A Cuppa Cosy Reads – February 2025

Wow…I mean when I said that I hoped January would set the bar for 2025 I think I might have jinxed myself. I went from reading 10 books in a month to barely making it through 5 books. To be fair, I had an incredibly busy February- that I couldn’t predict would have gone the way it did. Life really life-d this month, but I’m hopeful that it’s a one off and moving forward things will mellow and average out a bit more. As I said I read 5 books and gave an average 3.5 for the rating. Not terrible, but definitely not where we started. 

Let’s get into it, shall we?

The Striker by Ana Huang 2 Stars – This was just not for me- I think I enjoyed the concept more than the execution. It went on a bit too long, felt a bit recycled, and was boring for 2/3rds of the book. Once things happened, they seemed to happen all at once and were resolved a bit too quickly. 

Lore Olympus Volume Six by Rachel Smythe 3 Stars – This too was…fine. It continues the story on, but I think I’m going to pass on finishing the series. Not that I don’t enjoy the reading of them, but I think we need a bit more pushing the story along. It’s very stop and start and doesn’t feel as continuous as it should. 

Magnolia Parks The Long Way Home by Jessa Hastings 4.5 Stars My first win of the month came with the third book, and I should have known Magnolia would be that win for me! I LOVED this third book. We actually see some character growth and development, along with the conflict that we love to see. Where the first book of Magnolia’s story was toxic and you loved it for that feeling, this was matured, and you loved it for that. 

Daisy Haites and the Great Undoing by Jessa Hastings 4.5 Stars I loved this book. It was exactly what it needed to be, and I feel like, similarly to the Magnolia Parks I read this month, the character growth was top notch. While some of it feels very…” falling back into old habits”, I feel there was enough groundwork laid for Daisy that we could still see the growth there. As always though, the core of the book is toxicity and I eat it up. 

That’s S’more Like It by Justine F. Orun No Rating I think my online review for this (on the apps) says it all: “I read it and that’s all I can really contribute.”. I don’t really know what to say about this one except that I took smut to a new level, and I don’t need to continue haha. 

And that’s it! A much smaller month, but that’s ok- we’ll come back strong 🙂

acuppacosyLeave a comment

A Cuppa Cosy Reads – November 2022

Happy end of November! Happy almost end of 2022! What a crazy thought to thing. I’ve been seeing a several memes circulating about how it’s about to be 2023, but we’re all still stuck in some way in December of 2019 and…well facts. Hard to believe it’s about to be 2023. 

November was a good reading month for me! A lot of can’t put down, stay up late books and that really, honestly, just makes a reading month for me. I did have a little reading break Thanksgiving Week with family and the boys off of school for much longer than anticipated (we got a massive snowstorm, which you would think would be great reading weather, but instead I just kept staring out the window in absolute wonder), but overall, a total of 8 books read and average 4.28 rating. 

So, let’s break that down…

The Last Final Girl by Stephen Graham Jones NR This is a screenplay horror that takes the final girl slasher and puts a bit of a spin on it. I really enjoyed this, and it was a good way to keep the Halloween horror vibes going just a bit longer. 

Lore Olympus: Volume 3 3.5 Stars I’m still enjoying these graphic novel interpretations of the Greek G-ds/Hades & Persephone myths, though I wouldn’t say they’re my favorite. I’ll keep on keeping on with them because boy are they beautiful and I’m still feeling this whole Greek Mythology retelling genre.

Anon Pls by DeuxMoi 3.5 Stars This was borderline bumped up to a 4 (and I did on Goodreads) because I just really enjoyed it. I really love pop culture in so many ways, and the DeuxMoi account on social media is really great to just get all the random tidbits about “famous” people. While the author does a really great job at adjusting and making clear this is fiction (though based on real life events), it does give some insight in to the behind the scenes of an industry that prides itself on looks/appearances/smoke & mirrors. 

Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong 4 Stars Chloe Gong does it once again. This is a separate duology set after the These Violent Delights duology, following one of our characters. I loved this one, even if it took me a good chunk of pages to get into it. 

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng 5 Stars This book was a start and stop for me, mostly because it terrified me. This book could be so close to our reality in so many ways that it almost made it unreadable (for me). Celeste Ng just has a way with writing and storytelling, and I always end up crying throughout her books. 

