Mini-Reviews: Murder is Bad Manners, Daddy Long-Legs, Animal Farm, and The Last Lecture

This weekend, I really felt the need to recharge, and decided to do a mini informal readathon. I was able to read some really great books:

This is a very fun, light, well-done middle grade mystery, The main characters, Daisy and Hazel, are great female leads, strong in their own right, and remind me of Friday Barnes, another middle-grade mystery series I really enjoy. In this first entry in the series, Daisy and Hazel must solve the mystery of the murder of one of their teachers, even though no one else believes she is actually dead.

My dad recommended this one to me-it's one of his favorites, and fit a category in the Popsugar Reading Challenge. I think it can be really hard to pull off a book that is solely in letter form-especially when the letters are only from one character-but Webster does a great job of making Judy's world come alive. Judy is a vibrant, entertaining, highly likable character (an orphan sent to college by a mysterious anonymous benefactor, to whom she writes), and this is a quick, delightful read.

I still can't believe I made it through high school and college (as an English major, no less!) without having ever read this book. Not only did it fill a Popsugar Reading Challenge category for me, but it is a read that seems extremely timely with everything going on, and is extremely well-written.



This is also a read for the Popsugar Reading Challenge, and an incredibly inspiring one. Pausch makes me want to follow my dreams, believe in myself, and give back to the world.

Review: Don't Turn Out the Lights

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.

Title: Don't Turn Out the Lights
Author: Bernard Minier
Publication Date: December 6, 2016
Genre: Mystery/Psychological Thriller/Suspense
Recommended If You Like: dark, twisty, character-driven psychological thrillers

The Book:

There's someone out there, stalking women, harassing them and destroying their lives until they feel they have no choice but to commit suicide. When a detective on sick leave receives a hotel room key to a room one of those women stayed in, he is drawn into a twisted game with deadly consequences.

What I Liked:

There are a lot of great twists and turns in this mystery. There was one towards the end, a big reveal, that made me gasp out loud. Minier does an excellent job of laying down red herrings to keep readers guessing.

This is a complex layered mystery. Nothing and no one are what they seem at first glance. Minier creates an atmosphere that is almost suffocating, where readers feel the fear right along with the characters.

Anything I Didn't Like?

It was hard to find a likable character in this book. I highly suspect this was on purpose, as Minier seems to be playing with the idea that not only is no one who they seem, but no one is truly good or evil.

This book also tended to move a little slowly. I felt like there were parts and descriptions, and character musings, that could have been shortened or even cut out completely.

So...?

This book took me a while to read. Even though I was highly intrigued by the mystery, the lack of likable characters and the occasional bursts of long-winded paragraphs kept me from getting completely sucked in. But the mystery was quite good, and kept me interested, and once the story picked up, it had me gripped.

Just a note, that this is not the first in the series, and there are some continuing character storylines that I feel like I would have understood and been more involved in had I read the previous books.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books to Read on a Winter's Night

As always, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the wonderful The Broke and The Bookish!


This week is a freebie, so I decided to go with Ten Books to Read on a Winter's Night.

This one is absolutely a bit on the nose ;D but it's the one that got me thinking about doing this for my freebie topic. Conan Doyle spins an always-engrossing mystery that is perfect for curling up with when it's too cold to go outside, and the short story format makes it easy to find a stopping point to go make some hot chocolate.

Nesbo manages to make a snowman incredibly creepy and eerie. This will make you skirt a big path around any snowmen you see outside during the winter months!

This eerie story takes place during the winter months, and involves a mysterious disappearance in a remote and isolated area. McMahon will have you checking the locks on your windows and doors as the snow piles up outside.

The snow is piling high, and a group are having a seance that predicts a murder.

A mystery surrounding a group of students snowbound on campus, trapped by their own pasts and desires.

 

These two Christie's center around people being snowed in with a murderer.

Winter, and the ensuing snow, make an eerie and isolated location even creepier.

This is the creepiest true story to ever take place in the snow.

Snow plays a key role in this mystery set around Christmas-time. 

What are some of your favorite winter reads?

