Book Review: The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner 4.25/5 Stars

 Did I just finish the Beach Read of 2025 ?  I think it's possible that I did! 

    In keeping with my Water theme of 2025, I saw this book on Net Galley and again broke my rule about only requesting audiobooks this year.  I do not regret this at all. Many thanks to Harper Collins/Harlequin Trade Publishing  for the Advanced Copy - I am delighted to provide this honest and spoiler free review! 

For me, this is a perfect beach read. It has everything I want for a vacation read.  A beautiful setting, compelling story, engaging characters and a touch of mystery and magic! 

   Penner gives readers a dual narrative, with a modern day nautical archeologist travelling to the gorgeous Positano Italy for a ground-breaking project that she believes is critical for her career. She does, of course, have one ulterior motive that brings her to these shores, and of course there might also be a smidgen of romance (I mean I did say Beach read, didn't I?) Juxtaposed against the modern narrative, is a story of seemingly star crossed lovers in the 1820's when Positano was just a small fishing village, one with unusual good luck!  Indeed the residents of this earlier Positano never seemed to have a bad fishing season, or raiders attacking the coast line. 

Underwood & Underwood, Publisher. "Where the waves and mountains meet"-Positano, southern Italy. Italy, 1900. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2020683062/.

Penner toggles between both storylines eventually bringing them together  through maelstrom and magic - moving the reader gently to a peaceful, satisfying ending. There are even some recipes at the end, so if you can't travel to the beach, you can fix yourself a treat and FEEL like you're right there as you devour this treat!

STATS

First Published : Coming April 29, 2025

Pages: 336

Available as an Audio Book : YES 

Trigger Warnings:  gun violence, death, death at sea, Death of parent, kidnapping, 

                                                       (this is not a full list, read responsibly) 

Book Review Killer on the Road & The Babysitter Lives - Double Feature by Steven Graham Jones 5/5 Stars!

   I am supposed to be reading on the theme of water in 2025, but indeed sometimes, when amazing things come up,  I have to take advantage of it!!! 

And indeed when I was browsing on NetGalley I saw that Saga Press has a new edition of some of  Steven Graham Jones earlier works - a Double Feature of  The Babysitter Lives and Killer on the Road.  I could not resist.  Below is an image of what's coming out in July, and it really is quite a nice cover!  It is about time that books other than romantasy got some really nice editions and covers... I read some romantasy, but lately the covers and edges almost seem to be there as an apology for the bad writing inside.  

Not so for this Double feature, SGJ delivers. 

 The Babysitter lives was apparently only available via audiobook, and I did pull the audiobook to do some immersive reading, as I explored these two "new to me " stories. 

    I loved both!  

To be 100% honest, I had a lot of trouble with The Baby Sitter Lives   It was so relatable and scary to me that I couldn't really read it at home at night - and it became my gym book.  If you were ever a babysitter, you'll really relate to the creepy parents, the noises in an unfamiliar house and the low-key horror of the possibility of something awful happening to the children that you're getting paid a very low wage to watch. It brought back a lot of memories!  So, In some ways it was a delicious scary - relatable mess, and in others, it was maybe, just  a smidge too terrifying for me. 

A Killer on the Road, chronicles a run-a-way teens escape from family life, only to find herself part of an intricate plan that is not at all pleasant.   Just imagine, you're trying to escape, but somehow without your knowledge, you're also part of a killer's 3 year plan in the making and you step right into it! Definite disadvantage there. 

 This gorgeous double feature is coming in July, and would make a perfect gift for the horror lover in your life, even if that horror lover is YOU, because after all, don't we all deserve a treat in our current times? 

The rise of the audio book

  As a kid, I don't think I could have imagined that I'd be one day asking readers what format they prefer for reading.  But I recently did and a few of you commented that you really prefer the audiobooks!  I was a skeptic about audio books until I decided just to try one to see what the hype was about, and now, readers - I am a convert. For almost everything- for me the audio book is the winner. 

   As I was growing up- the format was pretty much. 

