Tag Archives: mini-review

American Portrait, by Multiple Authors

Posted on January 24, 2022 by Amanda

Subtitled: The Story of Us, Told by Us This is a collection put out by PBS about people’s lives (mostly**) through the first year of the pandemic. There were various prompts posted online (“The tradition I carry on is…” or … Continue reading →

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A Trio of Cytonic Novellas

Posted on January 17, 2022 by Amanda

Over the fall of 2021, three novellas in the Cytoverse were released, co-authored by Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson. The stories mostly happen between the second book in the main series, Starsight, and the third book, Cytonic, which also released … Continue reading →

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Abandoned Books of 2021

Posted on December 17, 2021 by Amanda

I don’t read books that aren’t working for me. Most of the time, if I start a book that’s not going to work, I can tell within a few chapters, if not a few pages or even paragraphs. I cull … Continue reading →

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The Lost Gargoyle of Paris, by Gigi Pandian (audio)

Posted on December 10, 2021 by Amanda

After the Notre Dame fire, a document supposedly drawn by Victor Hugo is discovered inside some of the wrecked walls of the cathedral. Fearing that this document might be stolen and used by backward alchemists, Zoe Faust and Dorian travel … Continue reading →

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The Cousins, by Karen McManus

Posted on November 29, 2021 by Amanda

Twenty-five years ago, the Story children were suddenly cut from the family with a cryptic note from their mother: You know what you did. Except they don’t, or at least they claim that they don’t. Now, another inexplicable letter from … Continue reading →

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The Heart Principle, by Helen Hoang

Posted on August 23, 2021 by Amanda

Anna is struggling. Her music career is on hold due to anxiety, and her longterm boyfriend has decided to “open their relationship” before committing. Anna decides to try out a dating app in a kind of revenge, and meets Quan. … Continue reading →

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Fugitive Telemetry, by Martha Wells

Posted on August 6, 2021 by Amanda

A dead body shows up in the middle of a public area on Preservation Station. These sorts of things just don’t happen here, so no one knows how to handle it – except Murderbot. The human security team doesn’t trust … Continue reading →

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The Night Hawks, by Elly Griffiths (audio)

Posted on July 23, 2021 by Amanda

In this 13th installment of the Ruth Galloway mysteries, a new Bronze Age burial site has been discovered by the Night Hawks, a group of metal detectorists in search of treasure. Unfortunately, a fresh body is found nearby, entangling the … Continue reading →

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Murderbot Diaries #2-5

Posted on June 21, 2021 by Amanda

When I read a bunch of series books back to back like this, I don’t like to do individual reviews for each one. I especially like to skip descriptions as that can cause inadvertent spoilers for earlier volumes. So after … Continue reading →

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All Systems Red, by Martha Wells

Posted on May 31, 2021 by Amanda

From GoodReads: On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid—a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of … Continue reading →

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