The waiting is over. After raving about Refuse to Choose by Barbara Sher and promising a review “soon”, that time has arrived. This is my new bible and possibly a book that I should read every year so I never forget who I am and what matters the most to me. I can’t promise you you’ll have a great connection with this book like I do, because in the realm of self-help books, everything is very subjective. However, I can share why I love it. And perhaps you’ll find there is something more to the endless list of hobbies you have than you might think. Title: Refuse to Choose: Use all of your interests, passions, and hobbies to create the life and career of your dreams Author: Barbara Sher Publication year: 2006 Length: 268 pages Genre: Non-fiction, Self-help, Psychology “Are you a scanner?” Barbara starts by asking this very simple …

Some readers will unapologetically put down any book they are not that interested in. Meanwhile, others have to finish all the books they ever started. I think I stand somewhere in the middle. I’ve closed books vowing to never open them again, while also finishing some that I shouldn’t have wasted my time with. But what I started to realise was the various reasons I gave myself to DNF a book. Online book communities tend to use a lot of acronyms, and for newcomers it’s normal not be sure what some of these words mean. In case you don’t know, DNF stands for Did Not Finish. It can also be expanded to Soft DNF and Hard DNF. People usually use Soft DNF for books they aren’t finishing right now, but want to come back to them later. Maybe life got busy. Maybe the story requires a certain headspace. There are …

In 2025, I finished reading the last book in the Robert Langdon series by Dan Brown. And to celebrate, a few weeks later, the author announced the next book in the series ( I should really finish A Song of Ice and Fire to see if George R. R. Martin does the same). I was very excited to have a new book to read. And then it was announced that a female character was returning. This is a first. Robert Langdon’s female sidekicks are always new characters. Basically, the whole cast is always new from book to book, making them perfect to start at any point. While this news was exciting, what I didn’t like was discovering the character in question was Katherine Solomon. Previous co-star in The Lost Symbol, AKA the book I disliked the most in the series. Title: The Secret of Secrets Author: Dan Brown Series: Robert …

The time has come. After countless years seeing The Secret History floating around lists and online book communities like a prized possession or a rite of passage to get into a club (ironically fitting for the story), I am finally part of the group. I’ve read The Secret History by Donna Tartt. It took me 4 months to finish, but we got there eventually. And, if by any chance, you are not yet part of the club and don’t know if you even want to be, I’ve got you. Because while I picked up this book to see what all the fuss was about, I knew next to nothing about it. And now, being on the other side, I can fully grasp what this story is, and if it deserves all the hype and higher praise it receives constantly. Title: The Secret History Author: Donna Tartt Publication year: 1992 Length: …

For a while now, I wanted to find a way to bring games into this corner of the interwebs. While I don’t play as much as I used to (I also have another thousand and one hobbies I didn’t have before), from time to time, some games steal my heart and time. They are all I can think about. And so, I want to share my love for them here as I do with books. But I’m not quite sure how to do it. Showing gameplay in video form is way better to get a grasp of what the game is really like… And I’m not doing that. I’m sorry. I’m not adding video editing as yet another thing to learn. So fast forward to 2024, I discovered a little indie game called Tiny Bookshop. And it immediately reminded me of The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan. In …

From time to time, there are some books that simply catch your eye. We know nothing about them other than the cover and the title. And apparently that is enough. Mister Magic by Kiersten White was one of those cases. Well, I knew a little bit more than just the title, but still not enough to really know what I was getting myself into. Title: Mister Magic Author: Kiersten White Publication year: 2023 Length: 10 hours 33 minutes Genre: Mystery, Horror Pace: Medium Story focus: Plot & Character Thirty years ago, there was a children’s program called Mister Magic. Five children would sit around in a circle and create worlds of fun and whimsy with the help of the mysterious host, Mister Magic. It had a huge popularity among children for being fun and at the same time educational, which parents loved. Now, there’s not a single recording of that …

I almost forgot, back in September, I read another book in the Joona Linna series by the couple duo, Lars Kepler. It has been a while since I read this series. While I enjoyed the previous one, The Nightmare, it was a bit tiring to go through. I remember the chapters to be a bit dense, and then the story took a political turn that lost me. It has been 7 years, and I don’t remember anything from the plot. Luckily, with this series, you don’t have to. So I continued on to The Fire Witness. Title: The Fire Witness Author: Lars Kepler Series: Joona Linna #3 Publication year: 2011 Length: 15 hours 52 minutes Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Crime, Nordic Noir Pace: Medium Story focus: Plot & Character A young girl is murdered in a youth home for wayward teenage girls. Her body is left as if she’s peacefully sleeping …

Celeste Ng [ing] has been on my radar for years. Probably since Little Fires Everywhere came out, in 20-something. From the synopsis of her books, I could tell she was more of a literary fiction writer with slight mystery undertones and unlikable characters. I enjoyed the prospects of a family drama-filled book, although a character-driven story isn’t exactly where I thrive. And so years went by without taking the leap and picking up one of her books. Until I came across Everything I Never Told You with a great discount price, I could never resist a bargain. Title: Everything I Never Told You Author: Celeste Ng Publication year: 2014 Length: 10 hours Genre: Literary Fiction, Mystery, Family Drama Pace: Medium Story focus: Characters Lydia is dead. Her family doesn’t know it yet. But she’s dead, not far from home, in a lake just across the street. Drown and alone. This …

It really doesn’t matter what season we’re in or what the weather is, because it’s always a good time to pick up a sci-fi novel. This time, I’m talking about The Woman in the Ship by Sapphira Olson. This book came out this month and will take you on a ride through the stars like no other sci-fi book has taken you before. Thank you to the author and the publisher for the opportunity to take a peek at this new book. Title: The Woman in the Ship Author: Sapphira Olson Publisher: Lether Press Publication year: 2025 Length: 378 pages Genre: Sci-fi, Post-Apocalyptic, Romance, LGBTQIA+ Pace: Slow Story focus: Characters Sally is the captain of the spaceship Ascension, tasked with the very important mission to paint some rich dude’s ashes onto the hull of the Voyager 2. Some people have way too much money. When they inch closer to their …

I’ve been dreading the day I had to sit down and write this update. I’m not giving up if that’s what you’re thinking, I’ve just made some progress… in the opposite direction. This summer, the TBR grew bigger, and I’m trying my hardest to clean up that mess! But what would you do if you saw some books become homeless? Wouldn’t you help them? Those poor things were shivering! It broke my heart. I couldn’t send them away… So I opened my shelves… They look so cosy and happy now! And I hope they can make me feel like that as well. June It all started on a warm sunny day in June. The doorbell rings with the mailman bringing a package with fresh new books. The second volume of Les Misérables by Victor Hugo – I can now start planning to read that – The Seven Deaths of Evelyn …

And so it has come to an end. After 3 years, I finished the A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (AGGGTM) series by Holly Jackson. This has been a roller coaster to say the least. My adventure began with the first book, playing armchair detective and loving every bit of it. But then I was surprised by how different the second book was. The formula wasn’t the same, and the character started to change. It was a book that really caught me by surprise. And then it was time to conclude the story with As Good As Dead (AGAD). Title: As Good As Dead Author: Holly Jackson Series: A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder #3 Publication year: 2021 Length: 14 hours 18 minutes Genre: Mystery, Thriller, YA Pace: Medium Story focus: Plot & Character It was a hard book to read. I’m not going to lie. I struggled a bit …