Musings of a Bookish Kitty: January 2024

Saturday, January 27, 2024

Weekly Mewsings: My Bookish Mewsings on The Witch With No Name, The Japanese Lover, and Legends & Lattes

I am linking up to the Sunday Post hosted by Kim of Caffeinated Book Reviewer and The Sunday Salon (TSS) hosted by Deb Nance of Readerbuzz where participants recap our week, talk about what we are reading, share any new books that have come our way, and whatever else we want to talk about. I am also linking It's Monday! What Are you Reading? hosted by Kathryn of Book Date where readers talk about what they have been, are and will be reading.

Hello! Anjin is playing Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, keeping me company while I spend time visiting with you. It was Girl Scout Cookie pick up day for our area today. Lots and lots of cookies. Too many cookies. Too much temptation in my house. Mouse and her troop decorated the U-Haul truck used to pick up the troop's cookies last night and enjoyed pizza after. Marty took her so I could have some alone time. I got in some reading while they were gone.

There was another earthquake this past Wednesday, much closer to where I live, and so it felt bigger than the one earlier in the month even though they were the same magnitude (4.2). There was a moment in the middle of it that my husband and I looked at each other, wondering if we needed to get somewhere safer than our couch, but the earth settled back down within seconds so we stayed put. The cats weren't even bothered. It was not big enough to cause any damage fortunately. That is about the extent of anything noteworthy from my little speck of the world.

Gracie is as cuddly as ever.

"The fence is mended? I'll find another way in!"

Guess what?! I completed by Goodreads Challenge! I was determined to make it happen in January, and I kept my goal low enough so it would. This is cause for a celebration. Maybe a trip to the bookstore . . .

2024 Reading Challenge

Wendy has completed her goal of reading 6 books in 2024!

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8 of 6 (100%)

view books

I currently am reading The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years by Shubnum Khan. I have started meeting the residents of boardinghouse and think I will enjoy my visit with them. Plus, I am eager to dive more into the history of this grand estate and it's secrets!

What are you reading right now?

It was a record reading week for me. I am usually lucky to finish one book in a week, but it probably helped that I was already well into a couple of these.

Neck craned, I squinted up between the shadowed apartments ~ Opening of The Witch With No Name

The The Witch With No Name (The Hollows #13) by Kim Harrison
Harper Voyager, 2014
Fantasy; 433 pgs
Source: Purchased

The Hollows is one of my favorite urban fantasy series. I began the series in 2014, when I read the first book in the series, Dead Witch Walking, and it was all I hoped it would be. Kim Harrison created a world I could easily lose myself in, full of supernatural beings, magic, plenty of conflict and danger, mystery, and romance. Our witch protagonist, Rachel Morgan, grows considerably over the course of the books, in skill, power, and personal development. She is fiercely independent and very loyal to her friends. Her close friends and business partners, the vampire Ivy and Jenks, a pixie, have grown and evolved right alongside her. I have cried alongside Rachel when she lost friends and loved ones (a few whom I still miss), sat on the edge of my seat when the situation seems dire, and have cheered her on as she took down her enemies--or turned them into allies. Harrison has a way of making me like a character I once hated several books before. Which, given some of the characters, was not an easy task. Rachel has a strong moral compass but also realizes not everything is as clear cut as it seems. She often has to make difficult choices and decide which is the less of two evils. Her friends keep her grounded and always have her back--just as she always has theirs.

The Witch With No Name was to be the final book (the blurb on Goodreads still says so) in the series and it was the perfect ending. So much of what's happened in the earlier books has lead up to this thirteenth book. The stakes couldn't be higher with souls to be saved, as old enemies face off, and with the fate of all magic on the line--not just for Cincinnati, Ohio, but everywhere. While I did think this installment of the series took a while to get off the ground, all the set-up proved worth it when things began to heat up. Once it did, the tension never let up. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride this novel took me on. For a split second I wondered what it would be like if Harry Dresden and Rachel Morgan met up, but then immediately dismissed it. They are both too hard-headed and independent to work well together.

This being the final book, there was a fairytale epilogue that made me smile--a bow to wrap up the ending. Oh, but wait! Kim Harrison decided she wasn't ready to give up on Rachel and the Hollows just yet after all--much to her fans' relief. I hope to start the 14th book, American Demon, soon.

