How to Winter by Kari Leibowitz

I love winter. After a Midwestern fall (yes, very specific to the Midwest) it is my favorite season. This book appealed to me because I thought I'd find ways to love it even more. And that is in there, to an extent, but there is a lot about how the author hates winter. And how she believes that all Americans hate winter. Which, you are allowed to have your own opinions about the season but she talks about it quite often. Quite. Often. 

All things being equal, there a number of good suggestions that fall under the broader categories of appreciating winter (get out into nature, speak positively about the season at least once a day), make it special (use low, warm light, extend the holiday feeling into the new year), get outside (how to dress for the weather, using friends, concentrating on the easy wins.)

Three stars

This book came out October 22, 2024

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me by Django Wexler

Davi and her team are back. They are trying to have the humans and the wilders join forces. To do that, she and Tsav have donned disguises. Davi isn't sure how she's going to convince her erstwhile lover (not in this time loop) to join her cause, but she knows him inside and out. Or does she?

This Prince Johann is not only married, he seems to be in love. And the running of the kingdom is being left up to Duke Aster who is... less than receptive to Davi's overtures. Even though she has the super-good plan of pretending to be the new oracle. 

Everything is in shambles and there are enemies not only surrounding her, but coming from inside the camp. And an ancient evil is rising once again. 

A fun story that lagged a little in parts but was overall an enjoyable read. 

Four stars

Dark Lord Davi #2

This book comes out May 27, 2025

Follows How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying

ARC kindly provided by Orbit Books and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore by Emily Krempholtz

Growing up as the ward of an evil lord, it's not like Violet could any way to be other than just evil. However, when Guy Shadowfade is killed, the hero gives Violet a chance to change her life. And she's trying. She's opening up a flower shop in the nearby town, starting to make friends. Then, the blight starts. Plants and crops are dying. Even worse, one of the other wizard's from Guy's parcel has returned to town, and he is hell-bent on... well, something nefarious. 

A cute story that moved along pretty quickly while still developing the characters. 

Four stars

This book came out November 18, 2025

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Strong Female Character by Fern Brady

Recent biographies I've led have seemed rather shallow. This, is not one of those. Brady lays out all of her stories and experiences in raw detail, most of it revolving around growing up as someone whose autism went undiagnosed until she was an adult. Even her own family just thought she was an asshole for awhile.

Of course, she grew up in a time when autism wasn't widely diagnosed, and even when it was, it was to a narrow band that she wasn't a part of. After all, as several doctors tell her, she has boyfriends! and can maintain eye contact! and isn't an "unattractive sea monster with no interest in forming meaning ful relationships." Instead, her quirks seem to have gotten her branded as a manic pixie dream girl. But her "quirks" include things like scratching her arms after people touch her and having episodes where she destroys rooms and furniture. Brady is also very up front about using people for housing, attacking someone with a bottle, and her life as a stripper. I wondered about the last as strippers are often touted as having good people skills (and she says several times she doesn't understand social nuance) but she talks about the fact that she was able to do the same routine every night in dim lights. 

There is quite a bit about her time in entertainment as well. I knew her from her season on Taskmaster where she was a bit chaotic but a lot of fun. She talks about that time as a dream job which makes sense because she was allowed, at times, to drop her masking completely.

Highly recommend the audiobook as Brady reads the story herself. 

Four stars

This book came out February 14, 2023

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

He's Not My Boyfriend by Jackie Lau

A fast, fun, and fluffy book that isn't very deep but is still a fun read. 

Iris Chin LIKES her life. She's a structural engineer who hangs out with her other perpetually single friend and hooks up with guys when she feels like it. But her landlord's daughter is coming back to town so Iris is moving in with her grandmother. Right before she moves in, she has a super hot one-night-stand with Alex Kwong. Does he turn out to be the lead on a project she's assigned to? Of course! This is a romance novel, after all. As they spend more time together at work, they spend more time together outside of work. Their eventual happily ever after is a little hand wavy (this is a short-ish read after all).

Three and a half stars

Chin-Williams #2

This book came out November 20, 2018

Borrowed as ebook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

And the Crowd Went Wild by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Dancy Flynn is a movie star, mostly known for being married to an even more famous movie star. At least, she was, until he dumped her for a younger model. It's just too bad that she drinks too much one night in a very public place. In the same public place her husband's new wife has just debuted her very pregnant belly. It is...  a debacle.

So Dancy make her way to a cabin. Her ex-boyfriend's cabin. Her HIGH SCHOOL ex-boyfriend's cabin. I mean, it's a very nice place to stay on the lake. It just doesn't help that her ex is Chicago Star's quarterback Clint Garrett. 

This one had a little too much drama for me and the ending was a little fast but it follows the Phillips formula and regular readers will enjoy.

Three and a half stars
Chicago Stars #12

This book comes out February 10, 2026

Follows Simply the Best

ARC kindly provided by Avon and Harper Voyager, and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Play Nice by Rachel Harrison

Twenty years ago, Clio's mom, Alexandra, wrote a moderately successful story about their house being possessed by a demon. She wasn't the best mother and, now that she's dead, Clio is the only one of the three daughters who wants to go to the funeral. She is also the only one who is willing to go back to the house. While there, she finds a copy of the book she had promised to never read. However, there are annotations written directly to her that we get to read along with the book that Alex wrote. It certainly points to the fact that the demon might be real. And Clio is starting to see evidence of that as well.

Three stars

This book came out September 9, 2025

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own