Kill the Farm Boy by Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne

If you take your favorite fairy tale and mix in some slightly off character tropes, unusual food choices, and really bad puns-you still wouldn't come close to describing this book.  Kill the Farm Boy is a hilarious and fast paced take on slightly off-kilter fairy tale retellings.  

Worstley has the worst job on the farm:  he's the pooboy.  At least, that's what the animals think of him.  But Worstley's fortune changes drastically when a pixie named Staph tells him of his status as the destined Chosen One who must go save the princess who is cursed with a sleeping spell at the very top of a tall tower in a land far away...This would have all been far more impressive had the Pixie not been drunk, haggard, and only wearing one sock but the Pixie Staph demonstrates her power by giving Worstely's billy goat, Gustave, the ability of speech.  Unfortunately the goat has some major attitude and a huge hankering for leather.   

This sets off a hilarious tale of a rag tag group of warriors, fuzzy bunnies, and a wizard whose magic is as weak as his scraggly beard.  We have Argabella, cursed to remain awake at the castle while everyone else is sleeping away for years.  Oh, and she was also turned in to an incredibly large rabbit.  She is somewhat saved by Fia, a giantess warrior who sees nothing wrong with her chain mail bikini and has a blood thirsty sword.  Together, they set off to Lord Toby to help right a horrible wrong only to find an incompetent wizard who is better at planning dinner parties than a spell.  With the "help" of his rogue assassin Poltro who can be scary when she isn't hiding from evil chickens, they set off to find the Chosen One and Grinda the Sand Witch.  

Full of puns, witty banter, and a colorful cast of supporting characters, this book is laugh out loud hilarious.  No fairy tale is safe from mockery and no character too precious to be made fun of.  Mercilessly.  I highly enjoyed this book.  I have read nearly all of the Iron Druid series by Kevin Hearne-and I highly recommend that series- but this is my first book from Delilah S. Dawson and I just can't say enough how delightful this book was.

You can get your copy, and help support the site, here:

Kill the Farm Boys is available July 17th from Del Rey Books.

Thank you to Netgalley and Del Rey for the opportunity to read and review this book! 

The City of Lost Fortunes by Bryan Camp

I have never been to New Orleans but it’s one of my very favorite settings for books.  Bonus points for bringing in magic and the supernatural. From Anne Rice, to Sherrilyn Kenyon, some of my favorite books have taken place in New Orleans.  Confession-I love the t.v. show The Originals. Vampires, witches, and shifters in NOLA? Yes, Please! I’ve been looking for another great fantasy series now that the Kate Daniels series from Ilona Andrews is wrapping up and this book was everything I was hoping for.

This book takes all the very best of the magic, myths, and music to create an engrossing tale of murder and rebirth.  After Katrina devastated New Orleans, Jude Dubuisson shut himself off from his magic and the needs of the city. A demigod with ability to find all things lost, he has spent the last six years with his senses overwhelmed by the incredible loss of the city and its inhabitants.  

Jude is abruptly ripped away from his self-imposed retirement by a former colleague, Regal Sloan.  A mysterious invitation leads to the murder of the city’s fortune god during a poker game and Jude is in the middle of the fallout.  Now, Jude needs to find the murderer before he becomes the #1 suspect. With clues scarce and trusted friends even more so, Jude has to use every gift he has to stay alive.  

Regal Sloan, former colleague and friend, hasn’t seen Jude in over six years.  When she shows up with the mysterious invitation to a game with the gods, Jude doesn’t know if he can trust her.  When a string of murders follows Jude wherever he goes, Regal is top at the list of suspects. Adding to the mystery, Jude’s mother paints a chilling and prophetic painting that leads Jude on a dangerous path. 

I wish I could do the book justice-it really is an amazing read.  It pulls you in with the music and the food and dark and sweaty bars.  I felt torn between wanting to yell at Jude to buck up and do his job-the city needed him-and cringing from the thought of  drowning in all those feelings of loss. To have that power and have to walk down streets with empty houses that have lost their owners.  To be surrounded by people who lost everything in the storm-no wonder Jude shut himself off. I loved this book. It looks like it’s the first in a series?  I really hope so. The ending was open enough to want more-but also satisfying enough to stand alone. I know, I’m not doing it justice.

