1:75 Long Way From Home by Seanan McGuire

 Patreon short story for January 2022.

Alice can't understand why her grandfather hasn't answered her letters for a month now, especially as she has asked for help with the baby hodag that is currently residing under her bed. Laura, her cousin and roommate, wants it gone so Alice finally breaks down to call and have a cryptic conversation with her grandfather. This leads to a very frank conversation between her grandfather and father which leaves her father in a very awkward and uncomfortable place.  Now if only Thomas will understand what Mary is trying to tell him about why he's never received any letter from Alice...

Gearing up for this years Incryptid book, Spelunking Through Hell, which will give Alice her turn in the spotlight as her search for her missing husband, Thomas, continues with more hope now that the crossroads are destroyed. Can't wait!

Page count: 20p/20p ytd/370,948p lifetime

15:100 Calculated Risks by Seanan McGuire

Well, shit just got really weird for Sarah, her cousins Annie and Artie, Annie's new adopted brother James, and the cuckoo Mark who had been helping them try to save Sarah from her biological family who was trying to turn her brain to mush so she would open a portal to a new world for them to devour while destroying the Earth in the process.

Instead, Sarah's friends and family helped her figure out how to turn things around and while she opened the portal and took the cuckoos through, it did not turn her into a cabbage nor did it destroy the Earth she left behind. What it did do, however, is turn the other cuckoos into mindless zombies and the friends and family she had with her into people who no longer know who she is and have lumped her in as being just another cuckoo.  

Now, she has to convince Annie and the rest (please most especially Artie whom she has loved forever) that she can be trusted, that she is family, that she is not a cuckoo to be killed, all while trying to figure out how she did what she did and how she could possibly do enough of it again to get them and at least the other humans that were also accidentally dragged along back to Earth. 

Sarah is not my favorite narrator for this series. She's okay but doesn't grip me as the others do. I also admit to being annoyed at constant repetition in books, even when it's totally in keeping with the story as it was in this case. And while all the Incryptid books tend to rely a bit on deus ex machina, this one went a little further down that path than I would have preferred. Again, I get why and it does work within the story so this is just my personal taste here.  All that to say, it dropped this book down to a 4/5 stars for me. Still enjoyable and would still read again but not my favorite.

Page count: 433p/4,805p ytd/351,475p lifetime

New Releases I'm Looking Forward To: 1st Quarter 2020

My usual disclaimer:

Let me state, this is really based on authors or series that I'm already reading since those are the things I follow.  I'm not paid to write this blog nor do I have any affiliations with any publishers so I don't receive free books or advance notice of things except what I glean off Facebook from people who do have those contacts or what I research on my own (which again, leads back to authors that I'm already reading).  Maybe someday I'll be one of those who has the contacts and gets ARCs but it's not today.

Yep, trying to balance it all is seriously impacting my reading time to the point where I'm hoping to get my 100 books in for this year.  I have read more pages than I originally set out for so I guess that's something but still, it's been hard finding the time for reading (and this is made more aggravating by only reading half of some college books or just having to read tons of articles so I can't count them).  Not that it's slowing me down much on my book buying.  LOL

The new year rings in big with the fifth installation in the Wayward Children series, Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire.  The last couple have not really focused on the events from the first book but now we see what has happened to Jack since she left to go back to the Moors with Jill's body after those events.  Can't Wait!

Release date: January 7

Next up, we get to return to the Whisper Hollow series by Yasmine Galenorn that was on hiatus for a while.  Phantom Queen picks up with Kerris realizing that something is very wrong and going to speak Veronica, Queen of the UnLiving, who has been causing trouble in town.  When Veronica is worried, everyone should be.

Release date: January 27


Imaginary Numbers by Seanan McGuire is the latest in the Incryptid series and in this one, we have Sarah as our narrator.  After she saved Verity, Sarah has been in a very dark place and not safe to be around anyone but maybe that's about to end.

