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About lydias

I'm a sci-fi writer who loves lifting weights and hates eating Brussels sprouts.

A Review of October Omen

Book cover for October Omen by Holly Schindler. Image on cover is a black and white drawing of a feather whose uppermost leaves gradually transforms into about a dozen little white birds that are flying away from the feather. Title: October Omen

Author: Holly Schindler

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: December 7, 2022

Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance

Length: 42 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 4 Stars

Blurb:

Forever Finley Episode / Short Story #11: Superstitions float around us constantly. We choose to believe or discount them based on where our hearts happen to be at that particular moment.

Kelly Marx, Finley’s premiere wedding planner and dress designer, is on a mission to get access to a Civil War-era shawl for Natalie, the latest bride to hire her. But Mary, the elderly owner of the shawl, isn’t the only force to come between Kelly and her goal. When the shawl goes missing, Kelly also encounters mysterious characters and a slew of bad omens—but what does it all add up to? What does it foretell? Where will Kelly’s skeptical heart lead her?

October Omen is the eleventh installment in Forever Finley, a series of stand-alone episodes or short stories that released once a month throughout 2016. Previous releases include: Come December, January Thaw, Forget February, Dearest March…, April’s Promise, Mayday Mayday Mayday, Chasing June, A Hundred Julys, Under the August Moon, and Song for September. Stories following October Omen include the Forever Finley Finale (Pale November / December Bells). Stories can be purchased individually, or readers can purchase all installments in Forever Finley: An Episodic Novel.

Content Warning:

Review:

Many things are possible as daylight melts into dusk.

This was a cozy read that made me want to snuggle under the covers and drink a hot cocoa. The conflicts the characters faced, while important, were ultimately pretty low stakes and relaxing to read about. This wasn’t one of those books where the fate of the entire world lays in the hands of one unsuspecting hero. Instead, it was about sewing, wedding planning, and maybe encountering a few friendly ghosts along the way. There is definitely something to be said for fiction about the simple joys of life, and I look forward to continuing on with these characters in the future.

I found myself wishing for more answers as I dove into my third experience in this universe. Take the genre classifications like romance, paranormal, and fantasy lightly because these books have gently broken many of the tropes associated with all of them so far. Sometimes the descriptions felt more like a dream than a story in that conventional dialogue, character development, plot development didn’t always show up the way I expected them to. Sometimes there are holes in this series that, at least so far, have asked readers to accept certain things without explaining why they were written that way. I don’t mind some of that in moderation, but it was a little excessive for my tastes at times and it is something to keep in mind for readers who have firmer expectations about the genres they read.

Such a whimsical writing style does have its advantages as well, though. If you are curious about stepping into any of these genres, perhaps even for the first time, this could be a good place to begin. There was nothing scary or explicit in this tale. The hauntings could have other explanations depending on how a reader interpreted certain key moments, and the romantic elements of the story were sweet and gentle. It often felt like the literary equivalent of trying various samples of ice cream at an ice cream shop before committing to buying a cone or even an entire pint of which ever flavour – or genre – you might prefer.

This is part of a series that can be read in any order.

October Omen was a heartwarming start to Halloween season.

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Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Classic Books I Would Reread

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and here to see the full list of topics for the year.

A vintage brown leather bag sitting on a white rock carved into the shape of what appears to be a low fence.The original topic for this week was “Books I Would or Wouldn’t Reread and Why.” As I’ve recently done blog hop posts about mostly contemporary books I wouldn’t read and have another one ready to go for next week’s WWBC theme, I decided to tweak this one a little and talk about classic novels I would like to reread someday. 

From what I recall about their storylines, they were all memorable tales filled with characters that I found relatable or interesting in some way.

1. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

2. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

3. The Color Purple by Alice Walker

4. The Good Earth (House of Earth, #1) by Pearl S. Buck

5. Dracula by Bram Stoker*

6. The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry

7. Beloved (Beloved Trilogy, #1) by Toni Morrison

8. Beowulf by Unknown

9. The Plague by Albert Camus

10. Calvin and Hobbes (Calvin and Hobbes, #1) by Bill Watterson**

*Well, other than the fact that the protagonist brushed off the stern warnings he was given from locals about venturing in Dracula’s territory. You’d think he would have taken them seriously when they told him not to go there. Ha!

