Tusk Love by Thea Guanzon

Started: 9/6/2026

Finished: DNF

Year: 2025

Pages: 288

Genre: fantasty

Grade: D

Reason for reading: fan of Critical Role, library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "As the daughter of an ambitious merchant, Guinevere’s path has been predetermined: marry into a noble house of the Dwendalian Empire, raise her family’s station, and live quietly as a lordling’s obedient wife. But Guinevere longs for a life unbounded by expectations, for freedom and passion and adventure.

"Those distant dreams become a sudden reality when her caravan is beset by bandits, leaving her guards slain and Guinevere stranded alone on the dangerous Amber Road. Her only chance of survival is to travel alongside Oskar, the aloof half-orc who saved her during the attack.

"Unlike Guinevere, Oskar’s path is not so set in stone. With his mother dead and his apprenticeship abandoned, all that’s left is a long, lonely walk to a land he’s never seen to find family he’s never met. The last thing he needs is a spoiled waif like Guinevere slowing him down—even if the spark between them sizzles with promise.

"Despite his cold exterior, Oskar is brave and thoughtful and unlike anyone Guinevere has ever met. And while Guinevere may be sheltered, she brings out a softness in him that he has never dared to feel before. As the flames of their passion grow, they realize that soon they’ll need to choose between their expected destinations or their blossoming romance."

Opinion: The writing was fine. I didn't care about the main characters...or the fantasy world even though I have enjoyed the Critical Role campaigns that were held in the same world.

Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I've Cried About by Isabel Klee

Started: 9/4/2026

Finished: 9/6/2026

Year: 2026

Pages: 274

Genre: Memoir/biography

Grade: B-

Reason for reading: library book

Blurb (from Amazon): "A Jersey girl by birth, Isabel Klee had always wanted to live in New York City. At age 20, she got her chance, ditching her college upstate and moving into a grungy basement apartment in Manhattan. Dog-obsessed since childhood, her first post-grad job was becoming an assistant to a dog photographer, and something clicked into place: a career focused on helping dogs was the new dream

"Isabel quickly found a passion for rehabilitating rescue dogs and helping them get adopted. At the same time, she was caught up in a whirlwind of friendships, parties, fickle boyfriends and grand romances, which she recounts in honest, tender, and sometimes devastating chapters about the search for love and belonging.

"Isabel’s first true love, though, was Simon, a fluffy puppy who’d been saved from the meat trade. As the highs and lows of her twenties hit Isabel in wave after wave, it was Simon who kept her grounded. Together, Isabel and Simon created a community of dog-lovers and a tight-knit group of friends pursuing their dreams

"In this honest and moving memoir, Isabel weaves together the stories of her foster dogs—and the challenges she helped them overcome—with tales of complicated relationships, hard decisions, and great loves in New York City, all leading to a happy ending not only for the rescue pups, but for Isabel herself."

Opinion: I follow Isabel on IG and of course had heard about her memoir. I'm a lover of pups, like she and was interested in her backstory. Simon has unfortunately passed but he was a great helper to Isabel and all the fosters that she brought in when he was alive.

Backtrack by Marc Cameron

Started: August 23, 2026

Finished: September 3, 2026

Year: 2026

Pages: 354

Genre: mystery

Grade: C

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "1977. D Wayne Cutter is a former U.S. Army Green Beret, part-time horseshoer, and a full-time Texas deputy sheriff with a second grandchild on the way when a quiet Sunday morning ends in murder and a manhunt. The theft of five million dollars in diamonds from an armored truck leaves two guards dead, one outlaw tracked down and taken out by Cutter, and another, Ricky Lee Pink—two-hundred-forty pounds of teenage rage—sentenced to life. The diamonds were never recovered. And Pinky never forgot that heist gone violently wrong.

"2026. Following in the righteous footsteps of his late grandfather, Deputy U.S. Marshal Arliss Cutter gets word that Pinky has been granted release. Nursing a grudge for decades, Pinky vows to avenge the murder of his criminal mentor and find the whereabouts of the stolen gems that he believes is a buried Cutter family secret. Boarding an Alaskan cruise ship, and joined by two miscreant cellmates and his penpal girlfriend, Pinky aims for Anchorge—home to his ultimate target: everyone Arliss holds near and dear. Arliss must move fast because Pinky has the edge. And he has the mind to make the last living Cutter pay."

Opinion: There seems to be a lot of misconnects for me-why would they connect Cutter with the diamonds? Why the introduction of Russians at the end? Still lots of good action.

Tantrum by Rachel Eve Moulton

Started: 8/23/2026

Finished: DNF

Year: 2025

Pages: 176

Genre: "horror"

Grade: F

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Thea’s third pregnancy was her easiest. She wasn’t consumed with anxiety about the baby. She wasn’t convinced it was going to be born green, or have a third eye, or have tentacles sprouting from its torso. Thea was fine. Her baby would be fine.