You can get your copy, and help support the site, here:

Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners by Therese Oneill

Unmentionable:  The Victorian Lady’s Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners is a deep-dive in to all things ladylike.  From the type and care of your crotchless panties, (not nearly as fun as it sounds) to how not to look like a slob at the dinner table, this book covers it all.  

It’s a snarky and intelligent take on how women’s lives were strictly controlled by society’s rules and expectations for behavior and appearance.  

The cover for this book is amazing.  With a shocking pink spine and the saucy corset photo on the front, it’s hard to pass up.  I did have to answer a few questions from The Kid…

The book is written as though The Reader has been transported back in time to Victorian London.  Luckily, we are transported back with wealth and status to ensure we don’t have to handle our own chamber pots or deal with the toxic and harsh chemicals used to launder our clothes.   Our Guide takes on a tour of all things lady: from our clothing, bathing, how to move in society and how to move our bowels. What fork to use, because there are twenty, and how to keep a husband happy.  Or at least, how to keep a husband from putting us in an asylum.

It’s both fascinating and terrifying:  toxic makeup, patent medicine, streets lined in dung.  How did we survive? Especially with our crazy wombs that are the root cause of all illnesses.  Just ask the men.

I loved this!

Unmentionable:  The Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners by Therese Oneill is available now from Little, Brown and Company.  

You can get your copy, and help support the site, here:

Florida by Lauren Groff

Florida is a compelling collection of eleven short stories that weave together the hot, humid, buggy, and often dangerous aspects of the snake filled state.  From the casual surveillance of the neighborhood to alligator filled waters, each short story is filled with engrossing characters, many of which were very difficult to like.  In each story, you can almost feel the hot, humid heat raising tempers that are already dangerously high.

In one story, two little girls are left on an island during a dangerous storm.  How they land on the island is just as terrifying as the creatures hiding in the leaves.

My favorite story is first in the collection.  A tired, overworked mother walks her neighborhood to escape the stress of bedtime rituals with her sons.  Leaving her husband to deal with the boys, she prowls the neighborhood keeping watch on her neighbors and the nighttime creatures she encounters on her walks.  With each new season, the people change as much as the neighborhood. Slimmer bodies, missing trees, new babies at the pond and a nunnery closing down only to be brought back to life by a new owner, all change as much as the mother.

The stories in this collection were incredible.  I had heard many positive reviews on the many book podcasts I follow and talked the Director into ordering a copy for the Library.  I gave it three days on the shelf before I checked it out for myself and read ¾ of it on my lunch hour the same day. One thing I’ve grown to love about short story collections is that if one of the stories doesn’t suit your tastes-you skip it and move on.

Florida by Lauren Groff, is available now from Riverhead Books.  

You can get your copy, and help support the site, here:

The Garden Party by Grace Dane Mazur

Available July 10, from Random House 

A quiet story of how two families, one artistic and contemplative, and the other, practical and elitist, interact during a rehearsal dinner.  Beautifully written, the author drops you into conversations and memories as the two families try to navigate new relationships and contemplate the state of their current lives.

The story is told in courses, just like a dinner party, with as many characters as ingredients.  Adam Cohen and Eliza Barlow are to be married the next day and thrown a rehearsal dinner by Adam's parents Pindar and Celia.  Pindar would rather be translating his ancient Babylonian tablets than assist his literary critic wife in navigating difficult dining choices and seating charts.  Sara Cohen is trying to resolve her feelings for Dennis, a priest who can never marry.  Naomi Cohen is still recovering from the traumatic stress of volunteering in an orphanage in Romania.  The Barlows have their own personal dramas.  Marriages falling apart, careers ending, and secret second families are camouflaged by stiff manners and high noses.   

