Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Classic/Mystery
Length: 188 pages
Publisher: Global Publishers
Release Date: October 1, 2023 (First published Jan 1st, 1902)
ASIN: B0CFQ86S3P
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Borrowed ebook from Kindle Unlimited
Rating: 4/5 stars

“The Hound of the Baskervilles is the third of the four crime novels by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serialised in The Strand Magazine from August 1901 to April 1902, it is set in 1889 largely on Dartmoor in Devon in England’s West Country and tells the story of an attempted murder inspired by the legend of a fearsome, diabolical hound of supernatural origin. Holmes and Watson investigate the case. This was the first appearance of Holmes since his apparent death in “The Final Problem”, and the success of The Hound of the Baskervilles led to the character’s eventual revival.”

Series Info/Source: This is the 5th book in the Sherlock Holmes series. I bought this on ebook.

Thoughts: This is the second Sherlock Holmes book I have read, and I am always surprised by how much I enjoy these books and how they still feel relevant and fairly contemporary in writing style. The Sherlock Holmes books have aged well and are just very entertaining reads. I had previously read the first book in the Sherlock Holmes series “A Study in Scarlet” and enjoyed it immensely. I was looking for a creepy Halloween classic to read and remembered this book and decided to pick it up.

Watson and Sherlock have a new case brought to their attention. The previous Lord Baskerville has died under mysterious circumstances with the prints of a giant hound found by his body. Meanwhile the new Lord Baskerville is traveling from him previous home in Canada to take over the estate. Sherlock sends Watson out to the estate with the new Lord, both to protect the new Lord and to try and figure out what is happening with the mysterious rumors surrounding this devilish hound.

I really enjoyed this. The setting in Dartmoor (a bleak and dreary moor filled countryside) is creepy and gothic and everything you could want in an eerie Halloween read. The mystery is masterfully done, and the characters are intriguing.

The writing is remarkably entertaining and easy to read. At times, I forgot I was reading a much older classic; this sounds very much like a Victorian mystery that was written in present day. There are some turns of phrase that are a bit dated, and the roles of women throughout leave a bit to be desired. However, I will say that Doyle did a decent job of writing intriguing female characters that push the ideals of his time.

There is a lot of humor in here, and I love the tongue in cheek tone to much of this. Sherlock is a singular character, and the fact that Watson puts up with his antics at all is endlessly amusing.

Parts of this were a bit slow; this does drag a bit mid-book. However, I greatly enjoyed the resolution to the mystery.

My Summary (4/5): Overall I really enjoyed this. This is a wonderfully gothic, atmospheric read with an excellent mystery and some humor throughout. If you have never read the original Sherlock Holmes books, I would highly recommend them. I am always surprised at how modern the writing sounds and at how entertaining the stories and characters are. I plan to continue to slowly work my way through additional Sherlock Holmes books.

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Length: 5 hours and 15 minutes
Publisher: Sittin’ on a Goldmine Productions LLC
Release Date: July 27, 2022
ASIN: B0B7SQX6QC
Stand Alone or Series: 12th book in the Mitzy Moon Mysteries
Source: Audiobook from Audible.com
Rating: 4/5 stars

“Mitzy Moon is bending over backward to be a good big sister. Spending a day at the pet invention convention seems harmless enough. But when puppy love turns into vanishing canines and a vengeful ghost, she’ll have to bend a few laws before more furry friends are spirited away….

Ignoring the handsome sheriff’s warnings about evidence that cuts both ways, Mitzy’s desperation drives her to make daring decisions. Unfortunately, one crime leads to two and her carelessness puts Ghost-ma and her interfering feline in danger. And with her family threatened by dangerous powers, her dreams of a happy ending could become a ghastly nightmare.

Can Mitzy save the pooch and her grandmother, or will she be forced to make a deadly choice?”

Series Info/Source: This is the 12th book in the Mitzy Moon series. I got this on audiobook from Audible.com.

Thoughts: This was a fun book in this series, and I enjoyed it. This book combines two mysteries into one story, and it was fun to see more magical and ghostly antics. I listen to these books on a 5 hour round trip road trip that I need to do monthly for work. They are the perfect length and a perfect easy listen while I drive.

