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Diverse genres & stories that shape us 📚 | Reviews, bookish questions, & fun | Book blogger | Turn the page with me!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5 New-to-me authors, and wow—I was pul

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

New-to-me authors, and wow—I was pulled in from beginning to end.

Army investigators Scott Brodie and Maggie Taylor are sent to a top-secret military camp to investigate the murder of Major Ames. The base's purpose? Testing lethal autonomous weapons. And, of course, nothing is quite what it seems.

At the heart of this thriller are the Tin Men: AI-powered robotic soldiers designed to fight alongside—or eventually replace—human soldiers in combat. And they raise some disturbing questions. Is it safe to replace soldiers with AI-powered weapons? What happens when those machines learn beyond what we intended and start doing whatever it takes to accomplish the mission? And when that happens, who is responsible—the programmer? The commander? The military? The machine?

But the question that stayed with me most was this: are we really so different from them in warfare?

The Tin Men don't care about the emotional or psychological damage they cause. They simply identify the enemy and accomplish the mission at all costs. But in war, haven't humans done exactly that—destroying the enemy physically, emotionally and psychologically?

So where is the difference, really?

I loved the pacing and the slow discovery of evidence. I love when a thriller feels like a puzzle, and this one delivered.

And the ending? Definitely not a neat justice-is-served ending. But perhaps that's what made it feel so unsettlingly realistic. I could absolutely imagine this being how things would end if the story happened in real life.

❓️Do you think AI could one day overpower humans? Let's dive into sci-fi and dystopian territory for a minute. 😁😁
❓️And if you've read Nelson DeMille, which of his other books would you recommend?

📚 For me, it’s the author’s note, especially in hi

📚 For me, it’s the author’s note, especially in historical fiction. I WILL read it. 😂

Tell me what was real or what you changed. Tell me about the research. Give me all the little historical details you couldn’t fit into the story. I’m there. 👀

But what about you?

The preface? A foreword written by someone else? Book club questions? Author interviews? About the Author (Oh I like this one too. Some are very interesting!)?

The copyright page?? 😂 No judgment. This is a safe space.

What part are you ALWAYS reading before you officially declare the book finished?

#Bookstagram #BookishQuestions #ReadersOfInstagram #BookCommunity #ReadingLife

I loved The Burning Library, but surprisingly, the

I loved The Burning Library, but surprisingly, the mystery wasn't even what fascinated me the most.

It was the women.

Behind the story are two secret groups who supposedly want the same thing: more power and influence for women. The Larks believe women should hold visible positions of power and reject traditional roles like marriage. The Kats believe women can accomplish more behind the scenes—through marriage, motherhood and quietly influencing powerful men.

And these women HATE each other. Like... kill-each-other hate. 😭

And I kept thinking: but aren't you fighting for the same people??

It reminded me of how easily we judge other women's choices. Stay-at-home mum? Not modern enough. Career first? Too ambitious. Don't want children? Selfish. Want marriage and children? Oppressed.

Why does one woman's choice have to invalidate another's?

Even more interestingly, the Larks and Kats weren't as different as they thought. Both manipulated people. Both hid in plain sight. Both wanted power. And eventually I started wondering if either group was still fighting for women at all... or simply fighting to win.

Give me a thriller with codes, old manuscripts and secret societies, then sneak an entire discussion about women and power into it? Yes please.😂

❓️Do you think women sometimes judge other women's life choices more harshly than men do?

More of my thoughts on the Larks, the Kats, power and women's choices are on the blog (link in bio). Because apparently I had MUCH more to say. 😂

#TheBurningLibrary #GillyMacmillan #BookReview #Bookstagram #BookDiscussion

⚖️ ORDER IN THE BOOKISH COURT! You sat down to re

⚖️ ORDER IN THE BOOKISH COURT!

You sat down to read. Then, “Let me just see what people are saying about this book…”🧐

45 minutes later:
7 books added to the TBR.
3 comment-section wars witnessed.
Actual pages read: ZERO.

Meanwhile, your book: 👁️👄👁️

The defense calls it literary research.
The prosecution calls it procrastination with Wi-Fi. 😭

Judge Plot-Twist would like everyone to stop requesting her screen-time report. It is irrelevant to these proceedings. 👩🏾‍⚖️🤣

⚖️ Jury: research or procrastination?

❓️And how do you manage your screen time vs. reading time? Does one tend to take over the other?

