2025

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

My Monday tradition, including a look back and a look ahead — what I read last week, what new books came my way, and what books are keeping me busy right now. Plus a smattering of other stuff too.

Life.

The past few days have been a whirlwind, in the best possible way! We had a lovely Seder for the first night of Passover — good food, great company, lots of fun. My daughter and her fiancé came for the weekend, and we spent one day playing tourists, visiting parts of San Francisco that I haven’t been to in years. It was great to have the time together — I just wish we’d had even more!

What did I read during the last week?

Flirting Lessons by Jasmine Guillory: An okay, not great, romance set in Wine Country. My review is here.

Promise Me Sunshine by Cara Bastone: An engaging story about two people helping each other through grief and loss, and falling in love along the way. My review is here.

Pop culture & TV:

I really haven’t been watching much, and the weekend was just too busy to leave time for TV. So, I’m still working my way through season 3 of Yellowjackets! Beyond that, my son and I are really enjoying this season of The Amazing Race, and I’m tolerating Survivor.

Fresh Catch:

One new books this week! Looking forward to starting it…

(It’s prettier in person — the lighting for my photos wasn’t good, but it was the best I could do in the moment.)

What will I be reading during the coming week?

Currently in my hands:

Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man) by Jesse Q. Sutanto: This book is a hoot! I ran out of time to read over the weekend, but I should be able to wrap this up in the next day or so.

Now playing via audiobook:

Swept Away by Beth O’Leary: I always enjoy this author’s books, although I’m not sure that the overall tone is really working for me on this one. I’m just past the halfway mark — looking forward to seeing where the story goes.

Ongoing reads:

My book group’s classic read is Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. We’re reading and discussing two chapters per week. Progress: 74%. Up next: Chapters 36 and 37.

What will you be reading this week?

So many books, so little time…

12Apr2025

Affiliate programs: Worth the effort?

Posted in Blogging, Bookish Thoughts by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Affiliate programs: An affiliate program is a marketing arrangement where an individual or website (the “affiliate”) earns a commission by promoting another company’s products or services. The affiliate earns a percentage of each sale made through their unique affiliate link, effectively outsourcing sales efforts

Years ago, when I first started blogging regularly, I jumped at the idea of signing up for affiliate programs.

The general concept is this: You enroll or set up an an affiliate account with an online retailer, provide links to products on your blog (or whatever platform you use for sharing content), and when someone clicks through from your link and makes a purchase, you make a certain percentage of the price as a commission.

Ah yes, the illusive idea of actually earning a bit of money through blogging. Ha.

I enrolled in Amazon’s affiliate program, as well as Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, and (the dearly departed) Book Depository. Amazon dropped me because I failed to meet their quota, which was something like three purchases via affiliate links in the first three months. (I had zero). In all, I made a whopping $0.80 through my various affiliate accounts!

Woo hoo! Eighty cents! I’m rich!

After keeping the other non-Amazon programs going for a bit, I dropped the idea entirely and stopped including purchase links in my posts. But lately, I’ve been toying with the idea again. If people are stopping by my blog to check out my reviews or other book-related posts, and want to go from there to a purchasing site to buy one of the books I mentioned, why not try to get a teeny bit of a benefit out of it?

So, a couple of weeks ago, I signed up once again for the Amazon affiliate program, reactivated my Bookshop.org account as well, and have started including purchase links at the end of my book review posts.

I’m on the fence about it all. I don’t actually think I get enough traffic to make the links worthwhile, especially since most of the people I engage with are also book bloggers — so why would they use my links when they probably (maybe) have links through their own blogs?

And let’s be clear, I by no means consider myself (or would ever want to be) an influencer! I’m just a reader, who loves books, and likes to chat with other people who love books too.

My point in all of this is to put some questions out there to my fellow book bloggers:

Do you participate in any affiliate programs?
If so, which ones? Are there any you find especially worthwhile?
Have you actually earned anything through affiliate programs?
If you’re not in an affiliate program, have you considered it?

I’m interested in hearing about other people’s experiences, as I debate whether to bother with it all. I’m guessing that without a lot more effort than I’m willing or interested in investing, my connection to affiliate programs will go nowhere. I’m curious to hear whether anyone else has actually seen their links pay off in any sort of way.