                      Book

                                        Credit(Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.                                                 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print)

While there were books on tape (yes cassette tapes, or even reel to reel) and some records of books, those were touted for people with visual problems, not for just anyone.  And they were really just a person reading the book - no one "did the voices"  and a full cast type of narration wasn't even imagined.  I don't remember anyone reading audiobooks until fairly recently.  I do recall as a child having one LP where a narrator did read some children's stories, in such a monotone that we just laughed and laughed at it. 

Being a bit curious,  I did a little research - it seems audio books really gained steam in around 2015-2016 though they had long been popular,  and they have continued to take off, sometimes outpacing sales of physical or ebooks.  In 2017  NPR did an excellent short piece of the rise of the audiobook. It seems audible released a device specifically designed for audio book listening.  I searched on line and the only photo associated with this early device was within the NPR article:

So - that looks ridiculous these days!  We can get audio content so much easier because.. we have the mobile phones! When the device was released in 1997 mobile phones really weren't something that people were stuffing in pockets and taking everywhere for purposes of catching Pokemon.  If you had one, THIS is what it looked like:

those antenna... 

No one was really texting, sending fun memes or enjoying "social media" back in those days. We had a device for everything, pagers, a walkman for music, the weird audible thing? (If you had one, please let me know about it), and a phone for talking. So even though Audible was touting the new listener, it seems that...it still took some time for the audio books to really take off. 

Overdrive notes in their blog that 2017 was indeed a year of record growth for audiobooks in schools. 

As children are using audiobooks as tools, they are more likely, I think to continue using them as they grow older. For people like me, they were a bit of a novelty, but for "kids these day" it's just another format. 

 We have great phone apps, with excellent sound quality on our phones, and we can augment the experiences with portable speakers, headphones, use of home speakers/listening devices (like alexa) or for some folks, we can still check out CD's from the library. 

But-  is the audio book going to replace print? 

For me, personally NEVER. 

  While audio is my preferred method of reading most books, I still love having copies of the print version, especially is the cover is something to talk about. if a book is particularly meaningful, I like to take notes in the margins, tab my books and otherwise "make them mine" Books don't require any electricity (unless you need a lamp) or to be charged to run, and if you want to lend to a friend, well- it's a lot easier to lend a book than an audio book. 

In the end, I'm so glad that I have all the options available, though I have to say the Ebook is my least favorite, it is super economical, but no covers, no full cast narration, and it kind of leaves me wondering why? I will also be honest, my geriatric e-reader was bought as a refurbished item and I find it glitchy, I can't easily go back and find something I didn't highlight and even looking for the e-highlights takes a lot longer than flipping through a tag or a dog ear in a physical book.   And as NPR points out, E-readers may not be as sustainable/economical as we immediately assume. 

How do you feel about Audio replacing print?  Would you want to give up those beautiful covers, and your bookshelves?  

Book Review Devils Kill Devils by Johnny Compton 5/5 stars

  This book was PERFECTION! 

Johnny Compton delivers a fresh, tight, creepy, freaky, spooky novel that involves vampires, Gods, demons and angels- all within a contemporary setting without allowing any sinking in to the maudlin, stereotypical situations that we sometimes find in horror fiction. This felt, entirely new, and yet somehow very connected to the classic horror that fans of the genre love. 

 In Summary- Sarita's a woman who's always had a guardian angel. She's not entirely comfortable with that fact, but she's certainly shaped her young life around the angel's protection. When this angel kills someone she cares about, she starts to question, and unravel what's really going on, and... readers, what's really going on isn't exactly angelic. Telling too much more might "spoil" the novel, so I'm going to stop right there. 

   I am always a bit hesitant about male authors writing books with female protagonists/main characters. In the first few charters, I did wonder a bit if this was going to be a problem. Sarita is not that fully developed, and that initially bothered me. As I became fully engaged in the story that Compton was telling, I realized that Sarita, herself, was never really the main attraction- she was just a person swept into this drama between devils, angels, Gods and vampires, destined to play a part, but not personally committed to it-until she had to be, which was much further along.  So in this case- I did not find any issue with how he portrayed Sarita, or actually any of the women in the book.  Big bonus points for this author! She did come through this, like an amazing final girl in the end, which put a smile on my face. 

