#book review

˙⟡♡ book review! ✦ tribe of mentors : timothy ferris ✦ read: 06.10.2026 - 06.16.2026 ✦ rating: 3/5 stars review and spoilers under cut! “Fiction has a utility, and it’s one that I think high achievers sometimes forget, and that is: fiction stirs you up inside, unsettles you, forces you to engage with that which isn’t easily solved.” (Brian Koppelman qtd. Ferris, pg. 329) I usually don’t reach for self-help books, so at the very least, this was something that got me out of my comfort zone! There are plenty of good nuggets of information to take away, and some interview definitely resonated with more than others. At some point, the answers do get a little repetitive, but the interesting tidbits to mull over are all things that would go far in helping you improve your quality of life, even if it’s just a little bit. I think I would have benefited far more if this book had been cut down far, far shorter. Quotes I marked: “Anyone who would take his time to read, comprehend, and interpret Toni Morrison’s work, based on my recommendation, was someone I wanted to spend significant time with. That experience taught me when people care, they’ll go beyond the extra mile to understand you.” (Bozoma Saint John qtd. Ferris, pg. 38) “Face [the future] full of hope, knowing that whatever challenge lies ahead, you are equal to it, and just deliver a message that is precisely the opposite of fear and defensiveness.” (Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks qtd. Ferris, pg. 162) “Second, if, like many people, you got a liberal arts degree, be proud it, and own it.” (Steve Case qtd. Ferris, pg. 346) crossposted from goodreads!

Reading classic horror: E.T.A. Hoffmann E.T.A. Hoffmann was a Prussian composer and also a writer of fantasy stories with a touch of horror. The focus on music and all the musical details he includes in his works give them a distinct flavour. Der Sandmann was definitely my favourite horror story from the anthology. The main character’s childhood trauma grows into a mental instability… or it’s caused by a dark, monstrous being, the titular Sandman. My second favourite story was the Polish one. The author’s wife was Polish and he worked for a time in Warsaw so he had some insight into the political situation and wrote a truly compelling supernatural story set in that time period. It’s about a couple of lovers who are separated when the man goes to fight for Polish independence (probably joins the Legions in Italy) and the woman starts experiencing supernatural things. The man’s lookalike cousin shows up and also wants to marry her. The woman gets pregnant and claims that she married her lover even though he was in Italy at the time. I appreciate how insane the story was. The Walled-Up Door , the story about the family curse centered around the inheritance of the castle, was pretty interesting too. There was a mystery, a ghost, an unrequited love and very human conflict motivated by greed. The story about a wizard helping a painter in love by driving off other suitors was rather comedic and fun. My least liked story in the anthology was about a Don Juan play. I didn’t have the context to understand most of the references in it.

Review: Shadow Strike by Brad Taylor Synopsis: New York Times bestselling author and former special forces officer Brad Taylor is back with a dynamic political thriller featuring Pike Logan as he goes head-to-head with an old enemy—and renowned assassin. After its proxies are devastated and its offensive capability pummeled in the latest war in the middle east, a rogue group of Iranian regime officials create a brazen plot… View On WordPress

Kindred This novel really affected me. It even came to me in a dream, a place where not even the boogeyman has yet reached me. It’s certainly weird and all it’s own and difficult and necessary. What else could you want? Butler did it again. Read it if you like reading books.

Fuck Harvard: Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale I liked it. It has the misfortune of being quite similar to the works of Octavia Butler, but I liked it. I liked it less as this culture phenomenon we call “ The Handmaid’s Tale ” for which you can buy the CD and the t-shirt and the CD now featuring Chase Infiniti and more as an Atwood novel. It’s a good one. Read it if you like Margaret Atwood, obviously.

