The Muses Among Us: Eloquent Listening and Other Pleasures of the Writer’s Craft by Kim StaffordMy rating: 2 of 5 stars I was unimpressed with this collection of anecdotes? Short stories? Inspirational, personal experiences?I really could not take the author seriously after he wrote that he “gleans” inspiration from other people’s conversations that he feels are creative and good enough to write down. Furthermore, I found that this collection lacked direction and purpose and didn’t feel authentic. Every chapter I read I asked myself, if this was actually based on his own experiences or if it sprung from another person’s moment of creativity that he happened to eavesdrop on.Having said…

Bird Box by Josh MalermanMy rating: 4 of 5 stars To say that this story was haunting me for the duration it took me to finish would be an understatement. It stalked me. It gave me nightmares. It gave me this uncomfortable feeling, making me almost drop the book every time an unexpected noise startled me. I asked the sales associate at the bookstore for a creepy, eerie book and I certainly got what I asked for with this story.The characters are well thought out with a certain degree of distance that keeps the reader interested and adds to the eeriness of the atmosphere.The plot and structure of the narration…

The Goodbye Witch by Heather BlakeMy rating: 5 of 5 stars I love this series and it is refreshing to find an author that is capable of maintaining the same level of quality writing throughout each installment.In addition to the consistency of the writing and dedication to the story and characters as a whole, the author takes her time in developing the characters truthfully and evenly without the loss of plots and mystery.In this story the characters (main and secondary) are the focus, although the mystery portion is still enjoyable.The writing is still witty and includes laughs and even some sad parts.The books in this series quickly became my go-to…

A Fatal Likeness by Lynn ShepherdMy rating: 5 of 5 stars This was an intense story. I finished it two days ago and I still cannot find the words to write a review that is void of any spoilers and unintentional hints to the plot.The characters are richly portrayed with the sort of depth that has the reader wonder at their intentions and waver between trust and mistrust. The main character or recurring character of Charles Maddox takes an unusual back seat in this investigation as we find out more about his uncle.The plot is an elaborate and drama induced mess that resembles the lives of bored and overly wealthy…

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah HarknessMy rating: 1 of 5 stars Well, that was crap. I lost my review just as I was about to click “save” and since I don’t believe that this story is worth spending any more time on it than absolutely necessary, I will only provide a short commentary.The characters are flat, uninteresting and possess a sense of entitlement that had me rolling my eyes constantly by chapter 17.The plot was great until I actually started reading the story and it became obvious very fast that this resembles more a 600-page long foreplay description than an actual story about paranormal entities and a mysterious manuscript.The…

Our Sister Killjoy by Ama Ata AidooMy rating: 4 of 5 stars Unsure what to expect, I was pleasantly surprised how this short text piqued my interest. Considering the book is only 134 pages long and the story itself is divided into three shorter stories that evolve around the protagonist (and sometimes feel quite unrelated from each other), it was able to achieve depth of the character and a clear picture of the protagonist’s experiences.Having said that, at times I felt a bit left out, since various key pieces of information were not given and there were jumps in times and settings, which caused some confusion.Overall, I appreciated the creation…

The Hobbit by J.R.R. TolkienMy rating: 4 of 5 stars I loved the plot, the adventure, the fantasy and the execution of the story as a whole, but I have never had so much trouble finishing a story before this one. It took me 2 months to make it through this book and actually had to take an extended break from reading it, because my heart just wasn’t into it.Having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed this fantastic story. It was very well structured and contained a great deal of detail that aided in the reader’s attempt to picture this world in their mind’s eye.Unfortunately, as I just mentioned, the narration…

The History of Mary Prince: A West Indian Slave Narrative by Mary PrinceMy rating: 5 of 5 stars It was heart wrenching to read about this poor woman and her life as a slave. Many times I had to remind myself that this was an account of actual occurrences and not fiction.It is beyond my comprehension how people can treat others in such a cruel and gruesome way. The narration of Mary’s experiences was very well done. It conveyed the anguish she had to endure without an unnecessary element of melodrama. This short text is a great resource to further understand the truth and ugliness that came with the West…

Brownies and Broomsticks by Bailey CatesMy rating: 2 of 5 stars I was hoping to have found another cute and worthwhile mystery series that included witches with the Magical Bakery Mystery series. Unfortunately, I will not continue this series, since it could not keep my interest.It was a slow moving story that contained a lot of unnecessary details, which oddly enough were not explained properly so that the actual purpose of those descriptions seemed out of place, awkward and confusing.I felt that the main character was only the vessel or object of moving the plot along. The author did not exert any effort to flesh her out and add some…

Gone Girl by Gillian FlynnMy rating: 3 of 5 stars How does one review a book that they hated the first 95%? A psychological thriller that contains many twists and turns, Gone Girl is a strange compilation of he-said, she-said narrations that have the reader shake their head in confusion about who to ultimately believe.As I said, I did not like the story for the most part, partially because of the choices the author made in developing the characters. For one, the reader is led down a path of disliking the first “main” character, then enlightened about the other “main” character, who we are supposed to dislike? Pity? Feel rage…