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Writing, Reading, and Rural Life With a Border Collie

Tag Archives: Matt Guzman


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New MG Sci Fi a Kick in the Pants

Rieden Reece and the Dark Shadow

By Matt Guzman (Mindfast Publishing, July 2025)

Genre: Middle Grade/YA Fantasy

Pages (Kindle): 257

Via: Author Request

“We’ve got a million things to do and ten seconds to do them.”

Rieden Reece is busy. He must save his big bro. His Mom. Himself. And rescue humanity from AI “integration” (think The Borg). As in, the fate of the world hangs in the balance. So no pressure, broseph in this delightful and uber absorbing sci fi adventure for middle grade readers and up.

Here’s the 4-1-1:

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Our Top 10 Titles of 2024

“Yo! Wazzup?”

The Ask

Her Momness and I have been kicking back, enjoying the holidays and being lazy slugs. That’s why you haven’t seen us here lately. Then someone asked, “So, Kimber and Mom. What are your top ten titles for 2024?” Actually, it was several someones. But who’s counting?

Almost 600

Well. One of us – the sweet furry-faced one smiled sweetly at that question. The other kind of shrugged it off. (Hi, Mom.)  I mean, sheesh.  We read close to 600 titles this year. So “Top Ten” or “Best Books We Read in 2024”? Really?

Told ya!

Told ya.

But the question kept coming. Responding turned out to be harder than we thought. A lot harder. In case you’re wondering, Cupcake. And even if you’re not. But not for the reason you may think. Like this:

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Reece-aholics of the World, UNTIE! (That’s not a typo)

Yo, wassup?

A confession. Mom and me? We’re Reece-aholics. (Not to be confused with a Reese-aholic of the peanut butter variety. Or crispy bacon. That’s diff. But just as tasty.)

Ever since we read Matt Guzman’s riotous fantasy/sci fi romp, Rieden Reece and the Broken Moon, we’ve been hooked on this kid and his madcap adventures. Rieden grows on ya. So we were delighted to hear Ri’s back for another crazy adventure in this fourth and latest installment. Here’s the 4-1-1:

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