Release date: February 25


Just a few weeks later Smoke Bitten by Patricia Briggs comes out.  The 12th book in the Mercy Thompson series, a Fae is loose in the Tri-Cities area, one who can look like anyone and if it bites someone it can control them as well.  Mercy has said that the area was under her protection but even after everything she and the Pack have been through because of that statement, nothing could have prepared them for this.

Release date: March 10

Last we get Wolf's Curse by Kelley Armstong, the second in the Kate and Logan YA duology set in the Women of the Otherworld universe as they try to survive the week at supernatural leadership camp after everything has gone to hell in handbasket.

Release date: March 31

19:100 That Ain't Witchcraft by Seanan McGuire

Incryptid book 8, told by Antimony Price.  Annie and her friends have been on the run for what feels like ages now, ever since she had to make a deal with the crossroads to save her life and Sam's. She traded her magic to them as a promissory note and in return, she will have to do something for them when they ask.  With a little luck, Cylia (resident jink and luck manipulator) has secured them a lovely little place to call home for a while in a small town in Maine.  Unfortunately, that is also where the luck runs out as it's a major spot for people to make deals with the crossroads and their power is strong there.  They have no problem finding Annie and letting her know that it's time for her to pay up by killing James Smith, a local wizard, who wants revenge on the crossroads after his best friend disappeared.  He is close to finding out their secrets and maybe even a way to destroy them and they will not let them pass unchallenged.  To make matters more fun, Leonard Cunningham, aka "Likely Next Leader of the Covenant", has shown up to try and *ahem* persuade Annie to come home with him.

There is a whole lot going on in this book with all these things happening at once and it was an amazing roller coaster ride and while the ending was great, it definitely makes me impatient for the next one to see where this is going.  I have a feeling we will be changing narrator but I'm not sure where things will be going from here.

This also included the new short story "Measure of a Monster" about a kidnapping of several gorgon children from a community that Alex and Shelby are near.  Of course, they are asked to come look into and there is no way they can turn this case away.  Nice little story that seems to be setting up some future stuff and it was really nice to see Sarah a little bit and how she's doing.

Page count: 435p/4,925p ytd/316,130p lifetime

New Releases I'm Looking Forward To: 1st Quarter 2019

My usual disclaimer:

Let me state, this is really based on authors or series that I'm already reading since those are the things I follow.  I'm not paid to write this blog nor do I have any affiliations with any publishers so I don't receive free books or advance notice of things except what I glean off Facebook from people who do have those contacts or what I research on my own (which again, leads back to authors that I'm already reading).  Maybe someday I'll be one of those who has the contacts and gets ARCs but it's not today.

A lot of comics filled my reading time between all the kids' school reading and my book club reading but there were a couple of trips during this last quarter that allowed me to do some reading of the books that were just for me.  It was heavenly.  And for the first time in I don't know how long, my Read pile is now greater than my To Read pile.  Not sure how long that will last but since I made it past my birthday without that changing much, it might actually last out the year.

We kick off the year with the newest novel for the Wayward Children, In an Absent Dream, by Seanan McGuire.  Lundy would rather follow rules and read than run around with the other children so when a doorway opens up into the Goblin Market she almost doesn't go through except she is still a child and curious.  What she finds is a place where fair value is strictly enforced by the Market itself and there is logic and rules to follow but so rarely do these things end well in the long run. I'm still a book behind, although with this series it's not sequential so it's unlikely the last one affects this one in anyway as this states that it's a prequel.  

Release date: January 8

The Winter of the Witch is the conclusion to the Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden that starts with The Bear and the Nightingale. Vasya and Morozko must team up to try and save Russia, both the humans and the unseen ones, but the way is uncertain and the enemies are many. I only barely read the first book last month and haven't started the second yet but I was so enchanted with the first that I'm definitely going to finish this trilogy.

