May reads, 2025

MarilkaLeave a comment

Curiously, my 14 books of May amount to one page more than my 14 books of April 😀 Not exactly true as in pages I read, maybe, since the bios of both Edith Piaf and Judy Garland had a whole lot of pages of lists in the end, so not exactly pages to read. May saw the end of the Sookie series, some books I’ve had in my library for years, some new discoveries, and the long-awaited last book in the Nevermoor (Morrigan Crow) series.

  • Reckless, by Lauren Roberts – book 2 in the Powerless series. I finished it on the very day the last book, Fearless, was published, but only got that last week so it will be a June read. Anyway, I liked this one perhaps a bit more than the first book; quite good while not among my favorites
  • Sookie Stackhouse books 10-13, by Charlaine Harris – it was a bit bittersweet to bid farewell to Sookie. She got her happy ending, or at least such was hinted, and I got to move on to other books in Kindle (“got to move on”, you know what I mean, eh?). Had some good times with Sookie!
  • Not Quite the Classics, by Colin Mochrie – one of those books that have patiently been waiting to be read, and now the time came. Loved it! First and last sentence of 12 classics, with a whole new Mochrie-story in between
  • Old Bones, by Preston & Child – another one of those, a find from some radom place some years ago. Digging into the Donner Party, with an evil plan lurking over their heads, it’s a story of archeology and crime investigation. It began with way too many characters introduced each in their own chapters before the action got rolling and I almost gave up. Happy I didn’t, for to the end it was full speed and surprising while not
  • Remedial Magic duology (Remedial Magic and Reluctant Witch), by Melissa Marr – sort of like magical realism except more, since there’s a fully magical realm for witches, in need of saving. Salvation comes in the form of two fabulous ladies (obviously in love), one of whom is the reluctant witch, at least at first
  • Paratiisin kartta, by Anja Snellman – yet another book bought years ago from some random booksale. An older book of one of the most famous Finnish authors, I suppose I was curious about her. I did enjoy her memoir some years ago, but at least this story where a teacher remenishes her journey through 12 years of school with her class (with a side of personal history of the communistic seventies in the Uni) was not my cuppa, exactly. Kinda touching and stuff, but a bit (or a bit more) boring imo
  • Edith Piaf: hymni rakkaudelle, by Jean-Dominique Brierre [book in Finnish]- the biography of the beloved Edith Piaf, whom I was introduced to in school French classes, and while her chanson is not something I listen to, really, she made an impression. Such a tragic while enchanting, small yet huge, lady.
  • Silverborn, by Jessica Townsend – fourth and last book of the YA (or middle grade) Nevermoor series telling the story of Morrigan Crow. Delightful, whimsical, wonderfully entertaining fantasy mystery, with the happy ending suggesting that Morrigan will indeed be quite ok after all!
  • Wooing the Witch Queen, by Stephanie Burgis – the first book of the romantacy series Queens of Villainy. Totally fun read, with romance and mystery and misunderstandings, and a happy ending (with a hint of the second book to come (in Jan 2026).
  • Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland, by Gerald Clarke – Edith Piaf made me think of Judy Garland, so I segwayed my way to her upon finishing Edith. Another tragic yet fabulous life, another small yet huge lady. I have been a fan of Judy since I first saw her in some MGM musical or another way back when. Not Oz, though. Could’ve been Summerstock.

May 5, I’m a big fan of Whose Line Is It Anyway, that improv show. Some time back, I was looking to see if any of the WLIIA cast would have written a memoir/autobio, but couldn’t find any – I did find this book: Not Quite the Classics by Colin Mochrie, and now I finally got around to reading it.

Twelve classics, twelve short stories inspired by the classic, with the first and last sentences provided by said book. Funny stuff, like reading an improv show. I can basically hear Mochrie’s “voice” as I read the stories!

May 22, As I was finishing the bio of Edith Piaf (by Jean-Dominique Brierre) today, I was also expecting to receive Fearless, finally, thinking I would read that next. However, as I read the last chapters of Piaf, I felt the pull of the Judy Garland bio (by Gerald Clarke) change my mind, so that’s what I started reading. Didn’t get far yet, just through the brief history of her parents and right to the paragraph about her birth where it blew my mind to learn that Baby in Dirty Dancing is really a nod and a bow to Judy Garland, named Frances at birth, but called Baby by her family!

April reads, 2025

MarilkaLeave a comment

So, 14 books in April. Sort of shortish ones, mostly; been bingeing on the Sookie Stackhouse series (by Charlaine Harris) and the books are mostly somewhere around 280-320 pages. I’m currently reading Sookie #10 (of 13 main books in the series, read 1-8 in April), so soon will be moving on to something different again (which is kinda good since there’s several quite long expected new releases coming up in May). I’ve been LOVING this series, seriously! There’s something about Sookie that makes these in a way gruesome books full of death and violence just so sweet and lovely, funny even. I guess Sookie herself is just so sweet and lovely, in the midst of all the mayhem.

