Holton delivers another romance set in an alternate universe England. In this particular universe, ornithologists seek out magical birds, whether in nature or by stealing them from other ornithologists.

Beth Pickering and Devon Lockley work together to determine who the Birder of the Year is, but things aren’t quite as they seem.

Fun.

This book captures many different desires, from wanting solitude and how that’s a proxy for the desire where we all have what we need (“When I Imagine the Life I Want” by Larissa Pham) to wanting to live respectfully and reciprocally with other beings (Desire in the City of Subdued Excitement” by Rena Priest).

I recommend that you read this for a snapshot of many kinds of desire.

A new look at Adam and Eve, from the perspective of Sophie, a woman directly before Eve.

Sophie realizes that something is amiss in her home. A finger bone, a brush that she can’t recall with hair that isn’t hers leads her to question her husband and her role in the house. Sophie seeks answers, and discovers disillusionment.

Valente pokes into our society’s desire to treat men as children that can’t accept blame, and women that exist solely for men’s pleasure through her retelling.

I thoroughly enjoyed this and recommend it!

I picked this up on a lark while exploring library branches near me.

Harrow takes the Sleeping Beauty tale and re-imagines it with angsty agency.

I enjoyed it!

Lamott offers many anecdotes and thoughts on writing. I gave the book a second chance after putting it down many years ago.

I think that it’s both funny and sobering, perhaps aimed more for folks that think they want to write and be famous. Lamott intends to temper folks’ expectations.

I think she’s successful, for people that listen.

I picked this book from Powell’s because I was interested in the blurb, “…after twenty-six years of service, Zemolai is disillusioned with her role as an enforcer in an increasingly fascist state.

I wanted to see how Zemolai slips into disillusionment and how she deals with it. I didn’t expect that the book touched on abuse and manipulation, but given the subject matter, wasn’t entirely surprised.

I enjoyed how Mills employs alternating each chapter’s timeline, so we see Zemolai’s earlier experiences and how they lead to Zemolai’s current time, how her experiences inform and explain her predicament, and her regrets.

I felt that Mills handled disillusionment and regret well, avoiding sugarcoating a difficult topic.

This is a favorite, I strongly recommend it.

Dowrick suggests ways to journal creatively and offers many different prompts and sample entries. It can feel a bit repetitive. But overall I feel that its a good resource for both new and experienced journal writers.

A fictional memoir from Alex, who recounts her life and the involvement of the various women in her life and their various reactions to dragoning: her mom, aunt, and her so-called sister. Dragoning in this book is when a person, usually a woman, transforms into a dragon.

Alex goes through some shit. Her aunt dragons, leaving her child behind. Alex’s family takes her cousin, Beatrice, in as Alex’s sister. They agree to never talk about her aunt again. Her mom dies, and then her dad forces both Alex and Beatrice out of his their home.

At first I found it hard to read, because the book felt that it was about feminine rage and how we in Western society turn a blind eye to it. And I mean it was difficult because that’s a discomforting thing to read, imagine, and come to terms as a person in our culture, and I think that’s Barnhill’s intention.

Then the book took a turn and felt it was about families of different shapes, compositions, and finding love in its different guises.

I think the book is both. I think it did well to describe feminine rage and our collective rejection of it in society. I also think that it handles family dynamics and love with care.

I enjoyed this book and I recommend that you give it a shot.

Gil “Hop” Hopkins is a glad-handing fixer for a Hollywood studio, officially a publicity agent. In his mind, he’s a cool, fun-loving womanizer.

However, when a missing person / murder case two years cold is resurrected, Hop finds himself acting the gumshoe to uncover and then hide the truth.

A look into the dark parts of Hollywood, no one is spared—not the reader, the victims, or hop—from questions such as: how far are you willing to go for your employers; are you one of “those sorts” of guys; how do the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves match reality?

I felt that this was an interesting introduction to noir. Abbott captures the grimy feel of Hollywood, creeps that can’t possibly consider women as anything other than objects, and stale cigarettes everywhere. It’s disturbing and yet utterly riveting.

Far from a cozy mystery, read this if you are willing to be uncomfortable.

Larkyra is the youngest of three sisters. When she sings, she literally creates magic. Lord Mekenna is an abused child. His step-father, the Duke of Lachlan, wasting his land’s funds and slowly killing his subjects through neglect and deprivation.

Larkyra’s father sends her to uncover what the Duke of Lachlan is doing, and how she can help Lord Mekenna by feigning a courtship with the Duke. During her ruse, she falls in love with Lord Mekenna.

In terms of a of a romance, the book feels more like a young adult novel for how the characters interact and how deep their interactions are.

All said, I found this an entertaining book.