Review: Brigands and Breadknives by Travis Baldree

 

This was one of my most anticipated books of last year and I am not a fan. It took me over a week to read because it was just so boring. I loved Fern in Bookshops and Bonedust and was looking forward to her being with Viv again. That is not the case. She has left her bookstore in Murk because she is feeling lost. She talks to Viv and decides to open a bookstore in Thune. Viv and Cal and Tandri help secure a location and also get the place up and running. 

It is not mentioned how long the store was open, maybe a day before Fern got piss drunk because she was still unhappy. She decides to talk to Viv about it, but ends up chickening out and crawling into the back of a random wagon and passing out. She wakes up face to face with a goblin who is prisoner. She crawled into the wagon belonging to the legendary oathmaiden, Astryx One Ear. She is a legendary elf who has fought countless battles and has numerous books about her. 

Astryx is taking the goblin who is named Zyll in to collect the biggest bounty ever. The problem is that Astryx, who is over a thousand years old cannot understand the goblin language. Fern can and she then gets to stay with the two of them and try to find a way to get back to Thune. 

It is a long boring adventure with some battle and action scenes, but they are few and far between. I found myself skimming the overly description scenes of the landscapes and the woods and the clothing. I could care less. I did really love Astryx elder blade Nigel and the breadknife that Zyll pulls out of her pocket. He is also an elder blade that unfortunately got turned into a breadknife by the forger because of beef between them. I found every scene with these two blades hilarious and it is what kept me reading.

I think that there is no more to this world that can be written about and if there is another book, then I would have to be a big fan of the characters or it just be about Viv once again. 

Review: Rampage by Harold Schechter

 

This is the first story in this collection that got a four star. It kept my attention, but it did take me almost a week to read because of the subject matter and life. The subject matter is mass shooting. This is one of my biggest fears and one of the reasons why I decided to homeschool my children. There is even a mention in this about Columbine, West Virginia Tech, and Sandy Hook. The Sandy Hook shooting was the nail in the coffin on my decision because my oldest was the same age and one of the little kids, had the same last name as my children. The author even mentions that the people who suffered this and had to live through this would never know that this type of thing would become "the norm" in America today.

Howard Unruh is known as The Father of Modern Mass Murder. He is the subject of this story. He was a veteran of WW2 and he was fascniated with killing Nazi's. He was also described as shy, kept to himself, and read his bible. He was a gay man who if his secret came out, he would have been arrested. He starts getting paranoid and angry at his neighbors and start to think everyone is out to get him. 

He goes on a shooting spree throughout his town and killing business people and anyone who gets in his way, children included. When the police surround his home, he surrenders. When he is being interrogated, he admits that he shot everyone and he showed no remorse. He gets evaluated by 4-5 psychiatrists who all say that he is insane and can't stand trial. He then gets put into maximum secuirty for the criminally insane and lives the rest of his life in a mental institution. The victims do not get the justice they deserve and it pisses me off that people who get called insane, don't see the death penalty at all.

I am all for capital punishment. 

Review: Panic by Harold Schechter

 

First read of 2026 and I am continuing in the Bloodlands collection. Although these are true crime non fiction stories, this one was the most disturbing in my opinion. I have three daughters, and this was about sex offenders and rapes and murders of little girls in New York and Los Angeles.

These all took place around the start of World War 2 and prohibition. The first case is about a little girl who was found in a burlap sack. She was raped and murder by an Italian barber who had been arrested before for being weird and touching little girls. When he was suspected at first, he immediately confessed. The little girl was part of the American Nazi Bund and her troop mates sis the Nazi slaute at her funeral. 

The newspapers caused mass frenzy with sex crave killers. It was the type of news that takes everyones mind off what else is happening in the world. Another case was in Los Angeles where a degenerate lured three little girls into a ravine and rape all three of them and strangled them. He was at first denying and when the search parties were looking for the little girls, he took part to throw off suspension.

Reading that hit close to home, because in 2020, there was a little girl that went missing. She was found days later in the woods and the guy that took her was her neighbor and he helped look for her. My best friend was a 911 operator and she is the one that got the call about the girl being missing.

