I have two Kindles. One is my mom’s older version which she didn’t use anymore, so she gave it to me. The other is my husband’s and he gave it to me because he wasn’t using it. In general, I do prefer reading a physical book versus a Kindle, however, whenever I travel, I always bring my Kindle. I hate carrying around a book that I already finished and a Kindle is perfect to take on a flight. I recently turned on Kindle and wanted to share a few books that I have yet to read on my Kindle.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

I feel like the book community is going to come for me when I say that I have never read A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. I hear nothing but good things about this book series. This is probably going to be my top priority read for the books that I have on my Kindle.

I don’t know much about this book, but the protagonist, Feyre, kills someone and then is transported to a magical world. This seems like an interesting premise.

Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

I love Ali Hazelwood. I love that her books are romances with different protagonists in different scientific fields. I feel like Ali Hazelwood has gotten criticism because her books are very similar, yet here I am buying every single book. I do hope that this book feels different enough from The Love Hypothesis.

Elsie Hannaway is a theoretical physicist. She works as a professor and also is a “Fake Girlfriend” where she pretends to be someone’s partner at weddings, dates, etc. She ends up running into Jack Smith, the older brother of a client of hers. Jack sits on the hiring committee at MIT which is where Elsie wants to apply for a job. Jack also may have ruined her mentor’s career. Elsie and Jack are forced to work together and find that maybe they were both wrong about each other.

A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn

One of the book bloggers I follow loves this series. Our reading tastes are very similar, so if she loves it, chances are I will too.

Veronica Speedwell is ambitious as she is planning on traveling around Europe. She is almost kidnapped and then saved by a German baron. The baron offers her shelter and mentions how he may know more about where Veronica came from. Unfortunately, the baron is murdered and Veronica teams up with Stoker, a historian and friend of the baron. Together, they must work together to figure out who killed the baron.

Easy Bake Coven by Liz Schulte

With September quickly approaching, I want to add as many Spooky-themed books to read.

Selene Warren is a witch but doesn’t take herself too seriously. That is until her grandmother is viciously attacked. Selene needs to grow up and figure out who attacked her grandmother.

I’m excited to start going through all the books on my Kindle. The one good thing about eBooks is that they don’t take up space on my already overcrowded book shelf.

I mentioned this before, but I have been regularly using my local library’s app. I love how I can request holds from my phone and pick them up at the library when they’re ready. I had A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson on hold for a while which makes sense since this book series is pretty popular. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is definitely a page-turner, but I have no interest in reading the rest of the series.

CW: Animal Death – I can’t believe none of the other reviews mention this. There’s a family pet that’s taken and is later found dead. There are no specifics about it. I wish I would have known it was coming beforehand. This happens on page 287 (or somewhere in the 280’s) and by page 300, it’s over.

Pippa Fitz-Amobi is a high school senior who needs to pick a Capstone project. She decides to investigate the murder of Andie Bell, a senior who mysteriously disappeared in her small town five years ago. Sal Singh, Andie’s boyfriend, was listed as being the murderer after he committed suicide after Andie’s disappearance. Pippa works with Ravi, Sal’s brother, to review the evidence and determine if Sal is truly guilty.

My reading interests have changed throughout the years and I tend not to read a lot of YA (Young Adult) anymore. With that being said, I did enjoy this book. I found myself captivated from start to finish. I found that whenever I had a break in my day, I would read a chapter or two. I finished this book last Saturday because I simply couldn’t move on to anything else until I finished this book. I have been pretty vocal about my reading slump this year, so it feels nice to find books that I truly can dive into.

As far as the characters, Pippa wasn’t someone I wanted to read about. She is typecast as being the stereotypical “Good Girl” who always finishes her homework, and doesn’t drink with her friends. I find that Pippa is judgemental of her friends at times whether she means to be or not. I have seen this trope in other YA books and I’m over it. I don’t need to read about teenage drinking, but I felt that Pippa had the idea that she was better than everyone else. Ravi was my favorite character throughout the book as I think he supported Pippa throughout her investigations and was there for her. I would have liked to hear more about Ravi as a character because I don’t know much about him other than him being Pippa’s partner.

