Owl Be Home for Christmas

Owl Be Home for Christmas (A Very Murder Christmas #2)

by Rosie A. Pointe

Blurb:

With six days to go before Christmas, there’s only one thing on everyone’s minds… Murder!

Holly, local dog walker and amateur sleuth extraordinaire, likes to think she’s her hometown’s answer to the dog whisperer. But owls? That’s another sack of feathers all together. When she’s called out to a rich woman’s home, Holly is shocked when she’s asked to… walk an owl?

No amount of explaining will convince her new client that walking birds is something Holly can’t do. Or that owls are nocturnal creatures. Just when Holly’s ready to give up and go home, her client clasps at her throat, chokes, and keels over. Dead as a doornail.

Holly’s got no idea what happened to her, but with the local Christmas celebrations under threat, she won’t stop until she’s solved the crime.

My Reaction:

I read this tiny novel together with Donald, because (as you may have guessed) it was the annual 372 Pages We'll Never Get Back cozy mystery selection.  It's a tradition now for the podcast to cover a (usually Christmas-themed) cozy mystery sometime around/between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Far from completists, Mike and Conor typically just dip into the middle of series for their cozy mystery reads, and this time was no different.  It's the second in a series of three books (so far).  

Given the nature of the podcast, you wouldn't expect this to be a particularly (objectively) "great" book, and you'd be right.  In my very limited experience of reading cozy mysteries, I find them typically thin on the mystery, but this was an extreme example of that.  There's very little actual investigation, and when you reach the end, there are some big questions left hanging.  (Like how in the heck someone who is deathly allergic to cherries could eat a cake without noticing the cherries stuck inside—after baking and icing/decorating—without seeing... that it's been tampered with... and that there are whole pieces of cherries... in the cake she's eating in broad daylight... I just... Look, why didn't the author go for cherry liqueur or cherry juice or something?!  It's insane!)  

Anyway!  

I found this less fun to read than the other cozy mysteries we've read for the podcast, but I guess they can't all be The Quilters Push Back.  Listening along with the podcast makes it worth reading, but otherwise, I wouldn't bother. 

We Used to Live Here

We Used to Live Here

by Marcus Kliewer

Blurb:

As a young, queer couple who flip houses, Charlie and Eve can’t believe the killer deal they’ve just gotten on an old house in a picturesque neighborhood. As they’re working in the house one day, there’s a knock on the door. A man stands there with his family, claiming to have lived there years before and asking if it would be alright if he showed his kids around. People pleaser to a fault, Eve lets them in.

As soon as the strangers enter their home, inexplicable things start happening, including the family’s youngest child going missing and a ghostly presence materializing in the basement. Even more weird, the family can’t seem to take the hint that their visit should be over. And when Charlie suddenly vanishes, Eve slowly loses her grip on reality. Something is terribly wrong with the house and with the visiting family—or is Eve just imagining things?

My Reaction:

This is yet another horror book I've seen highly recommended, so I thought I'd give it a try.  So many other readers apparently found it terrifying and loved it, but for me it was just "okay".  The premise is great, but once you start to figure out what's going on (well, figure it out as much as anyone can, given that there are no definite answers), I found it a little disappointing.  That particular trope or style of horror has never been my favorite, and I can't reveal what it is without spoilers, so I'll leave it for now.  

The frequency of "oh no, religion" had me rolling my eyes, and apart from a few genuinely scary moments, I just wasn't feeling the terror.  Definitely not the scariest book I've ever read.  I think this might be one of those stories that works better as a movie than a novel—though I did enjoy the idea of the documents and the "hidden messages" doled out through the book.  (More about them in the spoilers section.) 

All in all, I enjoyed this novel well enough, but I also don't think it's as amazing as many others evidently do. I simply have too many unanswered questions. 

I struggle with rating this one, so I'm going straight down the middle of the road with 3 stars.

SPOILERS:

Okay, are the anti-spoilerites gone? 

Good.  

There are so many terrifying possibilities available, when the book starts with a family of strangers at the door—possibilities both paranormal in nature and completely within the realm of brutal reality.  What I wasn't expecting was a tale of "the old gods" toying with and mentally torturing hapless humans for no apparent reason except possibly their entertainment.  (Well, either that or Eve has lost her mind, and I don't think that's the conclusion we're supposed to settle on.)  

