Language

Rating: 9/10

This delightful volume shows us that everywhere we look, we’re confronted by sneaky differences. Do moral dilemmas differ from ethical ones? If we make an assumption, do we presume as well? The author puts language under a microscope, teasing irony apart from sarcasm, elaborating on guilt versus shame and sussing out the difference between conflation and confusion. Reading should always be this fun…happy hairsplitting!

Thriller

Rating: 8.5/10

One spring night, Isabel and Edward’s lives were torn apart. A night they have never spoken about. Decades later, when their attacker is caught, will the divorced couple finally tell the story of that night? Not to the world, but to each other? As they wait to give their impact statements, all they have been wanting to say for years comes pouring out…

Fiction/Thriller

Rating: 8.5/10

Secret society…check. Cryptic clues…check. Buried treasure…check. Think Goonies for grownups. Maple Bay has a story to tell, at the turn of the century a pirate ship crashed and sunk, its treasure lost forever. Or was it? Five teenage boys stumble upon the riches and agree to bury them somewhere safe and go back for it when they all turn eighteen. But it’s long gone before they get there!

Hitting The Books-June 2025

This month’s read-a-likes are curated for the release of King Of Ashes by S.A. Cosby, sure to be a contemporary masterpiece. It tells the gritty story of a prodigal son returning home to help run the family crematorium. Full of the complexities of the relationships that are foisted on us at birth and how far we might be willing to go to protect them.

Quick Lit: A Common Thread

As mentioned, I love a small-town story. Even with the understanding that rarely are they easy ones. That often the only thing that thrives in these places is the past; never to be buried, never to be forgotten. Cast with characters that always have one foot in the past, unable to ever let it go. With resentments that have been allowed to fester and flourish. With endless machinations to avoid the contemplation of the sins of the past ensure the reader an absorbing narrative. Come along, if you’re up for it!

Fantasy

Rating: 9/10

There are many reasons to love the Empyrean Series; room wrecking sex, hero’s with “I’d die for you” energy, smartass dragons, jaw dropping endings, and a bookish and brave protagonist. What’s not to love?! If you think you learned everything there was about this world in book one, think again. If you think there can’t possibly be any more secrets to be laid bare, think again. If you think the author can’t top the ending of the first book…shame on you!

Historical Fiction

Rating: 8.5/10

Who would have thought a tale of the secrets behind some long-forgotten dollhouses would be a page turner? Not me that’s for sure. I was happily proven wrong. The story moves back and forth in time between a librarian and an artist. An artist that used her talent to help keep other women’s secrets, making miniatures that document it all. Accomplishments, betrayals and forbidden loves. Enchanting!

Fiction

Rating: 9/10

I adored twenty-three-year-old Joe and his beautiful, big-hearted story about friendship, resilience and empathy woven with gems of wisdom that stay with the reader long after the final page is turned. To keep company with someone who sees the best in everyone, even if they aren’t being their best selves, is something we should all be lucky enough to do. Joe’s rules for true friends are ones we should all follow! Read with tissues!

Thriller

Rating: 8.5/10

Frank arrives at his estranged daughters wedding to find a secluded private estate, a mostly absent and evasive groom, a mother of the groom being kept away from the guests, neighbors with accusations of murder, and that’s only the beginning. I had serious Get Out and Glass Onion vibes as the story unfolded. Keep in mind that old adage…maybe it’s better to let sleeping dogs lie.

Sci-Fi/Mystery

Rating: 8.5/10

Have you ever gazed up at the stars and wondered what it might be like to live among them? I certainly have, and my dream scenario involves a stunning library, quaint shops and quirky neighbours. Does my vision have a murder? Of course not! But a mystery? Probably. When Dorothy snaps awake in a body not her own, she realizes that something has gone very wrong.