Bogormen

Title: The Hitman's Guide to Making Friends and Finding Love
Author: Alice Winters
Genre: LGBTQ+
Rating: 4.5/5
# pages: ~11hrs
Date read: June 2020

What happens when a snarky hitman and a by-the-book PI cross paths?

Leland
Being a hitman has its perks, but I never thought getting an accidental mooning by an attractive PI while he’s caught on a fence would be one of them. While it’s not exactly love at first sight, he’s captured my interest and won’t let go.

Suddenly, I find myself caught in a game of cat and mouse, determined to attract the attention of Jackson, the PI who should be my enemy. He pretends like he’s not flattered by my flowers and the mentions of my totally-not-fictitious blow-up doll Randy (or was it Dandy?), but I know better. Why else would he be teaming up with me to bring down Hardek, one of the city’s most ruthless criminals?

Jackson
Even though the cops are telling me that the hitman is a notorious contract killer, I can’t help but admit that I’m drawn to him. He’s funny, charismatic, and attractive. There’s no way this ridiculous man can be the person the cops are after.

But when Leland ends up at my doorstep injured, I’m faced with a tough choice. It’s my duty to hand him over to law enforcement, but my heart has other plans. I want to keep him. To protect him. To be with him.

Though one question remains: why in the world does the man have so many d*mn guns?



A 4.5 star review. Rounded down on goodreads, because it was a tiny bit too OTT at times, but oh, how I loved it!

I think Audible recommended this book to me as one of those "If you enjoyed TJ Klune you will also like...", which makes perfect sense, because the books are VERY similar in both writing style, humour and weird characters. I laughed out loud more times than I can count, and pretty much listened to it at any chance I got.

I will add the same disclaimer as most of Klune's books deserve - this book is NOT for everybody. I absolutely loved it, but it is definitely over the top in places, and Leland could very easily get on some people's nerves. His and Jackson's relationship is a bit rushed in places, but ultimately works, and they complement each other nicely. The plot is not entirely realistic, but generally true to its own universe, so it worked.

While the first in a series, it's nicely selfcontained, and could easily be read by itself - however, I will DEFINITELY be getting my hands on the next one sooner rather than later! :-D

Title: The Man Who Didn't Call (a.k.a. Ghosted)
Author: Rosie Walsh
Genre: Chick-lit
Rating: 3.5/5
# pages: 367
Date read: June, 2020

Imagine you meet a man, spend six glorious days together, and fall in love. And it’s mutual: you’ve never been so certain of anything.
So when he leaves for a long-booked holiday and promises to call from the airport, you have no cause to doubt him.

But he doesn’t call.

Your friends tell you to forget him, but you know they're wrong: something must have happened; there must be a reason for his silence.

What do you do when you finally discover you're right? That there is a reason -- and that reason is the one thing you didn't share with each other?
The truth.


A 3.5 star review. Rounded up on goodreads because I had a hard time putting it down once I got properly into it.

Not your usual chick-lit and with a twist that I had NOT guessed ahead of time and which made me flip back through the pages with a "Wait, what?!". Gotta love those unreliable narrators.

I mostly really, really liked it. I loved that Sarah had such a strong network when things seemed to fall apart around her. I loved that the gaping wide plotholes suddenly turned out to be foreshadowing instead. I loved that the plot turned out to have hidden depth to it.

But I closed the book with a feeling of melancholy... almost sorrow. Parts of it were desperately sad, and the happy ending didn't quite make up for what had come before. At the end of the day I liked it - but it wasn't the feel-good book I had expected.

Title: A Wish Upon the Stars (Tales From Verania 4)
Author: T.J. Klune
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 5/5
# pages: 450, Audiobook ~23hrs
Date read: May 2018, January 2019, June 2020

Nearly a year ago, blinded by grief and betrayal, Sam of Wilds made a desperate decision to follow the Great White into the Dark Woods. Now, he emerges to a world changed.

The City of Lockes is a prison. The King has been locked away in the dungeons. The Kingdom of Verania has fallen, and the Dark wizard Myrin sits on the throne.

But soon after his return, Sam learns of a resistance fighting in his name led by a courageous knight, a defiant prince, a pissed-off unicorn, and a half-giant who wants to smash everything in sight. If he has any hope of defeating the villains who have taken their home, Sam must face the consequences of his choices—and the friends he left behind.


My favourite since the first book in the series. It made me laugh, it made me smile, the end was sappy as anything, but the getting there was well worth the ride. It's so far removed from what I usually read, but I'm extremely grateful to Laura and Leslie for reviewing it on their podcast and pushing me out of my comfort zone. I never thought I'd come to love a wizard (no longer apprentice), a hornless (or not?) gay unicorn, an adorable half-giant, a dashing and immaculate knight and a sex-crazed dragon as much as I do. They'd go through fire for each other, and their friendships just work.

I do wish we'd heard more about the other dragons and the time spent in the Dead Woods, but absolutely LOVED Sam's entry back into the "real world". That couldn't have worked out better if it had been scripted.

Flora bora slam, mother-crackers!

Title: Relish: My Life in the Kitchen
Author: Lucy Knisley
Genre: Non-fiction, memoir
Rating: 4.5/5
# pages: 192
Date read: September 2012, June 2014, June 2020


This book should come with a disclaimer: Warning! Will make you HUNGRY! ... and not just plain ole hungry that any apple or biscuit could satisfy. No, hungry for good, high-quality food. Alas all I had available was a bottle of water :-/ So perhaps the disclaimer should be extended to say Make sure you have a snack readily available while reading.

I had not realized that "Relish: My Life in the Kitchen" was a graphic novel when I received it. Actually, I'm rather glad I hadn't, because I think that would have given me preconceived ideas of what the book was like - and they would have been wrong. I only discovered because the book was too big for my iPad to handle smoothly (it took awhile to turn pages), but fortunately my laptop handled it just fine, so I just switched to that instead :)

"Relish" is the story of Lucy Knisley's upbringing as the daughter of two foodies and an aspiring foodie herself. Each chapter describes a part of her life as it is connected to a food experience of some sort, and usually ends with a recipe for just that food. Several of which I absolutely have to try out now!

The media worked really well for this kind of book. I was a bit apprehensive about the "comic book style" at first (as shown by my 'preconceived ideas'), but it actually really worked! I loved the drawings and the writing style.

Lucy's love for cooking and good food is apparent in every anecdotes she shares with the reader, and it turns this book into a delightfully charming and witty read. I highly recommend it.