Nine Months of Book Reviews!

I have been oh so woefully behind on posting my book reviews here for the year! So, I am doing a quick catchup right now with reviews of all the books I have read since March! I know. I’m sorry it has taken me so long….Without further ado, here are nine months of book reviews! Enjoy.

***Also, let me tell you a little about my rating system. If it was an enjoyable read that I easily flew through it gets five stars. If it was good but maybe a bit difficult or I didn’t always look forward to reading it or it was a little hard to get into and didn’t quite redeem itself later, then it gets four. If it was ok and a struggle to finish it gets a three. If I didn’t finish then I don’t review it at all. That is my system, because I know how hard authors work on their stories, like mother’s dote on children, and I do not believe in eviscerating an author’s hard work in the hopes that no one would do so to mine as well.

“Daughters of Sparta” by Claire Heywood

A New Take on a Familiar Story! (Finished April 13, 2023)

I loved this book so much. The author did a great job structuring it with the chapter and breaks the perfect length to make me say, “one more chapter!” at every stop. The two sisters were so relatable. My family descended from the Spartans and I love reading stories of their glory days.

“Cleopatra” by Stacy Schiff

An amazing and all inclusive, extensive biography!

At first I was not able to get into the biography. It felt like reading a dry history book. The amount of detail in there made me question how records survived from that long ago to paint such a picture. But by the time I got about a third of the way through I was enthralled and unable to put it down. I was enchanted with Cleopatra and her world.

“The Fiery Cross” by Diana Gabaldon

This one took me a few tries to complete, only because I was burnt out on the series when I started it several times and I just wanted to read something quick and fun. I love the scenery and historical detail of Gabaldon’s work. The characters are always true and seem so real and familiar to me that they are like my own family. I am almost to the point where I’ve finally surpassed the show. I want to be able to read the books not knowing what’s going to happen! That’s the best feeling. I am so excited for Gabaldon to complete the series. Highly recommend. I love the American history aspect of the story now.

“The Highland Witch” by Susan Fletcher

At first it was hard for me to get into the book only because the writing style is so different. When I was about 25% of the way in, I ended up falling in love with it! The description of scenery is so vivid I felt like I was there. I could hear things, see things, smell things based on what she described. It was told in the first person of “the witch” while she’s in prison relaying her story to a Mr. Leslie, a preacher and a Jacobite. You never hear what Mr. Leslie is saying to her but she will answer his questions and you can guess what he asked, which threw me at first but then I ended up enjoying this different writing style. Each chapter ends with a letter by Mr. Leslie sent to his wife talking about his day and the witch. Corrag, the witch, slowly opens up to the readers and I slowly fell in love with her and rooted for her, just like Mr. Leslie. I highly recommend this for anyone looking for a good historical Scottish read. Even though it has witch in the title, it’s not particularly a witchy story. She’s just a wild woman who lives in a hut in the forest. My dream! haha

“Louie and the Dictator” by Lisa Bournelis

I do not normally read middle-grade or children’s books, but I was surprised by how much I liked this one! I recently found out that my daughter is ADHD and I am too. I have been doing a lot of reading on the subject and it’s helped me to understand how our brains work differently. Louie in this book lives with OCD, and the author did a great job showing how it can present itself in children and what a struggle it can be. I loved the happy ending, too! If your child deals with ADHD, OCD, or some other disorder, this is a great book to read to them to let them know they are not alone, and it’s not bad to be different!

“Holding Fast (Heartland #16) by Lauren Brooke

I am really loving the Heartland book series. I am a fan of the show, and I loved that a lot of the clients in the book are familiar to me. But the series also keeps me on my toes with changes in the characters and their story lines as well. It’s one of those series that keeps me turning the pages with the nice breaks in the chapters and shorter chapters. I never get tired of reading them. And they’re such short books that they’re easy to take to work and read on my breaks. If you’re a horse lover and can find these books used somewhere, I highly recommend reading them!

“The Ickabog” by JK Rowling

This is JK Rowling’s first children’s book since the Harry Potter series, so I might have had high expectations for it, which was why I was a little let down. I started the book with my daughter. Neither of us were ever really excited to read it, but it was something for us to do together at bed time. When we were reading it always sat weird with me. I couldn’t quite decide if it was a kid’s book or an adult book or somewhere in between. Some parts were too gory or scary for my daughter, which is why in the end she told me to finish it on my own. But then some parts were too kiddish and strange to be an adult novel. I would say if I had to place it somewhere it would be 6th grade? Maybe 7th.

With all those faults aside, it was still a good story with good characters. It was imaginative and creative and I could see where JK Rowling was going with the moral of the story at the end. It was a good message for kids and adults alike.

