Books Coming Out in 2019 That I Want Now

~ The Witch Reads ~ 1 Comment

One of my favorite things about a new year is all the new books that will be coming out. I haven’t been excited these past couple years, because I haven’t been reading. But this year… this year, gimme those good books!


The Dreamers: A Novel by Karen Thompson Walker

This just sounds lyrical. The idea is that a plague is taking over, a plague of a sleep where people have heightened dreams and don’t wake up. Now, I love disaster novels, and I’m not sure that this counts, but something about it is singing to me. I can’t wait to read this, and I think maybe it’s the cover art? I’m not altogether sure. There’s just something about this book.

The Collected Schizophrenias by Esme Weijun Wang

As someone who also lives with mental illness, I’m excited for this book because I think it’s time we broke the stigma. Let’s talk about it more! Let’s write about it more! And not in that way that most mystery novels do, let’s actually talk about living with bipolar 1, schizoeffective, borderline, all of it. My hope for this book is that it’s a peek into a life that I both live and don’t live.

Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

So for those of you who don’t know me (I’m talking to like the single person who reads this that I didn’t recruit from my Facebook friends), I’m crazy about music novels. This checks the box – this novel is based in the whirlwind world of 1970s music industry. There’s already an adaptation being ordered, starring Reese Witherspoon, and I’m hoping that that means this book is amazing. I need to hurry up and get paid so I can preorder! This may be the book I’m most excited about.

My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing

So here’s another fun fact about me: I love crime novels. And this book is all about a couple whose favorite pastime is getting away with murder. Oh, man, Lt. Joe Kenda would have a field day with this (“Well, my, my, my.”). Maybe that’s why I read so many mystery and crime novels – maybe it’s my obsession with Discovery ID. No, but seriously, super excited for this novel, because it seems unique.

Once More We Saw Stars by Jayson Greene

So this book is a somber addition to the list. It tackles moving on from and experiencing what I consider to be unimaginable pain – the loss of a child. I’m interested in this novel because it seems human and, in some way, inspiring because it deals with “overcoming” grief. And I say that in quotations because I don’t believe you “overcome” grief, you learn how to go through it and live with it. And I think this novel will explore that.

So, what are you looking forward to reading in 2019? Let me know in the comments!

Review: Depth of Winter (Longmire #15) by Craig Johnson

~ The Witch Reads ~ 1 Comment

Bonus second post today because hoo boy, I just finished Depth of Winter.

Do you know that feeling you get, when you finish a good book and you feel like you should be shaking? You’re a little like you just got a fix, riding a high of some kind, and you’re sad that the book ended, you’re sad that the last page turned, and you honestly feel just a tad empty for it.

Depth of Winter did that to me. I literally just put my Kindle down, and I feel like I want to go back and read more and there is no more left to read. That’s actually kind of hard to deal with right now.

But onto the actual review.

As I mentioned in my previous Longmire post, Walt Longmire represents the Last Good Man, and we’ve never seen that tested quite like it is in Depth of Winter. Longmire’s longstanding enemy has kidnapped Cady and hidden her away in Mexico, knowing that Longmire is bound to follow. Now, we get to see what happens when a man comes face to face with what almost seems like destiny.

First let’s talk pros of the book. It’s gripping, it’s clearly a page-turner, there’s so much action that I had to physically put down my Kindle and walk away at times. Craig Johnson is a master of creating characters that I like, that I want to survive, and then pulling my heart out when they don’t. He creates a narrative that makes it easy to quote, creates something that I want to live – hell, I drove through Wyoming this past November and geeked out because it looked like Longmire. Who geeks out about Wyoming? Longmire shines as the main character, we see him tested and then tested again, we see his struggle to survive, his willingness to go until he physically can’t anymore, all to save Cady. It’s like Taken, Longmire style.

“Kindness to a killer builds coffins,” Walt is advised, and this is proven time and again – his moral compass means almost nothing in Mexico, and almost dooms him a few times.

Now the cons: I personally don’t like that the familiar cast of characters I was used to were scarce, and that will turn people off. However, I think this was necessary, because had Henry Standing Bear been there to talk some good sense into Walt and take over the tactics of the situation, there would have only been 4 chapters and then we would have missed out on Walt’s bat-crazy, vigilante style justice that he delivers down in Mexico.

So, long story short, did I like it? Hell yes. Would I recommend it? Absolutely. Is it my favorite in the series? It’s running a pretty close call with Another Man’s Moccasins for me.

My TBR Pile is Huge and It’s a Problem: 5 Books I Need to Read

~ The Witch Reads ~ 1 Comment

My To-Be-Read list is growing nonstop, and I think this is a problem that a lot of bookish folks like ourselves have. So let’s take a look at what’s on my TBR, and why it’s there.


Why It’s On My List: I loved Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton, and I was thrilled the other night to discover that there was not one, but two sequels to a book that I thought was sorely underrated. I have Traitor to the Throne downloaded on my Overdrive (my library is amazing), and I’ll be reading it probably here pretty quickly.