Remember: the jury need not be unanimous. Especially since some of you are clearly reading this instead of your book. 👀😂

First time posting a monthly wrap-up this year!😁 A

First time posting a monthly wrap-up this year!😁 August was surely my best reading month. Funny and thought-provoking reviews are on their way 👌🏾.

📚The Burning Library
Historical mystery / dark academia / speculative fiction
Secret manuscripts, powerful women, centuries-old drama… because apparently women have been disagreeing about how to save the world for a VERY long time. 😂

📚The Tin Men
Military thriller/hint of sci-fi
The military builds autonomous robot soldiers, gives them one job, and is then absolutely shocked when they take that job a little too seriously. 😭

📚The Amalfi Curse
Historical fantasy / mystery / romance
Two timelines, mysterious women, witchcraft and the Amalfi Coast—because some secrets apparently need 200 years and TWO protagonists to sort themselves out. 🤣

📚One Summer in Savannah
Contemporary fiction / family drama / romance
A woman returns home, confronts a past she absolutely did NOT order, and somehow forgiveness gets invited to the family reunion. 😭

❓️Have you read any of these? And did we rate it approx the same way?
❓️What was the most unexpected thing about your reading month?

📚 I do! Well… “read” might be a generous word😄. I

📚 I do! Well… “read” might be a generous word😄.
I usually skim through them. I like seeing who helped bring the book to life, and sometimes you find little stories or interesting details in there.

But I recently finished One Summer in Savannah and turned to the acknowledgements...Then turned another page. And another one. And another one. 😂

I was like, wow. Terah Shelton is definitely thanking the whole world here. 😍

No judgment though. It apparently took a village AND the neighboring villages to make this book happen. And she always had something good to say about everyone. ❤️

So tell me: do you actually read the acknowledgements, skim them like me, or close the book the second the story ends? 👀

#Bookstagram #BookishQuestions #ReadersOfInstagram #BookCommunity #ReadingLife

Guys, I really tried. I made it to 70%. But the dr

Guys, I really tried. I made it to 70%. But the drama was just too much for me. 🥴

I know The Favorites is a favorite on Bookstagram (see what I did there? 😏), but it wasn't mine.

Betrayal. Revenge. Foul play. More betrayal. MORE DRAMA.

I love drama when it advances the plot or develops the characters. Here, it started to feel like the drama was the plot. 😭

BUT Bella and Heath being mysteriously absent from the podcast interviews kept me curious. So please spoil it for me. Did they die?? Did Kate kill them because...you know...DRAMA??? 😂 And DID SHE GET HER OLYMPIC GOLD??

Because one thing I loved was Kate's dedication to winning.

She loved Heath. She just wanted the gold more. 😂 Heath wanted to be her gold. Kate wanted THE gold. 🥇

Pain? Skate.
Injury? Skate.
Concussion? Doc, respectfully, I have a final to win.

Was it healthy? Probably not. 😂 Could she communicate better? ABSOLUTELY. But I loved that winning mattered to her that much.

Also, the full-cast audiobook was my first and I LOVED the experience! It honestly kept me going longer than I probably would have otherwise.

If you've read this one, tell me what you thought.

And please SPOIL THE ENDING FOR ME. I have officially left the rink. ⛸️😂

⚖️ ORDER IN THE BOOKISH COURT! Today’s case: Roma

⚖️ ORDER IN THE BOOKISH COURT!

Today’s case: Romanticizing morally grey characters — red flag or reader’s right? 🚩📚

He lies. He manipulates. His moral compass is somewhere in a ditch. He maybbe involved inbshady matters.
But he has ✨trauma✨, a tragic backstory and apparently only one soft spot.
Her.

And suddenly readers are in the comments like:
“Okay, but hear me out…” 😭😭

ABSOLUTELY NOT. The court will hear NOTHING until counsel is present. 👩🏽‍⚖️

The prosecution says: RED FLAG. RUN. 🚩
The defense says: Your Honor, he’s fictional. Let us live and love. 😌❤️

Judge Plot-Twist will not be disclosing her own reading history at this time. The court has advised her to exercise her right to remain silent (we wonder why). 🤣⚖️

Jury, drop your verdict: red flag or reader’s right?

And be brave: which morally grey character would have you defending the indefensible? 👀

#BookishCourt #JudgePlotTwist #MorallyGrey #RomanceReaders #DarkRomance

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