Shelf Life: Episode 8

 

66.	Busted Vamp, L.D. Wosar	August	Paranormal	18+	Ebook	5/5	I was impressed with this book. Busted Vamo is the fourth book in this saga. I was concerned going in because book three ended in a cliffhanger and there were a lot of loose ends to type up, but Wosar wrapped everything up nicely in here. She did set it up where she could continue the series if she wanted as there are mentions of a possible future relationship between Maverick and Vee, but honestly, this was a nice little wrap-up to everything that'd been going on in the series. Kaysee has come a long way from the young inmate she was in book one. Her character development is outstanding. Busted Vamp is not a romance. It's a paranormal story about how a woman can rise above her situation and the harm people do to her. The final battle in the book was well-written and sets up all the characters for a bigger and brighter future.
67.	Dagger in the Dahlias, Dale Meyer	August	Murder Mystery	YA+, adult characters	Ebook	5/5	I've missed this series. It took me far too long to return to it, but Lovely Lethal Gardens is a series that feels like home. I grew up watching Diagnosis Murder, Agatha Christi, Columbo, Murder She Wrote, and Hallmark Movie Mysteries, thus mysteries hold a special place in my heart. In this installment of Lovely Lethal Gardens. our lead lady doesn't stumble on a cold case by herself, which was refreshing because I was starting to worry Myer would be skipping over the fact that it was weird she kept finding old bones in a small town she just moved to. Instead of becoming a suspect, however, she has made a reputation for herself, and another woman asks her to look into the cold case of her brother-in-law. I knew who the murderer was about 1/4th of the way through the book, and so did our investigator. The problem was, there was no evidence. This book didn't revolve around finding the murderer, but finding proof that they did it. I couldn't put it down. It took me 5 hours to read and I read it straight through, staying up late into the night because I needed to know how this seemingly perfect murder was committed.
68.	Camp Spirit, Axelle Lenoir	August	Graphic Novel	YA	Ebook	Did not finish	Did not finish. No review. Couldn’t get interested in this book.
69.	Imagine If…, S. Alston	August	Picture Book	Juvenile	ebook	5/5	This was adorable. I loved the softness of the illustrations and the rhyming pattern. The stanzas rolled off the tongue, making it fun to read aloud. Then, at the end there are questions you can ask kids to engage them in the story and explore their dreams. This would be a great book for parents, guardians, or even kindergarten teachers.
70.	Crossed By Death, A.C.F. Bookens	August	Murder Mystery	YA+	Ebook	4/5	This was a solid read. I did loose interest a couple of times and had to force myself to get back into the story, but overall it was good. I liked the slight romance angle with the sheriff and I hadn’t guessed correctly who the murderer was…which is something I look for in murder mystery books :) I do wish the sewing element had more to do with the actull murder since the series seems to have that theme through each book, but the plot was original. There’s a lot of history in here along with a kinship that forms between a king deceased person and our main girl who loves history and discovers she’s a lot like Alice.
71.	The Virginal of Birds, M. Sarki	August	Poetry	18+	Ebook	3/5	This was an…interesting collection of poetry. I’ll confess that I didn’t fully understand these poems. Some read like nonsense to me while other had me fearful of the meanings they invoked in my mind. All rang with power, however, and it was fun seeing how the author’s themes and verbiage shifted as the collection progressed.
72.	Santa’s Cookie is Missing, Chris Ayala-Kronos	August	Picture book	Juvenile	Hardcover	4/5	Obviously, I wasn't the intended audience for this book. I'm giving it 4 stars because the 2-year-old that begged me to read it loved it. I, personally, would have liked to see the find-and-seek aspect of the book advanced a little. The cookie was pretty much in the same spot on every page. It was nice little holiday story, though.
73.	Texas Blood, L.D. Wosar	August	Paranormal	18+	Ebook	5/5	As a fan of Wosar’s BVS series, I’m giving this 5 stars because it was obviously written with fans in mind. It fills in some of the ‘gaps’ in the series and explains some of the events more clearly. I loved getting to see Wulf and Fox’s past and seeing how they went from humans to vampires. It was a nice journey through time that starts in Nazi Germany and goes through 2073. I recommend this book for any lovers of BVS. If you haven’t read BVS, I do recommend reading it before picking up this book.
74.	Meditate, Matt Spencer	August	Self-Help	NA	Ebook	3/5	This was a different type of self-help book. It doesn't really explain how to mediate but does talk about the benefits of meditation. It has some exercises in it you can use for mindfulness and to open up your consciousness. It was decent, but I'll admit that when the author referred to himself as Jesus at the end it turned me away. There was a lot of combining of theologies in here, which is fine. I mean, I myself combine theologies and don't adhere to any one religion...but there were just some remarks that sat funny with me.
75.	Crime Scenes, Cats, and Killer Heels, Violet Schofield	August	Murder Mystery	Adult characters, clean	Ebook	4/5	This was a different sort of murder mystery. Our main character is a crime scene clean up expert who accidentally gets enchanted to be able to understand cats. It's a quick who-done-it with very few suspects. Perfect for a mystery lover who only has a short amount of time on their hands.
76.	Batman: Wayne Family Adventures, CRC Payne Starbite	August	Graphic Novel	YA	Paperback	5/5	I could not get enough of this book! I need vol. 2 RIGHT NOW. Okay, but seriously, this was golden. I've always loved the 'slice of life' moments DC would sneak into their comics but this collection is ALL 'slice of life'. This isn't the story about Batman stopping the Joker or being a detective. This is the story about Bruce Wayne trying to balance hero work with dad life. This is the story of a man who's dedicated to his adopted children and would do anything to see them happy. I loved getting to see this side of him that often gets skimmed over.