55. The Forgotten Witch by Jessica Dodge

read on Kindle/phone
412 pgs.

2022

Adult fantasy
Finished 6/14/2024
Goodreads rating: 4.13
My rating: 2
Setting: Mostly contemporary Scotland, some flashes to the past

My comments: It took me months to plod through this story, but I persevered, refusing to give up.  It wasn't particularly well written, although it started out okay, but - for me - kept going down from there.  Long winded, so-so writing and repetitive information just didn't do it for me, although I loved the premise....

Goodreads synopsis:  Helen Kent never dares to step outside her comfort zone. She lives a lonely, mundane life in the city, grinding through her uninspiring marketing job. That is, until a spontaneous online purchase brings her to the little bay town of Oban, Scotland, where a 500-year-old cottage full of secrets and stories awaits her. After Helen unearths the local legend of a 16th century witch, she discovers a set of mysterious journals in the cottage’s library. Thrust into a world of magic she doesn’t understand, she soon realizes there are both light and dark forces at work beyond her control. With the help of a dashing Scottish neighbor and his wise grandfather, Helen discovers the link that connects her to the mysterious events unfolding at the cottage. But when the past collides with the present, she must face her fears and fight for what she believes in—that is if she hopes to unravel the mystery of Fernbeg cottage before darkness descends, again.

1. Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Torzs

listened on Libby

2023
416 pgs.
Adult Fantasy
Finished 1/2/24
Goodreads rating: 4.07
My rating: 4.5
Setting: contemporary VT, London, and Antarctica

My comments: Spells that are written in blood! Great settings (VT, London, Antarctica), mesmerizing story, cool plot, well-honed characters....what's not to like?

Goodreads synopsis:  Nominee for Best Fantasy (2023), Nominee for Best Debut Novel (2023)

In this spellbinding debut novel, two estranged half-sisters tasked with guarding their family's library of magical books must work together to unravel a deadly secret at the heart of their collection--a tale of familial loyalty and betrayal, and the pursuit of magic and power.

For generations, the Kalotay family has guarded a collection of ancient and rare books. Books that let a person walk through walls or manipulate the elements--books of magic that half-sisters Joanna and Esther have been raised to revere and protect.

All magic comes with a price, though, and for years the sisters have been separated. Esther has fled to a remote base in Antarctica to escape the fate that killed her own mother, and Joanna's isolated herself in their family home in Vermont, devoting her life to the study of these cherished volumes. But after their father dies suddenly while reading a book Joanna has never seen before, the sisters must reunite to preserve their family legacy. In the process, they'll uncover a world of magic far bigger and more dangerous than they ever imagined, and all the secrets their parents kept hidden; secrets that span centuries, continents, and even other libraries . . .

Picture Book - Hey Grandude! by Paul McCartney

Illustrated by Kathryn Durst

2019, Random House

HC $17.99

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  3.71 - 486 ratings

My rating:  4
Endpapers: Light blue with white 1/2-inch grid lines

1^st line/s:  "Lucy and Tom and Em and Bob were spending a weedend with the grandad."

My comments:  Magic can really happen, especially when it comes to traveling from one place to another!  I love the premise of this book...a magic compass that whisks the family from one interesting place in the world  to another as well as spending quality time with a grandparent.  Shame on you, all you naysayers, for giving negative reviews just because a celebrity wrote it.  Spoilsports!

Goodreads:  From Paul McCartney—an action-packed picture-book adventure celebrating the fun that grandparents and grandkids can get up to.
          See the compass needle spin, let the magic fun begin!
          Meet Grandude—a super-cool grandfather who is an intrepid explorer with some amazing tricks up his sleeve. Grandude is a one-of-a-kind adventurer! With his magic compass, he whisks his four grandkids off on whirlwind adventures, taking them all around the globe. Join them as they ride flying fish, dodge stampedes, and escape avalanches! Brought to life with gloriously colorful illustrations from talented artist Kathryn Durst, it’s the perfect bedtime story for little explorers

96. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

#1 Raven Cycle
listened on Audible
2012 Scholastic
409 pgs.
YA Fantasy
Finished 11/14/2018
Goodreads rating:  4.06 - 198,743 ratings
My rating:  5
Setting:  Contemporary Henrietta, Virginia

First line/s:  "Blue Sargent had forgotten how many times she'd been told that she would kill her true love."

My comments:  Read on the drive home from Maine, through actual sleet and snow and rain and it was the perfect book to listen to on this particularly arduous journey, lol.  It was so good.  I loved the elements of magic, the otherwordly "stuff" that become reality.  I have really good pictures in my mind of the four boys, but the picture of Blue, the female protagonist, is hazier.  I really hope I get more insight into her in the next books - which I hope I can get my hands on asap!