When Irina Bazili began working at Lark House in 2010, she was twenty-three years old but already had few illusions about life. ~ Opening of The Japanese Lover

The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende

translated by Nick Caistor and Amanda Hopkinson,

narrated by Joanna Gleason

Simon & Schuster Audio, 2015
Fiction/Historical; 338 pgs (9h 7m)

Source: Purchased

Isabel Allende's The House of Spirits has long been on my TBR and one day I will read it. I wasn't too fond of Ripper, her attempt at a thriller, which I read a few years ago. But I thought perhaps something more in her usual wheelhouse might work better for me. The Japanese Lover was lingering in my Audible library, and I decided to give it a try. It is a sweeping novel spanning decades, taking readers back in time to 1939 through World War II and beyond to present day.

In 1939, as Poland falls under the shadow of the Nazis, young Alma Belasco's parents send her away to live in safety with an aunt and uncle in their opulent mansion in San Francisco. There, as the rest of the world goes to war, she encounters Ichimei Fukuda, the quiet and gentle son of the family's Japanese gardener. Unnoticed by those around them, a tender love affair begins to blossom. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the two are cruelly pulled apart as Ichimei and his family, like thousands of other Japanese Americans are declared enemies and forcibly relocated to internment camps run by the United States government. Throughout their lifetimes, Alma and Ichimei reunite again and again, but theirs is a love that they are forever forced to hide from the world.

Decades later, Alma is nearing the end of her long and eventful life. Irina Bazili, a care worker struggling to come to terms with her own troubled past, meets the elderly woman and her grandson, Seth, at San Francisco's charmingly eccentric Lark House nursing home. As Irina and Seth forge a friendship, they become intrigued by a series of mysterious gifts and letters sent to Alma, eventually learning about Ichimei and this extraordinary secret passion that has endured for nearly seventy years. [Goodreads Summary]

The Japanese Lover is so rich with history. Isabel Allende is a gifted story teller, weaving together stories from the past with the present. And narrator Joanna Gleason captures it all in her narration so beautifully. At it's heart, this is a love story: of first love, forbidden love, lost love, and found love. It is about friendship and family. It is about hope and overcoming adversity. There was much I liked about The Japanese Lover. The characters are well fleshed out, very human in their imperfections and struggles. The characters face prejudice and discrimination. There are moments of celebration as well as great loss. The suffering the Fukuda family went through in the Utah internment camp and the impact it had on their family was devastating. Irina's backstory is gut-wrenching. What she endured . . . It's no wonder she struggles with human connection. Alma has held her own secrets close for so long, her history with Ichimei, included. I did not warm up to Alma the way I might have wanted, but I still cared about her and felt for her.

So much happens in The Japanese Lover, so much that I admit I wondered if the author stuffed too much into it (the above is just the tip of the iceberg--I do not want to spoil anything though). But it was hard not to appreciate the different stories, including the side stories of secondary characters like Nathaniel, Samuel, and Lenny. Especially their stories. Even though in the backdrop, the time period plays a large part in this novel, shaping the way the lives of these characters play out. Taking the reader from present to past and back again, The Japanese Lover was a compelling novel. I look forward to reading more by Isabel Allende.

Vic buried her greatsword in the scalvert's skull with a meaty crunch. ~ Opening of Legends & Lattes

Legends & Lattes (#1) by Travis Baldree
Tor, 2022
Fantasy/Cozy; 296 pgs
Source: Purchased

Legends & Lattes won my January TBR List Poll, and I loved this delightful novel more than words can say! Thank you to all who voted for it. I understand the "cozy" label. It was like curling up on the couch with a blanket, my cat on my lap, book in hand, wearing my favorite PJs, and with a mug of hot chocolate topped off with whipped cream by my side. Sorry, Viv, I am not a coffee drinker. Even so, I would love one of those cinnamon rolls!

Viv, an orc, has decided to give up her life as a mercenary in order to open a coffee shop in Thune where no one has even heard of the drink. While some things seem to come together for her better than she could have hoped, unfortunately that doesn't hold true on all fronts, and she has to decide how best to confront new and old rivals.