The last case that was mentioned in the book was about a little girl who lived in a tenement. Her mom sent her to play and to come back for lunch. She was found in the cellar and the way the author mentions that the killer forced his way while raping her was just the final nail in the coffin. I was very traumatized.

I ended up giving this a 3 star because it made me feel disgust and it made me terrified for my kids. 

Review: One Piece omnibus volume 7-8-9 by Eiichiro Oda * SPOILERS*

 

My 101st book of the year. I was cutting it pretty close again this year. I am obsessed with the title of volume 7... the crap gezer. It starts off with the Baratie cooks fighting Don Krieg's men. We meet Krieg's second in command, Invincible Pearl and his specialty move is called the Pearl Surprise. I find it realy funny that the see cooks have names like Patty and Carne. Reminds me of the cow villagers on Animal Crossing.

Sanji is fighting with his feet because he doesn't want to damage his hands. He also gave Patty his knife back and to hold on to it tightly while he died. Sanji is a hoot. I just got the ick from Invicible Pearl. He is monologuing and saying that he is the Iron Shield of Kriegs crew and that he has never spilled any of his blood, and oh that he is handsome too. YUCK!

Luffy shows up and Sanji gets a kick in on Pearl. His nose starts to bleed and he freaks the fuck out. He thinks he is back in the jungle where he grew up and he makes flames to keep the animals at bay. This guy is nuts. Sanji jumps the wall of fire while everyone else is panicking because they are afraid that the Baratie will burn down. Sanji basically says you cant be a cook if you are afraid of fire. 

Chef Zeff puts the fire out with his peg leg. Krieg sends a fire ball towards Sanji and Luffy jumps in front of it with a gum gum bazooka. Gin has a gun to Chef Zeff's head. The fuck!!!! He also broke Chef's peg leg. The Bastard! Really love the question corner and Eiichiro Oda comparing the end of Sanji's eyebrows to the sun, moon and Earth because of circles.

Sanji is trying to patronize Crap Geezer and Chef Zeff calls Sanji an eggplant head and Sanji loses it...lol. Sanji is refusing to leave the ship because it is Zeff's pride and joy. Pearl got a hit on Sanji and Gin is wondering why the hell he wont leave. 

We get a back story on Sanji when he was nine and a apprentice cook. He was talking about the legend of All Blue and he hated that the cooks ate the scraps that the customers didn't eat. Chef Zeff ends up boarding the ship Sanji is on and takes everything. One of his pirates starts eating food, and Chef Zeff gets pissed and tells him that they don't eat other peoples food. Little Sanji attacks Zeff and mentions the All Blue and calls them crap pirates. Zeff continues to kick his little ass. The storm knocks Sanji into the ocean and Zeff ends up jumping in after him. They get stranded on a rock and have some food to last them 5 days. The end of the chapter has Zeff taking a massive rock to his leg and saying it is the end of him. Why did he do that???

Sanji ends up portioning his food to last him 20 days. He gets to day 70 and the poor kid is starving which makes his whole plot make more sense and how he hates seeing people go hungry. He goes to Zeff and sees that he still has a whole bag of food. Sanji rips open the bag and instead of food, finds treasure and now it all makes sense in why Zeff cut off his leg, which is gross. Zeff tells Sanji he had the same dream of the All Blue and that he wants to make a restaurant in the middle of the ocean and he'll do it if they get rescued. I love these backstories!!!! Sanji is fighting for the ship as a repayment to crap geezer for saving his life with the food.

Luffy ends up involving himself and he and Sanji start yelling at each other. Krieg is over it and Pearl tries to do one of his special moves, and Gin stops him, confusing the hell out of Luffy and Sanji. Turns out Gin wants to kill Sanji and Luffy. Luffy calls them all wimps, and that they are not tough, just that there are so many of them. 

Don Krieg is getting fed up with all of the sentimentality and wants to fight to prove who is worthy of being king of the pirates. Luffy immediately shouts that he will fight. Don Krieg gets pissed and pulls out an MH5 which has all of the pirates freaking out. The MH5 is a poison gas cannonball that Luffy bounces off of himself. Don Krieg tricked everyone into thinking it was the MH5 when it was really the Shuriken bomb. While Luffy is fighting Krieg, Sanji is fighting Gin, the demon man. They are going at it, and Gin is yelling die and hitting Sanji and Sanji gives hime one good kick, and Gin admits defeat and that he can't kill Sanji.

