I like to browse Goodreads every now and then to find new books to read. Goodreads had a list of new books coming out in 2024 and one of those books was How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin. This is Kristen’s debut adult novel having previously written middle-grade books. The premise for this book was too good to pass up, so I had it saved for later. While in New Mexico, I found this book at a local bookstore and my mom was kind enough to buy it for me as an early birthday present. How to Solve Your Own Murder lived up to the hype and it might be my favorite book I have read in 2024.

In 1965, Frances Adams received a fortune. This fortune-teller gives her a riddle alluding to the fact that Frances will be murdered. Frances does what she can to investigate every person who enters her life, determined to beat the fortune. In the present day, Annie Adams visits her Great Aunt Frances, a woman she barely knows. Before being able to talk with her, Frances is found dead. Annie quickly finds out about the riddle and is determined to solve her murder, no matter the cost.

How to Solve Your Own Murder is recommended for those who liked Knives Out and I couldn’t agree more. Unlike Knives Out, How to Solve Your Own Murder focuses more on the people who live in the same town as Frances. There are certain unlikeable family members, but the town gossip is central to this book. Between Annie’s investigations are snippets of France’s journal entries detailing a summer in the 1960s. Both stories converge when Annie figures out who killed Frances and who killed one of France’s best friends decades earlier. It’s been a while since a book has kept me up late reading, but this book accomplished that. It’s funny that I was late to my Dungeons & Dragons game because I was reading this book in the parking lot before our session. My group laughed at me, but it shows how invested I was in this book.

Annie as a main character is equal parts naive and sweet. Annie doesn’t always make the best decisions, yet it fits her character. There’s a flirtation between Annie and one of the detectives, but I liked how this book didn’t force a romance between the two. Returning to the Knives Out reference, Annie has a list of suspects who could have killed Frances, so this aura of mystery always remains throughout the book.

I didn’t realize that How to Solve Your Own Murder would be the first book in a series as I was anticipating this to be a stand-alone story. I am here for the sequel and I’m curious if this will center around Annie as the main character or if this will be an entirely new mystery altogether. This book was so cozy and was exactly what I wanted.

Being from Minnesota, our state is politically liberal. However, the politics become more conservative if you drive an hour outside of the Twin Cities, Duluth, or Rochester. I feel fortunate to live in Minnesota because while our taxes are high, our quality of life is good. I had Real Queer America LGBT Stories From Red States by Samantha Allen on my Goodreads to-be-read shelf for far too long. Samantha Allen takes readers on a road trip to the red states in the US and how there is hope for those states.

Samantha Allen is a journalist who is out and married to her wife. Samantha has spent a portion of her life living in what is known as “red states” meaning US states that lean conservative. There are a lot of stereotypes about living in red states. To break these stereotypes, Samantha and her friend, Billy, travel to Utah, Texas, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, and Indiana to help highlight the LGBTQIA+ activists fighting for a better life in their home states.

I loved everything about this book. I have preconceived notions about some US states I haven’t been to. I think the way this book is written is delicate in the sense that these states are worth fighting for, but also recognizing that these states have a lot to do to make a safer community for LGBTQIA+ people. I liked the portion of the book where Samantha visits Mississippi. One of my favorite stories to read about was the woman who helped put on Jackson’s first Pride parade. This happened in 2016. This feels so late, yet, this shows that steps are being taken to make Mississippi more accepting and safe.

I feel biased towards this book because I love road trips. It’s one of my favorite ways to see the US. While this book deals with heavy subject matter, I like how Samantha documents her travels. She tends to find the hidden gems in some of these states that many would overlook.

Another thing I liked about this book is how concise this was. Reading non-fiction can be draining depending on the topic the book is covering. If a non-fiction book is longer, I sometimes struggle to stay engaged. At only 307 pages, I felt this book was easy to read and I found myself losing an hour or two at a time reading everyone’s stories.

Real Queer America LGBT Stories From Red States gives me hope. Hearing about how other people have stayed in these states because they want things to change, I have a lot of respect for them. I couldn’t imagine how difficult it must be to continue the fight. This book reminds me how important it is for Pride to exist.

In June, I’m taking a break from my usual TBR schedule, instead, I’m picking books I’m in the mood to read. I will go back to my TBR format for July as I already know what books I will read next month. From my trip to Tropes and Trifles, I purchased Fangirl Down by Tessa Bailey. Fangirl Down is a golf romance and it’s the first book in Tessa Bailey’s sports romance series. This is the first Tessa Bailey book I finished because I tried to read Wreck the Halls last year and DNFed it. Fangirl Down was the smutty sports romance book I was looking for.