Ah, man. There is A LOT I really enjoyed about I Don’t Wish You Well , about a college journalism major who goes digging into a mass murder that happened in his town when he was younger and starts digging up more secrets than he bargained for. I liked the characters, the story, the tension. There were so many twists and new reveals that were really expertly folded out. Buuuuut. I don’t really like who was revealed as the murderer. I’m not against a good revenge fic, but I want to use it to revel in the violence and satisfaction of the process. Imo, the catharsis of a revenge fic is the usually trodden on getting to reclaim power and anger and justice. And I get that this wasn’t really a revenge fic. It was a crime fic (among other things). But I dunno. I feel like it went for the too-obvious and completely unrealistic murderer. It’s hard to talk about without specifics, so I’ll put the rest under a read more. Just like. The story did SO WELL exploring a fraught coming out and coming of age, sense of self journey. And I get that it was in no way whatsoever making any disparagement against queer folk by choosing the resolution it did. But having the black, fem, gay, gang rape victim who spent his entire childhood being bullied and abused by his homophobic parents in his homophobic home town be the secret killer (of three white guys and his black gay lover, no less) who just immediately goes to jail??? After he FINALLY clawed his way out of hell and made a good life for himself??? It just feels like a shitty, shitty resolution to the story. I know that was the point. It’s not a happy story. There aren’t happy endings. But I dunno. It just…undermined a lot of the enjoyment I had for the story otherwise. There were tons of other people it could have been. Honestly, I’d have been happy for it to have been figured out and then never “officially” solved and just let the reader figure it out for themselves for more a revenge fic feel.

Book Review #70 of 2026– Killer Spirit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. Rating: 3 stars. Read from June 14th to 16th. Book two in The Squad where high school cheerleaders are also covert government operatives. Because no one expects anything from a cheerleader. Another J.L.B. cheerleader spy novel has been read. This time it wasn’t as big of a hit for me as the first novel. I think maybe some of the novelty had worn off and the things that Toby was making fun of started to seem more and more inconsequential. I think I could enjoy more stories in this series if we got Toby to fully accept her role in The Squad and work to cement herself as a cheerleader and as a spy. This one just felt too same-y to love. I liked seeing more from Toby’s family. Even if it wasn’t a ton. I also enjoyed Jack. I think more books in this series could definitely use him as both a pawn and as a player. I feel like he could have some unseen depths. The mission itself was more fun this time around. I just wish we had gotten some more spy/action/adventure from this book. I still love The Squad and I love how absolutely oblivious 99% of the people in their lives are to The Squad being more than just a cheerleading team. I wish we could get some books as follow ups to the end of this one since it hints at competition season. I’d love to see how chaotic it can get especially if they also have missions while cheering. Overall, this was a fun, light read to break up some of the stuff I’ve been reading lately. I love Jennifer Lynn Barnes as a whole so maybe this was just another step on the way to reading her entire backlist.

