Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton

⭐⭐⭐/5

We are met with a foul mouthed, junk food-obsessed crow, experiencing the fall and extinction of human kind. They have all become zombified monsters. 

He decides to free all the domestics of humanity. His best friend is a adorable blood hound named Dennis and together they will fight the evolution of said monsters and thrive in the new world without humans. 

It's cute. I liked it. It was a fast read. It wasn't my complete cup of tea. But it wasn't bad either.  I liked the humor of the crow. As I said, it was cute. That's really about all I have to say about that. 

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

I. Don't. Hand. Out. 5. Stars. 

This was so gooooooooooood! I loved every minute of it. 

I don't usually cry during books. But this one mad me SOB. THREE TIMES. 

The setting is World War II France. Two opposite sisters who could not be MORE different from each other. One who is more reserved and tactful. Then the other who is outspoken and in CHARGE. Even if it means losing her life. 

These two sisters live in a world where every move they make are being watched by the Nazi's and will be executed on the spot. 

I will not go on and ruin ANYTHING because it is just too wonderful to pass up. Read it. 

This book is heart wrenching and tear jerking but it's so important. 

Quarantine and Quakes

Not a book review. Just my thoughts. 

Utah has been... A mess. Since this quarantine has started, we have climbed to 257 cases, 1 death. And you know why?!

Because Utahns still went on spring break, went and panic bought ALL THE TOILET paper, still went and congregated in the canyon, you met all your precious missionaries in hoards. DO YOU NOT REALIZE WHY THEY CAME HOME IN THE FIRST PLACE?!?!? To protect them from exposure! What are you doing?! You should be ashamed of yourself. 

Don't be surprised when come next week, our case rate QUADRUPLES because you couldn't BARE to welcome your missionary home with anything less than a fucking plethora of people. GOD FORBID you send a single champion to retrieve your missionary. But what do I know?

In the middle of the week, we got a wrench thrown in this said "mess" with a 5.7 magnitude earthquake... 😒. Really? 

LUCKILY, my dead-asleep ass, slept through the whole thing. Thank the gods, my children slept through too. I do not know how I would have handled that. Their poor screams of terror. But don't you worry, I have only got about 3 hours a night of sleep since then. Every little sound, every move my St. Bernard makes, every toss and turn my husband moves, I wake up in a panic, thinking its the next one. The "big one" that we have been due. I want to get my earthquake kit ready, I should already have one, I know, but the money we do have, must go to rent, more on that in a second. 

Everytime I see a facebook post, complaining about the aftershocks, my stomach sinks. 

Back to this pandemic, the government won't agree on relief funds. So the longer they take to make a decision, the longer my hubby has to make money. We would LOVE him to be home, in isolation. But without work, we don't have money to put food on the table. To pay our RENT, which BY THE WAY, our landlord gave us an extension of "3 WHOLE DAYS" OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, WHAT A SAINT......😒.... Humanity is just getting better and better isn't it? 3 extra days isn't going to do any good, when we aren't making any money, bro. He also made it plainly clear that if we do not pay it by then.... consider yourself evicted. What a wonderful wonderful man. Keeping us on our toes. 

People, this is serious. This is real. Take it seriously. 

I may have an aneurysm due to this anger and fire within me.

Be kind. Be considerate. Be nice to retail workers. Thank your healthcare workers. Stay colorful. And STAY, THE FUCK, HOME. 

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

I liked it. It's been a while since I've read anything "paranormal." I'm pretty picky with paranormal stories. They are either super spooky, or super corny. This one was a happy medium. It was a little slow at times, but those moments didn't last too long at all.

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2017- We meet Carly Kirk, niece to Viv Delaney, who went missing, working as a night clerk at The Sun Down Motel in 1982, amongst several other women who had gone missing in the area, at that time. Carly takes over the night clerk position, putting herself in the mindset and aura of her missing aunt. She starts experiencing the same ghostly encounters and following the same mysteries as her aunt.

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That's as far as I'm going to go, to not reveal any spoilers. It's a fast read but it is worth it. I felt like I personally related to Heather, Carly's friend she meets along this adventure, on a SOUL LEVEL. Heather is my spirit animal. Read it, if only to gush over how adorable and real and wonderful Heather is.

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

As expected, I loved the book! I'm not going to do a break down of events and plots because I have a life and that would take me 2 years. If you have not been living under a rock, you'll get the basic gist. Skip this review if you don't want spoilers.

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Going into this, I assumed it was going to be a dense read because of how thick the physical book is. But it's actually pretty easy to follow. Just long.

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I am in the "watched the series first" population, I know, I know, I'm a traitor. But moving on! The series ACTUALLY did a pretty great job in accuracy!

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One of the things I liked BETTER in the SERIES: I found that Daenerys and Khal's "Newly Wed" era in the book was super confusing. Their first night together he seemed to be... gentle? I mean. Please correct me if I read it wrong or misinterpreted the writing. Yes, she was hesitant at first, then at the end of the chapter she gave her consent. Words like "tender", "carefully", and "gently" fill the text in this chapter.

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Now, this all well and good, don't get me wrong. But the thing that confused me in the book is in her VERY NEXT chapter, she goes on to explain that he rapes her every night? What?! Where did that come from?

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So I did like the consistency of the series. Making their initial consummation a lot less... romantic?

I don't LIKE to see such things, but the book made it sound like everything was hunky dory one night, then randomly Khal changes his tune and becomes harsh and revolting again? Then Dany has the power to change him back to tender with more knowledge of new sex moves?! I don't get it.

