I have several non-fiction books I've used as resources lately. Enjoy these mini reviews!

Beginnings, Middles, & Ends by Nancy Kress
This book covers exactly what the title indicates, including offering help if any of those three acts are a problem for you. It emphasizes why each is important, what it must do, and how to transition to the next part. I felt like this book was a bit below my level of writing understanding, because I didn't highlight a single thing in it. However, for newer writers, some of the advice offered may be new to you so for the price ($12.99 for a paperback) it might be worth it.

Mastering Suspense Structure & Plot by Jane K. Cleland
This book won the Agatha Award for best non-fiction, so I bought it from the little indie bookstore that set up at a conference recently. The book is split in two halves: planning and writing. If you're not a plotter, and don't plan to try it, then half the book may not be for you. While what it discussed was interesting, I still didn't highlight anything, which to me is telling. However, if you're new to plotting and want to try out a technique for it, this book may be of great use. It was a little more expensive (the paperback was $18.99) but at least I supported an indie bookstore.

The Negative Trait Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi
I've talked about the various thesauruses by this pair of writers before, and they never disappoint. This thesaurus helps identify negative traits to give characters, because a perfect character is a boring one, and associates them with causes, behaviors, thoughts, and examples. Some of the causes include emotional wounds, which really helps make a character cohesive. I also liked that it listed both positive and negative aspects of these traits so you can write a character where these flaws are sometimes a strength. It's safe to say I recommend it.

Botanical Curses and Poisons: The Shadow Lives of Plants by Fez Inkwright
I bought this one at an indie book stand at a Christmas market. The book is gorgeous and the topic is very in line with a new writing project I have. There's a section up front for history and then it's an encyclopedia of plants that are poisonous, associated with magic, or both. Each entry explains why the plant was included as well as interesting facts, and often an image. I left flags all over this book to come back to. If you're writing about these types of plants or are just curious, I highly recommend it. For the hardcover I paid $16.99, and supported and indie bookstore, so it was a win all around.


Have you read any of these books? Which did you find most helpful? Let's discuss in the comments!

The Cartomancer's Curse by Kaitlin Schmidt is part of an indie series called Cards of Passion. It's technically book 7, but each novella stands alone and is written by a separate author. Full disclosure, I met Kaitlin at a writing conference, which is when I heard about the book, but I paid for the book and my opinions are my own.

Meridian is a tarot card reader, although her deck of cards isn't traditional, and her power extends to being able to psychically taste others' desires, from the mundane "I want to go home" vibes to the sexually explicit. To escape the flavor soup of city life, she has a secluded cabin, but when that is broken into, her sense of safety dissolves. Wren was hired to ransack Meridian's cabin, but immediately confesses when she realizes who Meridian is. When Meridian reads cards for Wren, hoping to gain insight into her mysterious desires, the reading goes awry and curses them both. They can only solve the problem together, but all that time spent tempts them to focus less on the curse and more on their desires.

I thought the magic system of the book was really cool. One thing writers always try to do is to involve all five senses. Sight is usually easiest and overused and taste is the hardest to incorporate, since it almost always requires eating, but you can't have characters eat in every scene. So tasting desires is a really cool mechanism to use an under-utilized sense, and the flavors chosen were both specific and unique without getting so exotic that I had to go to the grocery story to find some weird fruit. I also loved the queer-norm aspect of the book. For those not familiar, queer-norm is where a book includes queer relationships which are accepted and treated socially like hetero relationships have been treated in our world--there's no worry the parents won't accept it, no being targeted by hate groups or the government or whatever. It's the true embodiment of the phrase "love is love."

My age old novella complaint shines again: it was too fast. That's just me and novellas. I didn't feel like I spent enough time getting to know why the curse was happening before it was fixed.

This book is for you if you're looking for steamy sapphic romance, a cozy fantasy novella, or a unique magic system/taste-based magic system. I'm wondering if this would be a cool read for someone with synesthesia who tastes a lot of things that others would instead see/hear or a good read for someone who lost their sense of taste (perhaps in 2020?) and wants a book to bring back flavor memories. This book is not for you if you're looking for chaste romance, fantasy on the more epic or lengthy end of the spectrum, or if you dislike enemies to lovers.


