Welcome! Here are the books I read and reviewed in April that are four stars or higher.
Tales From the Irish Garden: The Missing Pieces
By Sally Cronin
I loved the past Garden books with the fairies. The fairies have been gone for 200 years, leaving the Storyteller alone in his magical garden. His loneliness comes to an end when he finds a young man, Finn, who has lost everything and takes him in. From that moment, animals and more humans found their way to this beautiful sanctuary. Healing and hope take place there even though bad things are happening outside. I fell in love with all the new characters, including the crow, cat, dog, woman, musician, and boy, too. I found a sense of comfort that they could form a family unit together that went beyond the boundaries of the garden. Plus, as healing progressed, there was an opportunity for another chance at love, which I was rooting for. Although this could be read in one sitting, I forced myself to spread it out over two days, just so it didn’t end. I highly recommend this uplifting read, especially when we are surrounded by such dark news, and a reminder that magic and kindness still exist.
I found this book and author through a review and was taken in by the idea of killer squirrels. It is a mix of horror, some gore, and comedy. To make a cute little squirrel evil takes a lot, and within this story, it made sense. Ellie is a best-selling author needing some time alone to write her second book. She picks this quaint little town where a new peanut factory is about to open, but things start to happen. It is soon apparent that something is going on as people start dying and Ellie finds a dead body near where she is staying. Now, being a witness to a crime, she is told to stick around. While swimming, she meets Luke, a wildlife agent. There is a pull between them, even though she is engaged and has been planning a wedding. Her clueless fiancé, Marvin, shows up against her wishes. I found little to like about him, but I was rooting for Ellie to not only write her story but also survive. She becomes involved with figuring out what is happening with Luke. The humor nicely lightens the reality of the damage a squirrel can do, and it was my favorite part of the story. There were some really evil characters, like the owner of the peanut factory, Beverly, whose focus was on profit, no matter what it took. An entertaining read that not only has action, but a light romance and the results of human greed. I can easily recommend this.
Fringes, Heartstrings and Lyrics
By Jan Sikes, Rick Sikes, Sydney Klein, and Dianne Rich (Editor)
“Fringes, Heartstrings and Lyrics” is a beautiful collection of short stories, poetry, and lyrics. Although I loved all the stories and poetry, I found the Fringes section to be my favorite. It started with a heartbreaking story, “A Foreign World,” about an elderly couple who take a walk. What happens to them is sad, but even with that, the end offers the hope I’m always looking for. My favorite story, “Yearning for Paradise,” follows a woman and her group as they try to escape their government to what they hope will be their paradise. I remember reading this story when Ms. Sikes first wrote it and appreciating the twist she took. I have thought about it since reading it the first time, and my second read was just as impactful, if not more than, before. There was a Christmas-themed story, “Magic,” that captured my heart as a boy tries to find a Christmas tree to bring his family some much-needed magic. The poetry was the perfect way to end this collection, and it was special with her granddaughter’s and husband’s poems added in. There was so much emotion in Mr. Sikes’ poems that you could feel his passion through his words. Ms. Klein may only be fourteen years old, but her insightful words belong to an old soul. This blended well with the wonderful poems Ms. Sikes offered, including a song, which I could feel the music behind. A quick but satisfying read that I can highly recommend.
By C. S. Boyack
Jace and Destiny have been good friends for years and share a love of cryptids. Jace invests in an old trailer to use for their weekends away, trying to find proof of any cryptids’ existence. After Destiny gets off work as a janitor at a school and Jace from his union job, they take off. Their first night in the trailer had me laughing and cringing. I would have bought the biggest bottle of bleach and gotten to cleaning after. Current events were woven into the story with some truths that can keep one up at night worrying. Their innocent exploration put them in the middle of something that Destiny couldn’t let go of when she found some documents that weren’t meant to be seen. As the title of the book hints at, some bad characters are trying to make monumental changes to our government. The scary part is, when reading this, I could easily see it happening. Mixed in is Destiny, who is a child of a Cambodian refugee, worries about being deported, and Jace’s fight to keep the union from being weakened at his job. All very current concerns that I didn’t feel became political, just very real. I also appreciated the mentions from other books, along with the humor and the assassin. These were characters I loved, and I enjoyed how strong their friendship was, allowing them to explore something more. This was a page-turner, and it left me thinking long after the last page. I can highly recommend this speculative fiction where humans, not cryptids, are the scary ones.
I also read Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney and Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. I left five-star ratings and enjoyed my read, but didn’t review them.
Embrace your inner child by reading a good story. Denise
