Category Archives: reading

#TBR Challenge – Back in My Day…: Siren Queen by Nghi Vo

Posted on July 16, 2025 by Victoria Janssen

Siren Queen by Nghi Vo is fantasy set in 1930s Hollywood. The nameless first person narrator, whose Chinese immigrant father owns a laundry, first sees silent films by selling an inch of her hair; later, she plays the roles of … Continue reading →

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#TBR Challenge – Road Trip: John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 18: The Gift by Mike Carey and Denise Mina, Leonardo Manco, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Lorenzo Ruggiero, and Frazer Irving

Posted on June 18, 2025 by Victoria Janssen

John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 18: The Gift by Mike Carey (Author), Denise Mina (Author), Leonardo Manco (Illustrator, Artist), Giuseppe Camuncoli (Artist), Lorenzo Ruggiero (Artist), Frazer Irving (Artist) is a road trip to hell (rather than from hell, heh). The story … Continue reading →

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My May Reading Log

Posted on June 14, 2025 by Victoria Janssen

Fiction: The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope is historical fantasy set in the 1920s Black neighborhoods of Washington, D.C.. Clara Johnson is able to speak with spirits called Enigmas, which can help humans with problems via a “Charm” but … Continue reading →

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#TBRChallenge – Older Couple: The Odyssey, translated by Emily Wilson

Posted on May 21, 2025 by Victoria Janssen

I’d actually already started reading The Odyssey, translated by Emily Wilson shortly after it came out, then was distracted and moved on to something else (I no longer remember what or why). I think Penelope and Odysseus qualify for the … Continue reading →

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My April Reading Log

Posted on May 16, 2025 by Victoria Janssen

Fiction: In Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri, Mehr is the illegitimate daughter of an imperial governor whose mother, from the desert Amrithi tribe, abandoned her and her sister when they were young. While living in relatively pampered seclusion with … Continue reading →

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My March Reading Log

Posted on April 18, 2025 by Victoria Janssen

Fiction: Passions in Death by J.D. Robb is fifty-ninth in this series and yes I am still reading it because every once in a while I crave a mystery because the point of mystery novels is for justice to prevail. … Continue reading →

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#TBR Challenge – Location, Location, Location: White Sands, Red Menace by Ellen Klages

Posted on April 16, 2025 by Victoria Janssen

White Sands, Red Menace by Ellen Klages follows The Green Glass Sea, a middle grade book about a lonely young girl, Dewey, whose father is working on the Manhattan Project. In 1946, World War II has ended; Dewey and her … Continue reading →

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My February Reading Log

Posted on March 21, 2025 by Victoria Janssen

Fanfiction: Mirage by Jean Graham is a 1980s sequel to Blake’s 7, which I had read when it was new, and re-read for a group discussion on Discord. The novel is comprised of short stories previously published elsewhere. I remembered … Continue reading →

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#TBR Challenge – Rizz: The Gentleman’s Book of Vices by Jess Everlee

Posted on March 19, 2025 by Victoria Janssen

The Gentleman’s Book of Vices by Jess Everlee was very fun and I will definitely seek out more of this author’s work. It’s a male/male romance set in 1883 London. Extrovert Charlie Price is embedded in a small community of … Continue reading →

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#TBR CHALLENGE – Previously, In Romance…: This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

Posted on February 19, 2025 by Victoria Janssen

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone is an epistolary novel, with opposing time-traveling rival agents attempting to win a war. Also, they gradually fall in love. The fun of this book, for … Continue reading →

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