Bogormen

Title: The House Witch
Author: Delemhach
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4/5
# pages: Audiobook ~17hrs
Date read: May 2025

When Finlay Ashowan joins the staff of the King and Queen of Daxaria, he’s an enigma. No one knows where he comes from or how he came to be where he is, which suits Fin just fine. He’s satisfied simply serving as the royal cook, keeping nosy passersby out of his kitchen, and concocting some truly uncanny meals.

But Fin’s secret identity doesn’t stay hidden for long. After all, it’s not every day a house witch and his kitten familiar, Kraken, take to meddling in imperial affairs. As his powers are gradually discovered by the court, Fin finds himself involved in a slew of intrigues: going head-to-head with knights with less-than-chivalrous intentions, helping to protect the pregnant queen, fending off the ire of the royal mage, and uncovering a spy in the castle. And that’s only the beginning—because Fin’s past is catching up with him just as his love life is getting complicated . . .


Lovely cozy fantasy :-) The first in a series, but while it did have a bit of an abrupt ending, it was very much a fairytale-style ending, so it was still nicely self-contained. But very charming, so I want to continue on with the series.

I want to read more about life in the kitchen - how Fin uses his magic, how the knights and maids work side by side ... basically more cozy fantasy stuff and less political intrigue stuff ;-)

Title: Last Chance
Author: Sarah Dessen
Genre: YA
Rating: 3.5/5
# pages: 246
Date read: October, 2017

Always the outcast, Colie doesn't expect her trip to the North Carolina coast to change a thing. But when she finds a job waitressing at the Last Chance cafe, she also finds acceptance, new friends and the beginnings of romance.

Very stereotypical YA except that it for once focused more about starting to accept and love yourself rather than finding romance (although of course that featured to). I wasn't blown away by it, but liked it well enough.

Title: Love Letters to the Dead
Author: Ava Dellaira
Genre: YA, epistolary
Rating: 3/5
# pages: 336 pages
Date read: July, 2015

It begins as an assignment for English class: Write a letter to a dead person.

Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain because her sister, May, loved him. And he died young, just like May. Soon, Laurel has a notebook full of letters to the dead - to people like Janis Joplin, Heath Ledger, Amelia Earhart, and Amy Winehouse - though she never gives a single one of them to her teacher. She writes about starting high school, navigating the choppy waters of new friendships, learning to live with her splintering family, falling in love for the first time, and, most important, trying to grieve for May. But how do you mourn for someone you haven't forgiven?

It's not until Laurel has written the truth about what happened to herself that she can finally accept what happened to May. And only when Laurel has begun to see her sister as the person she was - lovely and amazing and deeply flawed — can she truly start to discover her own path.


A really weird reading experience. For the first 60-70% I didn't care overly much for it, and actually put it down for long stretches at a time. But even so, whenever I considered just giving up on it altogether, something would happen that would make me want to read more after all.

Then yesterday the book redeemed itself to me. Instead of continuing down her distructive path, three quarters of the way through the book Laurel suddenly started making smarter choices and actually voiced her thoughts and her troubles, instead of letting them move her to make stupid decisions.

Which meant that I ended up absolutely loving the last 25% of the book, and had tears in my eyes as I reached the end.

I can't in good conscience recommend the book, as the first half really was a slog to get through. But for myself I'm glad I kept at it, as the end really did make the rest worthwhile.

Title: The Truth About Forever
Author: Sarah Dessen
Genre: YA
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 374
Date read: September, 2011

Sixteen-year-old Macy Queen is looking forward to a long, boring summer. Her boyfriend is going away. She's stuck with a dull-as-dishwater job at the library. And she'll spend all of her free time studying for the SATs or grieving silently with her mother over her father's recent unexpected death. But everything changes when Macy is corralled into helping out at one of her mother's open house events, and she meets the chaotic Wish Catering crew. Before long, Macy joins the Wish team. She loves everything about the work and the people. But the best thing about Wish is Wes—artistic, insightful, and understanding Wes—who gets Macy to look at life in a whole new way, and really start living it.

This book seemed quite different from the other book I've read by Sarah Dessen, and from what I expected from her from hearing from other readers. In one way it was the sane though - there's apparently always sone sort of tragedy that has occurred to the main character shortly before the book starts, and which she is coming to terms with during the book. But unlike the last book (where the tragedy was rape), here it is the loss of a parent, and somehow that made the book more rateable. This seemed like a true depiction of a summer of change in an average teenager's life. I really enjoyed it, even if I had hoped Macy would quit the info desk and confront Jason earlier.

Title: Holly's Inbox
Author: Holly Denham
Genre: Chick-lit
Rating: 3.5/5
# pages: 710
Date read: October, 2010

Meet Holly Denham. It's her first day as a receptionist at a London investment bank and inexperienced Holly is struggling. How's a working girl supposed to have a love life with a demanding job, crazy friends, a dysfunctional family, and gossipy colleagues? Not to mention that Holly's been keeping a secret from everyone - and the past is about to catch up with her.

An affair with a sexy VP heats things up at the office, but when Holly's first flame (who, she thinks, left her in the lurch) gets a job at the same company, complications abound and Holly's inbox becomes a daily source of drama, laughter and scandal.

I presume this is fiction? Although it did confuse me that the author and the main character's names were the same, but as far as I could gather, the emails (originally found at www.hollysinbox.com) are all fictional.

