Debbienho !

  Not to say that it should be a thing, but considering there are so many ‘Wrappeds’ at end-of-year, it would be cute– Ahh, yes. I remember. There is. Goodreads does a ‘Wrapped’ for the books you read. Mmm.  Anyways.  I completed a bunch of books this year. I count 57. (It’s not an exhaustive list, but there are a couple I choose not to count.) If you’re looking to get into reading, or just love adding things to your growing pile of things to read, here are a few of my favourites this year that I’d recommend for your 2025 To-Be-Read list.  The Enemy We Know, by Donna White Glaser (Murder Mystery, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Comedy) This book gives you no time to settle in. The main character—Letty—is assaulted right at the beginning of the book, and nah, it doesn’t let up. When I started reading, I had to fight the urge to close the book and choose another one. I’m glad I stuck with it.  Letty’s a therapist, helping people navigate the trauma in their life...

  What does Christmas mean to you?  No doubt, everyone will have a different answer to that.  Rest period! Christmastime is like 9 o’clock for tired millennials. We will use it to sleep. Not sure how it’s been for the rest of the world, but if you live in Ghana, you’ve seen shegey. Now’s the time to put your feet up on the table and relax, unwind, undo the stress of 2024, watch cozy television and sip a beverage of choice.  Danish cookie time! There’s no rule that it’s only at Christmas we should eat those fancy cookies that come in the sewing material containers, but let’s face it, Danish cookies hit different in December. So for some, Christmas is the period for indulgence, a time to stuff yourself with baked goodies (I love cake!), test the tensile strength of your bladder by drinking just everything, and visit every party.  Family time! Some people associate Christmas with reuniting with family. Many an introvert has had to suffer through phone calls and ...

  Photo Credit: Filip Mroz, Unsplash. I may have a bit of a problem.  When I decided to stop liking football (because I have a really fragile heart; I don’t understand how I can start liking a team and after they’ve won a few times they just start to flop like mad), I replaced my source of pain with tennis. Tennis has not been much better. My greatest heartbreak came in 2021 (and I will not elaborate), but at least it taught me to just like the game, and not care about the players.  I mean, I still care about the players. But if the one I’m rooting for doesn’t win, I move on. I genuinely just shrug, go, ‘And so? Mchew,’ and eat whatever I was eating before I saw the news.  But tennis is fun. When I started following it, like, really following it, it awed me to think that pretty much every week, except for slam weeks, there could be up to five tournaments going on. Players would start the year on hardcourts in New Zealand and Australia, transition to hardcourts and cl...

  3.5 stars out of 5 I had mixed feelings about this collection. Romantic Realms: Hearts at War is an anthology of 10 clean, enemies-to-lovers, romantic fantasy, longish-short stories, no steamy scenes here. I’ll review each of the stories in the order I finished reading them, so if you plan to read the entire review, strap in, and apologies, because this is going to be long! Hehe. “Faerie Boots: Beyond the Faerie Wall,” by Michelle Helen Fritz A woman finds out her cat is really a faerie. This story had some really good descriptions and expressions. I cracked up a few times at some of the nicknames Emerlyn invented for Alaric! Their speech was a little dated, though. I get that the language was deliberately aged to fit a certain historical period, but sometimes that led to flowery speech, and dialogue that came out a little unnatural. Still, I was charmed by the idea of a cat/faerie. “Fatal Hearts,” by Evelina Griggs Two otherworldly assassins must team up to take down a final b...

  A massive thank you to Story Flow Solutions and Ms Janay Harden for sharing this e-ARC with me. This review contains my honest opinions.  3 ½ stars out of 5 The artist in me was so charged when I saw the cover art for this book, and I knew I had to read it. It only took some of the first chapter to figure out why the cover art was so stunning. Make Me Over by Janay Harden features Josie Scott, a young Black woman unable to hold down a job, understandably frustrated in a gritty Philadelphia that’ll keep moving on even if she doesn’t. However, her talent with the makeup brush soon draws a lot of eyes, and before long Josie must venture into the unknown, drawing on her wits, memories, and the encouragement of her close-knit circle to navigate the world of work, a strained relationship with a parent, and a love shadowed by crime. Going in without having read the blurb I didn’t know what to expect, but I’m glad I took the dive.  What I liked Janay Harden knows how to build h...