Two Recent Reads #3: The Midnight Library & Owl and the Electric Samurai

Today I will be writing two short reviews for two of my most recent reads!

The long anticipated The Midnight Library and the fantasy, vampire book Owl and the Electric Samurai (The Adventures of Owl #3).

Let's dive right in.

Two Recent Reads #2: Amalina and the Secrets of the Wailing Castle & The Circle

 Today I will be writing two short reviews for two of my most recent reads!

The audiobook copy of fantasy book Amalina and the Secrets of the Wailing Castle, and dystopian book-to-movie The Circle.

Let's dive right in.

Two Recent Reads #1: Wild Swans & Owl and the City of Angels

Today I will be writing two short reviews for two of my most recent reads!

The nonfiction, autobiography book Wild Swans and the fantasy, vampire book Owl and the City of Angels (The Adventures of Owl #2).

Let's dive right in.

Review: Where the Crawdads Sing

Author: Delia Owens

Started reading: September 22nd 2022

Finished the book: October 6th 2022

Pages: 384

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery

Published: August 14th 2018

Source: Bought the book

Goodreads score: 4.43

My score:

Synopsis

For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet fishing village. Kya Clark is barefoot and wild; unfit for polite society. So in late 1969, when the popular Chase Andrews is found dead, locals immediately suspect her.

But Kya is not what they say. A born naturalist with just one day of school, she takes life's lessons from the land, learning the real ways of the world from the dishonest signals of fireflies. But while she has the skills to live in solitude forever, the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. Drawn to two young men from town, who are each intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world—until the unthinkable happens.

Review: Bad Signs

Author: R.J. Ellory

Started reading: July 30th 2022

Finished the book: August 25th 2022

Pages: 436

Genres: Thriller

Published: October 27th 2011

Source: Bought the book

Goodreads score: 3.92

My score:

Synopsis

Orphaned by an act of senseless violence that took their mother from them, half-brothers Clarence Luckman and Elliott Danziger have been raised in state institutions, unaware of any world outside. But their lives take a sudden turn when they are seized as hostages by a convicted killer en route to death row.

Earl Sheridan is a psychopath of the worst kind, but he has the potential to change the boys' lives for ever. As the trio set off on a frenetic escape from the law through California and Texas, the two brothers must come to terms with the ever-growing tide of violence that follows in their wake - something that forces them to make a choice about their lives, and their relationship to one another.

Will the boys manage to elude the dark star that has hung over them since their mother's death or will they succumb to the pull of Earl Sheridan's terrifying but exhilarating vision of the world?

Review: The Apple Tart of Hope

Author: Sarah Moore Fitzgerald

Started reading: August 22nd 2022

Finished the book: August 23rd 2022

Pages: 201

Genres: YA, Fiction

Published: June 5th 2014

Source: Bought the book

Goodreads score: 3.88

My score:

Synopsis

Fourteen-year-old Oscar Dunleavy is missing, presumed dead. His bike was found at sea, out past the end of the pier, and everyone in town seems to have accepted this as a teenage tragedy. But Oscar's best friend Meg knows he isn't dead. Oscar is an optimistic and kind boy who bakes the world's best apple tarts; he would never kill himself, and Meg is going to prove it.

Through interwoven narratives, the reader learns what really happened to Oscar. His sweet life had turned sour after Meg's family moved away. Though Meg didn't know it, Oscar had a manipulative bully plaguing him with toxic humiliation. Meg must confront the painful truth of Oscar's past six months—and the possibility that he might really be gone. Surrounded by grief and confusion, she starts to put the pieces back together. With a poignant ending and memorable characters, this story of love and friendship reminds us to keep hope in our hearts.

Review: Sacrifice

Author: Sharon Bolton

Started reading: May 30th 2022

Finished the book: June 19th 2022

Pages: 384

Genres: Mystery, Thriller

Published: June 9th 2009

Source: Bought the book

Goodreads score: 3.91

My score:

Synopsis

In this masterful debut that starts off as a mystery and becomes much more, Tora Hamilton is an outsider at her new home on the rocky, wind-swept Shetland Islands, a hundred miles from the northeastern tip of Scotland. Though her husband grew up here, it’s the first time he’s been back in twenty years. Digging in the peat on their new property, Tora unearths a human body, at first glance a centuries-old bog body, interesting but not uncommon. But realizing that the body is in fact much newer, that the woman’s heart has been cut out and that she was killed within a few days of bearing a child, Tora, herself an obstetrician, becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to her—even when the police, her colleagues and eventually her husband warn her against getting involved.
Sacrifice is a bone-chilling, spell-binding debut that will grip readers from its beginning to its startling end.

Review: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (The Hunger Games #0)

Author: Suzanne Collins

Started reading: May 4th 2022

Finished the book: May 26th 2022

Pages: 541

Genres: YA, Dystopian

Published: May 19th 2020

Source: Bookbox

Goodreads score: 3.82

My score:

Synopsis

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capital, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.

