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Familiar Paths and Fresh Magic in Violet Thistlewaite is Not a Villain Anymore
It’s hard to believe it’s already December—yet here we are at the end of the year. Honestly? I’m always excited to dive headfirst into the holiday spirit. My tree is up, the lights are twinkling, and I’m prepping for a weekend of intense cookie-baking. But before we can plunge into the holiday festivities (yes, you
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Warm, healing, rebellious, comforting: The flavors and facets of fantasy tea
Perhaps the most consistent part of my reading experiences over the years has been my beverage of choice. Whether I’m reading mystery, fantasy, or epistolary, I’m always accompanied by a steaming hot mug of tea. (In summer – or in the Bay Area “summer”, aka late September, you may catch me with an iced version.)
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Funny, thoughtful fantasy in Tress of the Emerald Sea
Sometimes, you read a book you love so much it takes you a couple of weeks to process it. I’ll confess – I wasn’t expecting much when I picked up Brandon Sanderson’s Tress of the Emerald Sea. I know Sanderson has a big fan following, and some of my closest friends love his work. But
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January 2025 Roundup: Falling further in love with reading
I committed this year to monthly updates on my 52 Book Club Challenge, with short blurbs on anything I hadn’t written about yet. I am pleased to share that this approach seems to be working! I’ve already tackled 16 books from the challenge in January, and many are books I may not have touched if
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The rise of cozy reading: mystery, fantasy, and more
The idea of “cozy” fiction seems to have spiked in the last few years. Cozy mysteries, cozy fantasies – shelves are overflowing with authors insistent of making you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. (Google Trends seems to agree with me on this. Searches for cozy mystery, cozy reading, and cozy fantasy grew 2-10x since