Rebel of the Sands was a gripping YA pageturner. As I’ve recently discovered with Lethal White, this isn’t always the case for sequels, but I have a good feeling about Hamilton’s writing and storytelling ability. Seriously, I read Rebel of the Sands when reading was about all I could do a couple of years ago, and it was AMAZING. At first glance, Traitor to the Throne looks to be action-packed and full of adventure in only the way that YA novels can be – gung-ho about themselves. But we can get into the differences between YA fantasy and Fantasy fantasy another day.

Why It’s On My List: Back when I worked at the bookstore, near the tail end of when I worked, this book was all anyone could talk about. The Song of Achilles is one that I downloaded on Audible and tried super hard to get into, but the truth of the matter is that I’m just not into audiobooks. I’m sure they work great for some people, but not for me. So I’ve got this on my Kindle, and I’ll be picking it up from there. So The Song of Achilles is on this list primarily because I’ve already started it, and because I remember everyone saying it was worth it.

Why It’s On My List: So I literally just picked up The Afterlife of Holly Chase from the library because I was looking for a good holiday read and my book group on Facebook says this book will deliver. I admit, the story of Ebenezer Scrooge is not one that I seek out, and it’s not one I’d ever thought of as having good remake potential, but I’m a sucker for a good YA novel, and what the hell, I’m feeling generous, it’s Christmas.

Why It’s On My List: Listen, okay, fanfiction is a form of art. I have wept over fanfictions, some have brought me joy in times of darkness, and I even credit one fanfiction with saving my life (on more than one occasion). As such, fandoms and being a fangirl has become so ingrained in my personality that it’s a part of me now, and that will never change. And yet, for some reason, I have owned this book for years and still. Not. Read it.

That’s a travesty.

Fangirl promises to be the nerdly frolic that I want, and Rainbow Rowell has gone on to become a highly accomplished author. Honestly I’m looking forward to it. It just may take awhile.

Why It’s On My List: Go here to read all about my Longmire obsession.

Review: Lethal White by Robert Galbraith

~ The Witch Reads ~ 1 Comment

I’ll start this off by saying that I am a huge fan of this series, and I was hugely excited to read this novel. I loved The Cuckoo’s Calling, I lived for The Silkworm, and I got Career of Evil as soon as it hit the shelves. That said, Lethal White, for me, is not a winner.

The thing about the first three was that I was just as interested in the mystery as I was the characters’ relationships. My distaste for Matthew grew with every book, I could see myself in Robin, and Cormoran Strike represents a deeply flawed, but equally as deeply moral character similar to that of an old noir detective. He has his vices and his crutches, just as we all do.

The problem with Lethal White, I thought, was the pacing. There is a heavy emphasis places on the character relationships at first, and then that pacing starts and stops like a particularly bad motor as it is interjected by a mystery that is honestly more yapping than investigating. Maybe it’s because I’m not a fan of political intrigue. Maybe it’s because the book was slow to introduce the mystery in the first place.

3/5 Stars

My point is that I had to work to finish Lethal White, where I didn’t have to work to finish the first three in the series. I would say that perhaps, something new was tried here with the political setting in the first half of the book, and the mystery overtaking the second half was a little “too little too late” in my opinion.

Some positives of the book were the realistic way that Galbraith portrayed PTSD (as a sufferer myself, this was very realistic, and that was relieving), the focus on relationships (Cormoran and Robin have a few moments that make me very happy as a fan), and the climax (if you can make sense of the actual mystery in the first place).

Would I recommend Lethal White to a casual reader? No. Would I recommend it to a fan of the series? Yes. Am I disappointed? Yes.

I’d say 3 out of 5 Stars.

Let’s Talk Longmire

~ The Witch Reads ~ 3 Comments

I interrupt the regularly scheduled Lethal White for a quick geek out.

There’s a new Longmire book out.

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As I mentioned, I have sorely neglected my reading, but one thing I did do, back in August, was preorder Craig Johnson’s Longmire #14, Depth of Winter. I remembered that I did this last night while in the ER (ovarian cysts are fun), when I re-downloaded the Kindle app onto my phone and discovered, lo and behold, there was Robert Taylor looking like the last good man of the Wild West on the cover of Depth of Winter.

Confession time: I find the character of Longmire to be an attractive one. Here’s why.

The characterization of Walt Longmire is one that I like to call “the last good man.” Everyone around him is fallible, and he is too, but he is aware of this. He knows he’s flawed, and that’s what makes him “good.” He has a strict sense of justice, one that he upholds to the highest regard, but goes outside the law when he realizes the law will not serve him – his own moral code. Other characters that fit this type typically show up in Westerns: Chisolm in The Magnificent 7, Dan Evans in 3:10 to Yuma. (If that tells you anything about the kind of Westerns I watch.) The other characters in the Longmire mystery series are nuanced as well, but none of them strike me quite like Walt Longmire does.