I think the biggest thing I noticed about this book is the implausibility of it all. In order for Pippa to collect the evidence she needs, she does some questionable things. This book is fictional, so I guess maybe I’m being too critical, but I thought the way things played out was a little too convenient. Additionally, I find that A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder plays into a lot of tropes that I see in other books of this genre. One example includes a teacher sleeping with a student. I have seen this appear in other YA mysteries and again, I’m over it. I’m not expecting new things from every book I read, but for how hyped this series is, I held this book to a higher standard.

I mentioned earlier how I have no interest in continuing on in the series. I was reading spoiler tags for the other books in this series and this series gets really dark. Additionally, it seems like Pippa completely changes into an entirely new character (as long as the spoiler reviews are correct). Since I know this now, I’m going to pretend that this book is the only book in the series. It’s interesting because I don’t see the need for this book to be a series. I feel like A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is a great standalone book, so I’m surprised that this is a series.

I went back and forth on how I wanted to rate A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. I did like the book and I have no regrets about reading it. However, I do think the book is slightly overhyped and I don’t like the way the series continues past the first book. I finally ended up rating A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder three stars on Goodreads.

Every year, me and my friends do a Girl’s Cabin Weekend at my friend’s cabin. It’s something I always look forward to. It’s a chance for us all to catch up and spend good quality time together. I tend to always bring books and graphic novels with me as there’s usually downtime between going on boat rides and swimming in the lake. While at her cabin, I ended up finishing a book plus three graphic novels. I wanted to share mini-reviews of everything I read.

The London Seance Society by Sarah Penner

It’s 1873 and The London Seance Society is gaining notoriety by performing seances for people struggling to let go of the ones they loved. Vaudeline D’Allaire is a well-known occultist who is self-trained and trusted. Lenna Wickes partners with Vaudeline after the brutal murder of her sister, Evie. Lenna only wants to perform a seance to solve her sister’s killing. Both Vaudeline and Lenna are
called by Mr. Morley, a prominent figure in the Society. There’s been a murder of a well-known society member, and Mr. Morley wants this crime solved. Vaudeline and Lenna team up to solve these murders and uncover the darker layer within the Society.

I loved the premise of this book. It was intriguing to read, especially with how the Seances are described and performed. I love how Lenna and Vaudeline work together and I liked seeing their story unfold. There’s an interesting twist halfway through the series that I wasn’t quite expecting. I think my only grievance is that the book took a little bit to get into. Once I was halfway, I couldn’t put the book down. I rated The London Seance Society four stars on Goodreads.

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller

This is a graphic novel that I have had on my Goodreads TBR since 2015. I can see why this story is so well-regarded, but I do think it’s a product of its time. There’s a lot of casual sexism, I think it was cool to see a female Robin, but I don’t think it was fleshed out. I’m trying not to be negative, but this wasn’t for me. I rated this two stars on Goodreads.

Cats! Girlfriends and Catfriends by Frédéric Brrémaud, Paola Antista, Cecilia Giumento

This was so cute! It’s a graphic novel series that follows friends with their cats. It reminded me of Calvin & Hobbes as each page had a different story. I rated Cats! three stars on Goodreads.

Plume Volume #2 by K. Lynn Smith

Plume is so good! It’s a Wild West-inspired story centered around Vesper, the daughter of an archaeologist. Vesper was given this magical necklace which is connected to a man named Corrick. Corrick must protect the person holding the necklace. Vesper and Corrick team up and get into trouble. I love everything about this series, it’s fun to read. I rated Plume five stars on Goodreads.