I love the world Travis Baldree has created in this novel as well as the characters. Viv is awesome in her strength and heart and I adore all her new and old friends. And Amity! I want an Amity in my life. If only just because. Legends & Lattes is such a heartfelt story. You can bet it will not be long before I pick up Bookshops and Bonedust, the prequel. I need more!

Have you read any of these three books? If so, what did you think?

I read two short stories this week. Both happened to be tacked onto a couple of the full-length novels I finished.

"Sudden Backtrack" by Kim Harrison (Harper Voyager, 2014; Fantasy, 21 pgs) is a little gem of a story that came in the back of my copy of The Witch With No Name. It's the story of how the elf and demon war began. Unlike the other books in the series, this short story is told from a demon's point of view. In earlier books, the demons are often painted as the bad guys but it really isn't as simple as that. At one time, the demons were treated like slaves to the elves, kidnapped and forced to do their bidding. In "Sudden Backtrack", Al helps Newt spin a curse to turn the tables on the elves, setting the stage for the war. This story offers a side to Newt I had yet to see before; it only makes me admire her more for her strength and courage--and better understand why she is the way she is throughout the series.

I was so excited to find a short story at the end of Legends & Lattes because I was not ready to leave Viv's world. Pages to Fill by Travis Baldree (Tor, 2022; Fantasy, 33 pgs) is the story of how Viv came to enjoy her first cup of coffee. She and her team of fellow mercenaries are on a job in the gnomish town of Azimuth,. Their prey proves to be a hard one to catch and gives them a run for their money. From the sounds of it, Viv has been considering leaving the mercenary life for some time, just not sure what direction to go. I like that Baldree shared this moment in her life with us--the realization of her dream. I also enjoyed seeing Viv in action, working alongside her colleagues. This was a fun story--a little extra taste of the world Baldree shared with us in the novel.

Have you read any short stories lately? If so, let me know!

This Month In Reading Mews

I hope you have a great week! Let me know what you have been reading!

© 2024, Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Thursday, January 25, 2024

Where Is Your Bookmark: A Peek Into The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years & Other Friday Fun

I just started reading The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years by Shubnum Khan, and I am looking forward to seeing where it goes.

Akbar Manzil was once a grand estate off the coast of South Africa. Nearly a century later, it stands in ruins: an isolated boardinghouse for eclectic misfits, seeking solely to disappear into the mansion’s dark corridors. Except for Sana. Unlike the others, she is curious and questioning and finds herself irresistibly drawn to the history of the mansion: To the eerie and forgotten East Wing, home to a clutter of broken and abandoned objects—and to the door at its end, locked for decades.

Behind the door is a bedroom frozen in time and a worn diary that whispers of a dark past: the long-forgotten story of a young woman named Meena, who died there tragically a hundred years ago. Watching Sana from the room’s shadows is a besotted, grieving djinn, an invisible spirit who has haunted the mansion since her mysterious death. Obsessed with Meena’s story, and unaware of the creature that follows her, Sana digs into the past like fingers into a wound, dredging up old and terrible secrets that will change the lives of everyone living and dead at Akbar Manzil.

Sublime, heart-wrenching, and lyrically stunning, The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years is a haunting, a love story, and a mystery, all twined beautifully into one young girl’s search for belonging. [Goodreads Summary]

A weekly meme where readers share the first sentence of the book they are reading and say what they think. Hosted by the amazing Gillion Dumas of Rose City Reader.

First Line of the Prologue:

In an old wardrobe a djinn sits weeping.

First Line from Chapter One:

No one in Durban remembers a Christmas as hot as this.

A weekly meme in which readers share a random sentence or two from page 56 or 56% of the book they are reading. Our wonderful host Freda of Freda's Voice is on a break, but Anne of My Head is Full of Books has stepped in to host!

The two women sit together for hours in the parlor discussing the intruder upstairs in hushed voices. Grand Ammi assures Jahanara Begum that it is only a matter of time before Akbar's fascination with Meena Begum wears. Men have phases, she says, and he will soon grow weary of the novelty of dark flesh in his bed. She says history is full of such women who try to ensnare great men; women with no morals or faith to keep them in check.

