Bogormen

Title: No Quest for the Wicked (Enchanted Inc. #6)
Author: Shanna Swendson
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 3/5
# pages: 278 pages
Date read: August, 2016

Now that the Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Inc. team has defeated the nefarious Spellworks, the only "competition" in town, Katie Chandler doesn't have much to do as director of marketing, and she's starting to question her role at MSI. Her boyfriend Owen Palmer, on the other hand, is in hog heaven, translating an ancient and powerful magical manuscript.

But then he finds that the cryptic text describing the location of an enchanted gem known as the Eye of the Moon has radically changed. This deadly stone gives its holder enhanced power over others and a craving for more power. It once caused a terrible war before it was safely hidden and then lost - and now it seems to be in New York and set in an elven brooch that renders its wearer invulnerable. Whoever has this brooch could take over the world.

Katie and Owen must find it before anyone else does, and they're not the only ones searching. They'll need all the help they can get, including Katie's visiting grandmother. But who can they trust when their allies fall under its spell? Not to mention the new enemies who are deadlier than anything they've faced before.


After a bit of a break I've returned to this series, as they really do make for perfect plane reading. I still love reading about Katie, Owen and all their friends (Katie's grandmother especially - she's delightful!), but must admit that the plot itself in this one didn't really do it for me. It was one long hunt that seemed like it could have been planned better and executed more efficiently. I did enjoy the return of Katie's evil ex-boss though. She's so delightfully despicable (something I can only enjoy as I know she won't get away with it).

I still enjoyed reading it, as Shanna Swendson really has a way with words, but it was more to get to spend more time with the characters, than because I was all that interested in what was going on. A bit strange to read a book in spite of the plot instead of because of it, but it kept my attention nicely on an insomniac red-eye flight.

Title: The Nest
Author: Cynthia D'Aprix Sweetney
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 3/5
# pages: 373 pages
Date read: August, 2016

Every family has its problems. But even among the most troubled, the Plumb family stands out as spectacularly dysfunctional. Years of simmering tensions finally reach a breaking point on an unseasonably cold afternoon in New York City as Melody, Beatrice, and Jack Plumb gather to confront their charismatic and reckless older brother, Leo, freshly released from rehab. Months earlier, an inebriated Leo got behind the wheel of a car with a nineteen-year-old waitress as his passenger. The ensuing accident has endangered the Plumbs joint trust fund, “The Nest,” which they are months away from finally receiving. Meant by their deceased father to be a modest mid-life supplement, the Plumb siblings have watched The Nest’s value soar along with the stock market and have been counting on the money to solve a number of self-inflicted problems.

Melody, a wife and mother in an upscale suburb, has an unwieldy mortgage and looming college tuition for her twin teenage daughters. Jack, an antiques dealer, has secretly borrowed against the beach cottage he shares with his husband, Walker, to keep his store open. And Bea, a once-promising short-story writer, just can’t seem to finish her overdue novel. Can Leo rescue his siblings and, by extension, the people they love? Or will everyone need to reimagine the future they’ve envisioned? Brought together as never before, Leo, Melody, Jack, and Beatrice must grapple with old resentments, present-day truths, and the significant emotional and financial toll of the accident, as well as finally acknowledge the choices they have made in their own lives.


I browsed through the first few chapters at a bookstore and found myself strangely intrigued, despite the fact that the blurb on the back of the book hadn't really caught my fancy. Still, I couldn't stop thinking about it, and ended up getting hold of an e-copy a few days later.

Once again, this is a character-driven narrative rather than a plot-driven one. The plot itself is very quickly explained, but the people themselves - this highly dysfunctional family - are fascinating. I found myself putting the book down frequently, as I could see this person or that heading towards a bad decision, but I kept picking it back up, as I grew to care about the siblings, and had to know how everything got resolved.

An intriguing read about people I grew to care about... but am not really sure I like very much.