The topic of monetizing blogging comes up quite a bit in the blogosphere, and in general, it’s never been of interest to me. As I’ve said in so many different contexts, I blog because it’s fun and I enjoy it. It’s not a job, it’s not an obligation, and I don’t expect to make a dime from it. This is why I’m so on the fence about affiliate programs: Sure, it’d be nice to get a few dollars back from time to time (which would go right back into buying more books), but I’ve never expected a financial payoff from blogging, so why start now?

So… affiliate programs: Yea or Nay? Please chime in and share your thoughts!

10Apr2025

Audiobook Review: Promise Me Sunshine by Cara Bastone

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Promise Me Sunshine
Author: Cara Bastone
Narrator: Alex Finke
Publisher: Dial Press
Publication date: March 4, 2025
Print length: 416 pages
Audio length: 11 hours 11 minutes
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Source: Audible (eARC via NetGalley)
Rating:

Grieving the loss of her best friend, a young woman’s life is turned upside down when she meets a grumpy stranger who swears he can help her live again, in this heartwarming, slow-burn romance by the author of Ready or Not

Lenny’s a bit of a mess at the moment. Ever since cancer stole away her best friend, she has been completely lost. She’s avoiding her concerned parents, the apartment she shared with her best friend, and the ever-laminated “live again” list of things she’s promised to do to survive her grief. But maybe if she acts like she has it all together, no one will notice she’s falling apart.

The only gigs she can handle right now are temporary babysitting jobs, and she just landed a great one, helping overworked, single mom Reese and her precocious daughter, Ainsley. The only catch: Ainsley’s uncle, Miles, always seems to be around, and is kind of. . . a walking version of the grumpy cat meme. Worse – he seems to be able to see right through her.

Surprisingly, Miles knows a lot about grief and he offers Lenny a proposition. He’ll help her complete everything on her “live again” list if she’ll help him connect with Ainsley and overcome his complicated relationship with Reese. Lenny doubts anything can fill the void her best friend has left behind, but between late night ferry rides, midnight ramen, and a well-placed shoulder whenever she needs it, Miles just won’t stop showing up for her. Turns out, sometimes your life has to end to find your new beginning.

After listening to Ready or Not by Cara Bastone just recently, I was more than happy to jump at the chance to listen to her newest audiobook as well. Promise Me Sunshine does not disappoint… although I think billing this book as a romance might be a bit misleading. Yes, there’s a love story — but Promise Me Sunshine is very much a book about living with grief and figuring out how to carry on after a tragic loss.

When we meet Lenny, she’s bustling uptown to start a temporary babysitting gig, caring for a cute 7-year-old while her single mom is away on a business trip. Lenny connects with Ainsley and her mom Reese right away, but she’s a bit put off by Ainsley’s uncle Miles, who shows up at the apartment as soon as she does, and seems to just plant himself there. He’s cold and judgmental, and watches Lenny like a hawk. Reese doesn’t seem to particularly want him there, but he stays, and stays, and stays.

Lenny is full of sunshine around Ainsley, but alone, it’s clear that she’s not okay. Her best friend Lou died just six months earlier, still in her 20s, after battling cancer for years. Lenny can’t bring herself to return to the Brooklyn apartment they shared, so instead, during her off hours, she rides the Staten Island ferry all night, dozing on and off until she returns to her job the next morning.

She’s annoyed by Miles’s constant hovering, but a breakthrough comes when he spots a book about grief in her backpack. He’s read it too — and he lets Lenny know that he’s been there. Miles lost his closest family members ten years earlier, and while he’s worked through the immediate pain, he understands how grief changes a person and never truly ends. He offers to be there for Lenny — someone to call in the bad moments, someone to lean on when needed. She’s skeptical at first: Why would he go to the effort for someone he barely knows? It turns out, Miles wants something in return. Ainsley and Reese are all the family he has left, and he doesn’t know how to connect with them. Lenny is such a natural with Ainsley, and Miles wants her to teach him how to build a relationship with his niece.

Lenny agrees, and also agrees to extend the weekend babysitting into a longer-term job. Miles is as good as his word. He refuses to allow Lenny to wall herself off and to continue indulging in riskier behaviors (like sleeping on the ferry all night) — he insists that she stays (for now) at the studio apartment he’s not using, that she calls him if she can’t sleep, and that she starts working her way through the “live again” list Lou left her with.

Lenny and Miles are charming together. She’s funny in an oddball, off-kilter sort of way, silly and ridiculous, yet loads of fun. He’s the typical grumpy half of the familiar grumpy-sunshine dynamic, but he’s lovable too. Yes, he comes across as judgy and walled-off and stiff, but he goes above and beyond for Lenny from day one, and it turns out that his gruff exterior hides a big, squishy heart.

