Review: Librarian Tales - William Ottens - September 2020 Some books arrive in your life at exactly the right moment. Librarian Tales by William Ottens was a birthday present, and it was the perfect one for a self-proclaimed bookworm and bibliophile like me. This book was written for librarians, by a librarian. It's part memoir, part behind-the-desk confessional, and it doesn't shy away from any side of the job. There's the fun, the ugly, and the endless parade of weird and wacky things we see and get asked. If you've ever worked a library desk, you'll be nodding along, laughing, and occasionally wincing in recognition. And if you haven't, it's a wonderful peek behind the curtain at what librarians really get up to (spoiler: it's a lot more than stamping books). It spoke to me because books and readers' advisory are my true passion. I was that librarian. I had the Dewey Decimal system memorised. I remembered what each customer read so I could h...

Review: Alchemy of Secrets - Stephanuie Garber - October 2025 After falling head over heels for Stephanie Garber's Once Upon a Broken Heart series and Caraval, I've learned something important about reading order: sometimes it matters more than you'd think. While I adored Caraval, I made the mistake of meeting Jacks first in the Broken Heart series. When I later encountered his portrayal in Caraval books two and three, I just couldn't reconcile them , I'd already fallen for the version of him I knew, and seeing a different side felt impossible to accept. So when I picked up Alchemy of Secrets, I'll admit my expectations were cautiously optimistic. I thought it would be a solid, perhaps average read. Reader, I was spectacularly wrong. From the first chapter , a gripping twenty pages that had me cursing my lunch break's inevitable end. I was completely hooked. Stephanie Garber has crafted something truly special here, weaving together mythology, folklore, a...

      Review: Gone Before Goodbye - Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben - October 2025 I'll be honest with you—when I first heard about this collaboration, I raised an eyebrow. I'm a die-hard Harlan Coben fan, and the thought of him co-writing with Reese Witherspoon had me a little worried. Would it still have that signature Coben punch? Would it feel diluted? Friends, I'm thrilled to report that this book absolutely blew my expectations out of the water. From the very first page, I was completely hooked. If you took Ruth Ware's Zero Days, threw in the adrenaline-pumping action of The Bourne Identity, and sprinkled in some Mission Impossible impossibly high stakes, you'd get Gone Before Goodbye. It's that addictive. Our protagonist, Maggie McCabe, is the kind of character you instantly root for. She's a brilliant Army combat surgeon who's always thrived in high-pressure situations , the kind of person who runs toward danger while everyone else is runnin...

Review: The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians - James Patterson and Matt Eversmann - April 2024 The moment I heard about this book's release, I knew it had to be mine. And honestly? OMFG. Every single page felt like it was written specifically for me – like the author had somehow crawled inside my brain and mapped out my soul. "This is you, Paula," each chapter whispered, and I couldn't look away. But here's the thing about books that mirror your heart so perfectly – they also hold up a reflection of what you've lost. Reading this stirred something bittersweet in me, because once upon a time, I lived and breathed this world. Working in the library wasn't just a job; it was my calling. Helping customers discover their next favourite read, doing readers advisory that's where my passion lived, where my heart sang loudest. Then the environment turned toxic. The place that once felt like sanctuary became suffocating, pushing me to dark places...

Review: Forced Proximity - Book #1 Bluebell House - Jaymin Eve and Tate James - January 2025 Scrolling to find a book to read, I grabbed this ARC to read as I love both of these authors and OMFG it was amazing. I now can't wait to read Book #2 as this book ended on a major cliffie that had me going NOOOOO !!. The book starts with our main female character Evelyn aka Eve being a victim of a school shooting and moving to a new school under a new name as the police can't track down the school shooter. When she gets to the school, she has a panic attack and ends up kissing the first handsome guy she sees aka Ethan who later turns out to be her Economics of Crime Professor. She then finds herself befriended by a few of the most popular guys in school. One thing leads to another and Eve and the four most popular guys in the school Haze, Drew, Connor, and Brodie end up being put in the same dorm along with Ethan - their teacher in charge. We later learn that Andrew is being blackmai...

Review:A Thousand Boy Kisses - Tillie Cole - March 2016 This book has been one that I have wanted and been meaning to read for years, ever since it was first released, however as life happens and all readers know - new books are released and others take priority and they slowly get forgotten about until they don't as it pops back up on your radar and you are like I am going to read it now. That was Tillie Cole's A Thousand Boy Kisses and OMG I did not know too much about it what an emotional ride it would take me on it packs the emotional punch. The first death happens earlier on in the book which sets up the theme of A Thousand Boy Kisses between best friends Poppy and Rune. Then one day when the pair are 15 years old - Rune's family ends up returning to Norway. During this time, something happens and Poppy cuts off all contact with Rune. Expecting never to see him again but alas the family moved back next door two years later and they are now 17 years old. Rune has cha...