Compton's portrayal of vampires- in all their gruesome glory was also  enjoyable.  This may be because I've been reading a bunch of very cute-sy Vampire rom-coms that kind of make a joke out of them- having to ask permission to enter homes, disliking garlic in cooking, wearing shades all the time etc. Not Compton's Vamps. These creatures are true night crawlers who aren't at all interested in love or permissions. It's all power and lust, especially blood lust for them. The fear they invoke reminds me of the sick dread one experiences reading parts of Dracula. 

Photo by Carol Highsmith - 

• Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print

I kept imagining this as the opening to a certain mountain featured in the novel, though this certainly isn't how it's portrayed- I couldn't help myself. 

 To round this all out, Compton pulls in some local (real, historical places in Texas) areas and some global myths to round out and amp up the creepy factor- there's a unique melding of some Texan stories with old Russian creatures that is just somehow satisfying. 

      Let me know if you pick this up! This one is not one for my local book club, but it should be one for horror readers. I'm racing over to my library right now to find his other, earlier novel - The Spite house. 

Book Review- Midnight Water City 3.5/5 stars

 I finished this book quite some time ago- as part of my water themed reads. I was hoping I'd discovered a new series that I'd love.  In the end, while I think it's a book and series for someone, it isn't one for me. That said, it might be for you! 

This is an action packed story set in the future, where cities no longer scrape the sky, but instead are built down into the sea. The reader is treated to a unique mix of Sci-Fi, Noir crime, and horror as they follow a sprightly - but world weary- 80 yr old detective as he seeks to discover the murderer of a woman known as the savior of the world. 

Published in 2021, McKinney - a Hawai'ian author, seems to draw some inspiration from the Covid-19 pandemic in the early days - when people were spilt about the virus- was it a pandemic, was it a media plot to disseminate panic? Was the vaccine real or imagined?  But instead of dragging out an imagined disease (THANK YOU Chris McKinney- we had ALOT of Pandemic fiction) he Shows us a natural disaster - averted by technology that's not well understood- leaving all the same questions. Was the disaster real? Was it made up to terrify folks? Did the technology work or was it just a ploy to control the population?  

Now, I couldn't find anywhere that he said this exactly, so, it's really my own conjecture and reaction to the novel - He did say to  KHPR (Hawai'i Public Radio) in an interview that 

"I think a part of it was sort of the lockdown, and just not wanting to write about the world in its present state, and sort of pressing my imagination to speculate what all of this looks like 100, 150 years in the future" 

 

What I loved about this book?

- Well written. McKinney  does a nice job of showing, rather than telling the world he created that's essentially lived underwater, Set obviously in Hawai'i but not in any specific Island or area. 

-Unique story line - I cannot recall reading anything exactly similar to this. I've read a lot of water books- people that dwell under the sea, mermaids, sirens, you name it.  This was unique, and since it was also well imagined and written it was painless to read. 

- Atypical characters.  There's no clear cut Hero/ine in this novel.  I do read a lot of romance, and some days- I'm mighty tired of the orphan who discovers they have special powers and only they can save the world. And that orphan is excited to "do or die" immediately.  Instead, McKinney's characters are flawed, imperfect and relatable to an extent. In some ways they are so bad, they give the reader a sense of relief, as we know in comparison we're pretty good! 

What I didn't love about the book? 

Well, essentially I won't be continuing because for whatever reason, I really just couldn't connect with any of the characters. In the end, it was an interesting story, but I found I didn't feel the itch to get the next book. All of the characters were fairly unlikeable (to me) and so with an opportunity to read more, I sort of tabled the idea. I mean, I might still go for it.  I think I liked it more than I disliked it overall! 

Who do I think would love this book? 

Readers who enjoy both Noir, and Sci-Fi with a side of body horror. This is most definitely the book for that reader, especially if they don't need the character connection that I apparently want! 

STATS

First Published 2021

Pages: 305

Available as an Audio Book : YES

Trigger Warnings:  Medical situations, Murder, natural disaster, child death, death, gun violence, parent death, prison, environmental disaster, terrorism. 

(this is not a full list, read responsibly)

Book Review: All the Water in the World By Eiren Caffall 4.25/5 stars

 All the Water in the World is a new novel (published January 2025) that I immediately put on hold at the library. It fit so well into my water theme! It fits well in March- women's month- as the author Eiren Caffall is a woman. AND, the main character is also female AND - the narrator for the audiobook is fantastic Eunice Wong! so... how did I feel about this? 

