Tag Archive: fantasy



Herringbones and Hexes (Vampire Knitting Club, #12)Herringbones and Hexes by Nancy Warren
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

One more fun Vampire Knitting Club! I am sad to know that there are many of these left. The story continues, and I feel that saying much more becomes a spoiler. It was fun figuring out if plans would come to fruition or if another murder could be solved.

I love Nancy Warren’s dry humor in her writing. Her reader, Sarah Zimmerman, knows how to vocalize it. If I didn’t have a lot of other books, library books, to read, I would be set to listen to the next of the VKC.

If you get the chance and need a fun, cozy book or series, try Ms. Warren’s.

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Diamonds and Daggers (Vampire Knitting Club, #11)Diamonds and Daggers by Nancy Warren
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After reading serious books, I like to take a reading vacation. The Vampire Knitting Club is a fun place to go. Not your usual vampires. These are sophisticated, mostly non-neck-biting types. They meet in the original owner’s residence above and below the yarn shop. They knit. Anyone who knows me understands my affection for the wooly soft stuff.

It is the original owner’s granddaughter who owns the store now. Her grandmother is now a vampire. It was the only way to save her life. But she can’t be seen in the shop. It really upsets the customers to see their favorite yet dead yarn expert walking around.

Each and every volume of this series is fun and wrapped around some murder. Don’t doubt for a minute the pointy needles are harmless. But they do remind one of the canine teeth, don’t they?

Add to all that, the grandmother and granddaughter are witches. Well, the granddaughter didn’t know that until she inherited the shop when her grandmother supposedly passed. Now she is learning to knit and to ‘witch.’ In this particular volume, she is learning about her athame. Dagger.

Sarah Zimmerman narrates the Audible version I was reading/listening to. She isn’t too irritating, but her attitude seems a bit too high society for the main character, but you get used to it. At least you don’t get lost. And the author writes a wonderful story and keeps you engaged and wanting more.

I have already finished and started number 12. These books are a bit of a drug of fun for me. I hope you all get to read them.

