December TBR

It's the last month of 2018! I only need to read one more book as part of my challenge. I'll be reading Little Women by Louisa May Alcott as my "book by a female author who used a male pseudonym."
These are the other books I plan to read as well. I'm also taking part in the Magical Readathon which I will post a TBR for as well.



1. The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker
2. When Broken Glass Floats by Chanrithy Him
3. The Kinship of Secrets by Eugenia Kim
4. The Greatest Love Story Ever Told by Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman
5. Going Postal by Terry Pratchett

Review of Radio Underground by Alison Littman

Review of Radio Underground by Alison Littman

Radio Underground is a historical novel about a revolution in Hungary against a repressive communist regime in the 1950s and the consequences of those actions. The book has three points of view; Eszter, her daughter Dora, and a man going by the pseudonym of “Mike.”

While the pacing was quick, I had two issues with this book. The first is that the blurb gives away too much of the plot. I would advise reading the book but ignoring the description on the back. The second issue I had was the writing. The perspective of “Mike” is a man who writes in broken English to a German rock and roll DJ. I believe the author was choosing words that might imitate broken English but it often felt clunky and hard to read. I’ll give you some examples.

“I will try, so read strong….I reminisced that someone had stepped on my head.”

“It forwarded me to anger since he escaped seeing what I saw.”

“The code will not go forward if the jamming makes continuous.”

Additionally, the word choice of his young sister seems incredibly formal and inauthentic of how a 12 year old would speak.

However, these two issues do not take away from the incredible story of people rebelling against their Communist government. I was on the edge of my seat for much of the story. The characters were well developed and their relationships seemed real. I gave this book 4 stars.

Trigger warnings for rape, torture, and violence.

This book was released on November 28, 2018. Thank you to Netgalley and Last Syllable Books for providing me with a copy.

Weekly Wrap Up 3

Weekly Wrap Up 3


Because of the holiday that is coming up, I've decided to post a couple days early. I will be too busy to read anymore or write up a thorough review.


I've completed three books this week. The first one I finished was I'll be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara. This was a posthumously published novel about the Golden State Killer, a man who committed over 50 rapes, countless robberies and break-ins, and killed at least 10 people. He targeted middle class and well-to-do neighborhoods in California in the 1970s and 1980s. After targeting single women, he then upped the ante by targeting couples. This book was incredibly scary because he got away with it for so long. He was recently caught in April of this year at the age of 72. I wished I could give this book 5 stars, but with it being incomplete when the author died, and her friends and colleagues piecing together what they could, it only garnered 4 stars from me.


The next book I devoured was Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend. This is the second book in the series. This is a middle grade fantasy focused on Morrigan Crow in the whimsical land of Nevermoor. This book picks up where the first ended, focused more on the magical school and the mysterious disappearances of magical people. I loved the world building, the exploration of different abilities, and meeting new characters. I gave the book 5 stars and am eagerly awaiting book 3.




Lastly, I read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. This is what the movie Blade Runner was loosely based on. This might be the first case for me personally where a movie was better than the book. The movie cut out all the boring parts. Dick creates Mercerism (a religion) and a devotion to animals as an example of how humans are superior (empathy). It felt needless and altogether quite boring. The "love" story felt instantaneous and I never really felt it was explained why the androids had to be "retired" (or murdered) I gave the book 2 stars as there were a few scenes that were quite entertaining.

My first unsolicited ARC

I opened my email today and found my first unsolicited ARC. The book is called The Farm by Joanne Ramos and it seems to be a story about a poor immigrant making money via surrogacy and the toll it will take on her. I was nervous at first to accept an ARC that I didn't know anything about because I have a good track record of really enjoying the ARCs I've chosen. However, this seems like a story I might really enjoy. It doesn't come out until May 2019 so I won't be reading or reviewing it just yet.

Weekly Update 2

I only have 1 book to review this week. I read The Bookshop of Yesterdays by Amy Meyerson. This was a fun story about a woman who inherits a bookshop along with a scavenger hunt from her beloved but estranged uncle. The book is a mix between contemporary and mystery. Why did her parents and her uncle have a falling out? Why did he decide to reach out only after he was dead? Each of the clues were found in books or quoting books and it was super cute and enjoyable. I mostly listened on audiobook. I gave the book 3 stars.

Weekly Update 1

This week I read 2 books and DNF'd 1.

I started out reading Cries Unheard by Gitta Sereny. This is a non-fictional account of a child murderer who when she was only 11, killed two toddlers. The premise was to understand the crime and the motivations for killing two children she barely knew. Unfortunately, she really doesn't focus on the reasons why and strangely seems to be sympathetic to the killer. Her writing is also incredibly redundant and inexplicably it was boring! I decided to quit around 43% and have returned it to the library.

The next book I finished was A Winter's Promise by Christelle Dabos and translated by Hildegarde Serle. This is a wildly popular children's quartet in France and has recently had the first book translated into Engilsh. The story is about a 17 year old girl named Ophelia who has two magical talents. The first is being able to travel through mirrors and the other is reading objects. She finds out she is engaged to a man from a different land (highly unusual) and travels with him to his land called Pole. There she finds out more about her fiancee and the very different ways of this land. It is scheming and political. I enjoyed it very much and am eagerly awaiting the translation of the next book. I gave it 4 stars.

Then I read One Hundred Nights of Hero by Isabel Greenberg. This is a beautiful graphic novel about two lovers named Hero and Cherry.  A man comes to rape Cherry as a means to win a bet with her husband. Hero (the lady's maid/lover) weaves beautiful stories to enchant the man so that he continues to put off "seducing" Cherry. The stories were lovely, the feminism was inspiring, and the artwork was beautiful. I loved this book and will seek out other works by Isabel Greenberg. 5 stars!