I think the paranormal can be incredibly frightening, when done right, but Lovecraftian horror generally isn't as effective for me as it seems to be for many other readers.  Maybe I just haven't found the right book, yet.  Yes, there are moments of this book that are scary, and the uncertainty is unsettling—but nothing in here kept me up at night or made me hesitate to walk down the hallway at night without switching on the light (as has been known to happen on occasion, with other books). 

Regarding the "hidden messages":  Maybe it's not exactly a hidden message when it's in the form of Morse code clearly visible at the end of chapters and random capitalized letters, but I'm not sure how else to describe them. I missed the wingdings messages completely and only read about them in another review.

Painting Cats: Curious, Mindful & Free-Spirited Watercolors

Painting Cats: Curious, Mindful & Free-Spirited Watercolors

by Terry Runyan

Blurb:

In this follow-up to her hit Painting Happiness, Instagram sensation Terry Runyan shows you how to play with watercolor to create quirky cat portraits--and let go of stress.

Perfect for cat lovers and watercolor artists of all skill levels, from absolute beginner to more experienced, Painting Cats teaches you how to go from blob of paint to a beautiful portrait of your fluffy friends. Drawing on art therapy techniques that emphasize fun and freedom in creativity over technical perfection, Runyan guides you step by step through the process of adding details to loosely painted shapes to create your own unique and distinct cats.

My Reaction:

Love it!  Even if you're more of a dog person, the cats are adorable and the book itself is fun and inspiring.  If you enjoyed Terry Runyan's previous watercolor book, Painting Happiness, you'll probably like this one, too.  I found Painting Happiness very helpful.  It opened me up to more possibilities and helped me learn to ignore my harsh inner critic.  (The author certainly lives up to her self-description as a "creative encourager"!)  I'm thrilled to have another book of watercolor happiness to flip through when I'm in need of inspiration.  

Keeping a Creative Sketchbook

Keeping a Creative Sketchbook: Build Your Artistic Practice for a Joyfully Inspired Life

by Emma Block

Blurb:

Keeping a sketchbook is a wonderfully rewarding pursuit for artists and hobbyists alike. Your sketchbook is a safe place to explore, experiment, try new things, record your progress, and sometimes mess up, and working in a sketchbook, particularly on location, is an innately mindful practice. You become completely focused on the things you are sketching or painting and completely immersed in the atmosphere of the place.

In  Keeping a Creative Sketchbook , Emma Block shares her own sketchbook practice and offers inspiring artist interviews and numerous techniques and practices for beginning or transforming your own. Packed with ideas and prompts to get started, this book helps overcome overwhelm and open a world of joyful creativity. With your sketchbook by your side, you can slow down, be present, notice the little things, enjoy the process, let go of perfectionism, and embrace the blank page, discovering rich new depths to your creativity and finding your artist mindset for inner peace.

My Reaction:

"On-location" art creation isn't really something I do much of, at the moment, but I still found the book interesting and inspiring, with plenty of useful information for anyone considering keeping a sketchbook and uncertain of where to start.  Much of this info is perfectly relevant beyond the sketchbook, too.  If you don't like working in a bound sketchbook, you can just as easily do the same type of work on loose sheets or a pad or block of paper, then put them together in a binder, scrapbook, keepsake box, etc. 

I particularly enjoyed the interviews sprinkled throughout the book, with other artists sharing how they use their own sketchbooks, tips, etc. and photos of their work. There are a variety of different styles to spark new ideas. 

How to Attract the Wombat

How to Attract the Wombat

by Will Cuppy

Blurb:

A survey of the animal kingdom in which the nocturnal and tunneling wombat is awarded the greatest praise.

Will Cuppy was something like the Larry David of the mid-20th century. From his perch as a staff writer at The New Yorker , Cuppy observed the world and found a great deal that annoyed him. This collection of essays on animals includes “Birds Who Can’t Even Fly,” “Optional Insects,” “Octopuses and Those Things”, and “How to Swat a Fly,” which codifies the essentials in ten hilarious principles. And three essays on wombats. Perfect reading for the perplexed, befuddled, and perpetually irritated.

My Reaction:

I found these humorous essays better than Cuppy's book about historical figures (The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody)—but less enjoyable than How to Be a Hermit.  Good for light reading, especially if you want something that can mostly be consumed in short bites.  

If you're the type who reads P.G. Wodehouse, I'd give this author a try.