“Horse Brain” by Janet Jones

I promise, if you get yourself a copy you won’t regret it and you will learn so much about how your horse’s mind operates from a scientific perspective (so there’s no room to argue that your horse did indeed pee in its feed bucket on purpose to spite you!) I highly recommend this book to ALL horse people, owners or not. It was a fascinating read that was hard for me to put down, and I’m no science wiz. It was simply written so that anyone could understand the concepts. The author goes over how horses see, hear, smell, taste, touch and how all those senses are different from our own. This helps me to put things in perspective when I’m riding and Captain “spooks at nothing” to handle it better. It wasn’t nothing. I just couldn’t hear or smell it. She also goes over well how to train according to how the horse’s brain works, not ours, so we can not only teach them how to do something, how to stop doing something, but we can also build trust and bonds that will last a lifetime.

“A Breath of Snow and Ash (Outlander #6)” by Diana Gabaldon

The last book or two of the series it took me a little bit to get into the story. This one captured me right from the beginning. It’s starting to diverge a bit from the series, and it’s also putting me ahead of the series from what I have seen in the five seasons I’ve watched, so I’m very excited for that. I love reading before I watch. The mystery of Claire’s obituary found in present time for the 1700s in coming into play and its building a lot of anticipation. Now that I am more than halfway through the series I am on the edge of my seat to figure out the final and biggest mystery of how Jaimie’s spirit was seen outside Claire’s window by her husband in the 40’s! He’s not a traveler of the stones, incapable, so how did he do it? I’m hoping with the final book’s release we’ll find out.
I can’t say enough about Gabaldon’s intense research into this time period. American history, as well as Scottish history, has always been a huge fascination of mine. I love the cultural aspect of it, what it was like for people day to day rather than the huge events. This books satisfies that need to know how people actually lived during the Revolutionary War, which is quickly approaching the story. I can’t imagine the years of research that go into the writing of just one of these stories. I know she’s mentioned it takes her three years to write it. I can only use this dedication to detail as inspiration for my own books as I make the transition into writing Historical Fiction myself. Gabaldon is a fantastic writer.
I tend to be turned off by books that have a lot of sex in it, especially when it’s in great detail. I would rather leave that stuff up to the imagination of the reader, same in the programs I watch. I don’t need to see everything, I know how it works. When I read those scenes in Gabaldon’s books, though, I never get that cringey feeling I do with other books. She writes with elegance and class, and she also has a way of making more about thoughts and feelings and connection that the physical acts going on. Still probably my least favorite parts of the book but I do know why they are included and they do add to the story, whereas with other stories I feel it’s thrown in there for the sake of spice and nothing else.
I highly recommend this series, but I will say it’s a huge commitment. You will be reading them for years, but they’re more than worth it!

“Highland Raven (Celtic Blood #1) by Melanie Karsak

This is one of the best historical fantasy books I’ve read in a long time! I got the first book for free through a special with Bookbub, but I am going to be purchasing the rest in the series to continue it for sure. I love Scottish Highland history, and through this passion I keep inadvertently picking up books about MacBeth’s wife, Gruoch. This one is a completely different take on the mysterious historical figure. In this story she has a magical side, is part of a coven and the mystical fates who eventually make their appearance in Shakespeare’s play MacBeth. This was well-written and well researched. I would say my only complaint, or really not even a complaint but that it took me off guard and is just not my cup of tea was some of the in detail weird sex stuff that happened. It’s only once or twice in the book that this comes up, but it’s really just not something I like to read about I guess. Other than that, I absolutely loved it and have already started the second one. It is satisfying my magical cravings this Halloween holiday season while also giving me the history I love.

“Highland Blood (Celtic Blood #2) by Melanie Karsak

This was a great continuation of the story. I loved how the relationship between Gruoch and her husband developed into love when it certainly did not start out that way. This adventure is making me see the historical Queen of Scotland in a whole new light. I love how the coven and the mystical realm of the Wyrd sisters plays into the story, paying homage to Shakespeare’s version of events. I immediately bought the third book in the series and started it. I can’t stop! (Plus there was no graphic, in detail, weird sex scenes in this one so that was a super plus for me.)

“The Winter Witch” by Paula Brackston

This book surprised me with how much I liked it, and I will definitely be purchasing more of Paula Brackston’s books, especially the witch ones. I love historical fiction, and this one was done to perfection. It also had just the right touch of fantasy magic to it that it was almost believable! For the first half of the book I found myself, as the townsfolk I’m sure, questioning whether the main character was really a witch or just a poor misunderstood mute girl. I questioned whether in the story witches were even real, or just simply myth. The book kept me guessing and turning pages until the very end. I highly recommend!