Punching Bag by Rex Ogle: Book Review

4 Stars. Rex Ogle’s mother and stepfather physically and emotionally abused him when he was a child. In his second memoir, Punching Bag, he describes unimaginable incidents that are a terrible reality for far too many children. An alcoholic stepfather who continues the cycle of abuse that he experienced as a child himself […]

Continue Reading

From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry by Paula Yoo: Book Review

4 Stars. I find this review hard to write for some reason but I just found my notes so I’m going to basically just list my bullet point thoughts. The description of the beating death of Vincent Chin gave me nightmares. It felt too graphic (And as I write this I’m hip deep in my annual monthlong horror fest, so I’m not exactly a […]

Continue Reading

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells: Book Review

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

4 Stars. These novellas read like engrossing episodes of your favorite science fiction TV show and I inhale them like popcorn. Murderbot is an unexpected, understated delight and its dry sense of humor keeps me smiling. Its observations of humanity are on point and hilarious. It’s teamed up with ART (short for Asshole Research […]

Continue Reading

The Secret Life of Bots by Suzanne Palmer: Story Review

The Secret Life of Bots by Suzanne Palmer Story Cover

4 Stars. I just finished Artificial Condition, the second book in the Murderbot Diaries series, and really liked it. Greg at Book Haven noted my excitement and recommended this short story to me. “The Secret Life of Bots” is not related to Murderbot in any way but they do have a similar feel. There’s a…not entirely compliant […]

Continue Reading

All Systems Red by Martha Wells: Book Review

All Systems Red by Martha Wells Book Cover

4 Stars. My husband isn’t much of a reader. He usually has a book on his Kindle (which I bought him) but he takes his time with it and usually only reads a handful of books each year. I thought he would enjoy this series and the way that the author mostly just plunges into the action. So I downloaded the audiobook and made him […]

Continue Reading

If You Like L. M. Montgomery…

Books to Read if You Like L. M. Montgomery

Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl invited us to share “Books for People Who Liked Author X” this week. That threw me for a loop for a minute. I read pretty widely at this point and I’m not terribly faithful to any one genre. Could I do this? Maybe I needed to go rogue. Then I realized the angle I needed to take. Here’s a list of […]

Continue Reading