Penny Thoughtful: All Things Books and Running

I feel conflicted about this story. On the one hand, I appreciate the author’s development of the main character’s recently deceased father – a man who had gained fame from a viral photo of a rescue he performed on 9/11 but who also struggled with complex PTSD and how that led both to alcohol problems…

I think that my reading experience would have been enhanced by reading the physical book since the illustrator is mentioned at the beginning and has his own note. Even with that, I still found this collection of short stories and memoir-like nonfiction compelling and interested. I may pick up the physical copy in the future.…

I loved this book just as I expected when I read the synopsis and discovered that the book involved linguistics and dragons. (My interest definitely lie in the full-blown nerd category.) This book uses alternate history complete with an alternative Bletchley Park and a rigid class system enforced through society-wide brainwashing and subtle threats. I…

This series continues to fascinate me. I love the unique and complex world that Dabos has created as well as the slow and methodical ways that she develops the characters and their relationships, especially the romantic relationship of the main character. In this installment, she starts to exert her own agency and learns tremendous lesson…

Daré kept me engaged the entire time with this story of a remarkable girl who faced tremendous, yet unfortunately typical, challenges in a world not designed for her. Her story shows the complexity of simply existing as a woman in Nigeria through her interactions with a variety of different other women. It’s not just about…

Disclaimer: The reviews in the next few recent reads will likely be shorter. With the start of the school year, I continued reading but often lacked the energy for creative output so many of the reviews piled up. I did not expect Johnson to continue int eh world that she created with Ellie Engle but I’m glad…

Reading definitely slowed down this month but just wait for September…it’s about to ramp right back up!

The massive TBRs have become a default apparently. In this month I put a whole bunch of books on the list to continue working through my yearly goals as well as complete the Autumn Equinox semester of Magical readathon and continue to make progress in HRCYED (the Hardest Reading Challenge You’ll Ever Do). All of…

In this story, Henrietta finds herself an orphan but then brought to receive a massive inheritance from an uncle she knew nothing about. There’s just one problem. The war that made her an orphan has somehow continued inside the massive “house” that she now owns. This first installment raises far more questions than it answers…

After reading City Spies a year or so ago, I set my expectations appropriately. Thus, I expected something fairly average and mildly entertaining. I ended up being pleasantly surprised when this book slightly exceeded those expectations. This book features a brother/sister pair, a couple friends, their eccentric grandfather, and their talented lawyer mother. The brother and his…