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 

Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six

 

Author: Lisa Unger

Publisher: Park Row Books

Year: 2022

🧬 𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗣𝘂𝗯 𝗗𝗮𝘆! 🧬

Thank you @parkrowbooks and @netgalley for the digital review copy. 

This has all the hallmarks of a fun thriller: a beautiful yet lonely location, a big storm on the horizon, a nervous new mom with a husband who’s up to something, a seemingly perfect wife with a secret, a creepy vacation rental owner, an obnoxious tech bro, a party girl with a mysterious new boyfriend, and family secrets galore! 

The set up takes a lot of chapters, but there’s plenty of twists to keep readers guessing. The pace picks up once the weekend getaway gets underway. This is an entertaining and enjoyable thriller perfect for locked room mysteries and family drama fans. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

I’m sneaking this in before publication day is over here in the U.S. so I haven’t had time to think up a good QOTD. Just tell me about the weather in your little corner of the world. We’ve had beautiful sunny and above average temps here for the past week. But now the temps are dropping. Winter is coming. 

#secludedcabinsleepssix #lisaunger #parkrowbooks #suspensebooks #suspensefiction #thrillerbooks #familysecrets #domesticdrama #vacationrental #weekendgetaway #worstvacationever #bookstagram #publicationday #bibliophile #booksbooksbooks #booknerd #crimefiction 

October Reading Wrap Up 🎃

 

𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗿𝗮𝗽 𝗨𝗽

October flew by for me! It’s not like we did any special this month, but the days went quickly. But tomorrow is a big day- my husband is having double knee replacement surgery tomorrow. It’s been a long time coming and I can hardly believe it’s finally happening. 

October was a pretty good reading month. No five stars books for me, but still solid, entertaining reads. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🎧Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstances- a beautiful story about love, nature, and magic. Enjoyed this buddy read with @thereadingteapot and @rjs.readingnook 

🎧Moloka’i- follows the life of a Hawaiian girl who contracts leprosy and is sent away from her family to a quarantined leprosy settlement. My book club read this and it was better than I expected, but I would have preferred an own voices story. 

🎧The Night Ship - this historical fiction novel combines two different time lines. In one, an adventurous girl embarks on a treacherous sea journey from the Netherlands to the Spice Islands in 1629. In the other timeline, a grieving boy is sent to live with his gruff grandfather on a small island off the coast of Western Australia where he learns the story of a tragic Dutch shipwreck 300 years earlier. Thank you Simon & Schuster Audio for the complimentary book! 

Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six - a locked room thriller with lots of twist and turns. Thank you Harlequin Publishing and NetGalley for the digital review copy. 

The Honeys- Mars, a gender-fluid teen, returns to a summer camp to in an attempt to understand their twin sister’s death. This is a slow burning YA horror story. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’m wthe Girl- billed as the spiritual successor to author Courtney Summer’s hit Sadie. I thought it lacked Sadie’s emotional punch and just found this story sad and depressing. 

The Family Game- a writer meets her fiancé’s wealthy and secretive family. A swing and a miss for me. I thought the plot was kind of ridiculous. Thank you Random House and NetGalley for the digital review copy. 

No QOTD from me today. Just asking to please send my hubby some good vibes for his surgery tomorrow. 

🎃𝕳𝖆𝖕𝖕𝖞 𝕳𝖆𝖑𝖑𝖔𝖜𝖊𝖊𝖓!🎃

#monthlywrapup #readingwrapup #crimefiction #thrillerfiction #historicalfiction #bookstagram #audiobooks #audiobookstagram #yahorror #yathriller #yabooks #teenreads 

The Heights

 

Author: Louise Candlish

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Year: 2022

🎧 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 🎧

Thank you @simon.audio for the #giftedcopy! 

A woman will stop at nothing to seek revenge on the man she blames for her son’s death. 

Can you enjoy a book with an unlikeable main character? Ellen Saint, the main character of The Heights, is so filled with rage and hate that’s it’s hard to like her and I’m ok with that. This story is told from multiple points of view and the timeline shifts between past and present. It opens with Ellen recognizing Kieran, the man she feels was responsible for her son’s death. He’s paid his debt to society, but Ellen thinks a few years in prison isn’t enough. And she starts planning the ultimate revenge. 

Ellen never gave Kieran a chance when he was the new kid at school and her son befriended him. She didn’t like him from day one and eventually blamed Kieran for leading her son down the wrong path- all while overlooking her own not-so-great parenting skills and doing very little to actually help her son. 

This is a well plotted story of grief and revenge. Author Louise Candlish knows how to keep the suspense simmering leaving readers on the edge of their seats. Narrators Genevieve Gaunt and Milo Twomey really bring the characters to life. This is perfect for fans of psychological suspense, domestic suspense, shifting timelines, and multiple POVs. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

QOTD: What was your favorite Halloween costume that you wore when you were a kid? Or your most recent favorite Halloween costume? 

My grandmother made a clown costume for me when I was little. She sewed it all herself. I remember it being very colorful and fun. 

#theheights #simonaudio #audiobook #louisecandlish #audiobookstagram #audiobookreview #suspensebooks #revengethriller #domesticsuspense #crimefiction #london #revengeisadishbestservedcold

The Family Game

 

Author: Catherine Steadman

Publisher: Random House

Year: 2022

📖 𝗣𝘂𝗯 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 📖

An author discovers deadly family secrets after she meets her fiancé’s incredibly wealthy and powerful family for the first time. 

Harriette’s life seems perfect. Her debut novel was a bestseller and she’s in love with the man of her dreams. But Harriette has a dark secret that must never come to light. Edward, her fiancé, is estranged from his powerful old-money family. The news of their engagement motivates Edward’s family to bring him back into the fold. And that’s when Harriette gets pulled into a deadly game.

This is one of those books where, when I finished it, I thought “that was pretty good.” And then after a little while I started to really think about it. And guess what? Nah. Didn’t really like it that much. Most of the book is just a set up for the last 40ish pages. And upon reflection, the “solution” to take care of the dark, deadly family secret that the rich, powerful father comes up with pretty ridiculous. Sorry I’m being so vague. I don’t want to give away any spoilers. 

I have really enjoyed the author’s previous books, but this one just didn’t do it for me. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to @netgalley and Random House for the digital review copy. The Family Game is available today. 

QOTD: what are you reading this week? 

 I started Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six the other day. So far so good!

#thefamilygame #crimefiction #thriller #darkfamilysecrets #slowburnbooks #thrillerbooks #thrillerfiction #familysecrets #familygamenight #bookstagram #booksta #pubday #publicationday #bookworm #bibliophile