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Death Wish (Ceruleans #1)
Death Wish (Ceruleans #1)
Megan Tayte | 2015 | Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult (YA)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is the first book of the Cerulean series, and as such, it pulls you in gently, giving lots of information and a back story without just being an info dump.

Scarlett's character was immediately likeable, as were Cara and Luke. Jude, you are left questioning - which is the whole purpose of his character! Scarlett is dealing with a personal tragedy, leaving her with unanswered questions that she needs answers to. She decides to spend the summer in her grandparents' old home, trying to give herself both some space and also the answers she wants.

This is a book that definitely builds up, and there is no insta-love or love triangles, which I will be forever grateful for! The story is intriguing and smoothly paced, and the contemporary world setting is both complex and carefree.

Fair warning - this story comes to a close with one major cliffhanger!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading more about the Ceruleans. Definitely recommended.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Mar 5, 2016
  
Accidentally Vacationed with an Incubus (Briar Coven, #2)
Accidentally Vacationed with an Incubus (Briar Coven, #2)
Belle Blakley | 2025 | Erotica, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
ACCIDENTALLY VACATIONED WITH AN INCUBUS is the second book in the Briar Coven series, although the coven doesn't appear for most of the book.

Jen was sent to prison nine years ago for killing her parents and has never forgiven herself. Devlin has never been summoned and has given up, taking a vacation instead. With the help of a magical bedsheet, these two meet and realise they can help each other, falling in love along the way.

This was a great story that had more of a mystery than the first book, with red herrings thrown in too. I loved the connection between Jen and Devlin and how it played out naturally. Fated mates with a twist. And not only that but there is another magical house! I love Boo-dini just as much as House, and I definitely want my own.

A great addition to the series that will leave you wanting more. Definitely recommended by me.

** same worded review will appear elsewhere **

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Mar 19, 2025
  
On July 21, 2017, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets came out in theaters the U.S. After watching the movie I found myself intrigued by the characters, world, and the passion shown by the director and writer Luc Besson showed for the project. I took this interest and decided to start reading the comic books. Thus far I have been able to read three of the volumes, as they are French comics they are not usually kept in stores and I have to order them.

The Valerian and Laureline comics follow Valerian, a handsome and cocky time and space traveler, and Laureline, his stubborn and beautiful partner. They travel together across space and time on missions for Galaxity, the capital of the Terran Empire in the 28th century. They explore strange worlds with fascinating creatures, deal with complicated political situations, and take the reader through rewritten history.

I immediately fell in love with the comics for the same reasons I enjoyed the film. The first is that the world that author Pierre Christin and artist Jean-Claude Mezieres created is truly fantastical. It falls under the same sci-fi mixed with fantasy genre that Star Wars is under. The great space galaxy is full of planets that are home to a wide range of alien species, each with complicated politics, cultures, and aesthetics.

The second reason is that I love the relationship between Valerian and Laureline. I am a very character driven person in both my reading and writing so I am a sucker for a good relationship, romantic, familial, or friendship. Valerian and Laureline start the first comic playing chess. Valerian is cocky and does not like to lose, but he is kind and smart and works hard to make the world a better place. Laureline is funny, stubborn, and unlike Valerian, she does not feel the same sense of loyalty to the Terran Empire and therefore is okay with bending the rules to save the most people. They make for a great team, and their fun banter adds to the overall charm of the story.

7810429The first issue of the series was released in 1967 and ran till 2010. Initially, all were written in French but has since been translated into English and several other languages. This series plays with a lot of the sci-fi/fantasy tropes that make you fall in love with stories in the genre, and has even been compared to Star Wars as the basis for several of the ideas used in the Star Wars films, such as the look of some of the characters and situations characters find themselves in.

This is a fun and exciting comic series that got me into reading101694 comics in the first places. I will certainly be continuing my reading of these books so that I can continue being apart of the Valerian and Laureline story. I also enjoyed the film and hope that the passion the Luc Besson showed will be enough to allow him to make another film in the series.

I would highly recommend this series!
  
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Kurt Vile recommended Good Old Boys by Randy Newman in Music (curated)

