August 2024 Empties!

 

I can't believe August is almost over. However, all I can say is good riddance! I can't wait for the fall weather where I can wear makeup again. Since, it was so hot all I really used was moisturizers and body washes since it was too hot for everything else.

The Elvira Multi Oil Body Wash had a pleasant floral aroma. I was surprised on how good it smelled. It had a good silky lather and it was oil based so it wasn't very drying. I could see myself getting this again.

The Dickinson's 4 in 1 Hydrating Toner and Serum wasn't a good buy. It honestly didn't do a single thing. I didn't notice a difference with it. It absorbed quickly and my skin didn't feel softer or refreshed. I would skip it going forward.

The  Kate Somerville Goat Milk moisturizer was a bit basic. It was lightweight and unscented. It didn't do much and I have a lot of K-Beauty moisturizers that do the same thing for a fraction of the cost. I would get it again if its deeply discounted. It did burn a few times when I first started using the moisturizer. 

The Super Bloom Bright Eye Peptide Cream was a bit disappointing. I was around halfway through the jar before it started hardening. I did stop using it for a month because I was noticing better results with another eye cream. Oh well, no big lost.

Is there anything you finished that you loved this month?

Book Review - The Curse of the Werepenguin by Allan Woodrow

 

The Curse of the Werepenguin by Allan Woodrow is about a young boy, Bolt Wattle, who is adopted by a strange and mysterious baron. Twelve year old Bolt grew up in an orphanage.  All he ever wanted was to find his true family. When a baron from a far away country, Brugaria, sends for Bolt, he wonders if the Baron is connected to his long lost parents or if he would be one step closer to finding them. 

When Bolt meets Baron Chordata for the first time, he is astonished by the sight of him. The Baron looks like a twelve year old boy who wears tuxedos all the time while shouting at his housekeeper. Every time Bolt tries to ask the Baron a question, the Baron forbids Bolt from asking questions. Bolt thought he would just bide his time until one night at midnight, the Baron bites Bolt. When the full moon approaches, it transforms Bolt into a penguin who can control (and communicate with) the other feral penguins nearby. 

Bolt loves being a penguin until he realizes that the Baron has plans for him. The Baron’s plans include taking over the nearby village. Bolt wants to stop the Baron before he can succeed with his plans. With the help of Annika, a girl from the community who is training to be the best bandit, Bolt might have a small chance to save the village from the Baron.

The book was a funny and weird read. It had a few moments that were hilarious and some were “well, that was weird”. While the book was funny, the humor kind of got boring after a while and very repetitive and over the top. I felt that the book could have been shorter and it would have been more enjoyable. The quirky read reminded me of A Series of Unfortunate Events. I can see young readers enjoying this fun read.

Book Review - The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri

 

The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri is about a husband and wife, Nuri and Afra, who try to escape the destruction of Syria. Nuri was a beekeeper and Afra was an artist. Nuri used to rise early to hear the call of prayer before traveling to the countryside to visit his hives. He always felt at peace and comfortable when surrounded by his bees. On the weekends, they would travel together to the open air market to sell Afra’s paintings. Her paintings sold well and they were able to make a comfortable living. Nuri and Afra were surrounded by friends and family that they loved and cherished.

When war ravages the beautiful city of Aleppo, the unthinkable happens to Nuri and Afra. Everything and everyone they loved was either destroyed or had left Syria. Nuri knows that they must leave before they lose their chance. However, Afra is hesitant to leave her home behind. After another close call, Nuri had begged Afra to leave. They both know that leaving Syria will be a difficult journey but the difficulty becomes compounded when Afra loses her sight. She would need to depend on Nuri to guide them to Britain.

Both Nuri and Afra are expressing their grief differently. However, the only bright spot of the journey is that Nuri knows his cousin, Mustafa, is waiting for them. Mustafa and his family had left earlier before Nuri and Afra and had started an apiary in Yorkshire and taught other people about beekeeping. As the couple travel to Britain, they have to come to terms with the trauma and pain that they survive and the dangers that surround them.