Goodreads synopsis:  “There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”
          It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.
          Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.
          His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.
          But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.
          For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.
          From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before.

83. Angel Killer by Andrew Mayne

#1 Jessica Blackwood, FBI agent and magician
read on my iPhone
2014 Bourbon Street Books
368 pgs.
Adult murder mystery/police procedural
Finished 8/24/18
Goodreads rating:  4.02 - 2604 ratings
My rating: 4
Setting: contemporary spots in the US

First line/s:  " 'You're going to die.' I tell her this not to be cruel, but out of compassion."

My comments:  Well, that was a fascinating book.  After enjoying a couple of books by Andrew Mayne about Professor Theo Cray and his somewhat outlandish escapades, I thought I'd try this book about a female FBI agent who is also a talented magician.  I couldn't put it down.  A magician definitely wrote this book, and although I am not a big fan of magic, I've become a big fan of Andrew Mayne, also a magician in "real life."  Looking forward to the next Jessica Blackwood.

Goodreads synopsis:  FBI agent Jessica Blackwood believes she's left her complicated life as a gifted magician behind her . . . until a killer with seemingly supernatural powers puts her talents to the ultimate test.
          A hacker who identifies himself only as "Warlock" brings down the FBI's website and posts a code in its place that leads to a Michigan cemetery, where a dead girl is discovered rising from the ground . . . as if she tried to crawl out of her own grave.
          Born into a dynasty of illusionists, Jessica Blackwood is destined to become its next star—until she turns her back on her troubled family to begin a new life in law enforcement. But FBI consultant Dr. Jeffrey Ailes's discovery of an old magic magazine will turn Jessica's world upside down. Faced with a crime that appears beyond explanation, Ailes has nothing to lose—and everything to gain—by taking a chance on an agent raised in a world devoted to achieving the seemingly impossible.
          The body in the cemetery is only the first in the Warlock's series of dark miracles. Thrust into the media spotlight, with time ticking away until the next crime, can Jessica confront her past to stop a depraved killer? If she can't, she may become his next victim. 

44. Kiss of Fire by Rebecca Ethington

Imdalind #1
read on my iPhone
2012
354 pgs.
YA Dystopia
Finished 5/21/818
Goodreads rating:  4.1 - 8485 reatings
My rating:  3.5

First line/s:  "Everything changed on my fifth birthday while my parents were in the backyard hanging the "Happy Birthday Joclyn" banner that was surrounded by yellow and blue streamers."

My comments:  I purposely didn't closely read the description of the book so that I would have no clue to what was going to happen.  What a perfect decision, the entire story kept me on the edge of my seat and I couldn't wait to get back to it, finishing it in a single day.  It was a pretty decent story, withholding any fantasy or magic until the second half of the book and then the shit really hits the fan!  Interesting world building, but there are six more books in the series - that's too many for me, I think.  It did get a little sluggish in places in the second half, but I'd still consider it a pretty decent read. 

Goodreads synopsis: Joclyn Despain has been marred by a brand on her skin. She doesn't know why the mark appeared on her neck, but she doesn't want anyone to see it, including her best friend Ryland, who knows everything else about her. The scar is the reason she hides herself behind baggy clothes, and won't let the idea of kissing Ryland enter her mind, no matter how much she wants to.
The scar is the reason she is being hunted.
          If only she knew that she was.
          If only she had known that the cursed stone her estranged father sent for her 16th birthday would trigger a change in her. Now, she is being stalked by a tall blonde man, and is miraculously throwing her high school bully ten feet in the air.
          Joclyn attempts to find some answers and the courage to follow her heart. When Ryland finds her scar; only he knows what it means, and who will kill her because of it.

DNF - Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

listened to audio on AUDIBLE (It's still in my cloud - what a waste of money for me!)
Kate Daniels #1
2007, Ace
280 pgs.- I listened to the equivalent of about 60 of them
"Urban Fantasy"
Ended 5/8/15
Goodreads rating:
My rating: I didn't enjoy it at all
Setting: Magical Atlanta, a short time in the future:

My comments:  I'm not going to rate this one, since I only got through about 60 pages.  It came highly recommended, but this genre (whatever it's called) just isn't my cup of tea.  There's too many books waiting for me to spend time reading something I don't enjoy.  It's probably a wonderful book, just not for me.

Goodreads synopsis:  Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary who makes her living cleaning up paranormal problems. Atlanta has two factions struggling for power. Masters of the Dead are necromancers who control vampires. The Pack are a paramilitary clan of shapechangers. When Kate's guardian is killed, she is caught between.

