Mr. Uptight
10.0
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Jude Staubman lives his life by a strict set of rules. Mason Reiner makes him want to break every...
Contemporary MM Romance
Cherry
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Cleveland, Ohio, 2003. A young man is just a college freshman when he meets Emily. They share a...
Cross my Heart (Cross my Heart #1)
10.0
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True love can blossom in unexpected places. This is Jaden pretending not to notice. . . . Jaden...
Please Send Help (I Hate Everyone But You #2)
8.5
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Ava and Gen are best friends. Ava knows what she wants and has plans to achieve her goals. Gen...not...
YA Young Adult Sequel Book Series Contemporary
Lindsay (1812 KP) rated During a Pandemic in Books
Sep 13, 2021
The book explains the pandemic and the changes that are going around. It makes it understandable for children. The pictures are simple and drawn well. It shows you what's essential in life. It does not over complicate what everyone is going through with this book.
This book happens to be for children. Still, it has been put into simple words and pictures to understand what was happening around us for the last year; it is still going on today. I love that this explains and is delivered to understand. I did see that throughout the book.
We see what we changed for others, while this explains keeping people safe and learning to deal with the changes that would keep ourselves and our family safe. You will learn about what the pandemic is or what the word means with this straightforward book. Children will learn as well. It will be easy for them to understand.
Inji works for a secret branch of a well-known matchmaking agency. Men who would like a wife without the long term commitment, hire a Field Wife. She fulfils their every wish, be it domestic or sexual. Inji’s current husband is a repeat contract. He’s not very good at being a husband, and reinforces Inji’s opinions on marriage: unnecessary and unfulfilling. And then there’s the possibility of domestic violence and exploitation.
To be fair, this doesn’t paint a great picture of marriage in (this case) Korea. Inji doesn’t even refer to her husband by name. He’s just “husband”, which makes him almost incidental to the story.
There’s a lot going on in this novel: family dynamics, exploitation, modern slavery, death (by suicide?), prostitution.
And what is the trunk in the title? I personally think it’s Inji’s personal baggage: the emotions, feelings and responsibilities that she carries around with her all the time. This trunk goes with her between field husband, her family and her flat. She’s never without it.
Is it the thriller that it’s sold as? I don’t think so, but it is a very interesting glance into life in Korea, and I really enjoyed it.
Merissa (14146 KP) rated Blood of the Damned - Thorn (Vaughn Winery #1) in Books
Sep 15, 2025
Ledger has left his ex and his old life behind in LA, moving to Bumf?ck, Nowhere for a new job at Vaughn Winery. What he doesn't expect is to meet his mate and everything that comes with it! Thorn is in town to meet his new employee, and doesn't think the omega who is his mate is one and the same, so he is ecstatic when he finds out. Together, their romance moves forward at breakneck speed, culminating in Ledger being pregnant, which raises a whole bunch of questions that they might not like the answers to.
This was a great introduction to the series, and I can't wait to see both Calvert and Dacian meet their mates. Definitely recommended by me, and I hope to see more of Thorn and Ledger in future books.
** 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!
Sep 15, 2025
Practice Girl
8.0
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Jo never heard of the label "practice girl"...until she was called one. And those two devastating...
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated X (Kinsey Millhone, #24) in Books
Feb 13, 2018
I have to state up front that I love Grafton and I love Kinsey Millhone. I hope they never make this series into a film, because I have my own picture of Kinsey in my mind, and I don't want anyone to ruin it. I started reading this series in middle school (!) and look forward to each and every release. Alas, while I enjoyed "X," it seemed a bit lackluster compared to many of Millhone's previous Kinsey efforts.
If you've read any Grafton book (or truly any mystery), you can envision that Kinsey's disparate cases will somehow overlap at some point. Her cases are fairly interesting, though Kinsey hems and haws a bit about her past with Pete. The side plot with Kinsey and her new neighbors (while somewhat appalling) just drags on, which makes me sad, because it involves Henry, and I do enjoy Henry.
Overall, it's a quick read and also good to catch up with Kinsey. However, I found myself wishing we could progress a bit more with Kinsey's personal life (besides Henry). Though perhaps the book represents how stagnant Kinsey feels in life? Hard to tell. But I do hope the next book brings her a little more excitement and happiness in both work and her personal life.