Book Review - Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America (3rd Edition) by Steven Foster & James A. Duke Medicinal plants are increasingly well regarded as supplements and sometimes as alternatives for prescription drugs. Steven Foster and James A. Duke have used recent advances in the study of medicinal plants and their combined experience of over 100 years to completely update the Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. The clear and concise text identifies the key traits, habitats, uses, and warnings for more than 530 of the most significant medicinal plants in the eastern and central United States and Canada including both native and alien species. Seven hundred plus images, the organization-by-color system, and simplified warnings make identifying medicinal plants fast and easy. Sponsored by the National Audubon Society, the National Wildlife Federation, and the Roger Tory Peterson Institute 4 stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ This is the third edition of the book, expanded to include 60 new species not found in previous editions. It features 531 species accounts covering 588 medicinal plant species and includes 705 color photographs by Steven Foster, with more than 88% of the images being new. Over two-thirds of the plants covered are native to Eastern and Central North America, while the remaining third are mostly non-native species introduced from Europe and Asia. [ x ] I picked this up because I’m a sucker for survival-related topics, thanks in part to my love of horror, especially zombie apocalypse stories. That sent me down a rabbit hole of separating what’s actually possible from what’s pure fiction and wondering how people might cope if they lost access to modern medicine and technology. Along the way, I became fascinated by the historical and traditional uses of plants and wanted to get better at identifying the ones I encounter outdoors. My own backyard, which has been happily taken over by wild plants, seemed like a good place to start. As a field guide, this book is packed with useful information on a wide variety of herbs and medicinal plants found in Eastern and Central North America. Each entry includes color photographs, identification details, habitat information, and summaries of historical and documented medicinal uses. The layout makes it easy to browse and compare species while out in the field. However, it’s important to know what this book is—and what it isn’t. It’s not a step-by-step manual on harvesting, preparing, or using plants medicinally. If you’re looking for recipes, dosages, or instructions on treating medical conditions with wild plants, you won’t find that here. Instead, the book focuses on helping readers identify plants and providing information about their historical and documented medicinal uses. It’s also worth keeping in mind that the guide isn’t perfect. While the photographs are generally helpful, some species aren’t shown at every stage of growth. For example, I’m familiar with coneflowers from my own garden, but someone encountering an immature plant in the wild might have trouble identifying it because the book doesn’t always include photos of early growth stages. I ran into a similar issue with horseweed, whose photos didn’t closely match what I was seeing, and with tall blue lettuce ( Lactuca biennis ), which doesn’t include any photographs in the first place. ALT You may also come across plants that simply aren’t included in the guide. In my backyard, for example, I have Phedimus spurius ‘John Creech’ (formerly Sedum spurium 'John Creech’), which isn’t covered. That’s understandable, since it’s an ornamental cultivar rather than a medicinal plant and is not native to Eastern or Central North America. So if you can’t find a particular plant in this book, it’s often because it falls outside the guide’s focus on medicinal species from the region. ALT ALT ALT In conclusion, I’m happy to have this book in my collection because it’s an informative and well-organized field guide. Still, I wouldn’t rely on it as my only resource. No single guide can cover every species or every stage of a plant’s life cycle, so it’s most effective when used alongside other field guides and reference materials to help identify unfamiliar plants.

‘The Lost Founder’ profiles a brilliant lawyer who helped craft the Constitution Jesse Wegman’s book tells the story of James Wilson, a largely forgotten founding father who lived a colorful life and died as a Supreme Court justice on the run from the law and creditors. LISTEN 39-Minute Listen READ Transcript 'The Lost Founder’ profiles a brilliant lawyer who helped craft the Constitution DAVIES: And so he kept it secret for, what, six, eight years? Yeah. Yeah.WEGMAN: So he put it away in a drawer for six years. But in 1774, he publishes it. It’s published anonymously. And instantly, it was attributed to Benjamin Franklin, who, you know, very quickly says, no, this isn’t by me. You know, it’s by a man named James Wilson. And, you know, suddenly, people start to find out who this guy is. We know that Thomas Jefferson, who is the writer of the Declaration of Independence, had whole sections of Wilson’s essay, this essay on the authority of Parliament, pasted into his commonplace book, where he kept, you know, quotes that were important to him. We know that the essay as a whole deeply influenced Jefferson. And historians going back now about a hundred years have theorized that Wilson’s essay was one of the biggest, if not the biggest influence on Jefferson as he sat down to draft those famous words of the declaration.DAVIES: Right. The words, we hold these truths to be…WEGMAN: Yes.DAVIES: …Self-evident, that all men are created equal. It’s likely that Wilson had some significant influence on Jefferson’s thinking.WEGMAN: That’s right. And, you know, he is an awkward guy too. This is part of what, I think, made him fall out of the sort of - the founding narrative, our national narrative of the American founding, is that he’s a difficult guy to get to know and to like. And so he doesn’t have a lot of, let’s say, social capital at the time. And in 1779, it’s a pretty tough time. And so people like Wilson stand out.

Quick Book Review - The World of Erised You know how hard it is to find a good book lately. It seems that we were spoiled by the Harry Potter stories which have great characters and interesting plots. Other books are mostly just boring, and I have to force myself to read them while wishing they would end soon. And NO thanks to she-who-must-not-be-named for not writing more Harry Potter Books. I’ll never forgive her. But thanks to… View On WordPress

#NetGalley #BookReview of Hemlock Bay (Rachel Savernake #5) by Martin Edwards #Mystery #GoldenAge Review Hemlock Bay Rachel Savernake #5 by Martin Edwards Release date: June 16th, 2026 🌟🌟🌟🌟 I received a complimentary ARC copy of Hemlock Bay (Rachel Savernake #5) by Martin Edwards from NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press in order to read and give an honest review. “…The Rachel Savernake novels aren’t in-your-face thrillers but slow-burn, elegantly constructed puzzles that reward readers… View On WordPress

One of the Best Fantasy Novels I’ve Read: Graceling by Kristin Cashore And I don’t give a shit that this is YA hetslop! It is enlightened, youthful, hetPEAK! in my eyes. And also very queer without looking very hard. And yes the eyes are heterochromatic in this context. Absolutely gorgeous. Billions must read Graceling .