Mitzy’s new little brother has a crush and when his crush’s dog disappears from the science fair Mitzy is on the case. However, when Mitzy’s efforts to solve the case of the missing hound mingle with the local witchy woman, things start to get even more out of whack. Now Ghost-ma is missing and Piwacket is injured.

I always enjoy my time in Pin Cherry Harbor. I live on the shores of a great lake, and it’s always fun to read about a story in a similar setting. The story again has a cozy feel to it. The mysteries are fun and keep you guessing but never get too dire or serious. There are some paranormal elements in here to keep things fun. It was interesting to see some dark magic and some additional ghosts this time around.

This book is full of quirky characters in a fun small town setting, and enough paranormal mysteries to keep me guessing. It was well done, and I plan to continue the series.

I was disappointed to find out that the audiobooks stop at book 15. Books 16 to 21 are eBook or paperback only. These audiobooks are very well done, and I had been hoping to finish the series on audiobook. I guess once I get to book 15 I will have to decide whether or not I want to finish the series on eBook.

My Summary (4/5): Overall I continue to enjoy this series. It is a humorous, cozy, paranormal mystery series with well done characters. It’s an easy listen, and the audiobook are very well done. I would recommend if you are looking for a cozy and easy light mystery series with some supernatural/paranormal aspects.

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Horror/Classic
Length: 30 pages
Publisher: SAGA Egmont
Release Date: October 5, 2020
ASIN: B09R92XW9R
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Borrowed ebook from Kindle Unlimited
Rating: 4/5 stars

“Considered one of Poe’s most famous and best constructed terror short stories, “The Fall of the House of Usher” is most likely to grab the reader in its clutches and never let them go. Running along the “dull, dark, and soundless” corridors of Usher’s mansion or conversing with the terror-stricken and husky voice of its master, Poe’s story reeks of morbidity and schizophrenia. Though relying on already established characters and themes from his previous tales, Poe describes the workings of the psyche, the realm of dreams, and even the lands of madness in great detail, securing the story its rightful place and acclaim.”

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone story. I borrowed this on ebook from Kindle Unlimited.

Thoughts: I have read a lot of Edgar Allen Poe, but hadn’t read “The Fall of the House of Usher” yet. T. Kingfisher did an excellent re-imagining of this story in her novel “What Moves the Dead”. It made me want to pick and read the original.

We all know the premise here. A man goes to visit his childhood friend at a creepy old mansion and weirdness ensues.

This is very atmospheric; Poe has you feeling and tasting the dark and damp lonely atmosphere. It is also very creepy in a kind of ambiguous doom kind of way.

This does show its age, the turns of phrase can be a bit hard to follow, and the language is incredibly flowery. At points, I did have to re-read portions to make sure I was getting the full effect.

The ending is abrupt and leaves you wondering what just happened. Again, I re-read it a few times. I think it is part of the strange ambiguity of the end that is part of the eerie charm.

I enjoyed this; it was an excellent short story to read around Halloween time. While I did enjoy Kingfisher’s “What Moves the Dead” quite a bit more; I am happy to have read the original source material.

My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this and would recommend giving it a read if you are Poe fan, have read other adaptations of this material, or are just looking for a short and creepy read. I am happy to have read this, and although it does feel dated, it is still eerily charming.

In October I read 12 books. You can see the reviews for all of them, which ones were my favorite, etc. below.

Hope you all had a great month of reading!

I started the following series:

• The Space Between Worlds (The Space Between Worlds, Book 1) by Micaiah Johnson (3/5 stars)
• Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse, Book 1) by James A. Carey (3/5 stars)

I finished the following series:

• The Last Star in the Void (The Echo Archives, Book 3) by Melissa Caruso (5/5 stars)
• Wicked Magic (Wicked Sisters, Book 3) by Lindsay Lovise (5/5 stars)
• In the Devil Wind (Sandman Slim, Book 13) by Richard Kadrey (5/5 stars)

My Favorite Books of the Month Were:

• The Last Star in the Void (The Echo Archives, Book 3) by Melissa Caruso (5/5 stars)
• Wicked Magic (Wicked Sisters, Book 3) by Lindsay Lovise (5/5 stars)
• In the Devil Wind (Sandman Slim, Book 13) by Richard Kadrey (5/5 stars)

