Reviews

Tacking the TBR for January 2026

~ Rose Sparrowking

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I’ve read Malibu Rising and Atmosphere by Reid, and while her writing is phenomenal and her characters complex, something about those books never quite worked for me—perhaps the plots. So I approached The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo with hesitation.

I nearly put it down early on because Monique never felt like she had much narrative drive; she seemed more an observer than a participant, carried along by Evelyn’s story. That never fully changed for me. While Monique is stronger by the end, her arc feels secondary, raising the question of whether she is truly the protagonist at all—or whether that role belongs to Evelyn. And if so, would Evelyn have been capable of change without wealth and fame?

Despite these reservations, I did enjoy the book in the end. Evelyn is undeniably fascinating—a woman who embodies strength, ambition, and fierce loyalty to those she loves, unburdened by many of the anxieties that so often constrain women. Would I want to be her? Absolutely not. But she is a character worth learning from. This novel convinced me to read Reid again.

Still Life, A Fatal Grace, The Cruelest Month — Louise Penny’s Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series. I’d never read them, despite having shelved them countless times at the library over the years. As a fan of Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch, I finally decided to give Inspector Gamache a try. These books are beautiful. The language is beautiful. The art and poetry references are beautiful. The mysteries are properly convoluted and surprising, and the characters are interesting and complex. Ruth Zardo has to be my favorite.

My one small complaint is that I always have to wait too many chapters before Gamache arrives. And because my library didn’t have the fourth book, I had to request it from another library — and with the snow we’ve had recently, I’ve been forced to read other books while I wait. Such hardship.

Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller. Loved it. Funny and truthful. Nazis and Critical Race Theory, drag queens and cheerleaders, good ol’ boys and a movie star. It’s a satire that throws every stereotyped Southerner into the same story and somehow comes out the other side with something hopeful and humane.

Some of my favorite quotes: “When you have everything, the only luxury left is taking things away from others,” and “Stories are the most powerful things in this world. They can mend broken hearts, bring back good memories, and make people fall in love,” and “Gather as much knowledge as you can, because information is power. And choosing how to use it is freedom. The more you know, the freer you will be.”

I now have a new list of books to read from the banned titles referenced in the novel. I’ve read some of them—though maybe they deserve a refresh—and many I haven’t read at all. I was genuinely disappointed to discover that All Women Are Witches: Find Your Power and Put It to Use doesn’t actually exist. I wanted to read that one.

I’d also argue that most people banning books haven’t bothered to open them. During the 2024–2025 school year, PEN America recorded 6,870 instances of book bans across 23 states and 87 public school districts.

Our library—and I personally—stand against book banning. You can decide what your own children read (though rebels will defy you and read anyway), but you don’t get to decide what other children will read.

The Busybody Book Club by Freya Sampson. Any book that can logically bring up Star Wars, Shakespeare and Bridgerton has my vote for a great read. This was such a fun mystery! Great twists. Characters to hate and to love. Romance and book clubs. And a wardrobe I’m jealous of. 🙂

Murder Runs in the Family by Tamara Berry. Everyone was a suspect at one point or another and I had no idea how it was going to come together at the end, but it was a fun ride getting there.

Tackling my TBR pile this month

~ Rose Sparrowking

I’ve got dozens of books languishing in my Kindle’s TBR pile—most from Amazon’s Prime First Reads—and I’ve been guilt-tripping myself about it while rereading old favorites for the hundredth time. Most of these books are by authors unknown to me, so I’m taking chances on each one.

I don’t want to waste time on books that aren’t clicking, but I also want to give unknown authors a fair shot. My plan is to give a book 2 chapters and then quit and move to the next if I’m not enjoying it.

Let’s see how many I can actually get through this month!

1.Ten Thousand Light Years From Okay by Tracy Dobmeier and Wendy Katzman

“A widowed and grieving young novelist believes her words create realities—both tragic and charmed—in a hopeful and surprising novel about family, newfound love, and moving on.”

