Hollow by Shannon Watters; Branden Boyer-White

 
Hollow by Shannon Watters; Branden Boyer-White

My Rating: ★★★★★

I received a copy from BOOM! Studios through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When Izzy Crane and her family move to Sleepy Hollow, she’s overwhelmed by how much the town celebrates and cherishes the old Headless Horseman legend. Science oriented, Izzy doesn’t see the draw in obsessing with an old supernatural legend while walking home with two classmates… until she sees the Headless Horseman herself! What does the Headless Horseman want, and why is her crush’s life at stake?

I’m a fan of Shannon Watters, so when I saw they had a book that takes place in Sleepy Hollow, I knew I had to read it. We follow Izzy Crane right after she moves to Sleepy Hollow with her family. While we don’t see much of her parents, I thought they seemed warm and caring, so I really liked them. We also follow Vicky Van Tassel, whose family is obsessed with how far back their lineage goes in the town. The problem? Vicky hates everything that comes with being born with the Van Tassel name. We also meet some of Vicky’s family as well as her close friend, Croc Byun. Croc is the school prankster with a heart of gold. He actually turned out to be my favorite character, though I love all three members of this trio!

The story itself is amazing. I love how the paranormal world is slowly brought in and carefully balanced with what is real and what is skeptical. The friendships are heartwarming and I love how we saw character development even with supporting characters we didn’t see much of. One of my favorite things about this book is the humor that balances out the gravity of the supernatural situation that Izzy, Vicky, and Croc are dealing with.

One of the things I also love about this book is that it’s an easy and fun read for all ages. The artwork is beautiful and it has important lessons for younger audiences, such as the importance of communicating your thoughts and feelings with your friends and family. It pulls in an old legend most adults know of pretty well in addition to adding a touch of humor to keep things light enough that nothing gets scary. I think it’s a perfect read for pre-teens and older that will also be a great family read.

A Side Character's Love Story, Vol. 1-11 by Akane Tamura

 
A Side Character's Love Story, Vol. 1-11 by Akane Tamura

My Rating: ★★★★★

Nobuko Tanaka has always felt like a side character in her own life. She’s always been quiet and in the background while everything always happens to everyone else. As someone who struggles with general and social anxiety, Nobuko has mostly been content to an extent. Now that she’s in college and working, Nobuko has developed a major crush on a coworker and struggles to become the main character in her own life.

I’m reviewing the first eleven volumes of this series because it’s a slow burn that’s very easy to read. We follow Nobuko, a woman who struggles with severe general and social anxiety. The story keeps labeling her struggles as cute little quirks, but I’m not sure if it was always labeled that way or if that’s something that occurred when it was translated into English. It is a bit weird that all of her struggles are described as little quirks in the little blurbs in the panels from time to time, especially because the story carefully illustrates how much Nobuko’s anxiety affects every part of her life. That said, seeing her struggles with anxiety reads as extremely realistic to me, though my anxiety is not at the same level as hers.

Throughout the series, we see Nobuko make friends, meet goals, and fall in love with her long-time crush. While the terms of how you know you’re in love are hilarious, it’s actually a really cute story mainly following Nobuko. We do occasionally follow her crush turned boyfriend, Hiroki, as well as various other characters. I really like that there’s occasionally a chapter following one of Nobuko’s friends or coworkers, a customer at her job, and so on. It’s fun to get a glimpse into these other characters' lives between the main story.

Speaking of Hiroki, we do follow him here and there more often than the others. Like Nobuko, he does have anxiety, but not to the same extent as her. It’s fun to see him with his friends and family as well as see how much he cares about Nobuko because they’re both self-conscious and new to dating, so they don’t always show what they’re thinking around each other. As I read more volumes, it was nice to see how much these two care for one another and I can see they really are a sweet couple that are perfect for one another.

If you’re someone that doesn’t like slow paced stories, this is not the series for you. However, if you like a slow paced slice of life type of story, this series will be excellent for you. It’s very easy to read with beautiful artwork and likable characters that are relatable.

On the Way to the Wedding (Bridgertons #8) by Julia Quinn

 

On the Way to the Wedding by Julia Quinn

My Rating: ★★★★

After watching all of his siblings find true love, Gregory Bridgerton has high expectations for marriage. He will not marry unless he finds someone who makes his breath catch in his chest and butterflies explode in his stomach. If he can’t live or breathe without his potential wife, she’s not the one! The problem? The woman of his dreams has absolutely no interest in him and he is determined to create his chance with her. Now he’s teaming up with the best friend of his future wife in an attempt to make his dreams happen.

I have to admit that I was not feeling this book for a bit. It wasn’t bad, but Gregory was lackluster and downright infuriating at times. I know that “boys will be boys” is a huge saying, but if you’re told no or not to do something, listen. Because of this, it was rather irritating to watch Gregory try to make Hermione Watson give him the time of day when she was clearly not interested. If anything, she was making excuses to get away from him!

