Knitting, Sci-fi and other stuff...

  3.75 ★ 4 🌶 I finished Speak by Ruby M. Darling yesterday.  Wow, what a hot mess and I do mean that as a compliment, mostly.  This is a dark academia why-choose romance that deals with trauma, healing and mental health representation among other things.  It's also downright unhinged and the writing left something to be desired.  Despite all the grammar errors, syntax flaws and the non-existent plot in between all the gratuitous sex scenes in the first half of the book, once the three relationships get established the book really pulls itself together and I genuinely enjoyed it.  I'm already 10% through the second book, Stutter, now.  The main character, Raven, goes to Rayne-Moore university in Massachusetts.  She is brutally attacked and left for dead stuffed inside a locker.  She spends the next couple of years in an asylum being treated by Dr. Damon Archer.  The attack left her mute.  Dr. Archer believes her voice may come back ...

  6★ 2 🌶     I received an ARC for Until I Die by Deidra Duncan.  This book blew me away.  I was absolutely hooked from about page two and it just kept getting better and better.  It was emotional, dark, gripping, and simply exquisite.  This is the book blurb: In the ruins of a nation, two enemies risk everything for a chance at justice… and each other. After the Fracture, nothing is safe—not love, not truth, and certainly not women. In the ashes of the fallen United States, the New American Order has seized power, silencing dissent and enslaving the vulnerable. To stop the spread of their evil, Sophia Reeves has given everything to the Defiance, a resistance force battling the NAO, but now, her general has another command: become a contact for an enemy officer-turned-spy. She understands the sacrifice this order requires. Association with a Blood Colonel is a death sentence—especially for a woman. He’s just a name at first. A whisper in the dark. But...

5 ⭐️ 2 🌶 I finished Scythe & Sparrow by Brynne Weaver Saturday.  It was a brilliant third installment and conclusion to this trilogy.  I highly enjoyed all three books.  I found this one to be more emotional or at least portions of it hit me harder than the other two books.  I think I enjoyed the second book the most out of the three but overall they were all very fun reads.  I especially enjoyed how all three intertwined.  Certain events were seen from the perspective of multiple characters that way.  All of the books were duel POV which I also particularly like.  The banter in all three of these books was top notch and I can get through almost any subject matter as long as there's banter and fun characters mixed into the gore.  I will be reading more Byrnne Weaver books in the future, I enjoy the way she writes and the characters she develops. I signed up for a couple ARCs a week or two ago and forgot about it c...

     I have some crafting progress to report.  I've been slowly working on a mug rug for my next swap.  I have the knitting part complete I need to do some embroidery.   It's going to need blocking.  The cast on edge (at the top in this picture) want to fold over.  When I do some more of these I'm going to do a different cast on, this was a long tail.  I chose to weave the CC colors as I knit.  That first row of the lavender color turned out a bit wonky but so far its been a fun little project.  I'm using all scraps.  The purple is Queensland Collection Super Aussie from at least a decade ago.  The lavender is Cascade Heritage Silk from when I made my MIL a shawl again ages ago.  The pinkish redish in the middle is I think Noro Silk Garden, it didn't have a ball-band.  The chunky green is Happy Sheep Wool Print left over from my Permutation Hat and Mittens.  The Happy Sheep is a loosely spun single so i...

  5★  Shot in the Dark by Mary Dublin and Anne Kendsley.  I enjoyed this book immensely.  It was based on the world of Supernatural.  The main character Sylvia is a fairy and the two MMCs were the hunters Jon and Cliff.  The characterization of Jon and Cliff were absolutely spot on for Sam and Dean.  Sylvia lives in a fairy settlement that's hidden by both physical location and glamour.  Sylvia is a free spirit and disobeys the rules by leaving the boundaries of the settlement to explore a nearby abandoned human mansion.  There she interacts with a ghost and eventually humans.  Jon and Cliff capture her and then once she reveals she has magic she accompanies them on their current hunt for a werewolf.  Jon is injured in an encounter and Sylvia uses her magic to heal him but it takes more power than she can conjure which results in a tenuous blood bond between her and Jon.  The blood bond complicates everything, I don't want to r...