Promise Me Sunshine doesn’t shy away from showing the depths of Lenny’s grief and despair. There are many terribly sad scenes where we see her absolutely fall apart — because loss is like that. Time helps, but there’s no avoiding the seemingly innocuous triggers that wait around every corner, sending Lenny into a spiral of sobs and fresh mourning at a moment’s notice. With Miles in her life, though, she’s no longer suffering alone… and eventually, Lenny is able to start appreciating the sunshine moments again.

There’s a lot to love about Promise Me Sunshine. Miles and Lenny bond right away, and their dynamic is cute in the funnier moments, heartfelt in the sadder times. As I mentioned earlier, this isn’t strictly speaking a romance novel, in my opinion — it’s contemporary fiction that includes a love story, but the romantic element isn’t the whole point. Yes, of course Miles and Lenny fall in love, but it takes the entire book for them to get there, and meanwhile, what we see is a story of two people helping each other find reasons to embrace life again.

Beyond the love story, it’s refreshing to see that Miles and Lenny don’t instantly become each others’ entire worlds. Miles encourages Lenny to make new friends, be open to connecting with people, and even, finally, stop avoiding her parents and everyone/everything who reminds her of Lou. For Lenny’s part, she helps Miles find a way to build trust and affection with Reese and Ainsley, to let go of some difficult chapters from his life, and to start planning for a future instead of living in a sort of holding pattern.

My only quibble with Promise Me Sunshine is that Miles comes across as too good to be true. He’s absolutely selfless, and devotes himself 100% to doing and being whatever Lenny needs. It’s lovely… but he seems more like an ideal than an actual person.

The audiobook narration is quite a lot of fun. Narrator Alex Finke capture’s Lenny silliness and over-the-top delivery, as well as Miles’s stilted, awkward lines in his grumpier moments. As with Ready or Not (same narrator), I sometimes found it difficult to distinguish between Lenny’s spoken lines and her internal dialogue, having to figure it out based on context or whether other characters responded to what I thought she might have said to them.

These quibbles in no way detract from the overall pleasures of listening to Promise Me Sunshine. There are plenty of funny interludes, but the heart of the story is Lenny’s heartbreaking grief over the loss of the friend she describes as her soulmate. The depth of their friendship is beautifully depicted, and Lenny’s journey feels real and powerful. Plus, the love story elements really work, and Miles and Lenny, with all their differences, click amazingly well as friends before becoming much more.

I’m happy to recommend Promise Me Sunshine… and now that I’ve had two great experiences with Cara Bastone’s books, I’ll be on the lookout for more!

Purchase links: Amazon – Bookshop.org
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

9Apr2025

Book Review: Flirting Lessons by Jasmine Guillory

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Flirting Lessons
Author: Jasmine Guillory
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: April 8, 2025
Length: 416 pages
Genre: Contemporary romance
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

The exciting new contemporary romance—and her first to feature a queer romance—by New York Times bestselling author Jasmine Guillory

Avery Jensen is almost thirty, fresh off a breakup, and she’s tired of always being so uptight and well-behaved. She wants to get a hobby, date around (especially other women), flirt with everyone she sees, all the fun stuff normal people do in their twenties. One Avery doesn’t know how to do any of that. She doesn’t have a lot of dating experience, with men or women, and despite being self-assured at work, she doesn’t have a lot of confidence when it comes to romance.

Enter Taylor Cameron, Napa Valley’s biggest flirt and champion heartbreaker. Taylor just broke up with her most recent girlfriend, and her best friend bet her that she can’t make it until Labor Day without sleeping with someone. (Two whole months? Without sex? Taylor?!?!) So, she offers to give Avery flirting lessons. It will keep her busy, stop her from texting people she shouldn’t. And it might distract her from how inadequate she feels compared to her friends, who all seem much more settled and adult than Taylor.

At first, Avery is stiff and nervous, but Taylor is patient and encouraging, and soon, Avery looks forward to their weekly lessons. With Taylor’s help, Avery finally has the life she always wanted. The only issue is: now she wants Taylor. Their attraction becomes impossible to ignore, despite them both insisting to themselves and everyone else that it isn’t serious. When Taylor is forced to confront her feelings for Avery, she doesn’t know what to do—and most importantly, if she’s already ruined the best thing she’s ever had.

