My Book is in the Library!

I realized the other day that someone ordered (or requested) my book for our local library and the other day, it showed up on the New Teen Books display!

CRAZY!!!

 

Top Ten Tuesday: Indie Authors, Books and Bookstores!

Once upon a time I did Top Ten Tuesday posts all the time! It's how I started blogging and finding a place in the community. Awhile back, I had the great idea to do it again in order to find my blogger mojo again, but it didn't last long. Now I'm hoping to try again!

And when I looked up the topic for this week I was all... DANG... this is a sign! INDIE BOOKS and AUTHOR STUFF! LOL!

I promise, I saw the topic after I decided I want to do it this week!

Anyway, this is a meme that has been going for YEARS and is currently run by That Artsy Reader Girl (I'm so impressed at the longevity of this thing!) and like I said, today's topic is an Indie Freebie so a list of all things bookish indie. I'm going to go with a bunch of different things

Indie Authors

1. Cindy Steel: A new-to-me author so I've only read one book of hers (The One With the Kiss Cam) but loved it and want to write books just like this. I THINK she's indie... (I just tried to look it up to confirm, but I'm still not sure!) She writes really fun romcoms and currently has a book out that's in a series of a bunch of fall inspired books with a bunch of other indie (I think) authors. I want to read them all!

2. R. Lynn Hanks: She is an author I'm still getting to know, but so far so good. She markets her books as "flirty space fantasies", which sounds like the best thing ever, right? I'm currently reading her first book, Gamma Raids I. The characters have been best friends forever, and work and live on a space station but as drama unfolds regarding their work, they start to realize that maybe they are more than friends after all!

Previous Indie Authors that have moved to trad:

3.Teresa Richards: I met her at a conference awhile back and she is so much fun. She's published a bunch of indie books, but then this past year, she published her first trad book called Last to Leave and it's so much fun. You can check out  my full review here. It's an awesome mash up genres and is perfect for people who love gaming and reality shows.

4. Beth Brower: Of course she had to be mentioned. Her Emma M. Lion books are ALL THE CRAZE right now (if you haven't read them yet, seriously though, what are you waiting for!!??) and her story of starting indie is so inspiring. She now has an amazing global publishing deal and it's just the best thing ever. And yeah, go read these books now! (or listen... the audio is so much fun!)

Indie Books

5. Always Best Buds: Of course this is where I have to mention my own book! Always Best Buds was published this past May and is a cute YA (or upper MG) romance told through letters the two girls write to each other during their junior year of high school in 1982. Lots of fun '80s pop culture references and lots of light teenage angst and drama. You can watch a book trailer here... and check it out on Amazon here.

6. Still Mine by Elizabeth Vernon Taylor: This is a memoir my friend wrote about her experience with her still-born baby. The whole year leading up to the birth and all the excitement her family was feeling and then the circumstances of what happened. It's heart breaking but also very inspiring. You should totally read it!

Indie Bookstores

We have a lot of indie bookstores in the area, but here are my favorites, and the ones that put on a lot of great author events and/or have a huge presence in the area.

7. Folklore Bookstore

8. Poppy Books

9. The King's English

10. Pioneer Book

What a fun one to jump back into the Top Ten Tuesday routine with! And I truly hope to start connecting with some of you again. 

 

20 YA Books You Should Read!

(Cross posted from my Substack newsletter: Reading Through the Chaos.)


This past month I’ve participated in a BookTube event called YA’UGUST where we celebrate reading YA books. As part of that, I posted some videos highlighting a couple of awesome YA book lists.

First up was books that are currently getting a lot of buzz. The ones people are talking about and adding to their TBRs like crazy. And I get it because I want to add them to mine too. So yea, I haven’t read any of these books yet, but I hope to soon!


Have you read any and what did you think? Are they worth the hype?

Fake Skating by Lynn Painter
Release Me by Tahereh Mafi
If Only I Had Told Her by Laura Nowlin
The Escape Game by Marissa Meyer and Tamara Moss
Shadow Reaper by Lynette Noni
The Secret World of Briar Rose by Cindy Pham
Such a Lucky Girl by Wendy Heard
Behind Five Willows by June Hur
The Sun and the Star Maker by Rachel Griffin
I Could Give You the Moon by Ann Liang




To watch the video click here.

Then I created this list of some diverse books… books with POC authors or characters. With this list, I have actually read them all and highly recommend.


Have you read any of these? Do you agree with me that they are all great ones?

Lunar New Year Love Story by Gene Luen Yang
All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir
The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi
Gods and Comics by Kat Cho
Love Me Tomorrow by Emiko Jean
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh
Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez
Pride by Ibi Zoboi

To watch the video click here.




Let me know what you think about these lists! 

August 2026 Monthly Wrap Up!

 It was an awesome month of reading YA books for YA'UGUST!