Krieg is fed up with Gin and removes him from the pirate crew which surprises the rest of the pirates because Gin was the most loyal to Don Krieg. He shoots the MH5 and Luffy finds a mask. When the fog clears, Gin is on top of Sanji pressing a mask to his face while he remained maskless. Gin sacrificed himself. 

Volume 8 starts off with Krieg still dissing Gin about disobeying him and that he deserves to die. Sanji asks Patty for the antidote and Patty says that it is for food poisoning and not for enemies. Patty needs to resolve his issues and prioritize current moments. Krieg is fighting with Luffy and he turns his cape on Luffy when he comes at him and it is covered in spikes. Luffy punches him anyway and knocks Krieg on his ass. Sanji and Zeff are impressed and Zeff tells Sanji to keep an eye on him. The coooks are trying to get Gin conscious and they are fighting because they are bad mouthing each other's cooking....lol.

Krieg has pulled out his mighty battle spear and is going to town trying to hit Luffy. Luffy keeps dodging and standing up and Krieg is getting pissed. Sanji is screaming chore boy over and over and Zeff is just standing there watching. He knows what is up. Luffy broke the spear. Luffy and Krieg are still trying to kill each other and Luffy is doing Gum Gum bazooka and bullet. Luffy is all bloody. Krieg traps Luffy in a net and throws him towards the ocean. Smart Luffy finds a way and does a gum gum giant gavel and Krieg. Luffy then falls into the ocean and starts drowning until Zeff tells Sanji and he has to jump in after him. 

Gin tosses Krieg over his shoulder and tells him that they have to start at zero since he is no longer the strongest man in the world. Gin tells Sanji that Krieg's dreams have now become his and that he hopes to run into Luffy again one day on the Grand Line. Luffy is still trying to get Sanji to join his crew, but he refuses to leave the restuarant to those crap cooks. He tells Luffy about the All Blue who has never heard of it. 

All of the cooks are eating and they start spitting out and dumping Sanji's soup. That pisses him off and then crap geezer joins in and punches Sanji. Luffy says that the soup is really good, and all of the cooks admit that it is tasty, but that Chef Zeff made them bad mouth it to get Sanji to leave and go to the Grand Line because that is his dream. 

Yosaku gets saved from the ocean and says that he tried to chase Nami's ship, but that she is headed toward an impossible place. Luffy wants to leave and Sanji agrees to go with him. We get more flashbacks of when Zeff bought the Baratie and Sanji started smoking and when the crap cooks started showing up. Sanji is leaving and he starts to tear up as he is telling Zeff that he owes him is life and then everyone starts crying. Yosaku starts telling Luffy and Sanji that the Grand Line is not paradise and that they have to get through the three main powers of the sea. The seven warlords of the sea, who are pirates that are recognized by the government. Mihawk is one of the seven warlords.

Yosaku is telling them that Nami was looking at the bounties and saw the one for Arlong Park which is in Fish Man territory. Luffy is drawing weird looking fish and Sanji is fantasizing about mermaids. We meet Saw tooth Arlong and he is giving a cut of his treasure to the marines. 

HOLY SHIT..... NAMI IS AN OFFICER IN ARLONG'S PIRATE CREW!!!! What....how... why???  

Zoro, Usopp and Johnny spot where Nami docked the Merry Go. Zoro plans to go in swinging, and Johnny and Usopp tie him up because he is still recupriating. Usopp's ego gets the better of him and he takes command as captain. He and Johnny then encounter the fish men and freak out. A ship from Arlong's crew shows up and Johnny and Usopp abandone ship leaving Zoro tied up and yelling. I honestly cannot wait to see this in the live action. I am still watching the first season. 

The little boy Chabo, who tried to fight Nami, ends up tripping Usopp thinking he is a fish man who helped destroy his village and killed his father. A girl stops Chabo and says that Usopp looks like a human, which is very funny. I do not like the anime Usopp because he long nose freaks me out. 

Nojiko knocked Usopp out when he tried to fight the fish man. She took him and Chabo to her house. She gets really pissed off at Chabo because he wants revenge and doesn't care if he dies. Najiko tells him to get the hell out and if he doesn't care about his life, then why should she continue to care about it as well. 

