*Top Ten Tuesday* Favorite Books of 2022

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Joood - Hooligan of Platypire reviews bossed me into doing this, so I guess this is a thing I do now. 

This week’s theme is favorite books of 2022. This is a horrible topic for me to be starting with on a personal level because I spent so much time in 2022 not reading at all, so I didn't even read very many books that I would use for a post like this (because all those children's books I read in the last two months do NOT count). Although I guess that should make this post easier to build because I only need to knock a few books off my list of books read and the post is done. So I guess here we go. 

In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren. This one was pretty obvious for me because it was such a well done Groundhog Day type of story. 

Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese. I finished this book on like the 30th of December, so just under the wire for this post, but it still counts. It was definitely my favorite overall read of the year. 

Never Rescue a Rogue by Virginia Heath. I really enjoyed the way the MCs bickered with each other. They clearly respected one another, but needed to keep up appearances. 

The Lost Witch by Paige Crutcher. This was the first book I finished in 2022, and the first book that had me wanting to keep reading in a while. I didn't rate it particularly highly, but I was also coming out of a major funk at the time, so I'm sure my emotional state played a big part in my rating. 

Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge. This book was a kind of tough read. The subject matter was heavy and I was still kind of in my funk and needing something lighter when I picked this up. Still would highly recommend it to others. 

Maternity Leave by Julie Halpern. This book was written in a Diary of Wimpy Kid kind of format, tiny bites of each day, making it a perfect read for the mother of a baby who does not have much time to sit and get lost in a story. Also pretty relatable under those circumstances. 

Picnic in Someday Valley by Jodi Thomas. I'd read about two pages of this book in 2021, so I just started it over when I started reading again this year. It had a real soap opera feel to the storytelling. 

Rebel by Beverly Jenkins. I made the mistake of starting this book while I was also reading Libertie. They are both set around the Civil War, which means they kind of became a bit interwoven in my mind in spite of the very different storytelling and writing styles. 

Resting Scrooge Face by Meghan Quinn. This novella was an absolute delight and really helped to get me into the Christmas spirit. I'm quite glad I choose it for my #12BooksOfXmas reading challenge this year. 

Smitten by the Brit by Melonie Johnson. I'd started this book in January and went basically nowhere with it at that point, so I restarted it in like September after I started reading again. I knew I'd want to read it because I enjoyed Getting Hot with the Scot, I just needed a little more motivation. 

Okay, so this post was actually super easy to write, because it's almost every chapter book I read in 2022. When this theme is repeated next year, I hope it's much more difficult for me to complete, because I don't want to lose my desire to read again. 

What were your top ten reads of 2022? Anything I absolutely must read too? 

If you're stopping by from the linkup, please be sure to leave a link to your post in a comment below so I can check out your list too. - Katie 

Review: Poop for Breakfast by Sara Levine

 

Genre: Children's 5-10

Published: April 4, 2023

Pages: 32

Eating poop is gross! So why do some animals do it? For lots of good reasons!

Male butterflies slurp up poop to give as a gift to females, which makes their eggs stronger. Robins scarf down the poop of young chicks because it's full of undigested nutrients. And baby elephants gobble up the poop from adults to get essential bacteria into their digestive systems. This disgustingly informative book is bursting with lots of surprising information about animals―and digestion!

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley. This is my honest review. 

If you know anything about me, then you know that when I saw the title of this book, I got excited. I have a very strange obsession with the word "poop" so books that talk about it are pretty high on my want to read list, regardless of what age they are intended for.

This was a very informative children's book. I know I learned a thing or two about why some animals eat poop. And the information was presented in language that children should easily be able to understand. My one concern about this book is that there may be some children that in spite of the book making it very clear that humans should not eat poop because it can make us sick, will want to do it anyway because this book makes it seem appealing. 

The illustrations were very bright and colorful, and really helped to show how some of the animals digestive systems actually work, as well as giving a good, but not super gross, image of what different animals' poops look like. 

Because of the subject of this book, I would personally have no problem reading it multiple times to children, but I imagine most parents would be a little bit more hesitant. At the same time, it is very informative and teaches things in a fun way that could help with retention. Overall I give it 4.3 out of 5 stars. - Katie 

Amazon

Sara Levine is an author, educator and veterinarian. Her science books for children include the Animal by Animal series, Germs Up Close, and A Peek at Beaks: Tools Birds Use. Her books have received a number of awards including AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize, Utah Beehive Book Award, Cook Prize finalist, Monarch Award master list, and Bank Street College Best Children's Book of the Year.

