Our temperatures dipped here over the past few days, making me feel old because I was seriously considering turning on the heat and it was 60°F! (In January I would think that felt like summer.) Instead, I told myself I would bear it and put on a hoodie over my other five tops (j/k 😉, but not about putting on the hoodie). It's supposed to get into the 70s today and then, yup, into the 80s next week. DC weather emulates its politics: one great big roller coaster--whether it's fun or not is entirely up to you.🎢

A library read - review.📚📖📙 Every once in a while I actually read the synopsis before starting a book. Chris Bohjalian's The Amateur had me almost wanting to cover my eyes, which, let me tell you, is an impossible way to read a book! Because of the blurb I knew that Kenny Foster, a caddy at the country club, a good kid whose family needed the income he brought in, is not going to survive the chapter. Knowing this beforehand and then being brought into Kenny's interior, caring about his hopes and dreams, well, ugh--just a hard way to start a book.

Another library read! Quickie review time! "Why quickie?" you may ask. Well, an enthusiastically long review for a book like The Unknown can lead to Spoilertown and while it might be fun for me to visit Spoilertown, it kind of ruins the The Unknown for you. Riley Sager has a reputation for teasing the supernatural and then pulling the rug out with a very human explanation — and The Unknown plays that game better than almost anything else he's written. I stayed up until the wee hours finishing it. ❓ Is…

Do you have books on hold at the library and they've been on hold so long that you forget why you put it on hold to begin with but presume that it was recommended to you by someone somewhere? Country People hasn't even been on hold as long as others, some of which I still have around 13 weeks wait time. Don't get me wrong! I love my library and I love the fact that I have access to so many wonderful books. Like Country People , for instance. ❓ Is…

Let’s talk scary books, shall we? Do you read scary books? Did you go through a scary book phase like I did when I was a teenager to mid-20s where I read almost every scary thing I could get my hands on. And, by almost, I mean that the old classics like Dracula, Rebecca, Frankenstein, and The Haunting of Hill House didn’t make it into my hands. Why? I guess I didn’t think that they would be scary enough because, goodness, when you’re a teenager nothing that’s old is as good.

Colonial Beach, Virginia Howdy from Colonial Beach in Virginia’s Northern Neck. This is a perfect day and I am very grateful—I was going to add on to that sentiment but my gratitude list is long. Back soon.

I accept that this may be a me-thing, but have you ever looked at your Goodreads "currently reading" and realized that you hadn't finished a book that you'd evidently forgotten that you'd been reading? By an author you like? And the only reason is because it was a hardcopy and that in your current universe ebooks rule and now you have to figure out where you put that hard copy so that you can actually finish reading it and get it off your "currently reading" shelf? Yeah, it may just be a…

Another YA scary treat for y'all. Yes, it is early for Halloween, but just wait until I start reviewing Christmas-related books in a couple of days! 😉 Publishers and retailers like to get seasonal products out early so y'all have a chance to really enjoy them, but you knew that. Oh! It's a Star Wars dog. I thought it was a dog dressed as a bat! Well, let's pretend. Demonology for Overachievers, another entry from Lily Anderson, is perfectly timed for the scary season. Her last one, Killer House Party…

If I had to guess from the books I’ve read in the past two weeks, there must be some kind of 1970s nostalgia-thing going on. Two of the novels (Songs in Ursa Major and The Amateur (😱 I must be befuddled; I haven’t posted that review yet!)) were set almost entirely in the ’70s while Paper Ghosts starts out in the ’70s but finds its way to the 21st Century. It’s amazing how often one automatically thinks to a character: why don’t you just pull out your phone and make a call?

Today is the anniversary of 9/11. Twenty-five years have passed, but many of the images still live fresh in the mind's eye. If you happened to be in New York or DC that day, you have a different set of memories — a personal experience layered on top of the public one. I remember driving south out of DC, looking west across the Potomac, and seeing smoke rising from where American Airlines Flight 77 had crashed into the Pentagon. It feels dramatic to say nothing would ever be the same. But it was true.