Mega-popular author Jasmine Guillory returns to Napa Valley, setting of her previous novel, Drunk on Love, for her newest romance. As the blurb tells us, this is the author’s first foray into queer romance, with a love story featuring two women who start as friends and become much more.

Taylor is the woman everyone loves to be around, and she’s dated practically every woman in wine country at one point or another. She’s famous (or infamous) for not doing relationships — everyone knows that she’s great for a fling, but not someone to get serious with.

At an event at the winery where she works, Taylor runs into Avery, the best friend of a former coworker. Avery is gorgeous and a bit reserved. She’s excellent at her event planning business, but comes across as shy and self-conscious in social settings. After a couple of glasses of wine, she admits to Taylor that she’s tired of being seen as reliable and predictable — in other words, boring. She wishes she knew how to to have fun, flirt, and grab onto life.

Meanwhile, Taylor’s best friend Erica has just bet Taylor that she can’t stay celibate for the entire summer, and Taylor never can resist a dare. Since sleeping with anyone new is off the table, she needs a distraction, and offers to be Avery’s dating guru. She’ll give her flirting lessons! Avery has never dated women before, but wants to, and Taylor offers to take her out, put her in high-potential flirting situations, and teach her how to flirt like a champ.

What follows is a series of very fun lessons, where Avery is given challenges such as talking to five new people or trying something outside her comfort zone. The goal isn’t going to bed — it’s empowering Avery to feel more confident with new people, and to stop the self- talk that holds her back.

Of course, Taylor and Avery end up catching feelings for one another, and their flirting lessons turn into much, much more…

Flirting Lessons is at its best when it’s focused on the social settings and activities that Taylor orchestrates for Avery’s lessons. An author event at a bookstore, queer salsa dancing, trivia night at a bar, community gardening — all are terrific venues for seeing the two women interact with each other and with new people, and provide different ways for Avery to spread her wings and try something new.

I appreciated that honesty was an important part of what both women needed to learn — how to accept a compliment without deflection, how to express what they actually feel rather than what they think the other person wants, how to stop undermining themselves by wondering if they’re interesting enough or match what others want to see. It’s also nice to see that they have other friends. Their relationship is not their sole focus, and for each, paying attention to the other people in their lives is yet another element that helps them grow and acknowledge their own strengths and blindspots.

Despite the positives, I can’t say this was more than just a so-so read for me, and here’s why:

I’m not sure that I entirely bought Avery and Taylor’s chemistry. Avery is just too tentative and walled off to make true sense as a partner for Taylor, or to hold Taylor’s attention long enough for her growth to give them a more equal footing. Further, the plot as a whole is a bit dull. Sure, the various dates and events are fun, and the ups and downs of Taylor and Avery’s relationship are nice to see unfolding, but it’s entirely predictable. Even the potential breakup is easy to see coming, as is its solution.

On the whole, Flirting Lessons is a bit longer than it needs to be, and doesn’t cover much new ground or provide a ton of surprises. I enjoyed the book enough to want to keep going, but now that I’m done, it’s not likely to stick with me in any meaningful way.

Still, Flirting Lessons could be a good choice for a light summer read — and the Wine Country setting provides a nice sense of a sun-filled getaway.

Purchase links: Amazon – Bookshop.org
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

8Apr2025

Top Ten Tuesday: Books with Springy Covers

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Books with Springy Covers. When I think of springy covers, I think of light colors, flowers… and the occasional cupcake too.

So here we go — my top ten books that give me spring vibes:

Pat of Silver Bush by L. M. Montgomery
Battle of the Bookstores by Ali Brady
The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner
Ready or Not by Cara Bastone
Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez
The Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan
Jane in Love by Rachel Givney
Cotillion by Georgette Heyer
All’s Fair in Love and War by Virginia Heath
A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Taylor Namey

What books make you think of spring?

If you wrote a TTT post this week, please share your link!

7Apr2025

The Monday Check-In ~ 4/7/2025

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Life.

Lots of errands, an intense workweek… not much new or different to report! But, the sun shone over the weekend, I got in some lovely outdoor time, and reorganized a couple of my bookshelves. Not bad at all!

Meanwhile, looking ahead this week, I’ll be doing some prep for our family Seder — hard to believe Passover is already almost here. Can’t wait to spend time with family on one of our favorite holidays!

What did I read during the last week?

