I tried out a new hat form with a new, to me, fabric - tweed! I love the results!

I seem to have read lots of mysteries last month, even though I was going for horror. Oh well, I still read a lot of great books. 

The Foundling, by Georgette Heyer
Reread, of course. This one has very little romance and is more of an adventure story about the very coddled, young Duke of Sale learning to rely on his own merits. Darling.
 
The Body Keeps the Score, by Bessel van der Kolk
This is an informative, eye-opening book about how a traumatic experience can affect a person’s long-term health. It was fascinating and also hard. Some of the trauma, and the aftermath, this psychologist relates is hard to stomach.  Overall, though, I learned a lot from this book—how my own small traumas still affect me and how the much larger traumas experienced by loved ones has likely informed their lives. Worthwhile to read, but know that there are a lot of triggers.
 
Shutter, by Ramona Emerson
I listened to this debut mystery about a young crime scene photographer of Navajo ancestry who can see the spirits of the dead. One particularly gruesome death leads her to an investigation into crooked cops and drug cartels. Really good. I already have the second book in the series.
 
Paladin's Grace, by T. Kingfisher
This was a book club selection and I’m always up for any T. Kingfisher. I hadn’t read any of her romantasy before and found that I like her kids books and horror better. But. I will read any of her books because her main characters are always so normal…even when they are blessed by gods and are technically alchemists. This is the first of The Saint of Steel series and I will definitely read more. Especially, as they are being reissued with pretty new covers.
 
Graveyard Shift, by M.L. Rio
This book was touted as horror, but the only horror element was a very benign graveyard. As a novella, it was a short listen. The characters were well drawn and the mystery sort of interesting. Overall, though, it was kind of nothingburger.
 
The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years, by Shubnum Khan
After a slow start, this wound up being a lovely read that I can’t wait to pass on to my friend. It follows Indian-muslim teenager, Sana, after she and her father move to a dilapidated mansion outside of Durban, South Africa. The house has been carved up into apartments and she gets to know all of the odd old people there. In a bedroom that has been locked for 80 years, she finds clues to the mansion’s tragic past. In a secondary narrative, we learn about the original inhabitants of the house and the tragedy that left it abandoned. It has twists that are shocking, but that also make sense with a bittersweet ending.
 
The Hills of Estrella Roja, by Ashley Robin Franklin
A fun, creepy graphic novel that follows a college podcaster, Kat, as she spends her spring break following rumors of strange sightings in a remote Texas town. The locals do not want her there, but she persists after meeting Mari, who has returned to town for her grandmother’s funeral. The two girls navigate the town’s mysteries while falling for each other. This was well-paced and didn’t spoon feed the plot to speed things up. Art was nice too.
 
The Red Tree, by Caitlín R. Kiernan
This was a perfect Halloween month read—spooky, folkloric, and just the right amount of crazy. Novelist Sarah has taken refuge in remote Rhode Island trying to escape the grief of the recent death of her girlfriend. In the centuries-old farmhouse, she finds a manuscript from the previous tenant who killed himself. He was a folklorist and was working on a book about the rumors and stories around a giant oak tree that is 75-yards from the farmhouse. Told in journal form with bits of the manuscript inserted, this was gothic at its best.
 
Death at Morning House, by Maureen Johnson
As a fan of Johnson’s Stevie Bell novels, I was excited to read this new standalone mystery. I wasn’t disappointed. While it has similar plot points to Truly Devious, it worked well on its own. After starting her summer by burning down a house, Marlowe accepts a job as a tour guide for an old manor house in upstate New York. Working with her are five old friends who have secrets, lots of them. If you don’t want to get started on a whole series, jump into this one. You’ll love it.
 
Thistlewood Manor: Murder at the Hedgerow, by Fiona Grace
I listened to this one. It was an OK story. The mystery wasn’t much of a mystery, despite the number of red herrings. Proto-feminist Eliza is called back to her family estate after living on her own in London for a few years. She finds once she’s home that her parents plan on marrying her off to a rich Lord. When he winds up dead later that night, the police suspect her, so she is determined to find the killer herself. 

I made a hat! It's been a long time since I made one, but now that I'm mostly settled in my new house craft time is on.

​Owl and the Japanese Circus, by Kristi Charish
There is a lot going on in this book. Indiana Jones type antiquities thief, vampire revenge, dragons in human form, otherworldly Vegas casino, Tokyo drinking bars, lots of mythological creatures, romance, and an ancient device to destroy the world. This could have gone so well, but it was kind of a mess. Owl, the former archeologist thief, is annoying and does the thing I really hate—she keeps telling us how smart she is but then does incredibly impulsive, stupid things. I kept hoping I would like it by the end, but I just couldn’t.
 
The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco, by Michelle Chouinard
A perfectly acceptable mystery. Capri Sanzio, middle-aged tour guide to the murders of San Fran, gets swept up in what seems to be a copycat serial murderer who is copying the murder MO of Overkill Bill, her late grandfather. When one of the victims is her former MIL, she has to find the killer before she or her daughter are fingered for the crime. Not great, not bad, with a relatable main character.
 
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries & Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands, by Heather Fawcett
A friend had been trying to get me to read the first book since it came out in 2023. I don’t know why I didn’t before. I loved it. Wonderful worldbuilding, saucy, smart main characters, excellently paced, and an overall fun story. I listened to this, loved it, and immediately purchased the second book in the series on audio. I love Emily’s devotion to her academic studies that even the love of a gorgeous fae prince-in-disguise can’t make her waver—even if she does love him in return. She’s my new hero. I can’t wait for the third book early next year.
 
Ash's Cabin, by Jen Wang
Nonbinary teen, Ash, feels alone even when among their family. Their grandpa is the only person who they felt understood them. He lived in rural Northern California and boasted of building a cabin deep in the woods. When Ash finds out their family will be selling their grandfather’s land, Ash decides they’ve had enough of the world and learn to survive in the wilderness, then find a way to escape to the cabin. While there, Ash meets a lonely hiker who helps them see why human connection is important. This is a quiet story, but lovely. Not as engaging as Wang’s The Prince & the Dressmaker, it still has a lot of good things to say.
 
Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
I decided to do a reread of the City Watch books in the Discworld series. This is the first book, of course, and it’s delightful as always.
 
This Is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
Mind-bending and time-bending, this book is part epistolary and part espionage/romance. What starts as two super agents on opposite sides of a long-running war turns into a love story of equals who were bred to fight the war of history. It’s really a quite lovely book once you get your head around the format. Much recommended.
 
Natsume Book of Friends, vols. 28-29
I’ve been reading this series for something like 15 years and I still love it so much.
 
Midnight on Beacon Street, by Emily Ruth Verona
YA horror. Maybe? It wasn’t very scary or like at all. Decent set-up but the switching of POVs from MC Amy as a 17-year-old babysitter to her 11-year-old girl being babysat to 6-year-old Ben who Amy is babysitting didn’t add anything and took away from the tension. Knowing now who murders and who was murdered, I still can’t see what Ben’s narration added to the story. Not terrible, but wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend.
 
Island of Whispers, by Frances Hardinge
Lovely, illustrated fairytale from one of my favorite authors. This is the story of young Milo who is forced to be the ferryman for the dead from his small island when his father is murdered by a grieving father. Pursued by the father, who is wealthy, and two wizards, it is up to Milo to free the spirits of the dead before they use magic to harm them. Loved it, of course. 

We decided to move in February, sold our house and moved in May, moved into our new house in June and have been settling in ever since. I've done some little crafts here and there, mostly trying to teach myself the purl stitch, but now I'm moving forward again. I'm in love with these crochet jellyfish air plant holders.