January 2, 2025

Books I've Read in 2025

Books
January
  1. Empty Graves by Jonathan Maberry
Audiobooks
January
  1. All Fours by Miranda July
  2. Ask for Andrea by Noelle W. Ihli
  3. When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill
  4. The Last Party by A.R. Torre
  5. Scythe by Neal Shusterman
Total: 6

Here's what I've read in previous years:

Top 5 Books I've Read in 2025


  1. When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill






Books I Didn't Finish in 2025


Below will be any books I started and didn't finish and the reason why. 

  1. Lies and Weddings by Kevin Kwan
    • To be fair I was only a couple of chapters in before I gave up on this one but I just couldn't keep my attention on the audiobook version so I'm passing on this one.
  1. The Fragile Threads of Power Victoria E. Schwab
    • I tried getting into this one twice but the pace of the story was too slow and I kept losing my focus. 


December 4, 2024

Review: The Forgotten Son by BJ Sloan

Product Description:
The kind-hearted delivery nurse had no way of knowing that her well-intentioned words would doom Bunny Boy Potts to a lifetime of ridicule. Well, that and the unfortunate way his ears stuck out like two ping-pong paddles.

Living with his unhinged single mother, his entire life is spent apologizing for existing while scraping by for enough to survive. Food and love—neither is freely available in the Potts’ home, but the sharp sting of the strap is always on standby.

When Bunny meets Raquel, he thinks she could take him from scarecrow misfit to normal teen. Growing in the sunshine of her approval, Bunny even gets a job from his rancher neighbor, TC. For the first time in his life, Bunny can buy clothes that fit. He can eat enough to stave off the hunger that used to sing him to sleep every night. Along with a paycheck, he earns a nickname and the grudging respect of those around him as he begins to rise above the hand he’s been dealt.

But Bunny Boy Potts wasn’t meant to have a life like everyone else.

My Thoughts:
The Forgotten Son was really a heartbreaking story. Bunny was raised by his mom, who seemingly blamed him for his very existence, in a household with no love and when he finally meets Raquel who is willing to be his friend, he doesn't fully know how to process it and pushes too far.

I really wanted to love Bunny and I started too but then when his relationship with Raquel doesn't go his way his character becomes less likeable. Either way I was fully engrossed in the story and was rooting for him all the way.

My Recommendation:
I recommend this for anyone who loves an engrossing fiction story. 

October 29, 2024

Review: The Patriots by John A. Heldt






Product Description:
When Noah Maclean, 22, races home from Europe, he finds a dying grandfather, a hidden letter, and a family secret that dates to the 1740s. He learns he is the keeper of a stone shed that can send people through time.

Within weeks, Noah and his brother, Jake, 15, test their inheritance. They travel to 1776 to see Philadelphia in the age of Benjamin Franklin, the Declaration of Independence, and the American Revolution.

Expecting to return within weeks, the orphaned brothers make the most of their field trip through history. Then they meet the lovely daughters of a furniture maker, and a pleasant adventure becomes a transformative journey.

Filled with humor, romance, and heartbreak, THE PATRIOTS follows two lost souls through a critical moment in time as they adjust to new surroundings and wrestle with knowledge of things to come.

My Thoughts:
Time travel books are always a favorite genre of mine and John A. Heldt is an expert at writing a story that pulls you in right from the beginning and keeps you hooked throughout the adventure. The Patriots is the start of a new series from Heldt that sends two brothers from 2024 to Philadelphia in 1776. Imagine meeting and having a conversation with Ben Franklin! 

The story is very well researched and since I'm not a history buff the book made me go back and seek out more details of the original events. So not only am I reading an enjoyable fiction story, I'm learning more about American history. 

My Recommendation:
I cannot wait for the next book in the series and recommend this for anyone who loves romance, time travel and historical fiction all rolled into one.