This year has been a hit or miss when it comes to reading and I feel like I’m finally finding my stride. I actually read another book that I rented from the library and that review should be posted shortly.

I have hinted at this in a few posts throughout the year, but I have been struggling to find the motivation to read. I tried to read two books that I was looking forward to, but couldn’t get past the first fifty pages. I haven’t been in a reading slump this bad since 2012 when I went off to college. It’s sad because I do love to read and I will always love to read, but I just haven’t been feeling it. I find that I have been listening to music late at night and then once I’m tired, I don’t want to read, and instead end up going to bed. I contemplated what to do next and I found a few ways that I think will help encourage me to start reading again on a regular basis. I wanted to share a few things that I will be doing to help break my reading slump.

Keeping Up-to-Date with Booktubers

There are a few booktubers and book bloggers that I follow. However, I noticed that for several months, I hadn’t been keeping up with their content. This is one of the best ways that get book recommendations. I took a few hours to get caught up and it helped spark that interest to read. I added quite a few books to my TBR on Goodreads as a result. I think I need to get back into keeping up with their content because I think it helps to look forward to new books to read.

As far as who I follow, I like Riley Marie and Merrily Kristin. Their book recommendations do occasionally blend together. However, I find that Riley will recommend more smut and darker books while Kristin will recommend more graphic novels, manga, and fantasy. For book blogs, I like Nerdy by Nature. I used to use a blog tracking website, where I could follow blogs and see new posts. I ended up discontinuing this since the site would only work half the time. Therefore, I ended up not reading Nerdy By Nature’s new posts. I have the site bookmarked now, so I can read her new posts every week.

Using my Local Library

I keep forgetting that my local library has an app. It’s neat because I can request a hold on a book and it shows me where I’m at in the queue to be able to pick it up. I have four things on hold right now. The one downside to this is the more popular a book is, the harder it is to get it. For example, I have A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson on hold and I’m 21 in the queue meaning 20 other people are ahead of me before I get to read it. It’s worth putting holds on popular books a few months in advance since it will take a while to get to me.

I’m going to move the library app to the first page on my phone to remind myself to use it more.

Listening to My Mood

In 2022, I did a lot of planning on what books I would read and at what time. This year, I have been letting myself pick books based on what mood I’m in. If I’m in the mood for a thriller then I read a thriller. If I’m in the mood for a romance, then I read romance. I haven’t been doing as much planning which I think will work for the rest of this year.

I do like pre-planning my books, but I think I just need a break on that for now.

Being Strict on Putting Books Down if I’m not Enjoying Them

When I pick up a book to read, sometimes I find that I try to force myself through the book. This has contributed to my reading slump because if I’m not enjoying the book then I don’t read it. I have been trying to be more strict on this where if I’m not enjoying a book or I’m not in the mood to read a book, to simply put it down and move on to something else. This I think will help in finding books that I’m looking forward to reading and donating any books that I didn’t enjoy.

I feel rejuvenated! I think I have a strategy to get back into reading and refocus on books that I am genuinely excited to read. I hope to share more book-related content soon.

I started watching The Umbrella Academy earlier this year and it quickly became one of my favorite shows. As a comic book reader, it’s been a blast seeing more stories being adapted into shows or films. I personally have never heard of The Umbrella Academy before watching the show. I found the first volume at a comic book store and decided to give it a shot. This is an example instance in which I think the show is much better than the source material.

The Umbrella Academy focuses on this extraordinary event where 47 children are born on the exact same day even though the women showed no previous signs of pregnancy. Reginald Hargreeves adopts seven of these children and names them “The Umbrella Academy” The children show signs of having powers with Vanya being the odd one out. Reginald harps on her that she isn’t special and has no special abilities. As the children grow up, they resent Reginald for bringing them together and they go their separate ways. The group is reunited when Reginald passes away. One of the children, codenamed Number Five, travels through time and discovers an apocalypse that will bring the world to an end. He tries to rally the other Umbrella Academy members into helping to prevent this apocalypse.