When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi: This book is amazing! It has the most ridiculous premise in recent book history… and yet, it totally works. What a delight — my review is here.

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins: I was a little unsure about how interested I’d be to read another Hunger Games prequel, but I’m so glad I went for it! An absolutely compelling read. My review is here.

The Sirens by Emilia Hart: Gorgeous, haunting story of sisters and secrets. A must-read! My review is here.

Pop culture & TV:

I decided to go back to Yellowjackets, and started season 3. I’ve only seen two episodes so far, but they’ve been good!

Fresh Catch:

This book is stunning! I knew I needed a copy of my own, and I’m just in love with its painted edges.

What will I be reading during the coming week?

Currently in my hands:

Flirting Lessons by Jasmine Guillory: Something a little lighter, after a few intense (but excellent) other books. I’ve enjoyed this author’s previous books, and I’m looking forward to a romantic diversion!

Now playing via audiobook:

Promise Me Sunshine by Cara Bastone: This may look like a romance, but it’s actually a sensitive, lovely portrayal of life after loss. And yes, there’s a love story too! I’m about a day or two away from finishing.

Ongoing reads:

My book group’s classic read is Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. We’re reading and discussing two chapters per week. Progress: 69%. Up next: Chapters 34 and 35.

What will you be reading this week?

So many books, so little time…

6Apr2025

Book Review: The Sirens by Emilia Hart

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Sirens
Author: Emilia Hart
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication date: April 1, 2025
Length: 352 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Purchased (hardcover); eARC via NetGalley
Rating:

A story of sisters separated by hundreds of years but bound together in more ways than they can imagine

2019: Lucy awakens in her ex-lover’s room in the middle of the night with her hands around his throat. Horrified, she flees to her sister’s house on the coast of New South Wales hoping Jess can help explain the vivid dreams that preceded the attack—but her sister is missing. As Lucy waits for her return, she starts to unearth strange rumours about Jess’s town—tales of numerous missing men, spread over decades. A baby abandoned in a sea-swept cave. Whispers of women’s voices on the waves. All the while, her dreams start to feel closer than ever.

1800: Mary and Eliza are torn from their loving home in Ireland and forced onto a convict ship heading for Australia. As the boat takes them farther and farther away from all they know, they begin to notice unexplainable changes in their bodies.

A breathtaking tale of female resilience, The Sirens is an extraordinary novel that captures the sheer power of sisterhood and the indefinable magic of the sea.

After reading author Emilia Hart’s debut novel Weyward last fall, I knew I’d read whatever she wrote next. I’m happy to report that The Sirens more than lives up to expectations, and is a beautiful, compelling story that matches the greatness of Weyward.

The Sirens follows two different sets of women across two different timelines. Our main viewpoint throughout is Lucy, a college student who’s had to deal with a strange skin ailment all her life, which leaves her with scars and marks across her body. When she wakes from a sleepwalking episode to discover that she’s attempting to strangle someone, she flees.

Lucy decides to seek shelter with her older sister Jess, whom she’s always loved, but who’s distanced herself from Lucy and their parents. Jess lives in Comber Bay, a small seaside village in New South Wales. Comber Bay has a certain notoriety thanks to a popular podcast focused on a string of disappearances in the town — over the past few decades, eight different men, seemingly with nothing in common, have vanished without a trace.

When Lucy arrives at Jess’s last known address — Cliff House, a ramshackle, dilapidated old house perched precariously over the wild sea — Jess is not there, although her keys, car, and phone are. With few options, Lucy settles in to wait for Jess’s return. She’s intrigued and disturbed by Jess’s paintings, depicting two young women and an old sailing ship. The paintings are beautiful, but the women in them exactly match the sisters Lucy sees in a series of recurring dreams. How is this possible?

Meanwhile, in 1800, sisters Mary and Eliza have been sentenced to transportation to Australia, leaving behind their home and beloved father in Ireland. Two of eighty women convicts crammed into the prison hold onboard the Naiad, they’re subjected to a terrifying sea journey in horrific conditions, with barely enough food or water to sustain them. Mary and Eliza are devoted to one another, terrified by their experiences and the rumors of what await them all in Australia, and desperate for survival. As they bond with the other women on the ship, the sense of community sustains them — but Mary is also concerned by the physical changes she and Eliza seem to be experiencing, and can’t help but wonder over what this might mean for them.

