The Midnight Weekly Book Report 5/17-5/23

Hey, all!  It's been a loooooong time.  But I thought I might try at least posting my Weekly Book Reports that I make for Litsy.  No promises though!

This past week was my birthday week, and I took some time off from work.  Since last I posted, I still work at the bookstore, but all of my job consists of online book clubs and reports because my full time job now is as an Activities Coordinator for a memory unit in an assisted living facility.  We've been lucky since the Covid-19 outbreak, but you can probably guess that my job has been stressful as heck.  So I rented the farmhouse the Hubs and I went to for our last anniversary, packed up the dog, and a whole lot of books!

It was lovely!  The first couple of days were cold, so I had a fire going, but then the sun came out.  There's lots of farm animals around, and this time there was a peacock couple who strutted around the entire time.  Peacocks are loud, ya'll, but so pretty!

I finally made time for Illuminae and really liked it!  It's been sitting on my TBR since May 2015!  I hope to read the next book in less than five years from now. ;)  I liked the sci-fi tale, but it was really the strange disease outbreak on the ship and the AI that made the story for me.  Also, I liked that it was told through emails and reports and online communications.

Almost Just Friends is the fourth Wildstone book and maybe my favorite.  The main character is Piper, an older sister who has made sacrifice after sacrifice for her younger siblings and is just on the brink of doing something for herself when both her siblings return home.  Each of them is dealing with their own issues, and it's just a great book.  But still fun and sexy when it's not being poignant and sweet.

Witchtown is another TBR lingerer- from Edelweiss.  For the past few months I've been using Hoopla and Libby to get through my Edelweiss TBR... it probably doesn't help that I'm constantly adding new ones, but that's the bookwrym life ya'll.  Although I feel like the cover screams Middle Grade, Witchtown is YA and I really liked it.  Macie and her mom are the witch equivalent to grifters- they ride into towns, rob them blind, erase their existence, and move on.  Only Witchtown feels different to Macie.  It's here that she starts to question the way things have always been and tries to tap into her power to make a stand. 

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab doesn't come out until October, but, ya'll, it's AMAZING!!! I think it's Schwab's masterpiece, and that's saying a lot. Addie LaRue is born in France in the 1700's and accidentally prays to the wrong god at the wrong time, and ends up with the freedom she longs for with a healthy dose of immortality.  But of course there's a catch- no one can ever remember her.  As she goes through the centuries, she endures a lot, and her story is unputdownable.  LOVED.

I picked The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes for the bookstore's YA book club, but I had my reservations about a book featuring Snow.  I ended up loving it.  I really hope Collins writes more prequels.  Please, give us Haymitch!!

Likely Stories is a graphic novel of Neil Gaiman's that I've had awhile.  It's good, a bit heavy on the dude side, but I loved the idea of the club where people go to drink and tell stories.

Paperbacks from Hell was another Edelweiss TBR book, and I have a physical copy on my shelves as well.  The audio is fun, even if you don't get the great book covers of horror's yesteryears.  Hendrix is funny even while speaking of terrifying tales.

Bites of Terror is a new addition to my physical TBR, but it was so cute and morbid.  Loved it!

And finally, Poppy Done to Death is the 8th Aurora Teagarden book.  I stopped around book 5, and had to catch up because I have 9 and 10 on my Edelweiss TBR.  I don't love this series- Ro is judgmental as hell, and the series is pretty heavy on the slut shaming, but I do like the mysteries.  I'm sad that the whole True Crime Murder Club was dropped after book 1 though.  I'm really hoping that the newer books are better since there's more than a decade between 8 and 9. 

So that was my week in reading, and it was a spectacular one. Audiobooks continue to be my main source of reading these days, but it was nice having time to sit and read as well.  I hope to see you next week!