Here's what I read:

The Women by Kristin Hannah: NOT for YA'UGUST, but for book club. I hurried and read it at the beginning of the month. And yes, it deserves all the hype it's been given. Such a powerful story about a girl's experience as a nurse in the Vietnam War and then her dealing with PTSD after she gets home. So emotional and heart wrenching. But ending with a feeling of hope. I loved that I didn't have to go away from it feeling terrible.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon: The cute first book in a series of related stories about a girl and a guy who's parents have conspired to put them together (for a sort of arranged marriage situation) and they get angry at that, but fall in love anyway. They learn how a lot along the way, especially how to embrace their culture without sacrificing themselves.⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Secret Astronomers by Jessica Walker: A cool looking book with amazing illustrations (like a graphic novel) that I've been really looking forward to. It's about two girls who are communicating through writing notes to each other in this old astronomy textbook they find at their school library. The one girl is trying to solve a mystery surrounding her mom's time at the high school in the 80s and the other is trying to just be the good kid. The premise for it is great, but I felt like the story fell a little flat and got over powered by the agendas and messages.⭐⭐⭐

The Killing Rules by Bree Despain: I was able to go to the launch party for this one and buy the book on that day. So excited to get to it! It's a great story that includes romance, horror and suspense. Our girl is compelled to kill, so she has worked out a system where she only kills the bad guys. Our boy is the editor for the school newspaper and he is on a mission to figure out who is behind the killing spree in their town and finally, once and for all, who killed his father three years before. The two of them have had eyes for each for years, but had grown apart in recent years. Now they are pushed together again to accomplish their goals. It gets pretty intense! But so much fun at the same time. Great story and I'm so happy Bree is back to publishing again after some long years away. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

13 Days of Summer by Stephanie Kate Strohm: This was a fun road trip story where three girls who are massive Swifties get tickets to Taylor Swift, but they live in Maine and the concert is in LA... so they drive across the country to get there and have all sorts of adventures along the way. They pick up a boy at the first rest stop who has been abandoned by his ride and he is instantly meshed into the group and bonds with our main girl. It's a fun one! If you are a Swiftie you really NEED to read it! ⭐⭐⭐⭐

A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir: This is the third in the Ember in the Ashes series and one I've been trying to finish up for a long time. It took me a minute to get into it and there were parts that moved slow, however, it picked up big time toward the end and it for sure as intense as the rest of the books. And there's a big reveal, oh my word! Now I have one more book to finish the series. Such a ride this story! ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Snow in Love by various authors: This one is a compilation of four short YA stories centered around Christmas. The authors are Kasie West, Nic Stone, Melissa de la Cruz and Aimee Freidman. They were all cute and fun, but of course I enjoyed Kasie West's the best, which actually happened to be a road trip story again! The characters are trying to drive home from Denver to California because the snow has grounded the planes. And the adventures happen! And love blooms! ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Always Jane by Jenn Bennett: I chose this one to be my last official YA'UGUST book because it filled in a square that gave me a Bingo! This one is about a girl who works for this big wig music industry dude, and she is hanging out with his family at the big resort at the lake for the summer, and his son is there and they clash, but then they don't. There's a back story that makes it hard for them to get over some stuff, but it's a pretty intense relationship in the end and I loved seeing the boy be so so SWOONY over the girl. Great stuff! And lots of music references in this book too. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

It's been a great reading month! And I have an amazing month planned for September! One week of reading on the Oregon coast and lots of audio books while traveling. Also... meeting Sabaa Tahir on the 30th. So excited!

How did your month go?

For a video version of this post, head on over to the channel!

Defending My Passion

(Cross posted from my Substack newsletter)

Last week YouTube made an announcement that hurt my heart and caused me some reflection. I wanted to rage-write my feelings but decided to wait until I calmed down a bit, so here’s hoping I have.

I’ve been uploading videos on YouTube for ten years now (not counting the for-fun family home movie style videos on my personal account) with varying degrees of success, where success equals views. (The definition of success really varies for everyone!)

When people become YouTubers, they often have the monetization moment as a goal in mind. But when I first started ten years ago with the K-pop channel, I had no idea that monetization was really even a possibility. And then SURPRISE, that channel popped off and we reached that milestone quickly and suddenly I was like, well, okay then, let’s get a little money for all the work this channel takes. Cool. (The money was very miniscule still, especially since the type of videos I posted were mostly copyrighted due to the whole music topic, and copyrighted videos earn you no money.)

Then I decided to start a book channel, to play off my success as a book blogger, and to use the experience I had gained as a K-pop YouTuber. It was something I’d thought about for a long time, but didn’t think my writing about books would translate well to talking about books (which it doesn’t really) but it seemed like it was the thing to do, so I jumped in.

I had a video go crazy right from the beginning and I thought, oh wow! I might actually be able to do this thing! Still, I didn’t think making money would happen, but again, it would be nice because the work it takes to do a channel is insane.