Josephine Doyle is Wells Whitaker’s number-one fan. After a chance encounter after a golf tournament, Wells rips Josephine’s sign in half. Feeling guilty, Wells appears at Josephine’s golf store ready to apologize. After a hurricane tore the store apart, Wells realizes how he can help. He hires Josephine as his caddy, so she can use the money to fix her pro shop. Josephine becomes the bright spot that Wells needs and he realizes there’s more to Josephine than just being a fangirl.

I loved Josephine. I’d read a whole series about her playing golf. She can dish out sassy comments back to Wells and her positivity is a perfect contrast to Wells’s grumpy attitude. She has to deal with a lot of sexism as she’s a female caddy to a male pro-golfer, but she holds her own and it’s clear that she has a lot of respect for golf as a sport (arguably more than Wells throughout this entire book). Josephine was the best.

As a golfer, I liked how golf was the backdrop to this book. The final moments were at The Masters which was the perfect way to end the book. The PGA Tour is featured several times and I like how there was some dirty talk that focused specifically on golf. I enjoyed reading about Josephine and Wells jetting off to the next tournament throughout the US.

While I loved this book, I felt there were moments where the writing was cringe. If I were to read the dialogue out loud, there’s no way that anyone talks that way in a normal conversation. While this book was smutty, some of the scenes were hot and others gave me the ick. There’s also a particular scene in this book that wasn’t for me, but I have to admire Josephine for taking what she wants.

The last thing I wanted to add, while Wells does grow up a lot, I think he’s a walking red flag. The way he treats Josephine at times is not the best. To be fair, he does apologize, although it feels like common sense not to treat someone that way. I think Tessa Bailey wrote Wells to be this over-the-top aggressive person which I didn’t think was needed. The epilogue in Fangirl Down helps because it shows how Wells has matured. While Josephine and Wells are cute together, Wells needs therapy.

Fangirl Down was a hole-in-one. I didn’t think I would enjoy this book as much as I did and now I’m invested in Tessa Bailey’s series. The second book, The Au Pair Affair will be published sometime this Summer.

It should come as a surprise to no one that I’m reading witchy books in Spring. Why should I only read Spooky-themed books in the Fall? I discovered The Ex Hex series a few years ago and it’s basically Charmed meets Gilmore Girls with a romance at the core of each book. I had The Kiss Curse which is the second book of the series on my TBR for far too long, so when I needed to make a last-minute switch to what I was going to read last month, I figured this would be a good choice. The Kiss Curse was as good if not better than The Ex Hex.

Gwyn Jones is in a good place. She has formed a new coven in Graves Glen, she’s mentoring students from the local college, and she’s helping to run her business, Something Wicked. When Llewellyn “Wells” Penhallow returns to Graves Glen and sets up a shop right the street from hers, Gwyn can’t help but be ornery about it. Gwyn and Wells agree to a truce as they feel a dark source of magic brewing nearby. While investigating dark magic, Gwyn can’t help but develop feelings for Wells especially because he isn’t everything she thought he was.

With romance book series, I think it’s essential that each book builds off each other. In The Kiss Curse, there’s more revealed about the Graves Glen as a town and who has it out for Gwyn and Viv’s bloodline. I think it’s easy to discount The Kiss Curse as a smutty, witchy romance, I feel that doesn’t give the series enough credit. I did like Gwyn and Wells together as a couple. Wells is more serious, combined with Gwyn’s boisterous personality, they work well together as a couple. I thought this book had a nice balance between romance, smut, and plot.

This might be an unpopular opinion, but I loved how this book was shorter. I’m all for believing that two people are the be-all/end-all, but sometimes I want things to cut to the chase. I feel like The Kiss Curse was perfect because there was build-up, the plot thickens, they have sex, and there’s an epilogue all within 306 pages.

The Kiss Curse was short, cute, and witchy. For someone who loves Halloween as much as I do, this series caters to my Spooky soul. I rated The Kiss Curse five stars on Goodreads.

I read Legends & Lattes, the first book in Travis Baldree’s series, last year and I loved it. It felt like I was reading a TTRPG except the players chose to open a coffee shop instead of fighting people at a tavern. Travis Baldree released Bookshops & Bonedust, which is a prequel to Legends & Lattes and details Viv’s prior adventures. This might be an unpopular opinion based on everything I have heard, but I enjoyed Bookshops & Bonedust more than Legends & Lattes.