I almost bailed on this one. Thea felt shallow at first, obsessing over her outfit for preschool drop-off, and the opening was heavy on backstory without much forward momentum. Usually that’s my cue to toss a book into my “Books that suck” collection and move on. But I stuck with it, and I’m glad I did. The story transformed into something beautiful and emotional about living with and through grief. It actually got to me. I might even reread it to see if those early chapters bother me less now that I know where it’s going.

Verdict: Kept reading past chapter 2—and finished it.

2. Slow Horses by Mark Herron

“Welcome to the thrilling and unnervingly prescient world of the slow horses. This team of MI5 agents is united by one common bond: They’ve screwed up royally and will do anything to redeem themselves.”

I love the Apple TV show, but like the show, this book starts slow. The opening is fantastic—River Cartwright’s operation goes spectacularly wrong, and then… did he really just get blown up!? But then it grinds to a halt with scene after scene introducing every person working at Slough House. Pure info dump.

I put it down once, picked it up again to give it a fair shot, and didn’t get pulled into the story until about the quarter mark. I imagine the sequels won’t suffer from this bland setup, but I’m not sure I’ll stick around to find out.

That said, Herron’s writing is lovely—almost poetic—while keeping the descriptions relevant to the story. That’s what kept me going.

Verdict: Finished but I doubt I’ll ever re-read it or read any more of the series

3. Tea & Alchemy by Sharon Lynn Fisher

“A tea leaf reader in nineteenth-century England falls in love—and in danger—with a reclusive alchemist.”

I’ve been in a cozy-reading mood lately, so I was looking forward to this historical vampire fantasy. Unfortunately, it reads very much like a Dracula fanfic. Mina is simple and sweet, yet somehow the smartest person in any room—including the studious vampire himself. Naturally, the vampire doesn’t want to be evil; killing people for sweet, sweet blood is a terrible burden. Mina’s blood, of course, is the sweetest of all, thanks to her descent from an ancient people responsible for the vampires’ existence. And naturally, only she can fix everything.

As long as you take it for a fluffy read, it’s enjoyable.

Verdict: finished but unlikely to be read again.

Book Review: Flavia de Luce 11

~ Rose Sparrowking

What Time the Sexton’s Spade doth Rust: A Flavia de Luce Novel by Alan Bradley

A Turning Point in the Beloved Series

There’s been ongoing debate in the mystery community about what constitutes a “cozy” mystery. Recently, I encountered someone describing the Flavia de Luce novels as belonging to this subgenre, which gave me pause. When I think of cozies – those mysteries I regularly shelve at the library – I picture titles with punny references to baking disasters or amateur sleuths who run cat cafés. The Flavia series has always felt different, occupying a unique space between the light-hearted charm of cozies and something darker.

This distinction has never been more apparent than in What Time the Sexton’s Spade doth Rust. To put it in perspective, I’m currently reading Ramona Emerson’s “Exposure,” which opens with the devastating murder of six children, including an infant – a book I frequently need to step away from due to its brutal realism. While Flavia’s latest adventure doesn’t venture into such explicitly dark territory, it marks a significant departure from the series’ earlier tone.

For the first time in my journey with these books, I found myself setting this one aside halfway through, not returning to it for weeks. The issue wasn’t graphic content or disturbing themes, but rather a growing dissonance that I could no longer ignore. The willing suspension of disbelief that allowed me to accept Flavia as a 13-year-old sleuth who commands adult respect finally crumbled. No matter how brilliant or precocious she may be, the cognitive dissonance of her age versus her role in these investigations has become increasingly difficult to reconcile.

Bradley’s signature elements are all present: the clever dialogue, the fascinating chemistry details, and the richly drawn world of Buckshaw and its surroundings. The previous installment had left me hopeful, with promising developments including:

  • The establishment of Dogger and Flavia’s detective agency
  • The blossoming relationship between Flavia and Undine
  • Potential for healing in Flavia’s complicated relationship with Inspector Hewitt

However, this latest entry seems to have taken a darker turn that overshadows these positive developments. While the series has never shied away from serious themes, something about this installment feels different – as if we’ve reached a crossroads where the charming eccentricity of earlier books has given way to something more sobering.

