Pippi's Inn for Wandering Spirits by Erin Ritch

Pippi has inherited a haunted inn from her aunt. Luckily, she (mostly) knows what she's getting into. She's talked to the dead for most of her life. And, it seems like her aunt may have stuck around to give her some extra help getting used to checking people in and out, organizing excursions, and working with the giant spiders that live in the attic. 

This was a really nice start to the story. But then, there started to be So Many Things going on. There's a love interest who's a giant NoNo for reasons, a ghost who is somehow going to be related to the love interest, a death, a breach of innkeeping, a giant snowstorm, and so. much. more. It was just a little too much, all in one book and the shift in pacing was a bit much. 

Three stars

This book comes out June 10, 2024

ARC kindly provided by BooksGoSocial and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

The Art of Chit Chat by Luigi Padovesi

I tend toward introversion so I like reading books about how to make conversations. This was... okay, I guess. I'm not sure that this was written by a human and not just some AI prompt. It certainly wasn't edited (which, I did read an ARC but still). Lots of repetition. LOTS of repetition. This 71 page book might have been closer to 60 if it had been vetted and rearranged.

You'll have to work hard to find the good points though they do exist.

Two stars

This book came out November 12, 2023

ARC kindly provided by BooksGoSocial and NetGalley

Opinions are my own