Links I love

 

I have received good news from  the pathology reports! I have clean margins and clean lymph nodes. This is all huge and good news.  I have been officially staged at stage 1 and have consults with oncology and radiation oncology.  I will definitely have to do that and hormone suppressing therapy (yay forced menopause) and likely not chemo (although we have sent the little alien out to be tested for reoccurrence and how responsive it is to chemo). Once we have the test results back we will have a final decision on the chemo but the surgeon was pretty confident that there is low risk of reoccurrence.

1. 9 Sour Kids candies ranked. 
2. Some haunted house books that will keep you up at night. 
3. Pope Leo is gradually resuming normal duties and so am I!
4. What does a white house press secretary   do?
5. The best adventure novels.
6. Why are so many authors not naming the narrator?
7. Five essential books for understanding Chinese American history.
8. If you like true 
9. If you like true crime but get sick of the violence, here are some True Crime books that aren't violent.
10. 6 of the best book retreats across the world.
11. The real history behind Camp Crystal Lake. This cracks me up. at  freaks me out.
12. 10 creepy books that aren't considered to be horror. 
13. Best books set in India.
14. The menopause care guidelines have been updated.
15. Yikes - I also remember watchin ng Notre Dame burn. :(
16. This is so weird.a
17. Ten books everyone should experience at least once. 
18. What happens to a book that is challenged but isn't banned from a school library?
19. The real Sherlock Holmes.
20. Meet the best debut novelists of 2026.
21. What the 80 year olds with 50 year old memory are doing.
22. Jaylen Hurts has a blood clot - risk factors for them are pretty common.
23. This looks interesting.
24. Some mystery novels that are inheritance mysteries. 
25. Mystery and thrillers set in the woods.
26. Can a dream help you to solve a problem?
27. Ways to relieve stress on your body after sitting at your desk all day.
28. Dark Academia books - I LOVE this type of book.
29. Southern Gothic Horror novels are also the best. 
30. Christina Applegate was misdiagnosed? What it means for women.
31. This mystery may have been solved.
32. Who was Catherine van Hemessen?
33. Best colleges ranked.
34. one hit wonders from the 1980's that you know all the words to.
35. Some classic rock hits that almost went to different artists.
36. Tom Skerritt has passed away - I will always remember him as Dallas in Alien and Viper in Top Gun. He was 93. This year has seen way too many famous people pass away.
37. Barnes and Noble has its best book of the year list out already.
38. The forgotten stories behind campaign buttons.
39. Have sippy cups been around forever?
40. What a good girl
41. Where are the stars of the 1990's now?
42. The Roman remains in Westminster Abbey have been identified.
43. 9 books that complicate the South Asia Diaspora.
44. After hanging out for a while, a mysterious hanging rock has fallen. I brought the kids to this attraction years ago and they loved crawling through the caves. This wasn't quite as traumatic as when the Old Man fell off though.
45. Was Van Gogh's starry night inspired by a real celestial event?
46. Publisher's Weekly has also named its best books of 2026.
47. Why it feels like people are all reading the same books.
48. The books that shaped this poster''s 20's.

I'm currently reading Peck and Peck (the new book by Bonnie Garmus), and listening to The Girl With the Sad Eyes by Christina Applegate (who also narrates - I love it when the authors narrate their own books).  I have been re-watching Mind hunter and also watching Mad Men. I wish that they would have another season of Mind hunter but I don't think that will happen.

I have also discovered Whatnot, where you can bid live on many different items. I've gotten a ton of Christmas gifts, books, and other items there for much less than retail - including Coach purses, Adidas sneakers and other items.  Check it out.

REVIEW The French Illusion by John Grisham

 

I have always kind of liked Grisham for a quick, easy read - almost a palate cleanser- and he certainly didn't fail me with this one.  Surprisingly, this wasn't a courtroom thriller - I may be completely off here, but I think that this is the first novel where Grisham isn't doing anything in a courtroom. 

The very first people we meet are Paul and Chelsea Tanner - they have just gotten married and are headed to Paris for their honeymoon, the planning and itinerary of which are very public on social media thanks to Chelsea.  The couple is kidnapped during a day trip to Normandy and what follows after is the thrill of how they're going to be gotten back (a feat which involves multiple federal agencies).I definitely enjoyed the novelty of a Grisham book about international intrigue but I also thought he did a masterful job in  presenting the intimacy of what a kidnapping does to the families of the people involved. The families were clearly feeling helpless and without agency. They were sad and stressed and the kidnapping had wide ranging rippling effects that we tend to forget during the everyday course of hearing about these incidents. I also enjoyed, and really appreciated, Grisham's exploration of power, fear and justification.  