Title: The Little Shop of Happy Ever After
Author: Jenny Colgan
Genre: Chick-lit
Rating: 5/5
# pages: 358
Date read: August 2016

(Disclaimer: this blurb was written by somebody who obviously hasn't read the book, as it's actually WRONG! However, I'm useless at summarizing books myself, and the end result (Nina owning a book-bus) is correct, so I'll leave it as-is.)

Given a back-room computer job when the beloved Birmingham library she works in turns into a downsized retail complex, Nina misses her old role terribly - dealing with people, greeting her regulars, making sure everyone gets the right books for their needs. Then a new business nobody else wants catches her eye: owning a tiny little bookshop bus up in the Scottish highlands. No computers. Shortages. Out all hours in the freezing cold; driving with a tiny stock of books... not to mention how the little community is going to take to her, particularly when she stalls the bus on a level crossing...


Probably my favourite book by Jenny Colgan so far. It was a bit slow to take off, but once it did (basically once Nina first made it to Scotland) I was utterly charmed and just didn't want to put it down! Nina pretty much has my dream job, and I loved reading about her adventures and living vicariously through her.

I'd seen the ending a mile away, but that's okay. You're allowed to in books like these. It was a perfect comfort read.

Title: Transylvanian Mail Order Bride: A Tale of Buyer's Remorse
Author: Elliot Wolfson
Genre: Paranormal
Rating: 2/5
# pages: 123 pages
Date read: August, 2016

Ben’s world changes when he orders a bride from a shady Romanian company. She’s the discounted option, with a single picture, and free shipping. He actually does all of the paper work and he’s too ashamed to cancel the order. He is shocked, horrified, and a little excited when she arrives at his doorstep.

Amatuer vampire hunter Adela Delca lights the fuse on her mission of revenge. When it backfires she runs to America, right into the arms of a strange gamer with a tangled family history and a dangerous friend.


Really, really badly written (enough to have me rolling my eyes on a regular basis), but still oddly compelling. Not enough to make me want to read any more books by this author, but at least enough that I finished this one. The plot was ridiculously outrageous, turning this into almost a train-wreck read. I didn't much like it, but couldn't look away.

Title: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Author: J.K. Rowling
Genre: Fantasy, play
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 320
Date read: August, 2016

It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn't much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.

While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.


A lot better than I had expected, and miles better than the leaked synopsis made it sound. I wavered between 3 and 4 stars for awhile, but it made me cry on several occasions, so that bumps it up to 4.

I won't deny that it reads a lot like fanfic, but I think that may partly because the media is so different. There were plotholes here and there and some parts seemed to be glossed over, but like everybody had told me, part 2 was heaps better than part 1 and turned the reading experience from a mediocre one, to a really enjoyable one.

I think I'll probably need this for my physical library after all. It'll never live up to the original series, but it doesn't embarrass itself either.

Title: Witches on Parole (WitchLight Trilogy #1)
Author: Debora Geary
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4.5/5
# pages: 421, Audiobook ~8hrs
Date read: July 2013, July 2014, February 2015, August 2016, July 2018, December 2019, December 2021, March 2024

World-famous (and now retired) photographer Jenvieve Adams has a debt to repay, and a soft spot for witches who have lost their way. Or so she thinks, until they actually show up.

Join some of the cast of characters from the very successful A Modern Witch series as they take on a new kind of journey as guides for WitchLight. What happens when an obsessive psychologist and a wordsmithing delinquent get dropped into Witch Central?


First book in this spin-off series to "A Modern Witch" and every bit as charming :) I didn't care much for Elsie (except when she started knitting! That got my fingers twitching as well :) ), but I simply adored Lizard. I also really liked seeing more of Lauren and Nat's lives outside WitchCentral. Lauren's especially. Her work as a realtor - especially once she realized she was a mind witch - fascinates me :)

Of course I'll jump straight on to the next book in the series - I could hardly do anything else :)