Reviews: Second Life, and Tales for a Winter's Night

Title: Second Life
Author: SJ Watson
Publication Date: June 9, 2015
Genre: Mystery/Psychological Suspense/Thriller
Recommended If You Like: twists and turns, mysteries involving the internet

The Book:

When Julia's sister is murdered, Julia knows she must find out why, and by who, or it will consume her. Joining the online site her sister had used to meet strangers, Julia finds herself drawn in, and unable to find her way out.

What I Liked:

This book has a lot of twists and turns, which I always appreciate. There's a lot of layers to characters, and so many people are more than they first appear.

Anything I Didn't Like?

This book felt predictable in a lot of places, unfortunately. I called one of the biggest twists chapters before it actually happened.

The book also felt pretty slow at times, and then the ending seemed rushed, like Watson wanted to fit in more revelations.

So...?

I loved Before I Go to Sleep. It's one of those books I own my own copy of, have re read, and have recommended to friends. But Second Life just wasn't as good--it was one of those books that is just okay, which coming from an author I've previously loved, was definitely a disappointment.

This was such a treat! I love Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes' stories, and it was a lot of fun to get to read some of his other mysteries. These short stories have a similar flare to the Holmes' stories, with tricky cases that seem to have no solution, until Doyle spins one. I definitely recommend this one for mystery and Holmes lovers alike.

Review: The Big Book of Jack the Ripper

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.

Title: The Big Book of Jack the Ripper
Editor: Otto Penzler
Publication Date: October 4, 2016
Genre: Mystery/Short Stories/True Crime
Recommended If You Like: theories and stories about the infamous Jack the Ripper, well-curated anthologies

The Book:

Penzler has collected a large group of wide-ranging short pieces on Jack the Ripper, including non-fiction essays, famous stories like The Lodger, and less well-known speculative fiction.

What I Liked:

Penzler did a brilliant job of curating this collection. There are some really strong pieces in this book, and there were a lot of stories and authors I had never heard of before, even though I had previously read a lot on Jack the Ripper.

Anything I Didn't Like?

As in any anthology, there will always be some pieces that read as weaker than others. But there were very few of those instances in this collection.

So...?

If you are interested in Jack the Ripper, I highly recommend this book. It's a great mix of fact and fiction, including everything from essays stating the facts to stories involving time travel.

Review: Her Every Fear

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.

Title: Her Every Fear
Author: Peter Swanson
Publication Date: January 10, 2017
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Psychological Thriller
Recommended If You Like: The Kind Worth Killing, Hitchcock-like psychological thrillers

The Book:

Kate Priddy is still recovering from her kidnapping at the hands of an ex-boyfriend, and an apartment swap with her distant cousin seems like the ideal way to get away from it all. Traveling from London to Boston, Kate hopes this is the key to getting over her fears. But when her new next-door neighbor is murdered, Kate realizes her fears may be hitting all too close to home.

What I Liked:

This is a book full of twists and turns, and some highly creepy characters. In fact, this is a really creepy book, one of those eerie ones that has you second-guessing everything you're reading. There's a part towards the end that is downright terrifying.

Swanson is constantly turning what you think you know on its head, which is something I really appreciate in any mystery or thriller I'm reading.

Anything I Didn't Like?

The last third of the book feels too rushed. Swanson has done a great job building up all this nail-biting suspense, and then everything just kind of happens at once. Everything that happens is creepy, and surprising, but it all gets a bit mushed together, and seems less plausible, due to the speed at which the plotting suddenly moves.

So...?

I really enjoyed The Kind Worth Killing, and thought it was absolutely brilliant, especially the way Swanson expertly flipped around everything readers were taking for granted in his story. He does something similar here, but not to the same effect. Her Every Fear would have benefited from a few extra pages, and some time to let Swanson's great twists really sing.

What We're Reading Wednesday: January 18, 2017

I was so excited to get this from my parents' for the holidays! It's my before bed book because it's too heavy to carry around in my purse to and from work.

I'm almost done with The Big Book of Jack the Ripper, and it continues to be a really well-curated collection. Her Every Fear is the new book from the author of The Kind Worth Killing, which I loved, and so far Swanson's newest is really suspenseful and intriguing. 

 

Second Life is one of my library books I've been meaning to get to for a while. I loved Watson's previous book, Before I Go to Sleep, so I have high hopes for this one. Tales For a Winter's Night just seems highly appropriate for the weather my city has been having lately, plus I love Conan Doyle.

What are you reading this week?