All Things Books

Book reviews mean a lot to authors—especially indie authors. Therefore, I’ll always write one for any book I read, even if the book already has a jillion reviews. Clicking on a star rating and writing a few lines takes less time than reading the book, so why not? Then what do you do with a book after you read it? A Little Free Library may be the solution for you.

The North Pole AND Zombies?

Little Drummer Boy: Hemlock Connal Preternatural Investigations is book two in the humorous dark comedy series by Joel Spriggs. The book is definitely an absurd detective comedy, and the Hemlock-Connal combination is a lot of fun.

Hemlock Connal and her half-brother and intern Morgan Burns hit the streets again to find the reason behind a murder by a demonic drummer boy and his troupe of zombies. The zombie meal gets pretty graphic, but it’s done well. With Hemlock’s portal-making ability, they follow the odd parade around and learn that the North Pole has lots of snow, and Santa put them on the Naughty List.

The book has likeable characters and interesting twists. Although I like short books, Little Drummer Boy could have used more pages—which is good thing when a reader wants to see more of your book. One picky comment: Hemlock’s raspy voice and Connal’s clunky boots could have used a temporary change-up so it wasn’t repeated so much.

Overall, I recommend buying book 2 after you’ve picked up book 1.

Little Free Library

I’ve noticed Little Free Libraries popping up in neighborhoods and parks. The small structures promote “take a book – share a book” and make book exchange more accessible for many. The website LittleFreeLibrary.org can give you all the information you need about the program, plans to make one if you’re good at woodworking, and maps of where to find them. Some of the libraries are super creative. I’ve posted a few below.

Suggestions

I’m always looking for new indie books to read. If they are under 300 pages, comedy, supernatural, mystery, fantasy, horror, or detective, they are more likely to grab my attention. Wolves, pirates, and zombies are bonus points.