Reviews, Etc.

REVIEW: Big Witch Energy by Molly Harper

REVIEW: Big Witch Energy by Molly Harper

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Caroline’s newly awakened magic has shown her a ghost that hangs around her family’s restaurant, the Wilted Rose. Riley wonders if the ghost might be tied to Caroline’s family curse. And the curse is ever-present in Caroline’s mind since her high school sweetheart – the man she loved but lost because she can’t leave the island – has returned to Starfall.

Ben and his kids have come to Starfall to try to rebuild their lives after Ben’s divorce. He didn’t realize how often he’d run into Caroline on the small island. You’d think he’d be “over” their history after all this time, but he gets tongue-tied every time he runs into her.

When Ben stumbles onto the coven’s ghostly secret – and his kids get drawn in as well – the extra time with Caroline reveals the depths of their feelings for one another. But there’s a lot of hurt – and a magical curse – in their past. And that might be more than they can overcome.

Review

This was excellent! It’s a fantastic mix of fantasy, mystery, and romance, making this Starfall Point series perfect for me. The cast gets even better with the addition of Ben and his kids. I am a sucker for any book that can add in excellent kid/teen characters, and these two are outstanding. Every scene with the core group together – whether magical or not – absolutely sparkled. I laughed so much as I read this. It was a complete delight!

The magical mysteries in this book were fascinating. This felt like the perfect season to read a ghostly story, too. Once again, there was plenty of information doled out to make the story satisfying while still holding something back for the next book which will be April’s story. And I can’t wait!

Fans of book one, Witches Get Stuff Done, should absolutely pick this up. Newcomers should definitely read these books in order because the mystery/magical pieces will make more sense. This series was a delightful surprise for me – I randomly requested the first book from the library and fell in love. Now they have become part of my personal library so I can return to them before the third book comes out. If you are looking for something “spooky” for the season, don’t miss this series. (Language, sex, ghosts/curses)

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½*

*♥♥♥♥½ = I loved it! Would re-read.

BOOK NEWS: October 29, 2024

BOOK NEWS: October 29, 2024

Posted on by Jaymie

Here are some of the books releasing this week!

Books for Kids

Kamala Raised Her Hand – A picture book about Vice President Kamala Harris and the ways she has “raised her hand” across her life in an effort to make a real difference for people.

 

Books for Older Kids/ Teens/Young Adults

Let It Glow – Two adoptees discover they are biological sisters – twins – and plan to swap places for the holidays to learn about each other’s lives.

Books for Adults

A New Lease on Death (Hardcover) – First book in a new mystery series. A ghost and the new tenant of her apartment team up to look into the murder of a neighbor.
Only Cold Depths (ebook) – Book 4 in Jennifer Estep’s Galactic Bonds series about a specially-powered couple on the run.
Perfect Fit (Trade Paperback) – A woman has to work with her ex-best friend’s twin brother to save her company. When they actually start to hit it off, they will have to deal with his sister and the history between the women.
This Will Be Fun (Trade Paperback) – A band of heroes are reunited ten years after their epic victory for a wedding where they have to confront not only new enemies but also their past. Yes, please!
What If? 125 Questions to Discover More About Life and Faith – A small gift book of thought-provoking questions for personal or group use. The author is a personal friend, and she is known for her questions and her approach to life and faith and community.

REVIEW: Little Ghost Makes a Friend by Maggie Edkins Willis

REVIEW: Little Ghost Makes a Friend by Maggie Edkins Willis

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Little Ghost has always wanted a friend, but he’s been worried he might scare people away. When someone new moves in next door, and she likes so many of the same things that he does, Little Ghost decides to be brave and invite her over for Halloween.

Review

This is such a sweet friendship story! The artwork is lovely, and the pastel fall colors add to the cozy vibe. And happily, Little Ghost and Anya hit it off right away. She also tells Little Ghost that she’s happy to be his friend exactly as he is – and her human friends agree. This is a super sweet read for the season – check this one out!

Rating: ♥♥♥½*

*♥♥♥½ = Good +

REVIEW: The More the Terrier by David Rosenfelt

REVIEW: The More the Terrier by David Rosenfelt

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received a free electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Minotaur Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Andy comes home from a winter trip to an extra dog added to his usual three. But it’s a dog his family fostered at one point, so Andy is able to get Murphy home to his family. Andy doesn’t expect that family to need his services as a defense attorney, but they do.