Nojiko tells Usopp that Nami is part of Arlong's crew and that she is also her step sister. Zoro is tied up in front of Arlong and Arlong is going on and on about how superior the fish men are because they can breathe underwater. Zoro sees Nami and hears that she is the surveyor in Arlong's crew. Nami and Zoro have words with each other and Zoro throws himself into the water tied up and Nami jumps in to save him. Then someone in the crew tells Arlong that the one with the long nose got away and headed for coco village. We learn about the tribute system. Everyone in the village has to pay Arlong and if one person can't pay, then the whole village gets destroyed. 

Volume 9 

One of the men in the village, Mr. Genzo has a weapon and that is against the rules because Arlong sees that as rebellion and now he has to die. Arlong is seconds away from killing Genzo in front of the whole village and then Usopp throws an exploding star. He tries to act brave and exaggerate how many men are ready to fight. Arlong recognizes that Usopp is a human and he gets pissed. 

They start chasing him back to Arlong park and then Nami walks into Coco village. All of the villagers hate her and slam the door in her face. We learn that the reason she wants the berries is so she can buy the village. Zoro is chilling in Arlong Park and he hears the dinner trumpet. He meets Hachi the fish man octopus who offers to take him to Coco Village.

Luffy, Sanji and Yosaku are eating in the boat and they see a Grand Line monster who is part of Arlong's Crew. It's called MooMoo the Sea Cow and it is a literal cow that likes roast pig. Luffy does a gum gum pistol and then Sanji thinks it is hungry. He gets pissed when the sea cow tries to eat him and they fight it. The sea cow goes away and they continue to eat. 

Arlong gets back to his base to see his men sprawled out on the ground. He then realizes that the man he has was Zoro and that Nami must be behind it. Nami is pissed because Zoro is fucking up her plans on buying the village. Arlong has a 20 million berry bounty on his head which is the highest in the East Blue. 

Nami fights Usopp to prove that she has betrayed the pirate crew and to keep her 8 years of work from being ruined. Arlong tells Nami that he won't go back on the deal and that he would slit his belly  before going back on a promise. Luffy, Sanji and Yosaku make it to the island and they learn from Johnny that Nami has killed Usopp. The village elders of Gosa got a message to the government and they have sent a ship to evacuate the remaining villagers.

The marine ship fires on Arlong park and Lord Arlong catches the cannonball in his mouth and chews it up. Arlong sends two of his crew to bust up the marine ship and they succeed. Nami confronts the straw hat crew and Sanji is so love struck. He is begging Nami to come back to them and Zoro wants to fight. Johnny is screaming and calling her a witch because she killed Usopp. Nami tells them to get lost and to go find another navigator. Luffy then decides it is the perfect time to take a nap. 

Yosaku and Johnny decided to split from the crew because they dont want to die. Usopp is walking through the village and thinking that Nami isn't a witch because she didn't kill him. He goes running on the beach to try to find Zoro and he finds everyone. They come to the conclusion that Nami isn't a witch...duh. Nojiko finds them on the beach and tells them they have to leave. Another marine ship shows up and is asking about Nami.

We get Nami's past where Genzo kept catching her stealing books and her foster mother Belle-mere flirting with Genzo to get Nami out of trouble. Nami stole the book because she didn't have money, but she really wants to be a navigator and sail the whole world and make a map. Belle-mere isn;t eating and she says that it is a diet. Nami says that she will stop eating and Belle-mere gets scary face. 

Nami hates that she gets hand me downs from Nojiko and she starts fighting and says that they aren't real sisters and that they aren't related by blood. Belle-mere gets furious and slaps Nami. Nami ends up running away to the center of the village. Genzo tells Nami the story of how Belle-mere ran away and came back a fighting sailor, and she brought two little girls with her, Nami and Nojiko. 

We get the story of when Arlong and his crew showed up and demanded 100,000 berries from each adult and 50,000 for children and that it supposed to be every month. Belle-mere is clueless to what is happening in the village and then her house is spotted. She tries to fight and Arlong takes her savings. He doesn't know about the girls. Belle-mere ends up paying for the girls and sacrificing herself. She gets shot and Arlong's pirates find Nami's drawn maps and takes her away. 

