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Mark Twain's account of his life growing up on the Mississippi river as remembered from a trip he took along it later in life. Of course, he winds around the the topic almost as much as the river winds itself. But, regardless of the lack of direction or directness, if you're fond of historical anecdotes and Mark Twain's irreverent wit, there's still a lot to enjoy.

This book is like a nice warm cup of coffee.

But do you really want to read a book like a cup of coffee?

Its cozy, but there is virtually no plot or drama. (Almost) all of the characters are really nice, so there isn't even really any struggle to create anything. There's a sense of inevitability; Viv's cafe just sort of falls into place in line with what a modern cafe in our world looks like. That's actually baffling, as anyone who knows even a little of the history of coffee knows. The fantasy setting is also very shallow. Make all the characters human and change the color of the fire, and this could easily be written in our world.

The premise reminds me of some of the Discworld novels where roundworld things spontaneously develop, but in that case its a satirical commentary on our world and part of the humor. Without whimsy or humor here, this story just feels out of place.

Read for the cozy vibes, but don't expect much substance.

If I could ask for one of Brandon Sanderson's books to become a movie, it would be this one.

Elements of 'Your Name' and 'The Matrix', in ancient Korean / futuristic Japanese settings.

Brandon Sanderson is incredible when it comes to fantasy, plot, and characters, but one of his weakest points has always been romance. In this book it was good! Not great mind you, but good! 4 stars. 5 or 6 stars for everything else omg.

But... the excessive amounts of info dumping at critical points lost it another star. Really though. Read it! This book is genius.

In a world of magic cards, red, and black, Deadly mist, a maiden, and a monster attack!

Well, kind of. When it comes to the magic system, it seems like the rules for the cards, mist, and magic bend for whatever makes the story work best. Also, the motivations for the characters are rather questionable. Elspeth has lived with her magic for 11 years, but suddenly once the story begins, she only has a few weeks before she degenerates? And they seem so certain of finding a card that has not only eluded kings with way more resources behind finding it for hundreds of years, but has literally never been seen since its supposed creation, so that seems like it should be something they should be worrying about way more than they actually seem to give thought to.

Still, Rachel's writing is enchanting and its a fun read for the dark fairytale vibes, the mysterious atmosphere, and the romance.

In case you have never had the irresistible urge to drop everything and make a 30+ day trek over the Colorado trail, this book will surely make amends to that. In his memoir of his solo hike across the state, Doug Freed recounts adventures had and friendships made. Along the trail he tells the stories and traces the footsteps of the people who make up the storied past of the Colorado Rockies. I found the pacing easy going, leaving me excited to see what was just over the next ridge.

Suzanne's prose is a lyrical tribute to Nature as she intertwines the stories behind her incredible discoveries with her own life. Just beautiful.