Have you read The Cartomancer's Curse? What flavor was never assigned in the book and what do you think it would represent? Let's discuss in the comments!

Time for my annual post of all the books I read in 2024. I read 59 books, 36 of which were fantasy, with my next most common genre being non-fiction, with 10 books. In the next few weeks I'll highlight some of my favorites!

I'll post more reviews of these books in the coming months. Have you read any of these books? Were any your favorites? Let's discuss in the comments!

Air Awakens by Elise Kova came across my Instagram in a list of books to read after finishing A Court of Thorns and Roses series (ACOTAR.) It was pitched as Avatar: The Last Airbender (ATLA) meets ACOTAR, and since ATLA is my favorite show of all time, that comparison was all I needed. Air Awakens is the first of a five book series that came out in 2015-2016 and were indie published by the author. She has seven series total, some indie and some traditional, and she's hit best sellers lists.

Air Awakens follows librarian-in-training Vhalla. When asked to find a cure for a prince injured by a magical weapon, Vhalla surprises herself by unlocking her own buried magic to find the information. The healed prince delves into her powers only to discover she has an affinity for air magic, a power thought lost over 100 years ago. His affinity is fire, but he still attempts to tutor her, despite her protests that she doesn't want to do magic. But when other power players begin making moves, Vhalla has little choice but to embrace magic and the dangers it brings.

There was some really cool worldbuilding in this book, for example someone with an affinity for one of the elements can also do other things within that element's category, like word magic along with air magic. Vhalla and the prince had decent banter that made for some enjoyable chemistry.

I struggled sometimes with how overly similar it was to ATLA, like the air affinity people having been all (or nearly all) killed 100 years ago. The fire prince with daddy issues. A large war going on. The air user needing training. I kept picturing the woman who plays Aang in the Ember Island Players episode as Vhalla and Zuko as the prince. Is that fair to the author or book? No. Did it decrease my enjoyment of this book? Yes. However, a more book-related critique is that the prince's personality felt wildly different in his POV vs her POV. Not in a he's so mysterious and private kind of way but in a is this the same man way.

This book is for you if you enjoy elemental magic systems, bad boy prince love interests, or if you were a Zaang shipper when you watched ATLA. It's not for you if you love ATLA so much that you won't be able to unsee the similarities, if you are not a fan of morally gray/bad boy love interests, or if you're not in a headspace to read about genocide, war, or city bombings.


Have you read Air Awakens? The entire series? Do you recommend any of Kova's other series? Let's discuss in the comments!

One type of writing resource book I love is a reference I can go back to time and time again. The Emotion Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi is one such book (series!) that I keep next to me whenever I edit. However, I'm always on the lookout for more! I found 1,000 Character Reactions from Head to Toe by Valerie Howard while browsing Amazon and received it as a gift over Christmas.

Overview
At just 88 pages, this book is a quick read. What you get is basically a thesaurus of body parts in order from head to toe (plus some overall things like skin). Each entry contains actions or sensations associated with that part of the body. Sometimes the action is linked to an emotion, such as cheeks burning with embarrassment. After each short list (which is never longer than a page plus a few lines) there are empty lines for you to write your own entries for that body part.

My Experience
I felt like each entry's list was too short. I also wanted more of them connected to a cause, like embarrassment, since a reaction is happening because something is causing it to happen. Some body parts were also conspicuously absent, so don't expect this to help you write a romantic encounter, for example. I think the empty lines are a good idea, because plenty of reactions aren't present, but it also made it look like the author didn't do enough of the research for you.

Is It Worth It?
This book is $5 for a paperback on Amazon and $0.99 on Kindle, though the empty lines for you to write on become useless on the Kindle. If you're trying to add more reactions and emotions to your writing, I think The Emotion Thesaurus is a better option, but if your budget can't accommodate a $17.99 Emotion Thesaurus at the moment, this book could be a good substitute or even just an entry into the concepts if the larger book is too intimidating. If your budget can handle either book, go with the more robust Emotion Thesaurus. 



