In My Time of Dying

 

Author: Sebastian Junger

Narrator: Sebastian Junger

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Year: 2024

🎧𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄🎧

Thank you @simon.audio for the gifted audiobook! 

Reading nonfiction is a departure from my usually thrillers & mysteries. When I saw that Sebastian Junger was the author, I couldn’t pass it up. Junger has had a distinguished career as a reporter and author. His work has taken him around the globe and into many hotspots. But his closest brush with death was on a quiet day at home in rural New England. Junger had been experiencing abdominal pain on and off for several months when he was incapacitated by excruciating pain. When he arrives at the hospital, his life begins to slip away. Junger sees his deceased father in the room. His father invites Junger to join him and reassures Junger that “It’s okay. There’s nothing to be scared of. I’ll take care of you.” Junger wakes up the next day to learn that he had a ruptured aneurysm and he shouldn’t have survived. Junger details the extraordinary measures all members of his care team took to save his life - from the ambulance crew to all the nurses and doctors who treated him. Junger’s gratitude and admiration for their professionalism, expertise, and dedication is palpable. 

Junger was shocked it was his father he saw during his near death experience. He believed it would have been totally out of character for his father, a man of science and not religious, to be there to escort his son from life to death. Seeing his father when he was so close to death spurred Junger to take a deep dive into what happens after we die. He examines other people’s near death experiences and looks at the physics of reality as he grapples with trying to understand the unknowable. 

Junger narrates this emotional and intriguing audiobook. I found listening this story in the author’s own voice all the more impactful. It is a fascinating and thought provoking journey. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

QOTD: do you know anyone who has had a near death experience? I don’t. 

#inmytimeofdying #sebastianjunger #simonaudio #audiobook #audiobookreview #audiobookstagram #neardeathexperiences #neardeathexperience #nonfiction #rupturedaneurysm #medicalnonfiction 

The Best Lies

 

Author: David Ellis

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons

Release date: July 23, 2024

📖 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 📖

Thank you @putnambooks and @netgalley for the digital review copy! 

I loved David Ellis’s previous book Look Closer. I was really excited to read this one.

The Best Lies has a complex plot with lots of characters and moving parts to keep track of. The timeline also shifts between past and present and there are multiple points of view. The bare bones story is Leo, a lawyer with questionable ethics, gets caught up in an FBI sting operation. He has a choice between testifying against a viscous monster or going to jail for murder. Leo’s character was a little too smarmy for my taste. He’s like the smartest kid in the class who knows it and likes to show it off. 

The first half of the story felt like a lot of loose threads, but they eventually all come together. The twists and turns are plentiful and will keep readers guessing. I found this to be an entertaining and engaging read. The Best Lies publishes July 23. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

Let’s play predictive text: The biggest lie I ever told ________. 

The biggest lie I ever told was that I was going to be a millionaire. 😀 Too bad that was a lie! 

#thebestlies #davidellis #putnambooks #netgalley #crinefiction #thrillerbooks #publishingsoon #mysteryfiction #booksbooksbooks #bookstagram 

The Return of Ellie Black

 

Title: The Return of Ellie Black

Author: Emiko Jean

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Narrator: Full Cast

🎧 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 🎧 

Thank you Simon & Schuster Audio for the gifted audiobook! I love a police procedural and this was a good one! 

When Ellie Black, a girl who had been missing for two years, turns up in the woods in Washington state, Det. Chelsea Calhoun has more questions than answers. This should be a joyous time for Ellie and her family. But Ellie doesn’t want to cooperate with the police investigation. As Chelsea works the case, she’s unprepared for the answers she finds. 

This is a complex story that pulled me right in. I liked the alternating timelines and multiple points of view. Chelsea is a complex character. She carries the weight of her own sister’s disappearance some twenty years before Ellie Black. There were a lot of twists and turns that kept me guessing. This is best selling author Emiko Jean’s debut thriller. She’s crafted an intense and intricate thriller. The full cast audiobook was fabulous. I really enjoyed this gripping thriller. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

QOTD: what format is most of your reading-print or audio? I get dry eyes when reading print or looking at a screen. I’ve been listening to more audiobooks than reading either traditional print or kindle books. 

#thereturnofellieblack #simonaudio #emikojean #policeprocedural #thrillerbooks #mysteryfiction #crimefiction #audiobookstagram #audiobookreview #audiobook 

June Wrap Up

 

📚𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝗪𝗿𝗮𝗽 𝗨𝗽📚

Hard to imagine June is over. I’ve continued my trend of listening to more audiobooks than reading print. But it was a good reading month filled with a variety of genres. Here’s the breakdown. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - loved

🎧 We Used To Live Here - this is a heck of a debut novel! Creepy, fast moving, and well plotted. Thank you Simon Audio for the gifted copy! 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - really liked

📖 The Deep - creepy Titanic ghost story. Thank you Putnam Books for the gifted copy! 

📖 Long Time Gone - can’t go wrong with anything Charlie Donlea writes. 

🎧 Middletide-a slow burning mystery set in the Pacific Northwest. Also a debut novel. Thank you Simon Audio for the gifted audiobook! 

🎧 Hide- first book in the Det. Harriet Foster series. Engaging police procedural. 

