December Reading Wrap Up

 

How did we get to the last day of December and 2022 already? The year & especially this month flew by. I’ve been reading, just not posting much at all. Maybe my new year’s resolution should be to get back to posting more. 😀

Many thanks to Simon & Schuster Audio for the following complimentary audiobooks: Before You Knew My Name, After I Do, The Other Side of Night, & A Man Called Ove. Truly appreciate it! 

Here’s the rundown: 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

📖 Killers of a Certain Age - fast paced, fun thriller about 4 female assassins hitting retirement age and about to be permanently “retired.”

📖 The Measure - thought-provoking, tug your heartstrings story. Do we measure our lives by time or how we live? 

🎧 A Man Called Ove- am I one of the last people to read this? J.K Simmons’ narration is perfection. 

📖 My Darkest Prayer- a rerelease of S.A. Cosby’s first full length novel. Lots of action & great main character. Interesting to see Cosby’s evolve as a storyteller between this one and Blacktop Wasteland & Razorblade Tears. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

🎧Before You Knew My Name - engrossing mystery surrounding the body of an unidentified young woman. Really enjoyed this one. 

📖 The Devil Takes You Home - a mix of crime fiction and horror. A desperate and grieving father agrees to help rob money from a drug cartel. This one was really dark. 

🎧 After I Do - a husband and wife agree to a year long separation. Ultimately the story of a woman finding herself. 

📖 An Honest Living - slow burning story of a lawyer who gets caught tangled up with a best-selling author and her book-seller husband’s disappearance. Honestly, not a lot of action in this one. It was more character study & slice of life look at life in Brooklyn back in the day. 

🎧 The Final Hunt - a woman discovers her deceased husband was a serial killer. But is he really dead? Really enjoyed this one! 

📖 Red at the Bone - three generations of family deal with trauma and choices. This was my book club’s read for the month & prompted lots of discussion. 

QOTD: any reading resolutions for 2023? I’ll set & forget my Goodreads  challenge. My only goal is to read books I think I’ll enjoy. Wishing y’all a healthy & happy 2023! 

#readingwrapup #decemberwrapup #simonaudio #audiobooks #crimefiction #thrillerbooks #mysteryfiction #contemporyfiction #horrorfiction #booksbooksbooks #bibliophile 

The House in the Pines

 

Author: Ana Reyes

Publisher: Penguin Group/Dutton

Publication date: January 3, 2023

🌲𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 🌲

The House in the Pines is a deftly written thriller with a side of unique. As a teen, Maya watched her best friend die suddenly. Her friend was only talking to Maya’s boyfriend Frank and then suddenly died. Now, years later, Maya learns that another young woman has died while Frank was talking to her. Maya knows it can’t be a coincidence. She returns to her hometown to find Frank and discover what’s really going on. 

I wasn’t sure what to expect going into to this book, but it turned out to be an intriguing and entertaining suspense thriller. The concept seems like it should be a little outlandish, but author Ana Reyes makes it all work. This is a crackerjack debut novel and Reyes doesn’t pull any punches. The characters are interesting and the pacing moves along at a fast clip. I thought the twist was unusual and kind of unique. The ending was ambiguous enough to leave me wondering if there will be a sequel in the future. Kudos to @anareyeswriter for such a polished debut! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you Penguin Group/Dutton and NetGalley for the digital review copy. The House in the Pines publishes January 3, 2023. 

QOTD: tell me what’s new with you! 

I recently bought a snowblower. I wasn’t sure if my hubby was be up for shoveling snow this winter after his knee replacements. And I know I don’t want to do it myself, so I made the executive decision to get a snowblower. I’m really hoping we don’t get any snow this winter and I don’t have to use it, but I doubt that’ll happen. 

#thehouseinthepines #anareyes #debutbook #2023debut #debutauthor #duttonbooks #penguingroup #crimefiction #mysteryfiction #thrillerfiction #bookstagram #bookworm #bibliophile #booksbooksbooks 

November Reading Wrap Up

 

𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗿𝗮𝗽 𝗨𝗽

It feels like I blinked and November was over. In some ways it felt like a busy month, but it really wasn’t. My husband had both his knees replaced at the beginning of the month. So the rest of the month was spent on his recovery from surgery, starting his PT, and doing a lot of the things he usually does around the house- like walking the dogs a million times a day. So I only managed to read 8 books for the month. Here’s the breakdown: 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🎧 Desert Star - author Michael Connelly once again proves he’s the master of police procedurals. 

Everybody Knows- a gritty noir set in LA that looks at the darker side of power and the entertainment business. Thank you @netgalley and @mulhollandbooks for the digital arc. Publishes 1/10/23. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🎧 The Last Chairlift- a long book examining love, family, sex and politics. Thank you @simon.audio for the gifted book. 

🎧 The Book of Cold Cases- really wanted to read this during spooky season by my library hold wasn’t available in time. This was an entertaining thriller with a side of supernatural. 

🎧 Racing the Light- author Robert Crais’s new installment featuring PI Elvis Cole and Joe Pike. Crais always delivers a solid and entertaining thriller. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

The House in the Pines- this one was just all right for me. Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it. I figured out the secret easily enough. The ambiguous ending leaves the door open for a sequel. Thank you @netgalley and @penguinbooks for the digital arc. Publishes 1/3/23. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Wheel of Doll- I really enjoyed the first book in this series, but this second book fell flat. 

Cackle- this was my book club’s read and was meh for me. Thought there would be more witchy girl power. My favorite character was a spider, so that pretty much tells you all you need to know. 

QOTD: what’s on your December TBR? I should have 2 library holds ready this month. Been waiting awhile for them. 

#readingwrapup #monthlywrapup #crimefiction #mysteryfiction #literaryfiction #nior #supernaturalfiction #thrillerfiction #bookstagram #booksbooksbooks #bookworm #bibliophile #netgalley #simonaudio #librarybooks