Offbeat Offline: May 2024

Welcome to Offbeat Offline, where I bring you up-to-date with what went on in my life during the month just gone, give you a sneak peek of my next shenanigans, and share my favourite posts of late!

What happened last month to yours truly? Basically, medical check-ups (with an unpleasant find) and perm difficulties (what's new?) for me, and a series of visits and consultations with regards to my husband's situation. This is still a work in progress, so to speak, so I'll be able to tell you more in my next Offbeat Offline installment. For now, here goes my recap of May's most notable moments...

📚 OUT OF CONTROL. I may have bitten more than I can chew lately...as of now, I have 10 (still unread) ARCs lined up for review 😱 (though I did start one of them). Some approvals I didn't expect at all, so I requested the books in question just for kicks...it's funny how sometimes my request is declined on one site only to get approved on the other (or a book can only be "wished for" on NG, which means us European folks will never get it, while we can easily request and obtain it via EW). Anyhow, here's my monthly bookish recap...

Approvals (3+2):

• The Drowning House by Cherie Priest (Adult, supernatural/thriller)

A violent storm washes a mysterious house onto a rural Pacific Northwest beach, stopping the heart of the only woman who knows what it means. Her grandson, Simon Culpepper, vanishes in the aftermath, leaving two of his childhood friends to comb the small, isolated island for answers―but decades have passed since Melissa and Leo were close, if they were ever close at all.

Now they'll have to put aside old rivalries and grudges if they want to find or save the man who brought them together in the first place―and on the way they'll learn a great deal about the sinister house on the beach, the man who built it, and the evil he's bringing back to Marrowstone Island.

• The Last Hour Between Worlds (The Echo Archives #1) by Melissa Caruso (Adult, fantasy/multiverse)

Kembral Thorne is spending a few hours away from her newborn, and she's determined to enjoy the party no matter what. But when the guests start dropping dead, Kem has no choice but to get to work. She's a member of the Guild of Hounds, after all, and she can't help picking up the scent of trouble.

She's not the only one. Her professional and personal nemesis, notorious burglar Rika Nonesuch, is on the prowl. They quickly identify what's causing the mayhem: a mysterious grandfather clock that sends them down an Echo every time it chimes. In each strange new layer of reality, time resets and a sinister figure appears to perform a blood-soaked ritual.

As Kem and Rika fall into increasingly macabre versions of their city, they'll need to rely on their wits - and each other - to unravel the secret of the clock and save their city.

• Malicia by Steven Dos Santos (YA, supernatural/thriller/horror)

Four friends, three days, two lovers, and one very haunted theme park

On a stormy Halloween weekend, Ray enlists his best friends Joaquin, Sofia, and Isabella to help him make a documentary of Malicia, the abandoned theme park off the coast of the Dominican Republic where his mother and brother died in a mass killing thirteen years ago.

But what should be an easy weekend trip quickly turns into something darker because all four friends have come to Malicia for their own

Ray has come to Malicia to find out the truth of the massacre that destroyed his family. Isabella has come to make art out of Ray’s tragedy for her own personal gain. Sofia has come to support her friends in one last adventure before she goes to med school. Joaquin already knows the truth of the Malicia Massacre and he has come to betray his crush Ray to the evil that made the park possible.

With an impending hurricane and horrors around every corner, they all struggle to face the deadly storm and their own inner demons. But the deadliest evil of all is the ancient malignant presence on the island.

• Whirly World by Brandon Jason (Adult, afterlife/thriller - not really an approval, because it was Read Now on NetGalley...and not really an ARC, because it's an October 2023 release that is being given a second chance to gain visibility, I guess)

Theme-park blogger Jason Green is dead and his spirit is stuck inside Whirly World, his favorite place to be. What should be a dream come true turns into an abstract nightmare as Jason confronts malevolent forces trapping him there. Desperate to escape, he has to befriend the other ten ghosts inhabiting this afterlife, from a disgruntled hostess crushed under a revolving stage, to a bereft security guard that still thinks it's 1983, and combine their strange powers to dig up the park's mysterious past.

• Streetlight People by Charlene Thomas (YA, supernatural?/time travel - again, not really an approval, because it was Read Now on NetGalley)

For most, Streetlight is a dot on the map you pass on your way to somewhere else. But if you live there, you’re either a Have-Not, like Kady, or a Have-Lot like her boyfriend, Nik, who also happens to be a member of the exclusive social club, The IV Boys.

Known for their powerful families and the coveted ball they host for a selective guest list, The IV Boys have always refused to accept Kady regardless of how much Nik loves her. All the Boys except for Aaron, who didn’t grow up in Streetlight and is one of the few who knows that life—real life—exists outside of it. But his stepmom has the kind of wealth and power even IV Boys can’t resist.

With Nik at college, Aaron stands by Kady’s side. But all Kady really wants is Nik, and when a chance encounter on Halloween hands her the power to twist and hold time, she doesn’t hesitate. Now she can keep Nik close for as long as she wants.

While Kady tries to relive her best moments with Nik, the IV Boys have her in their sights. A rumor’s spreading that Kady and Aaron are much more than friends—and not even twisting time is enough to defend against the power that the Boys were born with.