Well, I really liked this book a lot! I would not have picked it up- but for the water theme, and I am glad I did. (the benefit of having a theme right here..) In Short we have:

-Original plot/narrative

-Coming of age

-Climate fiction  "Cli-fi" if you will

-Great narration   

No Spoiler summary: . 

Nonie is a young girl who has lived most of her life on top of the NY museum of natural History because water has flooded most ground making it less livable and not always safe. She's an unusual child, one that readers may or may not recognize themselves in, depending on the reader.  After a particularly bad flooding, Nonie and her family make a journey north to find drier ground. As one might imagine, the journey is adventure and peril in equal measure, and it's also a bit of a coming of age for Nonie as she must face loss, make decisions, and learns that some things that look safe are really just menace in disguise. 

What happens for Nonie and her family? Well, that would be the spoiler part. 

 This book was inspired by museum curators in Iraq and Leningrad during times of war, who worked to preserve history for future generations.  Interestingly, this really isn't the main focus of the book and I appreciated how the author took that inspiration and then moved into a different, but related direction. Curators preserved items of significance in hopes that future generations would be able to enjoy and learn from them and that the items would remains touchpoints for community.  While Nonie isn't dragging the blue whale up the coast, she's learning and deciding about different ways people can act in times of disaster, and which way might create the most success for everyone involved. 

When I started reading, I was intrigued as the entire setting of the book was quirky and odd, but I wasn't truly invested I kept reminding myself I was just reading for the water theme, but then, suddenly, at about 35-40% in to the book, I couldn't put it down! And to be honest, it was moving a bit slow up to that point, so while the build up and end was great in hindsight, in the midpoint, I wasn't so sure.  I was sneaking in bits of the audio at the oddest times, making sure things were going like I wanted them to for Nonie. ( but oh they didn't always go the way I hoped!)  I enjoyed a tour of the New York area of the future and while the author is not NY based, she had a good grasp of the areas, and I love love loved that!  The plotting was really very good, and the build-up  and crescendo was great- especially as this is a debut novel for Caffall. I have to admit there was a moment when I felt certain that things would not end very well, but the author skillfully brings us to a gentle conclusion that's hopeful but realistic - something we need in our current times. 

This is NOT a 'Romantasy'  and thank goodness for that, it was such a relief to read a book that didn't have a recycled plot. So if you enjoy literary fiction, and are looking for a book that's engaging with the issues of the day and interpersonal dynamics, I highly recommend picking this up.  It is dubbed as a thriller, and I didn't really find it to be thriller-y at all, so if you want a thriller, this probably is not the book for you. There is a gentleness in the writing that is maybe at odds with the topic, but at the same time, for me, just sort of fit the narrative especially coming from a child's POV.  I do recommend the audiobook because Eunice Wong is an excellent narrator, she brings the story to life, no matter what the topic. 

This book does have some mixed reviews, and I suspect people were expecting something more "action-packed" for me the perspective of Nonie was fabulous- and really captured my experiences of being that age (though thankfully I was not living on top of a museum canoeing through the Hudson in dirty foul water)  I hope you'll give this book a try, and let me know your thoughts.  This is one I am definitely suggesting for the book club! 

STATS

First Published 2025

Pages: 304

Available as an Audio Book : YES

Trigger Warnings:  Medical situations, Storms, child death, death, gun violence, parent death, racism,   

(this is not a full list, read responsibly)

What's your favoite way to read?

 It's my opinion that the best way to read is usually curled up under a blanket on a rainy day, preferable with a snuggly pal. 

BUT - these days, it's all about format! When snuggled up with your pal, are you listening to a full cast audiobook production? Pulling out one of many books stuffed in a slim E-reader? or cracking the spine of a print book? 

After all, we have to "pick our poison"!

