Recent Updates and Currently Reading | December 10

Fabulous news! I am finally in the mood to read. I'm hoping my reading slump is on its way out! It would be wonderful to catch up on some reading during the holidays.

Finished Reading

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - This was another reread of A Christmas Carol. I listened to this while wrapping my Christmas presents, and I loved it as always.

Currently Reading

Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson - Not only am I in the mood to read, but I'm in the mood to read this so I'm leaning into it. I want to get caught up with The Stormlight Archive before book 5 releases next year. I'd love to get caught up with all of the Cosmere books to be honest. We'll see how successful I am. For now, I'm excited to finally experience this one (book 2 of Stormlight).

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This post is being shared as part of The Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz, Book Date’s It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Caffeinated Book Reviewer's The Sunday Post.

Recent Updates and Currently Reading | December 3

I love how much everyone loves Remarkably Bright Creatures ❤️ My entire book club loved it, too. We need some recommendations for next year if you have any suggestions.

I'm sad that I didn't get to read a lot more books this year than I managed to read. This was probably my lowest year in the last decade, but I did read some really great books which is what matters most.

Do you have any particular books you are trying to read or finish before the end of the year?

Finished Reading

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - I loved reading this so much. If you haven't read Sanderson before, I think this is a very accessible place to start. 

Currently Reading

White Horse by Erika T. Wurth - This is the December readalong pick over on the Horror Spotlight discord group. We have such a wonderful group over there.

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This post is being shared as part of The Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz, Book Date’s It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Caffeinated Book Reviewer's The Sunday Post.

Recent Updates and Currently Reading | November 26

I hope everyone had a wonderful week and hopefully for most of you - a long weekend. My oldest got covid for Thanksgiving so that uprooted our plans which was fine. We learned long ago to pivot and go with the flow. I'm just hoping we don't all fall one by one. I'm loading up on the vitamins! I'm also trying to rest to be honest so that means plenty of time for movies and reading. That's not too bad.

Finished Reading

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - I loved this! It was everything I wanted it to be. Highly recommend.

Defiant - the final Skywood series book by Brandon Sanderson was released this week. I read it immediately, and unfortunately I think I was already in a not good place with this series and I wasn't able to rekindle the spark I had during the first (and maybe even in the second) book. ⭐⭐⭐★★

Currently Reading

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros - Holy turkey this is a long one. I'm about 250 pages in (out of 623), and so far it's about the same as the first one so that's fine.

It has taken me all year to feel like it was the "right time" to read Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson. I'm loving it. I'm 70 pages in, and so far it's threatening to become a favorite.

Currently Watching

We watched John Wick 4 which was horribly boring to me. I mean... there was non-stop action for 3 hours, but it was the same action over and over again for 3 straight hours.

I finally got to see A Haunting in Venice. This is supposedly based on Agatha Christie's Hallowe'en Party, but... no. It's not. There are some characters with the same names... It's an extremely loose adaptation, and frankly it wasn't at all done in the spirit of Agatha Christie.

We also finally watched Parasite. This wasn't at all what I was expecting! I don't know where my preconceived notions even came from because I was way off base. It was fine. It feels overhyped to me.

We started watching Our Flag Means Death which is silly and fun. It has humor that is very similar to What We Do in the Shadows. I love the characters and the actors so it's definitely something light to escape into.

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This post is being shared as part of The Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz, Book Date’s It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Caffeinated Book Reviewer's The Sunday Post.

Recent Updates and Currently Reading | October 22

Hi, friends! This time of year is so busy. This is the first weekend we haven't been traveling due to the kids' sports and things. It was nice. 

My husband and I were off work Friday and we binged watched Mrs. Davis on Peacock. Have you seen it? Such a strange show, but I loved it.

I'm still crafting more than I'm reading. I'm mostly cross stitching and sewing. Right now I'm working on this Glowing Pumpkin ornament. I still have most of the beading left to do. This is my first time beading and I'm really loving this little project.

Currently Reading

I just realized there's a theme here! Both of these books are excellent. The September House is so unique - I'm loving it. I just started The Good House yesterday, but it's really good so far, too!

Finished Reading

Can you tell what my favorite type of book is? 😂

I absolutely love T. Kingfisher's writing. She has become one of my favorite authors. I enjoyed A House with Good Bones.