** If there is such a thing as a classic comic strip, I’d argue that Calvin and Hobbes deserves to be counted as one. They somehow become funnier and more meaningful every time I reread them.

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Top Ten Tuesday: Book Covers that Give off Fall Vibes


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Closeup photo of yellow autumn leaves still on the branch. After a long, hot, humid summer, autumn is such a relief.

No more heat waves.

No more forest fires.

No more air quality warnings (hopefully).

My seasonal allergies will rapidly improve after the first overnight freeze.

Pumpkin-flavoured stuff is everywhere.

Soon the leaves will change colour and be beautiful for several weeks.

And Halloween is only about a month away!

In honour of that, here are ten book covers that give off fall vibes:

Book cover for oncakes by Suzanne Walker. Image on cover shows a drawing of a witch holding a steaming pie and a young man standing next to her as he easts something out of a bowl with a content expression on his face.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker

 

Book cover for To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Image on cover is a drawing of a tree that has yellow autumn leaves. The sky is orange, oddly enough.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

 

Book cover for Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell. Image on cover shows two friends lying in a pumpkin patch and gazing at each other with joy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell

 

Book cover for Squashed by Joan Bauer. Image on cover shows pumpkin as well as the imprint of lipstick on the pumpkin and cover.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Squashed by Joan Bauer

 

Book cover for Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert. Image on cover is of countless red and yellow leaves lying on top of each other in a large pile.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert

 

Book cover for The Cider House Rules by John Irving. Image on cover shows a drawing of a red apple growing on an apple tree branch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. The Cider House Rules by John Irving

 

Book cover for A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner. Image on cover shows four marigolds painted against a sky-blue background.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner

 

Book cover for The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. Image on cover shows an old mansion bathed in yellow and orange light. There are bare tree trunks framing this eerie scene as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

 

Book cover for The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill. Image on cover shows a drawing of a young Asian girl wearing a loose blue tunic. Her hair is blowing back as she stares at a bird in front of a large full moon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

 

Book cover for Pumpkin Spice Up Your Life (Wish, #10) by Suzanne Nelson. Image on cover shows a small maple leaf falling next to a pumpkin spice latte that is piled with whipped cream.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10. Pumpkin Spice Up Your Life (Wish, #10) by Suzanne Nelson

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A Review of The Trail of Lady Shajarah 

Book cover for The Trail of Lady Shajarah  by Dal Cecil Runo. Image on cover shows a woman wearing a long, flowing white dress and veil walking on a dusty and deserted desert road on a sunny day. There are a few scraggly bushes growing on the side of the road but otherwise not any other signs of life. There is a mountain ridge in the distance. Title: The Trail of Lady Shajarah

Author: Dal Cecil Runo

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: July 23, 2025

Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Historical

Length: 50 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

When Kideh Shajarah wakes to find her husband Naseem gone, she sets out alone across a vast and unfamiliar world. She searches in port towns and distant cities, meeting strangers who offer help and questions she cannot answer. With each step, the silence around Naseem’s disappearance grows heavier, and Kideh must face the uncertain path ahead, carrying the weight of loss she isn’t ready to name.

Content Warning: Earthquake and infertility.

Review:

Love is eternal.

Naseem and Kideh had a warm, loving relationship that was heartwarming to read about. This is common in the romance genre, of course, but this wasn’t exactly a romance which made those moments even more special. It’s not every day that characters in other genres have happy relationships to rely on during tough times. Honestly, I wish it happened more often as it was a refreshing change from the types of conflict between spouses that are often written about instead. Bravo to the author for pushing back against this trope and writing something a little out of the ordinary.

The vague ending made me feel as though I’d missed something important. This is something I’m saying as a reader who generally enjoys stories that can be interpreted in multiple ways. In this case, though I did find myself wishing for a more straightforward explanation of what was happening and whether or not Kideh’s journey was going to be a success. It was described so poetically that the plot was affected negatively in my opinion. I would have happily given a higher rating if this was not the case as the beginning was something that immediately pulled me into this character’s quest.

Some of my favorite passages were the ones that described the mythology that was building up around Kideh’s identity and what the people she met in cities and out in the desert believed she was doing. How one describes themself isn’t always the same as how someone else would describe them, so it’s fascinating to compare the two and see what they do and do not have in common. While I can’t go into a lot of detail on this topic for spoiler reasons, definitely pay close attention to these passages when you read them as they contain all sorts of important information about her character development later on.