I thought the novel was an okay read. It was a bit confusing at times when the book would switch from the present to the past. It was hard to tell when we were in the past and when we were in the present. I had a hard time bonding with the characters because of how the story was told. We were told bits and pieces at random times. By the time we got the full story of their trauma, I had lost interest. I felt that Afra was a shell of a character. We barely got to learn her point of view only that she was blind and depending on Nuri to do everything for her. Afra was a complex character that had her own different set of trauma but we never “heard” her voice. She felt like a doll that Nuri would dress and take care of. 

I didn’t like that some chapters would end mid-sentence and would continue as the next chapter title. It was cute in theory but got annoying after a while. I didn’t like the author to hint at things but then she wouldn’t always tell us what she was trying to say. Like the two brothers who followed the musician and were doing stuff. What kind of stuff were they doing? I hate assuming because perhaps they were just stealing and not doing anything sexual. Or it took several painful chapters to find out the trauma Nuri and Afra suffered in the past. Some were easy to guess which made it annoying that it took so long for us to find out. Some readers might enjoy this book but it wasn’t for me.

Book Review - The Picture Bride by Lee Geum-yi

The Picture Bride by Lee Geum-yi is about a young girl, Willow, who travels to Hawaii to marry a man she has only seen one picture of.  In 1918, Willow and her family lived in a small rural village in Korea. Willow wants more from life than being a housewife to another farmer. She yearns to go back to school after her mother pulled her out. When her father and brother died while rebelling against the Japanese occupation of Korea, her mother needed Willow at home to help take care of  her younger siblings. 

When a traveling merchant stops by, she has an interesting prospect for Willow. She knows a young man in Hawaii who is looking for a wife. She shows Willow a picture of him and Willow sends a picture of herself to him. Before long a match was made. Willow is nervous to leave her family and the only place she knows as home behind. However, she is excited because her matchmaker told Willow that her husband is a wealthy landowner, food and clothing is plentiful, and Willow will be able to go back to school.

Willow and a few other young women from her village travel to Hawaii together to become a picture bride. After a harrowing and long journey, Willow finally arrives in Hawaii to meet her new husband. However, she shortly learns that the matchmaker has lied to her about her husband’s wealth and her ability to be able to go back to school. Her dreams for a new life is shattered even farther, when she learns that her husband never wanted to marry her in the first place.

Willow tries to make the best of what she was dealt. She tries to increase her family’s wealth and social standing. However, when the Korean independence movements start to spread throughout their Hawaiian community, Willow sees it dividing her family and friends from each other as each person has differing views. Willow tries to forge ahead and create new dreams and work tirelessly for her family.

I thought the book was an interesting but slow moving read. There were chapters where nothing happened to progress the story. At times, there were a lot of characters to keep track of and I couldn’t remember how they all related to each other. I did enjoy reading about Willow and the other picture brides’ journeys and how their friendship lasted through the years. I like reading some of the historical portions about Hawaii and Korea. I never knew picture brides were a thing, so that was interesting to learn.

The first two parts of the book describe Willow’s life arriving in Hawaii and then her time in Hawaii. The last part skips a few years into the future. I didn’t care for the ending and the last portion of the book, I felt like it was out of place and not really needed. It seemed weird that Willow wanted her entire life to do something but then prevented her loved ones from doing what they loved. The book does explain why, but I felt that twist wasn’t needed and could have been left out especially since that person didn’t seem to tell anyone about knowing the secret. I wish there were more details given on what happened during the time jump. The book was translated from Korean so I felt some of the nuances might have been missed while reading it.

Book Review - A Bite Above the Rest by Christine Virnig

A Bite Above the Rest by Christine Virnig is about a young boy, Caleb, who moves to Samhain, Wisconsin with his mother after his father passed away. His mother had great memories when she used to live in Samhain and loves that the small town celebrates Halloween every day. Kids and adults, all dress in costume, and businesses and houses are decorated with ghoulish décor.

Caleb isn’t a fan of Halloween when it normally occurs once a year.  So, with Samhain being obsessed with Halloween,  Caleb isn’t looking forward to moving to the new town. He feels that the town is being over the top with kitschy vibes. In addition to wearing costumes daily, the mayor is so committed to his act of being a vampire that he is only available in the City Hall during sundown to sunup. Caleb is the only one at his school who refuses to dress up, so he is constantly picked on by other students. He does manage to befriend another fellow misfit, Tai. The timing of his new budding friendship couldn’t come at a better time, as he has noticed weird things happening around Samhain.