The pacing was perfect for what I was looking for and the short chapters lets you get your reading in in short spurts.  This was a solid 3/5 for me.

REVIEW A Box Full of Darkness by Simone St. James

 

I love me a good St. James novel especially when it's particularly close to Halloween because her books seem to combine just the right amount of dark and supernatural and mystery so I was very excited when I learned that she had a new book coming out. This novel is set in Fell, NY (the same town that The Sundown Motel was set in). Fairly early on in the book, you find out that three siblings - Dodie, Vail and Violet Esmie, have a brother named Ben that disappeared one day while they were playing hide and go seek and has not been found.  These acts happened 18 years earlier. The siblings have decided that it is finally time to return to the family home in Fell (which has remained empty since their parents' death) to find out what happened to Ben and why Violet is only called "Sister." Each of the siblings seems to have a special, natural power - Violet can see ghosts, Vail sees lights and Dodie is haunted by water that continuously drowns her. 

I genuinely enjoyed this book - it had the right amount of spookiness and terror and the pacing was very good.  The book is slow burn Gothic, which is exactly what I was looking for. However, there was simply too much going on such that St. James couldn't seem to tie it all up neatly for us. Don't get me wrong, it's really good, until the end, which was disappointing. The character that I enjoyed the most was Vail, followed closely by Violet. I could deal a little less with Dodie, who seemed like a stereotype on legs. This is definitely a good, solid read by this author, although perhaps not her best.  I look forward to her future novels.  

Links I love

 

I have had my surgery and am waiting for results. I was worried about the anesthesia but that turned out to be ok.  I'm trying to take it easy and give my body some grace while I recover. I'm still feeling pretty sore and I had a headache and sore throat for a few days (I was intubated). 

1. Grace Walker's debut book wins a major award,
2. Why you wake up earlier the older that you get. 
3. What a breast lump feels like.
4. Why witches are depicted with pointy hats. 
5. Pope Leo is getting lung surgery this week. He apparently has lung cancer.
6. Two Americans won the Nobel Prize in Economics. 
7. Here's what to do if you're unsure about your measles vaccine status.
8. Classic Mexican novels.
9. Campus mysteries that look intriguing. 
10. RJ Mitte, who played Walter Jr. in Breaking Bad, has passed away.
11. Have you ever run political attack ads - in the wrong state?
12. Books that combine true crime and a Gothic feel.
13. What does it mean to be well read?
14. The Nikon comedy animal awards are up.
15. If you use Libby, here are some tips from a librarian.
16. This just put me into overload.
17. If you're like me, you hate the longer nights and early darkness. Here are some ideas for improving your mood.
18. Best horror books of the century.
19. The biggest stars of the 70's and where they are now.
20. Sally Roony can no longer sell her books in the UK.
21. Maybe I will try to make this.
22. 20 celebrities that you didn't know were twins.
23. The scariest movie in the year that you were born.
24. Halloween traditions that don't exist anymore.
25. I love locally roasted coffee. They are online here.
26. Make a sick day kit for flu and cold days.
27. Five works of folk horror that aren't for the weak hearted.
28. Some essential books for understanding North Korea's cult of personality.
29. 9 words from the sixties that we still use today.
30. 25 songs that were written for only the movies.
31. How TikTok is changing the English language. 
32. Baby Cheetahs - on Livestream!!
33. 7 extraordinary indigenous sites from the US
34. Freddie Mercury would have been 80 this year and so his costumes are taking center stage at an exhibit.
35. Books to read before they hit the screen.
36. Ultimate fall 2026 reading list.
37. WHat do ghosts, witches and vampires smell like?
38. There are new treatment rules for menopause treatment.
39. There is a new movie - on Elizabeth Holmes?!
40. Barnes and Noble picks for the best books of 2026.
41. Trying to move past the stereotyping of the American South.
42. Five essential books to understand the Venetian ghetto and Jewish history.
43. Thoughts while re watching When Harry Met Sally.
44. 7 regency era etiquette rules that would drive people mad today.
45. 
    

I'm currently reading The Last Girl and listening to Greenlights.

REVIEW Taipei Story by RF Kuang

 

This novel follows Lily Chen, a college student at Yale, who travels to Taiwan to study in an immersive, intensive language program in Taipei with other college students. The trip seems doomed to failure right from the start - Lily and her roommate have misjudged their living arrangements (the plumbing is unreliable, it is very small and cramped in the apartment, they don't like each other much), the program is way more rigorous than she thought it would be and she seems to be constantly burnt out from not being able to communicate in Chinese with the people that live in Taiwan. That doesn't stop her from really yearning and hoping that she will fit in someday due to her Chinese heritage. The novel is set in the city of Taiwan with its smells, food, cultural experiences and people. 