As mentioned, this is one of the few times where I feel the show is better than the source. The graphic novel in many ways feels messy. Most of the children don’t stand out from each other. Watching the show helped fill the gaps that the graphic novel had which I wasn’t expecting. I think the graphic novel focuses heavily on action and showcasing the children’s powers while the show builds on how the powers affected them individually which I think was more interesting to watch.

I will say that I do like the art and the alternate covers. I think it fits into the aesthetic that Gerard Way was going for when he wrote the story. I did like the story, but I wish it would have been longer, so each child in The Umbrella Academy had their time to shine and that didn’t happen.

I don’t have any regrets about reading The Umbrella Academy as I’m a big fan of the show. I do plan on reading the whole series just to say that I read them, however, I think the series can be skipped as the show does an excellent job summarizing the crucial plot points. I rated The Umbrella Academy five stars based on my love for the show, but I think as a standalone, I would rate The Umbrella Academy three and a half stars on Goodreads.

I’m unsure how often I have referenced Mind’s Eye Comics, but it won’t be the last. Mind’s Eye has become my local comic book store and I try to stop in on a regular basis. For the month of June, my company does a Juneteenth reimbursement where there’s a $100 reimbursement if money is spent at a black-owned business. It just so happens that Mind’s Eye Comics is a black-owned business in the Twin Cities. To be fair, I’m happy to spend $100 at Mind’s Eye Comics any day of the week, but now I have another reason to stop in. I wanted to share my haul as I ended up leaving with much more than I thought I would.

I’m in a graphic novel kick as of late. I’m not sure why, I just haven’t been buying as many single-issues. The first graphic novel that I bought is Quincredible: Volume #1 Quest To Be The Best by Barnes, Espiritu, and Fitzpatrick. Quincredible follows Quinton West who gains the power of invulnerability. Quin struggles with his powers which leads him to being mentored by Glow, another superhero. I don’t know much more than that, but I’m looking forward to reading this.

The second graphic novel I bought is Box by Wirbeleit & Heidschotter. Box is about a young boy who finds a box and decides to use it for his adventures except the box starts talking. Box gave off Calvin & Hobbes type of inspiration. I like how this will be more of a light-hearted read.

The third graphic novel I bought was The Mall by Handfield, Haick III, Loureiro, Dijio, and Hopkins. The Mall follows a group of teenagers in the 1980s who fit the teenager sterotypes. They find out that they are connected to a mafia boss who was recently killed. The mafia boss left each teenager a store in the mall which are all fronts for mafia boss activity. In the Goodreads description it says that this is a “Breakfast Club meets Goodfellas”.

The fourth graphic novel I bought was Cats Girlfriends and Cat Friends by Brrémaud and Antista. Cats Girlfriends and Cat Friends is a series of French graphic novels that tell the stories of friends and their cats. This seems like it will be a cute cat story and I’m here for it.

The fifth graphic novel is Batgirl and the Birds of Prey Source Code by J Benson, S Benson, Antonio and Roe. I read the first volume several years ago and it seemed like a good opportunity to return to the series. I will probably re-read the first volume right before reading volume #2, so I can be fresh in the story.

The final novel is Pop Culture Pioneers: The Women Who Transformed Fandom in Film, Television, Comics, and More by Cher Martinetti. This might not count as a graphic novel, but I thought this would be an interesting book to add to my collection. It’s a non-fiction book where it tells various stories from women in geek culture. I’m looking forward to reading this.

Besides graphic novels, I bought the Polka-Dot Man Funko pop from The Suicide Squad. I’m looking for more collectibles to place on my desk at work and figured Polka-Dot Man would be a fun addition. I also bought a Loki wallet and a Hercules keychain to add to my keyring.

I love having a lot to read. This haul should keep me busy for a while.

