The Cloisters

This was an ALC from Libro.fm, which is what had me picking it up so quickly, if I'm being honest. But also, after I read that it was tarot cards and divination...that had me fully interested in seeing what it was all about more deeply. Because I have a weird soft spot for books with that…

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Age of Vice

There was a bit of buzz around this one as it came out, just recently, which had it on my radar. And I also got an ALC version of it from Libro.fm, which helped keep it there. I was in the mood for something more...I don't know, entertaining, I guess? Like, I know that gangster books…

From Bad to Cursed

I read Payback’s a Witch, the first book in the Witches of Thistle Grove romance series, last year right around this time. And honestly, I loved it. So much fun. So much magic. So much bisexual lady love and a solid side of joined-together-in-righteous-vengeance female power. So, this next one has been on my “ready…

Counterfeit

The combination of this cover and the vibes of the book made me think this was going to be a cross between Portrait of a Thief and the Crazy Rich Asians series, both of which I found pretty entertaining, solid reads, so I had this one on my shortlist when I was next looking for a…

Shutter

I don't usually read thrillers, a trend that is probably pretty obvious if you even cursorily follow my reviews, but I was intrigued by this one that made the National Book Award longlist. It's not really that common, at least in my recreational following of the award, for a book categorized as a "thriller" to…

Monday’s Not Coming

I have seen many readers rave about Jackson's novels. And I've been meaning to read something by her for quite some time. She has quite a few books out now, and there seems to just be consensus that her books are all great; no standout or obvious starting place. So, this ended up being a…

Portrait of a Thief

I, like many (I am sure), do love a heist movie. There is something so satisfyingly escapist about them and I revisit classics like Ocean's 11 and The Italian Job any time I'm looking for a comfort watch. Plus, I am a *huge* fan of the entire Fast and Furious franchise, #sorrynotsorry. (Which, after reading the Acknowledgements, it seems I have that…

Magic for Liars

Another home-shelf backlist read - go me! Honestly, the synopsis for this one, a sort of detective story in a magic school setting, felt absolutely up my alley, so I was psyched to find this is the used section at a local bookstore. I grabbed it so fast...and then got around to reading it a bit…

The Spy and the Traitor

Friends, you may notice that this book is incredibly unlike anything I've read before. I mean I did read that spy novel that was one of Obama's fav's one year, American Spy, but mostly because Obama recommended it. (And really I don't see that many spy novels by Black women from major imprints..so I was all about supporting that).…

Wahala

Thanks to Libro.fm for the ALC of this book. It is one that I would definitely not have picked up as fast, if ever, without that push. And while there are quite a few ALCs I've gotten from them that remain unread (I'm just one person and there are so many great books and just too many things other than reading on…