All this time, YouTube had parameters for becoming monetized: get 1000 subscribers, and 4000 watch time hours (or 10 million views on your Shorts.) I got to the 1000 subscribers after a year or two (I can’t remember when it actually happened) and the 4000 hours I would have had fairly quickly after that first year thanks to that one video. BUT, everything resets every day (to the 365 previous days) so when we rolled around a year past that popular video, my watch time hours dropped to less than 2000 and have been dropping ever since.

I can’t figure out how to get views and watch time to grow.

So I assumed I’d never ever get to the 4000 hours.

Which is fine, if monetization isn’t the goal. BUT, even if it isn’t the bottom line goal, it’s always NICE to think that getting a little money for all the work might be possible. Sigh. Everyone always wants to say they never want to monetize anyway, but I call that crap because most people would like the validation of money no matter what they say otherwise.

Which brings us to last week when YouTube said that those watch time hours will now be doubled and in order to get monetized, you need 8000 hours… or 20 million views on your Shorts (and that’s in 90 days I forgot to say.) The subs stay the same.

To me, this feels like a slap in the face to small struggling channels…. even if I feel like I’d never manage to reach the first goal post. It’s hard to explain. Think of a race and you’re struggling and trying and working and running and then someone takes that finish line and puts it TWICE as far away. It’s painful and so extremely frustration.

And for someone who wonders every day, what is the point, it makes me think maybe just throwing in the towel and being done is the answer, even though I hate to be a so-called quitter.

THEN, I see the discourse on online about this new thing, and many people snarkily saying things like: “Well, we’ll see who has the passion now!” and “Well, none of this matters if you are passionate about what you do!”

Tons of the passion word being thrown around. And UGH! I want to blow up with anger!

After struggling for nearly four years with this booktube channel, trying so hard to make videos that people will watch, to keep up with the “consistency” rule, to keep pep talking myself that low views don’t matter. . .and then to be told that I don’t have PASSION because I am frustrated by the goal post moving. . .makes me crazy.



To have been blogging about books for TWENTY years, to have gushed all that time about my love for books, to have built up the community, to have led events that saw some traction, to have made friends all over the world… and then be told that I don’t have PASSION… makes me crazy.

To have struggled with writing for TWENTY years, thinking about it, doing it, not doing it, doing it again, creating writing groups that fail, finally getting one going, writing draft after draft of many different stories, going over and over and over again to conferences, and then finally this year being brave enough to self-publish my first book, and then be told that I don’t have PASSION… makes me crazy.

To have jumped into a fandom that many people look down on, that many people make fun off, that many people say “aren’t you a little old” and “isn’t that a little weird” but instead of listening to them, I embraced the fandom, created the channel, gained views and followers, was a special guest twice at a huge convention in LA, have taken three days to travel countless times to go to concerts… and then be told that I don’t have PASSION… makes me crazy.


If there’s anything I DO have, it’s PASSION.

And if there’s anything I am NOT, it’s a quitter.

But that doesn’t mean that moving around milestones and making it harder for the small people, isn’t frustrating and doesn’t hurt. So yeah, I am sad, passion or no passion.

On Reading YA for YA'UGUST!

The following is cross posted from my Substack newsletter page!

On Reading YA

One of my favorite things to read is YA books. I know it was a trend a few years ago, and people might be thinking it’s not that cool anymore for an old reader to still be reading YA, but I jumped on that wagon way back then and have yet to get off.

I truly think YA books are some of the best reading out there. It’s something I like to champion and gush about to this day.

That’s why every August, I celebrate YA books on my BookTube channel (and wherever else I’m talking about reading, like here and Instragram/Threads) with my friend Mariandrea (@books_and_bocadillos) We call this celebration YA’UGUST… the month of reading YA!

Of course I’m reading YA all year long but during August I love to hype it up a bit more. Here are my talking points:

Even if they are written for a younger audience, older people can still read them and get a TON out of them.


Even if they are written for a younger audience, the actual writing is still amazing and deep and lush and beautiful. (All the talk about YA books being “lesser than” makes me so crazy!)


Sometimes, though, it’s true that YA books are lighter and “easier” to read, which can be a balm in this world of hard things.


YA books have the breadth and range of genres, just like adult books. (YA is a category, not a genre.)


It is true that in recent years some YA books (and their authors) might be targeted to an older audience, thanks to the trend mentioned above. But there are still a TON of books out there with the aim to attract younger readers.


Bottom line: YA books are just so much fun!

Mariandrea has come up with a fun image bingo board to help get your creative book choosing juices flowing for YA reading in YA’UGUST. To participate, you just have to read one book, but if you want to go above and beyond, try to get a bingo!

Here are just some of the YA books I’d love to read this month:

Mariandrea and I also thought it would be fun to recommend a YA book to each other, so that book is actually my first YA read this month! 

I’m loving it so far!




What are some of your favorite YA books? Let me know in comments!

(I’ll have more on some YA lists to share further on into the month. Stay tuned!)