The first Grady Hendrix book I read was The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires and I loved it. I don’t read much horror, but it’s nice to have another go-to author besides Stephen King. I had The Final Girl Support Group on my TBR for a while as I tend to gravitate toward slasher films if I ever do watch horror movies. I liked The Final Girl Support Group although I think this book would be much better as a movie.

Lynette Tarkington is a final girl. She survived a horrific massacre of her family and as such, her trauma leaks into her routine. She has intense security measures in her apartment, carries a weapon, and takes several different bus routes in case she’s followed. Lynette has been attending a “Final Girl Support Group” for decades led by successful psychotherapist, Dr. Carol Elliott. As the group’s session comes to an end, Lynette is alerted to the fact that Adrienne, another “Final Girl” in their group was murdered. As the day progresses, each Final Girl is targeted including Lynette. Lynette has to go off the grid to figure out who’s targeting the Final Girls.

The Final Girl Support Group is a book that I couldn’t put down. My husband had invited a friend over for a BBQ at our place and I hung back in our room to finish this book. I couldn’t help it! The book from start to finish was a page-turner. I wanted to know who was targeting the Final Girls. Additionally, the way the book was written, there are clearly secrets that Lynette didn’t share with the reader and I wanted to know what they were.

As far as the characters, I liked Lynette and how she developed throughout the book. Lynette’s arguably the Final Girl whose trauma is exhibited the most. Granted, Lynette’s the main character and there isn’t as much of a preview into the other Final Girls and how they live their lives. After the climatic showdown, Lynette distances herself from someone in her past, moves into a new place, and is seeking help through physical therapy and leading the new Final Girl Support group. It’s nice to see her progress and try to live her life.

As a fan of slasher films, there are a lot of throwbacks to this genre of horror. Some of the names of the Final Girls are names of the actresses who played the roles in those films. Additionally, there’s a mention of a film series called Stab which retells Julie’s Final Girl story. Stab is also a film franchise that’s mentioned in the Scream films. In one of the section breaks, there’s an interview transcript featuring two cops interviewing one of the Final Girls. The cops are Dwight Riley and Judy Hicks who are characters in Scream 4 specifically. While I think that anyone can enjoy reading The Final Girl Support Group, I think it’s more fun knowing the references from these films.

I mentioned earlier how I think The Final Girl Support Group would be better as a film than a book. The book’s plot is a little messy and convenient. Without spoilers, there’s a moment where Lynette starts to put together the pieces of who might be responsible. I thought the way this came together was a little odd to me. Additionally, there’s another moment where Lynette has a run-in with someone from her past. The scene itself felt a little over-the-top when really it didn’t need to be that way. For a book, it was a bit much, but for a movie, I think this would be an entertaining scene.

The Final Girl Support Group was an intense, page-turner that helped me break out of my reading slump. I can see where this book might not be for everyone, but I liked it nonetheless. I rated The Final Girl Support Group four stars on Goodreads.

I was pretty strategic in picking out the books that I plan on reading throughout the summer. I wanted something light-hearted, set in summer, and something that I could see myself reading outside in the backyard. One book that I knew I wanted to read was Book Lovers by Emily Henry. Emily Henry’s books are immensely popular and it seems like everyone raves about her books. I recently finished Book Lovers a few days ago and now I get the hype. Book Lovers is one of the best romance books I read this year.

Nora Stephens has dedicated her life to her career as a literary agent. Nora has an awkward run-in with Charlie Lastra, an editor who trashed the book that Nora was currently working on. Nora pushes Charlie aside and follows her sister Libby to Sunshine Falls, a small town that’s the setting of a book from one of Nora’s clients. Much to Nora’s surprise, she runs into Charlie as he’s from Sunshine Falls originally. Nora and Charlie are forced to work together to edit a book much to Nora’s chagrin. Nora starts to see Charlie in a new light and Charlie realizes how much he has in common with Nora. Can they move past their preconceived notions of themselves and each other?