During a battle with Varine, the Necromancer, Viv is injured and taken to the town of Murk to recover. Rackam’s Ravens, Viv’s mercenary group, leave her where they intend to finish Varine without her. While Viv recovers, she meets Fern when she stumbles into Thistleburr, Fern’s bookstore. Viv helps Fern redesign her shop and starts to develop a bond with both Fern and Potroast, Fern’s pet. As Viv makes herself at home, she sees signs that point her to the fact that Varine might return. Can Viv recover quickly enough to protect Murk?

One reason why I preferred Bookshops & Bonedust to Legends & Lattes is the fact that there was more of a driving plot in this book. Varine is clearly evil and there are signs of her return throughout the book. In Legends & Lattes, I found the pacing to be slower at times because it felt like I was reading about Viv brewing coffee, which is fine, but I wanted more going on in the background. In between Varine’s return, I liked Viv’s friendships that she formed especially with Maylee. I won’t spoil it, but I thought Viv and Maylee’s relationship was cute which ended up tying into the book’s epilogue.

With Bookshops & Bonedust being a prequel, I think it helps to read Legends & Lattes first. There are several name drops and this book illustrates how Viv met one of her party members. I thought her name was familiar, so I read the first chapter of Legends & Lattes. Sure enough, she was a friend and partner to Viv. There’s also a nice reveal about Viv’s sword and how she found it which I think helps to provide more worldbuilding in Viv’s story.

Bookshops & Bonedust was such a delight to read. I don’t know if Travis Baldree will write more books in the series, but I hope he does. This has quickly become a series that I would recommend to anyone and everyone. I would be slightly offended if I recommended this to someone and they didn’t like it. I rated Bookshops & Bonedust five stars on Goodreads.

I am so excited to say that I will be going on a trip this month! I have been getting the travel bug since I haven’t traveled anywhere since our trip to Europe last year. I have a note on my phone listing all the places I want to visit. I chose to do a road trip to New Mexico! I am not a stranger to road trips and I find driving to be relaxing. To help get into the mindset, I picked books that I felt resembled where I was going or books that I thought would be quick reads to bring on vacation.

To recap last month, I ended up reading two books in March. The first book was Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree. It was lovely and cozy which is what I anticipated the book to be. It took a little bit longer to read Bookshops and Bonedust, so I only ended up having a week left in March to finish another book. I decided to swap out Vox Machina Kith & Kin and read The Kiss Curse by Erin Sterling. This is the second book in the The Ex Hex series. The Kiss Curse was only 306 pages which I thought was more doable to read at the end of the month. While I ended up changing things last minute, I still felt that last month was a successful reading month. With that being said, I’m excited to share the books that I picked out to read this month.

Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman

Kate Thompson is out for blood. Her father is murdered and the journal that he found is missing. The journal revealed the location of a hidden gold mine that many people are after. Kate goes off on her own and in her quest, she meets several unsavory people who stop at nothing to get their hands on the gold.

I have had Vengeance Road on my Goodreads TBR since March 23rd, 2015. I thought the concept was neat, it feels as if Mulan and True Grit were in a book, and that’s what I expect Vengeance Road to be. I thought this book felt fitting since I’m driving out west.

Dead Space by Kali Wallace

Hester Marley works at a security company based in the Asteroid Belt. She spends her days investigating crimes which in turn helps her company profit. One of Hester’s friends reaches out to her with information about an event that occurred in Hester’s past. Before she can learn more, her friend is murdered. Hester is motivated to figure out what happened to her friend and goes to a mining station to investigate. Secrets are buried and now Hester is stuck in the depths of space with nowhere else to go.

Okay so technically this book is labeled as SciFi / Fantasy according to the library, but based on the premise, this seems more like horror. Being stranded on a space station knowing that someone killed your friend, talk about terrifying. I picked Dead Space for this TBR since there’s a lot of history with New Mexico and potential extra-terrestrial life. I think it adds to the TBR theme that I’m going for.

The Night Swim by Megan Goldin

Rachel Krall is the host of a popular true-crime podcast that helped free an innocent man. Fresh off her popularity, Rachel is looking for the next case to cover. Rachel is drawn to a small town where a young boy is accused of raping the beloved granddaughter of the police chief. While investigating, Rachel is harassed with mysterious letters that seem to point Rachel in the direction of another case. Rachel is investigating both crimes and feels that she’s asking questions without getting straight answers. Are both cases related and will Rachel get caught in the balance of revealing secrets that have long been buried?

In picking the books I read on vacation, I usually lean towards Thrillers or Romance. The Night Swim might feel like an outlier on this TBR, instead, I figured it would be an easy book to read whenever I have downtime.

