Monthly Rereads October 2025

Opinions are my own

Sanctuary by Ilona Andrews

Four stars

This book came out July 30, 2024

Roman’s Chronicles, #1

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Murder at the Mousetrap by Helena Marchmont

Four stars

Bunburry #1
This book comes out September 1
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau, Caitlin Kinnunen (Narrator)

Fourteen-year-old Mary Jane is growing up in 1970s Baltimore. Her family seems "normal" for the time, stay at home, perfectionist mother, emotionally distant working father. But her life is about to be turned upside down when she becomes the nanny for three-year-old Izzy Cone. 
Izzy's parents are nothing like Mary Jane's. They shout, they show public affection, and their house is not organized to within an inch of its life. But there is a lot of love and some famous stars. Dr. Richard Cone is a psychiatrist and has cleared his whole schedule to help Jimmy work on his addictions. Jimmy is married to the electric Sheba who was on a television variety show and has many brothers. 
In a house of chaos, Mary Jane becomes the most stable person. As she tries to bring order into the swirling emotions of the people in the Cone house, she learns exactly how fallible adults can be and starts to see flaws, even in her own family. She also learns that there is no one lifestyle that is going to provide perfection. 
This is very much a book that reflects the values of the time including both casual and fairly blatant racism. Mary Jane is figure out how to navigate feelings that are suddenly bigger than what she is used to. A very familiar feeling for almost anyone who has been a teenager.

Four stars

This book came out May 11, 2021

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Witch and Tell by Angela M. Sanders

Josie Way hasn't been enjoying life lately. Her love life is in the dumps and someone is siphoning off her magic. Now, her friend's boyfriend seems to have disappeared and there is a townsperson who has started a crusade against cats. And not just cats in real life, but book cats as well.

There was a lot and yet nothing going on in this book. The pacing of these books seems to be slow, slow, A LOT IS HAPPENING, slow. It can make it reading the books a bit of a slog, sometimes. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out October 28, 2025

Witch Way Librarians #7

Follows The Witch is Back

ARC kindly provided by Kensington Publishing and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Five Golden Wings by Donna Andrews with Bernadette Dunne (Narrator)

Meg has two cousins getting married the Saturday before Christmas. Not a great day to begin with but their inconsiderate choices don't stop there. They are getting married on the same day at the same location and are feuding about it the whole time. Somehow, Meg's mom has become their de facto wedding planner since they've run everyone else off. The only bright point is that they are having their receptions at the Caerphilly Inn and Ekaterina is able to handle their nonsense.

Robin is only a little less adept at handling them at the church. It's just too bad that the front of the church is closed off at the moment and everyone is having to go through the graveyard. The same graveyard that has only just been re-consecrated after a series of pranks by some local teens. The same graveyard where a body is discovered.A

If you are a regular Langslow reader, you will probably clock both the victim(s) and the perpetrator(s) (trying to obfuscate this a little.) And that just adds to the delight of this book. The mystery is overall a little thinner than normal but a good read.

Four stars

Meg Langslow #38

Follows For Duck's Sake

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

ARC of ebook kindly provided by MacMillan and Edelweiss

Calling All Blessings by Beverly Jenkins

Another Blessings novel and storylines are being advanced. 

Devon July is getting older. As a child, he was treated as a prodigy, a child who could preach as well as an adult. Now, he's having trouble adjusting, hiding behind a wig and a LOT of denial and ego. 

His adopted great, great-grandmother is also having troubles. Her past has come back to haunt her and she's not sure what do do about it. She has promised to lead Devon on a spirit journey but her own turmoil is interfering somewhat.

There are a number of other characters included. I wouldn't start with this book as the stories are really better when read as a series. 

Three stars

This book came out October 28, 2025

Follows A Christmas to Remember

ARC kindly provided by Avon and Harper Voyager, and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Age of Magical Overthinking by Amanda Montell

I was really expecting more with a subtitle like "Notes on Modern Irrationality." Really, most of this boiled down to concepts that have been around for... quite awhile. Like "Sunk Cost Fallacy" or the "Recency Illusion." Neither are new in the scope of humankind. 

Montell is a good writer but I wish there had been either a warning that this was more memoir than I was expecting or a deeper dive into some of these concepts. Montell generally defines them but doesn't give the same rigor to these as she had in previous books. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out April 9, 2024

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

A Murderous RIde; A Taste of Murder by Helena Marchmont, Nathaniel Parker (Narrator)

 A Murderous Ride

In book one of this series, Alfie went to Bunburry to see the cottage his aunt had left him. He had spent time in the village as a child and being here as an adult was bringing back memories, both good and bad. He decided to stick around not least because he solved a murder with his aunt's friends Liz and Marge. 

We learn that Alfie is not much of a driver; there appears to have been an accident in his past. But he lives in the country and the bus system is... not the best. And his aunt has left him a vintage Jaguar. It is that Jaguar, that ends up on top of a mechanic and lands Alfie straight in the crosshairs of the local sergeant who decides, basically on sight, that Alfie must be the man who murdered him. 

It's up to Alfie and the crew to determine who the real killer was and clear his name.

Three stars
Bunburry #2

This book came out November 1, 2018

Follows Murder at the Mousetrap

Followed by A Taste of Murder

Audiobook from Audible

A Taste of Murder

Vivian has been mentioned in previous books. Her absence from Alfie's life has been a bit murky. In this book, we get more information not only on why she is no longer with Alfie, but also how the two met. But that is wrapped around a murder in the present day. 

A local farmer is murdered. Alfie's friend Betty is suspected of the crime as she had had an arguement with the man about how he treated his animals. 

Three stars

Bunburry #3

This book came out November 1, 2018

Follows 

Followed by Death of a Ladies' Man

Audiobook from Audible

Opinions are my own