I started reading The Calamity Club because I felt like it was one of those "oughta read" books. The funny thing is that sometimes you end up loving "oughta read" books as I did with this one. Can you believe that it's been 17 years since Kathryn Stockett wrote The Help? While The Calamity Club proves it was worth the wait, I sincerely hope she doesn't wait another 17 years for her next book. ❓ Is The Calamity Club worth reading? Definitely! Especially if you loved the ensemble structure of…

Daytime temperatures are summer, the nighttime are autumn. I guess it's September. We're getting near the season of thrills and chills and the book selection is showing it. A Kelley Armstrong horror novel for the season of scares? Yes! I devoured Dive Bar at the End of the Road in under a day: intriguing, well-paced, a real page-turner. This marks Kelley Armstrong's fourth year running with an October horror release, and I continue to be delighted that she's leaning into straight-up horror rather than something that appears to be horror but ultimately explains itself away with a very human answer for everything.

It's still raining book reviews! It's a good thing they're just words and not the books themselves because that would be some heavy rain (in more ways than one). As a rule, I seldom pick up horror stories by authors I've never read before, but there was something about this story that piqued my interest: plot, main character, main character becoming a necromancer as implied from the title? Probably all of the above. The title is pretty irresistible. Lucy Kline, Necromancer is a quick read: two days start to finish, and it kept moving the whole time.

It's no secret by now that I am in a constant game of catch up. Unfortunately there are times when it becomes apparent that I may be doing a lousy job of it, especially when I find myself reviewing an ARC, Songs in Ursa Major, that's been in my TBR since 2021. I'd flippantly say: "better late than never" but that doesn't make me feel any better about having overlooked a really good book. My apologies to the author and publisher. Five years? Where did that time go? Songs in Ursa Major…

We're almost all caught up on our reviews! Yippee! I would say I'm unlikely to get behind again, but I really do try not to lie to y'all! It's happened before and it'll happen again unless I find some leaves to turn over. Of course, here they're usually book leaves and I'm not sure that counts! Next! Luanne Rice. I've read Luanne Rice for almost as long as she's been publishing, so I feel tremendously disloyal for saying that this one just didn't work for me. I started it back in May or June and only just finished, which I guess speaks for itself.

We evidently had bad storms go through last night. I received notifications of 70 mph winds (which kind of freaked me out momentarily worrying about my trees), torrential rain, and the possibility of hail. Huck slept next to me while I tried to become a genius in Spelling Bee and Sophie took herself to the basement bathroom because she's the only sensible one of us and pays attention when notifications say go to the lowest room in a building. Also, she spent her first three years in Indiana where tornadoes are a very, very real thing so she understands the protocol unlike me and Huck, born East Coasters.

Welcome to the Sascha Darlington Review Factory! Books go in and sometimes a review pops out. Ha! Kidding. Hopefully always a review pops out. 😬 Next up, Richard Russo's Under the Falls. Now, I haven't read every single Richard Russo book and after looking at what I have read, I realize I haven't even read half of what he's written (I see a book binge in my future), but from what I have read, Under the Falls is somewhat atypical. This is a fast paced thriller that I understand was originally written as a screenplay but then the writer's strike happened and this screenplay didn't.

I read/listened to Daggerbound at the beginning of August and re-started the extremely bad habit of not doing the review immediately. A very, very bad habit that has the tendency to escalate and, guess what? It did. I have kept reading but not reviewing. 😱 So sorry if it seems like you're inundated with reviews. I'm not speed reading. I'm speed catch up. Which will not be a thing ever. Catch Up! So. Let's talk T. Kingfisher. I don't know how she does it, but I have yet to read a "miss" from her.

I should have a statement of description somewhere here that says: Sascha Darlington, always playing catch up. When I was a kid, it used to be playing catch but somewhere that shifted--up, evidently. ha! 🙄 Yes, it's several months past the second quarter and yet here I am just posting second quarter (hopefully--I haven't hit the publish button yet (who knows what could happen 😨)). Better late than never? Here's what I read this past quarter that earned four or more butterflies. 🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋 Five-Butterfly (and Five-Star) Reads These are the four I highly recommend-- no "buts," no "if you're into that sort of thing," just books that grabbed me and didn't let go.

I am writing this in between jaunts outside to view the Perseids. Only three so far, but one of them was the best I've ever seen: a giant streaking fireball. Amazing! My background chorus is made up of katydids and crickets and a lone screech owl. Dogs? Why yes, always! Thank you. ❓ Is Fancy Dogs worth reading? If you've got a young kid (or a grandkid, or you just like dogs), yes: it's a quick, funny read-aloud. Go in expecting rhymes and a toilet joke or two. 📚 Book Spotlight: …

Before you get the impression that I'm soooooo busy because I am just so much in demand, I'll dissuade you from that notion. I'm busy because I just want to do so many things, most of which have nothing whatsoever to do with a social life, or at least not an extrovert's version of a social life, and then my self-imposed commitments get out of hand. Alas, none of this is why I forgot the details of Meg Cabot's first book in the Witches of West Harbor series--but I thought it was.