Florence Weiser is a French illustrator currently based in beautiful, rainy Belgium. While growing up in Luxembourg, she always knew she wanted to draw and draw. She lives and works surrounded by nature, from which she gathers most of her inspiration.

*B-Movie Monday* Amityville Karen

Lately in December I've taken it upon myself to watch and review a lot of Christmas movies. This year I turned into a real Grinch with it, proclaiming several of them as not real Christmas movies because I view myself as something of an authority on the matter at this point. Somehow that led me to the idea that I should continue reviewing movies throughout the year, but I didn't want to review the upcoming blockbusters or anything like that. No, I want to review B Movies. Be warned now, these reviews will contain spoilers. 

Genre: Horror

Watched on: Vudu

Duration: 1 hour 44 minutes

Originally aired: September 13, 2022

Directed by: Shawn C Phillips

Starring: Lauren Francesca, James Duval and Shawn C Phillips

Please see IMDb for full cast and crew information

Synopsis

Every neighborhood has a Karen, and Amityville is no exception. When stealing a cursed bottle of wine from a struggling local brewery, Karen soon finds that the price to pay is far more dangerous than your average hangover. Everyone in her path becomes prey, and not even a manager can be called in to stop her.

Review

So this movie starts out with our local neighborhood Karen bathing, in her sink, like you do. Why she didn't use the tub that was literally right next to her, I do not know, other than she is not the sex-symbol of this movie and boobs that early in is probably a big no-no. After her "bath" she trolls the internet to ruin some people's days, and starts checking things off of her Karen checklist (I actually thought that was a nice touch). 

On her way to shut down a local winery that she hates for some reason, she obviously stops to get some coffee. And wouldn't you know it, she just has to call the manager to complain about her experience. She goes off about being in code enforcement and blah blah blah, and having been on the receiving end of those types of phone calls many times, that call was probably the most authentic part of this story. 

At the winery I learned that she actually is with code enforcement and that's not just something she says when she's complaining about service, and she puts the owners through the wringer. She's already been out there three times this month and there's still things they need to fix, like wiping the wine bottles from top to bottom instead of bottom to top because bottom to top spreads all the germs!!! She decides to steal a bottle of a special label wine that's being reserved for a kickoff party because she deserves it for all her hard work. Obviously she drinks it when she gets home for the day. 

That night she has a crazy dream about a chick who is practically naked ("that's offensive, put some clothes on") and we get our first boob shot while the dream chick does an upside down girl from The Ring walk. That's followed by Barnaby, the special label wine maker, showing up on her doorstep first thing in the morning to make her sign over her soul to him because she drank his wine. And in a very un-Karen like move, she does it. 

That's when she turns into a killer. A door to door salesman doesn't stand a chance when he enters her house to try and sell her a security system or something. Then she kills one of the employees at the winery with a corkscrew because he said he was going to call her manager. Another guy is acting like a chauvinist pig, so she literally eats his guts (the special effects for that were awful, especially considering the fact that this is a new movie). Honestly, the rampage she goes on was just bizarre. 

Then the movie ends with loads of news stories and like podcasters talking about Karen's killing spree, like at least five minutes of that, for really no reason. I got bored of it very quickly and could have done with one news report to get the point across. 

The acting in this movie was horribly flat and dull. The characters that had any liveliness at all just seemed like caricatures. And the sound was very spotty. There were several instances where I couldn't even hear what was being said because the actors were too far away from the mics while filming those bits. And that was pretty disappointing for me. Finally, I kept waiting for the movie to just turn into a porno. The winery set looked like it doubled as a porn set (would've at least kept the winery afloat, amiright), and a lot of the scene set-ups were just classic porn scene set-ups (Mom, if you're reading this, don't ask how I know that, I'm sure you don't really want the answer). 

This movie did hit the Karen stereotype on the head, so they got one thing right. I don't think this is one I'll ever feel compelled to watch again though. 

Favorite Quote

"You don't just sand a deck for days and let someone shit on it!"

Buy the Movie

Amazon

Review: Where Did Momo's Hair Go by Stephanie Boyer

 

Genre: Children's 3-8

Published: June 27, 2023

Pages: 40

The laugh-out-loud journey of a little clown's wig

Hurry up! Momo the Clown is in a rush. He runs so fast to catch the bus that his hair flies off his head... Oh, no! Where did Momo's hair go?

 A humorous story that takes young readers on an exciting adventure to find Momo the Clown’s hair through a busy town. On the way, they will encounter a host of amusing characters and their even more colorful dogs in silly situations that will keep children giggling until the last page.

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley. This is my honest review. 