The more Kady changes the clock, the more dizzying reality becomes, until she stumbles upon a truth darker than anything she could have imagined. Streetlight is filled with monsters—and maybe she’s always been one, too.

Reads (4):

• Wink by Henry Herz et al. (YA, fantasy/sci fi - anthology)

I've already posted my mini review at the end of last month...

• You Fed Us to the Roses by Carlie St. George (YA with a pinch of Adult, fantasy/contemporary/afterlife/horror - anthology)

Mini review posted - see Wink above.

• The Pecan Children by Quinn Connor (Adult, magical realism)

I loved it! Review to come in a few days.

• Malicia by Steven Dos Santos (see above)

A great ride (no pun intended, but then again, it's set in a theme park...😂) when it comes to horror, a bit less strong character-wise, but I enjoyed it! Probably more suitable for the younger crowd, though the horror is BRUTAL. Mini review to come when I have two more books to incorporate in a Review Morsels installment...

Reviews (4):

• The Lilies by Quinn Diacon-Furtado (YA, supernatural/mystery/time travel)

Mini review already posted at the end on May, in a Review Morsels round with the following books.

• Wink by Henry Herz et al. (see above)

Same as The Lilies - see link above.

• You Fed Us to the Roses by Carlie St. George (see above)

Same as The Lilies and Wink - see link above.

• The Pecan Children by Quinn Connor (see above)

Review to come in a few days.

Here are my scheduled reviews for this month (this is a tentative list, since I'm still in the middle of my ARCapocalypse...):

• The Pecan Children by Quinn Connor (on Sat. 8th);
• The Afterlife of Mal Caldera by Nadi Reed Perez (on Fri. 14th);
• one of my July books (on Thu. 20th - if I manage to read and review it in time, that is...).

Reviews aside, I'll do a Tell Me Something Tuesday round-up for June on the 25th. Once again: I'm so behind on ARCs that I must concentrate on reading and reviewing them, but at least I get to play catch-up a little this way (though I'm skipping the May questions). In the meantime, here's the TMST prompt list for the months of June and July, in case you want to join in:

• June 4th: What outdoor activities do you like to do in the spring/summer?
• June 11th: Have your reading interests changed over time?
• June 18th: Share some LGBTQ-character books you've recently enjoyed
• June 25th: Mid-year check-in: what books have you loved so far in 2024?
• July 2nd: Who’s your favourite celebrity (alive and/or dead)? (a question I submitted)
• July 9th: Have you kept any hobbies that you started during the pandemic?
• July 16th: Stars, letter grades, nothing... how do you rate books?
• July 23rd: Book cons: are you attending? Would you like to attend? Which ones?
• July 30th: Where is your favourite place to read?

🩺 EVERYTHING'S FINE, I SWEAR. The health department in this house is still a hot mess. My husband's ulcer is stagnant at the moment, despite the doctor who's following him changing his medications now and then. Almost two years, and we're still deep in the woods. We're considering trying the hyperbaric chamber, but we need to wait for the difficult wounds doctor and my husband's GP to agree on it, plus eventually get an appointment to determine if he's eligible...For his foot, an orthopedist suggested an arch support - we'll see how it pans out. In the meantime, my blood count is showing more and more spikes, and I'm slowly nearing the time when I'll have to do something for my CLL. Not to mention the latest ultrasound found a thyroid nodule I'll have to look into...when I manage to book a visit (the NHS here is a disgrace). I've recently gotten the chance to become a member of an integrative healthcare association for people who work/used to work at the local steel factory (like my dad – they opened sign-ups for the members’ offspring)...you pay a reasonable yearly fare and a small contribution for every appointment you make...the problem is, even there, there's a long waiting list. But at least you get said appointments in town, as opposed to being redirected to every hospital under the sun either than the local one 🤬.

💇‍♀️ (I RAN OUT OF HAIR PUNS FOR THESE TITLES). I got my yearly perm (more like bi-yearly this time, because of all the difficulties I've had with the unruly mane in the last 12 months) and it went better than usual...but only after a second try. Basically, the left side and the top came out great, while the right side and the back rear were the usual cross between "nixed bag" and "hot mess of the straight variety". So my hairdresser redid those bits (after two painful weeks - I had to let the hair breathe), and I finally have a decent hairdo (I mean, the right side and part of the rear are still looser than the rest, but you don't really notice it, so I'll call it a win. If all the curls looked like the ones on the left side and top, I'd be SPECTACULAR). Good grief, what's a girl to do - try to regenerate Doctor-style and manifest wild curls in the process? 😂 😭

PUBLISHING NEWS/TIPS

None this month.

THINK-PIECES, DISCUSSIONS, ORIGINAL FICTION

• Cee Arr asks what "enough" even means.
  
• Sam discusses cover trends.
• Lissa wonders if a "real" blog needs to have the commenting option turned on.
• The Orangutan Librarian weighs the bad and the good of being an old blogger.

REVIEWS/RECOMMENDATIONS

• Jen lists 68 mysteries and thrillers by Asian and AAPI authors.

OTHER

• Lissa couples her art with a fun game for her readers.
• Emily shares what she learned from the Indigenous Literary Studies Association Conference.

That's it for now. My next post will be up on June 8th, and it will be the review for The Pecan Children I mentioned above.

So, what were your highs/lows in the past month?