Have you used 1,000 Character Reactions from Head to Toe? Did it help you improve your writing? Let's discuss in the comments!

2023 was a big year in reading for me, and while there are plenty of blog posts reviewing most of my reads, I thought I should highlight my favorites. Since my reviews include recommendations for who would enjoy or not enjoy any book, I think books I loved aren't always obvious. Without further ado, here are my top reads of 2023:

My Favorite Debut
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

My Favorite Award Winner
Babel by R. F. Kuang

My Favorite Writing Craft Book
Story Genius by Lisa Cron

My Favorite Indie
Anastasia by Sophie Lark

If you want to know about  other great books I read, check out my 2023 goals update post, which has links to all my reviews for the year. 
​
What were your favorite reads in 2023? Have you read any of my picks? Let's discuss in the comments!

In January, I posted my reading and writing goals for 2023 and now I'm checking in to hold myself accountable. My reading list from 2023 is at the bottom and I'll share my favorites in another post!

Reading:
Goal: Read 15,000 pages. 
Reality: I read 19,608 pages!

Goal: >50% of the authors will be marginalized or different from me in a demographic way. 
​Reality: 50.9% were marginalized or different from me in a demographic way.

Goal: Read 9 indie books
Reality: I read 9 indie books (see reading list below)

Goal: Read 2 foundational scifi novels
Reality: I read 2 foundational scifi novels: Frankenstein and I, Robot

Goal: Read 4 scifi nominees/winners from the last two years 
Reality: I read more than 4 award winners/nominess, though I'll admit they aren't all scifi, and not all nominated in the last two years: Chain-Gang All Stars (National Book Award 2023 nominee); Babel (Nebula winner 2023); Woman of Light (multiple award winner/nominee 2023); The Sixth Extinction (Pulitzer Prize 2015), All Systems Red (Nebula and Hugo 2018);  Artificial Condition (Hugo 2019)

Goal: 5 debut novels
Reality: I read 7 debut novels: Woman of Light, Lessons in Chemistry, Please Report Your Bug Here, I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself, The Blood Trials, Camp Zero, and Chain-Gang All-Stars

Writing:
Goal: Send >5 queries each month until I finish my potential agent list. 
Reality: Because some agents never opened in the time period I was querying, I didn't finish the list. However, that's beyond my control, so because I did send more than 5 queries per month until my list ran dry, I am counting this as a success.

Goal: Finish the draft of my current WIP
Reality: Success!

Goal: Continue to attend my critique groups and keep up with pre-reading
Reality: Success!

Goal: Attend one writing workshop or conference
Reality: I attended the PNWA 2023 conference. 

Goal: Get one short story selected for publication
Reality: Nope! I totally forgot this was a goal this year. I wrote a short story, but never shopped it around. Oops!

Overall, not bad. I only fell short on a couple goals.

​Below is my reading list from the year. My most popular genre by far was fantasy, followed distantly by scifi. Three of these books were DNRs, but at least 100 pages of each counted toward my page goal.

             Title                                          Author                    Pub Type              Genre                   Link

The Sixth Extinction                                Elizabeth Kolbert             Trad                     Non-Fiction            My Review

Woman of Light                                       Kali Fajardo-Anstine       Trad                       Historical              My Review

Arsenic and Adobo                                 Mia M. Manansala           Trad                       Mystery                My Review

Reminders of Him                                   Colleen Hoover                Trad                       Romance            Podcast

All Systems Red                                      Martha Wells                     Trad                       SciFi                    My Review

Chain of Thorns                                      Cassandra Clare               Trad                       Fantasy

Lessons in Chemistry                             Bonnie Garmus                 Trad                      Historical              My Review

Anastasia                                                 Sophie Lark                       Indie                     Fantasy                My Review

The Chemist                                            Stephanie Meyer              Trad                      Action                   Podcast

I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself        Marisa Crane                     Indie                     Scifi/Literary         My Review

Please Report Your Bug Here              Josh Riedel                        Trad                       Scifi                      My Review

Fevered Star                                           Rebecca Roanhorse         Trad                      Fantasy

The Blood Trials                                    N. E. Davenport                  Trad                      Fantasy                My Review

