Read and Write What's in Your Heart

Hi I live in the wonderful, non-existant state of Iowa! I love reading and traveling whenever I can! I also write on the side and hope to publish something small some day. I post what I have currently read and my thoughts on it.

[9fruit]

Started using phone time to read library ebooks instead of scrolling and it’s made me back into the crazy voracious reader I was at age 12. i’ve been averaging a book a day this week. everyone delete your social media and get your ass on libby

[meltedvinyls]

swooping in to let ppl know if they ask their public library alot of them have ebook apps associated with their library and all you need is to register for a library card you can also use it as a way to check for books you want or reserve/request books for pickup at your local public library

i fucking love libraries

[historiaiswritten]

Year in Review

I know this is a day late, I wanted to get it up yesterday, but life happens. So here is last years reading challenge. I didn't gain much traction towards the end of the year due to life dragging me to the depths for a sink or swim test. So although I didn't get much further in my reading challenge, I did have plans for each of these categories and this next year, I plan to take a small break from my reading challenge and read what I have laying about. The TBR has grown exponentially since starting with these challenges.

Reading challenge journey:

A dystopian

Involves a STEM topic - The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Katie Moore

Philosophy book - The Cat Who Taught Zen by James Norbury

One From TBR - Sherlock Holmes and the Red Tower by Mark A. Latham

Themed Holiday - The Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson

Read Before - A Shameful Life (No Longer Human) by Osamu Dazai

African-American Author

From the Library - Kill Joy by Holly Jackson

A New Favorite Author - As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson

A Novella - What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher

Romance - Pestilence by Laura Thalassa

Dark Acadamia

Made Into a Show or Movie

That’s Won a Prize

About Nature - The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming by David Wallace-Wells

World Reading Challenge:

Latin America

Australia

Scotland

Japan

Egypt - Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

Iraq

Russia - We by Yevgeny Zamyatin

Malaysia

Brazil

Iceland

Morocco

Zimbabwe

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Christmas time is here again! Here for another good and done story, A Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson. First off, they give us a little reason behind writing this novella, and it certainly fits with what I have seen and experienced around this holiday. Receiving books for Christmas only to immediately sit there and start reading them; ignoring my other gifts of course and being pushed to get ready to head to grandma and grandpa's house. 

This Christmas tale stars an American woman being invited to an Englander’s home for the holiday since she has no family left. During this time, she is introduced to many different traditions, personalities, and meeting her friend's twin brother and falls deeply for him. Telling through her diary of the time being there, we hear her side of the story and what happens between the three of them. 

A quick mystery for a cozy, winter night while enjoying a nice cup of hot chocolate will certainly add a little touch of cold and darkness to the bright and cheery holiday!

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Another one of Eric LaRocca’s short story compilations. The Trees Grew Because I Bled was an interesting set of stories. I will say it’s one of the few that went on my DNF, did not finish, list. I have read his other book Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke and Other Misfortunes and that one was good last spooky season. For one reason or another, I couldn’t really get into this one; I noticed the writing a little more this time around and didn’t care much for it. As if it wasn’t up to par for a professional writer.

When I did a little more background on this author, I found that he is part of the LGBTQ+ group and that made me happy to read and review some of his writing, but that might have also hindered what I was reading to. Reading some of the views on this book was interesting and it was a pick and choose what story to read. Unfortunately, it made enough of an impact that I couldn’t really read it; alongside the writing as well.This also goes hand in hand with his other book Everything the Darkness Eats. I read about 30 pages and still couldn’t quite get into it. I really do like the idea and plot of this book, but trying to get into it was tough and lacking something to desire.

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What a wonderful tale of a house being the monster all along. I stumbled on Brain Asman’s book, Man, Fuck This House while looking up another book that was recommended to me on Amazon. If anything, I most certainly judge the cover, or more so the title, of this book. We start with a family who moved due to the father’s job relocating him to this quiet town with a nice cul-de-sac area. The mom is a college drop out, the dad is part of I.T. for business, the daughter is hitting the teens and showing normal teenage behavior, and the son, well, the doctor said he ingested his twin in the womb and the mom took it as cannibalism and started to think her son is a demon.

Interestingly, this story takes place within a week as everything escalates into chaos. It’s not generated in chapters, but the days and it’s interesting how everything can change within a day; for better or for worse. The mom sees a ghost and gets evidence that something did happen whether or not anyone believes her, the dad wants to get her help as he isn’t as oblivious as everyone thinks he is, the daughter actually tries to help her mom get help whether her mom will acknowledge it or not, and the son pulls nasty pranks on his mom, leaning into the demon idea his mom has of him. The house tries to help the mom as best as it can regardless of the measures it takes or what harm it brings.

A novel of 200 pages is a good night or weekend read to really make you think you’re going crazy. Not a completely scary book, but moving into a new home can be scary and you never know what you may be walking into.