      I finished and mailed my swap package so I'll show off my hat.  I took a quick poorly lit picture before I blocked it and then neglected to get a good picture before I mailed it. The color is brighter and more vibrant in real life.  This is the free pattern  Lake Reed .  The only modification I made was to make the brim shorter.  As I mentioned in my last YOP post I did a tubular cast on for the first time for this hat.  There was a link to a tutorial in the pattern and the tutorial was a good one.  It was a fun pattern and I really like how it turned out.  I may use a true worsted weight when I do this pattern again.  The pattern calls for a DK weight, but the gauge is what I normally knit worsted at.  I could have gone down at least one needle size for the Mal Rios; I prefer to knit it at a bit tighter gauge.  Either way I was really happy with how this turned out.  I hope my recipient likes it. I've star...

  5 ★ 2🌶 I finished Leather & Lark by Brynne Weaver on Friday.  I enjoyed this one as much if not more than the first book.  This one didn't seem as spicy as the first but when the spice finally did happen it was pretty drawn out.  I enjoyed the characters in this one immensely.  The two meet at a party and really hit it off, then discover they've met before and their actual first meeting did not go well.  The MMC had triggered the FMC's PTSD and there was other fallout from their first meeting.  The two characters get inconveniently paired off together and the MMC spends the rest of the book redeeming himself from being a continual "asshat".  The FMC also has a ton of stuff to work through and Lachlan actually sees she's struggling and helps out.  They slowly fall for each other and Lark starts revealing her true self to Lachlan over time, something she hasn't even been able to do with her best friend Sloan, the FMC from the previous bo...

  5★ 1.5🌶 In the Veins of the Drowning by Kalie Cassidy.  I think this book broke me.  In all the good ways that a book can break you.  This was phenomenal and I'm legitimately in a book slump now.  This story was very interesting; very different from other fantasy stories out there now.  The Sirens in this were very unique.  I also really liked the magic system in this.  The characters who had power by in large had it from lineage because they were blood descendants of the gods.  The gods being flesh and blood and living very lengthy lives.  There was spell magic as well, but it was not common and took a great price from the user.  There are blood bonds and undead creatures beneath the sea.  I was intrigued with the narrative right from the beginning in this one.  This was a seriously slow slow-burn.  The tension in this was thick and nearly palpable.  There was spice but it was sparse and hard won at the 73% p...

  5★ 3🌶 I finished Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver a couple of days ago.  It. Was. Amazing.  Going in I honestly wasn't expecting to be blown away by this book.  I'd seen enough about it on Bookstagram to know what some of the book was about and I wasn't sure if I was going to be down for murder and gore.  The death and destruction is really secondary to the plot and I do work in the medical fields so it wasn't that big a deal for me.  The banter in this book between the two main characters is next level.  The FMC is smart, independent and a bad-ass.  She does however have some anxiety and sociability issues; she's a loner.  Apart from the murder aspects I could see bits of myself in both of the characters.  I also appreciated that this entire story took place over the better part of 4 years, so it wasn't insta-love and truly a slow burn.  I really enjoyed Brynne Weaver's writing style.  This was also a duel POV first...

     I've actually done some crafting.  I signed up for two swaps so I need to get some knitting done for these.  I won't mention which swap this is for just in case my partner stumbles across my blog.  I'm knitting a hat currently.  It's the free pattern Lake Reed.  It called for a tubular cast-on.  Truth be told I've never done a tubular cast-on before but the pattern had a YouTube link.  The tutorial was very nicely put together and I successfully did my first one. It was a touch on the fiddly side but the result is 100% worth it.  I'm using Malabrigo Rios in the Cian colorway for this.  The wording in the pattern is a bit questionable in a couple places but I like the way this is coming out. I've finished the hat but I don't have an updated picture.  I also need to give this a really good wash and get it blocked. I have a game plan worked out for the hand made items for the other swap. Not much else to report here....