Time is the enemy of these women, she says. Time reveals the fallacy of their plots. [excerpt from 56% of The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years]

The opening of the prologue hooked me right away. It made me want to know more. I am barely into the novel and so am not sure what is going on at the 56% mark of my e-book, but I will say I do not have a high opinion of the women talking. They sound like mean-spirited gossips. What unhappy women they must be, perhaps unsatisfied with their lots in life. I doubt Meena is any of the things Grand Ammi says she is. I cannot wait to meet her.

What do you think? Does The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years sound like something you would enjoy?

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post where bloggers discuss a wide range of topics from books and blogging to life in general. It is hosted by Linda Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell and Jen from That’s What I’m Talking About. Join in by answering this week's question in the comments or on your own blog.

Is it easier or harder to write a review for a book you loved?

It depends. Sometimes it comes easy, and other times I have trouble finding the words and all I want to write is "WOW!" because I know I will not do the book justice.

Do you find it easier or harder? Or, like me, does it depend?

Every Friday Coffee Addicted Writer from Coffee Addicted Writer poses a question which participants respond on their own blogs within the week (Friday through Thursday). They then share their links at the main site and visit other participants blogs.

How long have you gone without reading? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

The best answer I can offer is a couple or so days maybe. Even when I am in the middle of a reading slump, I at least pick up a book to try to overcome it, even if I don't get too far. There are days when I am swamped with work, family or my daughter's activities and am so exhausted to read more than a page or two some days, but I try to find a way.

What about you?

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Be sure and tell me what you are reading and are up to!

Saturday, January 20, 2024

Weekly Mews: Bookish Mewsings on Hammers and Homicide & Vol. 1-3 of The Masterful Cat is Depressed Again, Today

I am linking up Stacking the Shelves hosted by Marlene of Reading Reality a meme in which participants share what new books came their way recently.

I was the first to wake up Saturday morning and curled up on the couch to do a little reading. Our next door neighbor was out fixing the fence, I noticed. His two dogs have slipped into our backyard a few times in the last couple of weeks, getting in through broken boards. I guess they won't be going on any more fieldtrips soon. It wasn't long after that when the rain began to fall. It came down steadily most of the day. Tonight we went to see the city's children's theater production of Finding Nemo, Jr. The kids put on a great show. We are gearing up for the Girl Scout Cookie season, which officially starts next weekend here. Busy times ahead. What are you up to this weekend? Do you have any plans for the week?

This past week I finished reading Hammers and Homicide by Paula Charles and the second and third volumes of The Masterful Cat Is Depressed Again, Today by Hitsuzi Yamada. See below for my thoughts on all three.

I am close to finishing The Witch With No Name (The Hollows #13) by Kim Harrison. I just started reading Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree, which I can already tell I am going to like. I decided to go ahead and start another audiobook and settled on Isabel Allende's The Japanese Lover, a dual time line novel set in present day and during the Second World War. It was one of the many audiobooks I ordered when I had an Audible membership years ago. I have only read one other book by Isabel Allende and admit I didn't like it much at all, but I am enjoying this one quite a bit.

Have you read any of these books? What are you reading right now?

Kicking aside a jumble of tomato cages and terra-cotta pots, I searched for a pair of gardening gloves heavy enough to tangle with the invasive milk thistle threatening to take over my herb garden. ~ Opening of Hammers and Homicide

Hammers and Homicide (Hometown Hardware Mystery #1) by Paula Charles

Crooked Lane Books, 2024

Mystery/Suspense/Cozy; 288 pgs

Source: Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I was definitely ready for something on the lighter side after finishing The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan, and Hammers and Homicide proved to be a great choice. Only in a cozy mystery would a book involving a murder be considered light.

What drew me to this book was the older protagonist, Dawna Carpenter, a recent widow who runs her own hardware store. It's just like any other work day for Dawna until she finds a body in the shared bathroom between her store and the boutique next door. The victim turns out to be a land developer who was in town to buy the town's old theater and turn it into a hotel. The victim had made quite a few enemies in the short time he had been there. When a long time friend of Dawna's is arrested for the murder, Dawna doubles her efforts to find out what really happened, not believing her friend could have committed the crime. With the help of her daughter, there's nothing stopping Dawna, even when danger strikes even closer to home.