July 2026 Reading Check In

 Here's what I read (and listened to) this month:

My Next Breath by Jeremy Renner: A memoir about his terrible Snocat accident three years ago. He describes in graphic detail what happened, and then how he found the strength to recover. It's quite the story and he tells it in a very unforgettable way. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Seeking Persephone by Sarah M. Eden: I listened to this on our road trip... I book I've heard about for years but never managed to fit in. It was perfect for road trip listening! A lovely regency romance that has now been turned into a TV series. Have you watched or read it?⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow: Lots and lots of buzz around this one with the new TV series and all. So I listened to it on they way home from the road trip. It was fun to see all these familiar events from Mary's POV, but it did tend to drag for me in the end. Still I gave it ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Emerald Shadow Golden Whisper by J. A. Bennett: A really fun re-imagining of Robin Hood... a Robin Hood romantasy as it's being marketing. Robin Hood and Marian with magic. So good! ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Every Beat After by Sara B. Larson: The first adult book for this author. A sweet romance that is both heart warming and heart breaking. Set in a Swedish bakery about a girl who is struggling with the aftermath of getting a heart transplant. She meets the cousin of her roommate and sparks fly, in all the ways both good and bad. I loved it! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

That's what I read! How about you! This month of August is YA reading for me... YA'GUST! (More on that in another post.) I can't wait to get to a bunch of books I've been neglecting.

Here's a few pictures of what I've been up to this past month.

Three years old!

Wedding number 2 of the month!

The finale of our trip... sunset on the beach while flying kites. So perfect!

Wedding number 1 of the month, which turned out to be a sibling trip!

Lots of grandkid tending!

May and June 2026 Reading Check In

 

Oh man I got a bit behind again! Here's what I've been up to these past couple of months!

MAY

Last to Leave by Teresa Richards: This was a Netgalley ARC read for an author I've meet at a conference. So that was fun! It's about an influencer gamer girl who ends up on a reality show where she and other influencers act out and have to solve a mystery game. The "last to leave" wins! But there's all sorts of mysteries going on, and she gets all mixed up in it all. Very fun mash up of genres and etc. I enjoyed it! ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor: I finally go to this one, the sequel of Strange the Dreamer and yeah. SOOOO good. What a great series this one is. So intense and so page-turney, swoony, and all the things. I loved this reading experience.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman: This was the book club book for May. I was wary I would like it at all, but turned out I thought it was pretty funny in parts and ended up totally enjoying the story. I watched the movie just as I was finishing the book so that was fun too.⭐⭐⭐⭐

Wendy's Ever After by Julie Wright: This is a local author and I was intrigued by a Peter Pan inspired story, so I requested this one from Libby. A fun YA fantasy where Wendy is 17 and is trying to find her place in society and all she can think about is Peter. She ends up back in Neverland where things aren't good and falls for... someone else...!⭐⭐⭐

A Novel Chance by E.S. Rosalynn: This another ARC read, one I got from the author through Threads. It's a small town romance, with girl new in town and is setting up a bookstore and the guy is the handyman and also 5th grade teacher. I enjoyed it for the most part, but it was more spicy than I expected and I wanted less of that and more of the swoon. ⭐⭐⭐

Life Update for May:

- I published a book! On May 12 I put Always Best Buds up on Amazon. My friends threw me an amazing launch party and everything was so excited for about a week. It was even a "hot new release" in its category for about a month. But since that crazy week, it's done nothing.. no sales. Nothing. So I guess that's out these things go. I can't figure out how to market it. I feel like I figured out everything else, but keeping the momentum going it impossible.

- I went to Storymakers, the local very popular writers conference. It was fun to connect with and make new friends. I was said both Maggie Steifvatter and Axie Oh had to cancel, but Beth Brower did come and that was amazing.

- I hosted a reading retreat at the farm in Idaho for a weekend with a handful of friends. I didn't read much, but we had fun! Now I want to do it with my writing friends too!

-We also went to Idaho for to surprise my brother for his 50th birthday. That was fun family day.

- We got back into the routine of grandkid tending after having March and April off. I was glad the book launch timed perfectly with those days off because I don't think I could have done it all otherwise.

JUNE

Yesteryear by Caro Clair Burke: I heard so much buzz about this one, so when I saw it was available to listen to on Spotify, I clicked and listened. It was crazy! Not sure what to think actually. It's about a "trad wife" (a term I hate) influencer who pretty much went crazy. And one day she wakes up in the past and has to do all the things she posed and staged for social media FOR REAL. And she's trying to figure out what's up and how to get home. It's sad and depressing and frustrating and angry-inducing. Some people say it's funny, but I didn't see anything at all funny about it. It was VERY engaging though and very though provoking. And made me feel things, which as you know, means it was a good book.⭐⭐⭐⭐