Book Review: I’m Your Huckleberry by Val Kilmer, Narrated by Will Forte, Mare Winningham and George Newburn ★★★ ½ ✩✩ I’ll preface this with saying I enjoy non-linear memoirs. I feel like it sets a more casual tone and for Val Kilmer that fits better than I expected. His overall manner of speaking in general throughout this book is casual and sometimes lofty. Some might say pretentious and they might be right but what I was hoping for was depth. ALT He speaks a bit here and there about spirituality, his childhood, his relationships but romantic and friendly, his marriage and the divorce, and his movies in a general way to give you enough of all of that means for him but he never goes into details and I’m not sure whether to applaud him for making a decision to keep somethings private, which we all have the right to, or to shake him because I want to know more details primarily about certain movies and how they were made because I’m curious about some films. Maybe it’s the non linear writing or his choice to not divulge details but there’s distance between the reader and Kilmer which I caught halfway through the book. He names drops, as most celebrities do, I find, which is interesting because I had no idea of his dating history outside of Cher and Joanne, whom he married so that was a lot of new info but funny enough not what I was after but it might be for some people. All in all I’m left wanting to talk to him about stuff, art mainly, due to the casual nature of this book, but I was left wanting for more and I’m not sure of what exactly. Surprising to find that Will Forte and Mare Winningham took turns narrating this audio book. Understandable considering that Kilmer had gone through throat surge so struggled to speak but I say surprising because I’m used to Forte being a big character and so to hear him so serious and yet calming in his turns was nice. Winningham has a great voice for narration and she read what I think were some of the more personal moments or poetry in Kilmer’s life and that took a different turn as they knew each other for years and were friends and ex’s. All in all a surprising read. I do think if you liked the documentary film ‘Val’, this book is for you as it’s written in a similar vein and covers the same topics. Some moments are spoken in depth in the film and others in depth in the book so I consider them to be accompaniments to each other if you will.

Tell Me Lies…Review of Freshman Lies When you’re 11 or 12, firmly in that “tween” category, and middle school is on the horizon, it’s easy to get lost imagining who you might be. New school. New people. People from other elementary schools. It’s a world that TV shows and movies promise will be filled with drama and adventure, sometimes pain, but you take a deep breath and tell yourself that maybe you’ll be one of those few that… View On WordPress

I loved this so much! I’m honestly at a loss for words, because it was so much fun getting to be back in the Mulvaney-verse following a new group of characters while also getting to check in with all my favorites. I loved Ever and Arsen together! They were honestly the sweetest and I loved that they were both down bad for each other from the moment they met. I really liked that Arsen was so hesitant to start anything with Ever at first, because he had just rescued him from a really bad situation. I also liked that Arsen gave Ever a safe place to learn how to be himself and discover new things at his own pace and let him deal with his trauma in his own way. I also really appreciated that Ever wasn’t seen as helpless, that he went after what he wanted and advocated for himself when needed. And still got to be cute and sweet and make new friends! I loved them so much and I can’t wait to explore more of this series. Paladin is getting five stars!

