Road out of Winter

 

Author: Alison Stine

Publisher: MIRA Books

Year: 2020

 

❄️ 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 ❄️

Wil is a grower. She can coax even the most delicate seeds to sprout. She learned the trade from her mother’s boyfriend, a tough and often violent illegal pot grower. Growing things is next to impossible now that climate change has brought an endless winter. When Will’s community starts to fall apart, she decides to head out for California to try to find her mother. 

The never ending snow shuts down power, cell towers, and social norms. Wil must learn who she can trust and help along her harrowing journey. There are things more dangerous than snow on her trek. 

This was a dark, heavy and thought provoking read. I’m glad I read this with @thereadingteapot and @rjs.readingnook. Always fun and insightful chatting with them. I liked Will’s character. She’s smart and resourceful. She didn’t lose her humanity when so many other around her did. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If you look closely enough in the photo, you can see some snowflakes floating around. We had a little snow flurry here at the beach yesterday. I’m ready for winter to be over! 

QOTD: are you a plant person like Wil, the main character of Road out of Winter? I’m the grim reaper of plants. Even succulents die under my care. 

#roadoutofwinter #alisonstine #mirabooks #climatechange #dystopian #climatechangedystopian #winter #endlesswinter #lostspring #backlistbooks #buddyread #ohio #herosjourney #seeds 

The Goodbye Coast

Author: Joe Ide

Narrator: Vikas Adam

Publisher: Little Brown

Year: 2022

🎧𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄🎧

Philip Marlowe, author Raymond Chandler’s iconic PI, is back. The original Marlowe debuted during the golden age of noir. Author Joe Ide’s reimagining gives us a current-day Marlowe who’s still a smart and tough guy with a heart of gold and a weakness for a lady in trouble. Marlowe takes on two missing persons cases-tracking down the missing teenage daughter of a fading Hollywood star and finding a boy kidnapped by his father during a nasty custody dispute. Marlowe finds lots of mayhem and danger, as he races the clock to solve the cases. 

Marlowe’s relationship with his father, an LAPD homicide detective with a drinking problem, adds extra depth to the character and the story. Overall, the pacing is quick with lots of action. There were two points that slowed the story down and seemed dragged out, but that’s my only complaint. Narrator Vikas Adam did an excellent job with the audiobook. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

QOTD: What are you reading this weekend?

#thegoodbyecoast #philipmarlowe #joeide #littlebrown #audiobook #audiobookreview #audiobookstagram #audible #thriller #crimefiction #thrillerbooks #losangeles #noir  #privateinvestigator #hardboileddetective #marlowe

The Maid

 

Author: Nita Prose

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Year: 2021

🧹 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 🧹

The Maid has been all over social media since it published in January. So you don’t need a long review of it from me. Here are my bullet point thoughts: 

🧹 Really polished debut novel with multidimensional, interesting characters and a cleaver plot.

🧹 Molly and her grandmother seem like women from another time. When I first started reading it, I thought it was set decades ago. 

🧹Molly is neurodivergent. She knows she doesn’t always fit and and makes no apologies. She’s learned to play to her strengths. 

🧹This novel is full of heart, love, and friendship. 

🧹The mystery kept me guessing. 

🧹A charming and enjoyable read. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

We’ve been busy since last week. I visited my mom several times, ran lots of errands, and packed to head south for a few weeks. We were up and out Monday morning to drive the first leg of our trip to our place in North Carolina. We always split the trip up over two days. Easier traveling with the dogs and we can spend the night at our daughter’s house. We arrived at the beach yesterday. The painter was just finishing up. We had the old popcorn ceiling in the living room scraped off, replaced with a knockdown pattern, and painted. He also painted the the living room walls. So now I have lots of cleaning to do. I could really use Molly the Maid! There’s dust everywhere from scrapping off the popcorn ceiling. Rain is forecast for today and the rest of the week. So cleaning won’t be put off by the temptation of reading on the beach this week. 

QOTD: what’s the weather in your corner of the world? 

#themaid #mollythemaid #nitaprose #ballantinebooks #crimefiction #murdermystery #msyteryfiction #hotel #autismspectrum #neurodivergent #neurodiversity #grandmother #cleaning #hotelstaff #housekeepingstaff #whodoneit #bookstagram #igreads #debutnovel 

Currently Reading

 

📖 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 📖

My library hold for How Lucky became available and I’m ready to dive right in. 

Here’s the synopsis: 

Daniel leads a rich life in the university town of Athens, Georgia. He’s got a couple close friends, a steady paycheck working for a regional airline, and of course, for a few glorious days each Fall, college football tailgates. He considers himself to be a mostly lucky guy—despite the fact that he’s suffered from a debilitating disease since he was a small child, one that has left him unable to speak or to move without a wheelchair. 

Largely confined to his home, Daniel spends the hours he’s not online communicating with irate air travelers observing his neighborhood from his front porch. One young woman passes by so frequently that spotting her out the window has almost become part of his daily routine. Until the day he’s almost sure he sees her being kidnapped...

QOTD: What book are you reading this week? 

#howlucky #currentlyreading #librarybook #libbyapp #willleitch #harperbooks #bookstagram #igreads #kindle #kindlepaperwhite #alwaysreading #kidnapping #thrillerbooks #crimefiction #bibliophile #booksbooksbooks

📚 February Reading Wrap Up 📚

 

February was a good reading month for me. I read great books this month, but just haven’t been real motivated to write up reviews. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I think I just need winter to be over.  