Dawna isn't the most graceful person, nor is she a good cook, but she is a good neighbor and friend. Her daughter April recently moved back to town to work and keep an eye on her mom. I enjoyed the mother/daughter relationship Dawna and April share, with their gentle ribbing and the way they look out for each other. There's a hint of romance between the sheriff and April, perhaps something to look forward to in future books. I did find the tell for who the killer upon first meeting too obvious, but there were still unexpected moments in the book. Hammers and Homicide was funny and entertaining. There's even a paranormal element I hadn't been expecting!

Does Hammers and Homicide sound like something you would like? Have you read it? If so, what did you think?

My 2023 reading ended with the first volume of The Masterful Cat is Depressed Again, Today by Hitsuzi Yamada, and this month I read the second and third volumes. I couldn't resist giving this series a try with a title like that. This is a cute series about Saku and her rather extraordinary cat, Yukichi. Yukichi is unusual not just in his human-like size, but in behaviors too. He walks on two legs, keeps the house spotless, cooks the most delicious meals, and does all the grocery shopping among other things.

In these three volumes, the reader gets to see what life is like for Saku and Yukichi. Saku took Yukichi in when he was a small kitten. She took better care of him than she ever did of herself. She works such long hours and barely has time for anything else. Yukichi noticed this from early on and took it upon himself to grow stronger to make sure her needs were also being met.

This series is full of humor and is even silly a lot of the time, but that is part of its charm. The scenes with Saku and her coworkers, as they speculate about the perfect lunches she brings to work each day, about her marriage prospects, and her life in general are amusing. Everyone knows Saku has a cat, but his skills and size are big secrets. I loved the scenes when Yukichi is the grocery store and how others react to him. Even at the birthday party of Saku's boss's niece, most people assume Yukichi is wearing a cat suit.

In the first volume, I worried that at times Saku took Yukichi for granted, including all the things he does for her, but after reading the second and third volumes, I no longer feel that way. In the second volume, Saku steps in to protect Yukichi in a worrisome moment, for example, and, in volume three, the separation anxiety the two feel while Saku is away on a work retreat is very touching. It's obvious the two share a special bond.

There are a couple of hints at possible romance threads that may or may not become things in future volumes. I do wish the author hadn't made weight an issue in two of the books, but given how small those scenes were, I can look past them. Overall, I am enjoying this manga series. I think my tastes run for a little more conflict and danger than this series offers, but I do want to continue with it and see what Saku and Yukichi get up to next.

from my copy of The Masterful Cat is Depressed Again, Today Vol. 2

(reads right to left)

Have you read this series? If so, what did you think? Does it sound like something you would like?

New to my shelves:

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

The Wrong End of the Telescope by Rabih Alameddine

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Ghost Roast by Shawnee Gibbs, Shawnelle Gibbs, and Emily Cannon

Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons by Kelly Sue DeConnick, Phil Jimenez, Gene Ha, and Nicola Scott

Have you read any of these? If so, what did you think? What new books made it onto your shelf recently?

I hope you have a great week! Let me know what you have been reading!

Thursday, January 18, 2024

Where Is Your Bookmark: A Peek Into Witch With No Name / Hobbies / Well Liked Books I Didn't Like

A weekly meme where readers share the first sentence of the book they are reading and say what they think. Hosted by the amazing Gillion Dumas of Rose City Reader.

Neck craned, I squinted between the shadowed apartments. [opening of The Witch With No Name]

Not the most informative of first sentences, but I have to wonder what Rachel is looking for.

No, it didn't matter. I was not going to help Landon save the world. He'd made his choice, and it wasn't my responsibility.

But as I felt Bis's aura slip around us, I had a bad feeling I was going to have to anyway. [excerpt from 42% of The Witch With No Name]

I love this excerpt (chosen because this is where I am in the book at the time I am prepping this post) because it sums up just about every book in the series. Rachel is forced to come to the rescue of whoever she must save, however reluctantly, and often by the seat of her pants. This continues to be one of my favorite urban fantasy series.

