Social Distancing Reading Recap #1

During this uncertain, scary time, when I'm not virtual teaching, I'm helping keep anxiety at bay as best I can with snuggles with my beloved pup and lots of reading. I've been making it my goal to make my way through my TBR bookcases and the ARCs on my Kindle.

Since I've been social distancing at home, here's what I've read so far:

*The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James (ARC)

St. James is great at at intertwining a ghost story with a compelling mystery. Here, a woman named Carly Kirk revisits the scene of her aunt Viv's long ago disappearance. As Carly digs deeper into the past, the past comes looking for her, in terrifying ways she never anticipated. The flashback chapters of Viv, interspersed with Carly's present,  are really effective in building up suspense, and the scares hit hard.

*Haunted Hayride with Murder by Auralee Wallace

This is one of my favorite cozy mystery series. I love the hilarious and smart main character, Erica Bloom, and all of her Otter Lake Security Team friends, as well as her love interest, Sheriff Grady Forrester. Centered around the Halloween antics going on in Otter Lake, when a dead body is found it starts up talks again about the Apple Witch-but Erica believes something more human, though just as evil, is behind the murder.

*The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I can see why so many people have loved this book so much. Evelyn Hugo is such a complex character, one of the biggest movie stars the world had ever seen, until she went into seclusion. Now she is ready to tell her life story, but only to a barely known reporter. As readers and reporter learn more about Evelyn, the surprises build to a hard-hitting conclusion.

*Follow Me by Kathleen Barber (ARC)

Barber tackles the new age of social media in a only somewhat successful story. The tale of an Instagram influencer who may be paying the price for putting her whole life on display seems very timely, and is definitely interesting and suspenseful. But the big twist felt too predictable, though I didn't see the secondary twist coming.

*The Guest List by Lucy Foley (ARC)

This is the kind of book I tend to love. A huge wedding on a remote island during a storm brings together a group of people with ties both known and unknown. Foley does an amazing job of building suspense by cutting between past and present, and there were so many twists and turns that I never saw coming.

*Last Seen Alive by Dorothy Simpson

This is definitely a dated British mystery-there is an entire subplot where the Inspector has to talk to his son about the dangers of becoming addicted to gluesniffing-and it definitely does not have the speediest of plot developments. The mystery of who killed the woman in the hotel, who was extremely popular in high school, is an okay one, but the ending is definitely a shocker.

*One Little Lie by Colleen Coble (ARC)

I hadn't realized this was a Christian mystery when I originally got the ARC (I don't typically read mysteries with religious themes of any kind, it's just not a subgenre I'm particularly interested in), but decided to read it anyway. The religion aspect felt minor compared to all the other things going on in the book. It feels like Coble just keeps tacking on so many things that the mystery gets lost and the plot gets confusing. The book left me feeling unsatisfied, and not interested in picking up the sequel.

*Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman

This is a fun, clever book full of purposefully fake information. It was definitely a good book to be reading during this time.

*Mr. Lemoncello's Great Library Race by Chris Grabenstein

I really like this middle grade series. It promotes a love of libraries and reading, as well as the power of friendship and knowledge. There are always fun adventures happening-in this entry, familiar characters go on a fact-finding race, while also encountering a blast from their hero Mr. Lemoncello's past.

*A Mold for Murder by Tim Myers

This is a cozy mystery with a male protagonist, which is definitely unusual. The problem is that he isn't a very likable protagonist-he spends so much time bemoaning how hard his love life is that the mystery seems to get lost in his shuffle. The ending was surprising, but the book was merely meh.

ARC Review: Buried to the Brim

Title: Buried to the Brim
Author: Jenn McKinlay
Publication Date: January 28, 2020
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Recommended If You Like: dogs, England, romance, dog shows, fun lively characters, clever mysteries

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.

The Book:

Scarlett Parker is loving working at their hat shop in London with her cousin Vivian and their friend Fee. When her beloved fiancee Harrison comes to the shop with his Aunt Betty, who is seeking matching hats for her and her dog Freddy, Scarlett suddenly finds herself drawn into the competitive and intense world of dog shows. When a murder occurs, Scarlett must save the day in more ways than one.

What I Liked:

This is such a fun cozy mystery! Scarlett is a great main character, tenacious and smart, and her relationship with Harrison is absolutely adorable. The supporting characters are unique and full of life themselves, not just there as background props-and two even have a developing romance that I was really rooting for. The group reads as this wonderful, quirky, always there for each other family that I couldn't help but love.

I loved the dog show setting as well. I'm a dog mom, and reading about all the adorable dogs and the fascinating aspects of a competitive dog show drew me even more into the story.

The mystery was a clever one, and I did not see the solution coming, which is always fun for me.

Anything I Didn't Like?

Really, there wasn't anything not to like about this fun, light read.

So...?

This book has me wanting to go back and read the rest of the series, which to me is always a very positive sign!

ARC Review: The Tenant

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.

I liked this book, mostly.

I almost gave up reading it multiple times in the beginning, but something made me think it was worth continuing.

The idea of a killer basing his murder(s) off a novel has always been a fictional trope that I've found interesting to read, so maybe it was knowing this was part of the story that kept me reading. Maybe it was that, despite the slow start to the book, it still seemed like everything was building to something worth finding out.

About a quarter of the way in, something clicked for me and it felt like things were picking up. The two main detectives have a strange, strained, yet affectionate relationship that feels real, and they are  smart and determined despite how lackadaisical they may sometimes come across as. The case they are trying to solve-the brutal murder of a young woman, in an apartment building owned by an older woman, who is writing a mystery novel the murder was seemingly based off-is a unique one with high stakes. And the unexpected multitudes of ways the pasts of the characters come into play made for some highly unexpected twists and turns.

