January 2024 – Stephanie Caffrey, Author

January 2024 Reads

January 31, 2024Posted in Book RecommendationsTagged Book Recommendations, Book Review, Books, Dracula, Heartsong, Heartstopper, Howl's Moving Castle, Jane Eyre, Off the Be the Wizard, Reading, The Good Part, TJ Klune, Twice ShyLeave a comment

Book Cover - The Good Part by Sophie Cousens

The Book felt a lot like “13 Going on 30” and I loved it. The story did a great job at putting us in Lucy’s emotional standing. Lucy and Sam were so cute together. I loved, loved, loved, Felix and Alice. The story was complex, but still lovely.

I absolutely love this series. I love Nick and Charlie. This addition was no different. It was very cute, very fun, and like always, a very realistic view of teens and their complex feelings. I smiled a lot at this volume. I also cried. I always cry.

I read this book as an ARC and gave a detailed review, which you can read here.

This is a classic that definitely held up. Told in letters and diary entries causing some pacing issues, but the audiobook helped with that. It was very suspenseful and I longed to keep reading. This was the perfect classic to kick off 2024.

Book Cover - Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

This was such a lovely story. It was pleasant and the romance between Howl and Sophie was so subtle, it made me swoon in the end. I truly enjoyed reading this book. I’ve already put the next two books on my kindle to read.

What a beautiful story about beautifully flawed people. Maybell and Wesley were an amazing couple. I loved how fun they were together and how supportive they were of each other’s dreams and flaws. I also loved the fact the book subverted the third act break up. It was fresh, and I read the book in one sitting because I didn’t want to leave their world.

Book Cover - Off to be the Wizard by Scott Meyer

Not sure how I felt about this one. It never really grabbed me. It took me too long to read it. However, the ending got me curious to see what happens next. I liked the humor and the concept of the book, but I think ultimately the pace was a little slow, which is what turned me off.

My all time favorite book, this was the third time I’ve read this book, and I loved it as much as I did the first two. Jane Eyre is easily one of my favorite literary characters. Jane and Mr. Rochester’s love, one of the most romantic. St. John one of the most unlikeable characters in literature. I can’t wait until I read this again. And again. And again.

Book Cover - Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.

Book Review: Heartsong by TJ Klune

January 9, 2024May 15, 2024Posted in Book RecommendationsTagged #books, ARC, Book Recommendations, Book Review, book-reviews, Books, fantasy, Heartsong, Netgalley, Reading, TJ Klune1 Comment

Heartsong by TJ Klune

Release Date: January 30, 2024

Thank you Tor books and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

The third book in the Green Creek series, and the third time I’ve gotten to read and review and ARC of it, Heartsong is just as good as the first two books in the series.

Following Robbie Fontaine and Kelly Bennett, at first, the book did not win me over. The book starts off a little confusing. I thought I was reading a flashback. However, after a couple of chapters, I caught on with what Klune was doing, and I was hooked. How else could I finish a nearly five hundred page book in a day? Well, a snow day helps, but also the compelling plot, the rooting for the success of the Bennett Pack.

As always, Klune’s language is beautiful, and like the previous books, this is full of angst. However, it is a romance, so you can expect a happily ever after in the end. You’ll simply have to ride the waves and shed some tears along the way.

The last chapter of the book sets up the final book in the series beautifully, and I cannot wait to get my hands on it.

While you may be tempted to read this book based on this glowing review, it is book three in a series, and you will not really understand what exactly is happening if you jump in right here. I suggest you start with the first book, Wolfsong, and go from there. But do read these books. They’re wonderful.

December 2023 Reads

January 4, 2024Posted in Book RecommendationsTagged #books, Blood Sisters, Book Recommendations, Book Review, Books, Britney Spears, Dash and Lily, fantasy, Ghostbusters, John Stamos, Kiss Her Once For Me, Ms. Marvel, Murderbot, Reading, review, Scorched Grace, Twelfth NightLeave a comment

I love celebrity memoirs, especially when read by the author. This one was a great one. I really enjoyed learning about John Stamos, since I didn’t know much about him outside his acting career. As far as stakes go, his have been pretty low, but it didn’t diminish anything about his life. I definitely recommend this one.

An ARC I received for being part of the Berkley Besties, Blood Sisters isn’t a book I would have normally picked up on my own, however, it was one I couldn’t put down once I started reading it. The book was phenomenal. A thriller written by an Indigenous author, the story focuses on the stories often passed up by the media and law enforcement: missing Indigenous women and girls. The book is horrific, and eye opening, and I couldn’t stop reading. One of the best books I had read all year.

A highly anticipated read, Britney Spears’ memoir did not disappoint. In fact, it went beyond what I thought it would be. Sickening at times, her story made me hate all the men in her life. She has spent most of her life exploited and locked up. A victim. And I’m so glad she can finally be free and is able to tell her story. There are all the trigger warnings for this story, and you will cry, multiple times.

This was an ARC I read and reviewed. You can find my detailed review here.

For a reading challenge I participated in, I needed to read a novelization of a movie. I chose Ghostbusters because it was included in my Audible subscription. I found the book interesting to read because they added in so much back story to the characters that isn’t in the movie. A lot of it felt unnecessary, but it did add some extra flavor to the book otherwise it was just word for word the movie.

A cute short Christmas romance, it was a quick read and made me happy. I liked the letter exchange element. I thought both characters were cute. I kinda wish it wasn’t a short story because I would have read a full novel with this premise.

I had watched the Netflix series and loved it, so when my book club picked this book for our December read, I already knew I was going to enjoy it. I thought it was a very cute book. I liked both Dash and Lily, and I liked a lot of the antics they got into a lot more than the ones they put in the show.

Fake dating is a favorite trope for me. So is marriage of convenience. When Alison Cochrun said in her Author’s Note that this was inspired by While You Were Sleeping, I instantly knew why I loved it. I loved the characters, especially the side characters. Nothing seemed super outrageous, but I loved that Cochrun shoved in all the tropes. It was lovely. It was fun, and lovely, and everything I want from a holiday romance.

Picked for my book club, this book was amazing. I was a little unsure at first, but I wanted to only listen to it and nothing else. The mystery was good. The characters were amazing. And I’m excited to read the next book in the series, which I received as an ARC, so stay tuned for my review of that book coming soon!

Several people in my Sci-Fi/Fantasy book club have recommended this series, and now that it will be an Apple+ series, I decided to read the first book. I loved it. It’s short and sweet, and I love the robot. I really enjoyed the diary aspect, the voice of the robot was unique and fun. I read this book pretty quickly, and immediately added book 2 to my library. The humor was probably my favorite part of the book.

Probably my favorite Shakespeare play. My book club went and saw it for Shakespeare on the lawn this summer. This play has everything: humor, disguises, practical jokes, misunderstandings. If you’ve not read Shakespeare, it’s a good introductory play. It’s easy to follow.

New iteration of Ms. Marvel, this volume was a little clunky. I liked it well enough, but not as much as I loved the original run. The characters are all there, but the story felt a little weak in this volume.

One of the frames of this volume is the new background on my Kindle. I loved this volume. It felt more like the original run. The characters felt right. The relationships were better. The story was stronger. I loved it.

Holy abrupt ending, Batman. There was definitely some volumes left out of this collection, but they give a summary of what wasn’t in here. I liked this one as well, but I don’t like some of the developments. The will they/won’t they, purposely breaking up couples is not my cup of tea. I hope there will be more in this run, because I want to see what happens next with the characters.