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The Plains of Passage: Earth's Children, Book 4The Plains of Passage: Earth’s Children, Book 4 by Jean M. Auel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this a few years ago. Below is my last review. I am having a hard time separating the books. I have already started The Shelters of Stone. I love Sandra Burr’s narration, that is until Shelters. Why did she change how Ayla’s accent in Shelters? But aside from that, I enjoyed the Plains and the adventure of hiking the glaciers. Ayla’s growth and the growth of Jondalar as they move between societies and bigotries and Earth’s growing and evolving made a story I don’t want to stop. I know it ends, but I may love it more than I loved the last read.

~~~
June 23, 2016
This was probably my favorite of the series, both for the writing/research and also for the narration of Sandra Burr. I think Ms. Burr finally hit her Cave-womyn height with this one. I more often pulled away from the Kindle version and let Sandra tell me the story. In the Audible version, the characterizations were seamless. When it was a man talking, I pictured the man. I often forgot a woman was narrating. She kept each female voice different and consistent enough that I wouldn’t have needed to look to see who was talking. Amazing!

Another reason I enjoyed the Audible more than the Kindle (written) form because there were so many passages (no pun intended) with descriptions. I’m sure a lot of the research Jean M. Auel did was represented here. But if you follow Discovery or other science channels, you would have covered much of it. Ms. Burr kept those flowing and interesting. And her ability to pull the very essence of a sexual scene without making it raunchy was amazing (and sexy!)

I am writing this after starting the next book. I couldn’t leave Ayla out there in the ether!

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Garters and GargoylesGarters and Gargoyles by Nancy Warren
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sarah Zimmerman’s narration is a bit off-putting. But after a while, you get used to her cadence and the smirk in her voice.

Once again, the yarn shop is where a batch of late-night knitters gather. These knitters just happen to be of the vampire variety.

My biggest problem with this book is that by now, Lucy, the store owner, who inherited, sort of, from her grandmother, who is now a part of the night shift yarning club. Lucy is still just knitting scarves and having a hard time. With all that help, she should be much farther along in her abilities. I wish I had that many teachers helping me figure out how to deal with the dropped stitches or tangled mess a distracted mind can create.

That’s not much of a problem in the long run. Lucy is learning to be a proper witch and trying to be a good person. So I shouldn’t complain. The rest of the story is fun. And the cozy mystery wrapped up in yarn pulls you in.

I love this series, and I already have the next book lined up for when I have a few moments to take a bite with my needles clicking.

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Linda’s JJiJ and John’s Prompt . Thank you both! Go check out their blogs!!!!


Pet Psychic Magical Mysteries (Pet Psychic Series #1-8)Pet Psychic Magical Mysteries by Erin Johnson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This eight-book series was good in some ways. It was great for reading before sleep. I did like the main character’s attitude, but I hated the voice given to the dog by Hannah Somerville (narrator). It wasn’t bad enough to stop reading. That and the scoff sound before saying they scoffed, and that happened a lot. It’s still not enough to quit reading (listening). There was enough mystery involved that I wanted to see it all through. Not the murders, but how the main character would fix all the problems, or if she even could. Murder for the police is commonplace, so it was a vehicle to show off Jolene’s skills as a person who could hear animals speak. She pretends to be a pet psychic, but that cover brings her in to help solve the cases. It keeps the curious at bay. However, she has to hide her growls or tweets as she chats with the animals.

I don’t want you to think it is childish, but it is rather a fantasy, cozy mystery in every book. A fun book that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Well worth putting off other books while wading through all eight in a row.

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My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's SorryMy Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The reviews on this book are all over the place. I think it might read differently if you read with your eyes. I was fortunate enough to pick the audio version up on Libby. Joan Walker (Narrator) made this book so fun and played the grandmother as well as she did the seven-year-old Elsa. She played the fantasy bits with so much energy that even the stories within the story jumped to life in my mind.

A friend recommended it to me when we were talking about the show A Man Called Otto that is on Netflix. I loved that movie so much that I have ordered the Audible version for later. But I love how the author, Fredrik Backman, blends unique characters with the mundane of life.

I have to admit to being taken aback that the author is male, as he brought up many of the issues of the modern woman and her family. I felt he wrote with a neutral point of view while holding onto the grandmother and the little girl and their individual visions of the world.

If I found this when my children were young, I would have read it aloud to them stopping to talk about the issues as they come up. There is a lot of cursing, but if a child of 12 hasn’t bumped into that in real life, you are keeping them under an imaginary rock, and you may not realize what they hear. So reading it as the grandmother and characters speak would give a person an opportunity to explain why or when that talk is appropriate, or not.

But even if you are reading sans children, you can enjoy it from your inner child. I highly recommend this book.

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All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)All Systems Red by Martha Wells
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Well, this was clever and different. And a very short read. But Kevin R. Free (Narrator) keeps the story moving and interesting.

Who knew that Murderbots kept diaries? Well, that represents the humor of this science fiction. My friend, Yvensong, raved about it. She was right. It was a lot of fun.

I was lucky to find this on Libby, but I may buy the whole series soon.

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Witches Get Stuff Done (Starfall, #1)Witches Get Stuff Done by Molly Harper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Looking for a quick, fun read at a time when it seems everything causes stress? This is it. Amanda Ronconi and Teddy Hamilton (narrators) give the book the voices of the story. I admit, though, I wouldn’t say I like it when a man reads a woman’s part. I know it was the male character’s point of view chapter, but I wish it would all be read in a female voice or divided up accordingly. Okay, maybe it is to help the listener see that male point of view and how he hears her voice, but I always feel males make a female voice in a way that makes fun of the female.

This story starts differently than most and keeps it light even though life and death are imminent. The ghost in the house that Riley inherits have their own agendas and personalities to keep a smile on your face if not an outright laugh out loud.

This was an Audible original. I loved it! Looking forward to the next in the series.

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Third EyeThird Eye by Felicia Day
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh, boy! That was fun! It’s probably not the best bedtime book, as it made me laugh and kept me awake. With a whole lineup of actors: Felicia Day, Sean Astin, Neil Gaiman, Lily Pichu, London Hughes, and Wil Wheaton, I felt like I was watching a movie. I do hope it gets to be a show.

Oh, the craziness! The chosen one is the failed one. All magic comes with a price, even if it doesn’t work! I hope they make it so everyone can listen to it. My friends who don’t have Audible still can’t enjoy it. I hope that even folks who have to use Libby will be able to laugh at this soon.

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Second Wave: Acorna's Children (Acorna, #9)Second Wave: Acorna’s Children by Anne McCaffrey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

With reluctance, I am rating this one only three stars. Sadly, it was because it was whispersynched with a child’s voice that didn’t modulate between characters. And here I had been longing to have the Acorna books audio.

This story was fun in this time-traveling, interplanetary plague-ridden space opera. The robots and healing horns of Acorna’s children made this maybe the most flexible story of the series. Yet the voice ruined it for me. I wish I could find out who did it, but it doesn’t appear anywhere.

Anyway, I still am enjoying the series. I seem to always love Anne McCaffrey’s books and I still have quite a few to get through.

I hope you like this more than I did. Maybe I’ll reread the series and try to just use the text-to-speech.

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