Release date: January 9

I keep trying to find time to get caught up with the Jane Yellowrock series by Faith Hunter and still haven't managed it.  I'm several books behind there and now there is the spinoff series which I haven't even got a chance to start yet but Circle of the Moon, book 4 in the spinoff, is coming out soon and I really want to get to know Nell better and see more of Rick. 

Release date: February 26

Ah, Mercy Thompson.  She opened her big mouth and, in Storm Cursed by Patricia Briggs, people are taking her at her word that she and her husband's pack of werewolves will keep them safe even as they treat with the big and bad Grey Lords of the Fae.  She has given her word but can she keep it and what will it cost?  I seriously love this series and can't wait to see how our favorite coyote shifter gets out of this one.

Release date: March 5

Lastly, That Ain't Witchcraft by Seanan McGuire is the next chapter in the Incryptid series.  We are still following Annie as she is still away from her family although building a new support structure with some new friends but she has also made a pact with the Crossroads and they always get paid.

Release date: March 5

18:100 Tricks for Free by Seanan McGuire

When we last saw Antimony, she was on the run from the Covenant who had discovered her identity during her last mission.  She has even sent her Aeslin mice home so if something does happen to her, there will be no record of it in the family archives. So where do you go when you need to hide from such an organization? Florida to LowryLand of course.  Not quite as big as Disney World but almost which is actually better.  But then accidents start happening around her. First a fryer explodes severely injuring another cast member and Annie ends up using her new fire talent to draw some of the fire away. This brings her to the attention of the Cabal that actually runs LowryLand.  They issue an invitation to train her and without her family's resources to turn to, Annie takes the opportunity even knowing that there will be a price to pay.

Now Sam has ended up on her doorstep, she is rooming with a Sylph and a Gorgon, and now they have a Jinx in their group as well.  They need to figure out what is going on at the park and put a stop to it, hopefully without bringing the Covenant down on all their heads.

I continue to really enjoy this series and I think Annie really came into her own with this book and I continue to adore Sam.


Page count: 420p/3,011p ytd/295,032p lifetime

New Releases I'm Looking Forward To: 1st Quarter 2018

My usual disclaimer:

Let me state, this is really based on authors or series that I'm already reading since those are the things I follow.  I'm not paid to write this blog nor do I have any affiliations with any publishers so I don't receive free books or advance notice of things except what I glean off Facebook from people who do have those contacts or what I research on my own (which again, leads back to authors that I'm already reading).  Maybe someday I'll be one of those who has the contacts and gets ARCs but it's not today.

Considering how much my To Read pile has grown this year, I think I might be glad that the year starts off with just a couple of books so maybe, just maybe, I can start making a dent in said pile. Of course, with going back to work, I'm not actually sure that will happen but hey, a girl can dream.

So the first quarter starts off with the new Wayward Children book, Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire.   This is billed as another stand alone although I'm guessing it probably will help if you've read the other books.  Rini lands one day with a splash at Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children determined to save the world only to find out that she was born years after her mother, Sumi, died.  Now Rini has to figure out how to save not only the world but herself as well before Reality catches up to her.

Release Date: January 9

Nothing that I'm super excited about in February but then two come out on the same day and I will have to flip a coin to figure out which I'm going to read first. Burn Bright by Patricia Briggs is the first Alpha & Omega book in a few years and while I prefer Mercy's stories, I do like Charles and Anna and look forward to popping in on them again.  This time, the damaged werewolves who live near the Marrok's pack are in trouble and it will take both Charles's fighting skills and Anna's gift as a peacemaker to try and save them.

Release Date: March 6

Also coming out that day is Tricks for Free by Seanan McGuire, the latest in the Incryptid series.  When we last left Annie, she as on the run from the Covenant with no way to get back to her family without endangering them further. To fully escape, she can't even have her beloved Mice with her so if something happens to her, she has no way to get the word out. For a Price to be out there in the world without any backup at all, that is a truly scary thing and we can only hope Annie survives this.

