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Remembering Dan Pelzer and the quiet reading life

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My 2025 personal curriculum

For quite some time, I’ve been a little disappointed in the reads I’ve been picking up. Some have been fantastic, but I’ve noticed there are more books I put down than I pick up and I wondered to myself if it may be related to the quality of stories publishing lately. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve read some incredible new books, but my drive to continue to read and review new books has just…

#Books

Totally and Completely Fine by Elissa Sussman // Book Review

As the title suggests, this one was totally and completely fine. Totally and Completely Fine by Elissa Sussman came to me randomly. I was in the middle of finishing up a romantasy series and I knew I had to take a break from the fantasy. I’d read Funny You Should Ask a few years back and absolutely loved it, so when I saw this book would follow Gabe Parker’s sister and her sorted love…

#romance #romcom

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes // Book Review

I’m kind of in that rare place where most of my bookish friends have read a book like this when they were in high school, but not me. I blame this one English teacher who focused more on plays than prose, which caused me to miss out on fundamental reads like this incredible sci-fi story of a man who undergoes a medical procedure to increase his intelligence level. Written in the epistolary…

#magical realism #science fiction

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab // Book Review

“Bury my bones in the midnight soil,Plan them shallow, water them deep,And in my place will grow a feral rose,Soft red petals hiding sharp white teeth.” Why is it the books I loved the most, I have little to say about them? Ok, well, this book turned out to be one of my favorite reads of the year so far! Wow! I had a hard time putting this book down and when I did, I tried my best to find the…

#fantasy #vampires

The Devils by Joe Abercrombie // Book Review

Have you ever read a book that’s simultaneously the longest book in the world (in feel, not by actual length) and also a pretty good intro into Joe Abercromebie? That’s what I got from Joe Abercrombie’s latest offering. The Devils follows a rag-tag team of monsters who are forced to escort the recently found princess (former thief) across the country to take up the throne she’s been destined for…

#fantasy

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman // Book Review

LitRPG. It’s a thing. I didn’t know about this thing until recently, but it’s been around for quite some time and if you’re a fan of RPG video games, Dungeons and Dragons, and quirky characters with feline companions, then this is going to be right up your alley. Dungeon Crawler Carl is the first book in what looks to be an epic series about a guy named Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess…

#fantasy #science fiction

The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig // Book Review

If you’ve ever seen those statues and busts of women with veils over their faces (also, wow, that stonework is quite incredible), and you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to have an entire fantasy story centered around it, then this is the book for you. The first in a new series from the author of The Shepherd King duology, The Knight and the Moth is entirely different from what Rachel…

#fantasy #romance

Say You'll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez // Book Review

I never tire of Abby Jimenez. When you’re down about the world and just want to get a little dose of dopamine in your life, then pick up any of her books. There’s a few hallmarks that you’ll always get with a good Abby Jimenez book. 1) She’ll always mention Nadia Cakes (the cupcake bakery she owned before becoming an author). 2) She will always feature Minnesota. 3) Her characters will always be…

#romance

The Third Rule of Time Travel by Philip Fracassi // Book Review

I’m a huge fan of time travel stories. Ever since I was a kid and I read The Time Machine by H.G. Wells for the first time, I was in love with this idea of traveling to the future or the past. Over time, my love of the genre continued to grow and I love exploring all concepts of portal jumping, time distortion, parallel universes. It’s definitely an interesting concept for me and when I heard…

#science fiction #thriller

The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami // Book Review

I’ve got to be honest, I really wanted to like this one and it was good and interesting, but it didn’t really blow me away. The story follows Sara Hussein, a retainee at the Madison facility where folks who are accused of committing violent crimes in their dreams are kept for a minimum of 21 days to ensure that these machinations never see fruition. In its simplest form, this is what the book is…

#literary #sci fi

Red Dragon by Thomas Harris // Book Review

There’s nothing more intimidating than a super muscular demon on the book cover to represent the horrors of the villain within its pages. In this review, I dive into my thoughts on Red Dragon by Thomas Harris, the first book to feature Dr. Hannibal Lecter and before the even more famous The Silence of the Lambs. Having watched the movie (Manhunter, not Red Dragon) before reading the book, I…

#horror #thriller

Hello, reading slump, my old friend.

Well, I don’t know what did it this time but I’m stuck in a reading slump this week. And instead of going without a blog post for another week because I’m not crunching out the books reviews, I thought I would write about it. I’ve been pretty mindful of my book slumps in the past. I never know what book causes it. In fact, I was on a streak of some 5-star reads so I’m a little upset this has hit…

#Blogging

Boys in the Valley by Philip Fracassi // Book Review

I’ve been on a weird kick lately reading a lot of books featuring demons, possession, the fight between heaven and hell, good and evil, etc. It’s a weird little kick and I think I’ve reached the pinnacle with Boys in the Valley by Philip Fracassi. The book takes place in a small orphanage somewhere in the Delaware valley right at the turn of the 20th century. For all intents and purposes, this…

#horror

How Mickey 17's trailer made me read Mickey7

It’s a weird “chicken and egg” moment in a reader’s life when they come across a book through the trailer of a movie. What came first? Interest in the story because of the synopsis or because Robert Pattinson is starring in the Bong Joon-ho adaptation of said book? While I do know I have a deep appreciation for both Pattinson and Joon-ho, it was the premise that finally got me picking up a copy…

#sci-fi #thriller

Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao // Book Review

If you’re looking for something that whisks you away to a Ghibli-inspired world of dreams, paper cranes, cloud hopping, and more, then this might be the book for you. Here’s more about Water Moon A woman inherits a pawnshop where you can sell your regrets, and then embarks on a magical journey when a charming young physicist wanders into the shop, in this dreamlike and enchanting fantasy…

#fantasy #magical realism

When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi // Book Review

Did I have that song “That’s Amore” stuck in my head every single time I picked up this book? Yep. I’m a huge fan of John Scalzi and his latest work he begs the question “how would the world react if the moon turned into cheese?” Here’s more about When the Moon Hits Your Eye From the New York Times bestselling author of Starter Villain comes an entirely serious take on a distinctly unserious…

#sci-fi

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