July 2, 2020
I had a great deal of fun with the first two books, and with the whole COVID madness thing in the world, I’d forgotten that April was the release date for the final book. Until I remembered. Then I promptly got on the library’s wait list for the eBook. I prefer to not deal in eBooks if at all possible…
July 1, 2020
Lovecraft Country (2016) Written by: Matt Ruff Genre: Dark Fantasy/Horror Host: Casey Price Discussion Date: 7/31/2020 The Premise: Soon to be a New HBO® Series from J.J. Abrams (Executive Producer of Westworld), Misha Green (Creator of Underground) and Jordan Peele (Director of Get Out) The critically acclaimed cult novelist makes visceral the terrors of life in Jim Crow America and its lingering effects…
July 1, 2020
Some months I read really chewy books that require analysis. Some months I read books that are just so excellently put together, it’s a pleasure to review them. And some months, everything is so chaotic, I just read for the simple escape of it. Some books are meals, and some are appetizers. This is an appetizer plate for your consideration.
June 26, 2020
I first learned about Midnight at the Blackbird Café when the Speculative Chic editor tagged me in a Facebook post about the book. It’s a well-known fact that reading and baking are my truest loves. The gorgeous blueberry tart on the cover immediately caught my attention because it looks so delicious. Every aspect of the book felt tailor-made for me.…
June 23, 2020
The SpaceX launch had me hankering for some space travel science fiction and both The Calculating Stars and The Fated Sky have been sitting on my shelf for a while. Also, my husband and I told each other we’d read more science fiction together during quarantine. That hasn’t happened yet, so I jumped in and dragged him along with me.…
June 16, 2020
The great thing about the metaphorical map of speculative fiction is the sheer variety of landscape. Some stories are great mountain ranges, enormous peaks of books that you ascend, book after book, hiking over hundreds of thousands of words. And then there’s the land of Anthologia, located in the realm of Short Fiction, where you can take a stroll, or…
June 4, 2020
This is the final book available for the Embraced series. The title sounds slightly less hokey, though my guess is it’s supposed to be a play on How to Love Yourself. I might be wrong, but I don’t much care. Quick story time: Officially this book is Embraced by Magic Book 1 because, in case you didn’t notice, Kerrelyn Sparks…
June 3, 2020
Technically, this is a reread, but it’s a reread with purpose. Robert Jackson Bennett is one of my favorite writers, slipping onto my auto-buy list. The thing is, it wasn’t always that way. I read The Company Man, and didn’t like it. So then I read Mr. Shivers and didn’t like it. After that, I read The Troupe and almost…
June 2, 2020
On the very last day before the public library closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, I made a frantic trip to snatch up as many books as I could. Grave Sight was one of the books that I grabbed because I enjoy Charlaine Harris’ light, quirky paranormal mystery books. I also chose this book because it was the only first…
June 1, 2020
Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe (2019) Written by: Heather Webber Genre: Magical Realism Host: Kelly McCarty Discussion Date: 6/26/2020 The Premise: Heather Webber’s Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe is a captivating blend of magical realism, heartwarming romance, and small-town Southern charm. Nestled in the mountain shadows of Alabama lies the little town of Wicklow. It is here that Anna Kate…