The Trail of Lady Shajarah was interesting.

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Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: How I Handle Bad Days

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and here to see the full list of topics for the year.

These past several years have included some pretty tough times for my family, including death and multiple other relatives who have had health problems ranging from minor day surgeries to very serious diagnoses that needed emergency or urgent surgery and rehabilitation, radiation therapy, or other treatments afterwards.

Needless to say, my coping mechanism toolbox is well-stocked and has been heavily used since 2020.

This is what I’ve done to take care of myself when I was part of the support system for others:

Ignoring the news

I do what I can to help, but sometimes I simply haven’t had a single speck of leftover energy for paying attention to the terrible things that happen in our world. This isn’t something I’m proud of, it’s just the reality of life sometimes. You have to take care of your own basic needs before taking care of others.

 

A white woman walking her black dog in a forest. They look content and relaxed.

Not me. I just love this stock photo.

Exercising

Specifically, I have found weightlifting, kickboxing, dancing, and long, brisk walks to be distracting and helpful. It’s harder to keep worrying and ruminating when you’re doing a burpee, or trying to get an entire workout done with excellent form,  or just saw the cutest dog ever walk by you on the trail. (Although I say that about multiple dogs per walk because they’re all delightful).

 

Ice Cream Sundaes

Yes, I mean the vegan or dairy-free kind. I’m so lucky to have lots of flavours to choose from these days as that wasn’t the case when I was a kid. Sometimes a sweet treat really hits the spot when you’re anxiously waiting for a text or call to see how the patient is doing. (I do not recommend sneaking a sundae into the hospital waiting room, though. Ha!)

 

Naps

The world can feel like a much more hopeful place if you can close your eyes for twenty minutes and get some rest.

 

Funny Shows 

My spouse loves to watch dramatic, tense shows as a distraction. I need funny, silly things to watch instead where the worst thing that can possibly happen is that the family dog gets a second dinner one night due to a miscommunication.

 

Haircuts 

There’s something refreshing about brief but important moments of self care like this. I like the sensation of having my head gently rubbed and my hair brushed in preparation for the haircut. It’s soothing.

 

Visiting the Library 

It’s nice to be surrounded by people who are (hopefully) having good days when I’m having a bad one because it reminds me that this, too, shall pass. Also, books are a fantastic distraction from the painful stuff in life.

 

Body Scan Meditation

This is the best type of meditation if you ask me! There’s something so satisfying about focusing on relaxing one part of your body at a time.

 

I look forward to reading everyone else’s responses. There’s still room in my toolbox for other self-care options, although I hope I won’t have to use them anytime soon now that things seem to have calmed down for everyone.

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Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Fall 2025 to-Read List


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Two freshly picked apples and several apple leaves lying on an opened book that itself is lying on a wooden surface, possibly a picnic table. I have the full ten books this time, and I’m excited about all of them.

Brandy Norwood’s autobiography that I mentioned in one of my summer TBR posts  has been pushed back to a March of 2026 release. I hope to feature it again on a winter or spring TBR list if the publication date remains more or less the same in several months.

There are a few Top Ten Tuesday bloggers who talked about some fabulous books I ended up adding to this list, so I will be thanking them today as well.

 

 

Book cover for Seven Ways Through the Woods by Jenn Reese White. Image on cover is a painting of a pale-skinned child with dark brown hair wearing a bright red coat and green hat. She is smiling as she walks into a dark woods at dusk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.  Seven Ways Through the Woods by Jenn Reese White

Thank you to Nicole @ BookWyrmKnits for this recommendation.

Why I’m Interested: I love picture books and the woods, so this is going to be a fun read for me.

 

 

Book cover for The Macabre by Kosoko Jackson. Image on cover shows a painting of a foreboding statue or figure wearing a white hood and cloak and standing in the middle of a garden. Weirdly enough, all of the plants are blood red and there is blood dripping from the bottom of the painting as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. The Macabre by Kosoko Jackson

Why I’m Interested:  Two words for you all: cursed paintings. Such a scary topic as we slide into Halloween season.