Murphy’s owner has been arrested for killing a vising professor at his university. They had a public confrontation, and now the prof is dead and BJ is in jail. Andy doesn’t believe BJ is a killer, so he takes the case. The investigation brings Andy’s team into contact with drug dealers and mobsters, but Andy struggles to put the pieces together. And if he can’t figure it out, what happens to BJ?

Review

Another wintery winner from David Rosenfelt! The case here is super twisty, and I was wondering until the very end if Andy was going to be able to figure it all out. I was thrilled to puzzle together most of the solution as I read. When the case is as intricate as this one, the satisfaction of the story is enhanced by figuring some things out on my own.

Andy is delightfully sassy, and his usual team gets to bring a lot to the case – a sting operation, several hacking triumphs, and a grim battle. I loved that the K-Team had a bit more page time in this book.

This is the 30th book in the Andy Carpenter series, and Rosenfelt keeps hitting all the beats. You can read my other reviews from the series here. Series fans should absolutely pick up this satisfying winter addition to the series. Readers familiar with Andy can really read the series out of order without much trouble. Newcomers could start here – my first Andy Carpenter was a Christmas book, The Twelve Dogs of Christmas (♥♥♥♥♥), number 15 in the series – but I do worry that Andy can come across too abrasive if you haven’t followed him from the beginning. Book 31, Dogged Pursuit, will release in the summer of 2025. (Language, references to sexual assault and drug use.)

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½*

*♥♥♥♥½ – I loved it! Would re-read.

BOOK NEWS: October 22, 2024

BOOK NEWS: October 22, 2024

Posted on by Jaymie

Here are some of the books releasing this week!

Books for Older Kids/ Teens/Young Adults

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hot Mess – Book 19 in this long-running series.
Slouch (Graphic Novel) – A very tall 7th grade girl starts to notice the unwanted attention her body attracts.

Books for Adults

The Anti-Social Season (Trade Paperback) – Book 2 in the First Responders series. A burned out fire fighter needs a crash course in social media from the local librarian who has had a crush on her since high school.
Because Fat Girl (Trade Paperback) – A woman who lost her Hollywood dream gets a second chance.
The Book of Purrs: Everyday Thoughts from  Your Feline Friends (Hardcover gift book) – A collection of art from @purr.in.ink. I love this IG account!
Christmas Crimes at the Mysterious Bookshop (Hardcover) – A collection of Christmas mysteries.
Death Comes at Christmas (Hardcover) – And another collection of Christmas mysteries!
Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret (Hardcover) – Book 3 in the Ernest Cunningham series. Ernest is at a holiday magic show when someone is murdered. I love this series!!
In Too Deep (Hardcover) – Book 29 in the Jack Reacher series. After catching a ride with a stranger who is later killed, Reacher wakes up handcuffed to a bed with little memory of what happened.
Much Ado About Margaret (Trade Paperback) – A man hopes to save his fledgling publishing business by signing the author of the few pages he found at a wedding – but then he discovers that not only is the author a woman, but he’s already brutally rejected her and her work.
Mystery in the Title (Trade Paperback) – Book 2 in the Miranda Abbott Mystery series. Miranda signs on to a sketchy-sounding movie of the week and then her costar is found dead. This sounds like a fun series!
Star Trek: Lower Decks: Warp Your Own Way (Trade Paperback) – Choose your own adventure with the crew from Star Trek: Lower Decks.
Sacred Prayer (Hardcover) – A 90-day Guided Journal from Ann Voskamp.

REVIEW: The Sherlock Society by James Ponti

REVIEW: The Sherlock Society by James Ponti

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received a free electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Aladdin in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Alex and Zoe Sherlock have decided to live up to their last name. Instead of babysitting or mowing lawns for money, they start a detective agency. With their friends, Lina and Yadi, and their grandfather serving as Director of Transportation and Logistics, they are ready to take on their first case.

After a couple of false starts, the Sherlock Society stumbles onto an environmental case. The kids use the reporting skills they learn from Alex and Zoe’s grandfather to start looking for a suspect. They also use Yadi’s film experience and drone skills to look for clues. Zoe’s understanding of people comes in handy, as does Alex’s understanding of the law and Lina’s grasp of the big picture, when their case literally explodes out of control.