[historiaiswritten]

If you ever need something cute and like the weird stories around the cryptids, you would love these short panels from The Cryptid Club by Sarah Anderson. A small, cute twist on cryptids that are just doing everyday, normal things and having interactions with each other. From being spooked by a sound in the bushes, worrying about dates, to making friends, it covers a wide range of things that one wouldn’t think they might even go through.

In need of some cozy, funny comics for the spooky season, this would be a good cozy read.

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The next mystery in Janice Hallett’s archive has come to light. I loved reading The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels as there are many twists and turns that lead you in a million directions.

Written in the style of emails, messages, and audio recordings, it certainly feels as though you are sitting with the files themselves. At the beginning, it warns you that you won’t be able to turn back once you reach a certain point in the files. It certainly feels as though you shouldn’t know the information and knowing that many people have disappeared when they have gotten too close to the truth sets a wave of paranoia and curiosity on the reader.

It gives an insight of how many people can fall victim to cult-like activities and what leaders look for in followers. Listening to podcasts and reading about a number of different serial killers and some cults, it’s incredible how people can fall so quickly for these cults. Looking at ones in our history, hindsight is much better than when you're going through it, but the writing from Hallett gets you thinking that maybe this cult that's presented isn’t so bad after all. It’s all about deceiving to get to the bottom and not many writers or  journalists are willing to go down the darker path to get the absolute truth.

[historiaiswritten]

What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher is another installment of the Sworn Soldier series. I really enjoyed this book as much as the first one. The first one was mostly based off of Edgar Allen Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher. This just continues with that idea, the theme of the macabre and unsettling atmosphere. A world where everything seems normal, until it’s not and when you're settled in, you’re not sure what’s making you feel uneasy, but something is.

This time, our main character, Alex Easton, goes to an old hunting lodge his family has owned. He hasn’t been there in quite some time, but is in need of getting away from the big city. The moment he steps foot on the property, his unease comes to light with the deathly silence that has settled on the property and finding his previous caretaker dead. His trusty war friend and steed come with and they invite the wonderful scientist from the previous book to wander about the property and do research on the fauna and fungi that grows. The companion points out that it’s not proper for two men and a woman to stay in a lodge in the middle of the forest by themselves, so they hire a maid who seems to hate the house. She thinks something evil is happening and little does she know how correct she is.

Through mild investigation and small accidents, it becomes quite clear that this land the lodge is on is cursed with a dark history. Our main character does choose to put himself in harm's way to figure out the truth and he is not disappointed.

I’m excited for this series to continue. I am not sure how many more books will be in this set, but they are novellas that you can read at night over the weekend and are good for the spooky time of the year.

[sourdough-seal]

bingewatching will never come close to bingereading. there is nothing like blocking out the entire Earth for ten hours to read a book in one sitting no food no water no shower no bra and emerging at the end with no idea what time it is or where you are, a dried-up prune that's sensitive to light and loud noises because you've been in your room in the dark reading by the glow of a single LED. it's like coming back after a three-month vacation in another dimension and now you have to go downstairs and make dinner. absolutely transcendental

[historiaiswritten]

A Darker Shade of Magic Series by V.E. Schwab has a phenomenal story with the old time of London and magic. The amazing details between parallel versions of London with varying degrees of magic. An amazing world created by Schwab. I was attracted to this series as soon as I saw the cover. They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but I most certainly did on this one.

In A Darker Shade of Magic, we meet our cast of characters. A misplaced, magic wielding girl who comes from a London where all magic is depleted, a boy who questions where he comes from, but is treated as royalty next to a prince, and another boy who was raised in a different London where it’s kill or be killed.

In this first installment, we follow the interlacing stories of these four characters. The prince is gifted with a necklace that is said to give him more magic power from one of the boys. It ends up being cursed and everything is inevitability brought to a stand still and lives are lost. The other boy struggles with being left in a London that isn’t his own with no way back only to seek out this mysterious girl who has sleeping magic power. They get back to the royal palace and fight off the evil that lurks.

A Gathering of Shadows  starts with an interesting premise that just bleeds into the final installment. It’s time for the magic tournament between the kingdoms and is meant to be harmless. Once all the competitors are gathered, darkness sweeps into the kingdom and all hell is broken loose. The kingdom starts to fall as this new shadow appears and starts to take over, taking over anyone that will allow it to control. There are hints that it starts to seep into the other Londons as well, even though they don’t have as much magic power as Red London. The crew that readers fall in love with, come together and work to diminish the shadows once and for all, but not before sacrifices are made and prevent the strongest from striking out.

The final act in this series, A Conjuring of Light, picks up right where the last one ended and sends our crew to find a solution to the darkness. While they are gone, more lives are sacrificed, more risks are taken that affect everyone involved, good and bad, and the crew gambling away their most treasured object. Whether it’s life force, another item, or information. Coming back to the kingdom, they are faced with an army from a rival kingdom that takes advantage of the chaos  and the loss of leaders. Once back in the palace they are still faced with many challenges and barely scrape by to save their world.