Anyhow, there were other books too, so let’s take a look:

  • Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World (Aristotle and Dante, book 2), by Benjamin Alire Sáenz – such a heartwarmingly wonderful sequel continuing the story of the young lovers in a time when being gay was not really accepted
  • The Lights of Sugarberry Cove, by Heather Webber – turned out to be a lovely story, once we got past all that whining and resentment going on in the family (I mean, it was the foundation but kinda went on for a bit too long; I got tired of it)
  • The Courting of Bristol Keats, by Mary E. Pearson – I really enjoyed this one! Beautifully written story of the crude and brutal fae world at war
  • Three Wild Things and the Truth, by Markus Zusak – A memoir of their life with adopted (rescue – though they don’t call them that) dogs, big and rowdy and violent even. Resonated with my dog experiences a lot (even though ours are small)
  • Powerless, by Lauren Roberts – a bit of a Hunger Games copy, or at least heavily standing on their shoulders. YA, quite good reading, but nothing truly special or something I’d gush about

April 20, Gee, I loved The Courting of Bristol Keats, (Mary E. Pearson)! One of those books that go to show how very different we are in what we like, even inside a genre. I bought the book, actually specifically ordered the special Fairyloot edition since it was available through a bookstore chain in our nook of the woods too, because a) it was beautiful and b) I knew I was gonna love it.

Then I read some reviews in Bookaholics, that were less than promising. People had struggled with it, not getting into the story, it was too slow, whatnot. I almost got discouraged, but decidedly pushed other people’s opinions away, and started reading the book. It had me hooked in three pages. It held me tight for all 541 pages and now I have a book-hangover – AND have to wait for a half a year for the sequel (and hope that I can get it in the same edition without needing to wait extra…). Another top read of the year (they just keep on piling up, don’t they 😂)

March reads, 2025

MarilkaLeave a comment

My March weekends were again taxed with reno work at home and some other Life® related stuff, but you can’t keep a reader down 😂 Though ok “only” 11 books read, but some real quality books, most of them! Not that that’s unusual, so.

  • Torinon enkeli, by Taina Latvala, was my first March read. A Finnish book, one I bought some years ago at a book fair where I seemed to buy a lot of books that interested me only mildly. Still I read it, and I guess it was a quite nice story.
  • After that bookstore on my way home from work had done that reno, making English books more visibly displayed, I first found out that The Inheritance Games (by Jennifer Lynn Barnes) acually had a book 4: The Brothers Hawthorne, so I had to get that (in Kindle though), obviously! Loved it!
  • Also loved to discover, upon finishing that, that Jennifer Lynn Barnes has started a new sequal trilogy: The Grandest Game, of which the first book (that’s the name of the book too) is already available and so I got and read that too. Book 2 coming out in July.
  • Perhaps the read of the month, though, was the Belladonna series: Belladonna, Foxglove, and Wisteria, by Adalyn Grace. Maybe. These rating things are hard for me 😂
  • The Village Library Demon Hunting Society, by C.M. Waggoner, on the other hand was a tiny bit of a disappointment, plus the ending puzzled me a touch.
  • The Other Bennet Sister, by Janice Hadlow, was another “read of the month” along with Belladonna and the Hawthornes (no, not the Thorn Grove ones, the other ones)
  • I also absolutely loved Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (Aristotle and Dante, book 1), by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, and am 4/5 through book 2, so that will be featured in April reads
  • Finally, Evidence of a Folktale (Autopsy of a Fairytale, book 5), by Nicole Scarano! As excellent as expected! Also, book 6 coming out in October, yey!
  • And last but not least, Simon and Milt Bevell and the Sorceress of Oden, by LIsa M Whitehead, which I finished only last night. Maybe not my favorite – I found the story kinda jumpy and sometimes it felt like something had been edited out or changed but not fully edited, and a lot of grammatical errors that occasionally made reading a bit difficult – but I think I’d like a loan arhcer to come and kill my loans with his silver arrows 😝 Fun story, though!

March 15, The Belladonna series by Adalyn Grace – those books I bought at the end of Feb and had an actual conversation about in the book store – they were fabs! They’re right at the top of my best reads so far this year! They’re gothicy, sinister, mysterious, deliciously dark, decadently atmospheric – as Kerri Maniscalco states on the cover of Foxglove, and I can’t put it any better.

Belladonna starts the series, hooking you right up, Foxglove brings it to its peak – definitely the best book of the trilogy, and finally Wisteria brings the storyline to its end. Wisteria started kinda slow, and I didn’t exacly like the ending, but still an excellent read❣️

March 27, Finally, finally! Book 5 of Nicole Scarano’s Autopsy of a Fairytale series, Evidence of a Folktale, was published and dropped into my Kindle on March 21, and just finished it tonight. I didn’t get to it immediately as I was still in the middle of The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow – the longest read of the year so far with 660 pages or so – at that point, but it was naturally next in line. At the end of book #5 I learned that there’s book #6 to come in October, so another Kindle preorder, another Autopsy book to look forward to still this year!