"But when the nurses handed Lucia to her, Thea just knew. Her baby girl was a monster. Not only was Lucia born with a full set of teeth and a devilish glint in her eye, but she’s always hungry. Indiscriminately so. One day Lucia pointed at her baby brother, looked Thea dead in the eye and said, “I eat.”

"Thea doesn’t know whether to be terrified or proud of her rapacious baby girl. And as Lucia starts growing faster and talking more, dark memories bubble to the surface--flashes from Thea’s childhood that won’t release their hooks from her heart. Lucia wants to eat the world. Thea might just let her."

Opinion: A lot of eye rolling. A lot of ridiculousness. Not scary, Not horror....just annoying.

Point of Origin by Patricia Cornwell

Started: 8/16/2026

Finished: 8/23/2026

Year: 1998

Pages: 272

Genre: mystery/thriller

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "The devastating fire tore through the horse farm, destroying everything it touched. Picking through the wreckage, Dr. Kay Scarpetta uncovers human remains—the work of an audacious and wily killer who uses fire to mask his brutal murders. And when Scarpetta learns that her old nemesis, Carrie Grethen, has escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane and is somehow involved, the investigation becomes personal. Tragedy strikes close to home. And Scarpetta must match Grethen’s every move with one of her own to douse the inferno of evil that threatens everyone around her. . . ."

Opinion: Tragedy. Makes the TV series a little wrong. Good mystery

Gingerbread Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke, Laura Levine, Leslie Meier

Started: August 13, 2026

Finished: August 16, 2026

Year: 2010

Pages: 359

Genre: cozy mystery

Grade: C

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with Fluke series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): ""Gingerbread Cookie Murder" By Joanne Fluke

"When Hannah Swensen finds her neighbor Ernie Kusak with his head bashed in and sprawled on the floor of his condo next to an upended box of Hannah's Gingerbread Cookies, she discovers a flurry of murder suspects that's as long as her holiday shopping list.

"The Dangers Of Gingerbread Cookies" By Laura Levine

"Jaine Austen has been enlisted to help with her parents' retirement community's play The Gingerbread Cookie That Saved Christmas. Playboy Dr. Preston McCay is playing the role of the gingerbread cookie when he "accidentally" falls to his death during the final act. Now Jaine must figure out if one of the doctor's jealous lovers was capable of murder.

"Gingerbread Cookies And Gunshots" By Leslie Meier

"When Lucy Stone discovers the body of Rick Juergens, whose five-year-old son Nemo disappeared, she senses foul play. Crumbs from a gingerbread cookie Lucy gave to Nemo are found in the back seat of Rick's car. With the hours quickly ticking till Christmas, Lucy races against the clock to find a killer before he strikes again."

Opinion: Some of these were more enjoyable than others. All were fairly predictable but stil a decent read.

Night Shift by Stephen King

Started: 8/10/2026

Finished: 8/10/2026

Year: 1978

Pages: 344

Genre: short stories

Grade: C

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Night Shift is Stephen King's first collection of short stories--a perfect showcase of just how far King's dark imagination can go. Here we see mutated rats gone bad ("Graveyard Shift"); a cataclysmic virus that threatens humanity ("Night Surf," the basis for The Stand); a possessed, evil lawnmower ("The Lawnmower Man"); unsettling children from the heartland ("Children of the Corn"); a smoker who will try anything to stop ("Quitters, Inc."); a reclusive alcoholic who begins a gruesome transformation ("Gray Matter"); and many more. This is Stephen King at his horrifying best."

Opinion: As with any collection, some stores grabbed me, others did not-some I didn't finish because they didn't grab me.

Dungeons and Danger by Elizabeth Penney

Started: 8/9/2026

Finished: 8/10/2026

Year: 2026

Pages: 282

Genre: cozy mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing series

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "As Halloween approaches, Ravensea Castle is bustling with excitement as Nora Asquith welcomes the fall season guests to her family's newly converted bed and breakfast. A historian studying the movements of the Vikings has traced their exploits to Ravensea. A certain Viking woman, known as the Red Maiden, landed here and the historian believes she buried a treasure hoard before the castle was built. He is hopeful he can find the hoard now. Nora can't help but wonder if the enigmatic castle ghost she's always referred to as the woman in red could be this very Viking?

"Meanwhile, a team of four ghost hunters is coming to stay at Ravensea for the filming of Britain's Got Ghosts. Former students of the historian, the group arrives with their own rivalries and baggage. They try to see who can make the most paranormal contacts and end up getting more than they bargained for.

"When the historian is murdered during a Viking festival on castle grounds and his notes go missing, Nora can't help but wonder if the treasure was why he was killed . . . and could it be connected to the visiting ghost hunters? Additional "accidents" befalling the hunters raise the stakes as Nora races to find the killer―and the treasure―before another death occurs."

Opinion: A fun mystery wrapped with Viking lore and ghost hunting.