So my final verdict? To be honest, I don't see a need for anyone to run out and grab a copy of this book to read. That said, if you happen to have a copy, or come across a copy, give it a try. If you can make it through the slow start, you might just find a mystery you need to know the answer to.

Mini Reviews: Now You See Me, The Passengers, and Good Girls Lie

Once again, a Chris McGeorge book sets me up for an exciting read, then lets me down.

McGeorge's first book, Guess Who, began as a fascinating and creative locked room mystery, and carried that through almost to the bitter end. The very very end left me disappointed and managed to take away some of the enjoyment I had had of the rest of the book.

This time, Now You See Me, managed to disappoint me for the entire second half of the book. The premise is so intriguing, a cold case where six people went on a boat ride through a tunnel, but only one person came out the other side. The other five were never found, vanishing without a trace, even though there's no way that should have been able to happen.

But then the second half just becomes convoluted, with everything being thrown at readers, but nothing really sticking. One of the major plot point solutions is so ridiculous, and feels unfair because there's no way for a reader to be able to guess it.

I think sadly I just need to give up believing McGeorge will ever produce a book I find completely enjoyable.

At the risk of sounding like I planned this pun ;D this book was a wild ride! The book is set in a future world where cars are driver less, but not everyone supports this-and now eight people are trapped in these driver less cars, assured by a mysterious voice that they are being taken to their deaths. As the world watches, and social media runs wild, people are forced to choose which of the passengers live and which die.

I was listening to this as an audiobook and could not stop listening. At one point, I just let my dinner sit on the counter as I stood there completely distracted by learning the next plot point. While walking, I would frequently realize I was reacting with facial expressions or even saying things out loud in response to the next part of the story or the next incredible twist.

This book completely kept me on my toes the entire time. Nothing was as it seemed, the stakes were so high, and I loved every minute.

I always enjoy a book that I absolutely cannot put down. Despite being over four hundred pages (granted, the chapters were typically short), this read flew by. There are so many twists and turns, and the Gothic nature of the supposedly perfect boarding school made everything feel claustrophobic and horribly inevitably doomed.

While I didn't necessarily completely love the "biggest lie" reveal, it definitely worked within the context of the story, and the last chapter was amazing.

ARC Review: The God Game

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 God Game
Author: Danny Tobey
Publication Date: January 7, 2020
Genre: Science Fiction/Thriller
Recommended If You Like: dark twisted reads, futuristic intense interactive games, philosophical and religious debate

The Book:

A group of high schoolers, designated outsiders, are best friends, a group self-titled The Vindicators. When they are invited to play an online game called The God Game, seemingly run by an AI who believes itself to be God, it's a challenge they can't resist.

At first, everything seems fun and exciting, a virtual world imposed on their difficult real lives. But the stakes keep getting raised, the tasks keep getting harder, and soon their worlds seem to be colliding and falling apart.

Die in the Game, die in real life.

What I Liked:

This book started out really interesting. The concept intrigued me right away, and the main characters seemed like people it was easy to relate to-trying to find themselves, to find meaning, to find their tribe. I was also drawn in right away by the idea of a twisted and surprising game working its way into real life in unexpected ways.

Anything I Didn't Like?

This book got so dark, so very very dark. I read a lot of books with storylines that can get intense and dark, but this book was on a whole other level that was just too much for me. I kept reading only because I was more than halfway through by the time it got so heavy, so I figured I should finish.

So...?

This book was definitely not for me. That doesn't mean other people won't really like it, but I couldn't handle the darkness and so couldn't enjoy the read.

Review: Trace

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.

What is especially intriguing about this book is that it is both about the case the podcast Trace investigated, and the story behind all it took to put the podcast together.

Brown, host and reporter, takes readers back to the very beginning, when she was first drawn into the cold case of the murder of Maria James. Readers become emotionally invested along with Brown, as we and she learn more about the sons whose lives were irrevocably shattered by the brutal loss of their mother, and about the slip ups (and possible cover ups) during the original police investigation.

This is a dark, at times difficult, read. It went to a place I hadn't expected and wasn't prepared for. Brown pulls no punches as she shares with readers the terrible truths she learned and the possible conspiracies she uncovered. She is open with the way the investigative process on her side works, and how not everything can be tied up in a neat little bow.

This book makes me want to listen to the podcast and keep updated on the case, so while it is not the  best true crime book I've ever read, it definitely is an interesting and compelling read.

2019 Reading Wrap Up!

**2019 Reading Stats**

Number of Books I Read: 165

Number of Re Reads: 9

1) Best Book I Read in 2019?

 

2) Book I Was Excited About and Thought I Was Going to Love More But Didn't?

3) Most Surprising (In a Good Way) Book I Read?

4) Best Series I Started in 2019?

5) Best Book From a Genre I Don't Typically Read/Was Outside My Comfort Zone?

6) Most Thought-Provoking/Life Changing Book of 2019?

7) Book I Can't Believe I Waited Until 2019 to Finally Read?

8) Shortest Book I Read in 2019?

103 pages

9) Longest Book I Read in 2019?

720 pages

10) Book That Shocked Me the Most?

11) My OTP (One True Pairing) of the Year?

Alex & Henry

12) My Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship of the Year?

The Super Six (Alex, Henry, Bea, Pez, Nora, and June)

13) Best 2019 Debut I Read?

14) Hidden Gem of the Year?

I was so lucky to have read so many great books this year, too many to give recognition to in this entry-here's to another great reading year in 2020!