The Pirate Queen

 

This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It just helps keep this space going. 

☘️🏴‍☠️ Five stars for The Pirate Queen by Ariel Lawhon!

 A rebellious Irish legend, atmospheric storytelling, and fantastic narration by Tara Flynn. 

Don’t be a feckin’ eegit. Just read it! 😂

Grab a copy of The Pirate Queen at Bookshop.org and help an indie bookstore while you're at it.

About the Author

Ariel Lawhon is an award-winning, critically acclaimed, New York Times bestselling author of historical fiction. Her books have been translated into over thirty languages and have been Good Morning America, LibraryReads, and One Book One County selections. She lives in the rolling hills outside Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband and four sons. Follow Ariel on Instagram and visit her website for more news and information about her books.

My Sister Is Going to Kill Me

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Kris | Your Retired Librarian Friend (@theretiredlibrarian)

This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It just helps keep this space going.  

Thank you Kathleen Carter Communications and William Morrow Books for the gifted copy.

Corporate intrigue, family drama, and outdoor adventure make this an entertaining whodunit. 

My Sister Is Going to Kill Me by Nina Simon follows two sisters who couldn't be more different. Liv is the buttoned-up planner, Mandy's the free spirit. Every year they take a sister trip, and this year Mandy books them on a whitewater rafting trip through the Grand Canyon. It's a launch event for a buzzy new wellness product from a charismatic CEO, so what could go wrong? 

There's plenty of finger-pointing and enough suspects to keep most armchair detectives guessing. I loved the Grand Canyon and Colorado River setting, which Nina Simon describes beautifully.

A great pick if you like isolated settings, family drama, corporate intrigue, and as many twists and turns as the river. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Grab a copy at Bookshop.org and help an indie bookstore while you're at it.

About the Author
Follow Nina on Instagram and visit her website for more news and information about her books.

Reader Advisory | Halloweem Edition 🎃

 

This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It just helps keep this space going. 

Twenty years as librarian doing readers' advisory, and I can tell what you should read by your Halloween costume.

Witch → The Year of the Witching, Alexis Henderson. Puritan-flavored folk horror.

Detective → Sherlock Holmes? You've already read Doyle, so here's what's next. The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz (2011). It was authorized by the Conan Doyle estate and reads like a lost Holmes case. 

Ghost → The Sun Down Motel, Simone St. James. A ghost story and a cold case together, which fits your audience well.

Vampire → The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, Grady Hendrix. Funny, gory, and a book club that actually does something.

Wednesday Addams → We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson. Merricat is basically Wednesday's spiritual ancestor.

Mummy → Death on the Nile, Agatha Christie.

Zombie → The Girl with All the Gifts, M.R. Carey. Or Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

Couples costume → The Couple Next Door, Shari Lapena. Good luck to your marriage.

Not dressing up, just handing out candy → Trick or Treat and Murder by Kathleen Suzette. Cozy, and you'll want to stay on the couch anyway.

Sad Panda who did not consent to wearing a Halloween costume → Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss.

Grab a copy of any of these books from by affiliate store at Bookshop.org and help out an indie bookstore while you're at it.

Last, Now, Next

 

This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It just helps keep this space going. 

Last: Peck & Peck by Bonnie Garmus - The audio narration is superb. Thanks to my friends at Simon Audio for the gifted listen,

Now: When They Find Me by Carter Wilson - I'm 18% in and hooked. Out November 10. Than you Poisoned Penn Press for the gifted digital ARC.

Next: If They Knew by A.J. Wooding - @upstatebookbitch and @iheartagoodthriller put this one on my radar and I can't wait to dive in. 

Shop my Bookshop.org for these titles and help an indie bookstore while you're at it.

Off the Reservation

 

This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It just helps keep this space going. 

Thank you Simon Audio for the gifted audiobook.

 

Off the Reservation was my first Stephen Graham Jones book. It's the sequel to Only the Good Indians, but there's enough background woven in that I never felt lost jumping in here.

Nathan Yellow Tail and his best friend Sebby rob an isolated cabin owned by a "weekend Indian" on the reservation. While fleeing, they crash, and Sebby ends up in a coma, kept alive by machines. Nathan barely survives, but his life is out of balance. Nurse Seine offers him a way to set things right and pull Sebby back from the brink. All he has to do is join her on a road trip to return the bones of a young Blackfeet boy who died after being taken to the infamous Carlisle Indian Industrial School.

Along for the ride are Christian, a young man who doesn't speak, and Mooch, a grieving mother who lost her husband and sons. Nurse Seine and Mooch each have their own hidden reasons for going.

This was the weirdest road trip ever, and I had no idea where it was headed. I knew I was getting horror. I didn't expect possession. When they dug up the boy's bones at Carlisle, they dug up something else too.

But the real horror here is the oppression inflicted on tribal peoples, and the racism and injustice Native Americans still face today.

🎧 The full cast narration was exceptional. Every narrator gave a fantastic performance and made it easy to keep the characters straight.

It's atmospheric and character-driven, with dark humor running all the way through. A few spots dragged for me, but overall I really enjoyed it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Grab a copy at Bookshop.org and help out an indie bookstore while you're at it.

About the Author

Stephen Graham Jones is the New York Times bestselling author of The Only Good Indians, My Heart Is a Chainsaw, and I Was a Teenage Slasher. He has been an NEA fellowship recipient and a recipient of several awards including the Ray Bradbury Award from the Los Angeles Times, the Bram Stoker Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, the Jesse Jones Award for Best Work of Fiction from the Texas Institute of Letters, the Independent Publishers Award for Multicultural Fiction, and the Alex Award from American Library Association. He is the Ivena Baldwin Professor of English at the University of Colorado Boulder. Follow Stephen on Instagram and visit his website for more news and information about his books.

The Last to Drown

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Kris | Your Retired Librarian Friend (@theretiredlibrarian)

This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It just helps keep this space going. 

Noelle Ihli knows how to write an edge of your thriller. The Last to Drown is a banger and so bingeable.

Narrator Vivienne Leheny does a fantastic job with the fast paced action and all the emotions. 

Grab this one if you love propulsive action, cat and mouse thrillers, isolated locations, and strong women. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wear your life vest and jump right into it! 

Grab a copy of The Last to Drown at Bookshop.org and help an indie bookstore while you're at it.

About the Author

Noelle W. Ihli is a thriller-suspense author. She lives in Idaho with her husband, two sons, and two cats. When she’s not plotting her next thriller, she’s scaring herself with true-crime documentaries or going for a trail ride in the foothills. Follow Noelle on Instagram and visit her website for more news and information about her books.

IG Live | a Conversation with Elle Marr

This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It just helps keep this space going.

In case you missed it, the replay of my chat with author Elle Marr 🎉

Today is pub day for She Dies in the End, and we had so much fun talking about it. If you haven’t heard about this one yet, Penny Lin is a body broker in Portland, and one day the body that comes through is her murdered ex, with a note warning her not to tell anyone. Then more bodies start showing up.

We talked about how Elle got into the world of body brokers (yes, it’s a real job), why she picked a title that makes you wonder who “she” is, and what her typical writing day looks like. 

Thank you, Elle, for spending your pub day with me! 

She Dies in the End is out now. 📚

Grab a copy at Bookshop.org and help out an indie bookstore while you’re at it.

About the Author

Elle Marr is the #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author of eight thrillers. Originally from Sacramento, Elle graduated from UC San Diego before moving to France, where she earned a master's degree from the Sorbonne University in Paris. She now lives and writes in Oregon with her family. Follow Elle on Instagram and visit her website for more news and information about her books.