It’s time again to ask ourselves the three W’s:
Who is the nice man?
What is lurking in the woods?
Where do the missing children go?

Wait, no, that’s not right. We ask these three W’s:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words.

This post is completely fashionably late (like most of them are lately, I KNOW). But I have a good reason.

Well, good-ish. I injured my knee two weeks ago and finally decided it’s not going to heal on its own, so I spent all day in the doctor and didn’t have a chance to write up this post. So now I’m on restrictions and crutches. Boooo. The good news is I have a cane, and I’m 100% channeling House, M.D. It’s lovely fun.

               

House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig
★★★★★ || Goodreads
All you people who recommended this to me … I don’t know whether to thank you or slap you. xD This was really freaking good, but also hella creepy and oh my gosh. It started out all light (I mean, except the death and curse, obviously, but dancing girls are fun) and then turned dark like that *snaps*. The atmosphere was so dark, yet strangely beautiful … until it wasn’t. Wow can Craig ever weave an atmosphere. Some of the images in this book are just brutal, in the best possible way. This is definitely obviously a retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, but it’s also more than that. The only thing I wasn’t a huge fan of was the really cheesy romance and the dull attempt at a love triangle. If you’ve been thinking about picking this one up, do it!!

A Town Divided by Christmas by Orson Scott Card
★★★☆☆ || Goodreads
This book just … was. It read like a cheesy Hallmark movie. Not even the good kind where you walk away with an annoying warm, tingly feeling despite your best attempt to be an unfeeling Grinch. The plot felt entirely predictable from the beginning. It was a nice, short holiday read that moved right along, but by the time I finished, I just sort of … moved on. It didn’t really leave an impact on me, either way, which was a shame, since I’ve heard good things about this author. If you want a light Christmas read, this might just scratch the itch. That’s why I picked this up, and certainly, I’m done with Christmas reads now, so there’s that.

A Hive of Secrets and Spells by Ellen Jane
★★★★☆ || Goodreads
This one probably should be five stars, but that star missing is my own problem and not the stories. Novellas are really hard for me to get into, and then when I do, the story ends. This has everything to me and the length I expect from a story and nothing to do with this novella, but it had all the things I complain about every novella I read: skippy bits so the story fits the novella format, less in-depth plot and resolution, less time to develop a connection to the characters, etc. That being said, I do so LOVE these frigging characters! At some point, I got so sucked into the story that I forgot to even pay attention to other things. I already knew I loved Sinead and Heather, of course. But Cian was a wonderful addition to the story, and the mystery, I think, was just as good as the first one. Maybe even better (though I miss the talking wallpaper). The magic in this was more rounded and in-depth, with also hints at even more world-building possibilities coming. And the ending hints at a book three, and I’m so freaking excited. *grabby hands*

Dying to Meet You by Kate Klise
★★★★☆ || Goodreads
This was definitely not a sad attempt to boost my Goodreads score before the end of the year and was obviously an attempt to read more of the mid-grade books in my library. Yup, that’s what it is. A patron brought this and the second book back and it caught my attention. A mid-grade epistolary? That’s a new one. Adult me looks for more in a book, and there are quite a few mid-grade books that deliver that. But for me, this wasn’t quite there. However, I tried to take a step back. Would a mid-grade reader like this? I think so. It’s not as funny or snappy as the popular humor books our patrons always read (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Captain Underpants), but it feels like a nice in-between for someone who wants a little more wholesome family humor instead, with a little mystery mixed in and some unique formatting. Also, all the names are puns, and be still my poor, simple heart, because I love puns. I have an unhealthy obsession with them.

Over My Dead Body by Kate Klise
★★★☆☆ || Goodreads
This was the sequel to the first book. I felt like it didn’t have the same hook or humor. It felt more like there was a lesson to be pushed, and I just didn’t find it as entertaining. Also, so very improbably. Not that I require my mid-grade to be realistic, but the conflict can’t be that this one weird person told people not to celebrate Halloween and that ghost stories are bad and everyone goes, “Yeah, okay,” because … well, I’m more willing to believe in dragons than that. The story was sweet, the ending was sweet, but it just didn’t have the same appeal to me as the first one.

Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky
Status: 254/705

Click For Goodreads Summary

IMAGINE…
Leaving your house in the middle of the night.
Knowing your mother is doing her best, but she’s just as scared as you.

IMAGINE…
Starting a new school, making friends.
Seeing how happy it makes your mother.
Hearing a voice, calling out to you.

IMAGINE…
Following the signs, into the woods.
Going missing for six days.
Remembering nothing about what happened.

IMAGINE…
Something that will change everything…
And having to save everyone you love.

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I’ve finally started it! Wow, this was so overdue. And now get used to seeing this here, folks, because this’ll be here for a while, especially with the holidays. This is so interesting so far. Sure, there are parts that drag a little more than others, but that’s sort of to be expected with a 700-page tome. All in all, though, Chbosky is soooo good at adding suspense and slowly having things connect, until you’re just begging for one or two or twenty more chapters, please, before you have to put it down. I’m surprised I’ve gotten this far on it, since I can only read it at home, basically, and I read my Kindle otherwise, but I just can’t stop! The mystery is definitely gripping and it delivers on the spine-tingliness and goosebumps. The only thing I’m not a huge fan of so far is that with how much religion has played a part in this book already, it feels more like Christian horror to me, even though it’s not being marketed as Christian fic. I’m honestly not a huge fan of Christian fic, because I don’t like feeling like I’m being preached to as I read. But we’ll see. It’s not been too bad or too preachy so far, other than one character (whose from a family of zealots), so I’m still withholding judgment on that front.

F*ck Your Diet: And Other Things My Thighs Tell Me by Chloe Hillard
Status: 32%

Click For Goodreads Summary

By the time Chloé Hilliard was 12, she wore a size 12—both shoe and dress—and stood over six feet tall. Fitting in was never an option. That didn’t stop her from trying. Cursed with a “slow metabolism,” “baby weight,” and “big bones,”—the fat trilogy—Chloe turned to fad diets, starvation, pills, and workouts, all of which failed.

Realizing that everything—from government policies to corporate capitalism—directly impacts our relationship with food and our waistlines, Chloé changed her outlook on herself and hopes others will do the same for themselves.

The perfect mix of cultural commentary, conspiracies, and confessions, F*ck Your Diet pokes fun at the all too familiar, misguided quest for better health, permanent weight loss, and a sense of self-worth.

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This isn’t quite what I expected, but I’m not hating it. I thought it would be more personal essays and less public commentary, but it walks a fine line between both. Hillard doesn’t just talk about her difficulties and experiences with weight, but she also gives the history behind the societal and cultural situations that contribute it. And y’all? I feel soooo much of this, both the societal and cultural norms that have fueled my own struggles with weight and food. There are some things I just can’t relate to (for example, her being raised in a black family and black neighborhood), but there are a lot of things that I’m definitely relating to, and it’s so validating in a really odd way, since I’m not a person who needs validating normally. But weight is a … weighty subject (get it?! Fine, I’ll see myself out now). It’s not as funny as I’d thought, but funny enough where it’s still holding my attention and I’m enjoying it.

       

Oh, hai. This is the point where I panic and try to squeeze all my ARCs for January in now so that they’ll be read ahead of time and reviews actually released on time so I can start the new year out on the right foot.

I’ve been meaning to read A Curse So Dark and Lonely for a while now, especially after Leelynn @ Sometimes Leelynn Reads spoke so highly of it and was eager for the sequel. So yes, we’re doing this! I bought the first book earlier this year, and I’ve got an ARC for A Heart So Fierce and Broken, so I’ve come prepared. Gonna knock this series out back to back, and I’m looking forward to it.

I’ve started seeing reviews trickling in for The God Game, and I just had to look it up and see if I could get one for myself. This book sounds like it was custom made for me and I am so freaking excited for it.

Chat With Me

What are you reading this week? Anything you’d recommend? Link to your WWW posts below so I can visit you!