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🎧 The Goodbye Coast - a reimagining of Raymond Chandler’s iconic detective Phillip Marlowe. Set in present-day Los Angeles, Marlowe is still a tough guy helping dames in trouble and taking care of bad guys. 

No One Will Miss Her - a twisty story featuring an anti-hero that I couldn’t help rooting for. 

Twenty Years Later - the story blends past and present into an engrossing tale of mystery and suspense. Thank you my pal Andrea for this gifting me this book and introducing me to author Charlie Donlea! 

The Suicide House - cold case specialist Rory Moore investigates the deaths of several students at a private boarding school. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Maid - really enjoyed this mystery featuring the very endearing Molly the Maid. A fun read! 

The Night Shift - has a ruthless killer returned after 15 years? Lots of twists and turns that kept me guessing. Thank you to NetGalley for the digital review copy. 

Road out of Winter - a thought provoking climate dystopian novel. Can we maintain our humanity while trying to survive? 

Don’t Know Tough - a gritty southern noir novel about an abused and angry high school football player and the coach who wants to help him. Thank you to NetGalley for the digital review copy. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Lady Clementine - historical fiction novel about the life and times of Clementine Churchill. 

QOTD: what’s your best tip for staying motivated to write your reviews? Or give me your best reels making tips! 

#monthlyreadingwrapup #readingwrapup #bookstagram #igreads #crimefiction #historicalfiction #mysteryfiction #thrillerfiction #bookworm #bibliophile #booknerd #netgalley

The Night Shift

 

Author: Alex Finlay 

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press 

Year: 2022

📖 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 📖

The Night Shift by Alex Finlay has already been popping up all over Instagram. His previous novel, Every Last Fear, was a huge favorite and I’m sure this book will be extremely popular too. 

The grisly murders of thee teenaged girls working in an ice cream shop has an eerie resemblance to the murders of three girls in a Blockbuster video store fifteen years earlier. The suspect in the Blockbuster murders disappeared without a trace just after the original murders. Could he be back? 

The story is told from multiple points of view. Ella is the lone survivor of the Blockbuster murders. She’s now a therapist and still trying to cope with her ordeal. Ella is asked to speak with the lone survivor of the ice cream shop killings. Ella feels an instant connection to the girl and wants to help her. FBI Agent Keller is brought in to help the local police department with the ice cream shop investigation. She’s smart, calm, fearless, and very pregnant. She was my favorite character. Chris is a young attorney working in the public defender’s office. He has a secret connection to the Blockbuster case that could ruin his life and career. 

Finlay deftly weaves the past and present murder investigations and the multiple points of view together. He also provides lots of twists and red herrings along the way to create a riveting mystery. I hope this isn’t the last we see of Agent Keller. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

Thank you to NetGalley  and St.  Martin’s Press  for the digital review copy. The Night Shift publishes March 1st. 

QOTD: How’s everyone doing so far this week? 

I’m doing good. I dropped all our paperwork off with our tax professional yesterday. That relieved some stress I didn’t even realize I had. 😅

#thenightshift #alexfinlay #stmartinspress #netgalley #mystery #mysteryfiction #crimefiction #murdermystery #murdermysterybooks #bookreview #bookrecommendation #publishingsoon #newjersey #blockbustervideo #bookworm #bibliophile 

The Ballad of Laurel Springs

 

Author: Janet Beard

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Year: 2021

🎧𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄🎧

Thank you @simon.audio for the #giftedbook. 

Grace is in need of an idea for her fifth-grade history project. Her aunt tells her the family legend of how her four-times great grandfather murdered his lover. Family lore also says the killing was memorialized in song- a murder ballad. The lesson Grace learns from her family history, to be careful of men and desire, and murder ballads tie generations of women together in this novel. 

The story rewinds Grace’s family history. Each chapter is told from the point of view from a different generation of women from the family’s past. Set in a holler in eastern Tennessee, each woman and her choices have an affect on the future generations. Author Janet Beard does a wonderful job of weaving all the different points of view and time periods into an engrossing and cohesive narrative. The murder ballads also run through each chapter and connect to each generation. 

The audiobook features a full cast and I really enjoyed it. Although I must admit, sometimes I had to really concentrate on keeping the family tree and the family ties straight in my head. 

This is a good choice for historical fiction lovers, readers who like multiple points of view, and domestic fiction readers. I really enjoyed this book and found the women’s stories compelling and often heartbreaking. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

QOTD: do you have interesting or infamous family legends or stories? 

Family lore says one relative had his eye shot out while fighting at Gettysburg during the Civil War. My great grandfather was one of the few survivors of a coal mine collapse. My great Aunt Kit played the piano in a movie theater for the silent picture shows before “talking” movies were invented. She also taught at the last one room school house in Scranton, PA before it closed. 

#theballadoflaurelsprings #janetbeard #simonaudio #historicalfiction #murderballads #domesticfiction #familydrama #multigeneral #multiplepov #tennessee #audiobook #audiobookstagram #bookstagram #igreads #bookrecommendations #audiobookreview #familysecrets #familyhistory #bibliophile