I’m a few weeks behind on this, but that “To Write About” stack is still calling. Time for me to do a few more of these—emphasizing pithiness, not thoroughness.
Rabbit Cake
by Annie Hartnett, read by Katie Schorr
DETAILS: Publisher: Blackstone Publishing Publication Date: March 7, 2017 Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 7 hrs., 7 min. Read Date: March 9-13, 2026
This is told from the point-of-view of a very bright 10-12 year-old girl (named Elvis) grieving the recent death of her mother. She has an older sister who is having some pretty severe mental health challenges (likely inherited from the mother)—and it’s unclear about Elvis’s mental health, too.
This covers roughly a year in the life of the family—dad and the two daughters trying to deal with it (our protagonist has an internal calendar in her head for when she’ll be done grieving). There’s some mild comedy, some strong emotional moments–all learned.
I think I came into it expecting something different than what it was. I thought it was…fine? A little better than fine—I enjoyed it, and assume many people will click with it better than me.
The Cyclist
by Tim Sullivan, read by John Heffernan
DETAILS: Series: The DS Cross Mysteries, #2 Publisher: W. F. Howes Ltd Publication Date: November 4, 2021 Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 7 hrs., 26 min. Read Date: March 13-16, 2026
I think I read this too close to the previous one—it seemed to hit a lot of the same notes for the same reason. I get that we’re not going to see a lot of growth in DS Cross. That’s just not him. But it feels like the characters around him should be learning from their time with him—and how does his father not know how to introduce changes to him at this point in life?
The mystery felt a little more convoluted than complex—but the solution was pretty satisfying (although I was faster by a few chapters than our DS), as was the reveal.
Wholly satisfying and entertaining—just not quite what I was expecting. I’m hoping with a little more distance that the third mystery won’t be overshadowed by The Dentist the way this was.
Blind Date with a Werewolf
by Patricia Briggs, read by Holter Graham
DETAILS: Series: Alpha and Omega Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group Publication Date: October 21, 2025 Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 8 hrs., 5 min. Read Date: March 17-18, 2026
I’ve read one (maybe two) of these stories in various anthologies before—they’re all fine. Asil is a fun character to read, but I don’t know that he’s enough to sustain my attention for that long. Well, maybe if there was a novel-length plot—but this series of stories gets pretty redundant quickly. I think the gimmick turned me off a bit, too.
The characters that Asil interacts with are amusing enough, I suppose. Asil seems better as a supporting/secondary character. There’s some nice character growth for him, and I’m curious to see what that looks like in Briggs’ future works.
The Spellshop
by Sarah Beth Durst, read by Caitlin Davies
DETAILS: Publisher: Macmillan Audio Publication Date: July 9, 2024 Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 12 hrs., 29 min. Read Date: March 18, 2026
You’ve got a librarian—with a sentient talking fern—who is chased from the Capitol city during a coup. She returns to the home her parents abandoned when she was a child and sets up a jam shop/black market potions shop. Adventure and found-family ensue.
Okay, this is technically (according to some, anyway) a romance. And I know some of my readers will be scared away by this. It’s pretty tame on that front—and I just don’t mean it’s PG. I mean, the love story is pretty tame and mixes in pretty well with everything else that one could be forgiven for not thinking of it as a Romance. Like I do.
I had a blast with it, and am looking forward to getting my paws on Durst’s follow-up.
Nav’Aria: The Marked Heir
by K.J. Backer
DETAILS: Series: Nav'Aria, #1 Publication Date: January 18, 2019 Format: Paperback Length: 390 pg. Read Date: March 26-31, 2026
This is a fun, sort of porthole fantasy—Darion has been sent by his parents to Earth with some caretakers. He doesn’t know he’s from this different world—he just thought his parents had weird hobbies for him—martial arts, a lot of time in the forest, hunting, and so on.
There’s very little new or unexpected to this story—it doesn’t matter, it’s done well and is entertaining. It’s a very comfortable read in that sense. You’ve got a noble king and queen, a jealous upstart relative, loyal countrymen, oppressed citizenry…yada yada. We’ve all read it, we all like it (otherwise we’d find another genre). It’s in the telling, and some of the small touches. Backer shines there.
For example: The relation between dragons and unicorns—which we’re going to explore more in volume two—is pretty interesting. And unicorns at the top of the power structure? That’s cool.
And we’re not talking plush unicorns with rainbows and flowers. We’re talking big, strong animals who know that pointy thing can be used for. They have other cool magic abilities, too. Really, the unicorns alone are worth reading this.
My concern is that Darion seems to be shedding his Earth-ness for Nav’Arian as fast as Peter Pevensie did when he went back to Narnia in Prince Caspian, I’d like to see that hanging on a little longer. Otherwise, instead of Earth, he might as well have been sent to live in a hovel in a small town to hide. I’m back for more soon.
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