I generally really enjoyed this novel and finished it fairly quickly.  This wasn't a typical Kuang book (she also wrote Babel and Katabasis) and I thought that it was not only brave that she was exploring different genres but also that she generally did a good job. She was exploring themes related to coming of age, culture shock, shame at failing your heritage and being too American. The book seems to be almost completely introspective. Lily is experiencing things and we are witnessing her inner monologue as she experiences them.  I really enjoy learning about people and so I enjoyed this - even though Lily wasn't always likeable (I don't think she was meant to me). Having said that, I was disappointed by the ending, which felt more like the middle of a chapter than an actual ending - although I very much related to the feeling of goodbyes with people that you have been immersed with for a while.

I generally thought that this was a very good first effort.  

REVIEW: Black Dahlia by William Mann

 

I'm obsessed with True Crime, if you couldn't tell.  This was and is the OG true crime mystery and still hasn't been solved. It has been, in my opinion, a long time coming as it is very victim centered and works to debunk the victim blaming that has occurred for decades. 

For those of you that don't know, Elizabeth Short has been identified as the Black Dahlia - a woman that was found bloodless and bisected at her torso (and obviously dead) in a grassy lot on a very cold January morning in 1957 in Los Angeles. In writing this book, Professor Mann has relied upon documents that he got through FOIA requests which included but are not limited to autopsy reports, grand jury transcripts and police reports.  In writing this book, the author hopes to humanize Elizabeth, although he cannot give us any further ideas as to who may have committed this horrible act. Ms. Short's means were particularly limited - she was one of four girls that was being raised by a single mother in Medford, MA after her cruel father left the family.  In the wake of World War II, she was one of many young girls that migrated to LA hoping to break into Hollywood. She often left behind debts in rooming houses and relied upon men to buy her lunch at the lunch counters. Her teeth were terrible, and she often fixed them with melted wax poured into her mouth. 

What I really loved about this book was how it captured the LA of the turn of the century and really attempted to humanize the victim.  His book focuses less on who the killer was and actually focuses on SHort's last months in an effort to assist in figuring out who she was. It also was an encyclopedia of mess-ups on the part of the LAPD, including officers that go rogue and failures to account for certain suspect's and their alibis.  

I very much enjoyed this intriguing and well researched book, and appreciated the perspective that it provided.  Definitely a much needed take on an approximately 80 year old case. 

Links I love

 

It finally started to get cold this weekend. We had our first frost advisory and I had to turn the heat on. I was hoping to get to November before doing it but here we are.  I got tagged for my surgery which is on Thursday.  Things are starting to feel really real now. I am scared mostly that I won't wake from surgery, at least in the immediate future, and long term, that it has actually spread to multiple body parts.  

• No one expected Leo to be Pope, except those who knew him as Bob.
• Just short of it's 200th  birthday, a natural history museum shuts down.
• Some of these look good.
• Five funny science fiction books.
• According to some editors, these are the best movies to watch during spooky season.
• Some "dad jokes" that will leave you in stitches.
• The Nobel Prize in Medicine goes to three scientists who were researching brain activity.
• Nine novels about people that are the poorest people in the room.
• Michael Douglas in the limelight.
• 11 contemporary books perfect for autumn reading.
• 7 smells that defined fall in the 1980'a.
• Locations from horror books that you can actually visit.
• Here is the National Book Award shortlist for poetry and the shortlist for fiction. The list for translated literature is also out.
• Oprah has selected her latest book club read.
• Epistolary thrillers that let the evidence do the talking.
• On the life and death cycles in Sylvia Plath's work
• The best new historical fiction coming out this month.
• Best epics for for those that like fantasy books.
• 18 books about librarians.
• Why does the Headless Horseman carry a pumpkin?
• Decline in reading is the main threat tMusto the EU book trade.
• The Kirkus book awards for 2026 have been announced.
• Thrillers most famous lawyers.
•  Must read historical mysteries of the fall.
• The biggest scary movies for each year in the 80's.

I am currently reading A Box Full of Dreams by Simone St, James - it's her most recent and has the perfect creepy vibes for right now.  I'm listening to This is Me: A Reckoning by Hayden Pannetiere and is narrated by her, which is very odd given her recent, tragic death.