About that other Bennet sister. It was a wonderful Austen spin-off book, the story of Mary, where we see her bloom and become a charming young lady. It was totally Austenian in the storytelling as well as the ending, and I loved it!

February reads, 2025

MarilkaLeave a comment

I had my winter break again in Feb and a friend asked if I read a book a day again. Nope, not this time. H was on vacation too, and I had some other little interests and things to do almost daily in addition to reading – some arts and crafts, going out to see my kids, helping H with the furniture building etc. Perhaps 14 books is a bit more than a regular month, especially when it’s a shortie month, but more or less a normal reading month for me.

  • Started the month with the sweet middle schooler story The Lost Library (by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass). It was, well, sweet. A story of books and friends and family. And a bit of mystery.
  • Nicole Scarano’s Autopsy of a Fairytale series was the obsession of the month – absolutely devoured it!
  • Murakami is Murakami. Norwegian Wood surprised me as it has nothing paranormal in it, whereas Dance Dance Dance obviously is one of the bizarre Murakamis, though not as the first book of the duology, the mindbending as The Wild Sheep Chase.
  • Emily Wilde trilogy came to its finale in the Compendium of Lost Tales, a delight, as expected!
  • Brynne Weaver’s Butcher & Blackbird dark romance series was, well, I don’t know. I think I gave them four stars – I liked them, while not the mentality of vengeance and vigilance so much.
  • The Woodsmoke Women’s Book of Spells by Rachel Greenlaw was spellbinding, I recommend!
  • Fred Astaire’s Steps in Time is definitely worth reading; an intriguing tale of showbiz from theaters to the movies, in a time so different from ours
  • The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians, by James Patterson, ended the month promptly at 21:30 on the last evening of February. A collection of stories from a myriad of people working with people and books, books and people.

After reading the sweet middle schooler story “The Lost Library”, I switched to something a bit darker: Nicole Scarano’s Autopsy of a Fairytale, which starts a series that goes by that same name. Deliciously dark, in an intriguing and not at all cruel or ugly kind of a way despite the theme, the unreal crimes and whatnot. I mean, if a story has an important dog, a pitbull, it can’t be unlikeable. Though dogs didn’t remedy John Wick for me. Still. So anyway, I started the first book, took a liking, and went and bought the three next ones plus book #5 that will come out in March.

Feb 11, I finished book #4, that ended in a goddanmn cliffhanger and I need to wait for several weeks (but hey, at least not a year) to continue the story of Bel and Eamon!

On the other hand, the long-awaited book #3 of the Emily Wilde series by Heather Fawcett arrived in my Kindle today, so perfect timing for that!

Feb 28, I finished Patterson’s The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians. So many times while reading these accounts, I wondered if I should be a bookseller. My dream is to own a book café – books, coffee & tea, cozy living room away from home – but I don’t think that’ll ever happen unless I happen to win the lottery (and I don’t even buy the tickets 😀 ).

The only thing that mystified me throughout the book was all them patrons TALKING with the sellers and librarians, interacting and forming relationships. As a teen, I devoured everything in the local libraries, popping in to return read books and check out a pile of new ones weekly, if not multiple times a week. I have no recollection of speaking with any librarians, like ever. At least not beyond any necessities at the counter or so. Same when I visit bookstores.

And then, just today, I realized there are at least SOME exceptions to this for me, too, when I returned to the bookstore I frequent on my way home from work. They have recently done some amazing reorganizing of the store, with a bigger and more enticing English books section, a little sofa nook next to it, and the overall look and feel is more spacious and alluring now. I just HAD to tell them this – and ended up discussing the Belladonna series I was holding in my arms with the clerk too. She hadn’t read it yet, and we agreed that the covers were beautiful, hopefully a true reflexion of the story, “you should come back and tell me how you liked it”. I found myself mumbling that I will (seriously, got me confused, not knowing how to respond), and thinking to myself, oh ok, this kind of interaction actually DOES happen for real!

January reads, 2025

MarilkaLeave a comment

I ended up reading a lot more than I expected what with all sorts of other stuff going on during weekends and a busy month at work.

  • Holly Black was a bit of a disappointment – I expected more enchantment, but the books were all deception, scheming, violence, and ugliness (meaning the atmosphere etc.).
  • Deanna Raybourn – Lady Julia Grey was not quite as fabulous as the Veronica Speedwell series was, but excellent reads in their own right.
  • Emily Henry is nothing if not guaranteed feel-good.
  • Paris Hilton’s story is, I don’t know. I have no words. Just read it.
  • Lola Glass’s supernatural smutty romance stories were quite fun.