Meanwhile, throughout the preparation for and during the dinner, Adam and Eliza learn that the wedding will never be about them and their love for each other.  Can they manage to elope while never leaving the table?

I really enjoyed this book.  Straight-up literary fiction isn't something that I read often but I'm very glad for the opportunity to have read this.  

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the opportunity to read and review this book. 

You can get your copy here:

The Garden Party: A Novel

By Grace Dane Mazur

Buy on Amazon

Gunpowder Alchemy by Jeannie Lin

This series has some gorgeous covers!

Gunpowder Alchemy is an alternate history steampunk adventure set in 1842 China.  It is brimming with family drama, dark secrets, political intrigue and lots of steam.  Steam of all kinds...wink, wink.

Jin Soling has worked hard to maintain her family’s dignity after her father is banished from the royal court.  Once a respected family led by one of the Emperor’s top engineers, Jin’s father has been executed, her mother is addicted to opium, and her brother is too young to help carry the burden of caring for the family.  

During a last ditch effort to sell one of her father’s clockwork creations, Jin is captured by the city guards and interrogated under suspicion of treason against the Empire.  When Jin finally invokes her deceased father’s name, her interrogation takes a dramatic turn. Her world turns upside down, yet again, as she finds herself in front of the Emperor himself, the son of the man who had her father executed.  What Jin learns from the Emperor changes everything Jin has ever been taught to believe.

Jin must now try to survive a journey that will lead her to foreign cities and people from her past that she never thought she would see again.  Between steam powered sailing ships, a secret explosive formula, and mysterious characters, Jin never knows who she can trust or where she will end up next.  But Jin’s drive to reunite her family and help her mother overcome her addiction keeps Jin from ever giving up-no matter the cost to her.

This was an exciting and page turning read filled with amazing world building and complex characters.  I really enjoyed JIn’s character-she’s brilliant and hard working without it ever being too precious. You could really feel how burned out and exhausted she was trying to balance her family and work.  This is the first book in a series and I really liked how many of the characters were left open to play important parts in future books.

BONUS!!! While looking up links to the book, I found the second book in the series, Clockwork Samurai, is only $2.99 for Kindle!  

You can get your copy, and help support the site, here:

Mae Vol. 1 by Gene Ha

Loved this!

Mae's big sister Abbie disappeared nine years ago without a trace. Now in the present day, Mae is trying to live her life and take care of her sick father when a phone call from the police changes everything. Abbie is back without any warning and in jail for beating up some of the local boys at a bar. In what Mae believes is a drunken rambling story, Abbie tells her about being made Queen and overthrowing tyrants and that she carries axes to defend against monsters.  What really sounds crazy?  That she's been somewhere without a McDonald's.  Yep.  But Mae doesn't believe her sister found a new world through a mysterious portal-just found a new favorite drink at the bar. When Mae and Abbie's father goes missing, all clues point to the House of Zemetrasi from the other side of the portal. With no other options left, Mae and Abbie set out for the portal to find their missing father. Mae enters a world far different than her own where her sister is a famed warrior and chocolate is worth it's weight in silver. This is an action packed ride full of humor and heart. Amazing artwork and a compelling story that draws you in until the last page.

Mae Vol. 1 is available July 3rd from Lion Forge.

You can get your copy, and help support the site, here:

Thank you to Netgalley and Lion Forge for the opportunity to read and review this book! 

The Case of the Missing Marquess by Nancy Springer

I love these covers!

Recently, I had the horrible job of spending the last of my book budget at the Library.  I mean horrible.  I had to just a couple hundred dollars left and I needed to spend every last penny on books.  

Please tell me you can read the sarcasm here.

I was able to stretch those dollars into 45 new books for the children's department!  There really is nothing more fun than opening a huge box of books and seeing 45 titles all at once.  I was trying to beef up some different sections that I hadn't ordered anything specifically for and really focused on my middle grade mysteries.  Not going to lie, I spotted the covers for these books and knew they had to be on the shelves.  This series is not new-in fact it was first published in 2006 but we didn't have it and it sounded amazing.