– Goodreads Reading Challenge (Progress: 137/150)

The full list of books that I read this month are shown below:
1. Bread and Burglary (Tales of Rydding Village, Book 2) by Shanna Swendson, Narrated by Elizabeth Sastre (4/5 stars)
2. The Last Star in the Void (The Echo Archives, Book 3) by Melissa Caruso (5/5 stars)
3. Wicked Magic (Wicked Sisters, Book 3) by Lindsay Lovise (5/5 stars)
4. Bones of Jade, Flesh Like Ice by Garcie Marsden (3/5 stars)
5. In the Devil Wind (Sandman Slim, Book 13) by Richard Kadrey (5/5 stars)
6. The Space Between Worlds (The Space Between Worlds, Book 1) by Micaiah Johnson (3/5 stars)
7. The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See, Narrated by Various (4/5 stars)
8. Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse, Book 1) by James A. Carey (3/5 stars)
9. Pinfeathers by Christina Henry (4/5 stars)
10. The Thrice-Bound Fool (The Blacktongue, Book 2) by Chistopher Buehlman (4/5 stars)
11. Monsters of Ohio by John Scalzi (4/5 stars)
12. Dive Bar at the End of the Road by Kelley Armstrong (3/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Paranormal/Horror
Length: 281 pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Release Date: October 6, 2026
ASIN: B0G7762N51
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eGalley from NetGalley for Review
Rating: 3/5 stars

“A forested road at night, slick from the pounding rain and eerily illuminated by flashes of lightning. Just before midnight, a car swerves to avoid something—or someone—mysteriously standing in the road, only to slam into a fallen tree instead. In the pitch black, four more cars follow in a pileup no one can seem to avoid.

Stumbling out of the wreckage, soaked from the rain and nursing various injuries, five strangers find themselves in a backwoods dive bar, waiting for daybreak and hoping for cell service. But as tensions rise and the storm rages on outside, the occupants of the dive bar start to notice that not everything is as it seems. Time is moving differently, and they quickly learn that going outside—whether to assist another accident victim or to hike for help—is a very bad idea.

There’s something in the woods, something that isn’t natural. Could the figure in the road have been a warning? Or something more sinister? None of this is normal, and they’ll need to work together to figure out what’s happening if they have any hope of surviving the night.”

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got an eGalley of this from NetGalley for Review

Thoughts: I am a big Kelley Armstrong fan and have read most of her books. I wasn’t a huge fan of her Women of the Otherworld series but really loved her Nadia Stafford, Cainsville, Rockton, A Rip Through Time, Haven Rock, A Stitch in Time, and Age of Legends series. This book was not one of her best stories; it was rough, hard to follow, and rushed.

The story starts with one woman trying to swerve to avoid hitting an old woman in the road and instead crashing into a tree that has fallen across the road. The old woman is nowhere to be found, but then a truck then crashes into the woman who hit the tree. The two crash survivors find a strange bar just off the road, and as they enter it, they hear another crash. A young couple has crashed into the second man’s truck. He knows he left his hazards on, but they somehow ended up turned off. What follows is a gathering of strangers in an odd bar under very creepy and horrific circumstances.

It takes a long time for this short book to get moving, and the beginning is very repetitive. Someone crashes, they express disbelief, they are introduced to the situation…someone else crashes…rinse and repeat. Once we get into the meat of the story, and the characters are trying to figure out what is happening, things get a bit more interesting. However, then the whole mystery laid out to us bit by bit by the bartender. It made you feel like you were putting in effort to solve a mystery that was then just handed to you.

This is very creepy and atmospheric, but the fact that the whole story feels so surreal as to be completely disconnected from reality dampened a lot of the creepiness for me. This also felt like it took a lot from other horror tropes that have been way over done (think Final Destination-like) and because of that this book had a B-movie, campy feel to it.

The characters themselves are pretty forgettable; I can’t remember a single name of any character in this story after reading it. I think that is a bit ironic given what we find out about these characters. However, this echoes how I felt about this whole story. It’s very forgettable. The premise didn’t make a lot of sense, and the plot has a lot of holes in it. The ending felt supremely unsatisfying.

