Quickie Review: Herding Cats: a Sarah Scribbles Collection by Sarah Andersen

Herding Cats: a "Sarah Scribbles" collection by Sarah Andersen earned a 4 star review from me. It's an interesting collection of comic strips. You might like it even more if you happen to be an introvert, an artist, or a pet lover.

In Big Mushy Happy Lump Sarah discovered her love for cats. This continues into Herding Cats. There are many strips showing her interacting with a cute black cat (like on the cover).

Also, there are several strips showing her attitudes towards being an artist and an introvert. I am somewhat of an introvert and found myself nodding along with some of the strips, including one where she avoids conflict by saying yes when someone asked her for a favor when she really wanted to say no. Of course you don't have to be an introvert to have that happen, which makes it even better.

The latter part of the book is dedicated to giving advice to artists online, especially younger artists. I thought this was a valuable, interesting read. It includes advice on how to take criticism and suggestions for how to handle trolls among other things.

All in all, it's a good read. Mostly humorous, it generated lots of smiles, laughs, and some nods. It's worth a read. If you enjoyed either of her previous collections, you will like this one as well.

Herding Cats is due to be released March 27, 2018 from Andrews McMeel Publishing.

You can check out more of Sarah's work online on Facebook, Twitter, and at GoComics.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions herein are my own and freely given.

Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #229: Dark Queen by Faith Hunter

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event which had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with "Can't-Wait Wednesday" hosted over at Wishful Endings.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Jane Yellowrock used to hunt vampires, but now she must fight--and win--beside them.

As Enforcer to the vampire Master of the City of New Orleans, Jane Yellowrock stakes her reputation and her life on keeping her territory safe. But Leo has been issued a blood challenge by the emperor of the European vampires, who seeks to usurp all of his power and possessions. If Leo loses the match to the death, the city will be forfeit, and the people of New Orleans will suffer the consequences. Jane can't let that happen.

Preparing for the duel requires all of Jane's focus, but with so much supernatural power in play, nothing goes according to plan. She has to rely on herself and the very few people she knows she can trust to stand and fight. Only two things are guaranteed: nothing is sacred, and no one is safe. 

Dark Queen by Faith Hunter is due out from Ace May 1, 2018.

Why am I waiting on this one? It's #15 in the Jane Yellowrock series. And while I haven't read them all yet, I have read enough to know I would probably enjoy reading this one as well. It's one of the best urban fantasy series available.

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Review: The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror by Mallory Ortberg

The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror by Mallory Ortberg is a collection of retellings. Most of the retellings are of fairy tales, but some are based on other literature such as the tale, "The Rabbit," which is based on the Velveteen Rabbit. There are 11 tales in total.

There is a horrifying aspect to each story. Mallory Ortberg takes a tale that has some level of darkness to it and twists it to make it even darker. For example, the retelling based on "The Little Mermaid" has a particularly gruesome necessity that must be met before she can return to the sea. 

The tales also have a feminist aspect to them. The female characters are not all submissive and often take an active role in their fate. And often the pronoun he or she is used for what appears to be someone of the opposite sex. In the "Frog Princess," the princess is consistently referred to with the pronoun he.

I gave this collection 3 out of 5 stars. I liked it. It was ok. I didn't love it. To be honest, I didn't enjoy it much. I found the pronoun use in some of the tales more confusing than edifying. I did find several of the tales haunting though. If you like dark retellings, there's a good chance you will like this collection. 

The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror by Mallory Ortberg was released March 13, 2018 from Henry Holt and Company.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions herein are my own and freely given.

Teaser Tuesday: The Merry Spinster by Mallory Ortberg

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by The Purplebooker.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! 

"Let her alone," Catherine said without looking up from the newspaper. "Beauty is determined not to thrive, and if you take the coffee cups from her, she might murder us all in our beds, just to have something to tidy up." 

(50% through on my Kindle in the story "The Merry Spinster" a retelling of "Beauty and the Beast")

The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror by Mallory Ortberg is being released today from Henry Holt and Company.

Would you keep reading? What's your teaser this week? Share it or a link in the comments. Are you enjoying your book? Let us know! Happy Reading!

Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #228: Island of the Mad by Laurie R. King

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event which had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with "Can't-Wait Wednesday" hosted over at Wishful Endings.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes are back in the New York Times bestselling series that Lee Child called "the most sustained feat of imagination in mystery fiction today."