🎧 A Talent for Murder - Lily Kitner is back to help an old college friend. Twisty and entertaining. 

🎧 Murder Book - thoroughly enjoyed this one. 

🎧 No Strangers Here - a veterinarian returns to her rural Irish hometown & discovers her family is implicated in a murder. 

🎧 Ararat - an expedition to find Noah’s Ark turns deadly. Spine-tingling spooky. 

🎧 Love, Theoretically- really enjoyed this science themed romance. 

🎧 Finally Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead - fun and fast paced thriller. 

🎧 Death of a Bookseller - an interesting twist on true crime obsession. 

🎧 Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand - a touching drama/romance featuring older characters. 

QOTD: what was your favorite June read or what book are you starting off July with? 

#readingwrapup #monthlywrapup #thrillerbooks #crimefiction #horrorfiction #romancebooks #policeprocedural #audiobooks #bookstagram #audiobookstagram #debutnovels 

Book Mail: Long Time Gone

 

Author: Charlie Donlea

Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp

Year: 2024

📫𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗠𝗮𝗶𝗹📫

Book mail is the best mail part two! 

Thank you bookstagrammer @andrea.c.lowry.reads for sending me Long Time Gone! And look at the awesome keychain that came with it!

I was so excited when Andrea messaged me that I had won her #giveaway for this book. In fact, it was Andrea who introduced me to @charliedonlea books a couple of years ago when she sent me her copy of Twenty Years Later just because she thought I’d like it. She’s the best! 

If you’ve never read any of Charlie’s books, do yourself a favor and pick one up. He writes terrific thrillers! 

QOTD: who’s an author you often recommend? 

I often recommend Michael Connelly, S.A. Cosby, Charlie Donlea, and Richard Osman. 

#bookmail #bookmailisthebestmail #longtimegone #charliedonlea #kensingtonbooks #crimefiction #thrillerbooks #mysteryfiction #bookstagram #booksbooksbooks #bookstagramfriendsarethebestfriends 

The Ministry of Time

 

Author: Kaliane Bradley

Narrators: Katie Leung and George Weightman

Publisher: Simon Audio

Year: 2024

🎧𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄🎧

Thank you @simon.audio for the #gifted audiobook! 

“Time,” she said, “is a limited resource like all of our resources.”

A book about time travel? Sign me up! A civil servant in the near future is offered a new job that comes with big promotion. Time travel is now possible & the ministry is gathering “expats” from across time to determine if time travel is feasible on a body & also on the fabric of space and time. The ministry has brought back several individuals from different periods in history. The civil servant’s job is to act as a “bridge” - living with, helping & monitoring expat 1847, Commander Graham Gore. Gore was on a doomed Arctic expedition. Now he’s learning to deal with computers, cellphones, washing machines, & a modern day woman. 

My quick summery doesn’t do justice to this impressive debt novel. It has something for every reader. It’s a combo of history, sci-fi, comedy, espionage, & romance. It’s full of interesting characters and a big twist at the end. This book pulled me in right from the beginning with its interesting & complex characters & intricate plot. Commander Gore was a real-life Royal Navy officer on the ill fated Franklin expedition. I liked the alternating chapters that gave a glimpse into Gore’s expedition and the man himself. 

The novel is also weighty enough to examine what it means to be a refugee both in and out of time. Gore’s bridge, the unnamed female main character, is the daughter of refugees. The plight of refugees has implications in not-too-distant future timelines. The narration by Katie Leung and George Weightman is top notch. 

All in all, this is a very entertaining and thought provoking novel. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

QOTD: do you think we’ll ever achieve time travel? 

I’m fascinated by the idea of time travel, but not sure if humans will ever be able to do it. 

#theministryoftime #kalianebradley #simonaudio #audiobook #audiobookreview #timetravel #commandergrahamgore #scifi #debutnovel 

Book Mail: The Deep

 Author: Alma Katsu

Publisher: Putnam Books

Release date: June 4, 2024

📫𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗠𝗮𝗶𝗹📫

Book mail is the best mail! Thank you Putnam Books for the #gifted book! Author Alma Katsu’s The Deep is now out in paperback. I can’t wait to dive into this one! (Pun intended! 😀) Here’s the synopsis: 

𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒃𝒐𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑻𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒄?

Someone, or something, is haunting the ship. Between unexplained disappearances and eerie deaths, the guests of the Titanic—particularly maid Annie Hebley and guest Mark Fletcher—are convinced there’s something sinister afoot. But before they can unveil the danger that beckons them, disaster strikes.

Years later, Annie is working as a nurse on the sixth voyage of the Titanic’s sister ship, the Britannic, newly refitted as a hospital ship. When she happens across an unconscious Mark, now a soldier fighting in World War I, Annie is relieved to see he survived the sinking. But soon Mark’s presence awakens deep-buried secrets, a creeping darkness forcing Annie to reckon with the demons of her past—as they both discover the terror may not yet be over. 

Spooky Titanic horror? Yes, please! 

QOTD: what‘s your most recent book mail or what are you reading this week? I’m listening to Death of a Bookseller this week. 

#thedeep #almakatsu #putnambooks #horrorfiction #spookybooks #titanic #titanicfiction #giftedbook #bookmail #bookmailisthebestmail #paperbackrelease