The first book, The Case of the Missing Marquess, tells the tale of Enola Holmes.  Notice Enola spelled backwards is Alone and that is how she spends most of her time.  Significantly younger than her two  more famous brothers Sherlock and Mycroft, Enola spends her days doing as she pleases at her country estate that she shares with her mother and a small group of household staff.  On her 14th birthday, Enola's mother fails to return home in time for her birthday dinner.  After searching for her mother on her own with no luck, Enola has no choice but to alert her brothers.  It's on their arrival that Enola truly realizes for the first time how unusual her carefree upbringing has been.  Without any clues to where her mother has disappeared to or when she may return, the brothers know they must take over care of Enola.  This leads to the horrible realization that corsets are now Enola's future and she will have no part of it.  What her brothers don't know, is that Enola's mother gave her an important cipher book for her birthday that leads Enola to a nice chunk of cash her mother had been squirreling away.  

Using her wits and new found financial freedom, Enola takes off on an exciting adventure to find her mother, save herself from boarding school, and maybe even save missing child along the way.

The Case of the Missing Marquess was a fast paced, humorous and delightful look into growing up and standing up for what you believe in.  I really enjoyed this book and I can't wait to read the rest of the series.  

According to the publisher, this is for ages 9 and up.  There is some discussion about women's undergarments-but think of the time period, that was some crazy confusing stuff they wore.  

If you'd like a copy, you can get one here and help support the site:

Invasion of the Honeybees Part 2

Our weather has been pretty unusual here lately and not all conducive to peeking inside the beehive.  We finally had a small window of time that wasn't too hot, too windy, and wasn't during the bees "busy time" of flying in and out of the hive.  According to Beekeeping for Dummies, we were supposed to check on the bees after a week and make sure the Queen was doing o.k.  If everything went well, we would be able to see newly laid eggs and the beginnings of the bee's honey stores.  The Hubs was very excited to get to put on his suit again and he got to use the smoker for the first time. 

Not going to lie, I was in yoga pants and a tank top and was just as close to the bees as he was and the bees could have cared less about turning me in to a pin cushion.  It really is true-if you are chill around the bees, they will be chill around you.  Not only did we find the Queen content and happy but she had been busy!  We found a whole section of new honeybee babies! 

We were also able to see new honey that was in the process of being capped by the bees for later use. 

So I left this one extra big so you can see my little friends making my future beer...

Before closing them up, the bees got a fresh batch of food in the feeder.  Here in a few more weeks we'll peek inside again to make sure everyone is content and happy.

E-Book Sale!!! Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

This is the first book in the amazing Kate Daniels series and it's incredible!  Best part-it's only $1.99 today for Kindle so jump on this one fast.  Magic Bites drops you into a world where magic has returned causing all of our favorite mythological and paranormal creatures to be placed alongside contemporary life.  Kate Daniels is a mercenary who is trying to find justice for her murdered guardian.  There's action, magic, shifters, vampires, and lots of amazing sword fights.  Kate is headstrong, intelligent, and incredibly snarky-my favorite type of character! This is the start of an incredible series and I can't recommend it enough.

 Iron and Magic is the start of a new series that takes place in this world and comes out June 26th.  

A Life Less Throwaway by Tara Button

Sometimes in life we need a reminder on how to be a grown-up.  At least, I frequently do.  In A Life Less Throwaway, The Lost Art of Buying For Life, Tara Button provides concrete steps for choosing and purchasing items that will last a lifetime-not just this week's trend.  

Reading this book was like having a great conversation over coffee.  Button provides anecdotes and exercises on how to discover your personal style so you can make careful choices about your purchases.  She describes how buying less, but purchasing high quality items that last a lifetime, can simplify your life while also freeing up some space in your pocket book.  

Tara Button covers a range of topics from why items don't last like they used to-I'm looking at you washing machines-to how advertising affects our buying habits.  There is also information on how she created her website and her own story of how overspending and keeping up appearances led to debt and unhappiness.  