Review

This is so fun! There’s great balance between the kid pieces – friendships, family conflict, learning to investigate – with  the case pieces. There’s tons for readers to learn – about investigating, about Al Capone, about Florida, about videography – and it’s all modeled by the characters in the book. It’s “showing, not telling” at it’s best.

The kids and the family feel authentic – conflict, confrontation, support, teasing, and teaching, all on a foundation of love. And the case is grounded in some details real middle schoolers would or could do. This is a terrific series kick off from a tried and true middle grade mystery author, James Ponti. His fans should not miss this one. Mystery lovers, kids who care about the environment, and readers who like ensemble stories should pick this one up, too!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥*

*♥♥♥♥ = Great! Might re-read.

REVIEW: The State of Pauline Studies edited by Nijay Gupta, et al

REVIEW: The State of Pauline Studies edited by Nijay Gupta, et al

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received a free electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Baker Academic in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary and Review

A few years ago, Baker Academic released The State of New Testament Studies, and the contributors felt like they couldn’t devote as much space to Paul as they needed. So this book was developed. It includes chapters on Paul and specific areas of focus – gender, Judaism, the Spirit, etc. – as well as chapters on each of Paul’s letters. The book exists to highlight recent research, study, theories, and debates. Each chapter is essentially a literature review of recent research – and it’s brilliant! This is a deep, heavily researched exploration.

Professors, researchers, students, and practitioners could use this as a one-stop starting place to dig into the contemporary world of Biblical scholarship, specifically around Paul. The content can spin readers off to numerous resources to dig deeper. Each article/essay is heavily end-noted.

As an example, the chapter on Romans is written by Dr. Jennifer Strawbridge, Associate Professor of New Testament Studies at the University of Oxford. The chapter covers topics like justification, Junia and Phoebe, post-colonial readings of Romans, ecological interpretation, queer approaches to Romans, and disability studies.

This could be a fascinating textbook for New Testament courses as well as a stellar resource for students and researchers. I would highly recommend the addition of this to university libraries. And practitioners/pastors could get a lot out of having this in their libraries. Again – this is a STARTING place – far more reading and follow up work would come after reading this. I don’t know that someone preaching on a passage in Romans, for example, would use Strawbridge’s chapter alone and feel they did their due diligence in examining current thinking on Romans. Professors, especially those developing or updating a course on Paul’s work, would be well-served by this resource, again as a starting point to include contemporary research.

Also available from Baker is The State of New Testament Studies (already available) and The State of Old Testament Studies (releasing in November).

As a non-academic reader, I felt clearly that I was not the intended audience for this book. But I was captivated by it anyway. I wanted to follow every end-noted rabbit trail to further reading on a variety of topics. The voice of the introduction is great! As a non-seminarian, I had to look up three words/concepts in the intro alone. Have your phone handy to look up terms you might not know. But anyone who is fascinated by Biblical study will find something to dig into here. My only “complaint” is that the end notes (at least in my review copy) weren’t separated by chapter/article which would have made using them a lot easier.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½*

♥♥♥♥½ = I loved it! Would re-read.

BOOK NEWS: October 15, 2024

BOOK NEWS: October 15, 2024

Posted on by Jaymie

Here are some of the books releasing this week!

Books for Kids

Disaster Squad: Hurricane Rescue – Book2 in the Disaster Squad series from Branches about a family that responds to natural disasters.

Books for Older Kids/Teens/Young Adults

I Survived: The Black Death, 1348 – Book 24 in this excellent middle grade historical series about kids surviving epic disasters.
Inferno’s Heir – One of the first books published by Bindery Books, a new publisher with a unique model, bringing in influencers to create Patreon-style accounts to publish books from new writers. In this YA release, an orphaned princess, fleeing her half-brother’s assassination attempts, joins the rebels trying to destroy the monarchy for good. This sounds amazing!

