Knitting, Sci-fi and other stuff...

4.24 ⭐️ 1🌶 I just finished Of Fates and Ruin by Alaya Wells.  I received an advanced reader copy of this book from the author.  This book comes out 3/1/26. Mild spoilers ahead: Most of this book was a struggle, I didn't really really enjoy it til the last 7 to 10% of the book.  This book is long, too long, at 700 pages.  I think it could have been cut down by a couple hundred pages and it would have had better pacing and been more coherent.  There was so much exposition and so many repetitive details.  Isi is from Caldrith where magic is forbidden and if they find out you have magic abilities they kill you.  Don't worry, if you didn't catch that detail in the first couple chapters where it depicts the actual ceremony that kills a bunch of people; everytime Caldrith is mentioned again in the book that detail is repeated.   The body of Isi' sister is delivered to Caldrith by a gigantic bird so she assumes the rival kingdom of Sylla...

I read six books total in January.  I had four 5 star reads, a 4.5 star read and I read Stutter last month.   The Ever King was a re-read.  The Ever Queen was a very good follow up, but I enjoyed The Mist Thief the most out of the three.  The fourth book in the series, The Stolen Crown will be coming out in October of this year.   Moonborn was an ARC read.  I enjoyed it, but it wasn't quite a five star read for me.  It's lacking something but I can't put my finger on what exactly.  It's the first book in a series and I will be reading more when they come out. Daughter of the Pines was also an ARC and it was exceptional.  I enjoyed it so much.  I wasn't sure about it reading the blurb.  I don't usually like the urban/paranormal stuff as much as the full on fantasy but this was done so well.  I loved the FMC, she is snarky, independent and smart.  There is a mystical companion creature, a cu...

5 ⭐️ 1🌶 I just finished the eARC of Daughter of the Pines by Maria A. Eden.  It was amazing.  I absolutely enjoyed this.  This one is a bit hard to describe.  It's a historical fantasy urban legend retelling.  It takes place in a real world location called the Pine Barrens in the town of Galloway.  It's set prior to the American Revolution from what I gleaned from the description but its fantasy so I may be off on that.  The author decribes this as a retelling of the Jersey Devil story.  I have to admit I knew nothing really about the Jersey Devil nor this region, the Pine Barrens.  This story is rich and imaginative.  I was immersed in a hauntingly spectacular world.  The story follows a single family that is more or less the nobility of this town, the Ledes family.  The Pine Barrens is described as a place where the separation between realms is thin so demons and other fantastical creatures can move through these...

I said in my last post that I'd be reading Daughter of the Pines next.  Well I was awarded three  more ARCs right after I received that one.  So I decided that I'd read whatever was going to be published first.  That book was Moonborn by Annaïa Rowan.  It's a debut novel and the first in a series.   4.5 ⭐️ .5🌶 I was good, I enjoyed it.  It is first person POV and a single POV, that of the FMC Laïna.  She is property and living in a village within the Voidlands.  The Voidlands are covered in a thick mist that blocks out the moon and stars.  Magic is forbidden and anyone who is thought to have magic is burned.  There are weekly burnings and everyone lives in fear.  Laïna witnesses something she shouldn't have, tells someone she trusts and is able to escape the village with his help.  Once they get outside Laïna sees the sun, moons and stars for the very first time.  She and Llyr get separated and Laïna...

5⭐️ 2🌶 I finished The Mist Thief by LJ Andrews which is book three of the Ever Seas series.  It was amazing.  I think I liked this one the best out of the three.  It was intense, intriguing and had a few plot twists I didn't see coming.  I really enjoyed the banter between Skadi and Jonas.  I loved the bond that formed between Kase and Skadi.  It was really fun to see Skadi explore her affinity and be accepted by everyone at the Black Palace and thusly become more comfortable with herself.  This book could technically be read as a standalone.  It would help to know at least the events from The Ever King and Ever Queen, but there is enough explanation that its not absolutely necessary.  The epilog in this book ends on a cliffhanger which sets up the next book.  I knew everyone was highly anticipating The Stolen Crown, now I know why. Up next; I received an ARC for Daughter of the Pines by Maria A. Eden.  I'll be starting...

5 ⭐️ 2🌶 I finished The Ever Queen by LJ Andrews last night.  It was very good and I enjoyed it a lot.  The first half of the book had pacing similar to Reign of Stars and Fire, with Erik and Livia separated and the POV switching back and forth between them.  I loved the interactions between Valen and Erik and the relationships that formed between the earth fae royals and the sea fae.  Overall it was a great read and I can forsee this duology becoming a comfort read that I'll probably revisit every couple of years.  I'm really looking forward to reading The Mist Thief next.  Jonas is a great character, the elven story line was intriguing and I love me a good marriage of convenience trope.  Happy reading. -Q

  5★ 2🌶     I finished my re-read of The Ever King by LJ Andrews last night.  It was just what I needed to cure the book hangover still left from Until I Die.  I loved this book when I read it two years ago and first discovered LJ Andrews and her incredible world of Viking fairy tale retellings.  I picked up on a few details I had missed or forgotten.  It was a great refresh so I can go on to read The Ever Queen and the Mist Thief which hadn't been published yet when I read The Ever King the first time.  The Ever King is separate but interconnected to the Broken Kingdoms series.  The FMC Livia is the daughter of Valen and Elise who are the couple the first three books follow in the Broken Kingdoms.  The events in The Ever Seas occur about 20 years after the first book in the Broken Kingdoms.  There are enough little re-capping moments that you wouldn't need to read TBK first.  I didn't (initially) but it does help to know the ...

    I did a tiny bit of crafting on the 31st.  I needed to finish the handmade for the Hot Beverages swap and get it in the mail.  All I needed to do was embroider on the roses to the mug rug and I had put if off for a month.  The embroidery was actually pretty simple and straight forward.  Here's how it turned out. Pattern: Beverage of Choice      My knitting really tapered off at the end of the year when the reading bug hit me head on.  That's okay, I'm really enjoying reading again.  I hope I can keep it up so there probably won't be a lot of crafting posts this year.  I did make a 2025 wrap up video of all my projects I'll see if I can get it to embed correctly in the blog.  I can never seem to get it to work correctly. That's it for me, short and sweet.  Hope everyone had a good New Year.  Happy crafting. -Q

       I read four books total in December.  I have two that I'm currently reading that carry over to January.  I enjoyed Scythe & Sparrow and Shot in the Dark, but reading in December sort of dragged for me with the exception of Until I Die.  I've waxed poetic on Until I Die and I don't plan on stopping any time soon.  It gave me a book hangover which is probably why the rest of December felt like a slog.       Once I finish Stutter, which is starting to slog majorly, I plan to read the Ever Seas Trilogy.  I got myself the hardcover copies for Christmas.  I generally prefer paperback, but the books were just traditionally (re)published so the hardcovers were quite a bit more reasonable than the paperbacks.          I just signed up for the January Book of the Month.  I got a promotional offer which made the book $5.  I just have to buy one month at full price which is $17.99 fo...

     I'm going to do a big year end post with all the summaries from the reading apps I use.  But first I want to do a best and worst by month.  So here goes.   September: Best:                                                                                            The Viridian Priestess.  This is the book that got me reading again two years ago.  It was a re-read once I found out there was a sequel and a third was coming out.  It was a 5 star read both times and a series that lives in my head rent free.    Worst:   Where the Tide Meets the Sand.  It's not a bad book by any means.  It just wasn't for me.  The more I thought about the story later the more it bothered me.  Thi...