The book’s title, drawn from old folklore about death omens, proves sadly appropriate. It marks what may be my departure point from a series I’ve long cherished. The previous book had left me with a sense of optimism about Flavia’s future adventures. This one, however, opens what feels like a portal to a darker version of her world – one I’m not certain I wish to explore further.

Long-time readers of the series will find familiar pleasures in Bradley’s prose and his young protagonist’s sharp wit. However, they may also notice, as I did, that something fundamental has shifted. It’s not that the book is poorly written or that the mystery itself fails to engage. Rather, it’s that the delicate balance between youthful adventure and adult themes that characterized the earlier books has tipped, perhaps irretrievably, toward the latter.

Final Thoughts

While “What Time the Sexton’s Spade doth Rust” maintains the technical proficiency we’ve come to expect from Bradley, it may represent a turning point for many readers. The question becomes not whether the book is well-crafted, but whether this new direction serves the series’ strengths. For this reader, at least, it may be time to bid farewell to Flavia while I can still cherish the memories of her earlier adventures.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Not because of any failure in craft, but because sometimes growing up means growing apart.

This blog post was written with assistance from Claude, an AI created by Anthropic. While the ideas and content are my own, I used Claude to help with writing, editing, and refining the text.

Book Review: The Life Impossible by Matt Haig

~ Rose Sparrowking

The Life Impossible by Matt Haig

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Beautifully written. Emotionally evocative. I empathized with Grace Winters closely and enjoyed watching her become the person she was by the end of the story. How she learned to live.

Life. Death. Grief. Guilt. Love. Flaws. History. Dancing. Ibiza. Miracles. Alien life. The ocean. Murder mystery. Friendship. Corporate greed. Environmental protection and destruction. Protests. Hippies. Mathematics. Astrophysics. Scuba diving. Marine biology. Family. Psychic powers. Orange juice. And so much more in this novel.

I wasn’t all that invested in the beginning of the novel. It took time to grow on me, but the voice engaged me. I noted some passages that captured my attention in the first quarter of the novel, but I stopped doing that as I became more involved in the story.

Favorite quotes:
“‘I feel like I have a life inside me that needs to be lived and I am not living it.” P12

“There are two kinds of ghosts that torment you when a young person dies. The ghost of who they were, and the ghost of who they could have been.” P19

“When you had a childhood surrounded by saints it was easy to feel like a sinner. A teacher once told me if prayers aren’t reaching God, it was because they had been blocked by your own sin.” p71

There were many more quotable moments, but I was too busy reading by then.

La Prescencia threw me for a long time. It felt so weird, but by the end, I understood the necessity of something so extraordinary. We are so familiar with our day-to-day lives that we need something outside ourselves to show us truth. To show us the miracles all around us that we take for granted.

Live your life. Truly live. What does that mean? I think that’s different for everyone. I know I go around in a haze of doing one thing after another, one day after another, and it’s when I slow down and look around that I remember how wonderful and crazy it is to be alive.

“Where there is life, there is possibility.” P39




View all my reviews

Quick Book Reviews

~ Rose Sparrowking

kimberly-farmer-lUaaKCUANVI-unsplash
Photo by Kimberly Farmer on Unsplash

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell.  Even the author admits this is a bizarre book. I like a good thriller but this was more of a mystery to me but lacked suspense. I finished because I was curious how it all tied together. I had trouble getting into it. Sometimes the switch between character POV’s was jarring. And this is the first book I’ve read where so much was written in third person present tense and that threw me off sometimes. Also, I had figured out some of the plot pretty quick. It’s almost like the author need more suspects to throw things off more, more red herrings. Maybe because I read it as a mystery rather than some type of family drama and it was the family dynamic that was more the story than the mystery. Finished but going in the donate box.
Ash Kickers by Sean Grigsby.  Continuation of the Smoke Eaters story. Followed Tamerica of the original crew as she has doubts about her role as a smoke eater. Now there’s new trouble, more than dragons, and some shitty citizens promoting us only and none of these damn immigrants. Also much dissing of the smoke eaters and their work and a mercenary army. Politicians all suck. Looking at a setup in the next book for the smoke eaters as a saviors. Not as enjoyable a read as the first book. Finished and I’ll put it on the shelf, but I don’t know if I’ll read it again.
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan.  I enjoyed the movie more. Much tighter story line and tighter character cast than the book. I just didn’t get a sense of story for all the characters.  Finished but going in the donate box.