(American Institute of Pharmacy, jar and bottle display. Credit: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Theodor Horydczak Collection, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-H824-0224])

For me, I use them all.  But over the past 2 years I've gravitated strongly to audiobooks, mostly because I can play them in the car, at the gym, and on the couch. Plus, my eyes look at "close work" all week and I love giving them a break! I was sort of opposed to them for myself but then I decided to try one, and that opposition drifted right away. These days my least favorite is the e-reader. It may be MY e-reader- which is a relic, and is glitchy, and frustrating, but in general, if I can get it on audio, or in a print version, I'll do that before I use an e-book. Despite the portability of a book collection in an e-reader or even now with an app, I just...don't love the e-reader as much as i thought I would. 

  That said, I use the e-reader a lot as sending Advanced Reader Copies to e-readers is very economical for publishers and I'm never one to turn down an advanced copy of an anticipated book in ANY format.  Send it!  I love it. 

Sadly, use of audio and e-reader for me hasn't garnered a lot of savings, because... I mean... I often need a trophy book to sit on my shelf, to let the world (and by world, I mean, my house)  know I've read that fantastic book. 

After all:

(Bill Sokol, Artist 1966  https://lccn.loc.gov/2015647888)

So what's your reading format?  Has it changed over the years? let's chat in the comments! 

Book Review: Half Broke Horses By Jeannette Walls 2/5 Stars

 OK readers, Hot Take incoming in 3,2,1.

I read this book with my library book club. I was prepared to like it, I'd been interested in reading some Jeannette Walls. 

I did not like it. I did not like it at all. 

This is a novel based on the life of the author's grandmother. The Grandmother was poised at a time in history where she could recall both world wars, and was raised in very remote parts of the United States. So, there was a lot of interesting events in the book- the transition from horses to automobiles, introduction of airplanes, women transitioning from the home to some workplaces etc. 

It started out fairly well, Lily is raised in remote West Texas.  She learns to break horses, and manage a small ranch until she's sent off to Catholic boarding school for some "finishing"  which she loves. Unfortunately she then has to return home, because her parents didn't save enough for her full tuition. And thus begins Lily's adventure. She lived in Chicago, got married to an already married man, (annulled) became a school teacher, got fired multiple times and eventually got married, sold hooch from her kitchen during prohibition, and basically got knocked down a lot and got back up. 

         What's not to like? This woman is celebrated as resilient and courageous, but 99 of her 100 problems and set backs, seemed to pretty much start with her.  One thing for certain, this lady never lacked confidence and didn't really doubt herself, and I feel a bit of introspection would have been very sanguine for this woman. 

The second thing that I loathed is there were multiple descriptions of very tough parenting, and teacher disciplining which involved the resilient Lily - an adult, beating a child to the point where she felt she lost control.  When she wasn't beating, she was ignoring, or minimizing pain. This is brushed off as "it was the times" BUT Lily was still the adult in all the situations where she resorted to beating on children and losing control over her own person. People did hit children much more often in the past, but I think it's important to note that it was still violence at that time, even if  "everyone did it" I just cannot see this woman as that resilient and strong, if she had to resort to using a belt on her daughter to gain some sort of control over a situation - so while the writing style was fine, and it was somewhat interesting, I'm not over the brushing of this violence under the rug of "the times".  I'm definitely not interested in any other books by the author. 

If one is interesting in this time frame, roughly there are other books about women on the frontier:  

 May I suggest instead:

Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart, it's not exactly the same time frame, but I'll say it's a lot more interesting than Half Broke horses.

I will say I read the book via Audiobook and it's read by the author.  Even before the main character starts beating on her children, I was off put by the flat and very jarring accent/tone of voice. So if you want to read Half Broke Horses, I'd recommend the print version to avoid that. 

So yes,  I did not like this book. I really took issue with the portrayal of this woman as some sort of paragon of resilience.  She survived, but most of her problems were brought upon by her own making. 

This is just my opinion.  Now, I've got to go to book club and try not to be too critical. We will see how that goes, so stay turned in a few weeks for In-person book club tea! I'll be dishing it right on up!

Source: 

• Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print)

February Reading wrap up!

 Well. February is a short month, but I still managed to finish a whopping 21 books.  I'm not really "trying" to be a power reader, but I admit, the library only having a 14 day loan on a lot of audiobooks has put a bit of a fire under me. 