A June summer's evening, on the Sussex Downs, in 1925. Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes are strolling across their orchard when the telephone rings: an old friend's beloved aunt has failed to return following a supervised outing from Bedlam. After the previous few weeks--with a bloody murder, a terrible loss, and startling revelations about Holmes--Russell is feeling a bit unbalanced herself. The last thing she wants is to deal with the mad, and yet, she can't say no.

The Lady Vivian Beaconsfield has spent most of her adult life in one asylum after another, yet she seemed to be improving--or at least, finding a point of balance in her madness. So why did she disappear? Did she take the family's jewels with her, or did someone else? The Bedlam nurse, perhaps?

The trail leads Russell and Holmes through Bedlam's stony halls to the warm Venice lagoon, where ethereal beauty is jarred by Mussolini's Blackshirts, where the gilded Lido set may be tempting a madwoman, and where Cole Porter sits at a piano, playing with ideas... 

Island of the Mad by Laurie R. King is due to be released June 12, 2018 from Bantam. This is number 15 in the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series.

Why am I waiting on this one? It sounds interesting from asylums to Venice. I haven't tried this series yet, but I am willing to give this one a go and see if I like it enough to go back and read the series from the beginning. From the information on the Goodreads page it sounds like the characters have grown and developed as the series progresses.That intrigues me as well as far as reading the previous mysteries goes.

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesday: Killing in C Sharp by Alexia Gordon

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by The Purplebooker.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! 

"I don't think he can see me in all my glory. And the rest of that ghost hunting bunch wouldn't know I was there if I dumped ice water on their heads." Eamon glowed an impatient turquoise.
- 27% through on my Kindle - The ghostly Eamon is talking to the protagonist Gethsemane Brown.

Killing in C Sharp by Alexia Gordon is being released today by Henery Press. 

Would you keep reading? What's your teaser this week? Share it or a link in the comments. Are you enjoying your book? Let us know! Happy Reading!

Review: Tricks for Free by Seanan McGuire

Tricks for Free is the seventh book in the InCryptid series by Seanan McGuire. Antimony Price aka Melody West is in Florida working at a busy amusement park, Lowryland, that is in direct competition with Disney. How did she get here? Why is she here? And why is she alone? Something went south with the Covenant and now they are chasing after her. The amusement park seems like the perfect place to hide out. So many people would make it hard for them to track her.

Still, there are unexpected occurrences. She is rooming with a sylph and a gorgon. She is scorching her sheets at night with the fire she is trying to control. Someone wants to teach her to control her fire and she jumps at the chance. Then bad accidents in the park start to occur. What or who is causing them? Annie works at resolving the issues and finding a way to return to the family fold.

This is my first Seanan McGuire novel. And it wasn't a bad place to start. It certainly whets my appetite for more in the series. And I will be checking out her other series as well.

The characters in the novel are interesting. Those closest to Annie are the most well developed. I want to know more about them as well. I find especially interesting her former babysitter, a crossroads ghost, who pops in and out pretty much at will.

There is enough background given to follow the action quite well and to see what lead Annie to the predicament she finds herself in. You could read this as a standalone, but you will probably want to read the sequel as well as some of the earlier books in the series.

The plot moves along at a good pace. I found it a little slow in the beginning, but that was because things were being established that the rest of the book would depend on. It didn't slow me down or make me stop reading. It was just something that I noted. As the book progresses, the pace picks up.

There's a short story at the end of the book. It works well and brings up what happened to her mice and what happened to her boyfriend after the end of the previous book. It's interesting and I enjoyed it. I was not familiar with Aeslin mice and it was nice to get to know them even in such a brief time.

I give this novel 4 out of 5 stars. It's well-written. The characters are interesting. The pace is good. I would definitely recommend this series to fans of urban fantasy. I will be reading more books by this author.

Tricks for Free by Seanan McGuire is going to be released March 6, 2018 from DAW Books.

Seanan McGuire is a Washington State-based author. The October Daye novels are her first urban fantasy series, and the InCryptid novels are her second series, both of which have put her on the New York Times bestseller list. She is the first person to be nominated for five Hugo Awards in a single year. You can find out more about her and her books on her website here.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions herein are my own and freely given.