Nami comes back to the village and finds the villagers gathering to go and look for her. She tells them tearfully that she has joined Arlong's crew and shows them the tattoo and that they gave her money. Genzo is pissed that Belle-mere's sacrifice was thrown away and he bans her from the village. Nojika tells Luffy that Nami made a deal with Arlong and to buy the village back. 

The navy ship that showed up looking for Nami was called by Arlong and for them to confiscate Nami's money. The villagers tell Nami that they knew of her deal and they tell her she has to leave the island and that they are going to fight to death because it is what is right. Nami cries and she starts stabbing her tattoo. Luffy stops her and she asks him for help. This is the part that made me cry, he puts his straw hat on her head and goes to look for Arlong. He tells Zoro and Sanji to get ready and Yosaku and Johnny show back up to help because they heard the story while hiding in the woods. The volume ends with Luffy confronting Arlong.

Review: Romancing Mr. Bridgerton by Julia Quinn

 

Finally picked up the fourth book and sadly it was a 3 star. It took me two weeks to read. I admit that the holidays, school and work got in the way, but also I was just not invested in this installment. I love Penelope and she is one of my favorite characters. Colin is my least favorite Bridgerton sibling and he was so selfish, pouty and narcissistic at times. 

Book Penelope is so different from show Penelope, honestly all of them are different, but book Penelope is plain and dry and kind of boring. She is a spinster at 28 and finally off the marriage mart. She is now a chaperone for her younger sister Felicity who is having her first season. All of the ton are bored with this year's prospects and are getting bored. Lady Whistledown has been writing for ten years, and Lady Danbury, whom I adore, she decides to make a contest. 1,000 pounds to whoever can uncover the identity of Lady Whistledown.

Penelope decides to go into retirement as Lady Whistledown and she is followed for the first time in 10 years by no one other than Colin. Colin is appaled that she has traveled by herself to London and a shady part at that and then is flabbergasted that she is Lady Whistledown.

He then takes her to her mothers house where she was supposed to be, and on the way they get intimate and handsy. He then decides to propose marriage and the whole time he is trying to tell her mother, her mom and sisters are trying to get Penelope to leave the room because they think Colin is there for Felicity, because who honestly wants Penelope. RUDE!!!!

At a ball, Cressida comes out and says that she is Lady Whistledown and demands the 1000 pounds from Lady Danbury. Penelope is so over Cressida's shit that she decides to write one more column to denounce Cressida. The column gets delivered at their engagment party and Colin is furious.

Colin is also jealous of Penelope because she could write and did it so well for 10 years and the poor man child has no purpose. She calls him on his bullshit and says that since he is a man, he has so many doors open to him and he has the nerve to scoff at her. 

They get married and then Cressida pays Penelope a visit. Cressida knows that she is Lady Whistledown and wants to blackmail her for 10000 pounds. She gives Penelope two days to come up with the money. Colin then tells Anthony and Simon that Penelope is Lady Whistledown and makes an announcement at Daphne's ball. Penelope is not ruined especially when the first person to clap and acknowledge her is none other than Lady Danbury who knew all along. 

The ending and 2nd epilogue wasn't very good. The whole book was a back and forth of who was jealous and mad at who and why they weren't noticeable and who was a wallflower. Eloise gets married to Sir Phillip.

Review: The Brickslayer by Harold Schechter

 

The third book in the Bloodlands series on Amazon and this one was forgettable as soon as I finished it. I read it a couple weeks ago and I forgot to write this review of it the night I got home from the library. 

The main premise of this is the brickslayer who killed unsuspecting women in their homes, or hotel rooms. It was women who were alone or with their children. The killings started in Los Angeles and then they stopped after the police started looking. The killings then started back up in Chicago and they eventually capture the killer, after the police rounded up every lone black male walking about and who looked suspicious.

The killer named Robert Nixon was allegedly tortured while in police custody to confessing and his defense was that he had the IQ of a child and did the state really want to put a child to death. They pass a guilty verdict and he also confessed to the murders in Los Angeles. 

This case was the inspirate for the classic book Native Son. 