Release Date: March 6

105:120 Target Practice by Seanan McGuire

Alice has snuck out again and gone into the Woods. This time she managed to find a dire boar and only barely managed to run fast enough to end up at Thomas Price's back porch where he was able to wound it enough to scare it off. Unfortunately, her father was yet again not of a mind to listen to her when she got home from her latest adventures. Jonathan wants so much for his daughter to have a 'normal' childhood that he is blinded to who she really is, her mother's daughter above all else. Normal was never going to happen.  Now his parents must intervene if Alice is going to have a chance of surviving to adulthood.

I've really been enjoying these backstory pieces Ms. McGuire posts on her website for her fans. It's a generous thing that she does and it's fascinating seeing where the current crop of Price-Healy kids come from because these apples definitely didn't fall far from the tree.



Page count: 17p/19,133p ytd/290,536p lifetime

46:120 The Recitation of the Most Holy and Harrowing Pilgrimage of Mindy and Also Mork by Seanan McGuire

The events in this story take place immediately after Magic for Nothing.  Sam has promised Annie that he would get Mork and Mindy, the Aeslin mice, safely to the airport so they can make their way back to her family and let them know what she has learned on her travels since she feels she must disappear to keep the Covenant from finding them.  Sam has done so but he continues to worry about Annie but now her ghost aunt, Mary, has taken to haunting him occasionally and filling him in and he is trying to make peace with that.  We get to watch that journey as well as follow Mork and Mindy on their travels through the airport and trying to get on a plane to get them back to Portland safely.

In all, this was a nice way to wrap up some of the loose ends that were left after Magic for Nothing but I could see not fitting well into the next book.  I'm so very thankful that Ms. McGuire does these short stories and puts them out there for her fans.  It helps with the withdrawal symptoms between books.


Page count: 68p/9,912p ytd/283,931p lifetime

42:120 Magic for Nothing by Seanan McGuire

The 6th book in the Incryptid series.  Now that Verity has told the Covenant that there are still Prices in North America and all but declared war on them, the family is scrambling trying to figure out how to handle the crisis they know is coming. This means not only pooling all available resources but figuring out how to gain the intel they will need to try and plan. Unfortunately all their allies are the Incryptids they are trying to protect and their family genealogy is well known to the Covenant and they all tend to favor each other, except for the youngest Price child, Antimony. She has the look of a farther back ancestor, one known to the Covenant but not so clearly marked as being easily identifiable as a Price. As her family's only hope of finding out the Covenant's plans, she reluctantly agrees to go undercover and become a recruit for the enemy. As luck would have it, she doesn't even complete her training period before they send her into the field, a traveling carnival in North America as matter of fact, which if she can survive the assignment will make it that much easier to get home alive and intact. But when it comes out that the carnival needs protecting,things get a lot more complicated.

I really enjoyed the story and starting to know Antimony but I feel like her voice is the weakest of the Price kids so far so I'm really hoping that changes in the future. Right now it seemed like she spent too much time being the whining youngest child who was trying to figure out where she fit into everything but that left her with little of herself to show through. Hearing about her through Verity, it seemed like she would be maybe not better or above that but definitely more of her own person than this tale gave us. I do look forward to more books from her point of view though.


Page count: 352p/9,129p ytd/283,532p lifetime

19:120 The Lay of the Land by Seanan McGuire

What seems to always be the most likely way to get someone interested in someone else (at least from a story trope way)?  Yeah, have the father forbid the daughter to ever go near "that boy/man" ever again and then ground her.  So what does Jonathan Healy do when the Covenant member comes to town and his daughter, Alice, has stumbled into him already?  Yep.  And what does she do in response?  Of course!  She takes him over some cookies and offers to show him around the woods filled with incryptids.

Now we already know that Tom and Alice end up together since this backstory to the series but it's nice to see characters we don't really get to know in the series but who definitely have influenced the people we do follow.  I will say though, I wish Ms. McGuire had not used the boring old trope in this case.  It felt like a bit of a lefdown to go with something so obvious.