Credit: https://lccn.loc.gov/98508191

Of course, reading a lot of books at a rapid pace really can ruin the enjoyment and not leave a lot of time for thought.  Lucky for me, some of my choices were purely enjoyment novels and didn't tax my noggin. Others though... Well... lets see what happened! 

Some Statistics!

Books in translation:  2/21  A low number indeed, but that brings my total for 2025 to 5 books in translation, so I've got room for more! 

Books by Diverse Authors: 57% of my reading was a book with an identified diverse author.  I had a bit of help from Black Booksky  over on bluesky for finding books by black authors that I really wanted to read (you can check out Black Booksky too!)  

What was my TOP read? 

Well... after some thought (like about 8 minutes of thought...)

 It's a TIE! (I make all the blog rules so why not!)

I could not decide between Cordova's The inheritance of Orquidea Divina or  Highway's Kiss of the Fur Queen. 

Both books feature a unique narrative featuring magical realism and some introduction into cultures that are not the normative culture that I live within. I have not stopped thinking about either one, and when pressed to really decide, I just couldn't. So there they are.

Non-Fiction- not my favorite genre, but I did read one non-fiction book. 

Black water by David Robertson. This is an interesting memoir of a Creen man growing up unaware of his indigenous heritage. While an important piece of writing, I think I highly preferred Tomson Highway's work of fiction, which just flowed better for me and was much more engaging. 

I started few other non-fiction water books but never quite got into them and they all remain unfinished. 

Speaking of my Water theme! 

Books read for the great 2025 Water theme! 

To be honest,  none of these topped my list for really awesome reads.  I will put of a review for McKinney's Noir book set in a future world where instead of building to the sky, we build down in to the ocean, in just a bit.  This month's Watery reads really had me questioning my choice of themes, but I've since gotten some recommendations, so hopefully my enjoyment level will rise in March! Water City is really worth a read, if you like Noir detective type novels, and it is a series, it was fun, but somehow didn't grab me like I had hoped. 

Advanced Reader Copies :

I was able to read one Advanced reader copy- 

This is the United Planetary Systems Book one To Avenge a Fallen Star.  It goes out on sale on March 25th and I wish Qillana Quinn all the best with the release of her novel. 

This lead me to requesting... errrr... several more books on NetGalley, breaking my Audio only rule and I am sure in March I will regret it. 

Book Club Books: 

 I read one in a series of Sci -Fi that I won't mention on the blog. I enjoyed the book, but the author is problematic  and thus... no discussion of that. 

Within the Stabby and Smoochy Book club, we have been CONSUMED  by The Broken Bonds series by J. Bree 

This isn't great literature, but the pacing is pretty good, and the story is so engaging. I have yet to figure out why we have the insects on every cover, so if someone knows, please let me know! 

We will be finishing off Book six soon and starting a new series or book. So far, a member has suggested  A Broken Blade - the Halfling series and I'm definitely ready for that. As always we love readers at Stabby and Smoochy so, feel free to hop in. Fable is free to join and it's a really responsive reading site with great visuals! 

BUDDY READS:

We loved reading the conclusion to the Ruinous Love Trilogy, it was everything and more.    This was definitely a good time featuring all sorts of things, cocktail olive picks, clowns, fortune tellers, crochet, and LOVE, of course. 

We have started to buddy read an ARC entitled Well, Actually  which we have dubbed "the hot dog book". So far, I think it's super polished and very funny, not sure how/what my reading buddy thinks/feels yet. 

 A book that sort of fell out of all of my "categories"  but deserves a mention is the heist novel Hammajang Luck. 

This book was so excellent on audio, the pacing was great, and it just moved along through a heist, which involved so much trauma, love, found family and trust, that I really found a lot to love about it, I just... didn't love it quite as much as my two tied favorites. 

The only other HUGE accomplishment for me was finishing off Bester's The Demolished Man.  That book has dogged me for months! We have moved on to 1953's Hugo award winner, which is a huge one, and I'll be sure to put up a review when I finish that - let's just say there are Firemen involved. 

The rest are all a blur of romance, space based romance,  and honestly some books that, I dont think I liked enough to want to re-mention them! 

What did you enjoy most in February?  What are you looking forward to in March! let me know in the comments!