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera: A YA fantasy-ish? magic realism? book I've been meaning to get to forever. It was a good one to read for Pride Month as the two boy characters fall in love by the end. Even though THEY BOTH DIE and it's heart wrenching. In this world, you get a call the day before you are going to die, so you can spend the day doing all the things you feel/want/need to do. So this is the story of these two boys doing just that.⭐⭐⭐⭐

The One With the Kiss Cam by Cindy Steel: My friend said I should read this one because it gave her vibes like the book I'm now writing, only she said my book does it better. So I was curious. Well. I ended up loving this one and I pretty much don't think I do it better, but I can LEARN from this book. Fun banter, lots of swoon, closed-door (clean but I guess we can't use that word....) and set right here at home! I thought it was awesome. This was also another audiobook, which is crazy.⭐⭐⭐⭐

Play It By Heart by Flick O'mara: An ARC read that I got from the author through Threads. It was closed door but not... um... clean... (that word I can't use but I don't know how else say what I want to say!) Friends to lovers romance where the friends own a wedding business together, the guy sings and the girl does photography and one day their mutual friend says... so hey,I think you are guys are into each other! And they go... Oh wow, we are! (I needed more work up to the coming together bit.) Basically, it was fine as romances go, but I was expecting it to be... I don't know... cuter, warmer... something. And less f bombs for sure.⭐⭐⭐

Write Fearless. Edit Smart. Get Published. by Lisa Mangum: This author is also an editor for a local publisher and well loved in the writer community here. I decided to listen to her narrate this one and ended up loving it. Great stories, great advice, lots and lots of things that I want/need to refer back to, so I'm hoping to get a hold of a physical copy. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Serial Killer by Brian Bruce: This was a beta read from a booktube friend who wrote this mystery with his wife. I accepted the call to read for him since he has read something for me, even though I'm not a huge mystery reader, but surprise! I ended up really getting into this and was so invested in the end and loved the conclusion. Very enjoyable read.⭐⭐⭐⭐

The House of my Mother by Shari Franke: I listened to this memoir in preparation for our book club's memoir month in July. (LISTENED... FOUR AUDIOBOOKS THIS MONTH!) It's a fascinating story, told by the daughter, of a family who had a big youtube channel and then everything went bad and crazy and the mom and her therapist were arrested for child abuse. It's a gripping story and has been in my mind constantly since I listened. I sort of need a mind cleanse I'm afraid.⭐⭐⭐⭐

Life Update for June:

-I've spent a lot of time writing.... finishing up my travel adventure romcom and now jumping into what I hope to be final revisions for the space opera. I guess I'll self publish these too? I don't  know. This whole thing is so confusing and frustrating!

- We had a big celebration for a granddaughter turning 1. I can't believe it's been a year already!

- We attended local summer celebrations at the city. Parade, fireworks, and etc. 

- Saw the Back to the Future musical and it was awesome.

-It's been hot and last week fires started and now the whole state is pretty much on fire. Today, at the time of this writing, things have cooled down and the air has cleared and it's been wonderful.

- Book club was The Odyssey, which I didn't finish, but lots of people did and we had a great discussion!

Book Review: A Novel Chance by E.S Rosalynn

 

Book: A Novel Chance by E.S. Rosalynn

Genre: Adult Romance

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This story has every thing I love about a small town romance. Our girl is new in town, having just opened up her quaint and cute bookshop. Our guy is the steady handyman and 5th grade teacher who is there for everyone but himself. 

And of course the town is quaint and cute too, filled with whimsically named stores and all sorts of quirky characters. 

It was sweet and fun for the most part. For some reason I was expecting a "closed door" or "fade to black" spice level, but um... it was not. And that seems to always take me out of the story itself. I don't know how else to explain it, but yeah, I've come to terms with the fact that I enjoy the lower spice levels in my romance. All the swoon though, give THAT to me!

This did have some level of swoon, thankfully. Which is why I quite enjoyed it. The stuff keeping the characters apart did make me a little crazy though. I got mad at both of them for being stupid. But I guess that's how it goes with these stories sometimes!

In the end, I totally enjoyed it and am curious about the other books in the series. I'm sure we'll be getting the stories of the other brothers... maybe? Or at least other characters in the town. 

Bottom line: if you love bookish, slow burn, small town romances with a pretty high spice level, this one is for you!

I got the ARC from the author and it will be released on June 2!

Cross posting this from my Substack:

Authors Are Readers, Too!

Thoughts on Authors as Book Reviewers

Something I didn’t expect when I officially “became an author” (Yes I still have a weird feeling saying/typing that. I am an author! I published a book!) is that suddenly I am seeing people say that authors shouldn’t be reviewing books.

My reaction to that is… WHAT?

I’ve been reviewing books and “in reader spaces” for 20 years now. Blogging, BookTubing, Instagramming, author stalking, and hosting a book club since 2004. Do I give all that up because I published a book?

I went to Threads (I asked here on Substack too, but got one response which was actually better than I expected) and asked for opinions on this matter. Many responses were like mine which is, authors are readers too.

