I ready 12 books total this month, with a total of 2832 pages: 5 Juvenile-level, 1 Young Adult, and 6 Adult. Surprisingly, nothing dipped below a 5 out of 10 rating...probably because I'm getting better about dropping books I'm not enjoying.
Anyway, without further ado, on to the post!
1/10 - Why Did They Publish This?
How To Lose A Goblin In Ten Days | Jessie Sylva
So this is a romance set in a fantasy setting between a halfling woman and a nonbinary goblin (hell yeah, respect on the names of nonbinary people and goblins, finally) but... I'm going to be so real, I was on board with the analysis of how people who don't fit into cookie-cutter communities get ostracized from those communities and the sacrifices that are made by an individual for the sake of the greater whole. I was on board with analyzing how halflings portrayed themselves as wholesome and helpless but were just as ruthless as anyone else. But then it kind of...went nowhere.
See, the summary of the book promises that the cottage and the communities of the halflings and goblins would be threatened by a common enemy, but that doesn't show up until the very end of the book, the halflings don't actually contribute to the end even when the goblins show up to help them, and...frankly it didn't wrap up in any particularly satisfying way?
This is why I am describing this book primarily as a romance despite the fantasy. The actual threat promised in the book has little to do with the overall plot, this is very much a romance-first thing. I'm pretty sure I enjoyed it, but ultimately I didn't find myself wanting to rate it any higher than a 6 out of 10.
Secrets At Sea | Richard Peck, Kelly Murphy
[Juvenile] [Contemporary, Historical, Western]
This is a historical story following talking mice. That is what drew me in. I love a good mouse story, as seen by The Tale Of Despereaux. However, this one was...incredibly scattershot, even for a Juvenile-level book. Our singular POV character (Helena) had little idea of what was going on anywhere, random things would happen, random characters would show up and somehow we were supposed to be invested in them, and by the end most of the female characters (mouse and human alike) were paired up with somebody because I guess that's how it had to be. Also, the titular "secrets at sea" were just…things that happened during the story. There were no secrets because Helena didn't know shit about what was going on.
Overall, 5 out of 10, I wouldn't recommend this even to its target demographic but it's not blatantly offensive or anything. It's just boring.
[Adult] [Mystery, Horror, Thriller, Psychological, Paranormal]
So this is a paranormal horror thriller, and...honestly the pieces didn't really work well together? For some reason, I wasn't that impressed by the way it connected. I was very interested in Dahye's part, and Junyoung made for a good pervert villain, but then the paranormal stuff was added, and then the ending just... The writing's fine, I just feel like the two elements clashed against each other in such a way that neither story thread was fully satisfied. Monika Kim seems like a good author, I just didn't enjoy this book. 5 out of 10.
7 to 8/10 - Good With Caveats
Silver Under Nightfall | Rin Chupeco
[Adult] [Science Fantasy]
The best way to describe this book is as a science paranormal horror book with fantasy elements because our main female vampire character literally has the goddamn Kamehameha of pure, undiluted sunlight. It kind of drifts along for the first 100 pages, kicks up at page 200, goes harder at page 300, and then hits turbo around page 400 and does not fucking stop until you slam into the end.
I enjoyed our main poly ship (M/M/F) and it was pretty horny without being explicit, which means I'll be filing it under my Adult books instead of my Peenitz Out books. I will absolutely be picking up the second book, and I believe it's only a duology. Overall, 8 out of 10.
Nettle & Bone | T Kingfisher
You know, originally I was annoyed by the introduction of Fenris as a romance option, but I warmed up to him in time and the pseudo-romance-subplot served a narrative purpose. I also love that we never learned the name of the dust-wife. I cannot stress enough how much I appreciate the emphasis on family in this book. Marra is out here doing the most for the sake of her sister after the death of their eldest sister.
I enjoyed reading this, but I find myself preferring the horror-first works of this author to the fantasy-first ones based on what I've read so far. 8 out of 10, a good experience overall, I see why people go feral over it, but something about it didn't scratch quite the same itch for me.
The Infernal City: An Elder Scrolls Novel | Greg Keyes
So this is very much a 2009 Elder Scrolls book. It is exactly what you think it is and nothing more. It doesn't stand on its own unless you already know a lot about the Elder Scrolls universe and its lore, it absolutely requires you to read the second book to continue what's going on, and the two main characters that we get confirmed ages for are 17 and 22, which is...a choice.
But I still enjoyed it? Not enough to reread it for anything other than finding specific passages, but also it didn't necessarily suck. I'll give it a 7 out of 10.
Meet Kirsten: An American Girl | Janet Shaw
[Juvenile] [Contemporary, Historical, Western]
I forgot how utterly ruthless American Girl doll books were. A child dies of cholera in this one. Honestly, great book, kinda wish I still had my copies of American Girl books but I got this one when it was stripped from the catalogue of the library I work at. 8 out of 10.
Creative Girl's Club Adventure 1: Wellspring Of Magic | Jan Fields
I think this is a really fun and solid book for really young fantasy. I would have bristled at it as a child because it's more feminine than my interests were as a child, but it's really solid for a younger-aimed chapter book. Not sure how I feel about the bears turning into people at the end, but I liked them when they were bears. I'll give it a 7 out of 10 because I would have liked some better character descriptions but I still enjoyed it.
The Hyacinth Labyrinth ADVANCE READER'S COPY | Jamie Pacton
All thoughts on this book can be found in my full overview/review.
A House With Good Bones | T Kingfisher
[Adult] [Mystery, Horror, Thriller, Psychological, Paranormal]
So with the note that my previous experiences with T Kingfisher's writings were back in January 2026, I have devoted myself to picking up more of her books every time I find them. I would describe this as a mystery horror novel with a fantasy bend (thus continuing my theory that all of T Kingfisher's works can fall on a three-point triangle of Horror, Fantasy, and Romance; one day I will assemble the diagram).
It was absolutely wild to get further through it and discover that I am familiar with the things she is invoking in this one, even moreso than usual. I adored the protagonist, too, and I didn't mind being in her head. It brought a lot of much-needed levity and I loved the bug information.
Emmett Kelly: The Greatest Clown On Earth | Donald McManus
For some reason I was in a weird mood going into this one and wanted to read about sad clowns. I was surprised and impressed to see that the political troubles of the potato famine of Ireland were discussed here and pointed directly at the British. Not sure what else to say about this book tbh. A good read about a sad clown and the man who invented him.
10/10 - Unironically Recommend To Everyone
Helen Stephens: The Fulton Flash | Jason Offutt
This is a book where it's wild to read through it with the knowledge of how people treat women's sports and the backslide of feminism now. Especially when I checked Helen Stephens's page on Wikipedia and found that there was a gender controversy accusing her of being a man in 1936 at the Olympics. Somehow that was less wild than seeing the picture in this book of her shaking hands with Adolf Hitler. In any case, I recommend reading on Helen Stephens if you're at all interested in women's sports in the United States, and I am biased because we are both Missourians.