Page count: 32p/3,836p ytd/278,311p lifetime

18:120 My Last Name by Seanan McGuire

Verity and Dominic have finally meandered across the country to arrive at her parents' home but while the greeting could have been warmer, it was pretty much what you could have expected from her paranoid parents when she brought home a Covenant member.

Short and sweet tale about Dominic meeting the folks for the first time. No surprises at all although I would have thought she might have given them a bit more of a heads up beforehand considering how paranoid they are.  Saves on bullets you know.


Page count: 14p/3,804p ytd/278,279p lifetime

New Releases I'm Looking Forward To: 1st Quarter 2017

My usual disclaimer:
Let me state, this is really based on authors or series that I'm already reading since those are the things I follow.  I'm not paid to write this blog nor do I have any affiliations with any publishers so I don't receive free books or advance notice of things except what I glean off Facebook from people who do have those contacts or what I research on my own (which again, leads back to authors that I'm already reading).  Maybe someday I'll be one of those who has the contacts and gets ARCs but it's not today.

So I'm trying desperately to find time to read and finish up at least one of my reading goals for the year.  I'm really not sure what has happened to all my time this year but apparently it wasn't spent reading and even though this past quarter had less new books in it, and this year seemed down a bit from previous years, I'm pretty sure I've managed to add more books to my to-read pile than I've read.  The first quarter of 2017 looks to be pretty typical in terms of quantity and pretty awesome in terms of content.

The kicks off with a new standalone novella, Dusk or Dawn or Dark or Day by Seanan McGuire.  Jenna is dead and as a ghost, she must make amends for the time debt so she does this by volunteering at a suicide prevention hotline but now there is something that coming for the ghosts of New York City and now Jenna must make a stand.

Release date: Jan 10

The Turn by Kim Harrison takes us into the past of the Hollows series with Rachel Morgan, the kick-ass witch, and shows us how that world came to be.  This promises to be fabulous!

Release date: Feb 7

After two months of single releases, March packs three into one day.  Magic for Nothing by Seanan McGuire is the 6th book in the Incryptid series and the first time for Antimony to be the lead.  Now that Verity has declared war on the Covenant of St. George the Price family needs to know what they are up against and since Annie doesn't carry the family resemblance she is being packed off to London as their spy.  Good luck kiddo!

Release date: March 7


We also get the new Mercy Thompson book, Silence Fallen by Patricia Briggs.  Mercy has been kidnapped (again?!) by the most powerful vampire to serve as a message to Adam and the werewolves.  Being able to change into a coyote lets her escape but now she is trapped in Prague and unable to contact Adam or her friends so she must find her own way home.

Release date: March 7

Lastly is the first book in the new Lily Bound series by Yasmine Galenorn, Souljacker.  A succubus who runs an elite sex salon, a souljacker who wants his artwork (re: tattoos) back of which she has one, and a chaos-demon PI all come together in this new work.  Looks like it could be interesting.

Release date: March 7

100:120 Wake Up in Vegas by Seanan McGuire

There is one more thing that Dominic must do in order to stay with Verity, he must become a new person so the Covenant can continue to believe that he is dead.  It means giving up his name and identity and there is no one better in the business than Verity's Uncle Al so they are heading to Vegas to get him all setup so maybe they can get married before anything else goes awry.

A fun little tale that seems to wrap up their roadtrip pretty darn nicely.  Those Price girls certainly do seem to have a thing for those Covenant boys but it sure seems to work out okay for them.


Page Count: 21p/24,968p ytd/274,125p lifetime

99:120 Swamp Bromeliad by Seanan McGuire

Verity has finally brought Dominic to Buckley Township where Thomas Price met Alice Healy, Verity's grandparents.  She has shown him the old homestead but since that is rented out, they are staying in the house the Covenant bought for Thomas Price when they sent him to spy on the Healys.  While there, they meet Alice's old babysitter, the ghost Aunt Mary, and then some boys come to the house and claim that plants ate their brother.  Verity listens and determines that it is likely a swamp bromeliad and if they don't act quickly, the boy will die if he hasn't already been ingested so she and Dominic head out to see what they can do.