Hockey Girl Loves Drama Boy by Faith Erin Hicks

Alix plays hockey and finds that she is the target of bullies. Alix gets into a physical fight with Lindsay which could hinder Alix’s invitation to a Hockey Summar Camp. Alix meets Ezra, one of the local theater kids at their school. Alix asks for Ezra’s help to control her anger. Alix and Ezra get closer and their feelings for each other develop into something deeper.

I wanted to start tackling my graphic novel TBR on Goodreads, so when I pick out my books for the month from the library, I see if my library has any copies of the graphic novels that I want to read. I am the first one to admit that I purchase most of my comics and graphic novels brand new, but the issue with that (no pun intended) is that I might read something I’m not a fan of and end up donating it. I’m trying to stick to a budget and I think it would be beneficial for me to rent more graphic novels and manga from my local library.

As a side note, all of the books in this TBR came from the library! I have a few books from my shelf that I plan on reading later in the year, so I wanted to exclusively read books that I rented from the library. I am looking forward to reading everything I picked out and I hope that with being on vacation, I will read everything on this TBR this month.

I have been on a roll when it comes to reading comics. I have settled into a routine where I sit in my comfy reading chair every Saturday after my workout class and read a graphic novel or a comic. It’s gotten to the point where I have read so much that I haven’t been able to write individual reviews for everything that I have read. I wanted to share what I have read and loved recently regarding comics.

Snotgirl: Green Hair Don’t Care Volume #1 – Bryan Lee O’Malley & Leslie Hung

Lottie Person is a fashion blogger based in LA. She has millions of followers and attends all the coolest events. Deep down, Lottie struggles with her allergies and one of her friends calls her “Snottie”. After pushing her in anger, Lottie sees that her friend hits her head. Believing that she killed her, Lottie flees the scene. Lottie juggles with the guilt of potentially murdering her friend, balancing her fashion blog, and trying to find a way to cure her allergies.

The best part about Snotgirl is the art. I’m a big fan of Leslie Hung. This book is so aesthetically pleasing. The way the art perfectly aligns with Lottie’s internal thoughts, I loved the layout of everything. I would read Snotgirl simply for the art alone. Besides the art, I think the story was easy to follow. There’s a big cliffhanger at the end of the volume that helps set up future issues. The only thing that I would say is Lottie as a character is really unlikeable. She is the epitome of the worst of influencer culture. I do think that there’s potential for Lottie to develop into a better person, but sometimes she is aggravating to read about. I rated Snotgirl Volume #1 three stars on Goodreads.

Critical Role Vox Machina Origins Volume #2 – Mercer, Houser, Samson, Msassyk, and Maher

Vex, Vax, Grog, Scanlan, Keyleth, and Tiberius are drinking at Stilben. Tiberius takes off on his secret mission while the rest of the party sleeps. In the morning, they notice that Grog is missing. Upon further questioning, they meet Pike who agrees to help locate Grog. In their quest, they find Grog, but he’s part of a mysterious ritual by a lich. The lich is defeated, but it’s clear that the threat is still looming over Grog’s body and soul.

I am amazed at how good these graphic novels are. It feels like I’m returning to the first campaign and I can hear the cast in my head as I read each of their lines. I loved how Pike and Percy were introduced and how they met the rest of the group. I liked how Grog was the center of this story as I feel that he can sometimes be a background character to the other character arcs within Vox Machina. I’m looking forward to reading the future volumes. I rated Critical Role Vox Machina Origins Volume #2 five stars on Goodreads.

Punisher: The Complete Collection Volume #1 – Ennis, Robertson, LaRosa, and Fernandez

From 2003 – 2008, Garth Ennis worked on The Punisher and the stories he wrote have been bound into collected volumes. In Volume One, Frank’s military career is documented when he finishes his service in Vietnam. The story flashes forward to when Frank is taking down various crime bosses along with partnering with British intelligence. Frank’s mission is always the same, kill those who mean harm to others.

I loved everything about this. I think Garth Ennis’s take on the character is spot on. He creates these violent stories, but also highlights why Frank does the things that he does. I think what makes Punisher so interesting as a character is how he is willing to cross the morality line while others do not. He is going to use the same tactics that the gangs use and the gangs start to fear him. I found myself reading several issues in a row because I couldn’t put the book down which I think says a lot about Garth Ennis and the way he writes his stories. I rated Punisher: The Complete Collection Volume #1 five stars on Goodreads.

I’m looking forward to reading more graphic novels and comics in the months to come. I still have quite a bit of a graphic novel backlog, but I’m motivated to keep chipping away at my collection.