Bless Lucinda, aka Lucy, Abernathy’s heart, who was trying to create a love match between Hermione and Gregory. She really thought it’d be a good match. I loved following Lucy and seeing her growth as the book went on. I really felt bad for her from the start. The poor woman was living in the shadow of her best friend, who always had men falling in love with her appearance at first sight! Lucy took it in stride and I did enjoy watching her find love for herself, though purely by accident!

The issues I had with Gregory aside, I did ultimately enjoy the book. Once we started spending more and more time with Lucy, and when Gregory stopped being a complete clown, it was rather enjoyable! And lord almighty, the entire end was wild! It may be the final book in the series, but still went out with a bang.

Death for Dinner Cookbook - 60 Gorey-Good, Plant-Based Drinks, Meals, and Munchies Inspired by Your Favorite Horror Films by Zach Neil

Death for Dinner Cookbook by Zach Neil

My Rating: ★★★★

I received a copy from the Quarto Publishing Group through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was excited about this book because it looked like a fun cookbook inspired by horror movies, which is also a perfect October read. Now, the author is somewhere between a vegetarian and vegan, and this is a vegan cookbook. I’m not vegan or vegetarian, but it’ll be easy to substitute vegan and vegetarian specific ingredients as needed. It will also be easy to substitute the ingredients that I’m allergic to.

That said, this is such a fun book full of a bunch of really tasty sounding recipes. I love how it’s laid out with pictures from various horror movies as well as the fun names that reference the inspiration behind each dish. There’s also a list of ingredients and tools one will need as well as a list of the movies and TV shows that inspired the recipes all before the cookbook gets rolling.

The recipes are divided by appetizers, main dishes, desserts, drinks, and then extras that include sauces and other things to add to the dishes. The overall presentation is absolutely wonderful and great for horror fans as well as anyone who loves Halloween. It’s such a fun read full of many delicious sounding recipes that will be easy to adapt to anyone’s diet and allergies.

The Anime Chef Cookbook: 75 Iconic Dishes from Your Favorite Anime by Nadine Estero

 
The Anime Chef Cookbook: 75 Iconic Dishes from Your Favorite Anime by Nadine Estero

My Rating: ★★★★★

I received a copy from the Quarto Publishing Group through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is truly a recipe book meant for anime fans whether or not they can make many of the dishes before seeing this. I mean, who can’t pass up on a cookbook inspired by some of the most iconic dishes featured in anime? In true anime style, even the photos in the book are beautifully illustrated photos rather than pictures taken of the real life dishes. It’s so much fun!

The book is separated into sections: appetizers, main dishes, desserts, and drinks. There’s also a list of tools and ingredients that one will need to make all the recipes found in the book. The ingredient list is pretty nice and explains what each item is and specifies the type to buy if it’s not specified in the recipe. For example, if the recipe doesn’t specify a specific oil, it tells us that we can use whatever our preferred neutral oil is.

One of the things that I love about this cookbook, other than the delicious recipes of course, is the beautiful artwork. It’s taking me back to all the times I was watching a show and all the food looked delicious even though it was animated, and here we are with a bunch of beautifully illustrated pictures of the dishes to get everyone hungry. If you think you can’t get hungry looking at food illustrations, you are absolutely wrong and this is the hill I’m planting myself on! Plus, each recipe is easy to follow and also includes what anime it appeared in as well as how it connects to the characters and the story. There’s occasionally a little bit of humor, information on the dish, or what extra bits of inspiration was behind the particular recipe featured. All in all, it’s a wonderful cookbook and I’m excited to make some of the recipes and drinks that I’ve had before but never made myself.

Bob Ross Cross Stitch: 12 Happy Little Cross Stitch Patterns by Haley Pierson-Cox

Bob Ross Cross Stitch: 12 Happy Little Cross Stitch Patterns by Haley Pierson-Cox

My Rating: ★★★★★

I received a copy from the Quarto Publishing Group through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you’re a fan of Bob Ross and either interested in cross stitching or already a cross stitcher, this is a must have! It has 12 wonderful Bob Ross inspired patterns that include some of his inspirational wisdom. Each pattern is simple and easy to follow in addition to including some project prepping tips for beginner cross stitchers next to each pattern. Speaking of new cross stitchers, the opening is full of easy to follow instructions on how to cross stitch ranging from tips and tricks on how to prepare to great finishing instructions. There are also a few graphs on the basics of stitching, but I think some people may do well with looking up a video as well since the graphs are limited.

All in all, this is a great book that is a must have for any crafty fan of Bob Ross, whether you’re new to cross stitching or a seasoned stitcher.