Hey ʚ♡ɞ || Current Reads

June 27, 2024

Hi Book Friends!

I'm about 50% of the way through Butcher & Blackbird and I am enjoying this Dexter-style love story. Is the premise unique? Probably not, but I've never read anything like it, so I'm having a good time. I did watch the entire Dexter Series so I'm feeling those vibes right now. This book is something else. I decided to get on here and make a little post because I've got some thoughts on this book.

The concept of two serial killers falling for each other, while cute in a way, brings up lots of questions for me. I had a lot of these same questions come up when I watched Dexter. The biggest being, can two serial killers actually experience emotions - such as love? In Dexter, the MC basically learns how to fake it convincingly, but he never truly experiences depth of emotions outside of those experienced while commiting murder. In B/B it does seem like the characters experience a wider range of feelings including joy, sadness, jealousy, fear, mistrust, lust, protectiveness, vengence, just to name -almost all of them. So what's the deal with it? I did a bit of digging and found out a couple things.

First thing to know, there are a lot of different kinds of serial killers and those people have a wide variety of motivations. After all, a serial killer is just someone who kills more than one time, with a break between victims. Given the variety of serial killers, it makes sense that there would also be variations in those individual's abilities to experience emotion. A lot of serial killers deal with anti-social behavior or cravings for a feeling of control. Given what I've learned in my digging, rather than thinking Butcher and Blackbird might not be able to connect due to a lack of emotions, I'm now pondering the other possibility: They may be able to connect just fine on a superficial level initially, but might (in the real world) end up dealing with volatility in the relationship and potentially end up attacking one another if their lack of social skills lead to a breakdown in the connection later on.

Have you read this book? What did you think of it? I'm curious if anyone's read it and has given the whole serial killer emotions topic any thought. I would love to hear your ideas.

Ok, going to get back to it. Love you guys!

xx Sam xx

June 25, 2024

Dear Book Friends,

I just finished reading Southern Spirits by Angie Fox. This book was a really lighthearted, cozy, fun read. The FMC can see ghosts and begins taking on clients who need help handling spooky predicaments. There was a murder mystery, an adorable skunk that made me want one, and a guy who I just might date if he were real. I'm playing in my journal right now making a page for †his precious book. I am excited because this is the first in a very long series of books, and I intend to devour every one of them. This kind of fiction is right up my alley.

In life news, June has been a pretty busy month for me. I'm finalizing the sale of my house and I've moved into the CUTEST apartment. I moved in without getting to see the place before signing the rental contract, so I feel so fortunate that it's worked out well. The place is right by a really long biking trail that winds along a river under lots of nice shade trees. There are parks close by, too, so I'm finding it's easy to spend time outside every day. I can't wait to finish getting settled in so that I can start being out there more, with good books of course.

My upcoming plans include finishing my journal page for Southern Spirits and then starting in on reading Butcher and Blackbird. I'm so nervous about this book! I've heard many good things, so I'm really hoping it delivers.

I can't believe we're almost to the end of June. I did really well this month on achieving my reading goals. So far, I've checked off 5/9 books I wanted to get read. That's a record for me, because tbh I'm terrible at it. I usually squirrel and read everything BUT my planned reads. I also wanted to finish 12 books this month, and there's a chance I'll make it. I have read 8/12 at this point. If I get there, great, but I'm not going to be bent out of shape if I don't. Mostly, I just want to because, if I do, I get to put a pretty little book picture in each one of the book parking spots I've assigned on my recap page. Definitely annoying when there's blank spaces, but what can you do. Whatevs.

Alright, I'm going to post on TT as soon as I get done with the journal page.
Love ya'll!
xx Sam xx

June 21, 2024 Dear Book Friends,

I've finished the Threads of Fate audiobook. I liked the female narrator for this one. She has a rich deep voice, with a soft accent.

My mini-vacation is over. I'll be back at work for a few days. My plan for this weekend is to work on reading and annotating in my copy of The Faceless Mage that I am buddy reading with my BFF Chantel. I'll post an update on how it goes soon. Probably Monday evening.

xx Sam xx

June 18, 2024 Dear Book Friends

I finished An Unexpected Peril and Any Witch Way. I enjoyed both books. An Unexpected Peril was decent, definitely over a four star rating, but probably my least favorite from the Veronica Speedwell Mystery Series so far. I'd still read it any day, but it was a bit less interesting. Any Witch Way turned out to be the third book in that particular series, which is unfortunate, because I really try hard not to do this to myself. Now I have to go back and read the first couple books. That tells you it was reasonably good though, because I have DNF'd a series from not enjoying a book I accidentally started from the middle of the series.

I'm still working on Butcher and Blackbird and The Faceless Mage. I am attempting to annotate the first, and the second is a buddy read, so that one is taking a bit longer to get through. They are both good, so far, but I'm only a handful of chapters in.

I've also started a couple other books, because I can't seem to help it. I've started reading Threads that Bind and The Priory of the Orange Tree. So far, I'm about 30% into Threads that Bind, and I am enjoying it. I think it's headed for around 4 stars. The Priory of the Orange Tree is proving problematic, not because it isn't interesting, but because it is TOO interesting for me to pay attention properly through an audiobook, so I'll probably get it as a physical book or an ebook and annotate it. I don't annotate because it's trending, I annotate because there's no way I can manage complex books without keeping notes on what's happening. There is one other book I've been working on for a while called Southern Spirits. It's an ebook in the Southern Ghost Hunter Mystery series. So far it's amusing! Stay tuned. I'll be posting more reviews soon.

xx Sam xx

June 13, 2024 Dear Book Friends <3

So far, I've managed to read three books in the month of June. I've just finished moving into a new place, so I've been pretty busy. Now that I'm finally (pretty much) settled, I'm going to try to see what I can fit in for the rest of this month. These are my current planned reads.

My bestfriend is doing a buddy read with me. We are reading The Faceless Mage. I'm excited about this book because I haven't ventured far into the realms of fairytale retellings, and my BFF is a complete addict. I think at this point it's safe to even call her an expert on that genre. It's all she talks about. So, I'm giving it a go.

I'm also excited to annotate Butcher & Blackbird. This will be my first serious attempt at annotating a book, so we will see how it goes. It might fall flat. I'll let you know if I have trouble.

Finished:

I'm also listening to a book on Libby that is called Any Witch Way. I absolutely love witchy / magical books of all kinds, so I'm very curious to see how I like this book by Linday Buroker. I've never read any of her books before. I'm a bit hesistant, because I don't usually love shifter fiction, and really don't go for shifter romance, so my biases may show through a bit in my reviews on that genre. I really try to be objective, but sometimes it's hard when you really aren't into something.

Finished:

Lastly, but definitely not least - I'm reading An Unexpected Peril, which is the 6th Veronica Speedwell mystery by Deanna Raybourn. I've loved every single one of this woman's books so far. I love Veronica, I love the MMC Stoker - he's totally book boyfriend material, and I love the overt Sherlock theme. Historical fiction at it's finest. These books are definitely Top Shelf for me.