This is a short story about a clown who loses their wig. The wig goes on a journey through the town, landing on several different breeds of dogs before being knocked back off again on its journey. Eventually the wig makes its way back to Momo, just in time for the party Momo is clearly supposed to be entertaining children at. 

Having the hair land on the various dogs' heads before being thrown off by their actions was clever. When the story started I was expected a wider variety of people and things that the hair ended up with though. I think that would have made for a more dynamic storyline. But this is a book written for children, so a dynamic storyline probably isn't necessary. 

The illustrations seemed very rudimentary, like children's drawings. They really look like they were done with crayons and everything. 

I don't think I'd want to read this book to children very many times personally, but I could see them asking for it several times. Overall I give it 3.2 out of 5 stars. - Katie 

Amazon

In the eyes of Stéphanie Boyer, there are stories hidden all around us, even in the tiniest moments. Her creativity feeds off of poetry, as well as the humor found in everyday life. A versatile author, she writes as much for little ones, as she does for school-age children or teenagers. When she is not busy inventing stories, Stéphanie works as pedagogical advisor specialized in literacy, and as a consultant to various publishers and cultural organizations. Her main goal is for her work to stimulate children’s intelligence, sensitivity and imagination.  

Caroline Hamel is an illustrator and graphic designer based in Montreal. In 2005, she won the Québec/Wallonie-Bruxelles Award with her picture book Maman s'est perdue (Les 400 coups). She was also the illustrator behind La légende de Louis Cyr(Auzou), a biography which was rewarded in 2018 by the young jury of Communication Jeunesse. Her bibliography now comprises more than twenty books. 

Review: Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese

Genre: Historical Fiction

Published: October 4, 2022

Pages: 326

WHO IS THE REAL HESTER PRYNNE?

Isobel Gamble is a young seamstress carrying generations of secrets when she sets sail from Scotland in the early 1800s with her husband, Edward. An apothecary who has fallen under the spell of opium, his pile of debts have forced them to flee Glasgow for a fresh start in the New World. But only days after they've arrived in Salem, Edward abruptly joins a departing ship as a medic––leaving Isobel penniless and alone in a strange country, forced to make her way by any means possible.

When she meets a young Nathaniel Hawthorne, the two are instantly drawn to each other: he is a man haunted by his ancestors, who sent innocent women to the gallows––while she is an unusually gifted needleworker, troubled by her own strange talents. As the weeks pass and Edward's safe return grows increasingly unlikely, Nathaniel and Isobel grow closer and closer. Together, they are a muse and a dark storyteller; the enchanter and the enchanted. But which is which?

In this sensuous and hypnotizing tale, a young immigrant woman grapples with our country's complicated past, and learns that America's ideas of freedom and liberty often fall short of their promise. Interwoven with Isobel and Nathaniel's story is a vivid interrogation of who gets to be a "real" American in the first half of the 19th century, a depiction of the early days of the Underground Railroad in New England, and atmospheric interstitials that capture the long history of "unusual" women being accused of witchcraft. Meticulously researched yet evocatively imagined, Laurie Lico Albanese's Hester is a timeless tale of art, ambition, and desire that examines the roots of female creative power and the men who try to shut it down.

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley. This is my honest review.

If it's not obvious to you by the title, this is a Scarlet Letter retelling. I've read The Scarlet Letter twice in my life. The first time I really enjoyed it. The second time, not so much, but in the book's defense that likely had more to do with the fact that the second reading was for class and I was being told how fast to read it. In spite of that unpleasant second read, I was really excited to dive into this book based on the title alone (because I pretty much never read the book synopsis myself). 

One of the things I liked about this book is how it showed the ways neurodivergence was very likely treated hundreds of years ago. Things that we at least sort of understand today, and I think I actually finally grasp how synesthesia works from being in Isobel's shoes for this story, could be terrifying back then. At first I thought Isobel's mother's reaction was severe, considering the fact that she was just a child stitching in pretty colors, but as the story progressed, my opinion started to shift. 

There were several times this book straight up pissed me off. I'm talking looking like a lunatic because I'm yelling at people who don't exist angry. Existing as a woman must have been so infuriating back then. I honestly wonder why women didn't rise up sooner for more rights. I am glad I don't face those levels of injustice simply because I was born with a vagina. 

I was absolutely sucked into this story wanting all the good things for Isobel. My heart soared every time something good happened for her, and I seethed every time she was taken advantage of. I'm not sure when the last time I felt that invested in a character was. 

Because we are so close to the end of the year and I've read so few novels, I can pretty confidently say that this is my favorite book I read in 2022. Overall I give it 4.9 out of 5 stars. - Katie 

Check out my book club discussion questions here.

