Reading In/Out 4/14/2026

OUT

Your Magical Life: A Young Witch's Guide to Becoming Happy, Confident, and Powerful by Amanda Lovelace - I read this for a committee I'm on at work. Pros: it's beautifully designed and the interior is easy to read with lots of white space. The print is purple, which is fun for me, personally. It's clear who the book is written for, and the writing matches that demographic. Cons: I am not the demographic it is written for, so I found it a little annoying. That being said, the content is, in my opinion, positive and uplifting to an age group that is chronically riddled with angst and low self-esteem. All of the spells and suggestions are for the purpose of bringing good energy to the spell caster and the author warns against using spells to harm others as negative energy will most likely return to you. Frequently, the author provided suggestions for replacement items to take the place of expensive or difficult to find items like pink sapphire or whatever. It kind of made it feel like she was giving the young witches safety scissors instead of shears. They won't work as well, but it'll do in a pinch. I kept thinking, "If that works the same as the other thing, why mention the other thing at all?"

Shadows in Death by J.D. Robb - Oh man, this was a good one. While out at the theater one night, Eve gets called to a murder scene in a park. Roarke was with her, so he went along. While she's working the scene, Roarke is looking at the crowd of onlookers, when he sees a face he recognizes. Just for a second. It's a man he grew up with in Dublin when he was picking pockets and lifting purses for his father, and hoping he brought home enough to not get beat up. This man, Lorcan Cobb, insisted Patrick Roarke was his biological father and he should be the oldest son and heir. Not that Patrick had anything to leave behind but scars and trauma. Cobb always hated Roarke for being the acknowledged son. Now he is an assassin for hire. As soon as he sees him, he knows Cobb murdered this woman and that he let Roarke see him to claim it and let him know he's in NYC. Next he leaves a mutilated cat outside the gates of Roarke and Dallas' home with a note that says "You're next." The whole murder department gets behind catching this guy. Cobb is letting his anger and resentment get in the way and he makes mistakes. The interesting part about this one is that all the usual plot devices that Dallas usually goes through, are assigned to Roarke. He has the nightmare about his child self and Cobb's child self. He gets to have the knock-down drag out fight with the bad guy. It was an interesting twist and this guy was super creepy because he was so good at disappearing.

Naked in Death by J.D. Robb - I ended up reading this one on my Kindle. I read a chapter here and there before bed until I had a quandary. I meant to finish Three Bags Full over the weekend, but I accidentally left it on my desk at work. With gas at $3.50 a gallon I wasn't going to drive back downtown to get the book. I decided to go ahead and finish this one on Kindle. This is the first book in the In Death series. Someone murders a high-dollar prostitute with an actual firearm from the early 21st century (it's 2058 in the time of the book, and guns are outlawed. The police use stunners) and left it at the scene. Then a video of the murder turns up inside Dallas' apartment. This super wealthy guy named Roarke was top of the list for her killer because he had been with her the night before she was killed. Oh, and this investigation is very hush-hush because her grandfather is a leader of the Republican party and a senator from Virginia. He's planning a bid for President. Being the first of the series, this is where Dallas meets her future husband. By the end of the book they are agreeing to see where a relationship between a cop and a former professional thief can go.

IN

Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann - I now have this one back in my possession. I have about 30 pages to go. I fully expect to finish it tomorrow. fingers crossed I'm enjoying it very much and I'm excited to see how it goes as a movie.

Golden in Death by J.D. Robb - This is the 50th book in the series, so Gold, obviously. I see what you did there, Robb. Anyway, I was going to listen to the 2nd book in the series, but wouldn't you know it, it's on hold. So, I'll continue my backwards trek through the series until I can turn it around.

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemison - I read about 5 pages of this one yesterday and then took a nap. I remember what happened, so I don't think I'll have to start over, but we'll see. This is one of the 10 Oldest Books on my Shelves. I'd tell you what it's about, but I don't know yet.

So that's it. That's what I've finished and what I'm reading now. Are you making any progress?