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Book Pros: ANYWAY, for obvious reasons, the book gives more detail, you hate Sansa and Cersei more. Joffrey is more of a whiny bitch. Catelyn is more harsh toward Jon than in the series. Just more feelings!

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It was good. I'm going to continue the books for sure. Stay tuned.

The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer

⭐⭐⭐/5

*Spoilers*

I wasn't too impressed with this one. Though it had some important concepts, and intense side plots, it was kind of slow building. But the writing was casual enough to keep me interested, like an old friend tell you a story about her past. 

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We begin with a college freshman, Greer Kadetsky. A reserved young woman trying to find her way through all the ins and outs of college life. She decides to show her face at a party, with her new friend Zee,  and along the way gets groped by the schools "main man." Rejecting him, this fraternity loser throws a temper tantrum and belittles her, making her feel about 2 inches tall. He gets a "slap on the wrist," of course 🙄.

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She mostly copes with her injustice in silence, until a "feminist hero," Faith Frank, comes to her school to give a talk. Greer listens in amazement to this strong icon for change and equality. She pipes in a question in a small meek voice, "What do we do about the unpunishable misogyny all around us?" Or something to that effect. And Faith basically tells her to never stop using your voice and never stop fighting for what's right.

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They, Greer and Zee, follow her into the bathroom after the speech and gush over her. Faith takes a liking to Greer and offers her to come in for an interview to work with her program. 

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Of course Zee gets jealous and asks Greer to give Faith a letter she has written, introducing her value to the program as well. But Greer wants this for herself. She never gives her the letter. 

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Important concept #1: What the fuck?! What is wrong with women?! Why are we constantly sabotaging opportunities for each other?!  Why couldn't they BOTH enjoy that job?! We should be rising each other up! Not knocking each other down. SHE SHOULD HAVE GIVEN FAITH THE LETTER. She does end up regretting that decision later. Which shows she does have SOME conscience. Anyway! Moving on. She then tells Faith about the letter, which she encourages Greer to do what she feels is best for GREER. Um! Yeah, you are a 60-something woman giving advice to a young girl in her 20's, this is when you are supposed to encourage her to GIVE YOU THE LETTER SO YOU CAN MAKE YOUR OWN DECISION ABOUT HIRING HER AND THAT GREER IS AN ASSHOLE EVEN CONSIDERING KEEPING IT TO HERSELF. UGH. 

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She has a high school boyfriend, Cory. Apparently, they were both accepted to ivy-league schools, but Greers parents half-assed (haphazardly) the financial aid forms and that was the end of that. Which, again, what the fuck, parents?! Your child is dreaming of even GOING to college in general, let alone YALE! WHY WOULD YOU NOT TAKE THE FINANCIAL FORMS SERIOUSLY?! Yeah, so she was forced to go to a lower-acclaimed college. BUT with a full ride scholarship, so 🤷, maybe it worked out. 

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INTENSE SIDE PLOT: While Cory gains momentum in his career, he gets a call from home. His mother accidently (obviously) ran over his little brother in the drive-way, when he was looking for his turtle. WHAT?! Brutal. His dad blames his mom and bolts. He abandons all his responsibilities at his dream job, to take care of his mom. 

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For fear of being insensitive, I hesitate to say... Kinda random. Greer and Cory's relationship was already kind of snagged due to the long distance... Why did you have to go and kill off a kid? 

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As I said, the whole thing is slow building, so all I really remember is the basics. Greer finds out that a new program Faith is running is a scam. Putting on the performance that they are doing something great for underprivileged foreign women, giving them the chance at life. Faith claims she was turning a blind eye. Greer stands up to Faith and quits her job. But before she leaves, Faith makes sure to give Greer one last jab, that she did the exact same thing to Zee. "Turned a blind eye." So... you didn't tell her to do the RIGHT thing so you could use it for ammo against her later? How very FEMINIST of you 🙄. 

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OKAY. So basically the ONLY good characters are Zee and Alby, Cory's dead little brother... Oh! And Slowy, the turtle. Faith and Greer both unlikable characters. Zee, first of all never annoyed me, she was always funny, cute, and chill. Then, secondly, Greer confesses she never gave her the letter, and though, disappointed, accepts Greers apology and says, "You made a mistake. And you learned from it. We were young." Yeah.... Best. Friend. Ever.

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Greer and Cory reconnect, get married, have a baby, and Greer writes a book. 

Anyway, that's that. 

When We Were Vikings by Andrew David MacDonald

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

What cute, cute, cute, coming-of-age story. 

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Zelda is our protagonist. She is driven, outspoken, kind and so, so smart. She lives with her older brother, Gert, who struggles financially, and as we will see, goes to extravagant lengths to keep them afloat. She likes rules, rules keep things neat, organized and running smoothly. She has a healthy fixation on Old Norse culture and lore. So much so, that Gert surprises her with a Viking Impersonator for her birthday. There is one more thing that sets her apart from everyone else. She was born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. An irreversible brain condition caused by exposure to alcohol while in the womb.

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She has a specific routine each week, and when it suddenly gets interrupted by a visit to a run down house of sketchy strangers, things start to spiral pretty quickly. 

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The story about sibling love, forgiveness, patience and persistence will make you laugh, mostly, but also, worry. You will get angry and your eyes will get a bit misty. The characters are likable, funny and real... The good characters, at least. The antagonists, not so much, obviously. 

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I do wish that there was more research done on the Norse culture for the writing of this novel. Some "facts" were filled with common misconceptions and a dash of stereotyping. The plot was cute enough for me to spare the nitty-gritty details, though 🙂.