The Witch With No Name (The Hollows #13) by Kim Harrison

Rachel Morgan's come a long way from the clutzy runner of Dead Witch Walking. She's faced vampires and werewolves, banshees, witches, and soul-eating demons. She's crossed worlds, channeled gods, and accepted her place as a day-walking demon. She's lost friends and lovers and family, and an old enemy has become something much more.

But power demands responsibility, and world-changers must always pay a price. That time is now.

To save Ivy's soul and the rest of the living vampires, to keep the demonic ever after and our own world from destruction, Rachel Morgan will risk everything. [Goodreads Summary]

Have you read this series? Does it sound like something you would enjoy?

Besides reading, what are some of your favorite hobbies?

I wish I had a more exciting answer than I do. I lead a fairly quiet life. I enjoy traveling, but get to do so little of it. There is the obvious book blogging and talking about books. I enjoy camping in the mountains (although, glamping might be the more accurate term since we stay in a cabin), going to see musicals, listening to music, singing (my soon-to-be-teenaged daughter doesn't join in my musical numbers about doing chores or having to go to school like she used to, sadly), coloring, doing puzzles, watching movies or a favorite series on television, cuddling my cats (or chasing them around the house), and spending time with my family. That last is probably my most favorite.

What are some of your hobbies other than reading?

Have you ever loved a book that everyone else hated or a hated a book everyone else loved? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

Hate is such a strong word. It is easier for me to think of books I didn't care for that have received a lot of praise or accolades than to think of books I loved that everyone else hated. My go to book for this topic is usually One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, which I did not care for as much as I wanted to feel otherwise. The Vampire Diaries television series is a favorite guilty pleasure of mine, but I couldn't stand the first book, The Awakening, in L.J. Smith's book series it's based on. I wanted to love the much lauded Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. I did not like it. Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray? Not for me. Even though I may not have liked any of these books, they are among the favorites for many people, and I think that's great. I was just not the right audience for them.

What about you? What books have you read and not liked that everyone else seems to like? Is there a book you loved that no one else liked?

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Be sure and tell me what you are reading and are up to!

Monday, January 15, 2024

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Goals for 2024

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Jana at The Artsy Reader Girl.

This week's Top Ten Tuesday topic is Bookish Goals for 2024. I am not participating in any reading challenges this year (unless you count the Goodreads Challenge, which I purposefully rigged so I would complete the challenge early in the year--I'm half way done already!), but I do have nine personal reading goals this year I would like to accomplish.

Read a classic novel that has been on my to read list for longer than I can remember ~ I failed to meet this goal last year, but this year I hope to make it happen. Maybe I will finally read a Daphne du Maurier book or get to Jane Austen's Mansfield Park.

Read a Big Book that has been on my TBR shelf awhile (over 700 pages) ~ Frank Herbert's Dune comes to mind or maybe I will finally read Margaret George's The Memoirs of Cleopatra, which has been on my TBR an embarrassingly long time. I also have been considering Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch, Anathem by Neal Stephenson, Drood by Dan Simmons, or 2666 by Roberto Bolaño as options too.

Read at least one nonfiction/fiction pairing ~ I read one nonfiction/fiction pairing in 2023 and it was such a good experience. I want to do it again this year.

Listen to more audiobooks ~ Audiobooks are not my preferred reading format, admittedly. I am easily distracted, frequently interrupted, and prefer reading words on a page over hearing them read to me. Even so, I do enjoy audiobooks from time to time and want to integrate them more into my life. I listened to four audiobooks last year. I want to raise that to six this year.

Continue catching up on my series reading project ~ A never-ending project considering how many series I am in the middle of and all the news ones I start. I for sure want to catch up on Kim Harrison's Hollows series and Shannon Messenger's Keeper of the Lost Cities series this year.

Read at least three books my daughter recommends to me ~ Mouse and I have very similar tastes in books, and I can't wait to see what she picks for me.

Read my TBR List Poll winner each month ~ I already do this but have never listed it as a goal or challenge--which technically it is. Why not make it official? At the beginning of each month, I list three books from my TBR for you to vote on, and then I read the winner. It's fun to see which book my blog visitors will pick of the three choices each month.