Without giving anything away, I’ll just say that the connections between Lucy and Jess’s story and Mary and Eliza’s becomes clear over time. What unfolds is a story of women living through harsh but recognizable experiences, yet also a tale filled with fantastical elements that add a haunting sense of beauty and magic to the overall feel of the novel.

The writing here is absolutely gorgeous. With every chapter, the author provides insights into the characters’ lives and inner turmoil, but also shows us the beauty of their surroundings, especially the sea, cliffs, and caves of Comber Bay.

I loved the two sets of sisters — each pair has their own special relationship and shared trauma, and obviously the different eras they live in play a huge role in what they go through, yet their stories also share common elements and resonate one to the other across time.

Reading The Sirens is an immersive experience that’s powerful, emotional, and practically hypnotic. I hated to pull away and put the book down, and was sad at the end, not because of unhappiness with the concluding chapters, but because I didn’t want to leave these characters and their world.

The Sirens is a must-read. Don’t miss it!

Purchase links: Amazon – Bookshop.org
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

5Apr2025

Book Review: Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Sunrise on the Reaping
Author: Suzanne Collins
Publisher: Scholastic
Publication date: May 18, 2025
Length: 382 pages
Genre: Young adult
Source: Purchased
Rating:

When you’ve been set up to lose everything you love, what is there left to fight for?

As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes.

Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves.

When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He’s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.

We all know about the District uprisings that finally overthrew the Capital and freed Panem of the horrors of the Hunger Games… but 25 years earlier, a tribute named Haymitch Abernathy did his best to break the Games. He failed… but as author Suzanne Collins shows us in Sunrise on the Reaping, his story is worth telling.

I was skeptical, to be honest. Do we need another Hunger Games book? About Haymitch, of all people? When we meet Haymitch in the very first book in the series, he’s the District 12 drunkard, a pathetic former victor of the Hunger Games who’s lived alone in his Victor’s Village house all these years, failing each year to keep to keep any of the tributes he mentors alive, and doing his best to drink himself to death.

Eventually, he gets his act together enough to actually be of use to Katniss and Peeta, and later plays a role in the rebellion… but that’s all later. How did Haymitch, seemingly so pathetic when we meet him, manage to win his Hunger Games in the first place?

We never, none of us, had any choices.

In Sunrise on the Reaping, we find out. At age 16, Haymitch works hard to support his widowed mother and younger brother by doing odd jobs for the local bootlegger. He’s strong, devoted to his family, and madly in love with his Covey girlfriend, Lenore Dove. His birthday is never a happy one, as it coincides with the day of the reaping, and this year’s reaping promises to be especially bad: It’s the 50th Hunger Games, the Quarter Quell, and to mark the significant anniversary, the reaping will select not two tributes per District, but four. Haymitch knows he has a high chance of being selected, but initially he appears to have been spared — until an unpredictable event at the reaping forces him into the games anyway.

Haymitch knows he’s doomed. Only one person from District 12 has ever won the Hunger Games, although no one actually knows who this was — all records have disappeared. (We know, of course, that this was Lucy Gray Baird, victor of the 10th Hunger Games, as depicted in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes). As Haymitch leaves his family, friends, and District, Lenore Dove asks him to do whatever he can to put an end to the Games, once and for all.

“And that’s part of our trouble. Thinking things are inevitable. Not believing change is possible.”

“I guess. But I can’t really imagine the sun not rising tomorrow.”

A crease forms between her eyebrows as she puzzles out a response. “Can you imagine it rising on a world without a reaping?”

The best outcome Haymitch had envisioned was a quick death, to spare his family the agony of watching him die in some prolonged, awful way, and then a reunion with Lenore Dove in the afterlife — but now, he’s determined to fulfill the mission she’s set for him. If he can’t survive, at least he can try his best to break everything before his death. Maybe, just maybe, he can find a way to be disruptive enough to end the Hunger Games for good.

(We know he can’t, since we know the Games continue for another 25 years… )

As we follow Haymitch from District 12 to the Capital and then into the arena, we see a young man who’s very different than the bitter, ruined adult we know from the earlier books. Haymitch is determined but realistic. He knows he has no chance against the Careers, the tributes from the wealthier districts who train all their lives for a shot at Hunger Games glory. But Haymitch is not without skills of his own, and he’s caring to a fault: As he meets the weaker, more vulnerable tributes, he takes on the role of protector, and becomes desperate to find a way to shield his band of allies for as long as possible.