 

Book cover for Will There Ever Be Another You by Patricia Lockwood. Image on cover shows a white cat standing underneath a neon light and looking up expectantly. Various parts of its fur are orange, red, green, yellow, or purple depending on which lights illuminate it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Will There Ever Be Another You by Patricia Lockwood

Release Date: Today

Why I’m Interested: Chronic illness amidst a global pandemic sounds intense for sure…but you also don’t get to read about disabled characters in this setting very often. I’m intrigued and hoping this is fantastic.

 

Book cover for Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy by Mary Roach. Image on cover shows a human face that is, oddly enough, comprised by dozens of ears, noses, eyes, lips, and pieces of skin that look like they were taken from a variety of donors. There is blue space between each piece and the pieces do not match up evenly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.  Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy by Mary Roach

Thank you to AJ Sterkel for this recommendation.

Release Date: September 26

Why I’m Interested:  I know a bit about organ transplants and cadaver skin being used to help heal burn victims but not about all of the other body parts that could be used to give the living better and longer lives. This could be quite interesting.

 

Book cover for The Hunger We Pass Down by Jen Sookfong Lee. Image on cover shows a painting of a frightened woman standing in the shadow slightly hunched over and looking over her right shoulder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.  The Hunger We Pass Down by Jen Sookfong Lee

Release Date: September 30

Why I’m Interested: Yes, I know I may be repeating a few answers from this past summer, but this still sounds like such a good read. I love books that follow the same family through multiple generations.

 

Book cover for Good Spirits by B.K. Borison. Image on cover shows a man and woman embracing. Snow and autumn leaves are tumbling down around them as they kiss. They’re both wearing warm clothes and look cozy despite the cold.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. Good Spirits by B.K. Borison 

Release Date:  October 7

Why I’m Interested: October is often a horror-heavy month for me because Halloween is my favourite holiday, but as I slowly drift away from (most) horror I’m finding other festive books to read. This one looks cute, especially given that I reread A Christmas Carol every December.

 

Book cover for Female Fantasy by Iman Hariri-Kia . Image on cover shows a heavily-muscled white man embracing a middle eastern woman who is wearing a purple dress as she floats underwater with him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Female Fantasy by Iman Hariri-Kia 

Release Date: October 14

Why I’m Interested: It looks silly and fun, and I mean that in the best possible way.

 

Book cover for Slayers of Old by Jim C. Hines. Image on cover is a drawing of a black cat who has ten eyes on its head and octopus tentacles growing from its backside. The cat is winding its legs around someone who is wearing yellow trousers and using a cane.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. Slayers of Old by Jim C. Hines

Thank you to Annemieke @ A Dance With Books  for this recommendation.

Release Date: October 21

Why I’m Interested: Buffy the Vampire Slayer was one of my favourite shows back in the day. I’ve always wondered what a slayer (or other chosen one) does after they retire.

Book cover for The Look by Michelle Obama. Image on cover shows Mrs. Obama wearing a stunning, floor-length, light blue gown. She’s standing at a window and looking out at the light and whatever is on the other side of that glass. She looks thoughtful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. The Look by Michelle Obama

Release Date: November 4

Why I’m Interested: Fashion is generally a topic that doesn’t’ interest me at all, but I’m hoping Mrs. Obama might throw some more stories in with the photos of her various outfits over the years.

 

Book cover for Book of Lives by Margaret Atwood. Image on cover shows Ms. Atwood smiling and holding one finger up to her lips as if to shush the viewer. She’s wearing a bright read sweater and red gloves, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10. Book of Lives by Margaret Atwood

Release Date: November 4

Why I’m Interested: I know almost nothing about Ms. Atwood’s personal life but am curious to change that.

 

 

 

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A Review of Loving Safoa

Title: Loving Safora Book cover for Loving Safoa by Liza Wemakor. Image on cover shows a drawing of two black women embracing each other romantically with one of their hands lovingly placed on the other one’s cheek. The former is wearing a red hat and red dress.

Publisher: Liza Wemakor

Publication Date: February 6, 2024

Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Romance, LGBTQ+, Contemporary

Length: 103 pages

Source: I borrowed it from the library.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

When schoolteacher Cynthia gets a tattoo at a block party in 1991 Flatbush, she doesn’t realize she’s embarking on a life-changing romance with an immortal Ghanaian vampire. Cynthia’s affair with Safoa weaves together stories from nineteenth century Ghana, late twentieth century New York and a near future reality in Maryland that defies the utopian/dystopian binary.