4🌟 I finished reading The Moorwitch by Jessica Khoury last evening.  It was a mildly steamy romance set in Scotland.  This was the authors first adult fiction book.  It was a solidly good read that was left a little open-ended so my hope is there is a sequel in the works perhaps.  The FMC is a witch who teaches magic at an impoverished school in London.  When she was a child she made a bargain with a fae to escape her abusive aunt.  Now the fae is calling in the favor and Rose must find the portal to the fae realm before her 21st birthday or else she'll lose her magic abilities.  In Scotland she runs into Conrad North and winds up becoming a governess to Conrad's much younger sister.  Turns out no one is really what they seem and both Rose and Conrad are keeping secrets from eachother.  The magic system is based on various fiber crafts which was interesting and decently described.  It was a good solid read and I enjoyed it....

    I use StoryGraph to track my reading progress.  I started using StoryGraph in addition to Goodreads a few years ago.  I chose StoryGraph for the statistics feature and ease of use compared to Goodreads.  I recently started looking more closely at the various features.  Now that I've read consistently for two months I looked at monthly comparisons and some other features.  I find this sort of data interesting so I thought to share my wrap-ups from September and October. My average time to finish in September was thrown off by Dance of Kings and Thieves which I had started back in January of 2024 and then finished in September.  The print media vs digital is also incorrect because I selected the wrong version of Broken by Daylight.  I'd have to delete that one entirely and put in the dates for the digital version I did read, and frankly, I can't be bothered with that much fiddling.  Now, I'm much more careful about picking the correct ...

  4.25 ★ 2🌶      I've been slacking, oops.  In my last post I mentioned I was reading the novella These Wicked Lies which is Halvar and Kari's story.  It was enjoyable.  I liked seeing more angles/scenes from other character's perspectives. 4.5 ★ 2🌶     Then I immediately read These Vicious Games which is Nik and Junie's story.  I enjoyed this one a bit more.  In the series when we see Nik and Junie, they have been married for a long time and are still very much in love with each-other.  This story goes back to just before they met.  We also see Kase as a child and the start of the Kryv guild.  This story was emotional and gripping and I loved it.  We also got to see some of the events from the Northern Kingdom from Junie's perspective as well.  Since I read those books back in '23 it was a nice refresh to see Stieg and Callista back at the beginning.  I'd love to get more back story on Stieg too....

5 🌟, 3 🌶 I finished Song of Sorrows and Fate by LJ Andrews Thursday evening.  This was book nine, the final book, in The Broken Kingdoms series.  It was a very good conclusion to a very very good series.  As I predicted in my last post when I was only one chapter in, there was a fair amount of carnage.  At least one side character from each realm perished.  The one that hit hardest for me was the one I mentioned.  There was also a death of a main character but I knew about that plot point from The Ever King, so I knew his death wasn't permanent.  Overall this book tied up all the loose ends and set up the "spin off" series very nicely.  The pacing was a little more jaunted because there were pivotal events happening in several places at once.  The book was broken up into sections to take this into account.  I rather liked that setup.  We also got POVs from a few of the sides characters which I also liked.   I...

5★ 3🌶 I finished Reign of Stars and Fire by LJ Andrews last night.  Wow!  I think this has been the best book in the series so far.  It was intense.  The pacing was amazing.  The MMC Ari had been put into a fae sleep at the conclusion of the previous book and the FMC Saga had flown away to the Western Kingdom in search of Calista.  All of LJs books are duel POV which I think is probably my personal favorite setup.  Ari had to go on a journey essentially while he was in his fae sleep.  He traveled through the past and figured out how a bunch of the overarching plot points fell together.  It connected all the stories from the previous seven books.  Each of the chapters ended in peril and then switched back to the other POV.  It felt more like a thriller almost, but I loved it.  I had a hard time putting the book down, because I needed to know what happened next.  So much happened in this book.  I'm not sure how or if t...

  5★ 3🌶 I finished Den of Blades and Briars by LJ Andrews.  This is book seven in the nine book series The Broken Kingdoms.  This book is fabulous.  This whole series is fabulous.  There are four kingdoms North, East, South and West.  There are Fae, humans and all other sort of creatures.  The magic system is very complex but is explained and compounded upon with each subsequent book.  The complex and detailed world that Andrews has built is really like no other fantasy world I've read about.  The Viking influence is very strong and apparent.  The fairy tale re-tellings take a back seat to the complex plots in each of these.  This book in particular follows Ari to the Southern Kingdom where he has been charged to oversee the preparation of vows between Gunnar and Eryka.  Gunnar is the son of Valen's sister and Malin's brother.  Eryka is from the Southern Kingdom.  All of these people and their stories are very intert...