Books for Adults

Catch and Keep (Trade Paperback) – The latest from Erin Hahn. A woman walks away from her life, ready to stop letting things happen to her and instead to make her own life – back in northern Wisconsin where an old friend might become more. This sounds lovely.
House of Frank (Trade Paperback) – Another Bindery release. A grieving, powerless witch starts working at Ash Gardens with a mythical beast named Frank, trying to keep her magic-less state a secret from her coworkers. I have heard so many good things about this!
How My Neighbor Stole Christmas (Trade Paperback) – A holiday grump tries to fake some Christmas cheer – along with a fake relationship with his nemesis – in the town holiday contest.
The More the Terrier (Hardcover) – Book 30 in the Andy Carpenter series. Andy takes on the case of a college student accused of murdering his professor.
Rockin’ Around the Chickadee (Hardcover) – Book 36 in the Meg Langslow series. Meg and her friends and family are working on a Presumed Innocent conference during the holidays when someone is killed.
Strange Beasts (Trade Paperback) – Another Bindery release. The daughter of Dracula’s killer teams up with the daughter of Moriarty to investigate a mysterious monster prowling Paris on a killing spree.
Star Wars: Mace Windu: The Glass Abyss (Hardcover) – Jedi Master Mace Windu goes on a quest to fulfill Qui-Gon Jinn’s final request.
The Treasure Hunters Club (Hardcover) – Three strangers are drawn to Maple Bay where a long-unsolved mystery is waiting for them.
We Three Kings (ebook) – The head of an IT department is hanging out with her three close friends for the holidays when her boss tells her that she’s going to have to cut one of them from her team.
God Has a Name: What you believe about God will shape who you become (Hardcover, nonfiction) – An updated hardcover edition of the original book. An exploration of Exodus 34:6-8.
The State of Pauline Studies: A Survey of Recent Research (nonfiction) – A collection of recent research about the parts of the Bible attributed to Paul. This is a follow up to The State of New Testament Studies. There will be an Old Testament version coming out later this year. I’ll be reviewing this later this week.

REVIEW: Mothman's Happy Cryptid Halloween by Andrew Shaffer

REVIEW: Mothman’s Happy Cryptid Halloween by Andrew Shaffer

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received a free electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and 8th Circle in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary and Review

When Halloween gets rained out and everyone decides it’s “the Official Worstest Halloween Ever (in the Whole Entire Universe),”® Mothman and his cryptid friends make a plan to save Halloween.

This follow up to Mothman’s Merry Cryptid Christmas is a fun, quirky story with great artwork. I loved Mothman and Bigfoot especially – Mothman’s costume is a hoot! While the plan to save the day goes awry, there’s still a happy ending, thanks to gracious townspeople and a day off school. The backmatter includes a hilarious cryptid guide.

The next book will be Mothman’s Very Cryptid Valentine, which looks adorable!

Rating: ♥♥♥½*

*♥♥♥½ = Good +

REVIEW: My Rogue to Ruin by Erica Ridley

REVIEW: My Rogue to Ruin by Erica Ridley

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received a free electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Forever in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Black sheep of the family, Adrian sneaks back into town hoping to avoid his father, the Marquess, and his brother, the Earl. But he hopes to reconnect to the beloved sister he had to leave behind 7 years ago. Instead of rebuilding their relationship, though, Adrian stumbles into a trap – and becomes a counterfeiter against his will, working for a crook he had swindled. His options are to forge the currency or else he’ll meet a slow and painful end.

Marjorie is probably the quietest of the Wynchesters. An artist’s soul with some hearing loss, it can be easer for her to withdraw from crowds to her studio.  But someone is passing counterfeit currency to the neediest of people, leaving them in even worse circumstances. Marjorie’s philosophy is that art is meant to IMPROVE lives, not ruin them. So she vows to find the forger.

Review

This was my first foray into the Wild Wynchesters series – and I’m sorry I waited so long. This found-family is delightful, and I’m going to have to go back and read all of the previous books. I’ll also be diving into book 5, Hot Earl Summer, which released earlier this fall.

Adrian and Marjorie’s story was stressful at times. They were trapped by a villain, and there seemed to be no way out. But the clever and connected Wynchseters are determined to find a way.

I enjoyed the romantic storyline for the two leads. Each was searching for significance and acceptance, and they found it with each other first and then with an extended family. Quite satisfying!

Fans of the series will want to watch Marjorie shine in her featured story. Obviously, like me you can start here. But I think the creative and clever Wynchesters will have you hunting down the earlier books as well. (Some language, sex)

Rating: ♥♥♥♥*

*♥♥♥♥ = Great! Might re-read.