The odds are against him. He's been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined -- every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute... and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.

Review: Beautiful World, Where Are You

Author: Sally Rooney

Started reading: April 26th 2022

Finished the book: May 19th 2022

Pages: 356

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Romance

Published: September 7th 2021

Source: Ebook

Goodreads score: 3.62

My score:

Synopsis

Alice, a novelist, meets Felix, who works in a warehouse, and asks him if he’d like to travel to Rome with her. In Dublin, her best friend, Eileen, is getting over a break-up and slips back into flirting with Simon, a man she has known since childhood. Alice, Felix, Eileen, and Simon are still young—but life is catching up with them. They desire each other, they delude each other, they get together, they break apart. They have sex, they worry about sex, they worry about their friendships and the world they live in. Are they standing in the last lighted room before the darkness, bearing witness to something? Will they find a way to believe in a beautiful world?

Review: Fire & Heist

Author: Sarah Beth Durst

Started reading: April 16th 2022

Finished the book: April 29th 2022

Pages: 290

Genres: YA, Fantasy

Published: December 4th 2018

Source: Fairyloot

Goodreads score: 3.43

My score:

Synopsis

Leading your first heist is a major milestone in Sky Hawkin’s family—even more so than learning to talk, walk, or do long division. It’s a chance to gain power and acceptance within society. But stealing your first treasure can be complicated—especially when you’re a wyvern, a human capable of transforming into a dragon. Embarking on a life of crime is never easy, and Sky’s mission uncovers deep secrets about the mother who recently went missing, the real reason her boyfriend broke up with her, and a valuable jewel that could restore her family’s wealth and rank in their community. With a handpicked crew by her side, Sky knows she has everything she needs to complete her first heist—and get back the people she loves in the process. But instead, she ends up discovering a dark truth about were-dragon society—a truth that is more valuable and dangerous than gold or jewels could ever be.

Review: Professional Idiot: A Memoir

Author: Stephen "Steve-O" Glover

Started reading: March 30th 2022

Finished the book: April 14th 2022

Pages: 336

Genres: Non-Fiction, Autobiography, Memoir

Published: June 7th 2011

Source: Ebook

Goodreads score: 4.10

My score:

Synopsis

From his early days videotaping crazy skateboard stunts to starring in the Jackass movies, there was little that Stephen "Steve-O" Glover wouldn't do. Whether it was stapling his nutsack to his leg or diving into a pool full of elephant crap, almost nothing was out of bounds. As the stunts got crazier, his life kept pace. He developed a crippling addiction to drugs and alcohol, and an obsession with his own celebrity that proved nearly as dangerous. Only an intervention and a visit to a psychiatric ward saved his life. Today he has been clean and sober for more than three years.

Review: Malibu Rising

Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid

Started reading: March 27th 2022

Finished the book: April 11th 2022

Pages: 365

Genres: Historical Fiction, Contemporary

Published: June 1st 2021

Source: Ebook

Goodreads score: 4.09

My score:

Synopsis

Malibu: August, 1983. It's the day of Nina Riva's annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: Nina, the talented surfer and supermodel; brothers Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer, the other a renowned photographer; and their adored baby sister, Kit. Together, the siblings are a source of fascination in Malibu and the world over-especially as the offspring of the legendary singer, Mick Riva.

By midnight the party will be completely out of control. By morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames.

But before that first spark in the early hours before dawn, the alcohol will flow, the music will play, and the loves and secrets that shaped this family's generations will all come bubbling to the surface.

Review: Broken Monsters

Author: Lauren Beukes

Started reading: February 3rd 2022

Finished the book: March 26th 2022

Pages: 441

Genres: Horror, Crime, Mystery

Published: June 16th 2015

Source: Received the book as a gift

Goodreads score: 3.61

My score:

Synopsis

Detective Gabi Versado has hunted down many monsters during her eight years in Homicide. She’s seen stupidity, corruption and just plain badness. But she’s never seen anything like this. Clayton Broom is a failed artist, and a broken man. Life destroyed his plans, so he’s found new dreams – of flesh and bone made disturbingly, beautifully real. Detroit is the decaying corpse of the American Dream. Motor-city. Murder-city. And home to a killer opening doors into the dark heart of humanity.
A killer who wants to make you whole again…

Review: Tender Is the Flesh

Author: Agustina Bazterrica

Started reading: March 10th 2022

Finished the book: March 21st 2022

Pages: 224

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Dystopian

Published: February 6th 2020

Source: Ebook

Goodreads score: 3.91

My score:

Synopsis

It all happened so quickly. First, animals became infected with the virus and their meat became poisonous. Then governments initiated the Transition. Now, 'special meat' – human meat – is legal.

Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans – only no one calls them that. He works with numbers, consignments, processing. One day, he's given a gift to seal a deal: a specimen of the finest quality. He leaves her in his barn, tied up, a problem to be disposed of later.