A Light in the Flame by Jennifer L Armentrout 4 Stars This is the second book in the Flesh & Fire Series (that takes place prior to the Blood & Ash series) and once again, these books do exactly what I need them to do. The world building and character development is a bit better in this series than Blood & Ash- it feels like maybe now she’s a bit more comfortable in the world or maybe she’s figured out the rhythm to these characters. Regardless, romance with slight fantasy plot and I’m good. 

My Fine Fellow by Jennieke Cohen 5 Stars I read this for my Jewish Literature project, so I’m not going to talk about it too much, but I loved it. I was hesitant to pick it up, but it was well worth it. Of note, it’s shocking the things that the characters experienced in the 1800’s are things we experience today. Just some food for thought before my post.  

The Night Swim by Megan Goldin 5 Stars – Boy this one punches you in the GUT and I enjoyed it. We are following a podcast host while she is working on a current events podcast, so not only are you getting the narrative, but you also get the podcast. Highly recommend, however this does come with some content and trigger warnings so please check those out before reading.

And that wraps up my November in books! Not bad, not bad at all! Looking forward to that last month of holiday reading!

acuppacosyLeave a comment

A Cuppa Cosy Reads – October 2022

We have reached the end of another month, one that seems like a blur…at least to me. I’ve felt all the emotions and read a wide variety of books. I wish I had a lot of insight to add to this introductory paragraph, but to be honest, I’d like to just put October to bed- literally. I’m done with that month- nothing super bad, but when life is just…a lot I want to be done with that time. So, let’s just get into the books that I read. 

Lore Olympus Vol 1 by Rachel Smythe 4 Stars – Look- I’ve been on a Hades/Persephone, modern era Greek myth retelling, and this fit that mold perfectly. A graphic novel/comic style story, it’s a great quick read. 

The True Love Bookshop by Annie Rains 3 Stars – This was fine. I feel like every once in a while, it’s nice to just read a hallmark esque style story and that’s basically what this was. 

The It Girl by Ruth Ware 4.5 Stars – I think this was probably one of my top reads of the month. I really enjoyed this slow unfolding story, with a shocking culmination that did get me. I was very one the fence about picking up another Ruth Ware, but this one was just different enough and she does a great job at leading and misleading the reader throughout the story.

A Shadow in the Ember by Jennifer L. Armentrout 3.5 Stars – I was really craving some more books along the fantasy romance genre- something I notice I gravitate towards when things are rough in the real world, so I dived back in to Armentrout’s world. This is the prequel to the Blood and Ash series and while it took me a bit to get into the story, once I did, I was in. The only detriment, realistically, for me is that we go through the same thing as the other series- where I want to shake the main characters. 

A Touch of Malice by Scarlett St. Clair 4 Stars – This is the third book in this series and all I could think of was FINALLY (which is something even the author acknowledges). The second book had a lot of moments of self-doubt, whereas this third book is a lot more plot and action. I feel like this might be my favorite, depending on how the next book goes. 

Silver by Chris Wooding 3.5 Stars – This was a book that I just picked up off the shelf at the library. It’s a YA Thriller about a virus outbreak at a boarding school. I’m not going to give too many details, but I found it to be quite the ride- even for YA readers. It was well done, though the ending left me a little…downtrodden. He created such tension and such fear, but there wasn’t any like final to the final fight. 

Lore Olympus Vol 2 by Rachel Smythe 4 Stars – This is the second volume of the same series and, once again, I really enjoyed it. I can’t say that this is one of my favorites, but I am enjoying reading this series. 

You’ve Lost a Lot of Blood by Eric LaRocca My final read of the month, and it was Halloween weekend and I wanted something disturbing. This definitely filled that spot; however, I don’t know if it filled it in a satisfactory way. I feel like this book maybe tried to do too much in too short of a time frame or if it was just supposed to feel disjointed and not fully formed. If that was the case, it definitely did that, but I feel like a lot of attention was given to the book inside the book and that book was interesting, and then the rest just…wasn’t much? I don’t know- but it was definitely disturbing.

And that’s it for October! It was actually a good reading month- I did overall love everything that I read

acuppacosyLeave a comment