I found this to be an enjoyable read and I catch myself thinking about it while out shopping.  I never thought I'd spend as much time comparing the hinges and type of plastic on camping coolers as I did the other day.  

You can get your copy, and help support the site, here:

Thank you to Netgalley and Ten Speed Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.  All opinions are my own. 

It was a week.

Not surprising to anyone, but eye infections are a major drag.  It's been a struggle to keep my eye open, let alone look at a screen for nearly a week now.  Luckily, my house is overflowing with actual, physical, non-electronic books and I hid in the near dark and read.  A lot. 

This book was delightful! I needed to finish up the last of my Library budget and chose to focus on Middle Grade Mysteries since I hadn't bought any in a while and I'm so glad to have found this series.  It follows Ada Byron and Mary Godwin, yep those two, as they found the Wollstonecraft Detective Agency.  The author plays with history and timelines a bit-the girls are 9 and 12 when the series begins, but he's upfront about that.  The girls have all sorts of adventures and there's quite a bit of historical name-dropping.  Very funny and light-perfect for a middle grade reader. 

Beastly Bones  is the second book in the Jackaby series and just as good as the first. Abigail and Jackaby are sent to investigate a mysterious murder at the request of their old friend Charlie, and end up with a much bigger problem on their hands.  Much bigger.  There's shape-shifting kittens, dinosaur bones, and a tough as nails reporter who gives Abigail some much needed advice.  Meanwhile, a mysterious character seems to be hanging on the fringes of each unusual case and Jenny is forced to face her past.  

I am huge sucker for a sale so when Book of the Month had their first month for $5 last month I jumped on it.  I chose Anomaly by Michael Rutger and I was not disappointed.  Somewhere I heard it compared it to Indiana Jones meets Dan Brown and that was spot on.  Nolan Moore is the star of web based myth hunting show.  He and his team are looking for a mysterious cavern that was originally found decades earlier but terrified the initial crew so much that they bricked in the entrance and warned others to never look for it.  When Nolan and his crew finally find the cavern-they discover they are in way over their heads.  It was fast paced, full of action, and just on this side of believable to make for a really enjoyable read.  

Tangerine by Christine Mangan

This book came highly recommended from a Library Patron whose judgment I trust.  I checked it out, admired the gorgeous cover, and then left on my desk for a week.  Why?  The first few pages left me confused and I was trying to read it while The Kid was at dog class and it just didn't seem like a good fit. 

Then I gave it the time it deserved and I finished it in one sitting, staying up way past my bedtime.  

Alice Shipley and Lucy Mason are roommates at an all female college in the 1950's.  When life takes them in different directions, they end up together again, years later in Tangier.  Lucy shows up at Alice's new home unannounced and uninvited and is concerned that her friends has lost her sense of self after marrying an overbearing and egotistical husband.  Alice is terrified of the crowded markets and the language barrier she encounters every day in her new country and spends her days holed up alone in her apartment.  As the two women look back on their time together at Bennington, secrets and past suspicions come to light that will change both women forever.  

Christine Mangan's writing makes you feel the heat of the streets and leaves you enveloped in the scents of spicy meat and sweaty, crowded bars.  I spent the entire book not knowing which character to trust, and the characters became more unreliable as the book went on.  The book alternates between the different women's points of view.  Watching the same interaction being told from the different angles really left you wondering which interpretation was true-or if any of it was true.  There were several times that I wondered if the author was completely fooling us and neither woman told the truth.  There are more twists and turns to this story than any I have ever read before and each one kept me rethinking who the bad guy was.  Several left me wondering if there even was a bad guy.  

This was a great book, I really enjoyed it.  If you'd like, you can get a copy here, and help support the site:

Bruja Born by Zoraida Cordova

This book was everything I was hoping for and more!  Lula Mortiz is a high school senior on her way to the big game with her boyfriend when her world turns upside down.  After a horrific bus crash that kills all of her friends and nearly herself and boyfriend Maks, Lula uses her magic in ways that can only lead to devastating consequences.  With the help of her magical sisters, Lula must use all of her strength to save her city, her family, and herself.