 
Good Old Boys by Randy Newman
Good Old Boys by Randy Newman
1974 | Singer-Songwriter
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"And then after that I got into Good Old Boys, which is a more refined thing, and at first I was like, no, I like Sail Away better, but Good Old Boys: he'll be singing like a love song, like a song like 'Marie', best love song ever, but then if you listen close, he's like, ""I love you the first time I saw you, and I will always love you Marie"". And then you realise, y'know, ""I don't listen to a word you say, when you're in trouble I just turn away"". You realise it's a love song from an asshole, a Southern asshole basically! There's another song on there, called 'Guilty', and that killed me. You've got to listen to the lyrics on that song. He starts out: ""Yes, baby, I been drinking, and I shouldn't come by I know, but I found myself in trouble, and I had nowhere else to go"", but then the production's amazing, it just kicks in with the drums and he's like: ""Got some whisky from the barman, got some cocaine from a friend"", and then it builds up and builds up, he's talking to his girlfriend. He's obviously a shit and he's shown up drunk at her doorway, and the punchline at the end is: ""You know I just can't stand myself and it takes a whole lot of medicine for me to pretend that I'm somebody else."" It's incredible! He always mocked the singer-songwriter thing, even though he was inspired by it. I say that in his moments like 'Guilty' and 'Marie', he says it better than Bob Dylan or anybody, or even Neil Young; obviously they're still talented at being real, they're both clever, they can put you on psychedelically any time they want and say [their lyrics] mean something or not and give a very cool response - not too cool, they can just answer any way they want, just be immortal. But Randy Newman has the concise moment that hits you in the gut; sometimes, I think, he's nailed it better than Bob Dylan. I totally think it's important to have humour in records. That's my personality anyway, but that's the best thing you can do, really. Because I was sometimes sad or melancholy, but I think the people that just ran that home, like in the grunge era, fucking like Smashing Pumpkins - I liked them when I was a kid - or even Eddie Vedder - no offence on them really, but at the same time they're victims of thinking there was this movement, like in the '70s, that there was this utopian dream that they'd change the world, like Crosby or something. But it's too one-sided after a while. Like fucking darkness in grunge - I don't know, no relief whatsoever? It's bullshit, it's too one-sided, it's not the way life is: life isn't that fucked, but it is. I just think that people, when they get too dramatic, it comes off like a bummer."

Source
  
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Lori (9 KP) rated The Stand in Books

Jun 29, 2017  
The Stand
The Stand
Stephen King | 2016 | Horror, Science Fiction/Fantasy
9
8.6 (51 Ratings)
Book Rating
Good vs evil. People of all ages, from all walks of life, coming together to "stand". (0 more)
The title says it all, on which side will you STAND?
I have loved​ this book from the first moment I picked it up and couldn't put it down, over 20 years ago . How could you not love a epic novel about the end of the world and the fight between good and evil? The characters are so very human, just a few on the side of good, the matriach, the unwed mother, the good ol' boy, the deaf mute, the judge, the soul singer. The demon/devil, ex-con, former cop, party girl, crazy arsonist are just a few on the dark side. They survive the plague and then have to take a "stand" (and pick a side) and survive the war between good and evil.
  
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Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated Shake Off in Books

Apr 27, 2018  
SO
Shake Off
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Shake Off was one of those books you listen to and you’re like “Okay this is interesting” and there’s one really exciting part, and then after it’s over, you’re like “oh, I literally spent eight and a half hours listening to this book. That’s fine.”

But that’s really all it was—fine. I didn’t particularly love any of the characters. There were some good scenes, but nothing addictive. And when it ended I smiled and then went on to the next book. It took me a few days to figure out what to write in this review because I wasn’t even sure how I felt about it at first. It was just a story that ended up in my head, the experience wasn’t anything phenomenal. The writing was good and the narration was great, but the story was just fine.
  
Truth and Fear
Truth and Fear
Peter Higgins | 2015 | Fiction & Poetry
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I was so excited about this audiobook that I went back and re-listened to the first one in the series so I’d be on top of all the details. It did not disappoint. More mystical creatures than ever, a wholly other side of the same terrifying magic, a fast-paced exciting plot that never stopped, all concluding to me absolutely dying for the next book. I cannot wait to find out what happens to all my favorite characters. I cannot conceptualize how this story will end—and that, for me, is the best thing ever, because so many stories out there are so easy to guess the plot and the conclusion but this… this is something entirely other that I cannot expect. And I’m in love with it.

I whole heartedly recommend reading this series!
  
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**✿❀ Maki ❀✿** (7 KP) rated Welcome to Night Vale in Podcasts

May 2, 2018 (Updated May 3, 2018)  
Welcome to Night Vale
Welcome to Night Vale
Comedy
10
8.7 (36 Ratings)
Podcast Rating
amazing writing (2 more)
variety of music
Cecil Baldwin could read me the phone book
Welcome to Night Vale
I normally can't do podcasts. I'm incapable of just sitting and listening to narration.

I forced myself to listen to Night Vale.

The first episode left me intrigued. By the third, I was in love.

Night Vale fills a hole in my cold, robotic heart that I never knew was there. It's got Lovecraftian overtones, but it's so much more than that. It's a well-written, smart, progressive story that rewards you for listening to it multiple times, and for paying attention to the narrative.

Not much in Night Vale isn't made important later. It's incredible how some innocuous comment from one episode will eventually be so important to the story.

And the writing is DAMNED funny. Joseph Fink and Jeffery Cranor work well together.
  
Where She Went (If I Stay, #2)
Where She Went (If I Stay, #2)
Gayle Forman | 2011 | Fiction & Poetry
10
8.0 (20 Ratings)
Book Rating
Another amazing piece by Gayle Forman. Instead of following the life and thoughts of Mia, as the first book did, Where She Went follows Adam and his spiraling journey after the accident, gaining fame and his struggle with the lost connection with his dreams and the love of his life. As relatable as If I Stay in the realistic emotional and physical turmoil of mental health, waning friendships, exhaustion and so much more. Three years have passed since Adam saw Mia and their connection was seemingly destroyed. A chance of fate brings the two back together for one day to face the demons that brought their relationship a halt as their lives skyrocketed away from them both. Highly recommend a read, especially if Where She Went pulled at your heart strings and kept you turning page after page, as it did to me.