Murder Your Employer                         Rupert Holmes                   Trad                      Mystery                 Podcast

Artificial Condition                                Martha Wells                      Trad                       SciFi

Bird by Bird                                          Anne Lamott                       Trad                        Non-Fiction        My Review

Babel                                                    R.F. Kuang                          Trad                        Fantasy               My Review

Rogue Protocol                                   Martha Wells                      Trad                         SciFi

Six of Crows                                        Leigh Bardugo                   Trad                         Fantasy              My Review

Story Genius                                       Lisa Cron                            Trad                          Non-Fiction       My Review

Crooked Kingdom                              Leigh Bardugo                   Trad                          Fantasy             My Review

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi    Shannon Chakraborty       Trad                          Fantasy              My Review

Charlotte: The Price of Vengance    James Moore                     Pre-Pub                    Mystery              Podcast

Camp Zero                                          Michelle Min Sterling        Trad                          Scifi                     My Review

The Power of Babel                           John McWhorter                Trad                          Non-Fiction        My Review

Putting the Fact in Fantasy               Dan Kobolt et. al.               Trad                          Non-Fiction        My Review
 
Love, Theoretically                           Ali Hazelwood                    Trad                          Romance            My Review

The Terraformers                             Annalee Newitz                  Trad                          Scifi                     My Review

The Legacy of Yangchen                F. C. Yee                             Trad                          Fantasy

Toph Beifong's Metalbending        Multiple                                Trad                         Fantasy

Fourth Wing                                     Rebecca Yarros                  Trad                         Fantasy                   Podcast

Frankenstein                                   Mary Shelley                        Trad                         SciFi                        My Review

The Mimiking of Known Successes    Malka Older                   Trad                         Scifi/Mystery           My Review

The Raider Bride                           Johanna Wittenberg            Indie                         Fantasy

Starlet                                            Sophie Lark                           Indie                         Historical/Mystery   My Review

Throne of Glass                            Sarah J. Maas                       Trad                          Fantasy                     My Review

iRobot                                            Isaac Asimov                        Trad                          SciFi                          My Review

Of Cinder and Bone                     Kyoko M.                               Indie                         SciFi

Poisoned Primrose                      Dahlia Donovan                    Indie                        Mystery                       My Review

Chalice of the Gods                    Rick Riordan                          Trad                         Fantasy                       My Review

Sun and the Star                         Rick Riordan/Mark Oshiro    Trad                         Fantasy                        My Review

Crown of Midnight                      Sarah J. Maas                        Trad                        Fantasy

The Dictionary of Lost Words     Pip Williams                          Trad                        Historical                      My Review

When We Left Cuba                    Chanel Kleetan                    Trad                        Historical                      My Review

Chain-Gang All-Stars               Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah   Trad                       Fantasy                         My Review

My First and Only Love           Sahar Khalifeh                          Trad                       Historical

The Savior's Champion          Jenna Moreci                            Indie                       Fantasy

Iron Flame                               Rebecca Yarros                        Trad                        Fantasy                      Podcast coming soon!

The Throne of the Five Winds    S.C. Emmett                         Trad                       Fantasy

Grunt                                         Mary Roach                             Trad                       Non-Fiction

Heir of Fire                               Sarah J. Maas                          Trad                       Fantasy

Assassin's Blade                     Sarah J. Maas                           Trad                       Fantasy

We're All Monsters Here        Amy Marsden                           Indie                      Fantasy                      My Review

Queen of Shadows                 Sarah J. Maas                          Trad                       Fantasy

I needed to squeeze one more indie book in before the end of the year to hit my 2023 goals, and thankfully I found the novella We're All Monsters Here by Amy Marsden. At 99 ebook pages, I was able to finish it in one sitting. I'm so glad this is the book I picked up!

We're All Monsters Here is like Glass Onion (aka Knives Out 2) but with a vampire named Anna. She manipulated a corporate big wig into planning an exclusive executive getaway and inviting Anna, whose app he recently bought. It's basically a vampiric buffet. Anna's weekend even improves when she has a fling with one of the assistants, Saira. However, vampire hunters show up and Anna must navigate carefully to avoid being taken out. 

