Ruse Reviews

she/her
🌈 queer
🧠 neurodivergent
📚 2025 Reading Goal: 61/152 (40%)

05/12/2026

1️⃣3️⃣3️⃣7️⃣

I'm glad I caught that my first post back was my 1337th post, or "leet" in gamer speak.

How perfect for me to hype up the fact that it's concert week for me!

I am part of an orchestra who exclusively performs music from video games. Our spring concert is this Saturday at 6 PM Eastern. We'll be live-streaming the performance to both Twitch and YouTube.

This concert has been programmed to highlight a suite of tunes arranged from Dwarf Fortress. "Songs of Zavazsil" is a symphonic adventure into the procedurally generated musical forms found and described in one world of Dwarf Fortress.

The performance will also feature a collection of arrangements inspired by The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Genshin Impact, and more.

I hope you're able to catch the stream or the VOD!

❓QOTD: Do you have any fun plans for this weekend?

05/11/2026

📖 Planner Check-In 📖

Hiya folks, it's been a while!

I was impacted by a reduction in force by my employer of well over a decade earlier this year. It really hit me hard, and I practically stopped reading.

Now that life has settled down a bit and I'm no longer really in ~*~crisis mode~*~ I'm hopeful to get back into the swing of things.

It's also Hugo Awards season, so I need to really get on that. I've read some of the nominees, but there are so many I haven't yet gotten around to!

❓QOTD: What books do you have on your radar to pick up soon?

02/06/2026

📖 Book Review 📖

Thank you for the free book .audio

Extremity is a fast-paced sci-fi detective story from Nicholas Binge that absolutely stole and kept my interest.

I listened to my audio review copy during a road trip over the holidays. When I'm at the wheel, I tend to listen to a book while my partner tries to take a nap. Well, once again, my partner got way too invested in the story to really nap!

It's probably best to go into this book as blind as possible. The narrator did a pretty good job throughout.

You can find my full review on my blog, Goodreads, or TheStoryGraph.

❓QOTD: Do you ever read science-fiction, or watch sci-fi movies/tv shows?

02/05/2026

📖 January Reading Wrap-Up 📖

I hope February has been good to everyone so far! It's time for a recap of my January reading in my undated Always Fully Booked planner from

I finished nine books in the month of January, and DNFed two. I mostly consumed audiobooks, though I did read a few eARCs.

In January, the bulk of what I read were books sent to me for review by the publisher (44.4%) or NetGalley (22.2%), but I did borrow a significant number from the library (33.3%).

My average rating was 3.9 stars and my lowest rated book for the month was a 2.75-star read. I DNFed one book at 55% and another at 25%.

❓QOTD: Did you have a good month reading-wise in January?

02/04/2026

📖 Book Review 📖

Thank you for the free book

I borrowed the audiobook from my local library system and did a blended read along with my physical review copy. I enjoyed my listen!

Though the beginning was a little slow, I loved the banter between our mains and I lost count how many times I laughed aloud while reading.

The author just had her sophomore book come out (Sunk in Love) and I need to get my hands on a copy to read!

You can find my full review on my blog, Goodreads, or TheStoryGraph.

❓QOTD: Do you tend to stick to authors you already know, or do you like to check out debut or otherwise new-to-you authors?

02/03/2026

2️⃣ Two for Tuesday 2️⃣

Thank you for the free books!

They very graciously sent me gorgeous special paperback editions of the Secrets of the Nile duology by Isabel Ibanez with sprayed edges. The duology includes:

📖 What the River Knows
📖 Where the Library Hides

I really enjoyed this duology and highly recommend listening to the audiobook while following along with a physical copy, so you get to see the helpful maps, sketches, and other fun additions.

I previously owned Book of the Month copies that I had on my shelves. Those copies are now listed in my Pango shop to make room for these!

You can find my reviews on both of these books on my blog, Goodreads, or TheStoryGraph. If you're into immersive historical fantasies, books filled with adventure, or rivals-to-lovers romances, you should absolutely pick this up!

❓QOTD: Do you have any favorite duologies you often recommend to other readers?

02/02/2026

📖 Book Review 📖

And Then There Was The One is a delightful 1930s historical romance with cozy mystery elements.

I borrowed the audiobook from my local library, and the narrator did a fantastic job! She was fun to listen to.

You can find my full review on my blog, Goodreads, or TheStoryGraph.

❓QOTD: Did you have a good weekend? Mine was quite restful, and I was able to catch up on both of my reality tv guilty pleasures (The Traitors and The Masked Singer) while knitting on a few different projects!

01/30/2026

📖 Book Review 📖

Thank you .audio for the free book!

Welcome to Murder Week is a contemporary fiction novel with mystery and romance elements by Karen Dukess.

I call this contemporary fiction primarily because though the majority of the book happens during a murder mystery simulation in a small British town, the story is really not about that mystery and it's more about our main character grieving the recent loss of her absentee mother.

You can find my full review on my blog, Goodreads, or TheStoryGraph.

❓QOTD: Have you ever attended a murder-mystery party or event?

01/29/2026

📖 Planner Check-In 📖

One of my favorite parts of the Always Fully Booked planner from is that there are pages included for an A to Z Challenge!

This year, I'm going to list the book titles and authors in the color associated with the month in which I read them. I've added a handful so far in January!

❓QOTD: Have you ever done an A to Z reading challenge of any kind?

01/28/2026

📖 Book Review 📖

Thank you for the free book!

Psychopomp & Circumstance by Eden Royce is a solid Southern gothic historical horror novella.

I borrowed the audiobook from my local library and followed along in my physical review copy. The narrator does a great job, especially regarding distinct character voices.

Overall, this is a grief journey. We follow Phee as she accepts the role as pomp and plans the funeral service for her aunt, who had been estranged from her family for about a decade.

You can find my full review on my blog, Goodreads, or TheStoryGraph.

❓QOTD: Do you like reading fiction that leans gothic? Southern gothic, gothic horror, etc? If so, do you have any favorites to recommend?

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