But the specimen haunts Marcos. Her trembling body, her eyes that watch him, that seem to understand. And soon, he becomes tortured by what has been lost – and what might still be saved…

Review: Roadside Picnic

Author: Arkady & Boris Strugatsky

Started reading: January 20th 2022

Finished the book: February 1st 2022

Pages: 145

Genres: Classics, Science Fiction, Dystopian

Published: 1972

Source: Digital Copy

Goodreads score: 4.16

My score:

Synopsis

Red Schuhart is a stalker, one of those young rebels who are compelled, in spite of extreme danger, to venture illegally into the Zone to collect the mysterious artifacts that the alien visitors left scattered around. His life is dominated by the place and the thriving black market in the alien products. But when he and his friend Kirill go into the Zone together to pick up a “full empty,” something goes wrong. And the news he gets from his girlfriend upon his return makes it inevitable that he’ll keep going back to the Zone, again and again, until he finds the answer to all his problems.

First published in 1972, Roadside Picnic is still widely regarded as one of the greatest science fiction novels, despite the fact that it has been out of print in the United States for almost thirty years.

Review: The Power

Author: Naomi Alderman

Started reading: December 10th 2021

Finished the book: January 15h 2022

Pages: 341

Genres: Fictoin, Dystopian

Published: May 18th 2017

Source: Paperlovers

Goodreads score: 3.79

My score:

Synopsis

In The Power the world is a recognisable place: there's a rich Nigerian kid who lounges around the family pool; a foster girl whose religious parents hide their true nature; a local American politician; a tough London girl from a tricky family. But something vital has changed, causing their lives to converge with devastating effect. Teenage girls now have immense physical power - they can cause agonising pain and even death. And, with this small twist of nature, the world changes utterly.

This extraordinary novel by Naomi Alderman, a Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year and Granta Best of British writer, is not only a gripping story of how the world would change if power was in the hands of women but also exposes, with breath-taking daring, our contemporary world.

Review: Eragon (The Inheritance Cycle #1)

Author: Christopher Paolini

Started reading: September 12th 2021

Finished the book: December 8th 2021

Pages: 503

Genres: YA, Fantasy

Published: August 26th 2003

Source: Bought the book

Goodreads score: 3.92

My score:

Synopsis

When Eragon finds a polished blue stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy; perhaps it will buy his family meat for the winter. But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon soon realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself.
Overnight his simple life is shattered, and he is thrust into a perilous new world of destiny, magic, and power. With only an ancient sword and the advice of an old storyteller for guidance, Eragon and the fledgling dragon must navigate the dangerous terrain and dark enemies of an Empire ruled by a king whose evil knows no bounds.

Review: Project Hail Mary

Author: Andy Weir

Started reading: August 11th 2021

Finished the book: September 6th 2021

Pages: 481

Genres: Science Fiction, Space

Published: May 4th 2021

Source: E-book

Goodreads score: 4.55

My score:

Synopsis

Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission--and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time. And he's just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.
His crew mates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, he realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Alone on this tiny ship that's been cobbled together by every government and space agency on the planet and hurled into the depths of space, it's up to him to conquer an extinction-level threat to our species. And thanks to an unexpected ally, he just might have a chance.

Review: The Da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon #2)

Author: Dan Brown

Started reading: June 17th 2021

Finished the book: August 9th 2021

Pages: 454

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller

Published: March 18th 2003

Source: Received as a gift

Goodreads score: 3.87

My score:

Synopsis

While in Paris, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is awakened by a phone call in the dead of the night. The elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum, his body covered in baffling symbols. As Langdon and gifted French cryptologist Sophie Neveu sort through the bizarre riddles, they are stunned to discover a trail of clues hidden in the works of Leonardo da Vinci—clues visible for all to see and yet ingeniously disguised by the painter.

Even more startling, the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion—a secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci—and he guarded a breathtaking historical secret. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle—while avoiding the faceless adversary who shadows their every move—the explosive, ancient truth will be lost forever.

Review: Out of My Mind

Author: Sharon M. Draper

Started reading: May 29th 2021

Finished the book: June 6th 2021

Pages: 295

Genres: YA, Realistic Fiction

Published: March 9th 2010

Source: Bought the book

Goodreads score: 4.37

My score:

Synopsis

Eleven-year-old Melody has a photographic memory. Her head is like a video camera that is always recording. Always. And there's no delete button. She's the smartest kid in her whole school—but no one knows it. Most people—her teachers and doctors included—don't think she's capable of learning, and up until recently her school days consisted of listening to the same preschool-level alphabet lessons again and again and again. If only she could speak up, if only she could tell people what she thinks and knows . . . but she can't, because Melody can't talk.

She can't walk. She can't write. Being stuck inside her head is making Melody go out of her mind—that is, until she discovers something that will allow her to speak for the first time ever.

At last Melody has a voice . . . but not everyone around her is ready to hear it.

From multiple Coretta Scott King Award winner Sharon M. Draper comes a story full of heartache and hope. Get ready to meet a girl whose voice you'll never, ever forget.