I'm in a mood. The kind where you aren't sure where it came from, keep expecting it to leave, and know (almost certainly) that tomorrow (or the day after) it will be a memory. The kind where you try, fruitlessly, to write something clever or amusing and it all comes out gray. Even the day is gray! A summer's day in July in Northern Virginia gray! You've probably been there. I suspect there's something smart somewhere to be said about gray moods and days, something like they make you appreciate the sunny golden days just a little bit more.

Smoke from Canadian wildfires has entered the area to give us an added layer—literally?—to the 90°F+ temperatures. I'm not going to make a comment on our air quality here in the DC burbs when the fires are causing real devastation in Canadian provinces—850 wildfires are burning and some out-of-control. Stay safe if you're near them, and my thoughts are with everyone battling those flames, along with the people, animals, and land bearing the brunt of them. Here's hoping for rain, for containment, and for calmer air soon. In the meantime: books.

A couple of months ago I reviewed Go Gentle, Maria Semple’s latest novel, and came away so thoroughly delighted that I immediately went to the library app and borrowed everything else she had written (well, tried to borrow immediately but put on hold what I couldn't, which led to me reading the novels out of order). What followed was a reading binge that ended in an unexpected place, her debut, This One Is Mine, which I am very glad I saved for last. Here is what I read, and what I thought:

The heat descends tomorrow at 10 am. Today it’s just a balmy 97°F at the moment, supposed to get to 98°F, which is not quite hot enough, evidently. It is, however, hot enough to short-circuit my brain because I am almost wordless. So it’s a good thing I wrote this review last night! 🤣🤣 And, about that. I did not intend to write a full-fledged review for Into the Blue. Since I mentioned it in Monday’s review of The Last Days of Summer, I thought: oh, wouldn’t it be nice to share my thoughts?

Last days of summer? No, my friend, we are just entering the thick of it. And by thick I mean heat and humidity that feel like you’re walking through warm gelatin with a puffer jacket on. Here in the DC burbs, they’re calling for possibly record breaking heat later this week. Draw the drapes. Power the rechargeable fans. Hydrate! A couple of months ago, I was asked to test a personal mister fan that I highly recommend (it’s rechargeable and it feels like AC in your hand). Stay safe, my friends.

I feel like I can earnestly say: I'm back. I've been hesitant about jumping up and down and waving my arms around because there's been such a surreal, luna-cy about the past three months that has showcased: the good, the bad, the awful, and every flavor layer in between. When I feel up to sorting out the chaos (you might note the hubris attached to that notion), I might share with you all some thoughts. In the meantime, I am going to talk about books and, strangely, about squirrels and flowers.

I'll be upfront: I read this one during a period of personal upheaval (that, unfortunately, continues with some alterations of colors, tones, and fabric 😉), which probably made it feel longer than its actual 320 pages. I'm also not always the most enthusiastic reader when a novel splits between two timelines, but you really have to try sometimes, you know?! So take some of what follows with those caveats in mind; this is (almost?) as much about this reader as it is about the book. And, I feel a little bad about having to insert that, but, well, life.

As a vegetarian, vegetables aren't a side dish in my kitchen — they're the whole point. So when Vegetables the Italian Way showed up on NetGalley, I requested it immediately. Giulia Scarpaleggia's previous book Cucina Povera had earned plenty of praise, and the promise of Italian vegetable recipes rooted in simplicity and fresh ingredients sounded like exactly my kind of book. Let's just say that my idea of simple seems to be at odds with Ms. Scarpaleggia's. ❓ Is Vegetables the Italian Way worth reading? It depends enormously on what you're looking for.

Photo by Юлія-Марія Повх on Pexels.com You may have noticed things have been quiet here around the microcosm lately. I wanted to take a moment to explain, and to thank you for your patience. The past few weeks have been difficult ones. What began with an infected tooth and subsequent root canal, was followed by something far harder: the illness and death of my brother on May 1. The one thing I want to encourage you to do, if you haven't spoken to your sibling or any other loved one in your life in a very long time, is to make that time.