Added to the TBR

The beautiful folks at Bramble sent me a copy of Alone With You in the Ether by Olivie Blake. This may be a great option to pull me out of my slump. I've never read Olivie Blake.

Three cheers for my book club for picking Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt! This has been on my wishlist forever and now I have an excuse to buy it.

I finally bought a copy of The House in the Cerulean Sea. I'm really looking forward to reading it.

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This post is being shared as part of The Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz, Book Date’s It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Caffeinated Book Reviewer's The Sunday Post.

Recent Updates and Currently Reading | September 24

Oooh, nooooo. I'm in a reading slump. I'm flat not in the mood to read anything. I just want to do crafts and watch TV. Times like these make me feel like I have no business accepting review copies. Reading them right now would feel like a j-o-b and that's not fair to anyone.

So what am I watching? I'm watching a lot of YouTube as always. I'm also watching Ted Lasso, Ahsoka, and Only Murders in the Building. I finished the live action One Piece! I highly, highly recommend reading the manga before watching One Piece, but I'm so satisfied. They had to rush through a lot because it was 11 volumes of manga into only 8 episodes, but the major points were there and the most important scenes were there and my favorite line was there. I cried several times. There's a lot of manga action going on but it's also very heartwarming and I love it.

Posted Last Week

I posted my Top Ten Tuesday on the Horror Spotlight blog along with the team's picks. You can check that out there - Fall 2023 Releases on Our TBR.

Currently Reading

Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison - I started reading this and not much is happening yet 60+ pages in which did not help the slump. I don't want to put it down (it was my most anticipated book of the year) but I'm also not inspired to pick it back up 😭 I hope it's just me right now.

Hide and Seeker by Daka Hermon - This is a reread, and I'll probably read on this some more today.

That's it for me today! I didn't finish reading anything, and I didn't get anything new, but I'm hoping to get inspired by you all today!

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This post is being shared as part of The Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz, Book Date’s It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Caffeinated Book Reviewer's The Sunday Post.

Recent Updates and Currently Reading | September 17

Hello, friends! We are having another wonderful weekend in the Book Den household. It's sport season for my high schooler so every weekend is packed with waking up at 4am and taking trips, but we are enjoying it. We were 90 miles out from home yesterday and realized if we went 20 miles further we could eat at our favorite restaurant. We went shopping and eating at such a beautiful area and enjoyed spending time together. I found a Christmas present for my youngest while we were out and a few embroidery floss colors I've been needing. We crashed when we got home. I watched some baseball, did some cross stitch...

Today I have to clean and grocery shop. Boo.

Posted Last Week

Oops... nothing!

Finished Reading

The Only One Left by Riley Sager ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Well, this was a surprise! It reminded me of Lock Every Door. If you liked that one by Riley Sager, I'm sure you'll love this one.

Currently Reading

Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison - I'm planning to start this today if the chores allow.

Hide and Seeker by Daka Hermon - This is a buddy read with the Horror Spotlight discord group. It's a reread for me, but it's probably my favorite middle grade horror. I highly recommend it.

Added to the TBR

The September House by Carissa Orlando - Berkley sent me out a copy of this, and I cannot wait to read it. Haunted Houses are my favorite, and unique ghost stories are the holy grail for me. I'm looking forward to seeing what's up with this one!

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This post is being shared as part of The Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz, Book Date’s It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Caffeinated Book Reviewer's The Sunday Post.

Recent Updates and Currently Reading | September 10

Hi, friends! That project I've been working on for years at work went live this week. It went better than I could have hoped so now I'm just hoping I get half of my brain back. It has really been effecting my reading and reviewing for a while now. I just have nothing left when I get home. But enough about that!

I've been watching and loving the One Piece live action show. I'm thrilled with it, actually! I've only watched 5 out of the 8 episodes because my 10 year old only wants to watch an episode at a time. I'm OK with doing a slow savor, but I also can't wait to watch the rest. I probably would have just binged them!

We also watched You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah. I loved it. I feel like movies about friendships are so rare. Yes, it's an Adam Sandler movie, but he's not in it much. It's about his daughter (played by his real life daughter) and she's great.

Posted Last Week

Review | Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Check out my thoughts on Camp Damascus!

Finished Reading

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - My review is linked above. This exceeded my expectations in every way.