While Book Lovers is a book centered on Nora and Charlie’s relationship, this book is so much more than that. This book beautifully shows grief and the consequences of not facing grief head-on and allowing someone to be swallowed in it. It’s a book that shows the relationship between two sisters and how they each have their own struggles. I enjoy reading romance, not necessarily for the romance itself, but about the lives the characters have built for themselves and how those lives become interwoven together.

Throughout the book, Nora is shown as a motherly figure toward Libby. Their mother died while they were young adults and Nora steps in to guide Libby to ensure that she’s okay. By doing this, Nora pushes her own emotions down to the point that she becomes numb to it. I thought this was a realistic way to show grief because Nora finds herself drawn to her career to put aside her emotions. I liked how Nora grew throughout the book and did so without Charlie’s help.

I loved reading about Nora and Libby’s adventures throughout Sunshine Falls. They give each other makeovers, they try to save the local bookstore, and Libby sets Nora up on some pretty bad first dates. This book reads like a Hallmark romantic comedy which is normally not for me, but Book Lovers was an exception.

Onto the romance, I loved Nora and Charlie together. They had this flirtatious banter that was so fun to read. This is one of those romances that’s a slow burn, but once they finally get together, it feels right. For me, I was rooting for Nora this whole time to have her happy ending and I was so happy for her by the end of the book.

Book Lovers is an ode to the joys of a small town. Sunshine Falls serves as the best backdrop for the story. I kept picturing the mountains, a small downtown with a Gazebo, and some land outside of the downtown area. The local bar along with cracked sidewalks leads to homes up the hill. The setting makes you want to go explore a small town for a weekend.

Book Lovers was the perfect book to start summer off with. I rated Book Lovers five stars on Goodreads.

When I was at Planet Comicon this year, I saw a Chainsaw cosplay which was really cool looking. I had no idea where this was from. A friend pointed it out to me and said it was from a manga and anime series called Chainsaw Man. My interest was piqued and I was able to find a copy of the first volume of Chainsaw Man. I’m not sure what I was expecting. Chainsaw Man is a gore filled revenge story featuring the cutest chainsaw dog I have ever seen.

Chainsaw Man centers around Denji who is trying to pay off his father’s debt. He partners with the Yakuza by working as a devil hunter. Denji finds friendship in Pochita, a devil dog with a chainsaw on the top of its head. Eventually, Denji is betrayed by the Yakuza and is saved by Pochita. Pochita lives within Denji and when Denji becomes threatened, he can become the Chainsaw Man. Denji can’t keep his newly acquired abilities secret which leads him to be recruited to be a devil hunter for the government. As Denji gets more involved in professional devil hunting, he realizes that the people he’s working for may also have their own agenda in Denji’s life.

Let’s be real, Pochita is the cutest demon dog I have ever seen! I would continue reading this series for Pochita and that’s it. Pochita is the demon Denji befriends early on and becomes a major reason why Denji is able to turn into Chainsaw Man. Besides Pochita, I felt that the first volume was a lot of build-ups. There isn’t a whole lot revealed about the other characters and their backstories. I’d be curious to read more about Makima, the woman who is leading Denji’s team. It seems like she’s up to something and it’s difficult to interpret whether it’s good or bad. I will say that even though there’s a lot of story-building in the first volume, I read through it pretty quickly. Each chapter had its own adventure which I found interesting.

I think the only thing that bothered me or got old fast was Denji’s obsession with boobs. This feels stereotypical of a manga series or character where there’s a male protagonist who is obsessed with women and their bodies. I don’t think this ruined the experience of reading Chainsaw Man, but it was constantly mentioned a lot about Denji wanted to be with a woman. I’m curious if that will exist in future volumes or if Denji will mature and grow up.

With all of that being said, I liked Chainsaw Man a lot and I would continue on in the series. I rated Chainsaw Man Vol #1 four stars on Goodreads.