sleuthheroalien's reviews
138 reviews

Aunt Dimity Beats the Devil by Nancy Atherton

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I love the Aunt Dimity series. All the books are cozy mysteries, but one thing I appreciate about these books is that the mysteries tend to be historical or archeological mysteries rather than murder mysteries. If you read this one you’ll find yourself in a gothic castle in northern England, where romance, ghosts, and WWI history collide, with a mystery about long lost love letters. 
The House Witch by Delemhach

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adventurous funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The House Witch was the surprise runaway hit of my cozy magical bookclub! Everyone loved it, and it was the liveliest conversation we’ve had so far in the group. The premise is that Fin is a house witch who has moved to the castle to be the head cook, but he doesn’t want anyone to know he’s a witch. I was nervous when I picked it up, because this book is long, 461 pages in print and 18 hours on audio. That’s a lot of book for a cozy, but it ended up being super fun the whole time. There were lots of plots and subplots that stayed clear and coherent throughout the story, and the characters were all interesting. It was lighthearted and funny, while also having real depth. I highly recommend it if you want to get lost in a new fantasy world while also reading lots of descriptions of delicious food. I do have a couple notes, though. This is a series, and though some plots get wrapped up in this first book, a lot is left open at the end. Plus there are a couple content warnings you might want to look up on StoryGraph. I’m a highly sensitive reader and was fine, but there are certain themes that might not be for every reader. 
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The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I love this book so much. It honestly might be one of my favorites of all time. I love the sense of place. All the details of Edinburgh at Christmas make me so happy. I love the main character, Carmen, who is so cranky. I love the bookshop, and the transformation the shop undergoes. This was a reread for me, and it surprised me each time how much I enjoyed this story. I read Bookshop on a Corner by Jenny Colgan and didn’t like it; so I didn’t expect to go from DNFing one of her books to LOVING another one. I think what really works for me here is that I love a cranky character when the story isn’t too angsty. Carmen doesn’t sit in place to navel gaze about her challenges. She’s active. She makes decisions. She does things, and that really works for me. I also love that she doesn’t transform into a new person by the end. She learns and grows, but she’s still her funny, skeptical self. Also, there are some truly funny moments, and moments of real beauty and wonder. 
Soul of a Killer by Abby Collette

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lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I enjoyed this follow-up to Body and Soul Food. The premise is that a brother and sister, who are twins, were separated when the sister was adopted at a young age. The brother finds her when they are adults, and they become fast friends. She works at the local library, and he loves to bake, so they open a bookshop / bakery called Books & Biscuits. All is going well, until a murder happens in their sleepy town on the shores of Puget Sound. Inspired by the cozy mysteries Keaton loves to read, they became amateur sleuths to solve the mystery. I love cozy mysteries and this series checks all the boxes I enjoy in the genre. Cute cafe, book talk, lovable characters. 
The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz

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adventurous challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

 This story takes place 50,000 years from now, when a corporation terraforms planets for real estate. It begins while the planet is still verdant and beautiful, and it spans 1800 years, following three characters through the making of urban settlements, civil unrest, and revolution. I enjoyed this book a lot, although I have to admit it had more science than my normal science fiction. I usually read space operas that focus on the adventure at hand, but this had a lot of ecology science. This made it a more challenging read for me, but it was worth it in the end, because the characters are interesting and thoughtful. I wanted to know how things would turn out for them. The themes Newitz focuses on are colonization, capitalism, love for a planet, and love for others. A good comp would be Record of a Space Born Few by Becky Chambers, with its thoughtful character studies and focus on the details of managing a society. You’ll especially like this one if you enjoy thinking or reading about urban planning. 
If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

This was a fun, light-hearted romance, where the two main characters are contestants on a Bachelor inspired show. I listened on audio and enjoyed the first few hours, and then I should have put it down. But I kept listening, because I wanted to see what happened in the end. I thought it was a well-written book, and it would definitely work for some readers. It just wasn’t for me. What I realized was that I don’t actually like the Bachelor, so living in the world of a book with that as a setting didn’t interest me. Also, I don’t care much about fashion, and the main character had just graduated from fashion school as a shoe designer. Between the Bachelor hijinks and the fashion-talk I got kind of bored. However, if you like this kind of thing, then this would be a great read for you. 
Aunt Dimity: Detective by Nancy Atherton

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lighthearted mysterious relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

 The Aunt Dimity books are one of my favorite cozy series. Though, honestly, I fell in love with them by reading the most recent books first. Then I moved backward through the series for a few books, and then I read book one. Now I’m slowly catching up to where I left off when I was reading them backwards. Anyway, I say all this, because I enjoyed the more recent books much more than these first few. There are some tropes the author visits repeatedly in the first few books that get tiresome after a while. But I still loved being in Finch and hanging out with Lori Shepherd and hearing Aunt Dimity’s wisdom throughout this book. I would say if you've tried this series and put it down after a few books, then try reading Aunt Dimity and The Heart of Gold, that’s my favorite one, plus it’s a Christmas novel, which is always fun. 
The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

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challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

 I’ve been actively avoiding all Pandemic fic, but my best friend recommended this one to me. I absolutely loved it. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Louise Erdrich, and her voice pulled me right into the story. It’s a quiet, thoughtful, and interesting book, but it’s hard to put words to why I loved it so much. I normally don’t like long, sad literary fiction, but the main character in The Sentence was so compelling. I loved being in the space of her mind and heart, and in the end it felt like a beautiful way to process some of those Pandemic years. 
Congratulations, The Best Is Over! by R. Eric Thomas

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

5.0

 I learned about this book on the What Should I Read Next podcast. I loved R. Eric Thomas’s interview, and I was excited for the book. It was really good. Both this book and Kings of B’More by R. Eric Thomas broke me out of a reading slump this summer. I forgot how much fun books could be. I forgot they could make laugh. This one is great if you are in the mood for a light-hearted, but also deep, thoughtful, and funny memoir.
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Kings of B'more by R. Eric Thomas

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

 I really enjoyed this fun YA novel, where a couple teens go on a romp around Baltimore inspired by Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. I wasn’t sure how much I would like it when I started the book, but I was hooked by the humor and by one of the main characters being a theater kid. As the book progresses, however, the writing becomes more poignant and there are some truly beautiful scenes by the end. Get ready for laughs, tears, playfulness, and a little bit of teen angst but not too much. 
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