Catch up on posting my backlog reviews ~ I used to have a feature on my blog called From the Archives in which I shared thoughts about books I read during my pre-blogging days--all books I had written about in my reading journal. The last two or three years, I fell behind posting reviews of some of the books I have read more recently. I would like to at least post mini reviews based on the journal notes I kept.

Stay on top of my review writing ~ Just as I want to catch up with posting my old reviews, I want to stay on top of posting my thoughts on this year's reading as well.

Do you have any reading goals for this year?

Saturday, January 13, 2024

Weekly Mews: Bookish Mewsings on The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan/Thoughts on Recent Audiobook Reads/January's TBR Winner

I am linking up Stacking the Shelves hosted by Marlene of Reading Reality a meme in which participants share what new books came their way recently.

Hello again! It was a difficult week at work and the weekend couldn't get here fast enough. Can you believe we have nothing planned for this weekend? It's a blank slate. The best kind. I have finally started taking down the Christmas decorations. I may or may not get the tree down this weekend though. Mouse headed back to school this past week after her winter break, and so we are back into her regular routine. What have you been up to this weekend?

This week I finished reading The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan and Ceremony in Death (#5) by J.D. Robb. See below for my thoughts on both.

I am still enjoying my bedtime reading, Kim Harrison's The Witch With No Name, the 13th book in the Hollows series. It feels like I have been reading this one forever, but I have been saving it to savor before bed each night, and sometimes I am just too tired to read much of it at all. You know. That kind of tired where you try to keep your eyelids open but they fail to stay open no matter how hard I try--and believe me, I try! It's an intense book!

I recently started Hammers and Homicide, the first in a new cozy mystery series by Paula Charles, featuring an older widowed protagonist who owns a hardware store. I liked it right from the start.

What are you reading now?

* * *

Thank you to everyone who voted in my January TBR poll! I am excited about reading all three from my TBR List poll, but which one will I be reading this month? Let's find out!

Coming in with four (4) votes, is The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope. The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi received twelve (12) votes. Winning with seventeen (17) votes is Legends & Lattes (#1) by Travis Baldree, which will be my next read. Thank you again to everyone who voted!

My TBR List is hosted by the awesome Michelle at Because Reading. It’s a fun way to choose a book from your TBR pile to read. The 1st Saturday of every month, I will list 3 books I am considering reading and let you vote for my next read during that month. My review will follow (unfortunately, not likely in the same month, but eventually--that's all I can promise).

Teenage boys had begun to disappear. ~ Opening of The Storm We Made

The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan

S&S/Marysue Rucci Books, 2024

Fiction/Historical; 350 pgs

Source: Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

The Storm We Made is a heartbreaking and poignant novel about the Japanese occupation of Malaya during World War II. Cecily is taken in by General Fuijwara's charm, his talk of an "Asia for Asians" and the liberation of Malaya from British colonialism. Cecily has long felt discontented with her life, and working with Fuijwara awakens something inside her that gives her a sense of purpose. She thinks nothing of spying for him, believing the outcome will prove worth it in the end.

The ousting of the British by the Japanese did not bring the rewards Cecily hoped for. If anything, it brought with it more suffering, fear, and violence. Cecily's guilt weighs heavily on her and only grows when her fifteen-year-old son, Abel, disappears. The family fears for the youngest daughter, Jasmin, dressing her in boys' clothes and locking her in the basement during the day for her own safety. Cecily is barely able to hold it together, and much of the household responsibilities fall on her daughter, Jujube, when Jujube is not working at the teahouse fiending off drunken Japanese soldiers.

The strength of the novel is in the characters who are all fully developed, flaws and all. The Storm We Made follows four different characters and spans over a decade of time, from British occupied Malaya to Japanese occupied Malaya. While I did not warm to Cecily as much as I might have liked, I could understand where she was coming from and why she made the choices she made. She wanted more from life, more as a woman, and more for her family. Reading the novel, I could feel her guilt and self-blame. It felt so raw. My heart broke for all three of Cecily's children and what they suffered. I loved Jujube for her strong will and fortitude, but I also really felt for her. She takes so much on her shoulders over the course of the novel, and has to endure abuses at work and still maintain a facade, stuffing down her anger, fear and sadness. Then there is Abel, once so full of life, whose spirit is destroyed over and over due to the brutality he endures. The youngest, Jasmin, is so innocent, the joy of the family, who longs for freedom to come and go as she pleases.