However, I did finish it. I struggled a bit to finish it and had to work to push through this, but I did finish it. I think if you aren’t picky and are just looking for an overdone, somewhat campy, supernatural horror story set in the deep dark woods, this is an okay Halloween read. It just felt choppy and poorly put together to me. Part of that is because I always enjoy (and have high expectations for) Armstrong novels and this didn’t seem up to her normal level of work. The whole story felt like an afterthought.

My Summary (3/5): Overall I finished this but didn’t love it; it was okay. The characters are forgettable, and the story felt like a million other bad B movies out there. It is slow to start and then predictable moving forward. The ending left me unsatisfied. This felt like it could have been something much more interesting but was put together in a choppy way that felt like a bit of an afterthought. I am going to forget I read this and look forward to Armstrong’s future books.

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Science Fiction/Horror
Length: 272 pages
Publisher: Tor Books
Release Date: November 3, 2026
ASIN: B0G76RNDB7
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eGalley from NetGalley for Review
Rating: 4/5 stars

“Welcome to Richland, Ohio. Things aren’t great.

The town’s biggest employer is closing shop, and Richland’s on the brink. It’s where Mike Boyd, with his own set of problems, finds himself returning to after decades away.

He’s not planning to stay.

But Richland has other plans for Mike, his old friend Dave, and a newcomer Andi. They’re caught in a swirl of local troubles, private equity, executive theft… and something extremely weird involving Jeremy Keller’s prize cow.

Welcome to Richland. Leave your expectations behind. Bring a tarp.”

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got an eGalley of this from NetGalley for Review

Thoughts: This was a fun, quick read. It is a bit bizarre, but it was an easy and entertaining read. This is typical off-the-wall Scalzi. I have read many of Scalzi’s books. While this definitely wasn’t my favorite, it was still entertaining and well done.

The story is about a small town that is on the brink of disaster when the plant that supports the town is threatened with shut down. Mike is returning to this town, his childhood town, after being laid off from a job with the federal government. Then some odd things start happening around town.

This is a very odd, kind of feel good monster book. There is a lot of silliness here, and I enjoyed it. This does venture into being a bit ludicrous. Scalzi doesn’t spend a lot of time describing the various monsters so they were hard to picture. Initially, I thought they were all similar, but then it seemed like there was quite a bit of variation.

I don’t have a ton to say about this one. It was cute, weird, feel good, and a quick read. It’s fun but fairly forgettable. I didn’t engage with any of the characters all that well; you jump around between a lot of different people. However, character engagement wasn’t really the point of the story.

My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this. This is an odd, entertaining, and strangely cozy gory monster read. I didn’t find the characters all that interesting or engaging, but the situations they were in were incredibly odd and strangely endearing. This is a quick and easy read that leaves you saying “Huh, well, good for them.” I enjoyed my time with this book, but didn’t find it particularly memorable. I look forward to what other craziness Scalzi has in store for us in the future.

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 370 pages
Publisher: Tor Books
Release Date: October 13, 2026
ASIN: B0G76V6XNQ
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in The Blacktongue series (can be read as a stand alone)
Source: eGalley from NetGalley for Review
Rating: 4/5 stars

“Professional thief and inveterate trickster Kinch Na Shannack has always enjoyed a good book. But now his life, and the future of all of Manreach, depends on deciphering a very bad book indeed; a stolen, sentient tome that tries to kill him every time he opens it—and often when it’s closed.

Galva, veteran of the goblin wars and death’s sworn handmaiden, has vowed to protect Kinch while he mines the book for its dark magic and even darker secrets. She does so not for Kinch’s sake—though the cheeky bastard is growing on her—but because the book is the key to stopping the shadowy tyrants out to kill the queen she serves—and loves.

The ruthless, all-seeing Taker’s Guild dogs their every step, and thief and knight must flee the known world entirely if they hope to succeed. But trouble finds Kinch wherever he goes, and the pair may have traded the devil they know for horrors far darker and hungrier as they enter lands unknown.”

Series Info/Source: This is the 3rd book in the Riftwalker series, but each book can be read as a stand alone. I got an eGalley of this from NetGalley for Review

Thoughts: I liked “The Blacktongue Thief” a bit more than this book, but enjoyed this more than “The Daughters’ War”. Buehlman has a completely unique way of writing and Kinch Na Shannack’s voice is distinct and unlike anything you’ve read before.