Amazon

Laurie Lico Albanese is an award-winning novelist and journalist. HESTER is an Audible Best Book of 2022, an IndieNext and Canadian and American Librarians October 2022 selection, a Gillian Flynn Best Books of Fall 2022, a Book of the Month club selection, and a finalist in the Goodreads Best Books of the Year. Laurie’s novel STOLEN BEAUTY was praised by the Wall Street Journal as “a work of art itself.”

Laurie is a recipient of a Catherine R. Dodge Foundation Visiting Fellowship to the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, a Hadassah-Brandeis Research Award, and a New Jersey State Council of the Arts Fellowship in Fiction Writing. She’s taught literature and writing workshops at Wager College, Stonecoast Summer Writing Program at the University of Southern Maine where she earned her MFA, and elsewhere. Laurie’s novels have been translated into Italian, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese and soon, Croatian. She lives with her husband and rescue dogs in New Jersey, where they raised their two grown children.

*Discussion Questions* Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese *SPOILERS*

I have spent a few years in a couple of different book clubs now, and I've led my fair share of discussions (so every time it was my turn in the rotation to pick a book basically, although I've been slacking a little in my current book club). I can't tell you how many times I've finished a book that I'd chosen for our meeting, only to realize that I couldn't think of a single question to ask (and I'd forgotten to consider that while reading). In those instances I would run to the interwebs to search for discussion questions, just hoping that someone else had been kind enough to think of questions and share them with the world. I had about a 50% success rate with that. 

1) Do you think Isobel was happy her husband was leaving again so soon after they arrived in America? 

2) How would you feel about your husband sailing off on another voyage so soon after arriving in the New World? 

3) If you were Isobel, do you think you would have corrected Nat when he assumed that Edward was her father rather than her husband? 

4) What did you think of the scenes of the past spread throughout the book? Did they give you a better understanding of any of the characters actions?

5) What would you have done if you discovered your husband stole all the money you had to your name from you before leaving?

6) Why do you think Isobel didn't tell Nat of the baby on their day at the shore?

7) Do you think Isobel's mother overreacted when she saw Isobel stitching the letters in colors? 

8) Did you know what synesthesia was before reading this book? 

9) If you'd read The Scarlet Letter before this book, do you think it felt like a plausible chain of events to inspire that story? 

And that's all the questions I jotted down while reading this book. If you choose to read it with your book club, I hope they'll help you out at least a little bit to get the conversation flowing. And if you've read the book, are there any other questions you would ask (and do you mind if I add them to the list if you share any)? - Katie

#SneakPeekSunday Review: Queen of Myth and Monsters by Scarlett St. Clair

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Published: December 20, 2022

Pages: 388 

The next book in the vampire fantasy series by USA Today and international bestselling author Scarlett St. Clair.

Isolde, newly coronated queen, has finally found a king worthy of her in the vampire Adrian. But their love for each other has cost Isolde her father and her homeland. With two opposing goddesses playing mortals and vampires against one another, Isolde is uncertain who her allies are in the vampire stronghold of Revekka.

Now, as politics in the Red Palace grow more underhanded, inexplicable monster attacks plague the villages, and a deadly crimson mist threatens all of Cordova, Isolde must trust in the bond she's formed with Adrian, even as she learns troubling information about his complicated past.

I received a copy of this sneak peek through Netgalley. This is my honest review.

This book is paranormal meets fantasy in my mind. It's paranormal because of the vampires, but it has an epic fantasy feel to it, at least in the part of the book that I got to read through the sneak peek. I feel very left in the dark about what's going on from the brief glimpse I got of this story. i don't feel like I really know what's going on at all. I actually get the feeling that I was reading a sneak peek for a sequel, and I didn't read the first book. (Grabbing links and info for this blog post confirmed that for me. So if you've read the first book, the odds of the beginning of this just being a rehash of the previous book are pretty low.)

All that said, I am intrigued and I want to know more. What I got to see of the world building seemed pretty solid and while I'm struggling to see a romantic connection at the moment, I see the potential for it to be there. And I just really want to have a better understanding of how this world operates. This is a book I will definitely be on the lookout for. - Katie 

Amazon

USA Today Bestselling author Scarlett St. Clair is a citizen of the Muscogee Nation and the author of the HADES X PERSEPHONE SAGA, the HADES SAGA, KING OF BATTLE & BLOOD, and WHEN STARS COME OUT.

She has a Master's degree in Library Science and Information Studies and a Bachelors in English Writing. She is obsessed with Greek Mythology, murder mysteries, and the afterlife.

If you are obsessed with these things, then you'll like her books. You can find pictures of her adorable dog Adelaide on her Instagram at @authorscarlettstclair.