Terry Pratchett, the Grand Wizard of Discworld image borrowed from TVtropes.com I firmly believe that I would never have succeeded as a teacher and never gotten my resolve wrapped around the whole nonsense package of being a published author if I hadn’t picked up a copy of Mort, the first Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett that I ever encountered. I started reading the book as a veteran dungeon-master at D&D role-playing games and also as a… View On WordPress

Moss’d in Space by Rebecca Thorne Official Summary: Torian Razner finally bought a starship, and contrary to Amelia’s assessment, it was not “a meteoric sign of stupidity.” Sure, the alien starship may have been abandoned for a century, and it may be covered in moss now… but it’s Torian’s ticket to freedom, regardless of what her ex… ah, captain… said. Except Torian’s first flight reveals a surprise passenger: the moss is actually an organic computer with a snarky attitude and serious abandonment issues. The target of its loathing? The immortal alien who built it (and then parked the starship, with Moss inside, and forgot about it). The same alien who just found Torian and accused her of “stealing” the ship. It’s entirely possible that Amelia was right about this meteoric stupidity. My Thoughts: Torian just bought the only spaceship she could afford so she can visit humans’ only terraformed planet, in hopes of moving her ill sister there. Moss, the sentient moss that covers most of the interior of the ship, is excited to finally be leaving the space station on which it was abandoned. Okay, maybe it wants to find its former owner so it can toss him out of the airlock, too. Torian is a great main character: she’s kind, optimistic, and she has a goal that makes her easy to root for. Moss is hilarious; I was expecting it to be sweet or maybe even a mentor-like guide for Torian. Instead, it’s a little bit of a jerk, but in a seriously charming and funny way. In the author notes, Rebecca Thorne says that Murderbot inspired Moss, and I think that definitely comes through. Like Torian, Moss has its own goals (besides throwing its former owner out the airlock), and the two work together to ensure they can both accomplish them. There are multiple queer romances in this book; the one that gets the most focus is a Sapphic romance between Torian and Amelia, a woman with whom she’s had a complicated relationship. The two have a lot of tension over things that have happened between them, but it’s clear that they both still have strong feelings for each other. I’m really looking forward to seeing how their romance continues to develop in future books in this series. I already adore their dynamic! The biggest relationship in this book is the friendship between Torian and Moss. It is the heart of the Found Family that develops between them and a unique cast of new friends that they meet along their journey. The book has so many queer and misfit characters! I truly fell in love with every one of these, and I can’t wait to see how they grow over the series. This is very much a cozy sci-fi, but it does have stakes, and there is even a small space mystery. This is one of my favorite parts of this author’s cozy books: there’s just enough intrigue, long-term plot, and character motivations that keep the pace from feeling slow or meandering. One final thing I have to mention is that if you, like me, love and keep houseplants, there are some scenes in this that you will love. Moss’ disdain for the potted plants on its ship and its recounting of their thoughts and complaints are so funny. This whole book felt like it was meant for those of us who love taking care of plants and then curling up to read a good book. This is the kind of book that will leave you smiling every time you pick it up. It’s a feel-good story with humor and hope. This is my favorite kind of cozy fantasy/science fiction, and I am genuinely excited for the next book in this series! My Rating : 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 (4.5/5 stars) Pages: 352 (Kindle Edition) Tropes/Tags: Science Fiction, Cozy Sci-Fi, Queer, Sapphic, Slow Burn Contains Depictions Of: Classism, Abandonment, Chronic Illness Links: Storygraph | GoodReads | Pagebound | RebeccaThorne.net Moss’d in Space will be released on June 30, 2026 , and is available for pre-order ! I received an advanced copy of this book for free, thanks to Netgalley , Macmillan , and Bramble . The above are my honest feelings about the provided book. [ See Everything I’ve Read in 2026 ]

