Feed (Newsflesh #1) by Mira Grant

 

It is the year 2040 and a virus that turns the dead into zombies has changed the world.  Georgia and her brother Shaun are journalists - bloggers who feed the news to the world.  When they and Buffy, their tech guru and poet, are hired to join a presidential candidate's campaign, it seems like the best thing ever.  Their ratings soar, but so does the danger.  Because I read this during the Covid pandemic, it really seemed to touch on a lot of valid points and is eerily and sadly close, in many ways, to reality now.  I thought the book was awesome and I look forward to reading the other books in the series.

Flas Fire (The Extraordinaries #2) by T.J. Klune

 

Like the first book in this series, Flash Fire is a fun to read, laugh out loud, feel good book.  Nick and Seth continue in their relationship and a couple more Extraordinaries appear on the scene bringing in some humor and intrigue.  The book is heavy on social issues, but still manages to be a fun and fabulous story. 

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

 

Can octogenarians solve crimes?  These four want to.  In this laugh out loud tale, a group of retirement home dwellers has the wonderful opportunity to solve a murder!  What fun! I listened to the audio version of this book and it was delightful.  I highly recommend it. 

Nyxia by Scott Reingten

 Emmet and nine other teenagers have been recruited by a company to go to another planet and mine it for a valuable substance that is only found there.  The teenagers are trained to fight and run the mining equipment.  The training is brutal and highly competitive.  The story is filled with action and mystery and I enjoyed it so much that I had to read the next two books as well.  I highly recommend it.

The Marvelwood Magicians by Diane Zahler

 

Eleven year old Mattie can read minds, her mom tells fortunes, her father is an illusionist and her brother can disappear.  They perform at fairs and carnivals.  They have always hidden the fact that their talents are real.  When they join a circus and their talents are threatened, it is up to Mattie to save the day.  There is magic, circus, and fun in this great children's book.

11/22/63 by Stephen King

I read this book in two days and one evening.  I could not put it down. I had not really ever been interested in the JFK story, despite having grown up in the Dallas area for most of my life.  However, just a few years ago, I learned that my grandma had dated Jack Ruby.  That piqued my interest in the event.  In this story, Jake finds that there is a way to travel through time and he is commissioned to go to 1963 and stop Oswald from killing Kennedy, but it will take some time and planning since the portal in time only leads to 1958 and time doesn't like to be changed. During that time, Jake, who changes his name to George, becomes a part of the past, but will he be able to change it?  Totally fantastic book.  Next, I plan to watch the TV series that is based on the book.

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

This book is like a very long description
of an acid trip.
Bees and honey
and swords and honey
and keys and honey
and owls and honey
and a bunny who is a girl who is a bunny
and cats and books and stories
and a starless sea
and a harbor
parties,
a dollhouse,
and dancing
and Max of the wild things
and video games
and I think, it is most likely, that
the owls are not what they seem
although that is another story.
Many stories in one story.
A mysterious underground
magical world.
Love stories.
"It doesn't feel real, but it does feel familiar."
A very long, sticky story of fantasy and mystery and honey.