It was hard to find the hope in such bleak circumstances, and yet it was there now and then, glimmers of light in the form of family bonds, friendship and connection. I often found myself cursing humanity for our cruelty and lack of compassion for others as I read the pages of The Storm We Made. People are monsters. But then reading about how Abel and Freddie were there for each other, Takahashi's occasional small acts of kindness toward Jujube, and the joy that Jasmin and Yuki found in their friendship would remind me that kindness can exist, even in the darkest of times.

The Storm We Made was not an easy read in terms of subject matter and had me in tears throughout, and more so by the end. I will not soon forger this novel or its characters.

New York Police Lieutenant Eve Dallas is tenacious, strong-willed and extremely independent, and by her side is the filthy rich self-made businessman love of her life, Roarke. The two are quite the pair. He is extremely protective (but respectfully so) and she doesn't always take that very well. Eve is surrounded by competent and loyal friends and colleagues who are just as skilled at their jobs and she is. Peabody is one of my favorite characters, aside from Eve and Roarke.

I am coming into the In Death series later than most, and have (very) slowly been making my way through the series. In December I was able to fit in two J.D. Robb novels, Immortal in Death and Rapture in Death, and this month I listened to Ceremony in Death. It is a fun series with a good mix of suspense and romance. Given the 2058 setting with some of the scientific advancements in the book there is a bit of science fiction added in too. I enjoy Susan Ericksen's reading of the books. She is the voice of Eve and Roarke for me, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Immortal in Death (#3) by J.D. Robb, narrated by Susan Ericksen (Brilliance Audio, 1996; Mystery/Suspense/Thriller/SciFi/Romance)

Getting married was murder. ~ Opening of Immortal in Death

Immortal in Death takes Lieutenant Eve Dallas deep into the high fashion industry in search of a killer who took the life of a top model. With her best friend as the prime suspect, Eve will stop at nothing to get to the truth. I enjoyed getting to know Mavis a little better in Immortal in Death. The whodunit came as no surprise, but it was still fun to see Eve and her team connect all the dots and figure it out. There was spice and plenty of suspenseful action scenes to keep me listening.

Rapture in Death (#4) by J.D. Robb, narrated by Susan Ericksen (Brilliance Audio, 1996; Mystery/Suspense/Thriller/SciFi/Romance)

The alley was dark and stank of piss and vomit. ~ Opening of Rapture in Death

Suicide or murder? Lieutenant Eve Dallas suspects the recent suicide of three prominent people who seemingly go happily to their deaths are not what they seem, and the small burns on a couple of the brains confirm her suspicions. Eve and her team are on the trail of a dangerous killer--trying to find out who is behind the murders and exactly how the killer strikes.

Leave it to Eve to make work for herself on her honeymoon. In Rapture in Death, there is more focus on Eve's childhood, which we already know was an abusive one. J.D. Robb pulls no punches in describing the horribleness of it all. It's all the more clear why Eve is the way she is and why she doesn't trust so easily. There was one scene involving Roarke that had me cringing in particular, especially given Eve's past--when he gives her a tranquilizer without her consent. Yes, she really needed the rest, but it doesn't make it okay. I guessed the who from the moment of introduction, which seems to be a given with this series. Still, it was an enjoyable read overall.

Ceremony in Death (#5) by J.D. Robb, narrated by Susan Ericksen (Brilliance Audio, 1997; Mystery/Suspense/Thriller/SciFi/Romance)

Death Surrounded her. ~ Opening of Ceremony in Death

Lieutenant Eve Dallas is assigned to investigate the death of a fellow police officer. Her investigation leads her into the world of Wiccans and Satanists and the stakes have never been higher for Eve. I enjoyed Ceremony in Death a little less than I have the others, but I still enjoyed it. It was action packed with some spice interspersed here and there. I really don't want to like Roarke as much as I do sometimes, but he certainly is charming and good for Eve. Considering how much trouble she finds herself in, it's good he's around to help.

Have you read any of these books? If so, what did you think?

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