Most people agree that if an author is reviewing a fellow author’s book (and we are all fellow authors, right?) it should be positive. That we should be lifting up and encouraging each other. That if we feel negative toward a book, we should not say anything about it. That it’s okay for authors to be in reader spaces as READERS and not AUTHORS. (Is this why I chose a pen name? Perhaps. Maybe I am trying to keep my two personas separate?)

So why do I keep seeing posts about authors staying away from reader spaces and refrain from giving their thoughts on books? I think it’s because if they are doing it with their author persona, it can be seen in a completely different light. Maybe if they are at all critical it feels differently coming from a peer vs a reader.

On the other hand, if it’s a positive review, maybe it can feel like it’s a “rub my back and I’ll rub yours” kind of thing. I’ll give you five stars if you give me five. Basically, the “honest review” part goes out the window.

At least I’m assuming this is what some people are worried about.

I find it fascinating and like I said above, something I truly never expected and am so surprised to see.

As for me, I think I’ll continue being a reader and frequenting the reader spaces. My BookTube channel will go on. I’ll continue to talk about what I loved reading that month and participate in as many bookish events that I can. I will add indie author books to my TBR and read ARCs when I can. I don’t think I’ll be able to get any of this reader thing out of my system despite the fact that I published a book.

What do you all think? Are you an author that hangs out in reader spaces? What’s your take on all this? Or do you, as an author, read books but keep your thoughts to yourself? I would love to know if you’ve seen this discourse and how you handle this!

I AM PUBLISHED!

It's been a couple of weeks now, but on May 12, my book Always Best Buds became officially available on Amazon! Both an ebook version and a paper back version. Click here if you want to get one!

It's dropped off and on the "hot new release" in ebooks, but currently, as of writing this post, it's back to number one on that list in its category! WOOT!

We had an amazing launch party that day. I posted two videos on the BookTube channel:

This one shows a sort of vlog of getting reading and an overview of the event.

This one is the complete Q&A I did at the end of the event.

Here are a few pictures!

Book Clubbers!

People who came!

April 2026 Reading Wrap Up

Here's what I read in April:

Just Friends by Haley Pham: I really enjoyed this romance by an author who I'm familiar with from YouTube. It's been fun to watch her journey to becoming an author. It's a cute second chance romance novel where our main character comes back to her hometown and finds out the girl she's loved forever, despite the falling out they had, is also there. We get the backstory and the story of their figuring it all out and getting back together. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky: The book club book of the month... a crazy science fiction/dystopian story about robots who find themselves in a world without humans and nothing at all is working as it should. They on a quest to see if they can find out what's going and if they can fix anything at all. I really enjoyed it despite the parts that were a little long-winded in its philosophizing. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Gods and Comics by Kat Cho: An ARC read from the month by an author I've enjoyed before. Check out my longer review here. It's a fun romantasy that blends modern day problems with problems of the Korean mythology gods. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge: I did a longer review here, so check that out if you want details, but just know... I LOVE LOVE LOVE this book and it will go on my yearend favorites list for sure! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
 

For the video version of this post, you can watch it here on my channel!

What have you loved reading lately?

Book Review: Last to Leave by Teresa Richards

Book: Last to Leave by Teresa Richards

Genre: YA mystery

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was a fun read! So many great mash ups of genres and story types.

It's the story of our girl, Fallon, who is a famous online video game streamer. She's been outspoken about girls in the gaming space and is well loved. She also has an online friend, a guy, who is also a gaming streamer. Together they are hoping to get chosen to participate in a murder mystery game that will also be live streamed, all with contestants from the streaming (but not necessarily) gaming world.

 So, of course they do and the book then follows their adventures within this game. It's like the How to Host a Murder games where they are all given characters to play and a pretend narrative to learn and a mystery to solve. If they are the "last to leave" the game and solve the mystery, they win!

It's also a lot like the board game Clue where to solve the mystery they have to figure out who did it, with what weapon in what room. The contestants are all housed in a huge mansion and have the run of the place as they try to find clue and make guesses and act out the story.

So much fun!

But, while this is all going on, there's the in real life mysteries. The connections these players have to each other outside the game. The back story of things that happened. The many problems and insecurities they have to overcome. Which, for me, was the best part of the story for sure.

I really enjoyed it! Such a unique story. Very fresh and modern and just... cool! Thank you so much to NetGalley for the opportunity to read it early! This one comes out June 2. Keep an eye out for it!

Book Review: West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge

 Book Review: West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge

Genre: Historical Fiction

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I think when I first heard about this book last year when someone suggested it for book club, it just called to me somehow. Even without knowing a whole lot about it. I just FELT something. And so, since it wasn't voted in for book club, I kept it on my radar, got a hold of my own copy, and suggested it as a readalong this year.

I only had a handful of people join me, but I think we all agreed that the book is awesome. And for me anyway, a sold five star read without a doubt. 