This book was amazing!  Lula and her sisters are strong, intelligent, and brave young women who use their wits and combined magical history to save their family and right the terrible wrongs created by a moment of weakness.  The nonstop action combined with Lula’s heartache over Maks and worry for her family’s safety creates a compelling and exciting story.  This hit all the right notes-witches, not-quite-zombies, vampires, hunters and family drama.  Such an amazing story and I really hope there is a book three!

Bruja Born is available now.  You can get your copy, and help support the site, here: 

Bruja Born (Brooklyn Brujas)

By Zoraida Cordova

Buy on Amazon

Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris ***Ebook Sale!***

Midnight Crossroad is only $0.99 on Kindle!  This is a great series that I really enjoyed and for this price, how do you pass it up?

From the publisher because they say it best:

"Welcome to Midnight, Texas, a town with many boarded-up windows and few full-time inhabitants, located at the crossing of Witch Light Road and the Davy highway. It’s a pretty standard dried-up western town.

There’s a pawnshop with three residents. One is seen only at night. There’s a diner, but people stopping there tend not to linger. There’s a newcomer, Manfred Bernardo, who just wants to work hard and blend in. But Manfred has secrets of his own..."

Here's the link to purchase:

Iron and Magic by Ilona Andrews

The list of "Automatic Pre-order" authors that I have is pretty short.  Ilona Andrews is top on that list.  Not only is this a new book, it's the start of a new series!  A new series is always, always good news from this amazing writing team, especially since the Kate Daniels series is wrapping up with book 10 this year.  If you haven't read any of the Kate Daniels series, I wouldn't really worry about.  Definitely read it, because it's amazing, but the authors do a a really great job of filling you in on the necessary backstory.  

From the publisher because they say it better:

"The Iron Covenant Book 1
No day is ordinary in a world where Technology and Magic compete for supremacy…But no matter which force is winning, in the apocalypse, a sword will always work. 
Hugh d’Ambray, Preceptor of the Iron Dogs, Warlord of the Builder of Towers, served only one man. Now his immortal, nearly omnipotent master has cast him aside. Hugh is a shadow of the warrior he was, but when he learns that the Iron Dogs, soldiers who would follow him anywhere, are being hunted down and murdered, he must make a choice: to fade away or to be the leader he was born to be. Hugh knows he must carve a new place for himself and his people, but they have no money, no shelter, and no food, and the necromancers are coming. Fast.
Elara Harper is a creature who should not exist. Her enemies call her Abomination; her people call her White Lady. Tasked with their protection, she's trapped between the magical heavyweights about to collide and plunge the state of Kentucky into a war that humans have no power to stop. Desperate to shield her people and their simple way of life, she would accept help from the devil himself—and Hugh d’Ambray might qualify.
Hugh needs a base, Elara needs soldiers. Both are infamous for betraying their allies, so how can they create a believable alliance to meet the challenge of their enemies? 
As the prophet says: “It is better to marry than to burn.” 
Hugh and Elara may do both. 

This book is an amazing start to a new series about respect, redemption, love and loss.  This book hits all the best points of fantasy and romance-strong characters, lots of magic, ancient creatures, and action that keeps the pages turning long after bedtime.  

One of the best parts of this book is the world building.  A castle that was shipped in brick by brick to please the former mistress in modern day Kentucky is now inside a dark magical forest after the magical shift occurs.  There are tunnels under the castle that people don't come back from and no one knows why.  There are druids, shapeshifters, magic, technology, gods, and creatures that are completely unknown.  It would seem chaotic except the authors have made it all make sense and believable.  

Elara's character is absolutely incredible and mysterious.  The way the authors are able to weave in old mythology with this insanely bonkers world they've created is fascinating.  Elara's character is both beloved and respected by her people for her ability to keep them healthy and safe, but there is a secret that everyone is hiding.  We do get a glimpse of what she truly is, but it's only a glimpse and I hope more is revealed as the series progresses.  