Reni reviews The DM Diaries by Teagan Hunter Finished on June 16th 2026 Genre: New Adult, Romance Synopsis Olive O’Brien is a plus-size influencer with half a million followers and big dreams. And she’s feeling the pressure to stand out while staying true to herself. To cope, Olive finds solace in an unexpected place: the DMs of Jasper Rafferty, the world’s hottest movie star, where she feels safe to share her hopes, fears, and secrets because it’s not like he’ll read them. Until he does. Kind of. Career-wise, Jasper’s younger brother, Jude, is in free fall. After an interview gone wrong, Jude now has the thankless job of managing his brother’s social media accounts to help reboot his own image. Olive’s messages are unexpected, and her wit and vulnerability catch his interest. How can “Jasper” not respond? And how long can Jude keep up the ruse? As the DMs get flirtier and more personal, the bigger question is what’ll happen when Olive finds out she’s fallen for a fraud. It might not be what either of them expects. Overall Rating: 1.5/5 💚 Idea: 3/5 Plot: 1/5 Characters: 1/5 Worldbuilding: 1/5 Narration: 1/5 Entertainment: 2/5 Full Review I’ll be honest, I mostly bought this book for the cute cover (the German edition is so cute!) and because it has a fat FMC because I’m always on the hunt for good fat representation. Also my friend @janchei-reads basically bullied me into buying this so, thank you I guess. If I didn’t love you as much as I do I would hate you now. So anyway, let’s get into this, shall we? The plot attempted way too much and the pacing was simultaneously slow and overloaded at the same time. So Olive spams her deepest, most personal thoughts into the DMs of the most popular actor ever. Said actor’s brother reads them, falls for her, and pretends to be his brother. At the same time, they both know and hate each other because they regularly cut each other in line at a coffee store - but both wear glasses so they are unrecognizable alright. Then Olive cyberstalks the account and finds out she’s been lied to, she’s mad for two seconds. They make up and out until the DMs are leaked by an “antagonist” who is completely irrelevant to the story, so??? Then Jude has to apologize for the leak to Olive even though he had nothing to do with it. So yeah that is one big clusterfuck, made even worse by the characters being absolutely terrible. I really wanted to like Olive, but she’s arrogant, rude, dismissive of her best friend Annie, and just. Ugh. I hated her. She’s the type of character I would definitely fight if she were real. Her whole “I’m a plus size instagram model” went from “basically unknown” to “I inspire people to copy my style” real quickly so. Ugh. Otherwise, her being fat was irrelevant because she loves her body and is perfect in every way. Her love interest Jude is marginally better but he is a wet towel of a character. Boring, boring, boring. His whole conflict of “I love acting but I’m in my brother’s shadow and hate the limelight” went nowhere lol. Why continue acting in Hollywood if you hate being in public so much??? There were some side characters but they were either unlikeable (the villain whose name I forgot, Jasper - Jude’s more popular brother, Jude’s assistant Dylan) or completely irrelevant (Jude’s sister Cait, Olive’s best friend Annie) so…yeah. The banter between Olive and Jude was genuinely cringeworthy to me. I had to pause sometimes just to recover. There were some messages that were quite cute, but overall I didn’t feel any chemistry between them to be honest. Also, I felt like everything was over the top and exaggerated. Olive isn’t a mere plus-size influencer - she’s working with the best fashion photographers in the world. Jude isn’t a reasonably famous actor - he’s part of the most well-known legacy family of Hollywood giants. Even Annie’s fiancé isn’t just an IT guy - no, he hacked the Pentagon at age 15 and is an absolute genius. Again, the only normal one is Annie who works as an ER nurse. Like what the fuck is that? I’m all for wishfulfillment and suspension of disbelief, but it was waaay over the top and too much. So yeah. Bought it for the cover, got my just deserts, I guess. This Book May Be For You If… … you like Hollywood drama, influencer drama, fake identity, enemies to lovers (kinda) … you don’t mind cringe dialogues and over the top characters and worldbuilding

I always love when I get head back into the Orc Sworn world. It always gets me stressed in the best way. Fenn writes angst and tension you can cut with a knife so well! I’m always worried that our MCs won’t be able to get themselves out of their angst spiral, but they always do and in such satisfying ways. With every Orc Sworn book I am excited to see who the next couple will be and I was especially excited to see that it was Kalfr! Another thing Fenn does a great job of is getting you connected to these characters and looking forward to their stories. I also loved getting to meet Raye and Gaelfr. It was lovely seeing how the balanced each other out and getting to learn one another again. I am not always a fan of second chance but this was done well for me! They took the time to have the hard conversations and relearn each other. I also the outside peril had me in the edge of seat on how they were going to resolve it. As always I loved the side of cast characters. It’s great seeing new faces and familiar ones. Out now!

All About Love