I loved the setting... during the terrible dust bowl and the depression. World War II is about to start. People are worried about so many things, but then this story about driving giraffes across the country to get them to the San Diego Zoo captures everyone's attention and brightens their lives.

I loved the characters... our boy Woody Nickel, who ends up as the driver of the truck these giraffes are on. The dude that is taking care of the giraffes. The girl who is following them trying to get pictures for Life Magazine. And the amazing giraffes themselves. They all blend to make such a unique found family. And as we learn their backstories, they all become even more real and more endearing.

I loved the writing... Woody has a voice that is so easy to read/love/become attached to. Our author captures him so well! I can tell she did a ton of research to make this story come to life and now I want to make this road trip myself and see all the things!

It's such a heart-warming and at times heart-breaking story. So, yes all the feels. And I loved it. So much. Please add it to your TBRs if you haven't already read it!

Book Review: Gods and Comics by Kat Cho

Book: Gods and Comics by Kat Cho

Genre: YA urban fantasy

Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is a story about a girl who writes a webtoon based on the myths and legends her Korean grandmother told her... about the sun god and the water god and their kids. Her story is pretty popular and her webtoon actually goes viral. Which... somehow... brings her characters to life!

So now we have a story with her normal, ordinary girl problems mixed in with the problems of these gods, all set in our normal world, so it gets a little crazy, but in a fantastic and fun way.

Our girl, Grace, is dealing with things like grief because of the loss of both her mom and grandma, and anxiety (she suffers from panic attacks) and the feeling that she needs to be perfect and take care of everything for her dad. All these issues are dealt with in a nice, positive way, which I appreciated.

The romance is a simple one, with Grace falling for the character she created and who is now come to life, Hae, the son of the Sun God. But he has lost his powers. Which makes it really hard to fight Haebak, the Water God, when he comes to take revenge all the humans. 

As always, I love to learn more about these Korean stories and enjoy any sort of version and interpretation I can as the opportunity comes. So very fun. The story as a whole is a typical YA one, with all the expected tropes and feelings. 

Thank you to NetGalley for accepting me to read this ARC. The book will be released tomorrow, April 21! Check it out if any of these things sound awesome to you!

 

West With Giraffes Readalong: Half Way Check in!

 Hey everyone! Are you reading West With Giraffes with me? Here's what I'm thinking so far:

In this, the first half of the book, we met our main characters which consist of a boy who has survived the Dust Bowl and has already had terrible terrible luck, the two giraffes which have survived a hurricane on the boat that has brought them from Africa, the guy in charge of them that our boy calls Old Man, a girl with bright red hair who is somehow mixed up in all of this craziness too! 

Bottom line summary so far: the giraffes need to get to the San Diego Zoo. They barely survived the hurricane and the Old Man has put them on a truck to haul them there. Our boy, Woody Nickel, has also just survived the hurricane and has no one and no place to go. He is fascinated with the giraffes and they seem to like him a lot too, so he follows them for awhile until he is discovered and somehow manages to get himself hired to drive the truck. 

Slowly but surely they make their way across the US on the Lee Highway, but not with out incident. Tons of crazy things get in their way obstacles, not so great people but also very nice people who help them out. And Red, the girl, is following them with her camera to write a story for Life Magazine.

I'm dying to know if that article is for real... can we look it up and see her pictures? I think Woody is for real, and the whole bit about the giraffes is real. Who knows if all the crazy things that are happening to them are for real. But I don't want to look up stuff until I've finished for fear of spoilers.

I did look up the Lee Highway to see it's route. I love the idea of travelling on the old roads, off the freeways, to learn history and see the country. This one would be so fun!

Our book goes forward in time to when Woody is old and trying so hard to write down this story before it's too late. It's great to see him looking back on all this and also knowing that he had a rich, long and full life. We get some articles thrown in about the whole adventure too, which I assume are real ones. It's a great way to tell this story.

I love the voice... Woody is a great story teller! I'm loving that part so much!

If you are reading along, let me know what you are thinking so far too! I'm so glad I'm fitting this one in!

March 2026 Reading Wrap Up!

 It was a crazy month, March! Tons of reading happened. And tons of writing MARKETING happened. (Not actual writing of course, but the marketing of the book is WELL underway!)

Here's what I read this month:

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell: Thanks to the movie I suppose, I was suddenly hearing about this book everyone, so I found a used copy at the store one day and finally got to it this past month. And oh boy, the hype is real and this book is AMAZING! The writing is perfection... the powerful prose and beautiful descriptions and the story... the story is just so good. It's about the wife of Shakespeare, though Shakespeare is never actually named... he is just "the husband" or "the brother" or "the son" etc. So interesting. Not much is known about his wife, but this interpretation is awesome and I hope somewhat true. All surrounding the death of their son, Hamnet. An absolute ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ for me!