A quote from George R.R. Martin says, “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies.” Some of those lives leave us wrung out, angry, redeemed. They make us want to yell out about injustices but realize the only listener is the choir who already knows because some of these lives have been lived frequently without editing. Reading and, for a brief while, walking in someone else’s shoes keeps us grounded. But, honestly these days, a large group of us doesn’t need reading to do that. Anyway. Yep, that’s my initial, somewhat opaque reaction to Roisín O’Donnell’s…

Just when you thought I was curmudgeonly going to write 2 butterfly reviews for the foreseeable future, I present to you an awesome 5 butterfly book, Go Gentle by Maria Semple. Thank you for not leaving me after the 2 butterfly reviews; there are still good times ahead!🤣 ❓ Is Go Gentle worth reading? If you like quirky books that are also smart, yes! A resounding, great big, yes! If you lose patience with plots that may seem too complex (or meandering?) for their own good, probably not. The same if you're not a fan of quirk.

The past two offerings from Nora Roberts have proven that I have been a casual fan of hers over the years. Emphasis, evidently, on casual. Real Nora Roberts fans adore these books. And, it could just be that I am hard to please. Sometimes. ❓Is The Final Target worth reading? I may just type: See above. But, seriously, if you're a longtime Nora Roberts fan, you are probably going to adore the heck out of this book. For everyone else, it's going to depend on what you're looking for.

When a book promises to be for fans of HBO's Hacks, it sets a very high bar. Unfortunately, Like This, But Funnier doesn't quite deliver on that promise — though Hacks may simply have been too high a bar to aim for.

Today is the day, booklovers! Cherry Baby by Rainbow Rowell has officially landed, and I could not be more thrilled. Rainbow Rowell has a special place on my shelves — she has a gift for writing stories that feel warm, funny, and deeply real all at once, and I have been looking forward to this one for a long time.

Ten years. I keep saying it out loud because it doesn't quite feel real. WordPress sent me a shiny 10-year anniversary achievement, and I've been staring at it with equal parts disbelief and pure delight. Here's to a decade of book blogging joy.

Amy Jo Burns' Wait for Me is an unforgettable story of a vanished folk singer, a daughter searching for answers, and what it costs creative women to be heard. A five-star read.

What if astronomers discovered a black hole slowly devouring the edges of our galaxy, drifting inevitably toward Earth? In that collision, there is no battle. The black hole wins. No survivors, no memory, no trace. How would you live knowing the end is certain? This is the question at the heart of T.J. Klune's latest novel, We Burned So Bright, which I had the opportunity to listen to thanks to Macmillan Audio. ❓Is We Burned So Bright worth reading? Yes! As we travel with our "elder gay" navigators on their road trip to Washington State, we witness how differently people react to their impending doom.

Well, this is a daily prompt right up my alley . . . or library, rather. #WordPressDailyPrompt-1902 #Books #Poetry #MaryOliver #Reading #DogSongs #RainbowRowell When I was young, I frequently re-read books like Old Yeller and Little Women before discovering the world of Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden (yep, I imagine that there's a whole generation or four that have never heard of Trixie Belden, but I loved those stories even more than Nancy Drew). Some time in my teens, I adopted the mindset: so many books, so little time and have adhered to it ever since.

Just wondering if this is beginning to look more like a fan site for Kelley Armstrong and T. Kingfisher at this point. But, hey, I'm very fortunate to be able to read and review some of my favorite writers! Yay me! Kelley Armstrong's eclecticism continues to amaze me. And, in some ways, this book had me going, whoa, she's going there and I was, well, impressed. I hope her well of fascinating plots never runs dry and that she continues to surprise me. #DeadlyInheritance #KelleyArmstrong #TundraBooks #YAMystery #YAThriller #BookReview #ARCReview #Bookstagram #SaschaDarlington #BookBlogger #DarkAcademia #YARomance #Netgalley…

Huh. I just realized that this title can mean under the lights of both a baseball diamond and a stage production, both of which happen to be in this book. They were clever with this title, weren't they? In this semi-retelling of Romeo & Juliet (semi because it's a sweet modern YA romance in which the main characters are just not allowed to die!!!), we have the story of the Crowleys and the Fultons whose enmity originates from the sale of the local ball stadium. There's lots of Field of Dreams references and baseball talk and, of course, stage talk as the summer theater puts on Romeo and Juliet.

