Penny Thoughtful: All Things Books and Running

I will admit that i do not remember many details from the first book which I read a couple years ago. Instead of a re-read, I gave myself a refresher by reading the synopsis and my own review of the first book. Shortly after starting this read, I found myself hooked and thoroughly engaged. I…

I really enjoyed the conclusion to this trilogy. It definitely helped to read the installment in closer succession. Of course, I cannot discuss much if anything that I appreciated or criticized since that would venture into spoiler territory. In the vaguest terms, the macro-plot, main character development, and romantic relationship came to believable and satisfying…

Before I get into the TBR, I want to acknowledge that, in these unprecedented times, normal life cannot go on unchanged. I will continue to speak up. I will also continue to read. Reading is vitally important. There’s a reason why authoritarians want an illiterate or barely literate constituency. 26 in 26 Buzzwordathon – Reading…

While I enjoyed this decently intriguing paranormal mystery, I felt a little let down due to unfulfilled expectations, mainly that I expected much more of a fantasy than what I got in this book. Additionally, even though no love triangle explicitly exists, Dennard littered the narrative with plenty of hints. (I found that odd considering…

I wanted to like this book but a handful of things held me back. For some reason, the visual portrayal of the alcoholic father rubbed me the wrong way. I struggle to put the reason why into words. I also think that the author bit off a little too much and did not portray the…

Kurshan has a compelling writing style in which her passion for books and reading shines through clearly. She also showcases her passion for her Jewish faith as she uses the Torah (the first five books of the Christian Bible) to structure her memoir. While I would have preferred less didactic portions, I understand why she…

I always love falling back into a world of Tolkein’s invention. These worlds seem to exist fully formed in Tolkein’s mind, so fully formed that he can write essays about the history of these fictional places. The version I read included the original fairytale, an essay that Tolkein wrote about this fairytale, the last work…

I finally got caught up on my reviews…at the very end of the year. I have quite a few to get through so several of these reviews are on the shorter end. I have plans to improve the timeliness of my reviews next year.We shall see. This is one of those cases where the author…