Review: My Hero Academia volume 12 *SPOILERS*

 

This volume starts off with the students learning about ultimate moves and how it will determine if they get their provisional licenses. I am guessing that this was mentioned at the end of volume 11, but with my library copy being damaged and it missing the last two pages, I am gonna assume that is the case. 

the teachers take the students to the TKL, the training kitchen where they learn that ultimate moves is based on combat prowess and not every ultimate move is a attack move. While everyone is working on their moves, of course Deku is standing there like a bump on a log. He gets told to learn more about his quirk first. All Might shows up and tries to go into his hero form and that last about 2 seconds. 

Mineta bragging how he had his idea for his Grape Rush move since he was in diapers is a flex I didn't need to know. This little perv is not a favorite. All Might is going around to all the students, giving them little tidbits of advice. While he has a Idiot's Guide to Teaching book in his back pocket....lmao. 

Deku goes to the developement studio to see about a brace for his arm, and Ida and Uraraka show up. Then the door to the studio explodes and Hatsume appears and then Ida and Uraraka are mesmerized by her boobs. This is the first time that boobs have been said even though they are on display all the time. And that is how the 100th chapter ended.

Hatsume is part of the support course, so in Sky High terms, she is a sidekick. The kids let Power loader sensei know the mods they want and Deku gets put into a full body suit that Hatsume designed. He gets the brace for his arm and he has has an epiphany about what All Might wants from him. The kids are working their ultimate moves and Deku saves All Might from a falling bolder by using his ultimate move. He is using his fists, but also his legs. All Might looks so proud. 

The day of their provisional testing arrives and they get to their test site. Aizawa announces that once they have their provisionals, that they will be semi-pros. The kids then scream their plus ultra chant. Except that it is not U.A doing the chant. It is the students from the rival school, Shiketsu High. We also meet the Todoroki of that school and he has some energy and character. He is a first year with top grades. 

We meet another hero named Ms. Joke whose quirk is to make people laugh and stop their thoughts. She walks up to Eraser Head and immediately says "lets get married" and he gives the straightest no thanks, which is funny. 

There are over 1000 students taking the exams, and they learn that it is going to be a free for all based on speed. The fucked up thing is that the first one hundred who finish will earn their provisionals, while the rest fail. Basically the reasoning for this is because the world is already saturated with heroes. To pass the test, they have to beat two other test takers that have their three targets lit. If your three targets light up, you fail. 

The test starts and we learn about the first move of the exam every year, which is the U.A Crush. Which is where every other school there, tries to take out all of U.A. because they have had their strengths and weaknesses exposed to everyone thanks to the sports festival. U.A obviously teams up witht ehexception of Bakugo and Todoroki.

The Todoroki of the other school takes out 120 kids at once by using wind. Deku is inner monologuing and not paying attention and he gets a ball to the target by a girl from Shiketsu. He thinks she is cool and then the next chapter shows Uraraka.. and I am expecting jealousy and rage. 

Uraraka and Deku are up against a group and Deku saves Uraraka from falling. He then realizes it is a fake Uraraka after they try to put a ball on his target. The clone then turns into a goopy slime person and it really is disgusting but interesting and I want to know more. The goopy girl can clone but she is naked when she goes back to her self and her targets are gone. The ick factor is definitely increased with the manga artist because he has drawn a naked teen girl. It was all full cleavage and short skirts and the hot tub scene, but now it is full body with the bits covered.

Eraser Head is talking to joke about what makes Class A so special and determined and it is because there is a pair that shows what to do and what mood to set and he is talking about Bakugo and Midoriya. Bakugo gets turned into a ball by a guy with the meatball quirk. He uses his own flesh to incase another person, making them immobile which is really fucking gross.

The count is almost at 100 and U.A hasn't lost a member yet. Deku and Uraraka and Seto are working together and Bakugo and Kaminari and Kirishima are going against the undone meatballs. They pass the exam and go into the anteroom and find out that Ida and the sparkly belly button dude whose name I forget is still taking the test. 

Aoyama is the sparkly dude, he is trying to sacrifice himself to save Ida and instead he beckons the rest of Class A to rally together. All of class A passed the first round. Now all 100 left have to endure round two as they now have to do a rescue mission as bystanders to prove their worth.