This novella had a great voice and premise. Despite killing people, I really liked Anna--I mean, eat the rich, right? While I often complain novellas are too short, I thought the length of this one was just right. 

The first half was a little too smooth for me. If nothing goes wrong for the characters, I start feeling like the story is too simple and maybe predictable. When things went downhill for Anna, it was much more fun. That being said, the voice and premise kept me going in the first half. 

We're All Monsters Here is for you if you enjoyed Glass Onion, if you're looking for a sapphic urban fantasy, or if you want a quick read. It's not for you if your favorite part of fantasy is extensive worldbuilding, if you are looking for lots of twists and turns, or if you aren't able to handle blood and gore at the moment. 


Have you read We're All Monsters Here? What was your favorite novella of 2023? Let's discuss in the comments!

I stumbled on Poisoned Primrose (Motts Cold Case Mystery, Book 1 ) by Dahlia Donovan when looking for an indie published cozy mystery to read. My goal this year was to read nine indies and I was behind, but I also wanted an indie in a genre I hadn't read indie before. When I saw the cover of Poisoned Primrose, I knew I needed to read it. It is book one in a series which also includes Pierced Peony, Pickled Petunia, and Purloined Poinsettia.

​This book follows Motts, an autistic and asexual middle-aged woman and her sphynx, Cactus, who move into a late relative's cottage in a small English town. She knows the villagers, as she spent many childhood visits there, so there's a strong returning-to-small-town vibe. As Motts redoes the garden, she finds a very dated dead body. Motts pokes around to learn more about the victim and those who knew her, but the killer doesn't appreciate Motts's interest.

I liked the portrayal of the sphynx cat, Cactus, it was 10/10. The author either has or has lived with one, I'm sure. Cactus was my favorite character. I liked that the main character was written by an autistic author. I've read a couple books now about an autistic main character written by neurotypical authors and they get quite cringey with the stereotypical portrayals. I liked that this book avoided that! I also liked how Motts's asexual identity was respected and represented.

Unfortunately, the mystery was not clear enough to me. I didn't even have a sense of the age of the victim or why she was buried in Motts's garden at all. I was left without the sense of satisfaction that a solved mystery normally leaves me. I also had no idea what most characters looked like, so it was hard to picture some scenes.

Overall, this book is for you if you're looking for authentic autism or asexual representation, if you want to fall in love with or learn what it's like to own a sphynx, or if you prefer mysteries about cold cases. It is not for you if you want all your questions answered at the end of a mystery, want a romantic subplot involving spice, or a prefer fresh dead body in your mysteries.


Have you read Poisoned Primrose? Do you recommend other indie cozy mysteries? What other books have great autism rep? Let's discuss in the comments!

I decided to read Starlet by Sophie Lark because I loved Lark's Anastasia, which I read earlier this year. I chose the stand alone Starlet, a historical mystery. 

Starlet focuses on Alice, the sister of a 1940's Hollywood star named Clara Bloom. When Clara is murdered on set, look-alike Alice sets up to finish Clara's final movie while also investigating the cast and crew to find the killer. She teams up with Jack, a local police detective, and together they dive into the mysteries of old Hollywood and uncover far more than just a murderer.

I liked plenty about this book. Lark's writing style is pretty invisible to me, allowing me to devour the book in about four sittings. I liked Alice and her motives and the details about how Hollywood operated. I liked the mystery too, with various twists and turns making it all the more interesting.

However, I was very disappointed in the reveal of the killer. No spoilers about why, it just felt sad. I also felt like the ending after the reveal came out of nowhere. The romance between Alice and Jack wasn't as fleshed out as I wanted, and some of the characters needed a little more fleshing out.

This book is for you if you like old Hollywood affairs like in The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, if you want a classic-feeling mystery, or if you want a quick/easy read. This book isn't for you if you want romance at the forefront, if you want a feeling of justified vindication at the reveal of the killer, or if you're looking for factual old Hollywood events. 


Have you read Starlet? Have you enjoyed Sophie Lark's other books? Let's discuss in the comments!