A Glimmer of Ghosts by Hunter J. Skye
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Part Ghostbusters, part Beauty and the Beast, A Glimmer of Ghosts is Hunter J. Skye's debut novel and promises to be the start of an impressive career. If you like ghost stories and paranormal romance, this book is for you.

The action starts off right away in a haunted graveyard, where main character Mel shows off her very unique talent. Mel suffers from narcolepsy, which causes her no end of trouble, but when in the stage between wake and sleep, she has the ability to see and sometimes interact with the spirits of the dead.

Claws of the Cat by Susan Spann
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Claws of the Cat was a fun "who done it" mystery. This was very much the type of story where the protagonist, and by extension the reader, follows a trail of breadcrumb clues that lead back and forth between suspects in an intricately woven web of lies and secrets. I did not at any time feel like the solution was obvious, and while I sometimes got annoyed that the protagonist came to a realization that wasn't revealed until the next encounter, I never felt lost.

The Last Kids on Earth and the Zombie Parade by Max Brallier
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The second installment of Last Kids on Earth was all about disappearing zombies and the appearance of not-evil monsters. Jake and his friends get in way over their heads, but there's a very "united we stand" vibe that sees them through.

I liked the author's attempt to give Jake an internal conflict about keeping his friends safe, though it felt a bit stretched at times.

Overall, it was a very amusing read and my daughter is certainly eager to continue the series.

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Sometimes the Magic Works: Lessons from a Writing Life by Terry Brooks
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

This book didn't have a whole lot of actual writing advice. It was more a collection of personal anecdotes about how the journey to success went for this one man. From what I learned, much of that success was due to being in the right place at the right time and knowing the right people -- a tactic that others cannot hope to duplicate and is therefore not particularly useful. This is not to say that Terry Brooks isn't a great writer, I love his books, but he was lucky.

There were some amusing parts, but overall the book left me with a bitter taste because it was centered around the idea that sometimes, for some people, things just magically work out, which implies that sometime (for most of us) they don't.

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Trapped by Kevin Hearne
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was a bit disappointed in this installment of the Iron Druid series. The writing was good, and the humor was there, but this book lacked a cohesive plot. I feel like it existed solely to tie the previous book and the next book together.