Alas, as we all know, the Hunger Games only ends with death for all but one of the tributes. As the Games in Sunrise on the Reaping get underway, the violence and death toll mount at a speed that’s inevitable. Here’s where the book feels a bit weak: Sure, it’s compelling and there are bursts of intensity and action — but, while the window dressing is different from the version of the Games we saw in The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, it’s still ultimately an arena full of traps, an environment designed to kill in horrific ways, and teens who can only survive by murdering one another. It’s certainly not boring… but it’s also not new.

Sunrise on the Reaping does fill in some blanks for devoted Hunger Games fans. It finally allows us to connect the dots and understand who Haymitch was before the main trilogy of books, because that’s always been a bit hard to fathom — we know he’s the only identified victor from District 12, but it’s impossible to picture him as anything but the wreck he is when we meet him. How could he possibly have won?

The Haymitch we meet here is someone to be admired and pitied. We see the cruelty to which he’s subjected as everything and everyone he loves is taken from him — but also the mission which Lenore Dove assigns to him, which he can’t fully abandon even after everything is lost.

With that, she condemns me to life.

It is fascinating to see the origins of certain elements of the later versions of the Games, as well as earlier generations of main characters’ families. On the other hand, seeing what’s become of Coriolanus Snow, now fully embodying the cruel, murderous persona of the Panem President as we first met him in the original trilogy, has its own impact. We knew, of course, how Snow would end up — but for brief glimmers in Ballad, we also got to see a hint of what else he might have been, had the world been just a bit different.

Adding to the depth of Sunrise on the Reaping is its exploration of propaganda and how authoritarianism thrives in the absence of a free press. Haymitch has several big moments of defiance that he expects to be captured for the rest of Panem to see, but of course, President Snow’s approved versions show nothing of the sort. Adding to the horror of all of Haymitch’s tragic losses is the way the televised record twists his actions and shreds his dignity and honor. When the media is under the tight control of the rulers, rebellion can be squashed simply by not showing it.

Lastly, I’ll mention the bonds among the tributes. When the weaker, non-Career districts recognize that individually, they don’t stand a chance, they form an alliance based on strength in numbers. Tactically, this is smart — and it also gives readers the opportunity to see a different way of surviving in the Games, not by murdering every single person you meet, but by protecting the people you care about and forming genuine connections. Sure, they’re still all doomed, knowing the Gamemakers will only let one person out alive, but meanwhile, they’re able to compete with some sense of purpose and dignity.

Ultimately, I’m glad to have read Sunrise on the Reaping, but I still question how effective a prequel can ever really be. The book gives us insight into a chapter of Panem’s history that we hadn’t seen before, and lets us see a character’s tragic backstory, which helps make sense of his later trajectory. Still, the problem with prequels remains that the outcome is predetermined: We know Haymitch will be the victor, so any dangers are easy to discount. Others may die (and do) — but he won’t, and we know it.

I wonder whether this is it for the world of The Hunger Games, or if the author will continue to add prequels to fill in the blanks. The original trilogy’s ending wraps up the characters’ stories neatly, so I can’t see there being sequels taking place later in their lives… but who knows? I feel like the stories of Panem have been told, and told well, and don’t feel a need for more. Then again, that’s what I said prior to reading both Ballad and Sunrise, and ended up enjoying both quite a lot.

All in all, I’d say that if you’re a fan of The Hunger Games, it’s worth reading Sunrise on the Reaping. Despite my hesitation (and the problem of knowing the big-picture ending all along), it’s well worth the time to dive in and explore Haymitch’s story. And having read Sunrise, I’m tempted to go back and do a full re-read of the original books too.

The snow may fall, but the sun also rises.

Purchase links: Amazon – Bookshop.org
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2Apr2025

Audiobook Review: When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: When the Moon Hits Your Eye
Author: John Scalzi
Narrator: Wil Wheaton
Publisher: Tor
Publication date: March 25, 2025
Print length: 326 pages
Audio length: 10 hours 5 minutes
Genre: Science fiction
Source: Purchased
Rating:

From the New York Times bestselling author of Starter Villain comes an entirely serious take on a distinctly unserious subject: what would really happen if suddenly the moon were replaced by a giant wheel of cheese.

It’s a whole new moooooon.

One day soon, suddenly and without explanation, the moon as we know it is replaced with an orb of cheese with the exact same mass. Through the length of an entire lunar cycle, from new moon to a spectacular and possibly final solar eclipse, we follow multiple characters — schoolkids and scientists, billionaires and workers, preachers and politicians — as they confront the strange new world they live in, and the absurd, impossible moon that now hangs above all their lives.

