Bogormen

Title: Elder
Author: Audrey Faye
Genre: Paranormal
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 336
Date read: July 2020, February 2023

The Ghost Mountain pack has been waiting for their fancy new den building for months, but it won't be the only thing unloading off the trucks.

The coming days will have a lot of surprises - for pot-scrubbing dominants, for betas who weren't expecting to lose their hearing just yet, and for an elder who was present on the day her pack was born and every single day since.

Myrna was ready to stand at the center of her pack's rising. Except that isn't where they need her to be.


So... somehow I forgot to review this when I read it last??? No clue how that happened. Anyway, it follows the standard of Audrey Faye's best books in being heavy on character development and light on plot - but that's part of Ghost Mountain's charm, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Audrey Faye does shifting POVs really well, but I do think she's starting to change viewpoint just a tad too often, which makes for sometimes jarring jumps in the narrative -- and at other times it works really well, so what do I know :-P

Well - I DO know that Xander and Milo need to come home already! But that that's a few books off yet.

Title: The Extraordinaries
Author: T.J. Klune
Genre: YA, LGBTQ, Paranormal
Rating: 4/5
# pages: Audiobook, 13 hrs
Date read: July, 2020

Some people are extraordinary. Some are just extra.

Nick Bell? Not extraordinary. But being the most popular fanfiction writer in the Extraordinaries fandom is a superpower, right?

After a chance encounter with Shadow Star, Nova City’s mightiest hero (and Nick’s biggest crush), Nick sets out to make himself extraordinary. And he’ll do it with or without the reluctant help of Seth Gray, Nick's best friend (and maybe the love of his life).


Quite different from T.J. Klune's other books - I'm amazed by how he keeps changing genres on us all the time. It didn't blow me away like many of his other books did (possibly because it's more obvious YA), but it's still really, really good :-D However, it's also a book that's really, really difficult to review without simultaneously spoiling it, so this will be short.

I love the characters. Klune writes relationships so well, and this was no exception. I adore the way he writes friendships especially.

I love the idea of extraordinaries. In some ways it reminded me a bit of "Scorcher" by Kelly Edwards, and I'm eager to see where Klune will take this in later books in the series.

I love the narrator. Michael Lesley is awesome.

The plot was perhaps slightly predictable? but so well executed, that I didn't really mind. Still, it's one of the reasons I subtracted a star.

But all in all I was not disappointed, and will definitely be reading on once the next books get published.

Title: Hideaway
Author: Nora Roberts
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 454
Date read:
July, 2020

Caitlyn Sullivan had come from a long line of Hollywood royalty, stretching back to her Irish immigrant great-grandfather. At nine, she was already a star—yet still an innocent child who loved to play hide and seek with her cousins at the family home in Big Sur. It was during one of those games that she disappeared. Some may have considered her a pampered princess, but Cate was in fact a smart, scrappy fighter, and she managed to escape her abductors. Dillon Cooper was shocked to find the bloodied, exhausted girl huddled in his house—but when the teenager and his family heard her story they provided refuge, reuniting her with her loved ones.

Cate’s ordeal, though, was far from over. First came the discovery of a shocking betrayal that would send someone she’d trusted to prison. Then there were years spent away in western Ireland, peaceful and protected but with restlessness growing in her soul. Finally, she would return to Los Angeles, gathering the courage to act again and get past the trauma that had derailed her life. What she didn’t yet know was that two seeds had been planted that long-ago night—one of a great love, and one of a terrible vengeance…


Just as captivating as I have come to expect from Nora Roberts' newer books. As always, it is a story about resilience and overcoming a traumatic experience, but while I recognize Nora Roberts' books as being formulaic, it really doesn't bother me, as I still find them very well-written and engaging. I grew to love Cate and her grandparents, and adored Dillon and his family.

I subtracted the last star, because I found the ending a bit too sudden. It didn't really feel like all ends were tied up - or that all motives were explained at least. But that was a minor detail in an otherwise excellent book.

Title: The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Rolling
Author: Neta Jackson
Genre: Christian fiction
Rating: 10/10
# pages: 395
Date read: October 2008, July 2009, July 2012, July 2020

A devastating fire wakes up the Yadas to a new reality: God is on the move.

What I'd like to know is, why does God keep rearranging my comfort zone? It could have something to do with my Yada Yada prayer sisters, who aren't afraid to get in each other's faces and tend to expect big things from God.

But to move forward, sometimes we have to let go of what's behind. In spite of the loss of two dear friends. In spite of the breakup of a teenage love. In spite of the curse of HIV. In spite of prison time hanging over the head of a beloved child. In spite of fire consuming the hopes of those who have nothing.

Yet out of the ashes, God is doing a new thing! It's time for the Yadas to press on, pray on, and get rolling!


Wow... that was some ride. I'm still wiping the tears off my face from the last few chapters. Good tears though. It wasn't sad, just incredibly moving.

I'm sad there are only 7 books in this series, because they are just incredible. I pray I can learn to pray like Jodi and her Yada Yada sisters... and I wouldn't mind hearing that still small voice as clearly either.

Title: The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Tough
Author: Neta Jackson
Genre: Christian fiction
Rating: 5/5
# pages: 366
Date read: October 2008, June 2009, July 2012, July 2020

The Yada Yadas have grown close in the past year, but they're about to learn the real meaning of togetherness.

With a wedding, an early parole, and two baptisms in the lake, everything is feeling pretty great. But without warning, lots of little things become big problems. When a white supremacy hate group targets a local university, the group's own diversity almost becomes a liability. A vicious attack on Noni's husband forces the Yadas to get tough-and fight back together.


It gets difficult finding new things to say about this series, because each book is 'more of the same' - but in a good way! It touches me, it moves me, it makes me laugh, it makes me cry, and most importantly - it challenges me. I need to take a page from these books and get my prayerlife up to snuff.

I liked how this book had everybody involved - not just the Yadas, but their families as well. Josh is growing up to be an amazing guy, and I look forward to reading more about him in the next books. I'm looking foward to seeing more of Becky's growth as well.

Title: The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Down (Book 2) Author: Neta Jackson Genre: Christian fiction Rating: 5/5 # pages: 400 Date read: August 2008, June 2009, July 2012, July 2020

In this second installment of the series, a robbery, a lynching, and a mourning mother shake up the Yada Yada Prayer Group.

One night, while the Yada Yadas are "gettin' down" with God in prayer, a heroine-crazed woman barges into the house and, at knife-point, demands their valuables.

Then a well-meaning gesture incites a backlash of anger within the group forcing them to confront generations of racial division and distrust. The members of the Yada Yada Prayer Group find themselves learning what true forgiveness is.


Brilliant book. The Yada Yada books speak straight to my heart. I'm challenged to pray, praise God and generally take a closer look at my relationship with God. Do I just pay Him lip-service - or do I actually practise what I preach?

"The YYPG Gets Down" is a fitting continuation of the first book, and it raises an interesting question of forgiveness. Do we forgive even if the other person doesn't repent? Can we repent for the sins of others? (Like the Germans asking the Jews for forgiveness for the Holocaust) How can we accept God's forgiveness and learn to live with what we've done? And how do we cope if somebody we've wronged won't forgive us.

A powerful book, and a breath of fresh air. I need to remember to turn to these books when I feel like my spiritual life needs a 'pick me up'.

But why does Ruth have to speak like Yoda? Talks like this she does. Takes some getting used to.