In this installment Kinch and Galva are fleeing from Kinch’s shadow guild into the mountains to allow Kinch time to learn dark secrets and spells from an evil book. Glava hopes that these new secrets and spells will help protect her beloved queen from Kinch’s shadow guild. However, right from the beginning of the journey, things go horribly wrong.

This book is gory, crass, and not for the faint of heart; similar to the other two books in this series. We are back to more humor here (versus “The Daughters’ War”, which was very dark throughout) and many parts in the first half of the book had me laughing out loud. I really enjoyed the humor, the action, and the adventure of the first half.

Things slow down quite a bit mid-book, and I struggled to get through some of these parts. The events that do happen are a bit wonky and hard to picture and follow. The story also gets much darker as we get into the second half of the book, and I just didn’t find this as enjoyable or entertaining to read. While I enjoyed the descriptions, sometimes the story gets a bogged down by these long descriptions. I would find myself skimming these portions and then have to force myself to go back and re-read those parts.

I really enjoyed the unique way language is used throughout. This series is really unlike anything else I have read, so I appreciate the novelty here. I also really loved how Kinch and Galva gain depth as characters and grow as traveling companions. I loved the adventure component to this story and enjoyed this complex world full of goblins, giants, and gods.

The ending is well done, and it seems like we can expect another book in this series (I hope). I would definitely recommend reading “The Blacktongue Thief” before reading this book. I would also recommend reading “The Daughters’ War” before reading this so you have Galva’s background; however, be prepared for a dark and depressing read when you read that one. I do think you could skip “The Daughters’ War” and get through this book fine; you just won’t understand Galva and her motivations as well.

My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this, not quite as much as “The Blacktongue Thief” but more than “That Daughters’ War”. I love the unique world here and really enjoy Kinch’s turns of phrase and general nuttiness. This is crass, gory, and a lot of fun. While this book started incredibly entertaining and moved at a good pace initially, it really slowed down mid-book and started to drag. Things did pick up again towards the end. I plan to continue with this series and look forward to the next book when it releases.

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Length: 320 pages
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: November 17, 2026
ASIN: B0GNYM9GCS
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone Book
Source: eGalley from NetGalley for Review
Rating: 4/5 stars

“Nora Pacetti is a new stay-at-home mother—she’s tired but coping while caring for her happy, healthy baby, Olivia. But then one morning, something that looks like a feather starts growing out of Olivia’s arm. Or at least, that’s what Nora’s mother, Giulia, thinks. Nora thinks her mother has probably spent too much time watching conspiracy videos on YouTube.

Nora’s husband thinks Olivia needs tests, specialists, hospitals. But Nora senses that whatever is happening to her daughter needs to be concealed—and a mother’s intuition is never wrong. Soon sinister people begin asking questions about Olivia, and Nora starts to wonder if there really is something wrong with her baby. But she’s determined to discover the truth about her daughter . . . no matter the cost.”

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got an eGalley of this from NetGalley for Review

Thoughts: This was a very well done thriller/horror sort of book. It was compulsively readable, very hard to put down. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect coming in, but the pace was non-stop, almost leaving you breathless. I am a big fan of Christina Henry and have read her Madeline Black seris (loved it), the Chronicles of Alice series (loved it), “The Mermaid” (liked it), “The Girl in Red” (loved it), and “Horseman” (liked it).

This story follows Nora as she navigates being a new stay-at-home mother. She is growing resentful of her husband who is dodging parental duty with excuses of work and his own social life even though they agreed to do this baby thing together. Then one day her baby daughter, Olivia, is inconsoable. That is when Nora sees a tiny black splinter like thing growing from her daughter’s arm. Nora’s mother (who is a conspiracy theory nut and doomsday prepper) absolutely doesn’t think Nora should take Olivia to the doctor. However, Nora’s husband is adamant that they figure out what is going on. Nora is exhausted and being pulled between the two. Things start to unravel as Olivia’s issues continue and creepy things start to happen to Nora and her husband.