Content Warning: References to racism, sexism, and homophobia.

Review:

Sometimes danger can be a little cozy.

This is a good example of how to blend romance into the horror and dark fantasy genres. Without Cynthia and Safoa’s relationship, none of the other storylines would have gelled together due to how important it was for these two particular characters to thrive together and explore their world as a team. While I can’t go into a lot of detail about why this is so without wandering into spoiler territory, pay attention to their early conversations in particular in order to understand why this is so. There were some wonderful moments of foreshadowing in those scenes that paid off beautifully later on.

I would have loved to see more world building in this novella. There were references to multiple unusual events in Safoa’s life that were either only briefly explained or not explained at all. While I’m not the sort of person who needs everything to be spelled out directly, there was so much more space here for plot and character development if those scenes had been given time to fully develop. The glimpses of the world building that were included were well done, and I would have happily chosen a much higher rating if this had not been an issue for me as a reader.

The ending resolved the most important conflicts nicely. I especially liked how it described the fate of a child who was introduced about three-quarters of the way through this piece as her dilemma had sparked my curiosity about what might happen to her next. Yes, I know that’s vague, but there were many things about this character that I was glad I didn’t have any advanced warning about. Being surprised can be a good thing!

Loving Safora was creative.

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Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Authors I Wish More People Knew About

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and here to see the full list of topics for the year.

This was a bit of a tricky topic for me because  I have no idea which authors you all are already aware of. People that I read regularly might be well known to some of you and a brand new corner of the literary world to others. (And vice versa, of course!)

Let’s see if I can dig a bit deeper and find some new folks to mention. I’m including one recommendation of a good place to start for every person on this list as I know I sometimes feel a little overwhelmed when checking out a new author and seeing a long list of possibilities.

 

Photo of a maple leaf lying on the blank white page of an opened book. There’s a cup of tea in a white mug with the word tea on it sitting next to the book. Both of these items are lying on top of a white blanket.George MacDonald was a Scottish poet and author who lived in the 1800s and early 1900s and played a major role in creating the modern fantasy genre. C.S. Lewis was one of many writers who was inspired by him. 

Read This First: “The Golden Key,” an allegorical fairy tale he wrote about death and the afterlife. He excelled at creating seemingly inconsequential details in stories that later pay off wonderfully…or at least that’s how I felt when I was a kid reading this!

 

Sonia Hartl is a contemporary fantasy writer who loves playing around with audience’s assumptions about what should happen next.

Read This First: “The Lost Girls,” a more realistic take on what would happen  if vampires were real and actually went around falling in love with teenage girls. That is to say, a one-hundred-and-twenty-year-old man who is romantically interested in a sixteen-year-old girl probably doesn’t have good intentions and should not be trusted any further than you can throw him.

 

Claire Keegan is a contemporary fiction author who writes gentle but honest stories about (mostly) rural settings. 

Read This First: “Foster,” a novella about an eleven-year-old girl who is sent to live with childless relatives in the countryside for the summer as her mother deals with a difficult pregnancy.  This was such a kind and hopeful story that I’d love to see expanded into a tv series that shows more of their lives and what happens next. The relatives welcomed the main character with opened arms and loved her just as if she were their own child. It was so wholesome.

 

Nnedi Okorafor is a contemporary science fiction and fantasy author who writes dark fantasy and science fiction set in Africa. I mention the setting because it plays such a huge role in her characters’ lives in all of the books from her I’ve read. She’s another author whose work I wish would be made into some films. 

Read This First:”Remote Control,” a novella about a preteen girl who has an accident that helps her develop the ability to kill or to heal people just by touching them. This was such a page turner because she didn’t know what was happening at first or what to do with her gift.

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Top Ten Tuesday: Literary Scents for Candles


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

 

Thank you to  Heather @ The Frozen Library for submitting this theme!

Star anise soaking in some dark tea in a white teacup. Beside the teacup on a wooden table are two slices of dehydrated oranges. Scents are an allergy, migraine, and headache trigger for me, so my first reaction to scented candles, along with any other scented item other than most types of food,  is to run away from them as fast as my legs can carry me ;).

I’m going to tweak this topic just a little so I can answer it better.

