The Midwest Blonde

Hey! It's been a while.  I have not blogged in I don't even know how long and I got the inkling to start up again. I am trying to find more hobbies to immerse myself in so I'm not just thinking about work 24/7 and both this blog and Youtube/social media video making came up as something I want to do again. I use to enjoy both things so much and for some reason or another fell off but w…

Murder and Mamon by Mia P. Manasala I love the Tita Rosie mystery series so much and was stocked to get my hands on the latest installment. This is book four and has all the thrill and humor I enjoyed in the other three. My only qualm with this one is the ending was not nearly as suspenseful as the rest, in my opinion, but still a great read that I could not put down! ASAP by Axie Oh XOXO was one of…

Lovesickness   By: Junji Ito  Released: April 20th, 2021 Pages: 408 My Rating: 4/5  Goodreads Synopsis:  A innocent love becomes a bloody hell in another superb collection by master of horror Junji Ito.  Ryusuke returns to the town he once lived in because rumors are swirling about girls killing themselves after encountering a bewitchingly handsome young man. Harboring his own secret from time spent in …

False Witness    By: Karin Slaughter  Released: July 20th, 2021 Pages: 440 My Rating: /5  Goodreads Synopsis:  Leigh Coulton has worked hard to build what looks like a normal life. She has a good job as a defense attorney, a daughter doing well in school, and even her divorce is relatively civilized - her life is just as unremarkable as she'd always hoped it would be.  HIDES A DEVASTATING PAST But L…

Sensor  By: Junji Ito  Released: August 17th, 2021 Pages: 240 My Rating: 3/5  Goodreads Synopsis:  Horror master Junji Ito explores a new frontier with a grand cosmic horror tale in which a mysterious woman has her way with the world!  Did she wander in? Or was she drawn in...? A women walks alone at the foot of Mount Sengoku. A man appears, saying he's been waiting for her, and invited her to a near…

Olympus Texas    By: Stacey Swann  Released: May 4th, 2021 Pages: 318 My Rating: 4/5  Goodreads Synopsis:  The Briscoe family is once again the talk of their small town when march returns to East Texas two years after he was caught having an affair with his brother's wife. His mother, June, hardly welcomes him back with open arms. Her husband's own past affairs have made her tired of being the …

Smashed   By: Junju Ito  Released: April 16th, 2019 Pages: 416 My Rating: 4/5  Goodreads Synopsis:  Try not to be noticed when you eat the secret nectar, otherwise you'll get smashed... What horrific events happened to create the earthbound-people ties to a certain place for the rest of their short lives? A strange haunted house comes to town, but no one expects it to lead to a real hell... Welcome…

The Holiday Swap     By: Maggie Knox   Released: October 5th, 2021 Pages: 351 My Rating: /5  Goodreads Synopsis:  When chef Charlie Goodwin gets hit on the head on the L.A. set of her reality baking show, she loses a lot more than consciousness; she also loses her ability to taste and smell--both critical to her success as show judge. Meanwhile, Charlie's identical twin, Cass, is frantically trying…

The Matzah Ball    By: Jean Meltzer   Released: April 16th, 2019 Pages: 416 My Rating: 4/5  Goodreads Synopsis:  Rachel Rubenstein-Goldblatt is a nice Jewish girl with a shameful secret: she loves Christmas. For a decade she's hidden her career as a Christmas romance novelist from her family. Her talent has made her a bestseller even as her chronic illness has always kept the kind of love she write…

A Season for Second Chances    By: Jenny Bayliss  Released: October 19th, 2021  Pages: 448 My Rating: 5/5  Goodreads Synopsis:  Annie Sharpe's spark for life has fizzled out. Her kids are grown up, her restaurant is doing just fine on its own, and her twenty-six-year marriage has come to an unceremonious end. Untethered for the fist time in her adult life, she finds a winter guardian position in a …