For the most part I enjoyed this. The pain and exhaustion Nora feels is very real and well depicted. There are a number of twists and turns throughout the story which I really enjoyed and the story is incredibly fast-paced and hard to put down.

I think my only disappointment was in the story device used to explain the “why” behind the pinfeathers that start growing on Olivia. There were hints that the reason behind this was something more, but then the main reason given behind this was a story device that has been way overused to explain why a human starts showing strange traits. Really the “why” behind all of this felt a bit muddled, like we were given a reason why but maybe it was something else, but we’re not sure. Maybe that uncertainty was deliberate but it left me feeling a slightly unsatisfied with the story as a whole.

The above is a pretty minor quibble, this was a very well done story and incredibly engaging and readable. It was creepy in a very real way and I found the ending incredibly satisfying (if a bit unhinged). This is the first of a series of creepy Halloween month reads I have lined up and it didn’t disappoint.

My Summary (4/5): Overall I really enjoyed this. I liked the fast-paced, the creepiness, the characers, and the twists and turns. I though the ending was spectacular. My only complaint is the over-used story device used to explain Olivia’s “condition”. I would recommend this as an excellent creepy read, especially for those who enjoy Henry’s writing and how unhinged it can be. I looked forward to what she writes next.

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Science Fiction
Length: 571 pages
Publisher: Orbit
Release Date: June 15, 2011
ASIN: B0047Y171G
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in The Expanse series
Source: Borrowed ebook from Library
Rating: 3/5 stars

“Humanity has colonized the solar system—Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt and beyond—but the stars are still out of our reach.

Jim Holden is XO of an ice miner making runs from the rings of Saturn to the mining stations of the Belt. When he and his crew stumble upon a derelict ship, the Scopuli, they find themselves in possession of a secret they never wanted. A secret that someone is willing to kill for—and kill on a scale unfathomable to Jim and his crew. War is brewing in the system unless he can find out who left the ship and why.

Detective Miller is looking for a girl. One girl in a system of billions, but her parents have money and money talks. When the trail leads him to the Scopuli and rebel sympathizer Holden, he realizes that this girl may be the key to everything.

Holden and Miller must thread the needle between the Earth government, the Outer Planet revolutionaries, and secretive corporations—and the odds are against them. But out in the Belt, the rules are different, and one small ship can change the fate of the universe.”

Series Info/Source: This is the first book in The Expanse series. I got borrowed this on ebook from my library.

Thoughts: I read the first 40% of this book and just wasn’t enjoying it so I decided to set it aside. I have had this book on my TBR list since it released and kept putting it off because I thought it might be too hard sci-fi for me. I finally put it on my list of “10 books to read this year that I’ve had on my TBR list for ever but haven’t gotten to”. It wasn’t really too hard sci-fi, but it still wasn’t for me.

The first part is a bit confusing. The story starts with prologue from one POV, which I found interesting. However, after that you jump between two different POVs; that of Jim Holden and Detective Miller. I didn’t really like either of these characters. Holden didn’t have much personality and Miller was depressing. I found the members of Holden’s crew to be relatively interchangeable as well.

The pacing was incredibly inconsistent; things are slow, then super fast paced, then slow again. As soon as the story gains momentum, you are left on a cliffhanger and switch POV. By the time you get back to the “cliffhanger” POV, the story has lost its momentum. I never appreciate when an author uses the “cliffhanger” device as a way to keep the reader reading (either at the end of the book or at the end of a chapter). I always feel like the story should be interesting enough on its own that you want to read it, not that the author should force you into reading it.

I am not a huge fan of hard sci-fi, and to be honest, this has enough other things going on that it isn’t solely hard sci-fi. There are a lot of politics, imminent war, and a missing person’s investigation. It was a lot going on, and jumping back and forth between the stories (while not that confusing) felt scattered. I am sure everything eventually comes together and starts to make a cohesive story, but it was a long and slow journey there.

I know people say later books in this series are much better. However, I didn’t really like anything about this story in the first 40% so I am going to say this world isn’t for me. Giving it a neutral 3 stars in case the second half is amazing.