If you’re shocked to see a 5-star rating for a book about the moon turning to cheese… well, join the club!

Actually, I can’t even pretend to be all that surprised. We’re talking about a John Scalzi book, after all. No matter how silly or ridiculous the plot synopsis sounds, it’s a safe bet that the execution will be delicious.

So it goes with When the Moon Hits Your Eye. As the book opens, a moon rock on display in a space museum has been replaced by… something. The display case hasn’t been tampered with, and yet, the rock is clearly no longer there. Instead, it’s something distinctly un-rocklike… and why does the sliver of crescent moon visible in the night sky seem so unusually bright?

Within 24 hours, it becomes clear: It’s not just the museum’s artifact (and every other sample of moon rock anywhere on Earth) — the entire moon is now composed of cheese. Or, the NASA scientists put it, an organic matrix. But really, it’s cheese. How? Why? What does this all mean? As the ensuing month unfolds, the effects of this cheesy mystery are felt far and wide.

The story is told day by day, with each chapter highlighting a new setting and group of characters experiencing life following the great moon-to-cheese change. It’s a terrific and bizarre mix of subject matter and people, including a small-town pastor and his flock, a team of astronauts who’d been about to launch on the first moon mission in decades, an egotistical tech billionaire who happens to own a space company (hmmmm…..), the President and his staff, a popular science writer, a cheese shop proprietor, and many, many more. Through these characters, we see how ordinary people’s lives — as well as the lives of the rich, famous, and powerful — are dramatically affected by the moon. Their stories weave together to create a rich, meaningful story of human connection, scientific inquiry, and big helping doses of WTF situations.

I listened to the audiobook, and of course, Wil Wheaton’s delivery make this a funny, fast-moving, totally engaging experience.

I’m finding myself at a loss for what else to say about this book. YES, IT’S ABOUT THE MOON TURNING TO CHEESE. And also, yes, it’s simply awesome and utterly entertaining. You’ve just got to experience it for yourself.

One final note: The author photo on the back flap of the book should win its own award:

Purchase links: Amazon – Bookshop.org
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1Apr2025

Top Ten Tuesday: Just foolin’…

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is April Fools Day-themed — officially, it’s Books You’d be a Fool Not to Read. That didn’t really call to me, so I’m taking a simpler approach and highlighting ten books with “fool” in the title.

First, a bunch that I’ve read:

1) Fools and Mortals by Bernard Cornwell: A terrific novel set behind the scenes in Shakespeare’s time. (review)

2) Fool Moon by Jim Butcher: The 2nd book in the Dresden series. This is one of the books that made me realize — yup, I’m hooked!

3) The Queen’s Fool by Philippa Gregory: My first book by this author. I loved the way a Jewish woman serves as a viewpoint into the court of Queen Mary.

4) Fool by Christopher Moore: A brilliant (and super funny) King Lear retelling! Still one of my favorite Moore books.

5) The Autobiography of Henry VIII: With Notes by His Fool, Will Somers by Margaret George: One of the first Tudor novels I ever read. I remember being totally immersed.

6) Fool’s Paradise by Dale Walker: Non-fiction travelogue about Saudi Arabia. I read this so long ago that I barely remember it — but I do know I enjoyed it at the time.

And to round out my list, a few more that fit my foolish topic:

7) Bloody Fool for Love by William Ritter: It’s a ~~Buffy~~ Spike prequel! How can I resist? I hope to read this later this year, maybe as a nice summer diversion.

8) A Fool and His Honey by Charlaine Harris: This is the 6th book in the Aurora Teagarden series, which I haven’t read… but I’ve been meaning to give it a try, since I’ve enjoyed so many other of her books.

9) Fools Rush In by Kristan Higgins: A few bookish friends have recommended this author over the years, and this book looks especially cute!

10) Gimpel the Fool and Other Stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer: I feel like I should have read this story already! I know I’ve heard about it, and we definitely had books of stories by this author in my house growing up.

Happy April Fool’s Day! Do you have any other “foolish” books to recommend?

If you wrote a TTT post this week, please share your link!

End note: Since I mentioned Buffy… Fool for Love is one of my favorite Buffy episodes (season 5, episode 7), and since it fits the theme, I thought I’d end with a little photo montage!