The children’s book is a fun and quirky read. It was easy to read and had a few funny jokes. The book was straightforward and didn’t have any unexpected twists. Even though the book had a few spooky themes, it isn’t scary for young readers. It was fun reading how Tai and Caleb were trying to find ways to discover if monsters do exist. The ending does leave an opening for the second book.

 **Disclosure - I received a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest opinion** 

Book Review - The Rick Riordan Presents: Lords of Night by J.C. Cervantes

 

 

The Rick Riordan Presents: Lords of Night by J.C. Cervantes is about a young woman, Renata Santiago, who tries to control her destiny. Fourteen-year-old Renata is different from the other godborn, and one of the most powerful of them. From her dad, she has Mexican blood that allowed her the ability to manipulate shadows. Her mother, Pacific, a Mayan goddess, bestowed on her a magical golden rope that she could use to control time. She used up the time rope’s ability when she prevented a few gods from being transported and getting stuck in 1987. With her unique powers, she was able to save the gods including her best friend, Ah Puch, the god of death, darkness, and destruction. While she did manage to save him, Ah Puch is stuck as a teenager with no divine powers.

While Ren has godlike DNA and friends, she is also an ordinary teenager. She wishes that her blog about aliens would get more respect and that people would stop bullying her online. She knows that there is a connection between aliens and the Mayan civilizations. She is desperate to prove her online haters wrong. When she receives a fan email about a potential alien sighting in Kansas, she jumps at the chance to prove her theory. However, when she arrives, she feels that the five renegade godborns might be behind the “sighting”.

As Ren investigates the possible alien sighting, she finds herself tangled in a plot to wake up the nine Aztec Lords of Night. Ren wants to stop the five godborns before it’s too late. However, none of her friends are available to join her journey. Luckily for her, Ah Puch has a few tricks up his sleeve to help her. Will Ren be able to stop the Lords of the Night from awakening?

The book is the first part of a duology series, but it continues the story from another series. The book can be read as a standalone, but I feel like I am missing some nuances from the characters and story because I didn’t read the previous series. They felt very one-dimensional and flat for me.  I had a hard time connecting with any of the characters because the author did give a bit of background on them, but it wasn’t enough for me to care.

I felt the book was moving slowly and then towards the end, the writing felt rushed and sloppy. The book sort of ended on a cliffhanger. While it took some time for me to get into the book and it wasn’t interesting enough that I would want to continue the series. I feel readers who are familiar with the prior series would enjoy this book more than I did.

Book Review - The Sea Before Us by Sarah Sundin

 

 

The Sea Before Us by Sarah Sundin is about an American naval officer, Lt. Wyatt Paxton, who tries to run away from his past but instead ends up falling in love. In 1944, Wyatt arrived in London to prepare for his assignment of helping Allied forces with the invasion of France. He works closely with Dorothy Fairfax, a “WREN” in the Women’s Royal Naval Service.

Dorothy is assigned to collect and piece together reconnaissance photographs of France via holiday photos. Her assignment of sorting through thousands of photos will help create an accurate map of Normandy. The maps will serve as a guide for the Allies to bombard Normandy, and hopefully lead to fewer casualties.  

While their jobs are not fully dependent on each other, the pair spends a lot of time together. As a result, their budding friendship starts to turn into something more for Wyatt. However, Wyatt’s love is unrequited as Dorothy is attracted to an old childhood friend who also seems to be interested in Dorothy. Dorothy is hesitant to have anything more than platonic feelings for Wyatt because she doesn’t want to leave her bereaved father in England, who depends on her. Will Dorothy and Wyatt be able to get what they both desire?

I thought the novel was an okay read. It took a bit in the beginning for me to get into the book. The writing style isn’t my favorite and I think that took away some of my enjoyment from reading the book. I also, felt that the book was a bit longer than needed. I didn’t care for in-depth war scenes as some of the terminology and scenes made it hard for me to imagine. The book is a straightforward read with most of the twists easy to guess. It is also the beginning of a series that I would be open to reading more of.