My Summary (3/5): Overall this wasn’t for me. The pacing is all over the place, the characters weren’t engaging or interesting, and the story feels scattered, like it is trying to be too many things at once. I stopped reading at 40% in and am completely fine with not knowing how the story progresses, which tells you how much I just didn’t care for this. I don’t plan on reading any more books in The Expanse series.

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Historical Fiction
Length: 14 hours and 7 minutes
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Release Date: March 21, 2017
ASIN: 06WLNSH2W
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone Book
Source: Audiobook from Audible.com
Rating: 4/5 stars

“In their remote mountain village, Li-yan and her family align their lives around the seasons and the farming of tea. For the Akha people, ensconced in ritual and routine, life goes on as it has for generations—until a stranger appears at the village gate in a jeep, the first automobile any of the villagers has ever seen.

The stranger’s arrival marks the first entrance of the modern world in the lives of the Akha people. Slowly, Li-yan, one of the few educated girls on her mountain, begins to reject the customs that shaped her early life. When she has a baby out of wedlock—conceived with a man her parents consider a poor choice—she rejects the tradition that would compel her to give the child over to be killed, and instead leaves her, wrapped in a blanket with a tea cake tucked in its folds, near an orphanage in a nearby city.

As Li-yan comes into herself, leaving her insular village for an education, a business, and city life, her daughter, Haley, is raised in California by loving adoptive parents. Despite her privileged childhood, Haley wonders about her origins. Across the ocean Li-yan longs for her lost daughter. Over the course of years, each searches for meaning in the study of Pu’er, the tea that has shaped their family’s destiny for centuries.”

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got this on audiobook from Audible.com.

Thoughts: I have had this on my “to be read” list for many years and finally made it a priority this year to read it. I remember it being on a list of top historical fiction books and I thought it sounded intriguing. There were parts of this book I really enjoyed and things that I enjoyed less. I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was incredibly well done, I would recommend listening to on audiobook if you enjoy audiobooks.

Li-yan is part of the Akha people who grow tea in a remote mountain village. Li-yan is incredibly bright and hopes to be one of the first of her village to go to secondary school and leave the village. Everything changes when she becomes pregnant with a “reject” and opts to put her daughter up for adoption rather than have her killed. Then when a stranger comes to their village in an automobile hoping to find Pu’re. Li-yan is the only person in the village who can translate for him and starts a new journey to become an expert in tea. Meanwhile her daughter, Haley, is adopted by a Californian couple and is navigating what it is like to be a Chinese adoptee in America.

A lot of this novel was very thoughtful and interesting. I loved learning about the Akha traditions and about the policies in China in the 1980s. The Akha way of life is fairly primitive and I kept checking the timeline for this story because they seemed to live so far in the past. I also really enjoyed Haley’s perspective and the discussion of issues that Chinese adoptees were dealing with in America at that time. I also enjoyed learning about the history of tea in China and in particular Pu’er.

I had some issues with both the characters and the pacing of the story. The middle of this book is very slow and I found my interest wandering. If I had been physcially reading this instead of listening to it, I would have really had to push through these parts.

I also found Li-yan’s character to be frustrating. She makes a lot of very poor decisions despite all the advice from her family and friends. For a supposed genius of a girl she is very low on wisdom and the decisions she makes put her on a much tougher path through life. I also found it frustrating that the success she does finally see doesn’t seem due to her growth as a character but to people doing favors for her, in part, because she is a beautiful young woman. I also was incredibly frustrated by the fact that nearly all her problems were solved by her marrying a rich man. The whole romance in the second half of the book seemed so contrived and solving all your problems by marrying into money felt like a cop out.

The ending felt very rushed. I would have liked a bit more to see how things played out for Li-yan and Haley. There is also some unfinished business between Li-yan and other characters in the story.

My Summary (4/5): Overall this was an intriguing look at rural life in China, a Chinese adoptee’s struggles in America, and the history of tea in China. The story gets very slow, especially mid-book, and I struggled to stay interested through part of it. Li-yan was a frustrating character to read about and was determined to make bad decisions but somehow ends up fairly successful through favors others do for her. The ending of the book felt both rushed and contrived to me. If you are intrigued by Chinese history (1980’s to 2000’s) this is an excellent read with a decent storyline. However, be prepared to deal with some slow parts and to roll your eyes a bit at Li-yan as a character.