Quite entertaining, and a very quick read (it may be 700+ pages, but there's so little writing on each, that it reads like a 2-300 page book). It was a bit too Bridget Jones'ish in places for my tastes (I'm glad Holly didn't make quite as many bad decisions though - her judgement was definitely much better thankfully), and I had a hard time relating to many of the characters, which obviously brought the rating down some (also, do people IRL really get as bitchy as Jennie? I've certainly never met any - but that may just be luck!). On the other hand, I loved the writing style, found myself laughing out loud in several places, and had a hard time putting it down, when it was time to head off to bed last night.

Title: While My Sister Sleeps
Author: Barbara Delinsky
Genre: Chick-lit
Rating: 4.5/5
# pages: 318
Date read: October, 2009

Molly and Robin Snow are sisters in the prime of their lives. So when Molly learns that Robin - an Olympic athlete and the favorite child - has suffered a massive heart attack, the news couldn't be more shocking. At the hospital, the Snow family receives a grim prognosis: Robin may never regain consciousness.

Feelings of guilt and jealousy flare up as Robin's family struggles to cope and their relationships are put to the ultimate test. It's up to Molly to make the tough decisions, and she soon makes discoveries that destroy some of her most cherished beliefs about the sister she thought she knew.

What I enjoy most about Barbara Delinsky's writing is that though she writes chick-lit, it's not fluff, and she actually dares take up very serious subjects.

I don't know if it's standard for her work, or just a coincidence that the two books I've read by her have both been coping with a loved one in a coma (this one and "Coast Road"), but they've handled it in very different ways, so I didn't feel like I was just reading the same book all over again. The characters were well fleshed out, and you got to appreciate - or at least sympathise with all of them. The story was very poignant - I had a hard time putting it down and it made me cry more than once.

I think I may have found a new author to add to my favourites.

Title: How To Teach Filthy Rich Girls
Author: Zoey Dean
Genre: Chick-lit
Rating: 10/10
# pages: 304
Date read: June 2007

Review: Clueless meets Sweet Valley High - PRICELESS!
"How to Teach Filthy Rich Girls" is Chick Lit with capital C and capital L which makes it one of the most delightful books I've read in a very long time. If it is ever turned into a movie, it will be the most delightful of its kind since Clueless - and one can only hope.

Average-girl-wannabe-journalist Maggie Smith moves to Manhattan straight out of Yale, expecting to get a job at one of the big magazines and eliminating her $75.000 debt in no time at all. Unfortunately, real life doesn't work like that, and she is only just scraping by, working at trashy tabloid, when in the span of two days she is robbed, fired and her apartment burns down. However, as a last favour, her ex-boss makes her an offer she can't refuse.

Seventeen-year-old twins Rose and Sage Baker are Palm Beach's version of Paris and Nicole - rich, superficial and never thinking beyond the next party. Maggie's challenge is to tutor these two girls and get them into Duke. If she manages this, her debts will be paid off.

Teaching girls who do not want to be taught is never easy, so if Maggie wants to pull this one off, she must be able to look the part and act the part. But can you act a part for so long without it becoming part of you?

"How to Teach Filthy Rich Girls" is a lot more substantial than expected at first glance, and I read it in 2 hours straight, being utterly unable to put it down, and found myself laughing out loud at Zoey Dean's masterful plot and witty one-liners. She has a wonderful way with words and manages to create charming characters where you expect to find none. Rose and Sage's grandmother is a street-smart and sly elderly woman, willing to take risks for a good cause, and even Rose and Sage themselves - spoiled and bratty as they seem at first - are living proofs that looks can be deceptive. (Written for Armchair Interviews)

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Title: Just Listen
Author: Sarah Dessen
Genre: YA, fiction
Rating: 8/10
# pages: 371
Date read: February 2007

Summary: Grade 9 Up Annabel Greene seemingly had everything: cool friends, close family, good grades, and a part-time modeling career in town. But it all came crashing down, and Annabel has spent the summer in shaky, self-imposed exile. She finds herself dreading the new school term and facing, well, everyone again. The last thing she wants to do is revisit old friendships while the losses are painful, the secrets behind the rifts are almost unbearable. Her solid family seems fragile, too. What happened to cause the stiff silences and palpable resentments between her two older sisters? Why is no one in her loving but determinedly cheerful family talking about her middle sister's eating disorder? Annabel's devastating secret is revealed in bits and snatches, as readers see her go to amazing lengths to avoid confrontation. Caught between wanting to protect her family and her own struggles to face a devastating experience, Annabel finds comfort in an unlikely friendship with the school's most notorious loner. Owen has his own issues with anger, but has learned to control it and helps her realize the dangers of holding in her emotions. Dessen explores the interior and exterior lives of her characters and shows their flaws, humanity, struggles, and incremental successes. (From Amazon.com)

Review: Good quality teen fiction is hard to find these days. With the notable exceptions of Stephanie Meyer and Tamora Pierce most YA writers tend to 'talk down' to their readers, and their books read more like the script to movies like "Clueless" (am in no way mocking that movie - I love it - but it doesn't mean it makes for a good book) than to fiction worth reading.

"Just Listen" is a delightful change to this 'norm'. It was well written, well thought out and not just concerned about "who's in love with whom". Though I'm probably somewhat older than the target audience, I really enjoyed it. The characters were three-dimensional and you got to know and care about them. This is the first Sarah Dessen book I've read, but I'll be sure to check out more of her books after this.

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