This is a complete Oops. Sometimes I get so focused on reading and moving on to the next book that I forget that there's this little thing I have to do: review the book. I even thought I was getting better lately🤷🏻‍♀️. But. At least I don't have five books in a queue that need reviewing! That is progress.🎈🎈🎈Anyway, apologies to author and publisher. 🙏🏻 Moving on. Let's talk about The Fall of Iris Henley, a YA teen thriller by Jennifer Graham. If I had to use one word to describe this novel, it would be…

Do you want to read a book that bugs you? I mean, almost literally bugs you in a creepy, itchy kind of way? Oh, do I have a book for you! #WolfWorm #T.Kingfisher #TorNightfire #ARCReview #BookReview #BookReviewer #Bookstagram #BookBlogger #Netgalley Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tor Nightfire Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 24, 2026 Language ‏ : ‎ English Print length ‏ : ‎ 288 pages ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1250829828 ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250829825 Blurb: “I saw the devil in these woods.”

🎵 "I love rock and roll, so put another dime in the jukebox, baby!" 🎵 Yep, it's been awhile since I've reviewed a music novel. Why aren't there more of them? Music makes the world go round. Or is it love? Well, this book has them both so why settle for one or the other when you can have both?! #MotorCityLoveSong #LisaPeers #MusicNovel #TheDialPress #BookReview #BookBlogger #RockAndRoll #DetroitMusic #Bookstagram #Romance Motor City Love Song by Lisa Peers Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dial Press Trade Paperback Publication date ‏ : ‎ 

What's better than a twisty mystery? Well, not much, but if you throw in an impending disaster, say, a rapidly intensifying hurricane headed right toward the twisty mystery setting, you've got me in your pocket. Suddenly the situation becomes one of not only fighting to stay alive from an unknown killer but to stay alive while the winds thrash around and the water rises. So exciting! Are you there yet? Let's go visit coastal Alabama, shall we? #TheStorm #RachelHawkins #StMartinsPress #BookReview #BookBlogger #TwistyMystery #Fiction #Bookstagram The Storm by Rachel Hawkins…

What's better than a twisty mystery? Well, not much, but if you throw in an impending disaster, say, a rapidly intensifying hurricane headed right toward the twisty mystery setting, you've got me in your pocket. Suddenly the situation becomes one of not only fighting to stay alive from an unknown killer but to stay alive while the winds thrash around and the water rises. So exciting! Are you there yet? Let's go visit coastal Alabama, shall we? #TheStorm #RachelHawkins #StMartinsPress #BookReview #BookBlogger #TwistyMystery #Fiction #Bookstagram The Storm by Rachel Hawkins…

More snow this passed weekend for a winter that just keeps poking and saying, "Remember this? Remember what winter's really supposed to be like?" And, I reply, "Why, yes. You've made your point. Whatever it was. If you had one. Can you just move along now?" The forecast mentions 60°F this week but it feels like a teaser right now. Fortunately, though, I have the best escape, a lovely summer novel, Change of Plans by Sarah Dessen. But this too is a teaser because you can't get it until May. You can, however, read my review.

Well, yesterday evening I wrote a long preamble about DNFs--Did Not Finish--those books that, for whatever reason, sink your mood, credulity, or are just plain badly written. While I've deleted it, I kept the animation because it sums things up spectacularly. I will just say that I think unless writers are undertaking a story solely for their own entertainment, they owe their readers a work that shows a modicum of research. They shouldn't hand-wave away facts unless there's a solid reason that they explain somewhere in the preface or conclusion. To not do so frustrates the reader and probably results in, at the very least, apathy regarding the remainder of the story.

So, let's see. It's February 14 and I still have a few book reviews to do. What genre shall it be? A murder mystery? A YA murder mystery? A historical mystery? Or, huh, what about a good old fashioned rom-com by one of my favorite authors, Katherine Center called The Shippers? That kind of has hearts written all over it. Happy February 14, y'all! 💝 🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼 #TheShippers #KatherineCenter #StMartinsPress @stmartinspress #ARCReview #BookReview #RomCom #Bookstagram #BookBlogger The Shippers by Katherine Center Publisher ‏ : ‎ St. Martin's Press Publication date ‏ : ‎