Hugh d'Ambray has spent his life powerful and feared.  Without Roland's magic and support, and now no clear agenda, he falls apart.  All the way apart.  When the opportunity comes along to save his soldiers and himself, he reluctantly takes it.  Hugh's character is such a contradiction-he is feared and brutal but also incredibly loyal to his Iron Dogs.  At one point, he talks over breakfast about how he killed a woman and then later on saves a dog.  I really feel the authors did an amazing job of making his character very slow to like.  It was as if he had to prove to himself that he was worthy of respect before the reader could believe that as well.  

The relationship between Elara and Hugh was also very unique.  It's easy to groan about the arranged marriage trope but this was the farthest thing from trope-y.  Their relationship was built incredibly slowly and all on the basis of respect.  Both characters were fiercely protective of their people and not afraid to do whatever it took to keep them safe.    

I just can't say it enough-this book is amazing.  These authors are amazing.  I can't wait to see what comes next in this series.

Iron and Magic is available June 26th and you can pre-order this book now here: 

Thank you to Netgalley and NYLA for the opportunity to read and review this book-all ramblings and the overuse of "amazing" are my own opinions.  

Also, there are other amazing series from these authors.  May I suggest:

Invasion of the honeybees

The honeybees in their shipping box. 

It started as a 4-H project idea.  The Kid could make an awesome photo display, our fruit trees would get some amazing pollination, and I could make beer from all the amazing honey those little bees were going to make me.  

I didn't realize that my husband would turn this into a borderline obsession.  I bought Beekeeping for Dummies from Amazon, figured I'd get around to reading at some point and we'd figure out as we went.  Instead, the Hubs latched on to that book and he spent the next several weeks reading it out loud to me.  While I was trying to read my own book.  

After several weeks of anxiously awaiting for the bees to be delivered, which are delivered through the Postal Service, we finally got to meet our new Fat Farm residents.  Our mail carrier brought them straight to our house-she really didn't want to handle them anymore than necessary-and we got to work right away.  Translation-everything that could go wrong happened.  We couldn't find the Queen, there wasn't quite enough food, we found the Queen but accidentally dropped her little cage into the bottom of the hive, The Hubs got stung twice, and we missed a phone call by minutes from an experienced beekeeper on how to make the process easier.

I think he just wanted to wear the suit. 

But, we did it.  The bees are doing well and are we can see them all over the yard collecting pollen from every flower they can find.  We found out we can stand right next to the hive and watch them and the bees really don't care.  Even the dogs running around the hive doesn't seem to bother them.    

Now we wait for the bees to do their thing.  

Here's a few things that we found helpful:

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

Post-Civil War epic zombie battles that are fought by bad-ass teenage girls? What more do you want?  Justina Ireland has created an amazing world that is both horrifying and inspirational.  

Jane McKeene has a very complicated life. Born to a wealthy mother and pampered as a child, her life takes a dramatic turn when she's enrolled at the Miss Preston's School of Combat in Baltimore.  Training to become a skilled zombie slayer is hard work, made even more difficult by the constant racism and sexism she faces.  Becoming an Attendant, a bodyguard for the wealthy whites, is one way to a better life.  Unfortunately for Jane, her chance at a better life is taken away when she is caught trying to locate the families who have gone missing in the area.  When Jane and two of her friends find themselves on a train headed west, she knows their days are numbered.  What Jane finds next is even more frightening than zombies.  

Jane is such a smart and strong character.  Her determination and will to live is inspiring.  No matter how horrible her circumstances became, she always had a plan to get her through another day.  Much of this was hard to read, not because of bad writing-quite the opposite.  The way that people of color were treated in history, and today, is appalling.  When Jane is acting as an Attendant at a fancy dinner party, she contemplates her future being treated as a piece of furniture-useful, nice to look at, but replaceable and that is not how she wants to spend the rest of her life.  

This is an absolutely amazing book.  I feel like the ending left an opening for another book and I'd really like to see what comes next in this world.

You can get your copy, and help support the site, here:

Dread Nation

By Justina Ireland

Buy on Amazon