The revenge they planned was anything but sweet. This team of misfits were brave enough to fight with everything they had to receive just a bit of justice. The
focus on discrimination, corruption, and classism was interesting and well-done. Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for a digital ARC.

Even villains can change with the right guidance and support! The characters were amusing and the plot well-paced and fun. Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for an eARC.

The magic of books is drowned out by the dark, grasping actions of the characters. Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for an advance copy.

These librarians all harbor secrets but was one willing to kill for them? Thomas manages to put together a rollicking adventure while avoiding the expected tropes at every turn. Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the eARC.

This is an intricately woven bundle of shifting loyalties and gruesome ends, as well as noble intentions and deep love. The humor and warmth the reader learns to have for some truly dodgy characters is a revelation. Overall, great fun.

The author does an immensely capable job of describing everything from the faults and talents of an author to the obsession with suicide after a friend dies. For a character driven book, the reader doesn't become intimate with any of the characters so much as become witness to their darkest, weakest moments.

Sumner approaches this mind-numbing, terror-inducing event with sensitivity. The violent episode lasts for just a few pages but the feelings of hopelessness, loss, and continued trauma continue on throughout the story. Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for an advance copy.

Just creepy enough to be fun. The inclusion of cultural elements was fun but occasionally slowed the narrative. I love food-related info but kids may not be as interested. Also, needed more of the grandparents. Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for an advance copy.

Cather‘s stories are beautiful and eloquent with a sharp dash of the unexpected to jostle the reader‘s complacency.

As dangerous as blizzards are now, we‘ve forgotten some of our worst winter storms.

A snippet of life in the Nebraska plains during Pioneer times. Interesting.

Wilder‘s works always seem quite melancholy. The characters are well drawn. Thoughtful and quiet. If I could have dinner with an author, this wouldn‘t be the one. He is quite grim.

Australia is a buggy, mysterious, heat-tortured land in this story of a boy returned to the white european world after healing and growing up with an aboriginal clan. The writing and character studies are brilliant. That said, the ending felt rushed and unsatisfying.

Miles and Lenny make a truly wonderful, messy couple.

This stretched the bounds of believability even for a romance.

This was a cute cozy. Low on violence and high on heart.

The sermons are presented with little context. When those liturgies are given as memorials, a bit more context would have been appreciative. It felt very choppy. Some of these are worth saving for inspiration and resistance. Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for an advance copy. Due out 9/9.

Just creepy enough to be perfect for kids.

Beautifully written. There is a more complete story here than in many a tome.

Gritty and brutal. The words get the job done but with no beauty.

This exceeded my expectations for the amount of suspense and emotion surrounding the abduction of the protagonist‘s sister. I expect to see much more of this author. It is an open door romance and occasionally it felt like an emotional boomerang between the romance and the hunt for a serial killer.

Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for an advance review copy. While the beginning is slow, once the main character leaves her pretentious, hallowed walls of learning, Cambridge, the plot becomes more interesting. Barely. The satire regarding academia is cutting. This could have been an engaging fantasy novel. Instead, I spent much of the book admiring the author‘s literary knowledge and not much else.

This is just sad and depressing. It wasn‘t very engaging. The shifts in point of view were frequent and confusing.

After death comes for each character, they have the opportunity to portray their lives in photos, one from each year of life. The reader accompanies them for a revisit to a day that changed their lives. There is no morality check or judgement. These characters become dear by sharing their fears and joys. This book manages to be warm and comforting even as it focuses on endings.

This felt like propaganda?

This book is the epitome of muted danger as two siblings are left in the care of a band of misfits as their mother continues her career in intrigue. The characters are vaguely drawn and the narrator had an omniscience that was often annoying. While some of the plot strings were tied up, many were not. The writing was gorgeous, but the overall experience was somewhat unsatisfying, more so as the author clearly had the ability to do a complete job.

The slow, tender unwrapping of this story of twin brothers and their small village bed and breakfast is genuinely funny and sweet.

The love of family is beautiful to behold and this family includes Mishka, the rabbit. A tender, loving story.

An inspiring collection of stories about an inspiring man.

Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for an advance digital copy. This is a dark, supernatural romance. Deep thinking and character growth are not the high points.

One of the best books about book people. A great comfort read. Funny, sad, and yes, a bit saccharine too. I needed a book about good humans.

This was informative, almost overly so. This could have been two very good books. I learned many things but I know I missed just as much. This wouldn‘t be the first book on Ukraine I would read but it did add to the overall picture.

This wasn‘t an easy read but there is a massive amount of information about the Ogallala aquifer and its importance and depletion due to irrigation, recreation, and development. While it is educational, it isn‘t written in an academic manner.

“There are few watercourses, and those that exist are usually dry. “Platte and Missouri Rivers?

“There are few cities—none, really, north of Texas.” Oklahoma City, Omaha, Denver, Kansas City?

The information is organized in a logical way. It lacks the inspirational tone I expected. It feels more like a check list.

This was the first in the Nero Wolfe series and not the best showing of the characters or pacing.

Slezkine introduces the reader into the homes and histories of the families living in the House of Government. Their fanatic idealism, close, almost familial, ties to their fellow political revolutionaries is as inspiring as it is melancholy as their friends were behind their downfall and/or death.It is with astonishing to realize many of those who lost everything still considered Stalin their friend and savior. the font is almost painful to read.

This was a harsh, tragic, and beautiful story. It took awhile to get into the story but then it became quite gripping.

A detailed account of the pogroms against Jewish people in Ukraine around the time of the first World War. There is general information but the Author‘s main focus and the context used is that of her family. Having one family as an entry point into this horrible time makes it easier to understand the devastation and lives lost.

This was a short, very nonlinear class in the appreciation of the history and storytelling which aid in resisting the smothering culture. It almost broke my brain in places with the ebb and flow but I was always happy to be able to return to it. Release date: 9/16. Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for an advance digital copy.

Gross.....but too gross? There is an impressive amount of information about decomposition in this book in the midst of reanimation of the dead. Friendship, family drama, and mad scientists fill out the rest.

The focus was squarely on the villain and the violence he perpetrates which was reminiscent of the very worst of true crime. The adolescent shock talk and wink-wink, nudge-nudge references to his other creations and pop culture was just annoying. The plot was decent. This just isn‘t for me.

The pace of the story was good but the resolution was predictable and the romance lackluster. Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for an advance digital copy. Pub date 8/19.

This was a unique story with a fantastic group of characters and all of the emotions. There is a great exploration of grief and how differently people react to it. The adults were actual complex characters and likable when they weren‘t perfect. Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for an advance digital copy. Release date end of August.

This was a thoughtful, sweet, and moderately spicy romance set in a bookstore in London. That is enough, isn‘t it? Great side characters are always a plus. Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for an advance copy. Pub date in September.

The plot was convoluted and the characters were many and undeveloped.

For some reason, these are incredibly fun and relaxing. The narrator including the reader in the story reminds me of my magnum pi watching days.

This was a unique take on this story. While some bits of the storyline didn‘t make sense, the completeness of the girls‘ pack was beautiful. Sad, infuriating, hopeful, and lovely.

Why did I pick up a time travel book when i hate reading time travel narratives? Not for me. It didn‘t help that the main character was fun and smart in one narrative and whiny and impulsively stupid in the other. No more time travel tales for me.