Book Spotlight - Cabaret Macabre: A Locked-Room Mystery (Joseph Spector Series) by Tom Mead + Giveaway

About The Book:

Title: CABARET MACABRE: A Locked-Room Mystery (Joseph Spector Series)

Author: Tom Mead

Pub. Date: July 16, 2024

Publisher: Mysterious Press

Formats: Hardcover, eBook, Audiobook

Pages: 320

Find it: Goodreads, https://books2read.com/CABARET-MACABRE 

This latest puzzle mystery from the author of Death and the Conjuror and The Murder Wheel takes stage magician sleuth Joseph Spector to a grand estate in the English countryside.

Victor Silvius has spent nine years as an inmate at The Grange, a private sanatorium, for the crime of attacking judge Sir Giles Drury. Now, the judge’s wife, Lady Elspeth Drury, believes that Silvius is the one responsible for a series of threatening letters her husband has recently received. Eager to avoid the scandal that involving the local police would entail, Lady Elspeth seeks out retired stage magician Joseph Spector, whose discreet involvement in a case Sir Giles recently presided over greatly impressed her.

Meanwhile, Miss Caroline Silvius is disturbed after a recent visit to her brother Victor, convinced that he isn’t safe at The Grange. Someone is trying to kill him and she suspects the judge, who has already made Silvius’ life a living hell, may be behind it. Caroline hires Inspector George Flint of Scotland Yard to investigate.

The two cases collide at Marchbanks, the Drury family seat of over four hundred years, where a series of unnerving events interrupt the peace and quiet of the snowy countryside. A body is discovered in the middle of a frozen pond without any means of getting there and a rifle is fired through a closed window, killing a man but not breaking the glass. Only Spector and his mastery of the art of misdirection can uncover the logical explanations for these impossible crimes.

An atmospheric and puzzling traditional mystery that pays homage to the greatest writers of the genre’s Golden Age, Cabaret Macabre is the third book in Tom Mead’s Joseph Spector series, hailed by the Wall Street Journal as “a recipe for pure nostalgic pleasure.” The books can be enjoyed in any order.

 

Reviews:

"Ingenious . . . Mead hides all the clues in plain sight, constructing a fair-play puzzle that will delight and challenge readers who love pitting their own wits against the author’s. It’s another crackerjack entry in an exceptional series."― Publishers Weekly STARRED REVIEW

"Mind-bogglingly complex . . . A lovely valentine to Mead’s idol, John Dickson Carr, and even more to Clayton Rawson’s tales of The Great Merlini."― Kirkus

 

About Tom Mead:

Tom Mead is a Derbyshire mystery writer and aficionado of Golden Age crime fiction. His debut novel, Death and the Conjuror, was an international bestseller, nominated for several awards, and named one of the best mysteries of the year by The Guardian and Publishers Weekly. Its sequel, The Murder Wheel, was described as “pure nostalgic pleasure” by the Wall Street Journal and “a delight” by the Daily Mail. It was also named one of the Best Traditional Mysteries of 2023 by CrimeReads. His third novel, Cabaret Macabre, will be published in 2024.

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Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok | Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub

 

Giveaway Details:

3 winners will receive a finished copy of CABARET MACABRE, US Only.

Ends August 6th, midnight EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

7/1/2024	Two Chicks on Books	Interview/IG Post
7/2/2024	Lady Hawkeye	Excerpt/IG Post
7/3/2024	Book Review Virginia Lee Blog	Excerpt/IG Post
7/4/2024	Daily Waffle	Excerpt
7/5/2024	Writer of Wrongs	Excerpt
7/6/2024	@darkfantasyreviews	Excerpt

Week Two:

7/7/2024	@dreaminginpages	IG Review
7/8/2024	Brandi Danielle Davis	IG Review/TikTok Post
7/9/2024	Books and Zebras	IG Review
7/10/2024	@evergirl200	IG Review
7/11/2024	GryffindorBookishnerd	IG Review
7/12/2024	@katemageau	Review/IG Post
7/13/2024	Bookborne Hunter	Review/IG Post

Week Three:

7/14/2024	Lifestyle of Me	Review
7/15/2024	Fire and Ice	Review/IG Post
7/16/2024	@jaimes_mystical_library	IG Post
7/17/2024	Edith's Little Free Library	IG Review/LFL Drop Pic/TikTok Post
7/18/2024	Country Mamas With Kids	Review/IG Post
7/19/2024	Kim's Book Reviews and Writing Aha's	Review/IG Post
7/20/2024	The Momma Spot	Review/IG Post

Week Four:

7/21/2024	@lara.maynard	IG Review
7/22/2024	Dana Loves Books	Review/IG Post
7/23/2024	heyashleyyreads	IG Review/TikTok Post
7/24/2024	Deal sharing aunt	Review/IG Post
7/25/2024	One More Exclamation	Review/IG Post
7/26/2024	@amysbookshelf82	IG Review
7/27/2024	A Blue Box Full of Books	IG Review/LFL Drop Pic/TikTok Post

Week Five:

7/28/2024	@nolareads504	IG Post
7/29/2024	two points of interest	Review
7/30/2024	More Books Please blog	Review/IG Post
7/31/2024	FUONLYKNEW	Review

Book Review - Owner of a Lonely Heart: A Memoir by Beth Nguyen

Owner of a Lonely Heart: A Memoir by Beth Nguyen is about a woman coming to terms with her relationship with her family, her identity, and what it means to be a refugee. At the end of the Vietnam War, Beth Nguyen was eight months old when she and her family fled Saigon for America. Beth’s entire family went to America except her mother. Beth didn’t reconnect with her mother until she was nineteen years old. Over the course of her adult life, Beth and her mother have spent less than twenty-four hours together.

When I first started this memoir, I thought it was going to be about Beth and her relationship with her mother. However, it turns out to be more than that plus it had a lot of random and “incomplete” stories thrown in.  For example, in one of the first chapters, Beth talks about one of her earliest visits to see her mother and she portrays it in one way but then in a later chapter she mentions she wasn’t completely honest and she didn’t share the full background on that visit. I didn’t understand why she didn’t give those details when she first mentioned the visit. Beth would rehash a particular visit a few times and sometimes, she would get repetitive with the details. It felt like the story was dragging with the repetitive and sometimes, mundane details.

As the book progresses, she talks about the relationship she has with her family, her Vietnamese identity, and being a mother. At times, I felt like the memoir was all over the place and I couldn’t understand the point that Beth was trying to make. Towards the end, I was a bit over the book. I wish we found out more details on why her father thought it was okay to leave Beth’s mother behind, but he kept in contact with her. It didn’t seem like there was any malice between Beth’s father and mother. It felt like that most of Beth’s interaction with her mother was bland and without emotion. I didn’t feel connection between the two and why we should care about their relationship or even root for them.

Book Review - Westside Saints by W.M. Akers

Westside Saints by W.M. Akers is about a private detective, Gilda Carr, who specializes in finding tiny treasures and solving tiny mysteries. In 1922, six months ago from the start of our story, there was a civil war that ruined the Westside of Manhattan. The residents are still facing the aftermath from the war. In the Lower West, the area is frozen, and life is hard. Gilda Carr nearly died during the war after she tried to protect her city. Now, she wanders the streets and is cold and weary. She hopes for something better even though life seems bleak.

While spending her days drinking, she comes across a friend whose family wants to hire Gilda to solve a mystery for them. They want her to find a biblical relic, a saint’s finger, that was stolen from their church. The church needs to find the relic because the church leaders believe it’s the cornerstone of their promise of an “electric resurrection” when the dead will return to life. Gilda is hesitant to believe that can happen. However, that all changes when her mother, Mary Fall, who has been dead for years, walks through the parlor door. Mary doesn’t remember anything of her daughter or how she died. Gilda wants to keep Mary’s resurrection a secret so they can work together to investigate what brought her back to life. 

When I spotted this book, I didn’t realize it was a part of a series. It wasn’t made very clear when I picked up the novel, that it was the second book in the series. Unlike other serialized books, this series needs to be read in order. I found the story to be confusing and the writing wasn’t the easiest for me to get into. I had to re-read the same sentence several times. I didn’t find myself connecting with any of the characters so, I was not motivated to keep reading. I quickly abandoned this novel a few chapters in as it wasn’t worth my time anymore.