Currently Reading

The Only One Left by Riley Sager - I'm loving this! I'm so happy.

The Wager by David Grann - Camp Damascus and The Only One Left have been winning out over this one, but I will get back to it!

Added to the TBR

The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa M. Matlin - This was my Book of the Month pick for September. A social media influencer buys a murder house and thrillery things start to occur. This is a debut novel and I'm excited to read it this fall.

The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger - I also picked this up from Book of the Month. I loved Ordinary Grace by Willian Kent Krueger, and I think I will love this standalone novel as well.

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston - I went to Barnes & Noble with a $5 off coupon and the intensions of buying Red, White & Royal Blue. As luck would have it, Red, White & Royal Blue was Buy One, Get One 50% Off so I had some shopping to do and wound up picking up three more in the sale because I couldn't decide.

An Immense World by Ed Yong - My friend Teresa just read this and said it was really interesting. It sounds amazing. I'm looking forward to spending some time with the animal world and their senses.

Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter - I'm still exploring my taste in romance, and this one is centered around movie quotes (I think) so may be a great fit for me. I've heard such cute things so I'm happy to give it a try.

Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center - I really want to check out Katherine Center's books as well. I know this is much more woman's fiction than romance, but I've heard a lot of great things about this one.

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This post is being shared as part of The Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz, Book Date’s It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Caffeinated Book Reviewer's The Sunday Post.

Review | Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle

Source: personal purchase. This is a review of my personal reading experience.

Camp Damascus is a horror novel by Chuck Tingle.

A searing and earnest horror debut about the demons the queer community faces in America, the price of keeping secrets, and finding the courage to burn it all down.

They’ll scare you straight to hell.

Welcome to Neverton, Montana: home to a God-fearing community with a heart of gold.

Nestled high up in the mountains is Camp Damascus, the self-proclaimed “most effective” gay conversion camp in the country. Here, a life free from sin awaits. But the secret behind that success is anything but holy.

I was not planning to get a review out this week because life is peak hectic, but I have got to get my thoughts out about Camp Damascus.

Camp Damascus was not at all what I was expecting. Based on the synopsis and the cover and what I thought I knew about Chuck Tingle's work, I expected something entirely different. I expected the pain I felt in James Newman's Odd Man Out but amplified in this book about a gay conversion camp. I expected it to be violent and gory and it wasn't any of these things.

Camp Damascus subverted a lot of things for me, and I absolutely loved it. I loved the main character. I loved the representation. I loved the way religion was handled. There was humor and it was scary and the pacing was perfect.

I hope we are gifted with more Chuck Tingle horror in the future because I will be first in line to read it.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5/5 stars

 

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Recent Updates and Currently Reading | September 3

Hello, friends! I hope you are having a wonderful weekend. It's a long weekend for me, but I'm still trying to wrap up that huge project so will probably work from home some today and tomorrow.

We had a busy but wonderful day out with kids yesterday. I also got to read, work on my puzzle, and watch some baseball so a perfect day.

Here's the progress on the Trick or Treat Hotel puzzle. I'm really enjoying this one. It's a favorite.

Posted Last Week

Book Review | Wild Spaces by S.L. Coney ⭐⭐⭐⭐★

On My Wishlist | Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Finished Reading

One Piece, Volume 12: The Legend Begins by Eiichiro Oda ⭐⭐⭐⭐★ - My goal was to read through volume 12 before the live action Netflix series was released. I made my goal, but it turns out the East Blue arc only goes through volume 11! Oh, well, I'm not sad about reading an extra volume.

Currently Reading

The Wager by David Grann - I'm still reading this. "Enjoying" is a strange word to use for a true story that's this disturbing, but I'm fascinated by it. Dog warning if you are considering reading it.

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle - I started reading this yesterday, and I'm almost done. I couldn't put it down. It's so good.

Added to the TBR

Assassin's Apprentice, Royal Assassin, Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb - I think these are the original UK mass market paperbacks. I came across this trilogy with these original covers in a used bookstore yesterday, and they had to come home with me! Maybe this will motivate me to finally read Robin Hobb.

Why can't we just go through life with unlimited reading time?

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This post is being shared as part of The Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz, Book Date’s It's Monday! What Are You Reading? and Caffeinated Book Reviewer's The Sunday Post.