23. The Unwanteds - Lisa McMann

Aladdin, 2011
Rating:  3.5/ It was a good story
for:  Middle Grades
390 pages

Setting:  the community of Quill, unknown present or future.
OSS:  Two 13-year old twins lives are severed forever as one is labeled Wanted and the other Unwanted, sent off to be purged/eliminated/put to death.
1st sentence/s:  "There was a hint of wind coming over the top of the stone walls and through the barbed-wire sky on the day Alexander Stowe was to be Purged."

But there is a surprise awaiting the Unwanteds.  They are 'unwanted ' because their creativity, their artistic inclinations, make them undesirable.  Not so in Artime, where magic and creativity and beauty are nurtured and revered.  That is, until they are discovered and a war begins.  A war with antiquated weapons and rusty vehicles on one side and magic on the other.  There is even a Dumbledore-like leader named Mr. Today.

11. The Warrior Heir - Cinda Williams Chima

Heir Series #1
For: YA
Hyperion Paperbacks, 2006
426 pgs.
Rating: 4

Jack Swift is 16. He lives in Trinity Ohio, a small town where everyone knows everyone else's business. He has lived a normal, average life with his mom until the day he forgets to take his medicine. He's never forgotten before - he's taken it ever since he was born and had heart surgery to survive. Not taking it makes him feel different. Different-better, different-more clear headed, different-stronger. So much so, that during soccer try-outs his never-seen-before aggressiveness hurts a (nasty) teammate. This fateful day, his "forgetting" begins a journey of finding out about the life that's been planned for him since his birth. His normal life will never be the same. For it was not heart surgery that he had when he was born. He was born a wizard, a member of The Weir, but without the needed wizard stone behind his heart. So one was surgically imbedded. However, as an experiment, a warrior's stone was implanted there instead. And he discovers the hidden world of wizards and warriors, of the Red Rose and the White Rose, of tournaments to the death and magic.

There are no warriors left, they have all been killed off playing The Game or killed by the opposite side before a Game could begin. For it is the side that wins the Game that controls all the Weirlind until the next tournament. Competition is cutthroat. It's hard to trust anyone. He's being trained by the powerful wizard Leander Hastings, with help about charms from the elderly wizard Nick Snowbeard, neighbor and friend since his birth.

He still lives in Trinity and attends high school, becoming the school's soccer sensation. He's drawn to new student Ellen Stevenson. His two best buddies, Will and Fitch, are always around to help him out. But then summer comes, and things heat up. Members of both the Red Rose and the White Rose are trying to find him. When he accompanies his mom to England for the summer, he is almost killed, then finds out the rest of the truth about the life he must now lead. There's not much good news. And it gets worse.

The tournament arrives. Surpise after surprise...well sort of surprise....some were foreshadowed or guessed. Clever twists and turns. Excitement and fighting and strategies abound. Quite and entertaining tale.

There are a lot of videos on You Tube about this book, some done as book reports for an English class. WeReadBooks on You Tube has an excellent review. And Cinda Williams Chima has a good website. There are two more books in the series, #2 The Wizard's Heir is a companion book, and #3 The Dragon Heir is as well.

35. The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane - Katherine Howe

For: Adults
Hyperion, 2009
371 pgs.
$25.99
Rating: 4 Liked it a lot
Endpapers: In cursive text, a recipe to end "man's mortal suffering." (understood more after reading the book)

"Just because you don't believe in something doesn't mean it isn't real." This is a quote in the book that I keep thinking of.

Harvard grad student Connie Goodwin is looking for her dissertation topic in American colonial studies. Her advisor, Manning Chilton, a prominent historian, is hounding her to get going. But Connie's hippie mother, Grace, has called from Santa Fe to see if Connie will spend the summer cleaning out her dead grandmother, Sophia's, old house in Marblehead so that it can be sold. Abandoned for over twenty years, the ancient place is overgrown, unelectrified, and fascinating. On her first night in the old house, she finds an old key in an ancient family Bible that contains the name Deliverance Dane. Trying to discover some background on this Puritan name, shy Connie meets a like-minded steeplejack named Sam, and together they start hunting for clues.

The story takes place in 1991 and during the time of the Salem witch trials. I think it was set in 1991 because the author wanted our protagonist to really research, hunting through documents, libraries, churches, graveyards, museums, for information instead of sitting down at a computer. It works. It's a great story that I didn't want to put down. Read it on the plane flight back and forth to PA last weekend, and the time flew.

SPOILER: My only tiny negative comment would be about the character development of Manning Chilton. You know right from the beginning what he's all about, and it would be nice to have had this introduced slowly....I like to not guess the ending or the culprit untilt the story advances a little more. Oh well. This was minor.

A wonderful summer read. Especially after The Lace Reader, which also takes place in the Salem area, an area I'm somewhat familiar with, which adds an extra bit of fun. Now I really want to go check out the older parts of Marblehead!