So let’s talk Depth of Winter. This is one of those occasions where Longmire goes outside the law – he has to, Cady’s been kidnapped by his worst enemy. And one thing that we’ve learned about Longmire is that family (including his found family) is his weakness and his strength, so it will be interesting to see how it plays out. I’m about 30% of the way through the book now, and I have to say, it’s not gripping me like a Craig Johnson novel usually does. I think the reason for this is that Walt is the only recognizable character – the rest are new to this book, and I’m really hoping to at least see my beloved Henry Standing Bear soon. There is plenty of action, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve grown to love and care about the other characters for fourteen books – meeting these new ones puts a strange feeling of “new read?” into the novel that I don’t feel like should be there.

I am nothing if not a devoted fan of the series, though, so you bet I’ll keep reading. And don’t get me wrong, I’m enjoying it. I’m just missing Henry!

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So now, I’m reading… four or five books, actually. Here’s an updated list of what I’m reading:

  • Lethal White by Robert Galbraith
  • Depth of Winter by Craig Johnson
  • The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King
  • The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

There are honestly a couple more I want to read (hello, Overdrive), but I’m trying to stop there. I’m planning on getting Lethal White read first, then Depth of Winter, then The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, and then The Song of Achilles if I can handle the audiobook – I’m not doing well on that front.

What do you think should be on my reading list for 2019? Let me know!

Introduction and What I’m Reading

~ The Witch Reads ~ 1 Comment

Hi everyone! It’s me, the Witch. I’ve been pretty neglectful when it comes to reading this past year, so for 2019 (and the tail end of 2018), I would like to work hard to remedy that and rekindle my deep love for reading.

Reading is something that’s always meant something special to me. Words are my medium of choice, and I’ve been a writer for pretty much my entire life, and even though I still continued to write, as I got older, my love of reading fell away in the interests of adult responsibility. Now, I’m making time for me, and I’m making time to do the things I love again – including reading.

There are a few genres I like more than others, but I’m hoping to really branch out. I love young adult fiction, as well as mystery and thriller books and fantasy. Romance novels are a guilty pleasure of mine, and I read a lot of nonfiction as well – usually pagan literature. However, those aren’t the only genres you can expect to see on this channel. I’ll be trying to broaden my horizons by reading outside my comfort zone. I’ll be reading new books, old books, books somewhere in between.

Mostly, I’ll be reading what I want to read.

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So, let’s dive into the first look at Lethal White, the fourth in the Cormoran Strike mystery series by Robert Galbraith. I’ll start by saying that it’s been a long wait for this novel, compared to the first three. The first, The Cuckoo’s Calling, was released in 2013, followed by The Silkworm in 2014 and Career of Evil in 2015. On top of that, Lethal White is the longest book in the series – seriously, look at it, it’s massive.

One thing I love about the Cormoran Strike series is that the characters are very flawed and realistic. This is a talent of Rowling’s, I think, something we watched her perfect in the Harry Potter series, something she overdid in Casual Vacancy, and now it’s really shining in her writing with the Cormoran Strike mysteries. So, you’ll notice I mentioned Harry Potter – a surprising amount of people don’t know, but Robert Galbraith is a pen name for the Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling. I was actually working in a bookstore when that came out, and it was an interesting experience – catapulted the series into stardom, I think.

Another thing that you’ll notice is that I have a library copy of the book. I read on a budget, so it’s not always practical for me to rush out and buy a book at 29 dollars when I can check the book out for free from the library. I am lucky to be in a town with a great library, as well as a great interlibrary loan system, so I can snag all kinds of new books right when they hit the shelves. That said, I also have a nifty Kindle on which I can purchase books for rather cheap, which is where I’ll be reading Depth of Winter by Craig Johnson. I’ll also be revisiting an old favorite of mine, a series that I stopped two books in simply because life got hectic a few years ago: the Mary Russell series by Laurie R. King. I have the first three from the library – The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, A Monstrous Regiment of Women, and A Letter of Mary. My library has all of the series, so I would be remiss not to take advantage.

Finally, on my reading list are two books I’ve owned for years. I got them as gifts and never had the chance to read them, thanks to life stepping in. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell is one, I’m sure you’ve heard of it, and A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas is another.

Last but not least, I am attempting to try out audiobooks. Those will be a lot slower for me, I think, so they may have to be books that I otherwise wouldn’t read, or books that I’m not overly hyped about reading. For example, for my audible free trial, I tried to get Lethal White, and instead I woke up the next morning and went and picked up the book. So I returned the audiobook, and instead downloaded The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller and honestly, I’m enjoying it so far. It makes doing the dishes a little more appealing, but I really have no reason to listen to it other than when I do the dishes.

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So my hope is to get at least one review up every week, with a second post up that week on something related to books but not necessarily a review. I’m not setting any hard and fast goals for myself because I want this to remain a lot of fun for me.

I hope you’ll join me for the ride, and recommend a few books as well along the way!