 

Quick Review: Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse

~ Rose Sparrowking

 

trail-of-lightning-9781534413498_lg
Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse

This has been on my to-be-read pile for a while now. A post-apocalyptic fantasy that isn’t set in some pseudo-medieval very white European facsimile. Our hero is Maggie, of the Diné (Navajo) and she’s a monster hunter/slayer. Since the great flood, gods and monsters and powers have returned to the world. The Trickster, Coyote, figures prominently in the story, reminding me of Patricia Briggs and her Mercy Thompson series. This Coyote came across more malicious than tricky but maybe that’s how he’s portrayed in Diné mythology. The conclusion was inevitable but not surprising. I knew she’d have to confront this person in the place. I was surprised in one aspect in the climax but the rest I had figured out. The plot flowed well, one event leading to another, and the writing was tight. I like that she was a bad-ass (and had reason to be) and that contrasted with Kai, who so focused on peace. Maybe the characters were a bit too black and white but frankly if their genders were reversed, no one would question it. The ending left things hanging and I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.

Quick Review: Final Girls by Riley Sager

~ Rose Sparrowking

Final Girls by Riley Sager

I’ve been reading a lot of thrillers and murder mysteries, especially Harry Bosch and Lisbeth Salander, lately and picked this novel up a while ago when replenishing my unread book pile. I should’ve been warned away by the comparison to Gone Girl on the cover. I had no empathy for the characters in that book. So little that I read maybe a chapter before moving on to another book.

The same thing with Final Girls. I just don’t care what happens. I’m half way through and dropping it. Since the original murderer died, then the current murderer can only be one of two characters. There just aren’t that many characters in the story. … I skipped to the end and I was right. One of two characters.

I guess the book didn’t hook me. I did not race through to find out what happens next. I was never surprised or shocked. And one of the murdered character’s stupidity just irked me.

That’s a no for me. Donating to the library.

Sunday Movie Reviews

~ Rose Sparrowking

After two hectic weeks, I had a chance to chill on Sunday afternoon. Since I’m not allowed to watch the Pats play—as that might jinx them somehow—I cuddled up with my laptop to watch a free movie through Amazon Prime. (Just kidding about jinxing the Pats. I’m not a sports person and the husband yells at the TV sometimes and that ain’t fun.)

First movie choice: Holiday Engagement. The premise wasn’t very original but I thought a light, romantic comedy could be fun for my tired body and fried brain. Ugh. I didn’t last 20 minutes before I killed it. Story lines are used over and over again in fiction. Look at how many times Cinderella has been done, and people still enjoy the story. This was just horrible. Uninspired. Boring. Predictable. Flat, stereotypical characters. No chemistry between the romantic leads. And completely offensive to me as a woman. I paused the movie at one point to check when it had been made. 2011? Really? More like 1950’s attitudes. Oh, darling, you don’t need a job. Once we’re married, you can run charity events and save the puppies of the world. 0 out of 5 stars.

Second movie: The Big Sick. I watch most movies with the husband and that means thrillers, action-adventure, sci-fi or anything that loud and moves fast. So when I watch a movie alone, I usually choose a romance, something thoughtful, a light comedy or something offbeat. Something he wouldn’t normally watch. The Big Sick had all of these elements. A little offbeat, some comedy, some romance and it made me think. I like how grounded in everyday life it was and still managed to have emotional weight. And I appreciated the glimpse into another culture and the adaptation to American life. 4 out of 5 stars.