Since escaping the swamp bromeliad is what brought Alice onto Thomas's front porch in the first place, it was a lovely bit of symmetry.


Page count: 40p/24,947p ytd/274,104p lifetime

98:120 Snake in the Glass by Seanan McGuire

Verity has been criss-crossing all over the country trying to get Dominic more acquainted with the way her world works and now, what better way than to go to Chicago and stay at the Carmichael, a hotel for incryptids run by a family of gorgons.  She'll also get to introduce him to Uncle Mike and Aunt Lea.

It was nice going back to the Carmichael and seeing Dominic's reaction to things there.


Page count: 40p/24,907p ytd/274,057p lifetime

87:120 The Way Home by Seanan McGuire

Jonathan has become incredibly overprotective of Alice since Fran's death.  Alice, now being 16 and most definitely her mother's daughter, is not really having it so it's not a huge surprise when she goes off into the woods to do some investigation.

Thomas Price has been falsifying reports to the Covenant for a while now about remote areas and the creatures that inhabit them so it wasn't a surprise to him when he was sent into what basically amounted to exile watching over the Healy's.  What did surprise him was when this 16 year old girl ended up on his front porch almost as soon as he arrived at his new house and now her family knows he's in town.

It was nice seeing the first meeting between Thomas and Alice.  I really hope we get to see more of them as their relationship progresses.

Page count: 34p/23,218p ytd/272,368p lifetime

84:120 The Star of New Mexico by Seanan McGuire

Fran is gone and now comes the task left to the living of saying good-bye to the Flower of Arizona, the Star of New Mexico.  Jonathan is not handling it at all well and it's hard to see how it will effect Alice in the long run but so many loved Fran and will do all they can to help each other and those who loved her most learn to let go.

Such a tragic tale, beautifully and lovingly told.


Page count: 13p/22,578p ytd/271,728p lifetime

25:120 Chaos Choreography by Seanan McGuire

Verity and Dominic are settling in back at Verity's parents' home when Valerie, Verity's dancing alter-ego, gets invited to a reunion series of the dancing show she was on a few years prior.  Verity had finally started giving up on her dancing dream but now it's come flooding back and she figures this is the way to solve the question once and for all of what direction she wants from life.  She goes with Dominic posing as her boyfriend and things seem to be going quite well until she and a few of the cryptid dancers find week 2's losers dead in an unused part of the studio covered with strange symbols.  Once Verity starts poking around, it's obvious that there is something big and dangerous going on and she needs more back-up, the family sends her Grandma Alice, one of the most dangerous people around.  Hopefully between the three of them and the cryptids in the show, they can figure out what is going on and put a stop to it before anything worse happens.

I really enjoy Ms. McGuire's worlds and this one is just so much fun.  To have the setting be a television dance show with basically a murder mystery involving non-human life is just awesome!


Page count: 356p/7,070p ytd/257,117p lifetime

68:120 White as a Raven's Wing by Seanan McGuire

Ryan has finally proposed to Istas.  She knows how important marriage and children are to him and she is willing to join him for these things but she also knows that to be true to those ideals she must first go home and confront her father who has claimed her as his wife after killing her mother according to the traditions of her people.  It will not be easy, even harder with Ryan's insistence that he goes with her, but she can do nothing else if she is to honor their relationship even if it means her death trying.

Lots more into the culture of the waheela in this one which I really enjoyed.  It's nice getting other perspectives into this universe besides those of the Price family (although I love those!).  I hope we get more stories with Istas and Ryan.  They seem an interesting pair to follow as they try to navigate a cross-species relationship.

Page count: 35p/16,448p ytd/231,382p lifetime