4.5★ 2🌶      I finished Guarded Treasure by Mae Lovette.  It was good but it didn't blow me away.  I enjoyed it overall.  I think the plot was decent.  It slowed the book down a little when the two MCs went back to Cairo to look for more information on the tomb.  I expected all the action to take place at the tomb and surrounding area, but why should it have, that assumption was on me.  The whole story came together nicely I think.  The only part I didn't quite care for was the jealously factor from Ben when he finds out Edith has an "engagement of convenience".  She shouldn't have needed to explain to him that being a woman in the 30s necessitated some sort of relationship with a man so that she could move about in social circles freely, but whatever.  They communicated with each other about it so it didn't become a huge sticking point for too long. One of my most hated tropes is miscommunication.  I did like that a good...

      I actually have a crafting update this week.  I started a pair of fingerless mitts last Sunday.  I have made some progress on them and took a picture. Pattern is  Timeline Mitts  and its free.  I'm using more Malabrigo Sock leftovers.  These are the five colors I used in both my Get a Shift On! shawls, so they'll match both.  Although I haven't decided yet if I'm keeping the second one for myself.  There isn't really enough contrast with the Abril, Anniversario and the Eggplant main color.  The other two colors; Solis and Indiecita contrast well.  I'm still really liking how these are coming out.  Because its all sock weight these are going to take me a while but that's okay.       I've been posting book reviews as I finish the books.  I finished A Soul to Keep and I'm nearly finished with Guarded Treasure.  My review of A Soul to Keep is here .  I'm not sure what I'll start ne...

  5 ★ 3🌶 I finished A Soul to Keep by Opal Reyne last night.  This was my first foray into Monster Romance, so I don't really have anything else to compare it to.  It was pretty spicey.  I waffled between giving it another pepper.  The scenes are quite descriptive, long and there is a good amount of it.  Overall the book was good.  The story was interesting, there was a ton of world building.  The FMC is an outcast in her village, so when it's time to choose the next sacrifice for the Duskwalker who comes to collect once every decade she's the obvious choice.  Her choices are go with this Duskwalker willingly or spend the rest of her life in the underground cell in the village.  She chooses the Duskwalker.  Duskwalkers are a type of demon, but who can be out in daylight.  They are attracted to the smell of fear; it makes them go into a frenzy and they eat humans.  Luckily for Reia, she fears very little.  The Duskwal...

      I finished Stitches and Witches by Nancy Warren last evening.  This was book two in the Vampire Knitting Club series.  It was another quick and cozy installment, perfect for spooky season.  Lucy and the crew work to solve a murder mystery.  It was good.  It has a serial feel to it just like the first one and it was fast paced.  I noticed that the author repeated key information and events from the first book.  I personally found this a bit annoying since I had just finished the first book, however I could see this would be handy if there had been a good amount of time between reads.  I do plan to read more of these serials eventually.  But I'm going back to heavier reads and I'll come back to these when I need a palate cleanser.          I started A Soul to Keep by Opal Reyne last evening.  This one is about a young lady who is given to a Duskwalker, a type of demon essentially as a sacr...

      I finished City of Snakes by Mariet Kay.  It was a 5 star read for me.  There will be another book in the series, so it ended with plot points still needing to be resolved.  It was fabulous though.  This book and Born of Starlight are comfort style reads for me.  They have just what I personally like.  Fairy tale re-telling, engaging and witty characters.  Good banter between the love interests, friendships, found family, magic/fantasy elements, world building and a nice amount of spice that doesn't detract from the story.  I'm excited for the third book to come out.  I got the feeling as I was reading CoS that the next one will be a sleeping beauty re-telling.   As soon as I finished City of Snakes, I started the book I got in the Favorite Things swap; The Vampire Knitting Club by Nancy Warren.   This was a cozy paranormal episodic read.  It was quick and fun and another 5 star read for me. ...