Man of my Dreams by Jenny Rabe: My friend and I met this author at the writing conference in February and my friend bought her book and then loaned it to me. It was alright, nothing great really. The run of the mill, formulaic romance novel. This one did have a bit of a supernatural twist, but it was a bit eye rolly. I don't know. It was okay... lol. ⭐⭐⭐

Newsletter Ninja 2 by Tammi Labrecque: The second little book in this series about how to build an audience for you author newsletter. It was a frustrating read for me because they make it sound so easy and if you JUST DO IT then people will come. Not so. Not even close. People don't want another newsletter. People don't even look at email. But still they say, it's the most important marketing thing to do as an author. So I'm doing it. I have a newsletter. You can subscribe if you want. YEP! ⭐⭐⭐

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion Vol 8 by Beth Brower: Ah, so sad to have finished the series as we know it now. Number 9 should come later this year. And I guess I'll just start BUYING this series and collect them. Whatever. Resistance if futile. I loved this last one. So good. So many back stories revealed. So many heart warming moments. So much swoon and banter. So much everything. LOVE LOVE LOVE. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte: I did my fourth re-read of this book and documented the journey with a reading vlog on my channel. I tried to be entertaining. You should go watch it maybe. See what you think. But bottom line, I love this story story, even if it's very sad and disturbing. It's so compelling. I continue to think of it as a   ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐  book!

The Housemaid by Freida McFadden: This was the book club choice for the month. The first half was weird and the writing wasn't so great and I thought I might not make it through and that I would end up giving it a low rating. But then it really picked up in the second half and I read it so fast and then thought, well. Okay. That was a pretty good story after all. And now I'm giving it ⭐⭐⭐⭐! Crazy!

Burn the Kingdom Down by Addie Thorley: This was my ARC read for the month ( I think I'll probably have at least one or two a month this whole year, so be warned!) I got this one from NetGalley  just because it caught my attention, and guess what, I was right. It was a really good! I great YA fantasy that was so encaging and page turning and quite unique. You can scroll back a few posts and see my full thoughts on it. But I loved and it gave it ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐!

Betting on You by Lynn Painter: I snuck this one in at the end of the month just because I could and because I've been dying to read it for so long. It was as expected a fun YA romance with a lot of great tropes... friends to lovers, fake boyfriend, close proximity, etc. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Did you keep track? I rated FOUR books with five stars this month. Crazy! How can April hold up to that??

What did you read and love this month?

Video version of this wrap up can be found here on my channel.

West With Giraffes Readalong!

 Does anyone want to read this book with me? I'm hosting a readalong this month of April! Let me know if you are joining in!

Book Review: Burn the Kingdom Down by Addie Thorley

 Book: Burn the Kingdom Down by Addie Thorley

Genre: YA Romantasy

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

In this really awesome YA romantasy, we have two kingdoms with completely different magic and cultures. One lives in a cold mountain and those with magic can move the earth. The other lives in the warm earth and those with magic can cultivate plants. And they both need each other survive.

Our main character, Indira, comes from the gardener kingdom and her sister is forced to marry into the mountain kingdom in order to keep the pact going between the kingdoms. When she suspiciously dies, Indira is forced to take her place. 

And she is determined to use this opportunity to find out what really happened and make the mountain kingdom pay! 

But what she finds there is not at all what she expects. 

This story starts out with a great hook and just gets better and better. I was glued to the pages the whole time and the ending is just... WAH!! Lots of action and twists and turns, with a great magic system and world building. I really enjoyed it... all the way up to five stars! 

It has lots of action, as mentioned, and much political intrigue and all that good stuff, but it does include a romance too... enemies to lovers... but with low spice. It was perfect level for me. So good!

Thank you to Netgalley for the early review copy. This book will be released on April 7! Look for it!

Book Review: We Are Never Getting Together by Janette Rallison

Book: We Are Never Getting Together by Janette Rallison

Genre: YA Romance

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This story is filled with tropes and banter and angst and antics, so you know I totally enjoyed it! We have our girl (who has lots of money) and our boy (who does not have money) who basically hate each other for some reason (enemies to lovers because...spoiler...lol!) so the book starts out with them "fighting" by doing crazy pranks on each other.  And then, as the story goes we of course learn that it was all due to some silly misunderstandings. 

But then when their single parents appear to be hitting it off, they decide to team up to make sure that does not happen! (I'm seeing it being called a reverse Parent Trap story... assuming everyone knows what The Parent Trap movie is!) So our girl (a drama queen) and our boy (a football quarterback star) decided to pretend THEY are together in order to discourage their parents from continuing a relationship... so yes, at the core of all the tropes, we have the fake relationship going on. Which of course means that eventually they will learn the truth about each other and change their minds. I love it when that happens.

It's delightful as expected. I love this author and all the witty fun situations that she creates. I always end up becoming totally invested and immersed because this type light-hearted fun story is my favorite. If it's your favorite style of story too, add this one to your list to read! 

This book will be released on April 7 and thank you to Netgalley for the advanced review copy.