1) Turkish Delight for The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe. I was well into adulthood before I realized that this type of candy actually exists and was not made up for this book. There are many different flavours of Turkish delight,  but the kind I tried tasted a little floral and sweet which might make for a good candle scent.

2) Chocolate for Chocolat. I craved chocolate so much while reading this.

3) Sugar for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Charlie Bucket, #1). Yes, chocolate could be also included here, but so could bubble gum, cinnamon, blueberries, roast dinners, gum drops, and all sorts of other delicious scents. 

4) Peaches from James and the Giant Peach. They’re such a delicious fruit and scent. 

5) Flowers from Flowers for Algernon

6) Tea from The Tea Rose (The Tea Rose, #1). I feel like there aren’t enough tea-scented possibilities out there for people who enjoy scents.

7) Black coffee from Black Coffee (Hercule Poirot, #7.5). Now this is one scent I actually do enjoy!

8) Nutmeg from Silver Nutmeg. It makes me feel a bit fancy to use this spice. 

9) Gingerbread from The Gingerbread Man. What a heavenly scent this is. 

10) Oranges from The Christmas Orange. Citrus scents can be nice. 

And that is my list. Heather, I hope I stuck closely enough to your idea and that there are many scented candles in your future.

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A Review of The Last of What I Am

Book cover for The Last of What I Am: A Novel by Abigail Cutter. Image on cover shows a figure standing in the second story window of an old wooden farmhouse. There is a light on in that room that is illuminating everything and obscuring the figure’s features. It is dusk outside and you can see the last bit of light fading away as a few birds fly through the sky. Title: The Last of What I Am

Author: Abigail Cutter

Publisher: Union Square & Co.

Publication Date: September 19, 2023

Genres: Paranormal, Historical, Contemporary

Length: 363 pages

Source: I borrowed it from the library.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

A haunting and beautifully written novel about a Confederate soldier whose own personal war follows him into the afterlife—until one fateful day when his encounters with a modern-day couple change everything.
A ghost in his deserted childhood home in Virginia, Tom Smiley can’t forget the bloody war and its meaningless losses, nor can he shed his revulsion for his role in the Confederate defense of slavery. But when a young couple moves in and makes his home their own in the early twenty-first century, trouble erupts—and Tom is forced not only to face his own terrible secret but also to come to grips with his family’s hidden wartime history. He finds an unexpected ally in the house’s new owner, Phoebe Hunter, whose discoveries will have momentous consequences for them both.

Content Warning: War, racism, slavery, death, and a prison camp. I will only mention the latter in my review.

Review:

Forgiveness is a process.

The settings was well developed. I could easily imagine what each scene looked like, including moments that described things that I’ve never personally experienced like being in a prison camp. It was especially helpful to have detailed descriptions of things like food or clothing as they were both quite different from what the average person in North America would expect to have access to today. These moments helped this world come alive in my imagination as I waited to find out whether Tom would ever forgive himself for the role he played in the Civil War.

I struggled with the changes in tone and theme.  It started off as a ghost story but soon veered firmly into the historical fiction genre as Tom described what it was like for a sheltered young man who didn’t really know what he was getting into to fight for the Confederacy in the Civil War. While knowing his background information was important for understanding why his spirit remained on Earth after death, so much space was spent on this topic that the blurb felt misleading to me as a reader. Readers who enjoy realistic historical fiction about war may be a great match for these chapters, but they never quite felt like they matched the tone of the first few chapters for me due to the drastic shift between the life of a moody ghost and the horrors he experienced as a young soldier when he was alive. I wanted to love this book, but this was an impediment for me to dive deeply into Tom’s life because of the many differences between the blurb and the text itself.

What I did find interesting about this book was it exploration of racism, intentions, and regret. Tom genuinely believed he was doing a good deed by signing up to fight for reasons that other readers should discover for themselves, but having good intentions doesn’t mean that a decision is justifiable. He was affected by the time and place he lived in, and I was intrigued by his character development as he realized what a colossal mistake he had made and how even someone who tries to do the right thing can still be veered off course through unconscious bias and a dangerous amount of ignorance on a subject. This is something every single of us can be fooled by, and it’s well worth reading and talking about

The Last of What I Am is a good pick for anyone who likes historical fiction that has some paranormal themes.

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