for 16-year-old Jules Demarco, she should be happy.  Especially since her new normal includes being Sawyer Angotti's girlfriend.  He's the guy she's been dreaming about forever, the guy who helped her make sense of her terrifying visions and stop a deadly car crash.  So what if both the Demarcos and the Angottis are dead-set against their relationship?  Romeo and Juliet made it work.  Um, yeah.  

If only that were the only complication facing the new couple.  It's not. Not by a long shot.  Through some cruel twist of fate, Jules has passed her psycho vision-seeing powers on to Sawyer.  Now he's wracked with terrible glimpses of a shooting so horrific he can barely talk about it.  Jules knows there's only one way to make Sawyer's waking nightmares, which are reaching a fever pitch, go away—they have to use the clues in the visions to stop the tragedy from happening.  But making sense out of the confusing scenes isn't easy, especially when the constant examination of them is taking such a heavy toll on Sawyer's psyche.  Jules hates to torture the boy she loves, but if they don't solve the puzzle soon eleven people are going to die.  They can't let that happen.  They won't.  No matter what the cost.   

Lisa McMann knows how to write action-packed, addicting novels.  That's an undisputed truth.  Her skill's especially apparent, though, in her Visions series.  Crash kept me thoroughly engrossed and salivating for a sequel.  I'm happy to report that Bang does not disappoint.  Not at all.  It's just as compelling, just as exciting, just as pulse-pounding as its predecessor.  Jules' pitch-perfect voice makes the series all the more enjoyable, as she manages to be funny, endearing and sympathetic all at the same time.  Is it too early to start begging for another sequel?  I think not.

(Readalikes:  Crash by Lisa McMann; also her Wake series [Wake; Fade; Gone]; and a bit like The Body Finder series [The Body Finder; Desires of the Dead; The Last Echo; Dead Silence] by Kimberly Derting)

Grade: 

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for strong language, sexual innuendo/content and violence

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find
Wednesday, November 20, 2013

With Nothing Fresh or New to Offer, It's Just Another So-So Teen Vampire Tale

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Being human in a world ruled by vampires isn't quite as hellish as one would think.  Not if you follow their rules, anyway.  But Allie Sekemoto's never been keen on doing what she's told, especially not when obedience means offering herself as a "blood cattle" to her thirsty leaders.  She'll die rather than kow-tow to the smug, powerful vamps.  Even if survival in the Fringe means scavenging for food, fighting off rival gangs and hiding from rabid, feral vampires.  

Then, the unthinkable happens and Allie has to make a life-altering choice.  As she slowly turns into one of the creatures she hates most, she'll have to learn to cope with the requirements of her new identity, including drinking human blood.  Angering a group of ruthless vamps doesn't make things any easier.  With enemies stalking her every move, Allie will have to find her place—and fast.  Before her fang-dripping comrades destroy everything, and everyone, she cares about. 

If the plot of The Immortal Rules, the first book in Julie Kagawa's popular YA vampire series, sounds a bit familiar, that's because originality is really not its strong suit.  It's pretty much the same as every other YA dystopian/horror novel out there.  Without fresh, vivid prose or vibrant, unique characters, this one just doesn't bring anything memorable to the genre.  It's action-packed, that's for sure, but, at 504 pages, the novel definitely starts to feel very, very long.  I'm not going to lie, The Immortal Rules kept me turning pages.  Still, nothing about this one stands out as new or different.  In the end, I found it to be only a so-so read.

(Readalikes:  the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer)

Grade:  


If this were a movie, it would be rated:


for language (no F-bombs), violence/gore and mild sexual innuendo

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find
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