The Chicken Sisters  By: K. J. Dell'Antonia  Released: December 1st, 2020 Pages: 352 My Rating: 4/5  Goodreads Synopsis:  In tiny Merinac, Kansas, Chicken Mimi's and Chicken Frannie's have spent a century vying to serve up the best fried chicken in the state--and the legendary feud between their respective owners, the Moores and the Pogociellos, has lasted just as long. No one feels the imp…

Fault Lines  By: Emily Itami Released: September 7th, 2021 Pages: 224 My Rating: 4/5  Goodreads Synopsis:  Mizuki is a Japanese housewife. She has a hardworking husband, two adorable children, and a beautiful Tokyo apartment. It's everything a women could want, yet sometimes she wonders whether she would rather throw herself off the high-rise balcony than spend another evening not talking to her hu…

The Keeper of Night    By: Kylie Lee Baker  Released: October 12th, 2021 Pages: 400 My Rating: 4/5  Goodreads Synopsis:  Half British Reaper, half Japanese Shinigami, Ren Scarborough has been collecting souls in the London streets for centuries. Expected to obey the harsh hierarchy of the Reapers who despise her, Ren conceals her emotions and avoids her tormentors as best she can.   When her failure to …

Ace of Spades  By: Faridah Abike-lyimde Released: June 10th, 2021 Pages: 480 My Rating: 5/5  Goodreads Synopsis:  Welcome to Niveus Private Academy, where money paves the hallways, and the students are never less than perfect. Until now. Because anonymous texter, Aces, is bringing two students' dark secrets to light. Talented musician Devon buries himself in rehearsals, but he can't escape the s…

Heartstopper Vol. 3 By: Alice Oseman  Released: February 6th, 2020   Pages: 384 My Rating: 4/5  Goodreads Synopsis:  In this volume we'll see the Heartstopper gang go on a school trip to Paris! Not only are Nick and Charlie navigating a new city, but also telling more people about their relationship AND learning more about the challenges each other are facing in private... Meanwhile Tao and Elle wil…

Tomie By: Junji Ito  Released: December 20th, 2016  Pages: 752 My Rating: 5/5  Goodreads Synopsis:  Tomie Kawakami is a femme fatale with long black hair and a beauty mark under her left eye. She can seduce nearly any man, and drive them to murder as well, even though the victim is often Tomie herself. While one lover seeks to keep her for himself, another grows terrified of the immortal succubus. But …

Heartstopper Vol. 2  By: Alice Oseman  Released: July 11th, 2019  Pages: 320 My Rating: 4/5  Goodreads Synopsis:  Nick and Charlie are best friends. Nick knows Charlie's gay and Charlie is sure that Nick isn't.  But love works in surprising ways, and Nick is discovering all kinds of things about his friends, his family... and himself. My Review: After finishing Volume 1 I could not wait to dive ri…

White Smoke By: Tiffany D. Jackson Released: September 14th, 2021  Pages: 384 My Rating: 5/5  Goodreads Synopsis:  Marigold is running from ghosts. The phantoms of her old life keep haunting her, but a move with her newly blended family from their small California beach town to the embattled Midwestern city of Cedarville might be the fresh start she needs. Her mom has accepted a new job with the Sterli…

Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories  By: Many  Released: 1985 Pages: 249 My Rating: 3/5  Goodreads Synopsis:  Who better to investigate the literary sprint world than that supreme connoisseur of the unexpected, Roald Dahl? Of the many permutations of the macabre, Dahl was always especially fascinated by the classic ghost story. For this superbly disquieting collection, he selected fourteen of his fa…

The Only Good Indians  By: Stephen Graham Jones  Released: July 14th, 2020  Pages: 310 My Rating: 4/5  Goodreads Synopsis:  Seamlessly blending classic horror and a dramatic narrative with sharp social commentary, The Only Good Indians follows four American Indian men after a disturbing event from their youth puts them in a desperate struggle for their lives. Tracked by an entity bent on revenge, these…