I loved this series and the world that was created. I devoured it quickly and craved for more. The characters were more realistic and relatable for the fantasy of it and they were well crafted. I will say, in the third installment, they did become a little flat as it seemed like all of the development was in the previous books and little to no development happened in the third. I feel as though some of the characters could’ve used some more expansive dialogue or moments to truly bring out their history and why they are the way they are. Especially the ones that have such tragic backstories, that could have been expanded on more with the situations they were in or their reactions with other characters or problems they faced.

[historiaiswritten]

A Shameful Life by Osamu Dazai (Or No Longer Human) 

 

*WARNING some topics may being triggering or may be upsetting* 

 

An interesting book overall. A story about a Japanese man who tells his story starting from childhood, the alienation he felt from his family with not being able to pick up social cues and being a trickster. His tomfoolery bleeds into his school career, and university career since he does not know how to act in a social setting and feels as though he is not human himself. Using a friend in grade school, he is influenced to get into drugs, alcohol, and sex. He moves from one place to another even when he is given help to get back on his feet and continues this self-destructive pattern throughout his life. 

I had originally read this as the manga, illustrated by Junji Ito, and thought it was creepy and it certainly was a unique way to adapt the story. It was horrific and leaned more towards suicide and not wanting to live anymore. Granted the original story did have some of that theme sprinkled through, but not as obvious as the manga. 

Being able to read a more direct translation, it was interesting to see the themes behind it and, knowing this was the last book Osamu wrote, really tells of the author's mental state he was in and the spiraling he may have been dealing with. It is said to be a quasi-autobiography of his life. Looking at it and comparing his life, it seems remarkably similar. This was one of his last works before he ended his life with a lover. It would be an informative book to study in school, outside of its more morbid and dark themes, it gives insight to people that may have social anxiety, or are not very exposed to social cues, or dealing with trauma themselves.

[bookaddict24-7]

“She read paperbacks too, one after the next like she was chain-smoking—romance, science fiction, old pulp fantasy. All she wanted to do was sit, unbothered in a circle of lamplight, and live someone else’s life.”

―Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

[historiaiswritten]

Happy National Book Lover's Day! Grab a book, old or new, and read!

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The finale to the Good Girls Guide to Murder series, As Good as Dead was quite the finale with all the twists and turns and everything being flipped upside down with what evidence and clues you are given and what you, as the reader, must figure out for yourself. 

In this finale, Pip is spiraling even more and being on the edge of constant paranoia really gets the readers heart pumping. She is back on the case after being traumatized so much from the previous case she worked on; she is hoping to jump into a Jane Doe case to be able to ‘save herself.’ After arguing with the wonderful Max Hastings about a lawsuit, she is now being stalked and having messages left at her home. She tries to get the police involved, but just like the other two times she has gone to them, they say it is all in her head and she is paranoid with how famous her podcast has become. 

Being paranoid is never fun, but neither is being threatened and kidnapped. A heart-pounding conclusion to a wonderful trilogy that I devoured quickly. I wanted to know more, I wanted to hear more about where the plot was going. This author has me hooked and I may bite off more in the future!

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Death on the Nile is another classic detective story with an amazing author. I have become obsessed with Agatha Christie as of late and cannot wait to read more from her. 

Hercule Poirot needs a vacation from solving murders in Paris. A vacation to the wonderful golden sands in Egypt. While sailing on a boat and taking in the magnificent sites of pyramids, he is pulled into a murder that does not make a whole lot of sense in all aspects. Love is in the air but so is ‘if I can’t have you, no one can’ mentality. While in the process of thoroughly looking through everyone’s belongings, a witness comes forth and adds another body to the pile. Though Poirot has help from a previous companion, it turns into a work-cation. 

Though I am reading Hercule Poirot out of order, it makes it interesting to know there are hidden easter eggs within the novels themselves from previous cases. 

[historiaiswritten]

Summer Beach Reading

[historiaiswritten]

As many people know, that is a part of my life, I love good mysteries and I am a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes. Mark A. Lathem took me with interest as Sherlock Holmes and the Red Tower story was one I had never heard of before about Sherlock Holmes. I soon came to find that it was part of a new series of mysteries a group of authors were writing about, taking place after he had *spoiler* ‘faked’ his death. 

So, in this, it is mostly told from Dr. Watson’s perspective as in, it centers around him, and Sherlock only shows up when Dr. Watson needs him. In one way, they both have ‘retired’ but still take on cases here and there. 

Dr. Watson is invited to an old friend's home after his friend, James Crain, has lost his mother and wants to have a seance to speak with her. Unfortunately, a murder occurs, and Holmes is called in. Of course, they are there to debunk the paranormal and prove that the medium is scamming people with her ‘medium powers.’ All the while, so many loose threads are brought to light. 

As a Sherlock fan, it was nice to get more cases from him. Though, I was much like some of the characters in the story, feeling strung along a little too much for my liking. His snarkiness is to be expected but a majority of the book was about Sherlock not telling anything about what he has found or explaining things he has discovered to Dr. Watson until the end; which could have saved a lot of their time and London Yard’s time in explaining everything once it was all found out.